I review the Movies in every week.
WEEK: Aug 25-31 2013
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Kalimannu :: Review
Movie: Kalimannu
Director: Blessy
Cast: Swetha Menon, Biju Menon, Suhasini
Music: M Jayachandran
It's indeed tricky to review a film like Blessy's ‘Kalimannu’. Yes, the topic of discussion is indeed noble but the real question is whether this movie can strike a chord with the viewer?
Meera (Swetha Menon) is a Bombay based bar-dancer turned Bollywood item dancer, who is making her debut as a heroine in a new film. Her husband, Shyam (Biju Menon) is a taxi driver, who is brain-dead after a fatal accident on the day of the film's preview. How will she cope up with the tragedy is what the film deals with from then on.
With a lazily written script, the director uses every clichés and gimmicks in the book to attract the viewer. From the announcement of the film, the efforts have been to market Swetha Menon's real life pregnancy and delivery.
The original scenes showing her pain, feelings and love while giving birth to her daughter is absolutely riveting. Those moments can leave you moist-eyed. But the rest of the story is a sham.
It is evident that this thoroughly unconvincing story was just created when the actor's willingness to appear before the camera, as she goes through the greatest moments of a woman's life, was known. Some masala item numbers have also been added for titillation.
Then there is some smartly woven in-film branding where some hospitals and medical equipment get “special mention.” There are some talk shows where the plight of hapless women are discussed and the inhuman nature of the media while looking for spicy stories come under the scanner.
The catch here is that most of the viewers may not dare criticize all these smartly packaged pretentious sequences. The messages can be accepted and the concerns can be shared for sure. The issues here are topical, but are we at the theatres to watch a sheepish docufiction?
Even if one is ready to listen to the sermons, the hypocrisy of the writer-director in selling virtues without any conviction looms large. The intimate feelings of the wife or the mother barely get any screen space as the director desperately tries to sell emotions in a superficial way.
The visuals by Satheesh Kurup and the tunes by M Jayachandran are top notch. The melodious song 'Lalee Lalee…' can melt your heart.
Among the performances, Swetha Menon gives her heart and soul to the film with an amazing boldness. Though she sleepwalks through the rest of the scenes, you can watch her only in awe as she goes through the various stages of her delivery. The rest of the cast, including the husband played by Biju Menon and a friend played by Suhasini, has nothing much to do.
Kalimannu definitely leaves you in an emotional mood but this one lacks sincerity. Director B Unnikrishnan, who appears in a cameo, asks the crowd on why they were silent when a young girl was raped in Faridabad days after thousands lines up lighting candles for the Delhi gang rape victim.
If it so, can the makers of this film keep their hand on the chest and say that this effort has been made with all honesty?
Now, the decision whether to watch this, is all yours!
Verdict: Average
WEEK: Aug 25-31 2013
Arikil Oraal :: Review
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Kalimannu :: Review
Director: Blessy
Cast: Swetha Menon, Biju Menon, Suhasini
Music: M Jayachandran
It's indeed tricky to review a film like Blessy's ‘Kalimannu’. Yes, the topic of discussion is indeed noble but the real question is whether this movie can strike a chord with the viewer?
Meera (Swetha Menon) is a Bombay based bar-dancer turned Bollywood item dancer, who is making her debut as a heroine in a new film. Her husband, Shyam (Biju Menon) is a taxi driver, who is brain-dead after a fatal accident on the day of the film's preview. How will she cope up with the tragedy is what the film deals with from then on.
With a lazily written script, the director uses every clichés and gimmicks in the book to attract the viewer. From the announcement of the film, the efforts have been to market Swetha Menon's real life pregnancy and delivery.
The original scenes showing her pain, feelings and love while giving birth to her daughter is absolutely riveting. Those moments can leave you moist-eyed. But the rest of the story is a sham.
It is evident that this thoroughly unconvincing story was just created when the actor's willingness to appear before the camera, as she goes through the greatest moments of a woman's life, was known. Some masala item numbers have also been added for titillation.
Then there is some smartly woven in-film branding where some hospitals and medical equipment get “special mention.” There are some talk shows where the plight of hapless women are discussed and the inhuman nature of the media while looking for spicy stories come under the scanner.
