Mohiniyattam, Oru Durooha Saahacharyathil, Pallichattambi: "Audience dance to the tunes of Saiju Kurup's dark comedy!!!"

Well Mahesh Narayanan's "Patriot", has hit the screens across the globe & has garnered mixed reactions, though I did quite like it. Anyway, in the lead up to that, there has been quite a few releases in the month of April hoping to cash in on the holiday season. So which among those managed to keep our spirits high???

Mohiniyattam: "A befitting sequel that sets the bar higher!!!"

When "Bharathanatyam" had released a couple of years back, it barely made an impact at the box office primarily because of poor promotions & pre-conceived notion. However, it became the talk of town when it was released on the OTT platform & garnered appreciation from various quarters. Hence when the sequel was announced, I was more than eager to check it out at the earliest. 

As in the prequel, Krishnadas Murali had juggled with both direction & penned the script; with Vishnu R Pradeep also involved in the latter. The story picks up from where it has left off with the setting moved to Sreekandapuram where Sasi (Saiju Kurup) & his family, help Rukmini Amma (Sreeja Ravi) have a home of her own. Even as they were getting settled down, Bharathan Nair's (Sai Kumar) friend, Govindraja (Suraj Venjaramoodu) decide to pay her a visit to invite them to the former's memorial event. However, he had a ulterior motive which included yet another revelation about Bharathan Nair. 

Well there is no doubt that the thought that had gone into the story is far superior than the prequel. Over here as well, the central theme is yet another chapter of Bharathan Nair which opens a can of worms. This is revealed within the first 15 mins itself & the rest of the movie is how the family deals with the issue which in turn gets them into a much stickier situation. The humour is impressive and maintained right throughout with all the characters given adequate screen space & relevance. Even as Krishnadas is deservedly applauded for his efforts, his technical team should also be appreciated for their efforts be it Bablu Aju's cinematography or Electronic Kili's music. 

As mentioned earlier, all the characters are adequately considered & each one of them have done utmost justice to their parts. Kalaranjini rocked as Saraswati with adequate support from Saiju Kurup, Sreeja Ravi, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Swathidas Prabhu, Divya Nair, Sruthy Suresh & the twins. Suraj had the role of the antagonist but the manner in which he handled it effortlessly with humour deserves mention along with Baby Jean. Vinay Fort also appears in a brief role towards the end & he was an absolute scream as well. 

Verdict: Certainly, the most entertaining movie that I have watched this movie. Apart from an hilarious plot, it was equally well executed and performed.

Rating: 3.5/5

Oru Durooha Saahacharyathil: "Interesting beginning that fizzles out later on!!!"

Just like Mammookka, another artist that had consciously made efforts to consistently explore various type of characters has been Chackochan. The latest flick to be added to that list is from the stable of Ratheesh Poduval who has always made interesting movies ever since he came into the industry with "Android Kunjappan Version 5.25". Just as in his other movies, he had penned the script for this as well & adopts a pattern that has a significant dose of quirkiness. 

The story is set in Wayanad, where Sethu (Chackochan), a Govt health worker who has a timid demeanour & has been on the lookout for an marital alliance for quite a while. However, one of the main reason for the rejection was because Sethu had to take care of his elder brother, Madhu (Dileesh Pothan). Incidentally, he was bed ridden as he was paralysed below the waist & also suffered from hallucinations. Around this time, an armed yet injured individual takes refuge in their home & it seemed like the police led by Armiyas, Sethu's cousin (Chidambaram) were on the lookout for him for alleged Maoist connections. So how did Sethu manage this sticky situation???

The manner in which the film commenced was interesting with the USP being the quirkiness of the characters. The first half was really engaging with humour and emotional moments seamlessly blended & there were quite a few hilarious sequences as it takes shots at the social system. But the effect wore off in the second half as it pivots to a rather solemn tone & fails to sustain the interest. On the technical side, it was ok but nothing that deserves special mention.

Even as the writing struggled towards the end, the performances were quite solid especially Chackochan & Potha, both of whom were impressive. Sajin Gopu did his part well though at times, it reminded me of his performance in "Painkili". Chidambaram was a pleasant surprise as he was pretty decent though I felt that a more accomplished artist was required for that role.

Verdict: Ratheesh's brand of movies at times tend to push the envelope a bit too hard & make it incomprehensible to the audience. But even then I felt it was a good effort with both Chackochan & Dileesh deserving praise for their fine performances. 

Rating: 2.25/5

Pallichattambi: "Tovino's earnest effort carries the movie!!!"

The first time that heard about this movie was in the news when it was alleged that one of the investors were cheated. Subsequently, there was a delay in censorship due to the election code of conduct possibly because it spoke about the 'Liberation Struggle' as most of you would be aware was about anti-communist protests. Anyway, I was curious to know as to how that panned out. 

It is an action period drama that Suresh Babu has set in the latter half of the 1950s as the 'Vimochana Samaram' (Liberation Struggle) was gathering steam against the Communist Party that had formed the first government in the state. Even the church was apprehensive about the Communists & decided to form an army of its own to counter them, with the person in charge referred to as 'Christopher'. The search for such an individual for the Kanniyar church led them to Krishna Pillai (Tovino Thomas), who took up the name of 'Pothan Christopher' at their request and decided to help them out. Soon enough, his efforts started to bear fruit, though it soon became evident that there was someone else who pulled the strings while the blame fell on the Communists.

