Even as "Bramayugam" has garnered both critical acclaim & commercial success, there were a couple of others that had released the week priot to that which had kept the box office bells ringing. Though I had watched them last week itself, I didn't quite have the time to pen my opinion about them which incidentally had satisfied the audience in me. The movies in question include Darwin Kuriakose's "Anweshippin Kandethum" & Girish AD's "Premalu". In addition, Chidambaram's "Manjummel Boys" also joined the bandwagon to make it one of the most profitable February of the industry in recent times.
Anweshippin Kandethum: "A well crafted flick that should have searched for a better release date!!!"
As the name & trailer made it evidently clear, Darwin's debut venture that Jinu Abraham had scripted is essentially an investigative drama that is set in the early 1990s. The movie unfolds with the suspended SI Anand (Tovino Thomas) coming to meet his superior who had entrusted on him a case in the hope of easing him back into the force coz of his impressive performance in his maiden investigation. So what had led to his suspension & will the second case bring any difference to his fate after all it had baffled even the finest in CBI ???
There has been a deluge of investigation thrillers and dramas over the past few years which would invariably involve the use of telecom services, CCTVs & innovative tech. However, the time period set meant it was old fashioned crime drama meant none of these was in play & still Jinu managed to keep it engaging. Darwin has crafted it well to the point that we are completely involved in the proceedings which is no mean feat. The character arc given to the protagonist was praise worthy as they showed him being belittled by his seniors & rather than retaliate for the sake of heroism, kept it realistic & showed his sustained fightback. Personally, I was literally hooked to the film until the very end & the manner in which the points are joined to reach the culprit was impressive. Kudos to the crew especially Mohandas for the production design that felt very authentic, Girish Gangadharan for the visuals & Saiju Sreedharan's smooth editing that maintained the flow.
As Anand, Tovino has done a fine job as he perfectly captured the body language of the cop who had to exercise restraint to keep his emotions on check. The rest of his team included Vineeth Thattil, Rahul Rajagopal & Pramod Velliyanad who did their parts well, though I felt the substance given to their roles was not in sync with the amount of screen time they had. Apart from them, each & every artist have done utmost to their roles be it Indrans, Shammi Thilakan, Baburaj, Indrans, Kottayam Nazeer, Sadiq etc.
Verdict: A well crafted movie backed by a good script & impressive performances. It has certainly collected decent numbers, though I felt a more sensible release date might have improved its box office numbers!!!
Rating: 3.25/5
Premalu: "Feel good rom-com that clicked with the audience...no kidding!!!"
Just two weeks into its release & Girish's third directorial venture has zoomed past the 50C mark with ease. As mentioned in the title, it is a rom-com & pretty much follows the same track as his previous ventures but in a different track. However, unlike the others; this does take a fair bit of time to hit the ground running. Girish has set the stage predominantly in Hyderabad where we have the protagonists moving into the city for different reasons before their paths eventually cross each other.
Sachin (Naslen), had recently completed his Engineering from Salem & was hoping to move to UK to make a living. However, due to financial constraints; that plan didn't quite materialize & that's when he decided to accompany his buddy, Amal (Sangeeth Prathap) to Hyderabad for GATE coaching. Around the same time, Reenu (Mamitha Baiju) got an offer from an IT MNC & moved to the city to sprout wings for her career aspirations. Incidentally, both of them get to meet at a friend's wedding which leads to their friendship, even as Sachin nursed feelings for her. But his efforts to impress her was bound to be a challenge after all she was quite sure as to what kind of a partner she wanted.
One of the main highlights is undoubtedly the situational humour especially the dynamics between Sachin & Amal. Girish also made sure that the romance aspect doesn't take centre stage & that I felt was a smart move. At the same time, I felt the humour could have dialed in a bit more evenly, as it wasn't a laugh riot for me, unlike what I heard from many others. Obviously, love is blind & there are cinematic liberties, but the climax didn't quite work for me; though I do agree with the manner Girish chose to end it. On the technical side, it was neatly done with Vishnu Vijay's music deserving special mention.
The USP is undoubtedly the performances with almost all of them having done a praise worthy job as it elevated many of the sequences solely because of them. I would rate Mamitha's performance a tad higher than Naslen & it is also because of the manner that Girish and Kiran Josey had etched it. Naslen continues to impress with the roles offered & hope he continues to get good roles. Shyam Mohan as Aadhi was spot on who camouflages his possessive creep nature with goofiness. Sangeeth has some of the best lines while Akhila Bhargavan was fine though Meenakshi bordered on being irritating.
Verdict: A feel good rom-com that worked primarily on the basis of its fine cast who has elevated many scenes which would have failed to work in the hands of less talented artists.
Rating: 2.75/5
Manjummel Boys: "Tight adichadaaa in the latter segment from a technical perspective makes it thoroughly engaging!!!"
In case you had seen the promotional events of this latest flick from Chidambaram, you would realized that this survival thriller is adapted from a real life event that happened to a group of friends during their trip to the Guna Caves in Kodaikanal. After a successful directorial debut with "Jan.E.Man", Chidambaram has chosen to pen his script on this incident as a tribute to their friendship, perseverance & hope.
Based in 2006, a group of friends known as the 'Manjummel Boys' decide to make a trip to Kodaikanal. After having a blast, they decide to head back until when one of them suggests that one of the highlights in that region were the Guna Caves which ought not to be missed. However, on reaching the spot, they find that some of the iconic section of the caves were cordoned off by the authorities. But the reckless nature of the team saw them explore those parts with scant regard for the dangers that lurked there. Little did they realize what lay in store for them as one of their friends fell into a seemingly depthless hole. What subsequently unfolds are their efforts to save their friend even as history stated that no one had ever managed to escape alive from that area also known as the 'Devil's kitchen'.
To be frank, until the time the movie reaches the cave section; there is hardly anything in it that could be reasoned as being engaging & humorous. On the contrary, it turned out to be rather monotonous. But from the time, the friends step foot into the forbidden area; Chidambaram & his technical team elevates the sequences with their skill. Chidambaram's exquisite vision for that section, be it the horror of Subash (Sreenath Bhasi) falling into the pitch, the manner in which that was shot, the body language of their fear struck friends & people who are called into help & the rescue operation was pretty top notch. Sushin Shyam's BGM was impressive as always as it captured the mood of the sequences perfectly & the unique choice of using the sound track from "Guna" which though seemed odd was indeed an excellent choice. Hats off to Ajayan Chalissery for the production design & Shyju Khalid's cinematography, not to forget the contribution of the sound department.
Each & every artist has done justice to their roles and kudos to Ganapathi who also donned the role of the casting director pretty well. Bhasi & Soubin Shahir had the more heavy lifting roles, & both of them aced their part. The rest of the cast have also done their parts extremely well be it Balu, Lal Jr (his act really surprised me), Ganapathi, Deepak Parambol etc. to name a few.
Verdict: A movie that instantly comes to mind is Bharathan's "Malootty" & Chidambaram's effort will surely be appreciated for its technical quality. It belongs to that group of movies that could be better appreciated if viewed in theatres. So do check it out!!!
Rating: 3.25/5
Regards...Ben