The catch here is that most of the viewers may not dare criticize all these smartly packaged pretentious sequences. The messages can be accepted and the concerns can be shared for sure. The issues here are topical, but are we at the theatres to watch a sheepish docufiction?
Even if one is ready to listen to the sermons, the hypocrisy of the writer-director in selling virtues without any conviction looms large. The intimate feelings of the wife or the mother barely get any screen space as the director desperately tries to sell emotions in a superficial way.
The visuals by Satheesh Kurup and the tunes by M Jayachandran are top notch. The melodious song 'Lalee Lalee…' can melt your heart.
Among the performances, Swetha Menon gives her heart and soul to the film with an amazing boldness. Though she sleepwalks through the rest of the scenes, you can watch her only in awe as she goes through the various stages of her delivery. The rest of the cast, including the husband played by Biju Menon and a friend played by Suhasini, has nothing much to do.Kalimannu definitely leaves you in an emotional mood but this one lacks sincerity. Director B Unnikrishnan, who appears in a cameo, asks the crowd on why they were silent when a young girl was raped in Faridabad days after thousands lines up lighting candles for the Delhi gang rape victim.
If it so, can the makers of this film keep their hand on the chest and say that this effort has been made with all honesty?
Now, the decision whether to watch this, is all yours!
Verdict: Average
Olipporu :: Review
Movie: Olipporu
Director: A V Sasidharan
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Subhiksha
How do you try to be different while making a film? For some of the directors in Malayalam, the easiest way is to sound obscure. And at times, it goes to the extent of alienating the viewers, like it happens with debutant director A V Sasidharan's Olipporu.
There is a basic premise that shows some real promise here and with an earnest show, lead actor Fahadh Faasil makes us believe that this one is a serious attempt. But we can only watch it with disbelief as visuals, dialogues and sequences appear and disappear, without conveying any real meaning.
Does it all appeal to any section of viewers? Maybe there are certain groups who would enjoy this. Fair enough. But then why test the patience of the “normal” viewers by giving tremendous publicity and marketing it like a normal film? All those who have spent money and time to watch this, would like to know for sure.
Ajayan (Fahadh Faasil) is a techie, writing blogs under the pseudonym 'Olipporaali'. He plans a show with some of his friends, who write blogs under titles like Clutch, Gear, Brake and Pachakkuthira, at Bangalore. Before the show happens, Ajayan is fatally injured in a bike accident and is admitted to a hospital.
It is only then that his fellow bloggers realize that they barely know anything about Ajayan, outside the virtual world. Now Ajayan unveils his mysterious life to viewers, through some flashbacks.
Movies can be conceived in many ways and the narrative patterns can be experimental for sure. But here, scenarist P N Gopikrishnan and director A V Sasidharan are trying to baffle the viewer raising almost every issue that is being discussed by the society these days.
From environment, communalism, atrocities against women to corruption and religious intolerance gets a mention here. Then there is Ajayan's difficulty to pronounce certain Malayalam alphabets and his brief romance with a friend named Vani (Subhiksha). But all these attempts fall flat.
The film has really good visuals by Manoj Mundayat, but still fails to entertain because of the pretentious tone and the desperate efforts to brand it as an intellectual exercise. Beneath all the
facade, this one neither succeeds in entertaining the viewers nor makes any valid statements.
A terrific actor like Fahadh Faasil has been wasted in this meek experiment. Kalabhavan Mani and the rest of the cast seem to have no clue about what is happening here!
Even if you are ready to watch an unconventional film with lots of experiments, Olipporu may look bizarre. This one is strictly for those who know what they have in store at the cinemas.
Fahadh, you deserve better projects!
Verdict: Avoidable
Movie: Artist
Director: Shyamaprasad
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Ann Augustine
The posters of Artist announce Shyamaprasad as the creator of Rithu. Those posters say a lot about Artist as well, since the filmmaker want to highlight his most 'popular' venture and not the rest of his mostly philosophical sagas that rarely but managed to connect with the viewers!
And the director surprises for sure. Artist, based on a story by Paritosh Uttam, is a fantastic tale that shakes you up with the way it delves deep into the minds of the lead characters and with some riveting performances.
Michael Agnelo which was done by Fahadh Faasil is a gifted painter and an eccentric man. Gayatri (Ann Augustine) falls for him pretty easily and the two start a live-in relationship who was his junior at the fine arts college, surviving the stiff opposition from Michael's Goan based businessman dad and Gayatri's conservative Brahmin parents.
