Due to hectic professional commitments & the lack of a proper internet connection, made me maintain a low profile in my blog over the past fortnight. But that didn't diminish my urge and enthusiasm to check out some of the movies that had released in that period. To be frank, none of them quite managed to hit the mark even as the industry celebrated the success of "2018" which has emerged as the highest Malayalam grosser ever. It remains to be seen which is the next movie that is going to get the audience excited.
Janaki Jaane: "Lack of clarity messes up a potential interesting thread!!!"
It's been a while since we had seen Aneesh Upasana don the director's hat after a rather decent debut with "Matinee" in 2012. In his latest venture, he has collaborated with Anil Narayanan & Rohit Raj to pen a script about a lady who had autophobia (being alone) & nyctophobia (darkness) and how it affected her relationships & even existence. Navya Nair as Janaki was the protagonist who was married to a supportive & empathetic husband, Unni (Saiju Kurup). Life moved on happily, until Janaki for no fault of hers got embroiled in a political issue. It wrecked havoc in their livelihood & left them stranded with no immediate solution in the horizon.
The basic premise was interesting but it was evident that the writers didn't quite have the clarity as to how to take the story to its conclusion which all of us are aware as to what it would be. The political angle that they weaved in didnt quite have the desired impact as it came across as a predictable masala concoction of their modus operandi & the way, the media behaves in such situations. Aneesh failed to make us empathetic about Janaki for most parts though I did enjoy the portions that involved Sharafudeen. As for the technical aspects, they were average at best.
However, there is no denying the fact that Navya has given a praise worthy performance as she was able to convincingly convey the vulnerabilities and naivety of the character. Another person that deserves mention is Sharafudeen who in a brief appearance was natural and did justice to his part. Saiju was ok though I feel he needs to be more careful in his choices as his performances feels rather repetitive nowadays. As for the rest of the cast, Johny Antony was fine, Sminu Sijo was irritating while the others were ok.
Verdict: It had the scope to be crafted in a much more engaging manner, anyway it is unlikely to create an impact even on OTT!!!
Rating: 2/5
Charles Enterprises: "Even the director didn't have adequate vision as the protagonist!!!"
This is Subhash Lalitha Subrahmanian's second directorial venture & the trailer (atleast for me) felt like the story penned by him had the vibe of N J Saravanan's "Mookuthi Amman" especially coz of the presence of Urvashi in both the projects. Anyway it doesn't have any similarity though this is also about a deity i.e. Lord Ganapathi whose antique statue in Gomathi's house (Urvashi) was fiercely safeguarded and worshipped by her. Her son, Ravi (Balu Varghese) was trying to make it big in life but to no avail until an opportunity comes knocking in the form of an antique buyer. However, striking a deal was a task that was easier said than done.
The script is nothing but numerous sequences, characters and sub-plots that add no relevance in taking the story forward. Most of the comedy failed to work & the events that they piece together to get into the final act was not adequately engaging. There was surely sequences in between they does attract attention & evokes laughs but in totality it felt like a missed opportunity. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention while coming to performances, most of them were fine and did their parts aptly. Though the content wasn't meaty enough, Urvashi did her part impressively as in most occasions, Balu was fine along with Kalayiyarasan. As for the rest of the cast, didnt understand the purpose of Guru Somasundaram while Abhija, Manikandan etc were ok.
Verdict: Undeniably, fell well short of expectations & what was supposed to be a comedy, is unlikely to give smiles to the makers!!!
Rating: 1.5/5
Jackson Bazaar Youth: "Pertinent questions about the plight of the homeless handled reasonably decently!!!
Based on Usman Marath's script, this is Shamal Sulaiman's directorial debut where the focus is on Jackson Velayyan (Jaffer Idukki) who was like a guardian for the families in Jackson Bazaar. After having retired from the military, he had put together a music band that was hugely popular & also a source of livelihood. Things take a turn when the authorities orders them to leave the land as part of their acquisition formalities for the widening of the highway. In response to this, Jackson & his boys decide to mount a resistance, but it was a cost that none had expected.
