Reviews

An entertaining Heist story from Vinay Govind, director of the first Malayalam stoner movie Kili Poyi.

Chemban Vinod, Indrajith and Sudheer Karamana steal the movie with their incredible performances..

Asif Ali and Vinay Fort are impressive though.

The movie is not without its flaws. At many parts the story stumbles, lags and unnecessarily digresses-but manages to return to the main heist plot and pace up the thrills in the next scene..The screenplay could have been much better in the middle part.

The most interesting aspect of the movie is the way it has created a retro style of the late 80's and 90's drawing numerous references from movies of the yesteryear.

The actress-a new comer has very little to do in the movie contrary to my expectations.

Anyways, an entertaining watch and much better than Sapthamashree Thaskara...

An Intimate portrayal of two lives from a débutante director...

M Jayachandran's music, Jomon T John's cinematography and Gopi Sunder's background score exalts the movie to a wholly different level.

Even though the movie lacks a grip and over-stretches at times, the breathtaking visuals, art direction and the constant reminder that it's based on a real story redeems the film..transcending all the boundaries of fact and fiction..

Moideen and Kanchanamala's saga of love has been enacted on screen by Prithviraj and Parvathy with a lot of subtlety and conviction.

Its one among those rarest of rare stories in which real life has more dramatic twists and turns than in a thriller movie..

A commendable work of art indeed..

7 stars..

Another deliberate attempt to intimidate your sensibility--,

Even though much was expected from the noted director of Theevram(2012) which featured an young Dulquer Salman and also displayed the caliber of a promising new director. But You too Brutus disappoints through its 120 mints run time. Everything is stupidly amateur. The Photography, music,editing and acting-all sucks. Even veteran actors like Sreenivasan seems to have never even read the script.

The movie is a wreck-less procession of clichés from start to finish. The script goes horribly awry most of the time. The actors compete among each other in disappointing the audience. This must be one of those rarest films in which the editing suite does not exist at all.

The most intimidating aspect is the negligence from the director's side. One can't simply believe that such a piece came from a promising director like him. Theevram was an above average thriller on all grounds.Even though it reminded of many similar slasher/revenge films, there were many memorable scenes/sequences. The acting and music were excellent.

On the contrary, there is not even one memorable scene in You Too Brutus..The script seems to unsuccessfully superimpose the image of an empowered woman upon the audience through its different woman characters. This becomes terrible after a while.

Roopesh Peethambaran needs to be more serious to his craft. We Expect a better film next time from a director of his calibre..2 Stars..

Irakal (The Victims) is a 1985(IMDB misrepresents it as 1986) film directed by K G George and has been produced by veteran actor Sukumaran.

George's films like Kolangal, Yavanika, Mela, Adaminte Variyellu, Panchavadippaalam and Ulkkadal are considered some of the best Malayalam films ever. Irakal too is equally significant. As the title suggests, the film bears an indirect reference to the turbulent political scenario following the assassination of Prime minister Indira Gandhi and the subsequent inhuman Sikh massacres. The film investigates into this victimization of violence in the society.

Ganesh Kumar plays the protagonist 'Baby', an engineering student and the son of a wealthy high-range landlord in Kottayam. After being expelled from college for cruelly ragging a junior student, Baby returns to his family home and reluctantly spends his days wandering in the estate and smoking opium. He despises and fears his patriarchal father (Thilakan)and fails to establish relations with his two brothers and highly religious mother. P.C.George and Sukumaran plays his two elder brothers Koshy and Sunny. While the first one is an unscrupulous usurper much like his father, Sukumaran longs to detach himself from his patriarchal father and start a new business in the city-much to the disapproval of his father.

Bharath Gopi, Venu Nagavalli and Nedumudi Venu appear in small but powerful roles. While Gopi plays a pious priest, Nagavalli appears as the suitor of Nirmala(Radha), a poor tenant girl on whom Baby has a possessive infatuation. Nedumudi is the husband of Annie(Sreevidya), Baby's daughter. Innocent, Chandran Nair and Shammi Thilakan too appear in the cast.

Ashokan, a talented actor introduced by P. Padmarajan in his 'Peruvazhiyambalam' plays a strong character ,Raghavan through whom baby's character gets unraveled. It is to this character that Baby tries to open his mind at times, at least partially, and gives a narrow glimpse of his dark, brooding mind to the audience.When he says to Raghavan that,"Everybody lies to everybody else" in his house or "I don't like things offered, I relish in usurping from others", we get the portrait of a restless young man who is a victim of his own life.

M.B.Sreenivasan's background music and Venu's camera are the highlights of the movie. Backed by a strong script by the director himself, Irakal continues to be one among the best work of George even three decades after its inception. Thilakan narrowly missed the National Award of the year for his performance in the film. But it won two state awards for second best film and best story.It was a financial disaster at the theaters and Sukumaran went on to produce 'Padayani' a commercially successful film to meet up the losses.

From a different perspective, the film also can be seen as a monologue on fascism and violence perpetrated by Nation-state on the individuals. The period during which the film is set and the numerous opium driven/surrealist scenes in the film hides some very explicit arguments on the after effects of Tyranny/Fascism. I think that a more Political/historical reading would provide much more insights into the movie.

A cult-Malayalam art house movie!! 8 stars

Shoojit Sircar's Vicky Donor is a definite entertainer.

The acting is nice, music is genuine, dialogs are witty and direction promising. Ayushmann Khurrana and Yami Gautam play their roles convincingly. They make such a good pair too in the film. It is difficult to believe that they are débutantes.Dolly Ahluwalia as Vicky's mother and Annu kapoor as an eccentric Dr.Chaddha too steal the show. Kamlesh Gill,who plays the role of Vicky's grandmother requires a special mention.

The film never never lags or crawls.The plot unwinds in its natural pace..with beautiful songs and plenty of memorable sequences.. Ayushmann's voice and music complement each other and fit perfectly into the mis en scene..especially the Punjabi song 'Pani Da Rang'.There is little masala and the film succeeds to an extent in popularizing the concept of sperm-donation .

From a critical angle, the film makes certain brow-raising remarks about fertility and history. Dr. Chaddha's remarks about the high fertility/ potency rates of Aryans are questionable. History doesn't provide any evidence regarding the high potency rates of a particular race/tribe. Rather,it is more dependent on psychological reasons. Also the film seems to blindly support the Aryan invasion Theory, which is a highly debated topic even among historians.

Anyways, Vicky Donor is not a historical/political film. It is a wholesome entertainer with a clear message. Even though it might have inspired by the Hollywood flick 'Starbuck', it doesn't depreciate the merit. Its just artistic license.Afterall, what is original but 'undetected Plagiarism??'

8 stars..Kudos to the team!!

Kallan Pavithran is Padmarajan at his best.

It is a black comedy/satire featuring some of the best Malayalam actors ever- Nedumudi Venu(Kallan Pavithran), Bharath Gopi(Mamachan)and Adoor Bhasi. Pavithran is a clever and cunning village thief who earns livelihood with some petty thefts and tricks. Gopi,who plays Mamachan, a local flour mill owner, is Pavithran's friend turned foe. Pavithran's life changes when he meets a rich metal trader(Adoor Bhasi)and his life takes an unexpected turn.

The innocence, clumsiness and gullibility of the villagers are deeply explored in the film. Backed by a strong script from the director himself, the film is replete with scathing irony and incidents of rustic simplicity. Nedumudi Venu and Gopi complement each other throughout the movie as two bitter rivals with their genuineness of expression.The movie meets a dramatic end and culminates in a message from the director.

Definitely a collector's piece!! 8 stars..

Saeed Akhtar Mirza's 'Arvind Desai Ki Ajab Dastan'(The strange Fate of Arvind Desai) is an intense journey through the 1970's Mumbai. The movie begins with a portrayal of the silk/handicraft textile workers of a village and moves onto the life of Arvind Desai, an young handicrafts businessman, born with a silver spoon.

Mr.Desai struggles at both home as well as at business, and spends most of his time in wandering around the city in his posh car. These frequent escapades from the clutches of an authoritarian father as well as an equally uninspiring business forces him to seek solace from two women: one his lover and another a prostitute.He also often visits his intellectual friend Rajan, a teacher who believes in Marxist ideology. Even though he fails to show any interest in their highly loaded discourses, he sits patiently and listens to their long doctrines on 'class' and'society'.

This existential crisis of Arvind Desai is the soul of the film. Saeed Akhtar Mirza, like his other films 'Albert Pinto Ko Gussa Kyon Aata Hain?(Why does Albert Pinto get angry?)' and Mohan Joshi Haazir ho! (Mohan Joshi is present at the court!), has titled this film too in a similar way. The very title itself catches our attention and makes us curious enough to find out about the strange fate of Desai.

Considered one of the best works of Idian Parallel Cinema, it showcases a rich array of actors like Om Puri, Rohini Hattangadi, Sreeram Lagoo and Satish Shah. David Dhawan, who plays the young title character is not a familiar face to me, but is so convincing in his role.He acts like a more mellowed actor.

Virendra Saini's cinematography is yet another promising feature of the film.It bagged a filmfare critics award in 79 for the best director too..

7 stars..Grab a copy of the film as soon as you can!!

Only after watching this film did I come to realize that it was an official remake of the 2008 French thriller Pour elle or "Anything For Her", directed by Fred Cavaye. But I was all wondering till the end of the movie about the extremely genuine appeal..Now I know its reason. But, It doesn't belittle the importance of Net Three Days even a little ..

First of all, It would be better not to disclose anything more than what is mentioned in the synopsis. The whole film is an experience.It reminds us of Fugitive and Taken a bit, but maintains its own identity.Russell Crowe makes us feel he is just one among us..no Jason Statham martial gimmicks nor flawless intelligence.. It isn't a bloody thriller either.It gives more impetus on the familial bonds as well along with the main action. Even though it runs for about 133 minutes, never once do we lose the thrill. Russell Crowe once again proves his credibility with strong backing roles from Elizabeh Banks and Brian Dennehy (Crowe's father in the film). Above all, It stays in our mind even long after the climax.Forget the critical comments about it and form your own.

8-stars.

I haven't watched much of Satyajit Ray's films, but now I strongly have an urge to watch more and more.. My first Ray film was Charulata, which was once screened in our college film club. It too had Madhabi Mukherjee playing the title character, 'The lonely wife'.

After having finished watching Mahanagar, I felt that the lonely house wife I had seen earlier had achieved a sense of fulfillment..a sense of completion.The entire film is a microcosm of an typical urbane family of the 1960's Calcutta. The legendary city of Calcutta in the 1960's has been impressionistic-ally captured with all its charm as well as confusion.We can see some of the best well-scripted, realistic emotional sequences. An young Jayabhaduri too appears as the little sister of Mr. Mazumdar(The main character's husband). Madhabi Mukherjee again dons a intense character and proves her brilliance in acting.Now I have become impatient enough to watch Ray's Calcutta Trilogy and other films too.It is very difficult to get good prints of most of them.

Ray had based this film on Abataranika, a Bengali short story. All the actors have been handpicked-especially Anil Chatterjee and Haren Chatterjee-who played the role of Mr. Mazumdar and his father.The film was well-received at the 14th Berlin Festival and Ray won a Silver Bear for direction. Even though it was rejected at the Oscars, it received an All India merit certificate at the National awards that year.