BKU and Viswanath & Sons : "Mamitha on a roll!!!"

Over the past year or so, Mamitha has gone from strength to strength with most of her movies finding success at the box office. Her latest release , "Bethlehem Kudumba Unit" has dethroned "Lokah:Chaper 1" as the highest grossing Malayalam movie. So how did her movies in different industries turn out for me???

Bethlehem Kudumba Unit: "Girish continues to crack the box office formula!!!"

As mentioned earlier, Girish AD has created history with his latest flick as Bhavana Studios along with their partners have laughed their way to the bank. Apart from calling the shots, he has yet again joined forces with Kiran Josey after "Premalu" and the duo have created a screenplay that resonated with the audience. 

After having spend many years at Mundakkayam, Ashley (Mamitha Baiju) & her family had to relocate from there due to financial difficulties. Their new neighbour happened to be Justin (Nivin Pauly) & his family, with the former being a much sought after individual locality for his helpful nature and demeanour. Soon enough this aspect endears to Ashley & before long, she falls in love for him despite the significant age-gap between them. However, Justin wasn't sure whether he would be able to reciprocate it. 

In terms of the core theme, it is obviously the romance between two individuals with a sizable age-gap. Whenever that kind of a scenario has appeared on the screen in the past, it came across as awkward & at times, cringy for the audience. However, Girish handled it perfectly & made it quite organic, and kudos to Kiran & him for the way, they weaved the sequences with an apt mix of humour and romance. There are no evident scenes or dialogues that are squeezed in with the sole intention to infuse laughs, but at the same time, he manages to keep a smile on our faces for most parts of the movie. At the same time, there were certain sections that I felt could have been handled better such as Joel's love angle which I felt over stayed, the handling of some of the supporting artists like Srinda & Suresh Krishna who made their presence felt coz of their abilities but barely had anything meaty & the climax which came across as convenient rather than natural flow of events. 

On the technical side, pretty much all of them were impressive be it Vishnu Vijay, whose tracks were both soothing & in sync with the mood of the movie, with both Ajmal Sabu & Akash Joseph doing a fine job on the cinematography and editing. Coming to performances, it was a character that was tailor made for Nivin as it is a zone that he is extremely good at. At the same time, Mamitha deserves praise for a fine performance with almost all the supporting artists doing utmost justice to their roles be it Sangeeth Prathap, Suresh Krishna, Roshan Shanavas, Vinay Fort etc. 

Verdict: This is undoubtedly one of the most endearing movies of the year. However, I would have to admit that becoming the highest grosser of the industry took me by surprise. Anyway, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Vishwanath & Sons: "Performances make up for an average story!!!"

Interestingly, just a couple of week prior to the release of "BKU", Venky Atluri came out with his latest flick that he had penned which also looked at age-gap romance with Suriya & Mamitha headlining the project. Apparently, it had also hit the bull's eye & continued the success streak for all the three of them. 

The protagonist, Sanjay Vishwanath (Suriya) is an affluent industrialist & an Olympic Champion, who seemed to have everything in life going in his favour. However, his mother (Radhika Sarathkumar) was concerned that he didn't believe in the concept of marriage due to the marital discord that propped up in her life. She expressed concern that there would be no one to continue the lineage & that's when he decides to have a baby through surrogacy. This is where Maddy (Mamitha) comes into the picture & what subsequently happens in their lives is the crux.

After the overwhelming success of "Lucky Bhaskar", Venky opted for a family drama & it would be fair to see that the screenplay does work in many segments. The main reason is the effort that Venky had invested into the manner the lead pair react and respond to various situations. At the same time, the story as such is quite weak & average with the segment on Raveena Tandon being mediocre, and most evident of the flaws is that it came across as artificial with the art team not helping at all. On the technical side, Nimish Ravi's visuals & G V Prakash's music were fine.

The USP is undoubtedly the performances of Suriya, Mamitha & Radhika and each one of them have done utmost justice to their roles. Suriya was at ease with his restrained performance while Mamitha showcased vulnerability and charm in equal measure with Radhika providing excellent support. At the same time, Raveena was a miscast & her performance was far from desirable. 

Verdict: Even though the story was quite average & the staging lacked the authentic feel, the performances of the lead artists makes it a worthwhile watch!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regard...Ben

I'm Game: "DQ shoulders the movie that doesn't maximise on an interesting premise!!!"

The Onam holidays has come to a close & we had quite a few releases in that period. Even Nahas Hidhayath's "I'm Game" was also expected to feature among them, however Wayfarer Films decided to delay the release by a fortnight.  In hindsight, it seemed like a wise decision since "Bethlehem Kudumba Unit" has been on an absolute roll. But the question is, how did DQ's home coming pan out???

Dan John (DQ) was a rich spoilt brat who had no interest in his father's company & invested his time & resources into all sorts of gambling. As a result, he owed significant debts to loan sharks which eventually landed him in the hospital. However, a unique incident happened in his life which seemed to have repercussions for him as well as a few others. So what was the reason for this???

This is Nahas's second directorial venture after the popular "RDX" & apart from the story, he has also peened the screenplay in the company of Sajeer Baba, Ismail Aboobacker & Bilal Moidu. There is a fantasy element to the basic plot and kudos to Nahas & his team for keeping us invested in it. This constitutes the whole of the first half focuses on Dan's lifestyle, discord with his father & the impact of his wayward actions. In the second half, the flashback sequence take centre stage and though those scenes as such were fine, the amount of time invested for it caused a sizable dent on the interest generated early on. In effect, the interesting elements take a back seat and it becomes a typical revenge drama that we have seen in numerous other flicks.

At the same time, almost all the technical aspects were handled exceptionally. The production quality was top notch with Jimshi Khalid's frames, Chaman Chacko's editing, art department & action choreography (stunts & the authenticity in the manner the game was picturised) all deserving praise. Another major positive was Jakes Bejoy's music & BGM which was both elevating and foot tapping stuff.

The main positive is undoubtedly DQ who pulled off the role convincingly and with ease. Antony Varghese did his part aptly with Samyuktha Vishwanath also being quite solid in her part. Both Mysskin & Kayadu were average while Vinay Fort & Kathir were wasted. 

Verdict: There is no doubt that it is a one time watchable movie that keeps us entertained. However, there is no denying that it failed to maximise on the potential that it showed early on. In short, DQ like Dan will be hoping that the audience will not give up on him!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben