Nadanna Sambhavam, Ullozhukku, Big Ben & Samadhana Pusthakam: "Apart from one, the others fail to impress!!!"

Even as the monsoon lashed the length & breadth of the state, there has been no dearth of movies as it continued to hit the screens every weekend without fail. Most of them failed to make a mark but there were a couple which did have a decent story to convey. So how did it cater to my taste?

Nadanna Sambhavam: "Not much of a sambhavam!!!"

This is Vishnu Narayan's second directorial venture after "Maradona" with the story being the effort of Rajesh Gopinadhan. The events of the plot unfolds in a posh residential colony where Unni (Biju Menon), a marine engineer & his wife, Roshy (Sruthy Ramachandran) with daughter had recently moved in. Unni was the type of character who was pretty warm, friendly & cordial making him a rather popular person among the ladies there. This irked many of their husbands which included Ajith, (Suraj Venjaramood) who had a chauvinistic attitude that led to marital discord with his wife, Dhanya (Lijomol). It was a matter of time before the situation escalated & that's exactly what happened as Unni was literally framed for an incident that he was innocent of. 

In terms of what Vishnu & Rajesh wanted to convey, it did have a credible thread as it was essentially about the subversive emotions of married women. They opted for a satirical tone to it making many of the scenes laced with light humour. But it fails to offer anything unique or novel that kept us invested in it. Luckily for them, I didnt feel it tested our patience though there is no denying that the sequences that followed the police station saga was rather average, not to mention that the climax was quite lame. 

Coming to performances, Biju Menon's character was a cake walk for him & he has done it quite well. Suraj was the one who actually had the scope to perform to which he has done justice as he showcased the traits of a chauvinistic person quite effectively. Lijomol did her part aptly while Shruti didnt have much to do. The rest of the cast have also done their parts reasonably ok. 

Verdict: Not much of a sambhavam except that it is a harmless time-pass flick!!!

Rating: 2/5

Ullozhukku: "Intense emotional drama backed by power-packed performances!!!"

This was a movie that I was eagerly looking forward to for the reason that it featured Urvashi, who I personally consider the most versatile Malayalam actress to date. In addition, it was directed by Christo Tomy who is already a two time National Award winning director at just 36 years of age & the presence of Parvathy, who is also a powerhouse performer in her own right. 

Based on the script penned by Christo himself, it is about the emotional struggles that a mother, Leelamma (Urvashi) & her daughter-in-law, Anju (Parvathy) go through following the death of her son. Due to the heavy rains that had lashed out in the region, the funeral had to be kept on hold as the graveyard was flooded. Over the course of those days, it became evident that Anju was in an unhappy marriage & was keen on starting her life afresh. On the other hand, despite the sorrow; Leelamma looked forward to the arrival of her grand-child. Though everything looked fine on the surface, both of them harboured secrets which threatened to break the very basis of their relationship. 

Christo looks into the emotional package that both the female protagonists from different generations carry. Both of them had unfavourable circumstances thrust upon them by fate & how they chose to deal with it is what is being portrayed. Obviously, as an audience we will end up taking sides as the story slowly unfolds the secrets. Even as all the proceedings were paced properly & realistically showcased, the climax was rather lame as it was rushed & too convenient to reach a pre-determined end. On the technical side, Shehnad Jalal's visuals were fine while Sushin Shyam ensured that silence was given adequate importance to convey the emotional heft. 

Does one even have to talk about Urvashi's performance? The legend has given a power packed performance which kept us completely invested in the story. Giving her apt company was Parvathy who was equally impressive. Prashant Murali as Thomaskutty didn't have much screen space but did his part well along with Arjun Radhakrishnan. The rest of the cast have also done justice to their roles.

Verdict: I dont think they could have chosen a better title for this movie. Kudos to Christo, Urvashi & Parvathy, as it was well made & performed. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Big Ben: "Execution wasn't exactly thought through!!!"

The last week of June saw Bino Augustine making his directorial debut with a story that he had penned about child protection law that is prevalent in the western world. It did have shades of Ashima Chibber's "Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway", though that had marital discord as the main cause. Lovely (Aditi Ravi) worked with the NHS while her husband, Jean (Anu Mohan) was a stay home dad as he was a SI who was presently under suspension due to which he had moved to the UK. Life moves on calmly until an issue happens with Lovely at work to add onto a quarrel that Jean got into with her colleague, Wilson (Vinay Fort) & his friends during an Onam function. This brings in the investigation team into the picture & in Jean's fit of fury, it resulted in an event that injured their daughter. Soon enough, the child welfare agency takes away their child stating that she was not safe to be with her parents. What subsequently unfolds is the effort of the parents to get back their daughter. 

It was an interesting theme & a premise that is not explored much in our industry. The manner in which the story is build was fine & we get to feel the tense situation that the parents go through. There is no doubt that the second half makes for a more engaging watch, but it felt like Bino had pushed the envelope a bit too far as it lacked the believability. In addition, another aspect that could have been given more screen space was the emotional turmoil Lovely went through. The technical aspects were handled well.

On the performance front, Aditi has done a fine job while Anu was decent though he does struggle in the emotional scenes. The rest cast of the cast have which included Nisha Sarang, Biju Sopanam, Vijay Babu did their roles aptly while the presence of Mia George & Chandunath barely had any relevance.

Verdict: Despite the decent theme, the movie falters in its execution.

Rating: 2/5

Samadhana Pusthakam: "This pusthakam is unlikely to give box office samadhanam for the makers!!!"

After having collaborated with Arun Jose in the role of a script writer, the duo decided to reverse roles for this flick with Raveesh Nath making his directorial debut. Along with CP Sivan, they decided to pen a story on the need of sex education rather than sweep it under the carpet & treat it as taboo which in turn led to more harm that could have been easily avoided. 

The story is set a couple of decades back when soft porn magazines were still much in demand as internet was still in its infancy. Muthalib (Irfan) along with his buddies rented out a soft porn magazine from a shop & decided to make some bucks out of it by loaning it to their classmates. However, things takes a turn when Appu (Dhanush) flicks the book from them & the news of such a magazine being circulated among the students reaches the ears of the school authorities.

There are quite a few hilarious scenes as expected & it works reasonably well in the first half. But I felt the latter half could have been much better & though the emotional sequences in the climax had an impact, the subsequent preaching didn't have much effect at all. On the performance front, almost all the youngsters did their parts well while the others such as Veena Nair (especially the climax sequence), James Eli, Siju Wilson etc. provided the adequate support. 

Verdict: Certainly provided the laughs early on, but failed to provide an effective latter half and had a rather tame end!!!

Rating: 1.75/5

Regards...Ben

Kalki 2898 AD & Gaganachari: "Our film industry has certainly moved ahead in dealing with sci-fi themes!!!"

The T20 WC has come to an end while the Euros & Copa America have reached the business end of the tournament. So much so, that even though I did happen to watch some interesting sci-fi themed movies over the past couple of weeks, I didn't quite find the time to pen my opinion as to why I liked them. These include Nag Ashwin's "Kalki 2898 AD" & Arun Chandu's "Gaganachari". Whenever our Indian movies have ventured into sci-fi, more often than not; it came across as half baked & lacked convincibility. So what made these two flicks work for me???

Kalki 2898 AD: "Visually inspired from many others though creatively it had a soul of its own!!!"

One of the most awaited movie of the year was undoubtedly this flick & to be honest, I didn't have much expectations primarily because of the way majority of Prabhas's movies have shaped up after the "Baahubali" series. To do that, even the trailer looked like it was inspired from a plethora of Hollywood flicks. The only aspect that kept me interested was the stellar star cast which included Big B & Kamal Haasan and that the story was a mix of mythology and sci-fi. 

Based on the script by Ashwin in collaboration with Rutham Samar, Sai Madhav Burra & Sarawagna Kumar, the story is set in the post-apocalyptic world in 2898 AD and it is about the protection of the mother of Lord Vishnu's next avatar, Kalki in Kali Yuga. The movie unfolds in the aftermath of the Kurukshetra War where Aswathama (Big B) tries to kill Uttara's unborn son, the heir apparent to the Pandavas; with Brahmastra, to avenge their loss. However, Krishna intervenes to prevent the mishap & curses Ashwathama to roam the land until redemption comes with him taking the role of a protector for Kalki's arrival. 

This the second directorial venture that I had watched of Ashwin after "Mahanati" which I had also liked. Kudos to the manner in which he has seamlessly blended mythology with sci-fi and will undoubtedly go down as one of the the finest ever VFX/CGI Indian movie. There is no doubt that it was visually inspired from numerous movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy", "Dune", "Star Wars", "Mad Max", "Justice League", "Man of Steel" etc, the list goes on & on. Thankfully it was not just a blatant mediocre rip off but rather handled with finesse that acted as add-ons to a proper story that was engaging & awe evoking. That doesn't mean that it was all hale & hearty, as the first half had significant chunks that just beats around the bush for quite a while before it gets into the proceedings.

Kudos to the vision of Ashwin that went into the world building of Kurukshetra, Complex, Shambala etc & hats off to the dedication of the technical team which was top notch to say the least. Each & every visual aspect was done exceptionally well be it the VFX-CGI & the cinematography by Djordje Stojiljkovic. However, Santhosh Narayanan's music failed to leave a lasting impact though the BGM was impressive.

It might have been understandably marketed as a Prabhas movie but the one who steals the show is Big B. The legend was absolutely brilliant in all facets of the performance including action which was impressive considering he is 81. Another bonafide legend who made his presence felt was Kamal Haasan in a brief appearance who will take centre stage in the sequel. After numerous lack lustered performance since "Baahubali"(though I did like him in "Salaar"), Prabhas is back with a bang as Ashwin knew how to utilize his star power. Deepika puts on a praise worthy show along with Shobhana & Anna Ben (wish she had a longer role), Keerthy Suresh makes a mark with her voice as 'Bujji'. though not sure why Disha Patani was even there. There were a plethora of cameos, most of which failed to hit the mark barring one. 