Dijo has mounted the movie on an elaborate scale & the thought that has gone into the script was engaging as such. However, the screenplay falters as it tries takes on many subjects but none of them are quite fleshed out. The main example for that is the much celebrated cameo role of Prithviraj as the antagonist which barely packed a punch except for the wow factor that he generated because of his physical appearance. Even the execution of certain scenes especially the climax portions etc didn't have the authentic feel & came across as being staged in sets. The political balancing was also evident with the mention of a 'Puthupally leader' in a pro-Left flick. On the technical side it was neatly done be it Tijo Tomy's cinematography or Jakes Bejoy's music, though the art department could have done a better job.

Tovino has done utmost justice to the character be it in terms of his physical appearance & the genuinity he brought to the emotional sequences. Kayudu Lohar had very scenes & she has done a fine job with the chemistry with Tovino being palpable. Rairu Ramana as Shatru was intimidating though the dubbing ought to have been better, while the rest of the host of artists did their parts decently. Prithvi didnt have much to do & suffered from a poorly etched character. 

Verdict: Screenplay fails to provide the fuel that would have boosted the movie. In short, you can check it out for Tovino if interested!!!

Rating: 2/5  

Regards...Ben

Patriot: "Technically impressive with an underwhelming latter half!!!"

Finally, the eagerly awaited "Patriot" has hit the screens around the globe with the audience hoping to feast their eyes on the collaboration of our legends as soon as possible. As a Malayali, Mammookka & Lalettan has been the pride of our land & nation, with sensational performances & they continue to rule the roost even after four decades across generations. Hence seeing them share screen space after 18 years is indeed an occasion & I was curious to see as to whether Mahesh Narayanan handled them sensibly or felt obliged to do fan service???

From the first scene itself, Mahesh puts us bang into the middle of the central plot where it is revealed that 'Patriot', a surveillance software that the government had meant for national security was instead being used against its own citizens. The men behind this unscrupulous act was the political heavyweight, J P Sundaram (Rajiv Menon) & his son, Shakti (Fahadh Faasil), with the former having licensed it to the private company that was headed by the latter. Minister Nalini Ramakrishnan (Revathi) gets wind of this & summons, Dr Daniel James (Mammookka), scientific advisor at DRW who was instrumental in the creation of the 'Patriot', to take toll of the situation. However, even before Daniel could make significant inroads into the issue, he gets branded a traitor & is forced to flee. Subsequently, it is about the tug of war between both sides with each one hoping to inflict a thumping blow on the other. 

It is one of those movies where the trailer pretty much gives us an idea as to what is the main plot & we are able to make an assumption as to how the dots might be connected. This leaves the director in a tough situation since he needs to make sure that his creation is still able to keep the audience engaged. Well to be honest, Mahesh has managed to do that for large parts. Anyway, coming to the theme, the software in question has an uncanny resemblance to the Israel developed Pegasus spyware & most of us would have already seen movies from Hollywood or other industries, like "Irumbu Thirai" that dealt with surveillance & data breach. 

As Mammookka & Mahesh had repeatedly mentioned in the promotions, it is a content driven grounded flick & not a mass masala that celebrates star worship. It is essentially a slow burner which could be classified as a cross between socio-political drama and espionage thriller. The first half sets the stage impressively but the latter half fails to sustain that momentum & that is where it comes across as quite underwhelming. It meanders at a sluggish pace at times as the screenplay fails to keep us emotionally invested & even if the intention was to not make both the legends super-human, there were still ample opportunities to create that high, which he failed to capitalise. 

On the technical side, it was exquisitely executed as the production quality was of international standards. The frames were top notch & Manush Nandan deserves applause for his efforts. It's been a while since we heard from Sushin Shyam & he made up for his absence with excellent BGM. At the same time, I felt there were certain instances where silence rather than adding gravitas to the scene pulled it down. Kudos to the action choreographers as all of them were neatly done with Mahesh & Rahul Radhakrishnan doing a fine editing job though the way some of the sequences concluded felt rather abrupt. 

Coming to performances, Mammookka was fantastic as the protagonist as he pulled it off with utmost ease. Similarly, Lalettan provided the gravitas to the extended cameo role & the real life camaraderie and affection that both the legends have for each other shone through in the brief moments that they shared (such as the hospital & car scene). Rajiv Menon was impressive with Chackochan providing adequate support along with Indrans & Shaheen Siddique who did their parts aptly. At the same time, Fahadh was ok as his role certainly suffered from lack of better characterization as it was quite one dimensional after a point of time. As for the ladies, Revathi was top notch in her brief role, Zarina Shihab deserves praise though she barely had anything to do after the airport sequence, Darshana warrants applause while Nayanthara & Grace Antony was wasted.

Verdict: Kudos to Anto Joseph & his team for the production quality & hopefully it does well at the box office, as significant returns for this will encourage others to invest in similar huge projects. In terms of the content & technical aspects, Mahesh has done a praise worthy job as he made sure that the legends were there as fleshed out characters rather than mass masala props. At the same time, the screenplay in the latter half required much better work as the lack of flow between certain sequences & inability/reluctance to dial up the high moments proving to be the bane, with the climax turning out to quite tame. There is no doubt that it is still a quality movie that deserves to be watched & & that too with the awareness that it is not a fanboy movie!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben