Hridayapoorvam: "Lalettan's charm shoulders this feel good flick!!!"

It's been more than a few weeks since Onam had got over even though the Malayali Associations continue to celebrate it at various places. Anyway I have been busy with my professional commitments & hence hasn't been able to pen my opinion about the movies that I had watched over the past few weeks. This includes, Sathyan Anthikad's "Hridayapoorvam" that I had incidentally watched even before "Lokah". Well the movie have already done rousing business at the box office making it yet another winner for Lalettan. So did I actually enjoy this flick???

This was the first time that the veteran director had collaborated with his twin sons as Akhil was credited with the story while Anoop served as the associate director. The protagonist in the movie was Sandeep Balakrishnan (Lalettan), an affluent businessman who ran a successful cloud kitchen chain in Kochi. Incidentally, he had a cardiac failure which required him to have a heart transplantation that belonged to Colonel Ravindranath who was based in Pune. As he slowly got back to his normal life, he was invited by the Colonel's daughter, Haritha (Malavika Mohanan) to her engagement. Though initially reluctant, he eventually decides to attend it and the few days that he ends up spending with Haritha & her mother, Devika (Sangita) has an effect on him which makes him unsure of his emotions. 

In terms of the story, it certainly had adequate content in it but Sonu T.P wasn't able to properly flesh it out in the screenplay. The conflict of emotions was an interesting thought but it seemed like they didnt want to explore this angle much & opted for humour in those sequences to paper over it. There is no problem in opting for humour though it meant that they failed to cash in on some browny points. The focus was more on the Sandeep-Haritha angle & that kind of looked dicey, not to mention the lack of chemistry between Lalettan & Malavika. At the same time, it was quite the opposite with Sangita and they should have looked into it with more interest. On the whole, it felt fine and was a decent time pass. All the technical aspects were neatly handled be it Anu Moothedeth's frames or Justin Prabhakaran's music both of which was in sync with the mood and tone that the story wanted to convey. 

In terms of performances, Lalettan was impressive as always with his ease in handling both humour and emotions. Giving him perfect company was Sangeeth who has done an excellent job in making sure quite a few of the sequences didn't drag primarily because of his energy and humour. The Lalettan-Sangeeth combo is undoutedly the biggest plus of this flick. Both Malavika & Sangita did their parts aptly, and as mentioned earlier, there was indeed a chemistry with Lalettan. As for the rest of the cast, Siddique did provide humour though it didn't have any relevance as such to the story and the same also applies to the others who seemed to be there just to complete the quorum. 

Verdict: There is no doubt that it is encouraging to see movies perform well at the box office & this  also happens to be one such flick. It certainly didnt bore you or test my patience, but it could have fared far better with a much better screenplay. In short, a feel good flick that benefits from the Lalettan-Sangeeth combo!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben

Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra: "This superhero will take the win on screen & at the box office!!!"

Yet another Onam has come & gone, and I presume just like me most of you would have enjoyed your time with family & friends feasting on the sadya & the goodies. Another main aspect of this festive season are the eagerly awaited movie releases which usually leaves us spoiled for choice more often than not. This year was no different & the first one that I had watched among them was Dominic Arun's super hero flick. I had found the trailer quite intriguing & hence the expectations were nigh high.

Dominic has penned the script which is based on the rich folklore of Kerala. Incidentally, in one of his interviews he had mentioned that he was inspired by Richard Schenkman's "The Man From Earth" (one of my personal favourites, please do watch it if you haven't). The main plot is staged in Bangalore as Chandra (Kalyani Priyadarshan) is summoned to the city at the behest of 'Moothon' and asked to maintain a low profile. Opposite to the building where she stayed, Sunny (Naslen) shared a bachelors' pad with his buddies, Venu (Chandu Salimkumar) & Naijil (Arun Kurian). The trio led a carefree life goofing around & that was when Sunny was smitten by Chandra. However, there was something mysterious about her as she barely had a social life & ventured out only when the night fell. Sunny was keen to unravel the mystery & what he found out was something that he had least expected. 

It is no mean task to mount a superhero genre in our Indian film industry & even more challenging when it comes from a small industry like Malayalam. However, time & again, the latter have managed to keep us invested in it due to the quality in the story & screenplay with well etched characters, rather than rely on visual gimmicks with crores spent on stuff that neither has logic or finesse. Kudos to Dominic for a fantastic script with Santhy Balachandran assisting him on the screenplay. Incidentally, she had featured in his debut venture "Tharangam", & I did enjoy the wackiness of that. The manner in which he brought in elements like Kalliyankattu Neeli, Chathan, Kathanar etc & tied those tales with the present time was impressive. The first half runs at a slow pace but once the backstory etc is revealed, it starts to pick up pace which is elevated by the antagonist and the cameos. 

Unlike majority of the other movies in this genre where the film maker gets lost in the technical gimmicks & CGI, Dominic was sensible enough to ensure that those elements complimented his script. It is hard to pinpoint as to which person took centre stage, since each & every member has done a praise worthy job. However, I will start off with Jakes Bejoy, the man has been on fire for quite a while & I personally rate him the best among the present generation for his versatility. His BGM elevated many of the sequences & the choice of retro classics like 'Kiliye Kiliye' etc was top notch. Nimish Ravi was excellent with his choice of colour palettes for the visuals, with the neon lighting providing that rich feel to the scenes. At the same time, Chaman Chacko enhanced its effect with judicious cuts and the visual effects were also neatly done for the budget on offer. Kudos to Yannick Ben & his team for the exceptional action choreography especially the ones that was staged in the forest & at the cafe.

Coming to performances, hats off to Kalyani for a fine performance which was superbly supported by Sayanora who dubbed for her. Actually when the first look poster came out, it reminded me of Anna Ben in "Kalki 2898 AD" (who actually did a small role as well) & who I felt would have been an apt choice for this role. However, Kalyani's action sequences were impressive & since the character demanded an inherent charm & a stoic face for most parts, it worked to her favour as she is not so adept when it comes to expressing emotions. Similarly, Durga Vinod who portrayed her childhood also deserves praise. Whenever I think of Lokesh's "Leo", one of the main thing that I liked in that movie was the spine chilling performance of Sandy & he has aced it over here as well with an excellent portrayal of Inspector Nachiyappa. Naslen has done justice to his part with commendable support from Chandu and Arun while Tovino rocked in his cameo with his charm & histrionics. 

Verdict: It is an excellent effort from Dominic & his team and kudos to them for that. Another person who deserves equal appreciation is Dulquer for bankrolling this creative vision. Since DQ & Dominic has already set a benchmark with this flick, it is not going to be an easy task to live up to it in the subsequent parts (presumably four more). But hopefully they will continue to believe that story is king & not the budget. Anyway look forward to Dominic & others like Arun Chandu ("Gaganachari") to take this genre forward. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.75/5

Regards...Ben