Verdict: It has already grossed a 1000 C at the box office which might not essentially translate into huge profits for Vyjayanthi Movies considering the production cost was in the range of 600C. Anyway kudos to Ashwin for a well crafted movie & sets the stage for an eagerly awaited sequel!!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Gaganachari: "Mockumentary that makes all the right noises!!!"

I still remember the first time I saw its poster as it had caught my eye due to its uniqueness. However, later on I forgot about it until there was news of it making news at various film festivals. This included the honour of being adjudged the best movie at the Art Blocks International Film Festival held at Copenhagen. 

This is Arun Chandu's third directorial venture & this time around as mentioned earlier has opted for a sci-fi subject that he had penned with Siva Sai. They have placed the story in a dystopian Kerala in 2043 where the planet had ceased to exist in the manner that we know. Victor Vasudevan ( ganesh Kumar) was an ex-military officer that was part of the team that had taken on the aliens when they first came to the planet. Presently, he led a peaceful retired life in a secluded building along with his nephew, Alan (Gokul Suresh) & helper, Vaibhav (Aju Varghese). Things take a turn when Vaibhav unknowingly brings home a female alien (Anarkali Marikkar) & how they manage the situation before it goes out of control is what this movie is about. 

Kudos to both Arun & Siva for pulling this off as it was no easy feat considering they had a minimalistic budget & yet had to convincingly convey to the audience about the sci-fi aspect whenever it was shown. They have intelligently focused their energies on the content which was both witty and quirky in equal measure. As per Arun, the inspiration behind it is Taika Waititi's "What We Do In The Shadows" whereby they made a concoction of Malayalam pop culture references with a liberal sprinkling of the socio-political climate, all of which provide ample moments of humour. The contribution of the technical team has to be really appreciated be it Surjith Pai's visuals, Shankar Sharma's score & Aravind Manmadhan's editing. Their work ensured that Arun's vision was executed in the best manner possible. 

The only time that I could possibly remember when Ganesh genuinely made me to laugh must be in "Manichitrathazhu" (there might be others that I cant recollect). As Victor, he was top notch & handled the humour proficiently, which I believe is undoubtedly one of his best career performances. Another person who surprised me was Gokul as he showed his capability to handle humour. At times, he did tend to go overboard but in the context of his character, I felt it was fine. Aju gives a fine performance along with Anarkali & kudos to Mallika Sukumaran's vocal presence which was a master stroke by Arun.

Verdict: It is definitely an engaging watch that keeps us in good spirits for most parts. Anyway with the makers have already announced their intention to make another flick in the same genre, "Maniyan Chittappan" with Suresh Gopi in the lead (an easter egg related to the same is shown in the movie); it could possibly herald the beginning of sensible sci-fi flicks from our industry. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Regards...Ben

Grr, Golam, Little Hearts, Once Upon a Time in Kochi, SSHP & Marivillin Gopurangal: "More thought put into titles than on the story!!!"

The monsoon has lashed the length & breadth of the state in full fury bringing some much needed respite from the torrid summer. Anyway over the past couple of weeks, there has been a few releases; some of which I had happened to watch. Well except for one, the rest were largely average or mediocre. So the question is when will the next big release come to the theatres? Seems like the answer to that could be "Kalki 2898 AD" though many of the scenes in the trailer looked like a blatant rip off of many Hollywood flicks. 

Grr: "Eww could have been a better choice of title!!!"

During it's promotions, Jay K stated that the thought for this 'survival comedy' came from an incident that unfolded in Trivandrum Zoo a few years back. This is Jay's second directorial venture after the reasonably appreciated "Ezra" & he has penned the script from the idea that was mentioned earlier. 

Regimon (Chackochan) is an entrepreneur who was in an affair with Rachana (Anagha), the daughter of a prominent politician. As one would expect, her father was against their relation due to caste & financial reasons and hence the two decided to elope. But when she didn't turn up on the decided day, Regi ends up drunk & jumps into a lion's enclosure in the zoo. The rest of the movie is about the efforts of the authorities to rescue him.

Well to be frank, apart from a few sporadic laughs; there was hardly anything worthwhile that kept the audience engaged. It felt like the sticking together of various skits that we usually come across in TV channels. Neither the main plot nor the sub-plots provided anything that was unique and that proved to be it's downfall. None of the technical aspects deserved special mention including the VFX.

Even the performances didn't have much to write home about as it was average at best, though it had more to do with the lack of material for the artists to play with. Among the cast, the only ones worth mentioning were Suraaj who tickles the funny bone with his efforts to pacify Chackochan's character, while it was refreshing to see Shruti Ramachandran in a humorous role which she handled quite well.

Verdict: It is definitely a survival comedy where the audience will struggle to survive without looking at their watches as the comedy also falls flat in numerous instances!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Golam: "Neatly crafted investigation thriller!!!"

Frankly speaking, this was a movie that I wasn't even planning to watch until I heard some positive comments about it. So I decided to check out Samjad's directorial debut where he had collaborated along with Praveen Viswanath on the script. It is essentially an investigation thriller where the MD of an IT company (Dileesh Pothan) is found dead in the washroom of the office in broad daylight. So was it a suicide or a murder & to solve the mystery, ASP Sandeep (Ranjith Sajeev) is entrusted with the case.

In terms of the plot, I would have to admit that it was well done & kept us engaged with the thought that has gone into it. Obviously, one glaring issue that I felt is that though the planning looked fine, the officer as such barely revealed anything; so essentially we don't get to see his investigation capabilities. The manner in which the crux is revealed gave the feel of a Michael Crichton type of novel but the possibility of a sequel might not be a great idea for such kind of a story as it requires high quality production value which is rarely executed properly in our industry & tended to come across as mediocre, when attempted otherwise. On the technical side, Vijay's visuals were fine & a special mention of appreciation for Mahesh Bhuvanend whose editing was impressive.

However, the same cannot be said about the performances which were average at best with the exception being Siddique, though we have seen him do such type of roles in the past. Ranjith had a chiselled torso, however his acting abilities were far from refined.

Verdict: It belongs to those category of flicks that didn't have the star power but word of mouth got it noticed & it certainly deserved that attention. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Little Hearts: "More heart required in exploring the relationships!!!"

When the promos of this flick came out, the main USP was obviously the lead pair of Shane Nigam & Mahima Nambiar after their successful combination in "RDX". This was the second directorial effort of Anto Jose Pereira & Aby Treesa Paul & they would have hoped for a much better outing than their "Member Ramesan 9aam Ward". 

Baby (Baburaj) & his son, Sibi (Shane) were the best of buddies who shared everything with each other. As Baby has been a widower for quite a while, he nursed feelings for his childhood love, Cicily (Ramya Suvi) whose husband had abandoned her & their teenage daughter, a few years back. However, with resentment about their relationship from various quarters, they weren't able to formalise it officially. It was around the same time that Sosha (Mahima) confessed her love to Sibi & before he could come to terms with it, her brother, Sharon (Shine Tom) requested his help to convince his parents of the life partner that he had met in UK. 

First & foremost, I liked the animation that were shown in the credits section as it had the finesse unlike the tackiness that we usually come across. Rajesh Pinnadan's script focused on three different relationships & the impact that it had on the people around them. It did have the potential to make it engaging for the audience without having to adopt a melodramatic track, which is what I feel they would have been confused about. The track that involved Baby & Cicily was the best among the lot, as it did have its emotional moments & gave a smile as well. As for the other two, it was inconsistent with the one that involved Shine Tom being the most under developed. The technical aspects were neatly done but not to the the extent of deserving special mention.

I dont even remember the last time when I saw Shine Tom behave in a sensible manner in a movie as it always felt like an extension of his interviews. However, over here he was well within the requirement of the character & did a decent job. Shane was ok though I felt there were inconsistencies in the manner his character was written. Ramya Suvi, Baburaj & Shammi Thilakan did a fine job while Mahima was average.

Verdict: Seemed like they were too focused on making it into a rom-com, that they forgot to invest time in establishing the adequate heft to the various tracks. 

Rating: 2/5

Once Upon a Time in Kochi: "About time Nadirshah gave serious thought about his films!!!"

The first time that I heard about this movie was when I came across Nadirshah's comments that "Kesu.." was sold to Hotstar for a barely believable 30C. I was stumped to say the least as to how such a mediocre flick bagged such a huge price. Anyway his latest release is the launchpad for Raffi's son, Mubin Raffi & with Arjun Ashokan in an equally important role; it was interesting to see how it panned out. 

Rafi is known to have helmed & penned many hilarious flicks, & hence it certainly raised expectations as this comedy thriller was based on his script. The drug menace in Kochi has been in the news for quite a while now & that is the basis on which this story is mounted. SI Anand Das (Arjun) was on a personal mission to wipe out the drug cartel that was in operation in the city. On a parallel track, Janaki (Devika Sanjay) was one of the carriers in that cartel into which Habibi (Mubin) also gets entangled in. Incidentally, both of them had feelings for each other in the past but it didnt quite work out & into that mix, Anand's family approached Devika's folks with a marriage proposal. How all of this have an effect on their lives is what this movie is about. 

So is it a comedy or a thriller? Well the truth is that it is neither & therein lies its problem, as it was not able to do justice to either of them. There were quite a few sub-plots as well, not to mention the songs that were squeezed in; none of which managed to make the movie interesting. None of the technical aspects stood out & when it came to performances, Arjun has done a decent job while Devika & Mubin were average at best. There were artists such as Riyaz Khan as a visually challenged sharp shooter (along the lines of Jagathi's character in "Vettam") & numerous others as well most of whom I dont even recollect now which is a fair indication as to how forgetful the movie was.

