Pennu Case, Baby Girl, Chatha Pacha: "Interesting start to the New Year!!!"

Even before we have warmed up to the New Year, the first month has just flown by. Over the course of this month, there has been quite a few news that did gladden the heart with the main being Mammookka finally honoured with the 'Padma Bhushan'. A deserving honour indeed for one of the doyens of Indian Cinema. Coming to releases, I happened to catch a couple of flicks in other languages such as "Border 2" & "Mardani 3" both of which were ok, "Parasakthi" failed to rise to expectations (except for the meme created by a DMK politician) & "The Raja Saab" made sure that it set a high benchmark for the most pathetic flick of the year. So how did our Malayalam flicks fare???

Pennu Case: "Lack of a credible screenplay reduces it to an average con flick!!!"

This was among the first few releases of the year & the trailer as such did seem promising with Febin Sidharth making his directorial debut. The basis thread for his story was about a female who indulged in marriage fraud. He was also assisted in the writing by Jyothish M while the screenplay was worked upon by Ganesh Malayath, Reshmi Radhakrishnan & V Sunu. It certainly sounded like an interesting thought but unfortunately the same cant be said about its execution.

The film commences with Bindhu (Nikhila Vimal) being taken into custody on the eve of her marriage with Subhash (Aju Varghese). The reason for the arrest were the complaints made by few men who claimed that she had duped them into marriage and slipped away with their valuables. The case was entrusted to CI Jacob (Hakim Shahjahan) who along with him team soon finds out that there was truth in their claims & that her actual name was 'Rohini'. So it seemed like an 'open & shut' case or was it???

Even as the audience is told that the protagonist has committed the alleged fraud across the length & breadth of Karnataka & Kerala, there is no actual depiction of what she had actually done except for one incident. The promos seemed to imply that it was a fun flick but barring a couple of laughs, it failed to create genuine humour. From a subject point of view, it was more or less similar to the Hotstar web series, 'Nagendran's Honeymoons' which was directed by Nithin Renji Panicker. However it failed to explore the various situations like Nithin's series & that is where I felt this was quite underwhelming. To be honest, half way into the movie I had a feeling that the climax might be inspired from a classic Hollywood flick  & it turned out to be just that. 

Prior to watching, I actually thought that Nikhila had a meaty opportunity as she would be playing variations of different characters. But in the movie, apart from showing her in different attires, we actually dont get to see her con people. At the same time, she has done a fine job in the emotional portions. Hakkim was fine along with Shivajith while the rest of the artists including Aju didn't create any impact.

Verdict: It had potential in its thread, but the lack of a credible screenplay significantly reduced its effect!!!

Rating: 2/5  

Baby Girl: "Bobby-Sanjay struggles to discover their form!!!"

This was one movie that many would have eagerly looked forward to for a couple of obvious reasons. The main being the presence of Bobby-Sanjay who had penned the script & with Listin Stephen bankrolling the project, it gave us memories of "Traffic". With Nivin Pauly finally having struck gold at the box office, the question was whether that would rub off on the others involved in the project???

It is the second directorial venture of Arun Varma after "Garudan", he hooks the audience into the plot from the first scene itself. The movie unfolds in the Good Shepherd Hospital in Trivandrum where a new born had gone missing. Even as the police are called in, they didn't have any leads until Sanal (Nivin), an attendant voices his suspicions about a possible abductor. The rest of the movie is about the search for the infant & the effect that it had on the people impacted by the incident. 

As mentioned earlier, Bobby-Sanjay gets us invested in the story from the beginning itself & it had a template similar to "Traffic" where there are a couple of parallel tracks. However, they fail to sustain the tempo and that is evident in the latter half where except for some of the emotional sequences that involved Lijomol, the rest of it was quite average. The thrills that Arun tried to create only worked occasionally & even the technical team failed to add anything onto it.