In the first half, Shamal focused on the political climate in the region with emphasis on the plight of the homeless, apathy of the authorities & police brutalities. It keeps us engaged & gets us emotionally invested for most parts. As the movie shifts to the latter half, it opts for a more filmy approach with the track taking it towards an extra judicial justice scenario. If they had chosen a much more organic treatment of the situation, the effect would have been much more impactful. On the technical side, Govind Vasanth's music was impressive while the rest of the aspects were fine as well.
Coming to performances, almost all of them have done justice to their roles with Jaffer Idukki giving a masterful performance as has been the norm over the last couple of years. Equally impressive was Indrans whose role though predictable gave a punch to the proceedings. Others such as Lukman, Chinnu Chandni, Abhiram Radhakrishnan etc have also given praise worthy acts.
Verdict: A blend of political topics with a filmy culmination which though witnessed in other movies still manages to keep us engaged in many sequences which was aided by some impressive performances. If you don't mind watching flicks that is emotionally charged & rarely light in mood, then do give it a try!!!
Rating: 2.5/5
Live: "Relevant subject that's handled inefficiently!!!"
After a plethora of movies helmed by freshers & debutants, we finally had one that was directed by the veteran, V K Prakash. I will like to use this opportunity to state that his previous movie "Oruthee" that I had missed out to pen my opinion at that point of time was something that I had enjoyed. Apart from his direction, Navya's impressive performance along with Vinayakan's supporting act made it one of the better movies of 2022. In his latest venture, he had chosen Suresh Babu's script on the trot which focused on the topic of unethical journalism where the aim is only on TRP irrespective of whether there is truth in the news or not.
The movie is about the tragedy that befalls on Anna (Priya Prakash Warrier), a bright student & the grand daughter of an ambulance driver. She also had a guardian like figure in Dr. Amala (Mamta Mohandas), a well known face for her social causes and online vlogs. Apparently, during a prostitution raid, Anna got accidently detained by the police but by the time they realized their folly and allowed her to leave, her face was splashed all over the media. The root cause for this was SJV (Shine Tom), the chief of Mandharam TV who just saw it as merely news to increase the TRPs. It remained to be seen whether Amala & her friends will be able to find a solution to Anna's existential crisis.
We are living in a world where it is hard to distinguish between what is true and false since most of the media houses barely has any sense of ethics. For them it is all about putting up sensational headlines so as to attract maximum visitors to their news portal. In that sense, this is an extremely relevant subject & does has sequences in the first half where it makes us uncomfortable about the plight of the victim & the ruthlessness of the media house. However, VKP seemed to have lost track as to how to take the plot forward in the second half as many of the sequences felt extremely artificial and lacked the depth that it required. Eventually, it culminates in a predictable climax & the manner in which they tried to connect SJV and Anna didnt serve any purpose.
Despite the run time being rather short, it still felt rather long & hence it could have been edited better. On the performance front, Mamta was fine though her diction faltered in quite a few places. Shine Tom's eccentricities continues to be a regular feature even on screen nowadays which surely worked in certain sequences but otherwise felt over exaggerated. Priya Warrier didnt have much to do, Jayarajan Kozhikode as the grandfather was good while I didnt even understand the purpose of even having Soubin Shahir in this flick.
Verdict: As has been the case in other movies mentioned above, it did have the potential but the execution in the latter half left a lot to be desired.
Rating: 1.75/5
Within Seconds: "An apt title where the audience realize that it is headed for disaster within seconds!!!"
It might sound surprising but I am pretty sure the main reason why many would have heard that such a movie release was because of the attack on Santhosh Varkey aka Aratannan. He was manhandled in the theatre premises for the reason that he gave negative opinion about the flick despite watching it for less than half an hour. Well to be fair to him, the film was pathetic to say the least.
Helmed by the debutant Vijesh Vijayan & scripted by Sangeeth Dharmmarajan along with Vinayan Vijayan, it is about the trip made by a group of friends to a forbidden cave in the forest and what fate had in store for them. They had approached Indrans who along with his two buddies, Alencier & Sudheer Karamana agree to take them to the place in exchange for money. The screenplay was mediocre & it doesn't have anything to keep us hooked to the story. The only positive in the flick was Indrans's performance which was fine while many of the others were downright pathetic.
Verdict: It came across as nothing more than a waste of time & failed to evoke any excitement or expectations despite the fact that it was a modelled as a thriller. Hence I don't think it even warrants a rating!!!
Regards...Ben
No comments:
Post a Comment