As usual, quite a number of movies hit the screens over the past fortnight but none of them quite stood out. With the schools having opened and the monsoon season set in, the release of big banner movies is unlikely to happen though there was an exception this weekend. Anyway I decided to club quite a few of these flicks to pen my thoughts as to whether any of these managed to satisfy me as an audience.
Dhoomam: "Relevant subject though the execution went up in smoke!!!"
Was any promotional events done in the lead up to the release of this movie? The reason why I asked this is coz I barely came across anything on social media. But then the valid question is does a movie with such an enviable cast & crew require such promotions. I guess that's what the makers thought, after all it is bankrolled by Hombale Films that had movies like "KGF" & "Kantara" with the shots being called by Pawan Kumar of "Lucia" & "U-Turn" fame.
The protagonist is Avinash (Fahad Faasil) who is the marketing head of a leading tobacco company that has Sid (Roshan Mathews) as its MD. The events unfolds with Avinash & his wife, Diya (Aparna Balamurali) being kidnapped & left on an isolated location where they are informed of dire circumstances unless they paid a sizable ransom. This marks the start of a cat and mouse game, as Avinash tries to piece the puzzles of his past to track the tormentor. Will he manage to unravel the mystery before it is too late???
Apart from wearing the director's hat, Pawan has also invested his thought into this script where the focus is on the thought process of the tobacco industry, their marketing strategies & the impact it has on the public despite being aware about the after effects. It is a relevant subject & he has crafted it as a thriller which works initially. but as it reaches the interval it starts to feel rather tedious. The dialogues also contributed to that impression as it felt rather mechanical and devoid of genuine emotions. The production quality certainly had a class about it with the technical side being handled quite impressively be it Preetha Jayaraman's visuals or Poornachandra Tejaswi's music.
As usual, Fahad impressed especially in the flashback sequences while in the thriller sections, it was fine. Aparna did a decent job but the pick among the lot was undoubtedly Roshan who outshone his co-artists as the suave and cool MD. As for the rest, glad to see Vineeth getting more opportunities while Anu Mohan, Joy Mathew etc did their parts aptly.
Verdict: It didn't come close to the lofty expectations that their names generated prior to the release. There is no doubt that it had a relevant subject & still deserve to be appreciated for that, but the execution of the thriller segment was kind of cold.
Rating: 2.25/5
O Baby: "Oooo...Ranjan, the climax was rather tame!!!"
Ranjan Pramod, a name that most Malayali audience will recognize after all he has penned some of the most popular movies such as "Meesa Madhavan", "Manassinakkare", "Naran" etc., to name a few. It's been a while since he had directed a movie with the critically & commercially acclaimed "Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu" being his last released effort. Hence when "O Baby" hit the screens, it certainly attracted my attention.
As always, Ranjan has penned the script yet again with his focus being on a humongous plantation that is set in the Western Ghats & under the ownership of a prominent family for many generations. Presently, the day to day activities were managed by Baby (Dileesh Pothan), the trusted lieutenant of the family who still very much had the hangover of a feudal system. Even as tensions brew within the family over the future ownership of the estate, things take a turn when a romantic relationship is believed to blossom between Baby's son Basil (Devadath) & Mini (Haniya Nafisa), the great granddaughter of the family's patriarch, Paapi (Gopalakrishnan). The conflict that happens as a result of this forms the basis of the movie.
Ranjan takes his time in building the story and essentially introduces us to a premise that we have come across some movies in the past. However, he still manages to give it an identity of its own as it gives us a glimpse of the life there & how things gets done to the liking of the patriarch of the family. In due course, voices of dissent emerges from the younger generation who believes in freedom & equality and the course of action adopted by the elders who doesnt quite understand or believes that a change is needed. All of this is portrayed well, but Ranjan falters in the manner in which he concludes his tale as I felt it was rather tame & didnt quite have the impact that it deserved. On the technical side, Arun Chalil's cinematography, Samjith Mohammed's editing & Lijin Bambino's BGM were fine.
On the performance front, most of them have done a fine job especially Dileesh who expressed the various emotions such as angst, vulnerabilities & anger with ease. Vishnu Agasthya (as Stanley) deserves praise while Devadath & Haniya did justice to their roles.
Verdict: It is the type of movie that is likely to have more support from the audience after it is released on the OTT platform. Obviously, it has its flaws especially towards the climax but Ranjan was effective in conveying his message. In short, give it a try!!!
Rating: 2.75/5
Thrishanku: "Enjoyable flick that is hardly novel but gives us a smile!!!"
Prior to watching this movie, I had no clue as to what genre it belonged to since I haven't even seen the trailer. The primary reason why I decided to check it out was because of the presence of Arjun Ashokan who in recent times have shown the knack of being part of some interesting movies. It turned out that Achyuth Vinayak's "Thrishanku" could also be included to the same category.
Apart from being Achyuth's directorial debut, he also took on the responsibility of the script, dialogues & screenplay. He has chosen a topic that we have seen in many other movies where two lovers, Sethu (Arjun) & Megha (Anna Ben) decide to elope. But contrary to their plans, Sethu's sister Sumi (Zarin Shihab) elopes with her boyfriend on the very same day as her brother had planned. Left with no option, Sethu decide to abort their plan but Megha was in a trishanku situation where she is confused as to what to do.
As I mentioned earlier, there is nothing unique as such in terms of the story but the manner in which Achyuth had penned the screenplay made it an enjoyable experience. There were many sequences that I ended up laughing and that was primarily because of the role of the uncles portrayed by Suresh Krishna & Nandu. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention as it was average at best.
The main reason why this movie worked for me was the hilarious combo of Nandhu & Suresh Krishna who evokes laughs with their characters & the mess they get themselves into. Both Arjun & Anna were fine while Zarin also did justice to her role. As for the rest, Shiva Hariharan (as Sumi's boyfriend) & Fahim Safar (as Sethu's irritating friend) were pretty average.
Verdict: It doesnt offer anything much in terms of its storyline but it does manage to keep us in good spirits!!!
Rating: 2.75/5
Santhosham: "Nothing worthwhile that would create santhosham in audience!!!"
Ajith V Thomas is yet another directorial debutant who made his entry into the industry with "Santhosham". It might sound surprising but the movie barely had anything more than what the trailer revealed. Interestingly, Ranjan Pramod's partner in crime in "Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu", Arjun Sathyan has penned the script & it was surprising to say the least as it barely had any credible content. It is essentially the bond that is shared between two sisters, with the elder Aadhya (Anu Sithara) being more like a mother to the younger one, Akshara (Lechu Lekshmi).
The basic issue with the movie is the lack of a central subject or conflict as it is essentially about how Akshara realizes the impact that her elder sister had on her upbringing. So the audience end up watching a chapter in their day to day life without an iota of surprise. The technical aspects were ok with the Karthik's frames being colourful while Jayhari's music was fine.
Anu Sithara did a fine job while Lechu also impressed in some of the sequences especially the emotional ones. As for the rest, Amith Chakalakkal looked artificial in the goofy scenes, Shajon, Mallika Sukumaran were ok while Asha Arvind seemed like a misfit.
Verdict: Nice to see movies with good vibes but there needs to be a purpose for all this positivity to endear to the audience!!!
Rating: 2/5
Neeraja: "Fails to convey the message effectively!!!"
After having plied his trade as a script writer, Rajesh Raman decided to step into the role of a director & chose to remake Manjunatha Somashekara's critically acclaimed Kannada movie "Nathicharami". It had bagged numerous awards at the 66th National Film Awards. The story was penned by Sandhya Rani is essentially about the inability of Neeraja (Shruti Ramachandran) to emerge from the trauma of having lost her husband, Alex (GP) even after three years though her physical needs puts her in an emotionally disturbed and morally conflicted state.
Since I haven't seen the Kannada version, I cant comment on how they captured the dilemma of the protagonist but over here, Rajesh certainly struggles to convey that effectively to the audience. It is a relevant subject but the inability to flesh out the characters properly and understand the vulnerabilities that the females (Sruthi & Srinda) feel is the major drawback. The writing lacked depth and understanding to the extent that we dont empathize with Meera's character (Srinda) nor do we feel convinced about the transition that happens in Arun (Jinu Joseph). Apart from Ragesh Narayanan's cinematography, none of the other technical aspects deserves mention.
Despite the lack of a well etched character, Sruthi did a fine job and portrays the emotions and insecurities that her character goes through quite convincingly. Abhija Sivakala was fine, Jinu was average while Srinda came across as rather irritating but I would put the blame for her lack lustered performance to Rajesh's inability in creating her character properly. As for the rest, Guru Somasundaram certainly needs to take a breather rather than take up every random script that comes his way as he is turning out to be rather monotonous while the others were ok.
Verdict: Certainly the inability of Rajesh to create proper character arcs for the female protagonists is the main reason why it failed to connect with the audience. It comes across as rather sleazy and corny at times rather than convey the subject in a matured and convincing manner!!!
Rating: 1.75/5
Amala: "Lacked the impact that was expected from a psychological thriller!!!"
This is Nishad Ebrahim's directorial debut in which he has decided to opt for a psychological thriller. It is a genre that could be a sure shot winner if it provides the apt thrills & novelty, or else it is a recipe for disaster. It would be fair to admit that this particular venture somehow manages to balance itself though it falters to provide the genuine thrills that one would expect.
Set in the high range, there has been a series of murders which indicated that it could be the work of a serial killer. The case was handled by Akbar (Sreekanth),a shrewd police officer who seemed to up to the task. In the meantime, the killer (Appani Sharath) who had taken on the job of a taxi driver had zeroed in on his next target and it happened to be a deaf and mute girl (Anarkali Marakkar). Will she also meet with the same fate???
The identity of the serial killer is revealed in the beginning itself & then it is essentially to build on the interest of the audience as to what made him become this dreaded killer. The back story & the trauma that the orphan went though in childhood is captured well but in terms of the story, it doesnt offer anything worthwhile and mysterious when it comes to the present day situation. On the technical side, Abilash Shankar's visuals were fine while the rest were just about average. The same goes with respect with the artists as well, as they have a decent job but nothing that makes us sit up and take notice.
Verdict: Apparently, they have kept an open ending with the possibility of a second part but after having failed to create much of an impact in the theatres, I seriously doubt whether they will go ahead with it.
Rating: 1.5/5
Regards...Ben
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