Verdict: It will be interesting to see how much it will get from the OTT platform. Anyway it would be fair to say that it's high time that Rafi & Nadirshah realise that the taste of audience has moved on from what it was the last time they came with movies!!!

Rating: 1/5

SSHP: "Experimentation goes overboard!!!"

When Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval announced that his latest release was a spin off from his critically & commercially appreciated "Nna Thaan Case Kodu", there was a quite bit of expectation. I do enjoy his quirky sense of humour & it seemed like with Suresh & Sumalatha's romance, he was going to push the envelope even further.

As the title indicated, it is about their romance & how Suresh (Rajesh Madhavan) tries to impress Sumalatha's father (Sudheesh) for her hand. Since her father was a huge fan of dramas, Suresh decides to direct one & the events that happen as a result of that is what this movie is about. Though it is not a political satire, I feel that is one area that it manages to throw the punches with effect while the romance did not quite have the impact what it had in "NTCK". The romantic track is depicted in three different timelines & that I felt made it confusing for me, as the conviction & logical reasoning did not come across as organic. 

On the technical side, it was neatly done be it the art department, Sabin Uralikandy's cinematography & Sushin Shyam's music. Coming to performances, Sudheesh rocked while Rajesh & Chitra did their parts well, while the rest of the cast did their parts aptly.

Verdict: Maybe it might turn out to be a cult classic after a few years, but for now; it felt like Ratheesh went overboard with experimentation & lost track of the need for the audience to warm up to it!!!

Rating: 2/5

Marivillin Gopurangal: "A pale shadow of that iconic song!!!"

Is there any Malayali who haven't heard Vidayasagar's melodious songs from "Summer in Bethlehem" which included the iconic track 'Marivillin Gopurangal'? I doubt so. Hence when Kokers Media Entertainment decided to launch their latest production with that title along with Vidyasagar, it felt like they wanted to turn back the clock & replicate the success. With Arun Bose helming the project on a subject that he had penned with Pramod Mohan & a solid cast, it did seem like they had the recipe for success.

Shinto (Indrajith) & Sherin (Shruti Ramachandran) had been married for a while now but weren't ready to step into parenthood despite pressure from family & friends. Shinto was a budding film maker who was waiting for his first major break while Sherin ran a nursery & that took care of their financial struggles. It was around this time that Shinto's brother, Rony (Sarjano Khalid) came to their home with his pregnant girlfriend, Meenakshi (Vincy Aloshious), who was reluctant to get married. The rest of the movie is about the effect that all of this had on the life of both the couples. 

Arun Bose has certainly touched upon a topic that has gained relevance over the past decade or so, be it the reluctance of couples to have a child, decision to become single parent etc. It was a decent watch on the whole though it doesn't make us feel invested with the characters. More than the actual story, what stood out was the chemistry between the artists especially between Indrajith & Shruti. Both of them did their parts well & they were supported by Sarjano & Vincy despite the latter being over the top at times which felt rather artificial. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the music which was quite average while Syamaprakash's cinematography was in sync with the mood.

Verdict: Despite the presence of a talented cast, the script fails to do justice to their talent!!!

Rating: 2/5

Regards...Ben

Turbo, Thalavan & Mandakini: "Turbo downs mandakini and emerges thalavan at the box office!!!"

With the monsoons having started to lash across the length & breadth of the state after a torrid summer, there were a trio of releases last weekend hoping to cash in prior to the commencement of the academic year. As per box office reports, Vysakh's "Turbo" seems on course to recover the costs despite it's high production costs. So is it indeed so good & does the other two stand a chance???

Turbo: "A classic cliché salvaged by performances & Vysakh's skills!!!"

Over the past couple of years, Mammookka's choice of scripts has been top notch irrespective of whichever genre it belonged to. However, to be honest; there was one choice that I was most sceptical about & it happened to be his latest release. The primary reason for that was Vysakh whose action flicks predominantly had that standard template which was predictable from a mile away though I do accept that his film making skills in majority of the cases made it an engaging theatrical experience. 

For a change, this time around he has joined hands with Midhun Manuel Thomas instead of Udaykrishna & that gave the hope that the template would be much better. The protagonist, 'Turbo' Jose (Mammookka) who hailed from Idukki had a habit of getting drawn into fights. The latest issue  that involved Indhulekha (Anjana Jayaprakash) who was in love with his friend, Jerry (Shabareesh Varma) found him having to flee to Chennai. However, as one would expect he found himself in a bigger problem as Jerry & Indhu's lives were threatened by the kingmaker, Vetrivel Shanmugha (Raj B Shetty).

Did Midhun actually even write a script for this or did Udaykrishna ghost write it? There is not even the semblance of a credible storyline as events unfold just like the numerous other similar genre movies that we have seen in the past. There is mention of an act that Vetrivel does which reminded me of Mithran's "Irumbu Thirai" that I happened to watch on Mazhavil Manorama sometime back. Actually, if they had focused on that aspect rather than merely mention it; I personally believe it would have made the movie engaging & impactful. Apart from a brief touch on Jose's bond with his mother, there is hardly anything that emotionally binds us to the characters. Despite all these shortcomings, Vysakh still manages to keep the ship afloat primarily with his skills and the support of his talented crew. Kudos to the action choreography & visual department handled by Phoenix Prabhu & Vishnu Sarma respectively, both of whom were impressive. The same also applies to a certain degree to Christo Xavier's BGM & Shameer Muhammad's editing. 

On the performance front, it is a role that barely challenged Mammookka as a performer but the action sequences required him to put in a lot of hard work & it was there for all to see. The legend was top notch in those sequences & continues to prove that age is just a number. Raj B Shetty is an artist that needs no introduction & it was unfortunate to see him be given such a poorly etched character. However, he made that character shine through with his skills & convincingly gave that villainous aura. Bindu Panicker stood out with some of her dialogues, Shabareesh did his part aptly while Anjana, despite the screen time didnt have much to do. Sunil as Auto Billa was wasted & could have been dispensable, as he reminded me of his mannerisms in "Jailer" while Kabir Duhan was damn good. 

Verdict: It is always a pleasure to see movies do good business at the box office. But it is undeniable that Midhun's script was mediocre & it still managed to garner credible footfalls primarily because of Vysakh's film making skills & Mammookka as well as Raj's performance!!!

Rating: 2/5

Thalavan: "Jis Joy makes a promising transition to other genre!!!"

Whenever Jis Joy's name is mentioned, the first impression that most will have about him is that he is the brand ambassador of 'feel good' movies. Though he tried to break away from that mold with his previous movie "Innale Vare" it failed to impress the audience. Hopefully his latest directorial venture will have more takers as he collaborated with Anand Thevarkkat & Sarath Perumbavoor, for their maiden script. 

Rtd DySP Udayabhanu (Dileesh Pothan) was doing a talk show in a channel where he spoke about the sensational cases that he was involved in (along the lines of 'Charithram Ennillode' in Safari TV). One of them happened to involve two cops, CI Jayashankar (Biju Menon) & SI Karthik (Asif Ali) who were at loggerheads coz of their egos. Things take a turn when Jayashankar becomes a murder suspect & Karthik is put in charge of the investigation. So can Jayashankar expect justice in such a scenario???

First & foremost, kudos to both Anand & Sarath as it definitely had an intriguing plot that kept us hooked until the very end. The character arc given to the artists were impressive as that provided much of the effect but in terms of the knockout punch in the end, it was rather lukewarm. There is no doubt that Jis Joy has done a fine job in executing it well & kudos to him for that while the technical aspects were also executed reasonably well.

Both Biju Menon & Asif Ali have done a fine job in their respective roles with Dileesh Pothan providing decent support. Bilas Chandrahasan was impressive along with Kottayam Naseer though the latter reminded me of his role in "Anweshippin Kandethum". As for the rest, Miya George, Anusree & Joji John did their parts aptly while Jaffer Idukki was wasted in an insignificant role.

Verdict: Though it would not be a thalavan at the box office (didn't quite understand the thought behind that title), it certainly has the substance to keep us engaged. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 3/5

Mandakini: "Seems like the makers were intoxicated as well!!!"

The third movie of the week were from a bunch of debutants as Vinod Leela chose to picturise the script that were penned by the duo, Shiju Bhaskaran & Shalu. If "Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil" was the hungama leading upto the marriage, over here it is about the post marriage fiasco that unfolds in the first night. The couple in focus were Aromal (Althaf Salim) & Ambili (Anarkali Marikar), and the issues unfold when the latter unknowingly downs a glass of Mandakini, an intoxicating drink that one of the guests had brought as part of the celebrations. 

To be fair to the makers, they had an idea on paper but failed to flesh it out properly. So much so, I believe there was a significant deal of improvisation in the dubbing stage. The situations created managed to create sparse laughs but apart from that nothing else quite managed to get my attention. 

On the technical aside, none of them deserves special mention. As for performances, Vineeth Thattil tickles the funny bone while Saritha Kukku (as Rajalakshmi) was good as well. The lead pair of Althaf & Anarkali were fine, while Ganapathi, Jaffer Idukki, Aswathy Sreekanth etc supported well. 

Verdict: The aliyan bromance evokes laughs & did have a couple of light moments, but on the whole it didn't have adequate content!!!

Rating: 1.5/5

Pavi Caretaker, Malayalee from India & Nadikar: "Looked promising but fizzled out!!!"

Into the third week of May & there has been quite a few big banner releases. As I have been quite busy over the past couple of weeks, I didn't quite find the time to pen my opinion about them. Though a couple of them did inspire expectations coz of the cast & crew in them, the final celluloid product failed to do justice to the talent of the people involved. Anyway the following are some of the movies that I had watched & what I felt about them.

Pavi Caretaker: "Dileep needs to take care of his career more sensibly!!!"

It's been quite a while since we had seen Dileep in a movie & a significantly much longer time, before one of them genuinely managed to impress us. His latest effort to win over the audience is in Vineeth Kumar's "Pavi Caretaker" where he plays the role of a Gulf returnee who presently worked as a caretaker/security personnel in a post apartment complex in Cochin. He was a bachelor & more of a loner with his pet dog, Bro being the only company that he had. Things moved along uneventfully until his house owner, Mariyamma (Radhika Sarathkumar), a retired police officer informed him that he would have to share his quarters with another tenant, who happened to be a woman. Though reluctant initially, Pavi warmed up to his house-mate through letter interactions as they never got to meet in person since she stayed over in the house only at night when he was off for work. Anyway in due time, Pavi started to develop feelings for her & the movie is about how their relationship panned out. 

This is Vineeth's third directorial venture & he has collaborated with the experienced Rajesh Raghavan who has penned for movies like "Aravindante Athithikal". It is a feel good comedy drama which kind of reminded me of the themes from "Bodyguard", "The Lunchbox" & the slapstick sequence from "Ee Parakkam Thalika". In effect, it didn't provide a fresh feel though I wouldn't say that it tested my patience primarily because of the manner that it was packaged with the emotional sequences being reasonably fine. As for the technical aspects, it was ok with mention for Sanu Thahir's visuals & Midhun Mukundan's music.

There is no doubt that Dileep is a talented artist but his choice of scripts in recent times has been far from good. As Pavi, I felt that the humour which was his USP in the past felt forced while in the emotional scenes, he was quite good. There were quite a few new faces among the female leads & most of them were fine such as Swathi (as Leena), Sreya Rukmini (as Janaki), Rosmi (as Jeena) etc. Johny Antony & Radhika did their parts aptly in the limited opportunity provided.

Verdict: It isn't a bad movie but nowadays when quality movies are coming out quite regularly, it is unlikely to have much of a run at the box office. It's high time that Dileep really thought about his choice of movies rather than merely release flicks for the heck of it. In short, nothing new!!!

Rating: 2.25/5

Malayalee from India: "Screenplay lacked the punch to drive this political satire!!!"

It would be fair to see that all movies require a certain degree of pre-release hype to cash in on the initial which is absolutely essential in this present age due to the limited number of days each one manages to run in theatres. In the case of Diju Antony's latest release, he had to acknowledge Vineeth Sreenivasan's "Varshangalkku Shesham" to a certain degree for the hype & expectations due to the impact Nivin Pauly's character had created in it, not to forget Dijo's previous release was a commercial hit. So how did all these factors eventually pan out???

The movie unfolds in an alien terrain where Gopi (Nivin) was in search of an address & the story is narrated in flash back whereby it tells us how he landed up there. Gopi & his buddy, Malgosh (Dhyan Sreenivasan) were right wing supporters who loitered around without being useful either for their family or society. Gopi's life changes on the night the Indian cricket team loses to Pakistan & that coincided with a couple of Muslim kids bursting crackers. The bigoted mindset of Malgosh makes him to hurl a petrol bomb in retaliation which creates unset in the area & Gopi is forced to flee to the Middle East to his uncle until the tension reduced. However, what was in store for him over there was something that he had least expected. 

This is the third time that Dijo Antony & Sharis Mohammed had collaborated & unlike their previous ventures, they have opted for a satire which looked into the effect of politics and religion. There are some hilarious sequences for sure in the initial segment but in the latter half it felt as if it was left in shaky ground in terms of what tone it wanted to adopt. It looked like a spoof of "Aadujeevitham" with a sprinkling of "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" & Malala and culminates in a predictable manner. At the same time, I felt quite a few of the sequences & dialogues were pretty good. As for other aspects, Sudeep Elamon's visuals were fine though Jakes Bejoy's music didn't quite rise to expectations. 

Coming to performances, Nivin has done a decent job as the protagonist & it would be unfair to put the blame on him for a shoddy screenplay. Dhyan was quite irritating while Anaswara was wasted in a poorly etched role. As for the rest of the cast, both Manju Pillai & Deepak Jethi did their parts well.

Verdict: It was in the news for all the wrong reasons after its release with Nishad Koya making plagiarism claims. Anyway whatever might be the truth behind that, there is no denying that the screenplay was quite mediocre which failed to maximise on the potential of the satire.

Rating: 2/5

Nadikar: "A rather shallow take of events in the latter half!!!"

The cine world has always be so tempting that every one wants to be part of it in the belief that there is nothing more that a person could possibly wish. However, the truth is in order to remain relevant it is a combination of talent, discipline & talent which is a tightrope that many find it hard to balance. Over the years, we have had numerous movies that looked into that world & Lal Jr's latest directorial effort is also along similar lines. 

David Padikkal (Tovino Thomas) was the emerging superstar of the industry with a track record that boasted of an industry hit as well. However, with fame & money; arrogance crept in & his focus turned towards worldly pleasures which caused his movies to suffer at the box office. With repeated failures, his demand was on the wane & on the advise of his manager, Paily (Suresh Krishna); he decided to clean up his act by collaborating with the acclaimed director, Koshy (Ranjith). However, his inadequacies as a performer got exposed by Koshy & he walked out from the project in retaliation. It was at this juncture that Paily suggested that it was indeed time for David to accept the criticism & address the issue. The solution that Paily had was to take up the services of a seasoned yet unconventional acting coach, Bala (Soubin Shahir). So will David be able to swallow his arrogance before it is too late???

Based on the script by Suvin Somasekharan, Lal Jr has crafted the first half pretty well whereby we get to see how arrogance had plotted the downfall of the protagonist. The tantrums of the star, his emotional struggles & demeanour in general to people around him was quite well captured in the first half. But both the writer & director lacked the ability to hook in the audience to the efforts made by the protagonist for redemption. It failed to provide any kind of emotional connect & despite scenes put in to convey that, we don't feel the impact of the efforts put in and the change that is happening as a result of it (especially the one related to his childhood trauma). On the technical side, Alby's visuals were in sync with the mood while Prashanth Madhav's production design was praise worthy. The same also applies to the costume department while Yakzan Gray & Neha Nair's music was just average.  

Despite evident shortcomings, Tovino has done an impressive job as David and effectively conveyed the arrogance & emotions of the character. Soubin Shahir was average while Bhavana was wasted in an inconsequential role. As for the rest, Suresh Krishna, Balu Varghese & a host of cameos did their parts aptly. 

Verdict: Though the idea was in place for the second half, the lack of a well thought story regarding how to incorporate the gravitas to those sequences proved to be the bane of the movie. In effect, Tovino's performance proved to be the saving grace!!!

Rating: 1.75/5

Regards...Ben

Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil: "Bromance & humour works for large parts!!!"

When I first saw the trailer of Vipin Das's latest directorial effort, I was rather sceptical about Prithvi's performance as it lacked authenticity & looked rather odd. However, after having watched it last night; it would be fair to say that all my concerns were put to rest as Vipin had a perfect understanding regarding the cadence at which his characters needed to behave. Seems like happy days are bound to continue at the box office as it does have what it takes to keep the audience engaged.

Interestingly, the USP of the movie is the bromance between two prospective brother-in-laws, Anand (Prithvi) & Vipin (Basil). The latter worked in the Middle East & was engaged to Anand's sister, Anjali (Anaswara Rajan). However, it seemed like he was more attached to Anand for being the brother, friend & mentor who constantly motivated & helped him to recover from the heart break that he had a few years back. So much so, he spoke to Anand more than he did to Anjali. But just a week prior to the wedding, Vipin decided to back out. So what had made him to take that stand & the impact that it had on the onward proceedings is what this movie is about. 

After the success of "Jaya Jaya Jaya Jay Hey", Vipin Das is one of the most sought after director for obvious reasons. To add onto the expectation, Vipin collaborated with Deepu Pradeep who had movies & web series like "Kunjiramayanam" & "Periloor Premier League" to his credit. The script that Deepu had penned is essentially a comedy drama and the first half works big time coz of this bromance. Even the conflict that emerges was hilarious but when the bromance understandably takes a back seat, it affects the second half. The third act which unfolds in the temple was along the lines of "Godfather" & the typical Priyadarshan style pandemonium. However, that doesn't quite touch the highs that the makers would have expected & came across as quite average. On the whole, kudos to Vipin & Deepu for a reasonably fun ride which benefitted significantly coz of the casting decisions especially Prithvi with Basil. The art team deserves praise for the Guruvayoor set while Ankit Menon's choice of music was quite good. 

We don't usually associate Prithvi to handle humour with finesse, but he has certainly done a decent job here. The over-the top expressions & gestures felt apt for the situation that Vipin had created. Basil has his own innate flair for humour & he was impressive over here. The chemistry that the duo shared was top notch & is undoubtedly the main reason why this movie works. Nikhila doesn't have much dialogues but is integral to the story & does her part efficiently with her expressions in the limited screen space. The same also applies to Anaswara, who was fine along with Jagadish, Baiju, Rekha etc. In addition, the comic sidekicks such as Joemon Jyothir, Siju Sunny, Ashwin Vijayan etc also did their parts well. Another major name in the star cast was Yogi Babu, though I felt there wasn't much substance for his role which required him to be casted. 

Verdict: A hilarious first half courtesy of the chemistry between Prithvi & Basil keeps the audience engaged. Though the screenplay falters in the second half, it still manages to stay afloat & should be able to keep the audience satisfied. In short, do check it out!!!

Rating: 2.75/5

Regards...Ben

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