Their romance is blaringly realistic, with Gayatri being forced to act more matured than her age to stay cool even as her beau is an arrogant and selfish guy. Of course, they love each other in their own special ways. But all the happiness is cut short when Michael meets with a fatal accident.
Shyamaprasad skillfully sketches the lives of a few characters in less than 110 minutes. Visuals was done by Sham Dutt's which helped Sham and Biji Bal's music also helped him in the process in a big way.
The supporting cast in the film needs a special mention, with each one of them making their presence felt in a big way.
Artist may be far from perfect, but it won't upset you for sure. When bold experiments with conventional formulas are taking Malayalam films to a higher level. Don't miss this passionate attempt!
Verdict: Very Good
Movie: Arikil Oraal
Director: Sunil Ibrahim
Cast: Indrajith, Nivin Pauly, Remya Nambeeshan
Cinematographer: Krish Kymal
According to the sources, Arikil Oraal is said to be an 'extra' movie but my opinion is somewhat different. Nivin Pauly, Indrajith and Remya Nambeesan play lead roles in this film which was directed by Sunil Ibrahim. Indrajith plays the role of an Advertising director, Remya Nambeesan is seen as a classical dancer and Nivin Pauly plays the role of a restaurant waiter.
Thrillers are expected to end in a busy cracking the suspense behind the mysterious plots, themselves. They arrive at some conclusions and still wait for surprises. But if the movie goes in the same way we can predict? Writter-Director Sunil Ibrahim's Arikil Oraal leaves you almost in such a situation.
There is an ad agency located in Kochi and Siddharth (Indrajith) has joined the creative section. Veena (Remya Nambeeshan) is his friend and a contemporary dancer. Icha (Nivin Pauly) is her friend and a waiter at a plush restaurant. Soon after Siddharth starts staying with Icha in his room.
Then there are characters like Aarathi (Lena), head of the ad agency and her psychologist friend Sudhir Bose (Pratap Pothen). Now, the entire film is banking on a rather simple plot and more info could spoil all the fun. The film moves ahead on highly predictable lines.
Visuals done by Krish Kymal and Gopi Sundar's tunes are good. Sunil Ibrahim, the Writer-director, whose earlier movie Chapters, has packaged in a competent way.
Among the performances, Indrajith is the one who steals the show in style. Remya Nambeeshan and Nivin Pauly done there part and Pratap Pothen's matured performance is also convincing.
Verdict: Average
Director: A V Sasidharan
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Subhiksha
How do you try to be different while making a film? For some of the directors in Malayalam, the easiest way is to sound obscure. And at times, it goes to the extent of alienating the viewers, like it happens with debutant director A V Sasidharan's Olipporu.
There is a basic premise that shows some real promise here and with an earnest show, lead actor Fahadh Faasil makes us believe that this one is a serious attempt. But we can only watch it with disbelief as visuals, dialogues and sequences appear and disappear, without conveying any real meaning.Does it all appeal to any section of viewers? Maybe there are certain groups who would enjoy this. Fair enough. But then why test the patience of the “normal” viewers by giving tremendous publicity and marketing it like a normal film? All those who have spent money and time to watch this, would like to know for sure.
Ajayan (Fahadh Faasil) is a techie, writing blogs under the pseudonym 'Olipporaali'. He plans a show with some of his friends, who write blogs under titles like Clutch, Gear, Brake and Pachakkuthira, at Bangalore. Before the show happens, Ajayan is fatally injured in a bike accident and is admitted to a hospital.It is only then that his fellow bloggers realize that they barely know anything about Ajayan, outside the virtual world. Now Ajayan unveils his mysterious life to viewers, through some flashbacks.
Movies can be conceived in many ways and the narrative patterns can be experimental for sure. But here, scenarist P N Gopikrishnan and director A V Sasidharan are trying to baffle the viewer raising almost every issue that is being discussed by the society these days.
From environment, communalism, atrocities against women to corruption and religious intolerance gets a mention here. Then there is Ajayan's difficulty to pronounce certain Malayalam alphabets and his brief romance with a friend named Vani (Subhiksha). But all these attempts fall flat.
The film has really good visuals by Manoj Mundayat, but still fails to entertain because of the pretentious tone and the desperate efforts to brand it as an intellectual exercise. Beneath all the
facade, this one neither succeeds in entertaining the viewers nor makes any valid statements.
A terrific actor like Fahadh Faasil has been wasted in this meek experiment. Kalabhavan Mani and the rest of the cast seem to have no clue about what is happening here!Even if you are ready to watch an unconventional film with lots of experiments, Olipporu may look bizarre. This one is strictly for those who know what they have in store at the cinemas.
Fahadh, you deserve better projects!
Verdict: Avoidable
Kunjananthante Kada :: Review
Movie: Kunjananthante Kada
Director: Salim Ahamed
Cast: Mammootty, Nyla Usha
Cinematographer: Madhu Ambat
A heart wrenching tale of an old couple's intense desire titled Adaminte Makan Abu, several awards and film festivals later, writer-director Salim Ahamed comes back with Mammootty in tow. The film, Kunjananthante Kada, however turns out to be a meek affair in whole, narrated in a lazy manner.
Kunjananthan (Mammootty) is running a modest shop in a sleepy village called Vattippuram in Kannur. He is a bit too much attached to the shop, which makes his wife Chithira (Nyla Usha) angry. The couple is not ready to make adjustments in their married life and they are finding the going tough.
After a while, Kunjananthan is asked to vacate the shop when the authorities decide to widen the road. He is distraught but there are not many to share his angst. The film meanders along without any definite direction for the rest of its running time with all clichés added in plenty.
Basically the whole story deals with these issues but is surprisingly superficial. But that is a pity considering there is a relevant premise here, which sadly loses its strength thanks to a rather ordinary script.
Salim Ahamed has a spectacular technical crew to support, including cinematographer Madhu Ambat and Oscar winning sound designer Resul Pookkutty, besides a terrific actor like Mammootty, who has shown a new meaning to subtle acting in the past with roles in gems like Thaniyavarthanam, Amaram and Valsalyam to name a few.
Here the actor delivers an earnest performance, but is left with a role that lacks any real depth or challenges. None, including his family members, friends or the viewers understand why he cannot shift his shop to a nearby building even at a later stage. And he never really tries to understand his wife's grouse at any point of time as well.
There are desperate efforts to give a realistic mood to the situations and when everything fails, the hero resorts to soliloquies to reveal his feelings to the viewer. As it is mandatory in formulaic films in Malayalam, virtues are added aplenty to the hero that becomes pretty too heavy after a while for him to handle, considering the rather ineffective way the character has been molded.
Evidently in an effort to make it contemporary, the heroine is conveniently made to mention her addiction to Facebook and chat rooms. It could have been done to please the “fans” to add more grey shades to the character. If the hero's wife is not desperately in love with him, she has to be made a baddie, right?
Still, debutante Nyla Usha comes up with an impressive show. The rest of the cast has done their parts in a fine way. The Kannur dialect, mainly used by the lead pair, is attractive. The visuals, the sound and the songs by M Jayachandran are top notch. The background score however jars at times though.
Kunjananthante Kada has its moments that need to be appreciated for sure, but you get the feeling that the viewers have been taken for granted by the makers here. It is hard not to be disappointed by this one!
Verdict: Average
Cast: Mammootty, Nyla Usha
Cinematographer: Madhu Ambat
A heart wrenching tale of an old couple's intense desire titled Adaminte Makan Abu, several awards and film festivals later, writer-director Salim Ahamed comes back with Mammootty in tow. The film, Kunjananthante Kada, however turns out to be a meek affair in whole, narrated in a lazy manner.
Kunjananthan (Mammootty) is running a modest shop in a sleepy village called Vattippuram in Kannur. He is a bit too much attached to the shop, which makes his wife Chithira (Nyla Usha) angry. The couple is not ready to make adjustments in their married life and they are finding the going tough.
After a while, Kunjananthan is asked to vacate the shop when the authorities decide to widen the road. He is distraught but there are not many to share his angst. The film meanders along without any definite direction for the rest of its running time with all clichés added in plenty.
Salim Ahamed has a spectacular technical crew to support, including cinematographer Madhu Ambat and Oscar winning sound designer Resul Pookkutty, besides a terrific actor like Mammootty, who has shown a new meaning to subtle acting in the past with roles in gems like Thaniyavarthanam, Amaram and Valsalyam to name a few.