On the performance front, for some reason Nivin came across as quite average & at times, even disinterested. The standout performer was undoubtedly Lijomol who was impressive, with Sangeeth Prathap providing adequate support. Abhimanyu had the figure & attitude needed for his role, but his dialogue delivery still needed work. Another artist that deserves a mention is the girl who essayed the role of the infant's mother. The rest of the artists such as Jaffer Idukki, Azees Nedumangad, Nisha Sarangh did their parts aptly.

Verdict: Just like Sanju Samson has struggled to find form, Bobby-Sanjay is going through the same phase & will be hoping that they rediscover their magic in the next flick. As audience, even we are also eagerly waiting for that!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Chatha Pacha: "Captured the wrestling vibe but the rest falters!!!"

How many of you are/were fans of WWE? Well I am one of them & I would guess most of us who spent their school days in the 90s would belong to the same category. I still vividly remember the WWE trump cards that I used to play with & how eagerly I used to wait for RAW and Smackdown every week. So much so, Undertaker, Hitman, Stone Cold etc., were superstars that we used to regularly discuss. Hence when Advaith Nayar announced his debut directorial venture on this subject, many of us were keen to check it out. 

Apart from calling the shots, Advaith had also penned the script with Sanoop Thykoodam working on the screenplay. The story is about three friends, Loco (Arjun Ashokan), Vetri (Roshan Mathew) & Little (Ishan Shoukath)  who grew up together under the guardianship of the wrestler, Walter. However, certain events led to their separation with Little moving to the North. In the present day, Little came back to Fort Kochi to reunite with his buddies and also set up a WWE type of event in their locality which was the dream of Walter. 

So did the story had me invested in it? To be honest, the answer is 'no'. At the same time, the technical crew did their tasks well. This includes Shankar-Ehsan-Loy's music with the main highlight being the action choreography which was well executed. Anend Chandran also deserves applause for the visuals and the tight cuts by Praveen Prabhakar. However, all of this comes together only when the fights takes place & that's exactly where the issue lies. Apart from the fights, there is hardly anything in it with the so called story being rather weak & the characters poorly etched. The prime example for that is Mammookka's character which was narrated as being 'larger than life' but was presented in a pathetic manner & failed to produce any punch. 

Coming to performances, Arjun has given an earnest performance, with Roshan & Vishak providing adequate support while Ishan was average. A special word of mention for Vedhika Sreekumar as Rosamma who was impressive. The rest of the artists such as Carma (as Kuruvi) & the other members of the wrestling gang also did their parts aptly. Coming to senior artists, Mammookka was wasted in a senseless role along with Sai Kumar. 

Verdict: Except for the well choreographed wrestling sequences, hardly anything else works!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Bha Bha Ba, Haal, Mindiyum Paranjum & Ithiri Neram: "Mixed end to 2025!!!"

Apart from "Sarvam Maya", there were a handful of other flicks that released in December hoping to cash in on the holiday season. Well I dont know what others might have thought about them, but most of them failed to keep me invested in it. So was it the same for you as well???

Bha Bha Ba: "As feared, made a mockery of the devotion & respect that fans have!!!"

2026 was a fantastic year for Lalettan as the legend rocked at the box office & was deservedly honoured with the Dada Saheb Phalke award. However, things took a drastic turn towards the end of the year courtesy of "Vrushabha" (I dont think, I would want to write about it) & "Bha Bha Ba". The latter marked the directorial debut of Dhananjay Shankar with the story penned by Fahim Safar & Noorin Shereef (did they actually write anything??). 

Well the makers had taken anticipatory bail prior to the release with statements that the movie had no logic but just madness. Even with these in mind, I decided to give it a try primarily because of Lalettan's presence. The story is essentially about CM C K Joseph (Baiju Santhosh) being kidnapped by a person who addressed himself as 'The Commoner' (Dileep) from a public event right under the nose of the former's supporters & security personnel. So what was the reason for this kidnap???

