Varshangalkku Shesham, Aavesham, Jai Ganesh: "Eda mone...jai vilikalude kaahalam muzhagatte!!!"

It's celebration time courtesy of Eid & Vishu, & to cash in on the festive mood the Malayalam film industry came with three big banner releases. However, PVR threw a spanner in the works when they temporarily banned the screening of Malayalam movies for a day or so, over the visual print fee. Anyway, they have reversed the decision & people have continued to flock to the theatres. So how did the three releases pan out for me???

Varshangalkku Shesham: "Humour & earnest performances saves it!!!"

To be frank, this was the movie that I was most excited about among the three & that was primarily coz of Vineeth Sreenivasan and his ensemble cast. With the exception of "Thira", Vineeth has always penned the script whenever he had donned the director's hat & it was no different this time around as well. As was evident in the trailer, it is essentially about the bond of two friends, Venu (Dhyan) & Murali (Pranav) who decided to go to Kodambakkam to make their respective dreams in the celluloid world a reality. So what did destiny have in store for them???

It would be fair to say that this is Vineeth's weakest script to date especially when it came to the emotional aspect which was supposed to be its USP.  At the same time, I felt this one had his best writing when it came to humour as his casting was spot on & his judgement as to how far to push the envelope for meta humour was precise, since a tad further would have made it tasteless. The camaraderie between the protagonists was palpable but the conflicts that happen between them at different junctures didn't feel organic or felt rather silly (especially the first one). But thanks to the humour in the second half, it manages to pull the movie from the abyss it almost found itself in. 

On the technical side, Amrit Ramnath's music was fine with 'Nyabagam' rendered by himself being the standout track. At the same time, I felt that though the songs sounded fine as an album; it doesn't blend in as well in the movie (or rather it doesnt stay with us) & that is primarily coz of the failure of Vineeth to create that emotional depth which he was so excellent at in "Hridayam". Viswajith deserves praise for capturing visuals in the different eras well while Ranjan Abraham aptly paced the scenes and didn't make it feel as long as it actually is. All the other aspects were also handled neatly be it the art direction, make up of Dhyan etc.

On the performance front, this is literally a resurrection of sorts for Dhyan & Nivin as both of them have done their roles really well. The latter had an extended guest appearance & he was an absolute scream on the screen as the narcissistic superstar who was going through a slump in his career. Dhyan has improved significantly over the years & as the elderly Venu, he was impressive. Pranav has done his part well in the younger avatar & reminded me of Lalettan in quite a few sequences (as in "Kamaladalam"). However, his portrayal of the older avatar was rather average. As for the rest of the cast, Shaan Rahman rocked, Basil Joseph & Aju Varghese was good while the others were ok including Kalyani though I felt that segment didn't quite add much to the movie. 

Verdict: Despite the emotional drama lacking the desired effect, the humour in the second half makes it an enjoyable feel good flick!!!

Rating: 3/5

Aavesham: "Fafa & Co. keeps us engaged for large parts!!!"

After the success of "Romancham", Jithu Madhavan is back with his second directorial venture which has Fahadh Faasil in the lead role. Whenever Fahadh is involved in a project, it is bound to attract attention & when there was mention of him being rebranded as a bindaas don in this gangster comedy, the expectations were nigh high.

As in his debut, Jithu has yet again based his story in Bangalore where three Malayali students, Aju (Hipster/Pravin Raj), Bibi (Mithun Jai Shankar) & Shanthan (Roshan Shanavas) had recently enrolled into an engineering college. It was however not easy going for the trio due to ragging from the seniors & they decided to reach out to a gangster in the locality to help them out. Their search eventually led them to Ranga (Fahadh) & what happens as a result of their acquaintance with him and his gang is what this movie is about.

The manner in which the story unfolds and the lead up to Ranga's introduction and the eccentricities that he & his henchman, Ambaan exhibits regularly tickles our funny bone. In short, this segment breezes through keeping the audience in high spirits as the back story of Ranga is revealed by Ambaan in various sequences. But the manner in which that story is revealed keeps both the characters & the audience confused as to whether it was indeed true & if yes, how much of it was believable. That was a smart ploy by Jithu & keeps us hooked with an impactful interval. But the second half was a whole different cup of tea for me as it seemed that Jithu had no clue how to take the story forward. It still manages to keep us engaged thanks to Fafa's excellent performance. On the technical side, it was neatly done be it Samir Thahir's cinematography whose choice of colour & frames, gave it a mass feel, Sushin Shyam's music which was in sync with the mood (though I felt it wasn't quite upto the level of his other recent work) & the action choreography which was damn impressive. 

I think I have spoken about Fafa's performance a couple of times already but the fact is he was excellent as Ranga in all aspects & showcases the variation in the character so convincingly. Sajin Gopu was an absolute hoot & at times, outshone Fafa as well. All the three guys, Hipster/Pravin Raj, Mithun & Roshan did their parts well while the stunts showcased by the Northies & the old dude was top notch. 

Verdict: It is undoubtedly a movie that is made for the gallery & the first half certainly provides that. However, the latter half does not quite cash in but Fafa made sure that he kept the audience engaged. In short, do check it out for him!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Jai Ganesh: "Unni does his part though the script doesn't make us go jai!!!"

The third movie to hit the screens last weekend was from Ranjith Sankar who had collaborated with Unni Mukundan for the first time and the duo had produced the movie as well. As always, Ranjith had penned the script where the focus is on Ganesh (Unni), who is a graphic designer for a TV channel & an ethical hacker. In addition, he harboured passion for comics & created quite a few of them titled 'Jai Ganesh'. However, an accident had left him semi-paralysed and confined to a wheelchair. But he tried to make sure that his disability didn't prevent him from helping people & one such incident whereby his friend gets kidnapped is what the focus is on here. 

The primary flaw with the flick is that there are way too many things happening & yet none of them managed to provide the impact. The inability to make the audience empathise with the protagonist for most parts proved to be the bane as there is minimal emotional connect. If they had invested on the hacking sequence more, it would have been more engaging. The title is based on the comics angle which I felt was the weakest among whatever they had touched upon. The technical aspects were decent with Chandru Selvaraj's cinematography & Sangeeth Prathap's editing being neatly done. 

There is no doubt that Unni has given a fine performance & does manage to strike a chord with the audience, though his emotional outbursts came across as rather amateurish at times. Mahima Nambiar barely had much to do due to a poorly etched character. Ashokan impressed despite the limited screen space along with Ravindra Vijay, whose character & performance had potential for much more. 

Verdict: Certainly the weakest among the three releases & if their box office returns also reflects the same, then they have only themselves to blame. 

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Secret Home, Anchakkallakokkan, Thankamani, Thundu, Iyer in Arabia & Vivekanandan Viralanu: "Even on OTT, most will struggle to keep audience from skipping it!!!"

Over the past one month, our industry has been witness to some great news with Chidambaram's "Manjummel Boys" having become the highest grossed Malayalam movie ever. To add onto that,  "Premalu", "Aadujeevitham", "Bramayugam", "Ozler" etc., have also reaped rewards at the box office. At the same time, there has been no dearth of mediocre movies that has continued to flood the theatres to no avail. I happened to watch quite a few of them & thought to club them together as I feel they might struggle to find takers even on the OTT platform.

Secret Home: "Despite the twists, the movie will remain a secret even on OTT!!!"

A couple of weeks back, I came across a FB post where Abhayakumar had stated that prizes will be given to those who are able to identify a significant resemblance in his directorial debut "Secret Home" in another flick. To be frank, I found that rather odd as I felt it indirectly implied that it was an inspired version. Anyway it turned out Anil Kurian's script was based on a real life incident that unfolded in Kottayam about a decade back.

Sarika (Sshivada) & Saran (Chandunath) had been married for a decade, but their relationship were presently on the rocks. The problems continue to escalate between them which eventually lead to a murder in their family with Sarika being the prime suspect. So was she indeed the culprit??? There is no doubt that it had an intriguing story and the characters has been presented with varying shades of grey. But at the same time, it lacked clarity in some of the crucial aspects & finesse in the execution of certain sequences, due to which the twists in the end didn't quite have the impact that it was expected to deliver. 

On the technical side, it was fine while on the performance front, Sshivada has given a credible act while the others were average and that was primarily because their roles were not properly etched.

Verdict: With a runtime of under 2 h, it conveys the content in quick time. However, the execution of it left a lot to be desired.

Rating: 2/5

Anchakkallakokkan: "Cliched revenge drama with a unique take!!!"

The primary reason as to why I felt like watching Ullas Chemban's directorial debut was because it had that feel of a cross between a Western which is married with our folk art form of 'Porattunadakam'. Based on the script by Vikil Venu, the story is set in 1986 along the Kerala-Karnataka border where a prominent landlord, Chaapra (Sreejith Ravi) was murdered. The incident had garnered attention as the 'Thankamani' incident had happened a few months prior to that which was expected to have a significant impact on the upcoming Assembly elections. It is around this time, Vasudevan (Lukman) came to take charge as constable in the local station. Being rather naive & inexperienced, he was bullied by his colleagues though his senior officer, Peter (Chemban Vinod) helped him to ease into the role. However, it was not going to be as easy especially since the region was going to be witness some unprecedented turmoil.

There is no doubt that Vikil had an interesting thought which keep us interested in the story & Ullas has executed it quite decently. It reminded me of Senna Hegde & Karthik Subbaraj's style of film making which had streaks of rawness yet wacky. I certainly liked the way in which the art form was incorporated into the screenplay & some of the characters such as Chaapra's sons were interesting with their fight sequence in the toddy shop reminding of a similar sequence in Tinu Pappachan's "Ajagajantharam". Despite this, it failed to keep me engaged due to the predictability of it & the inability to pack a punch. On the technical side, it was neatly done with Armo's visual being the standout as it was quite impressive.

On the performance front, Chemban Vinod gave a convincing performance while both Merin Jose & Praveen TJ (as Gillappies) were good. As for the rest of the cast, Manikandan & Megha Thomas did their parts aptly while Lukman was average at best.

Verdict: There is no doubt that Ullas has the potential as he has done a fine job despite the screenplay failing to keep us engaged.

Rating: 2.25/5

Thankamani: "Nothing more than a generic revenge drama!!!"

It's been quite a while since we have seen a worthwhile flick from Dileep & hence I was certainly interested to know what he had in store in his latest release. Incidentally, it was with Ratheesh Reghunandan who made a decent debut with "Udal" which was engaging despite the violence. Apart from Ratheesh, another factor that caught my attention was that it was based on the infamous police violence that was unleashed in Thankamani in 1986. So much so, it contributed to the fall of Karunkaran's Govt at that point of time. 

Apparently, Ratheesh had invested a significant amount of time to research on the Thankamani issue & as expected, he gelled fictional aspects to it whereby we have a serial killer (obviously, Dileep) on the prowl. The movie begins with a prominent Communist leader being brutally murdered with Commissioner Arpita (Pranitha Subhash) put in charge of the investigation. Soon enough, it becomes evident that all of this was linked to the Thankamani issue & the efforts of Arpita and her team to put the killer behind bars is what this movie is about. 

Unlike his debut, Ratheesh's efforts were pretty mediocre to say the least as neither the story nor the execution of it manages to engage the audience. Obviously, the real life event was horrendous but the intensity of it is not effectively conveyed to the audience (barring a few scenes) & it gets relegated to the background. The focus is on the serial killer and what we get to see is the tried & tested formula whereby he has a personal vendetta and goes to any lengths to ensure that his plan is executed. The dialogues and the technical aspects has an outdated feel to it and it felt like a mediocre serial at times with poor production quality (damn..can't they even get better wigs???)

Most of the performances didn't have much to talk about with Dileep who was reasonably decent in the older version was rather awkward and miscast in the younger avatar. Both Manoj K Jayan & Neeta Pillai were wasted with poorly etched characters while Siddique & Azees Nedumangad were ok. As for the rest of the cast like Pranitha, Ameer, Sudev etc., they were rather mediocre.

Verdict: Nothing much to say except that it failed to do any justice to such a horrific incident & ended up being a predictable run of the mill revenge drama!!!

Verdict: 1/5

Thundu: "An unusually bland movie from Biju Menon!!!"

A couple of days back Riyas Shereef's "Thundu" was streamed on Netflix & the fact that it came online within three weeks of its release was more than ample proof that the audience did not warm up to it in the theatres. The reason as to why I checked it out was solely because of Biju Menon & I was surprised as to how he he decided to be part of such a woeful flick. 

As the title suggests, the movie is essentially about cheating in examinations (& not 'porn') & begins with Mathew (Ajaz Navaz), a pro in malpractice getting caught in the act at school. Incidentally, his father, Constable Baby (Biju Menon) who advised him not to indulge in such practices failed to walk the talk as he does the same for a promotion. To make matters worse, a series of misfortunes descends upon Baby & his efforts to emerge from this seemingly hopeless situation is what this movie is about.

There is hardly anything worthwhile neither in the manner the script was penned nor the execution of it.  I cant barely remember whether any of the humour actually worked & even the performances which is also primarily due to poor etched characters, had nothing much to write about. 

Verdict: A surprisingly mediocre movie from Biju Menon with the only thing that kind of caught my attention was the cheating innovations.

Rating: 1/5

Iyer in Arabia: "Relevant satire that fails to engage!!!"

Even as we speak about the 21st century, there are a significant number of people who are quite narrow minded & rigid when it comes to matters of religion. This is essentially what MA Nishadh wanted to convey through his latest release & to be frank, his mediocre writing is the primary reason why it failed despite the presence of veteran stellar performers such as Urvashi & Mukesh.

Iyer (Mukesh) was an orthodox father who was extremely conservative in matters of religion while his wife, Thansi Rani (Urvashi) was quite liberal in her views. As one would expect, Iyer wanted his son, Rahul (Dhyan Sreenivasan) to stick onto his ideals which kind of proved to be a hindrance to the latter's ambitions. However, Rahul manages to convince his father, to take up an offer in Dubai. But soon enough, Iyer starts to get wary about Rahul's lifestyle & friends and decides to move to UAE with his wife. How all of this takes a toll on the equation between the father & son is what is explored subsequently.

Apart from a couple of sequences and the earnest performance of the veterans, the movie literally struggles to keep us engaged. There are a couple of characters through which Nishadh tries to convey his view regarding the double standards & narrow minded of religious fanatics. But none of these are characters or sequences that we havent come across in skits or movies in the past. None of the technical aspects deserves special mention as it was average at best. However, both Urvashi & Mukesh have done their parts reasonably well within the scope given to them by their characters. The rest of the cast which includes Dhyan, Alencier, Durga etc were ok. 

Verdict: Reminded of skits at various instances as the script was mediocre to say the least despite the subject having the scope of a relevant satire.

Rating: 1/5

Vivekanandan Viralanu: "Kamal struggles in both writing & execution!!!"

The first question that most people would ask me after reading this review is, why did I bother to watch this flick? Well the answer to that is the presence of Kamal, one of the most respected directors that we have & Grace Antony, who I personally rate the most versatile actress in the present generation with her ability to juggle with humour & drama with equal finesse. But little did I realize that this movie would turn out to be such a pain for the senses. 

Kamal has chosen the 'Shining Star' (wonder what was the basis for such a title), Shine Tom (as Vivekanandan) as the protagonist who seemed to have a happy married life despite his peculiar mannerisms & habits. However, the truth was far from that as he was a sexual sadist with his wife, Sithara (Swasika) and partner, Dayana (Grace Antony), made to go through this ordeal regularly. After  a point, both the ladies to do something about that.

There is no doubt that Kamal has chosen a topic that has found voice over the past decade but there is nothing in the story that gives us a sense of freshness be it in the sequences, dialogues or performances. It had an outdated feel to it & to make matters worse, Shine Tom continued with his trademark irritating persona. The so called progressive statements made in the movie did not have the authenticity to it & gave the impression that in it present form, maybe he should have made it more than a decade back. It was disappointing to see Grace choose to be part of such a mediocre project which barely utilized her talent while Swasika & Mareena did whatever was possible within the scope of their poorly etched characters. 

Verdict: Nothing much to say, except that there was nothing shining in this movie!!!

Rating: Forget it