Here the actor delivers an earnest performance, but is left with a role that lacks any real depth or challenges. None, including his family members, friends or the viewers understand why he cannot shift his shop to a nearby building even at a later stage. And he never really tries to understand his wife's grouse at any point of time as well.
There are desperate efforts to give a realistic mood to the situations and when everything fails, the hero resorts to soliloquies to reveal his feelings to the viewer. As it is mandatory in formulaic films in Malayalam, virtues are added aplenty to the hero that becomes pretty too heavy after a while for him to handle, considering the rather ineffective way the character has been molded.
Evidently in an effort to make it contemporary, the heroine is conveniently made to mention her addiction to Facebook and chat rooms. It could have been done to please the “fans” to add more grey shades to the character. If the hero's wife is not desperately in love with him, she has to be made a baddie, right?
Still, debutante Nyla Usha comes up with an impressive show. The rest of the cast has done their parts in a fine way. The Kannur dialect, mainly used by the lead pair, is attractive. The visuals, the sound and the songs by M Jayachandran are top notch. The background score however jars at times though.
Kunjananthante Kada has its moments that need to be appreciated for sure, but you get the feeling that the viewers have been taken for granted by the makers here. It is hard not to be disappointed by this one!
Artist :: Review
Director: Shyamaprasad
Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Ann Augustine
The posters of Artist announce Shyamaprasad as the creator of Rithu. Those posters say a lot about Artist as well, since the filmmaker want to highlight his most 'popular' venture and not the rest of his mostly philosophical sagas that rarely but managed to connect with the viewers!
And the director surprises for sure. Artist, based on a story by Paritosh Uttam, is a fantastic tale that shakes you up with the way it delves deep into the minds of the lead characters and with some riveting performances.
Michael Agnelo which was done by Fahadh Faasil is a gifted painter and an eccentric man. Gayatri (Ann Augustine) falls for him pretty easily and the two start a live-in relationship who was his junior at the fine arts college, surviving the stiff opposition from Michael's Goan based businessman dad and Gayatri's conservative Brahmin parents.
Their romance is blaringly realistic, with Gayatri being forced to act more matured than her age to stay cool even as her beau is an arrogant and selfish guy. Of course, they love each other in their own special ways. But all the happiness is cut short when Michael meets with a fatal accident.
Shyamaprasad skillfully sketches the lives of a few characters in less than 110 minutes. Visuals was done by Sham Dutt's which helped Sham and Biji Bal's music also helped him in the process in a big way.The supporting cast in the film needs a special mention, with each one of them making their presence felt in a big way.
Artist may be far from perfect, but it won't upset you for sure. When bold experiments with conventional formulas are taking Malayalam films to a higher level. Don't miss this passionate attempt!
Verdict: Very Good
Arikil Oraal :: Review
Movie: Arikil OraalDirector: Sunil Ibrahim
Cast: Indrajith, Nivin Pauly, Remya Nambeeshan
Cinematographer: Krish Kymal
According to the sources, Arikil Oraal is said to be an 'extra' movie but my opinion is somewhat different. Nivin Pauly, Indrajith and Remya Nambeesan play lead roles in this film which was directed by Sunil Ibrahim. Indrajith plays the role of an Advertising director, Remya Nambeesan is seen as a classical dancer and Nivin Pauly plays the role of a restaurant waiter.
Thrillers are expected to end in a busy cracking the suspense behind the mysterious plots, themselves. They arrive at some conclusions and still wait for surprises. But if the movie goes in the same way we can predict? Writter-Director Sunil Ibrahim's Arikil Oraal leaves you almost in such a situation.
There is an ad agency located in Kochi and Siddharth (Indrajith) has joined the creative section. Veena (Remya Nambeeshan) is his friend and a contemporary dancer. Icha (Nivin Pauly) is her friend and a waiter at a plush restaurant. Soon after Siddharth starts staying with Icha in his room.
Then there are characters like Aarathi (Lena), head of the ad agency and her psychologist friend Sudhir Bose (Pratap Pothen). Now, the entire film is banking on a rather simple plot and more info could spoil all the fun. The film moves ahead on highly predictable lines.
Among the performances, Indrajith is the one who steals the show in style. Remya Nambeeshan and Nivin Pauly done there part and Pratap Pothen's matured performance is also convincing.
Verdict: Average
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