There is an effort to make the flick look grand but there is precious little that it could achieve especially with the writing (or rather the lack of it) being mediocre to say the least. The screenplay failed to evoke any sense of engagement or excitement that was expected from a spoof flick and ended up being a pain to the eyes and ears for most of the time. None of the technical aspects stood out & hence I don't think there is any name worth mentioning. 

On the performance front, Dileep was average at best with Vineeth Sreenivasan doing a decent job along with Baiju. Lalettan was wasted in a worthless cameo, Dhyan was ok while Sandy made a mess of the mileage that he got in "Lokah" (hope he doesn't make the same mistake as Guru Somasundaram). There were a plethora of other artists as well who barely mattered. 

Verdict: I cant even understand why Gokulam Gopalan wasted a ton of money on this mediocre stuff where he even made a mockery of himself. In short, don't bother!!!

Rating: 1/5

Haal: "Relevant theme that lacked gravitas in execution!!!

Even prior to the release this was in the news as the CBFC demanded multiple cuts because of the sensitive religious content it was dealing with. This was not the first time that Shane Nigam was part of a project where the focus was on societal pressure due to relationship between two individuals belonging to different communities. The first time was in "Kismath" while over here, 'Love Jihad' was supposed to be the main focal point of the plot.

Set in Kozhikode, Asif Beeran aka Azbee (Shane) aspired to be a rapper & did quite a few small shows in and around his place. One such show was at a wedding where he meets Maria (Sakshi Vaidya) & soon enough, he falls for her. Eventually he expresses his feelings, only to know that her family had already fixed her alliance. However, she reciprocated the feelings though both their families were against the relationship as they belonged to different communities. 

Veeraa is his directorial debut had joined hands with Nishad Koya who had penned the script. The first half for most parts has that typical romance template that doesn't offer anything unique. Subsequently, it deals with the topic of inter-religion marriages, religious conversions and the issues that at times are associated with it. Except for a couple of sequences, I don't think the makers had much clue as to how to deal with the topic which was quite evident in the courtroom scene where it was shown as a walk in the park. The technical aspects were decently done such as Nandagopan's music.

Coming to performances, Shane has done his part well while Sakshi looked good on screen but her inexperience in acting skills shone through. Johny Antony was fine while the rest of the cast were ok as well though they didnt have much to do. 

Verdict: The impression that it gave half way through was that it would dive into the core subject. However, it just skimmed the surface & some of the sequences appeared like a satire further diluting the importance. In short, it is passable at best!!!

Rating: 2/5

Mindiyum Paranjum: "Characters speak the whole time but it fails to hook the audience!!!"

O Henry's 'The Gift of the Magi;" is a short story that needs no introduction as it has been around for more than a century & read by millions. So much so, it has inspired numerous adaptations including Rituparno Ghosh's "Raincoat". The latest adaptation is from our industry as Arun Bose has co-written it with Mridul George & helmed the project which had Aparna Balamurali & Unni Mukundan as the lead pair. 

In terms of the story, there isn't much to explain as Sanal (Unni) & Leena (Aparna) has been married for a couple of years with the former based in the Middle East trying to get his business venture off the ground. In between, Sanal decided to head back home for a quick visit & what this movie captures is essentially the romantic conversations between the husband and wife. This gives us glimpses of their relationship, family dynamics and how it grew over time. 

There is no doubt that both the artists has give an earnest performance & kudos to both of them for that. However, the writing was quite average as it failed to engage the audience beyond a period of time. The situations that the couple go through over the course of their relationship does not provide anything that we haven't seen in the past nor was there any uniqueness in the way it was executed including the technical aspects.

Verdict: Earnest performances let down by an average script that doesn't have much to offer when it comes to hooking the audience!!!

Rating: 2/5

Ithiri Neram: "Feel good romantic drama!!!"

In the above review, I had mentioned about conversational romance & this one from Prasanth Vijay can also be slotted in the same category. The primary difference between the two is that over here Vishak Shakti, in his maiden effort as a script writer focuses on ex-lovers who catch up after a few years. So we have Anish (Roshan Mathew) who runs a popular talk show in an online channel known as 'Ithiri Neram'. On the night prior to the baptism of his child, Anish gets a call from his ex-lover, Anjana (Zarin Shihab) & decides to spent some time with her as she was on her way to the US for higher studies. Over the course of that meeting, they revisit the emotional scars of their love with a smile & end up in a situation that was both hilarious & worrisome.

In the beginning, the movie gives the vibe of Prem Kumar's "96" but as the story moves along, we get to realize that this had an refreshing identity of its own. Obviously, kudos to Vishak for the way he has written the screenplay and the realistic dialogues that captures the organic nature of the relationship. The protagonists are not shown as beacons of virtue but it does not travel further down that path as it is diverted towards a crisis management scenario which provides some of the hilarious moments. In a way, that kind of diluted what it initially started off, though to be honest I still liked the way they decided to conclude the story. 

Apart from the efforts of the people behind the camera including Basil C J's music and befitting background score, the protagonists needs to be thoroughly appreciated for a job well done. Both Roshan & Zarin did their parts exceptionally well as they put in the right amount of subtlety and spontaneity to their performances. They were well supported by Nandu & Anand Manmadhan with Jeo Baby in a cameo as well. 

Verdict: The first half is both soulful & tugs at the emotional cords thanks to the realistic dialogues and impressive performances. Though the latter half might have mellowed that impact, it was still an endearing watch!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

Sarvam Maya: "Perfect family flick for the festive season!!!"

We are into 2026 but this opinion piece (another one will follow soon) is about Akhil Sathyan's Christmas release "Sarvam Maya". I presume each & every one of you had a good break, since I certainly did; after all there is no substitute for quality time with our family. Anyway apart from catching up with friends and wolfing the goodies, I had checked out some of the movies that had released over the past few weeks. Anyway, based on box office reports, seems like Nivin finally had much to cheer about his latest flick. 

After being away from the screen for quite a while, the audience got to see Nivin in two avatars in the span of a couple of weeks. The first one was in P R Arun's series, "Pharma" in Jio Hotstar, where he did a fine job as the medical rep who turns whistle blower. In his second outing, he appeared in the role of Prabhendu, an aspiring guitarist who was born into a traditional Brahmin family that were much sought after for performing rituals and prayers. With his career not quite taking flight, he decided to head back home for a short break and assists his cousin, Rupesh (Aju Varghese) who made a living doing rituals. One of them happened to be an exorcism ritual & that's when a spirit (Riya Shibu) befriends him, who is as clueless about her state as him.

This is Akhil's second directorial venture after "Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum" which he has penned as well. Unlike the usual Malayalam horror flicks, there are no scary moments & that in itself made it for an interesting watch. In terms of the script itself, there is nothing out of the ordinary but the manner in which the screenplay is drafted with a reliable cast to shoulder it made it an endearing viewing experience. The humour is present right throughout making us to have a smile on our face for many sequences while at the same time, the conflict brought in at the end felt forced. All the technical aspects were neatly done be it Justin Prabhakaran's soulful tracks, Sharan Velayudhan's visuals & the production design team. 

However, the main highlight is undoubtedly the performances led by Nivin who finally found himself in a role that is in his comfort zone. His ease with humour & the ability to evoke a pleasant sensation in the audience whenever he ventures down this track was evident yet again. Riya was excellent as the bindass spirit & the manner in which she exudes a positive vibe with her general demeanour benefited the movie immensely. It's been quite a while since we had the Aju-Nivin combo and as always, it lived upto expectations with their off-screen camaraderie shining through on-screen as well. The rest of the cast such as Janardhanan, Reghunath Paleri etc., did their partly aptly.

Verdict: Akhil weaved the type of grounded feel good magic that is associated with an Anthikkad movie, which was whole heartedly accepted by the audience. The USP is undoubtedly Nivin and the earnest performance put in by Riya with the credible support of Aju, all of which proved to be the recipe for success. So do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben