Movie Mazaa

Uthara Swayamvaram

2009-11-08T09:48:00.003+05:30

Here is yet another film that talks of the man who has been in love forever with some girl who has never as much turned her eyes towards him, except perhaps to take a closer look at what is actually wrong with him. Sarju's 'Uthara Swayamvaram' takes things a bit further, and blends in some fortune and at times the lack of it, to make it a plot that is flimsy at its best.

Prakash (Jayasurya) has been in love with Ponnu (Roma) ever since he had rescued her from a well, while they were in school. Ponnu never reciprocates his feelings, though they end up getting married. The couple soon calls it a day, on account of a few misunderstandings and go separate ways.

We are talking of a poorly constructed script here that depends on some real broad humor to keep things going. And by humor, I mean the very mediocre kind, with some real lewd jokes and bawdy gags determined to out gross each other on account of their inanity. They need to be real careful with the air in the halls as well, since the slightest draft would blow these paper thin characters away.

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Seetha Kalyanam

2009-11-07T12:16:00.002+05:30

The big question is how does 'My Best Friend's Wedding' look like, in a Brahmin household? It looks like 'Seetha Kalyanam', with classical music blaring in the background, plenty of laddus and jilebis being served around and marigold garlands adorning every nook and corner of the screen.

The story remains the same. Nimisha (Jyothika) realizes all on a sudden one day, that she had been long in love with Sreeni (Jayaram). Her realization though, couldn't have come along at a worse time, since she has come all the way from Bangalore to see Sreeni getting married to Abhirami (Geethu). Abhi, on the other hand has her own personal battles to deal with, since she had always been in love with Ambi (Indrajith).

So the film is all about the big, fat wedding, if you may call it that. Nimisha is seen to be generally having a good time around, until the moment of 'enlightenment'. Post enlightenment however, she seems to be some psycho who is after Sreeni, clinging on to his back, and making him realize that perhaps he is in love with her as well. Sreeni, on the other hand seems quite unsure about his feelings for her, and even after the film has ended, one need to look around real hard to see if the man had any feelings for her at all.

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Kerala Cafe

2009-10-31T12:18:00.004+05:30

There has been a plethora of movies in the world that string together a series of related, and at times unrelated tales together, to form a resplendent whole. Kerala Café is one such attempt in Malayalam films, a maiden one perhaps, that strategically places ten shorts around a railway Café, linking them together in subtle ways, and juxtaposing major issues as love, betrayal and calamity with apparently unconnected ones as black magic, the global economic meltdown and senility.

Kerala Café starts off with a prologue by Sathyan Anthikkadu, who confesses that he's there to clarify those lingering doubts that he believes exist within our minds regarding the plot of the film. He assures us that the stories would be as different as they possibly could be, and makes an exit. There seems to be no obvious reason for him to be there, nor for the preface. Almost akin to the author scribbling down on his opening page what he wants his readers to expect and not to expect, this is a shaky start to an otherwise fantastic experiment.

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Swa Le

2009-10-30T22:29:00.003+05:30

It isn't exactly an easy task to craft a film that runs for about two and a half hours with an idea that would barely take up a couple of minutes in your thoughts. P. Sukumar's directorial debut that attempts to do exactly this is like its protagonist who runs hither and thither with no specific purpose.

Unni Madhavan (Dileep) is a journalist with the Jana Chintha daily in the 80's, who slogs himself off to make both ends meet. His pregnant wife Vimla (Gopika) slowly starts experiencing bouts of anxiety and depression, as her husband's erratic work schedules force him to stay away from her for longer periods of time. Unni finds his life turned upside down all on a sudden, when he is assigned the task of covering a story on celebrated writer Palazhi Sivasankara Pillai (Nedumudi Venu), who's on his death bed.

It all sounds like material for a fine film, until you get to see it unfurl on screen. Death is the lingering theme through out, and everyone waits with baited breath for Palazhi to pass away. It isn't a pleasant experience for neither the journalists who have camped outside Palazhi's house to grab an exclusive the moment his breath comes to a stop. Nor is it for us, who soon become exasperated with practically nothing happening in the film.

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Angel John

2009-10-23T19:03:00.003+05:30

'Angel John' is a fantasy that tries to bring in an element of magic into the most routine of tales in vain. A sloppy film that lacks any real fantastic flair, 'Angel John' remains as remote from earth as heaven.

Angel John (Mohanlal) descends down on earth, as Maradona (Santhanu Bhagyaraj), dejected with life, climbs atop a lighthouse to call it quits. Legend has it that, the guardian angel might fly down to you in dire times of need, if you have a speck of virtue left somewhere in your heart. The angel signs up a divine agreement with the young prankster and agrees to grant him a boon every day.

It's interesting to note that the text on Maradona's T-shirts scream the story on their own. The 'Yo-Yo' label in the opening scene is all too evident, even in his gait. As he signs up with a Karate group to woo women, the Tee talks about his 'mission', and as he goes on a hunting spree for some money, the text says 'My Dad is an ATM'. And then when he decides to end it all, the Tee asks 'Y?'

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Pazhassi Raja

2009-10-17T11:52:00.005+05:30

'Pazhassi Raja' is a sweeping historical epic about the legendary hero of Kottayam Padinjare Kovilakam who rallied Kurichiyar natives for a guerilla war against the British rule.

It's a stirring and majestic film that serves as a brilliant tribute to an age when a bunch of gallant men and women fought a valiant battle to guard their honor; to each one of those blessed souls laid down in a long winding, bloody war determined to liberate a country from the shackles of tyranny and oppression.

The story commences at a far more unhurried pace than what follows, introducing the viewers to Pazhassi being ousted out of his palace by the British army, on the behest of his own uncle. Taking refuge in the mountainous terrains of Wynad, Pazhassi unleashes a tough battle against the Queen that marked the beginning of a resistance movement against the British rule in the state.

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Robinhood

2009-09-25T10:27:00.004+05:30

I remember having read of Robinhood - The Prince of Thieves long back; the outlaw who robbed the rich to lend a hand to the poor. Dressed in Lincoln green, Robinhood and his Merrymen roamed about Sherwood, heedless of the laws, and unmindful of the rules. Defender of the underdogs and a master of disguise, Robnhood was no common criminal.

Joshey's Robinhood has moved far away from Nottinghamshire and has made Cochin his haven. Venkatesh Iyer (Prithviraj) is a lecturer in Physics by the day, and a burglar who breaks into Automatic Teller Machines of the IBI bank by night. Having lost faith in ACP Harris (Jayasurya) the bank brings in Private investigator Alexander Felix (Narein) to nab the thief.

I would have been content if the spirit of adventure that characterizes all Robinhood stories had been kept in tact in the film as well. That is sadly not the case here. It does aim straight at the adrenaline glands, but so often misses its mark and lands right on your face instead.

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Vairam

2009-09-24T19:09:00.006+05:30

Vairam is M A Nishad's best film till date. Having shaken off the amateurishness that had marred his earlier attempts, Nishad comes up with a more compelling drama this time, and does manage to capture our attention on several occasions.

Annie Jacob (Samvrutha), a journalist with India Times is intrigued by the Jose murder case, after the accused Shivarajan (Pasupathy) is attacked by goons on the court premises. As she works her way into the former bank manager's past to unravel the mysteries behind the heinous crime, she stumbles across another murder, that of his daughter Vairamani (Dhanya), that had remained buried for a long time.

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Loud Speaker

2009-09-21T14:51:00.004+05:30

Jayaraj's 'Loud Speaker' is a charming film that sets forth a gentle ripple of goodness in your heart. It's a film about being human; a highly gratifying piece of refreshing geniality.

Haunted by a daunting past, Menon (Sasikumar) returns to India after a long forty five years in the US. His fast failing health leads him on to a chance encounter with Mic (Mammootty), a simpleton who has arrived in the city to earn some money. Mic soon wins over the hearts of the folks around him and earns the nickname 'Loudspeaker' with his bellowing sound.

'Loudspeaker' is all about a dejected individual whose life is tremendously altered by a man, who infuses it with a burst of passion that the former had never experienced. It's equally possible that Menon might have chosen to turn away from the warmth of life around him, since at some point he admits to having run away from memories.

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Duplicate

2009-09-20T09:41:00.004+05:30

'Duplicate' is an undemanding movie, but it's as much unjustifiable and unnecessary as well. Suraj Venjaramood's debut as a lead actor is mostly a hit and miss affair, with the misses outnumbering the hits by far.

Life isn't an easy deal for Sivankutty (Suraj Venjarammoodu). With plenty of debts to be paid off, and with neither a job nor the money, he runs around with the hope of marrying his uncle's daughter Meenakashi (Rupasri) some day. Little does he know that he's closely being followed by none other than the gangster PKR (Salim Kumar) and his associate Bruno (Bijukuttan).

When Suraj raises himself to the slightly more elevated position of the hero, he loses out on the fundamental element that makes him so endearing to several of us; the comic streak that had drawn the audience to the cinema halls to watch 'Duplicate' in the first place.

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Meghatheertham

2009-09-13T21:26:00.002+05:30

The loud claims that 'Meghatheertham' makes as the most moving musical to hit the screens after 'Shankarabharanam' are a bit too incredibly tall. Any comparison with the 1979 musical would be fully unfair, as 'Meghatheertham' is not a patch on the classic, content or quality wise.

The story clearly belongs to the primitive era, when musician boy (Saikumar) meets musician girl (Kaviyoor Ponnamma), girl gets pregnant, boy and girl get separated, and later meet again with the boy's boy (Siddiq) now grown up into a man. Now the boy's boy has got serious issues with boy, and girl is distraught. Story goes on till misconceptions are cleared and boy and girl are together again.

If you are experiencing difficulties visualizing Ponnamma and Saikumar in the throes of a glorious romance, let me assure you that Manikuuttan and Aparna are around in the flashback scenario.

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Decent Parties

2009-09-08T17:12:00.005+05:30

One can never really be sure as to how a film like Decent Parties gets to be made. It has to start from some serious blunder that got mistaken as a story idea, with several other slip-ups following suit, all of which would finally evolve into a horrifying shape that would set off the panic alarm in the viewer in no time.

The story of this film is so lame, that attempting to describe it could be even lamer. We are told that Sudheendran (Jagadish) is some videographer who hands over a few lakhs in cash to Rafeeq (Salimkumar) who promises to lead him onto the glitzy world of cinema, as a scriptwriter. Quite expectedly, Rafeeq takes off with the money, and Sudhi roams about until he gets it back. End of story.

There is nothing exciting about the life of this man who gets trapped in the stickiest situations imaginable, on account of a lack of common sense. At least nothing moving enough to be the matter for a film. The script offers no insight into the psyche of this man either, that makes him look like an idiot who has simply lost it in life.

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Kaana Kanmani

2009-09-06T12:53:00.003+05:30

The moment Maya (Padmapriya) walks into an old, dusty house that had been left abandoned for a long time, she pauses and murmurs that she senses something real negative all around her. Precisely the off-putting vibes that the film 'Kanakanmani' sends around within ten minutes of its start, before the vibes turn into tremors, convulsions and finally into a huge quake.

Roy (Jayaram), Maya and their nine year old daughter Anakha (Nivedita) lead a heavenly life, until they decide to spend a few days at an old home in a hill station, where the couple had lived once, several years back. Their whole world is turned upside down when the young girl becomes possessed, and the vagrant spirit Shivani vows to wreak vengeance for a sin that they had long forgotten about.

The verbal outburst against abortion, as much as its sincerity remains unquestioned, sounds like an extended ad for an emergency contraceptive pill. I am not sure about the kind of effect that it would have on scores of women who have had to do the unfortunate act on account of reasons other than personal happiness. What I am glad about is that a majority of them would probably not actually get to see Kanakanmani.

Read the full review at Nowrunning.com!

Shudharil Shudhan

2009-09-05T14:41:00.003+05:30

Shudharil Shudhan is as much a personal film as it is political. It's a charming work, crafted with immense care and attention to detail. Raman (Indrans) is a tea estate employee who dearly holds the red flag close to his chest. As the employees' union goes on an indefinite strike, the comrade stays put despite hunger gnawing away at his family. When power and money lure away the leaders, Raman is left alone as a scapegoat and his kin driven to the brink of suicide.

This is a grave film about a gravely significant subject that, despite its blemishes, fulfils nearly all of its ambitions. Most of what actually occurs in the film concerns you, as it keeps the whole thing on a human scale. Shudharil Shudhan is a concrete illustration of how the destiny of the unfortunate is being shaped in the hands of the fortunate.

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Dalamarmarangal

2009-09-03T19:55:00.004+05:30

'Dalamarmarangal' is loosely based on Balakrishnan Mangad's short story entitled 'Oru Madapravinte Kurukal'. A story that holds tremendous potential on print is lost in transition, and ends up being an irksome exercise on celluloid that totally fails to sustain the viewer's interest.

Aswathy (Nirmisha) works as a salesgirl in a textile shop and has become adept in the games of survival at a very young age. Despite her frantic attempts to make both ends meet she refuses to lose hope in life. Karthika (Soorya Mohan) on the other hand finds herself face to face with a harsh reality that brings her life crashing down. Rohini (Sruthi Lakshmi) has everything that the world could possibly offer her, except love. When she finds it in Praveen (Vinu Mohan), she sets out with him to explore a new world of possibilities.

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Oru Black & White Kudumbam

2009-09-03T10:00:00.008+05:30

Oru Black & White Kudumbam is an uncouth tale where the cast attempts to upstage the plot and vice versa, and neither wins. The film keeps wandering off on tangents, and on several occasions it takes a while, before it even shows any signs of returning to its roots.

Antony (Kalabhavan Mani) is obsessed with his black skin and his worries are amplified multifold when he sees his wife (Vinaya Prasad), fairer than the Fair & Lovely girl herself. Their son, the fair Aditya (Jayasurya) dreams of emigrating to Australia some day and gets caught up in a Visa scam that leaves the family bankrupt. When Antony moves to town in search of work, he sees a world of opportunities for his son and a final chance to restore what they have lost.

Seeing is believing when it comes to the story that takes place in Oru Black & White Kudumbam. The film makers try out every vile possibility in the book to twist and turn their bumbling enterprise until they come across 'No further twisting possible' sign. It's not just that it's forced and graceless, but it's instantly forgettable as well.

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Ritu

2009-08-16T21:01:00.003+05:30

Shyamaprasad's Ritu is a sensitive, melancholic portrayal of tumultuous emotions that ravage three young minds basking on the pinnacle of success. It is an engrossing, intricate slice-of-life that deftly captures the nuances of growing up together and finally growing apart.

Sharath (Nishan) is a techie who dreams of a life beyond the syntax on his monitor. Aspiring to pen a book some day, he has all his hopes pinned on his childhood friends Varsha (Rima) and Sunny (Asif), as he returns home after a brief stint of three years in the US. The once inseparable trio joins hands together once again, but as their fingers gradually drift away, Sharath realizes that the times have changed, and so have seasons and hearts.

Ritu is a tremendously sad tale that undertakes a refreshingly tender treatment of diverse themes such as the certainty of transition, the dashing of young fantasies and above all the incessant flow of life. It talks of a generation that has everything laid out on one palm and literally nothing on the other. Juggling between the two, they find themselves pushed down into an emptiness that gradually starts to choke them to death.

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Daddy Cool

2009-08-13T13:37:00.008+05:30

Appealing, stirring and just a little bit naughty, Daddy Cool is fine family entertainment. And for all its faults, Ashiq's film has an overriding good humor and sense of fun that saves it from the usual drudgery associated with dad-son films.

Antony Simon (Mammootty) is a cop who adores his son like no other dad in the entire world. And for Adi (Dhananjay) Daddy is Cool. And by Cool, he means the glass shattering kind. Mommy (Richa Palot) is least amused at the sluggish duo, and keeps walking out every time a bout of anger surges out.

At times funny, and at times moving the camaraderie that the father-son duo share is quite charming. In fact, it's this chemistry that keeps the film bobbing up on the water, even as it makes do with all the non-happenings in the script. There are several delightful little touches that the director throws in, and a few thought provoking undertones that makes its very ordinary scenarios unfold in an extraordinary color.

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Puthiya Mukham

2009-07-30T17:04:00.002+05:30

Diphan's film is one of a kind, in that the action in its eats into its plot as if it were a sponge cake. All the flexing muscles and all the fray and fuss simply cannot make up for the broad blank in its center.

Kichan (Prithviraj) is a modest chap from a Palghat hamlet who lands up at an Engineering college somewhere in the city. Not much later, he rubs the wrong guys the wrong way, and becomes pals with Anjana (Priyamani), much to the annoyance of her beau Sudhi (Bala). Brutally assaulted and left for almost dead, Kichan storms back to life with a vengeance.

When the passive Samaritan who has been roughened up black and blue, finally decides to stand straight up, give one hard look and raise those fists in response, the moment has finally arrived when you are expected to put your hands together in support of the hero. The misfortune lies in the fact that this pivotal turnover occurs at the centre of the film, and the rest of it is just about those fists shooting off unimaginable blows in all directions possible.

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Bharya Onnu Makkal Moonu

2009-07-30T17:00:00.004+05:30

The stilted pace and bumpy writing muffles any admiration that one might feel towards Rajasenan's acting debut. Bharya Onnu Makkal Moonu makes you feel like leafing through the pages of an all too familiar paperback that you have been forced to thumb through a million times.

Chandramohan Thampi (Rajasenan) gets married to Lisamma (Sithara) despite the disapproval of his irate millionaire father (Shivaji Guruvayoor). Even after years have passed by, a reconciliation with his dad seems a distant dream for Chandran who makes ends meet with his job at the post office. Caught up in a financial crisis, Chandran leaves for the Middle East to make a fortune, as his wife and three kids wait back home for his return.

There is an idyllic fog that hangs all over the film right from the word go. People smile and suffer through injustice and disharmony, and plenty of sentiments conveniently crowd together to hide blunt truths. This is a sugar puddle of schmaltz where one gets to munch candy even as one drowns in it.

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Rahasya Police

2009-07-27T10:22:00.004+05:30

More than anything else, Rahasya Police puts up on screen a taut message to its makers - its time to move on. The archetypal who-dunnits have lost their charm and they are fast turning out to be major slumps-in the-seats instead.

There is not much of a story to contemplate on, except that a girl (Mangala) gets murdered. There are plenty of suspects all around, and as is the usual case, the local Sub Inspector (Jayaram) has arrested a prime suspect (Ganesh) who is as innocent as he could possibly get. Perhaps taking into account the budget constraints, the CBI has been left out of the investigation, and instead the Crime Branch (Guess who?) arrives on the scene to take a closer look.

The real tragedy that befalls the film arises out of the fact that the makers are on the look around for the least susceptible character that fits the murderer bill. Once they have zeroed in on the person, they cook up a totally fabricated tale that sticks out like a sore thumb from the rest of the tale.

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Winter

2009-07-21T10:19:00.003+05:30

Winter could make excellent content material for 'How to make a Horrid Horror Movie for Dummies'. Perhaps in theory it was intended to be real eerie, but on screen, it's slack, sloppy, and most shamefully without a single, honest scare.

Dr. Ram (Jayaram) is on the lookout for a new home with a play yard, since his daughter has been diagnosed of depression arising out of claustrophobia. The moment they walk into a spooky mansion sited on some sheltered space away from the hustle-bustle of the city, his wife Shayama (Bhavana) senses something wrong.

The scariest thing about the film is its horrifying script. Winter is determined to have you jumping out of your boots every now and then. Sadly it doesn't have any twists or turns in its tale, and some really scary instances to accomplish what it badly wants to. So it retorts to ringing a shrill doorbell on your ear repeatedly until you go totally berserk in frustration. It also utilizes the man-behind-you-as-you-turn-around kinda scare for as long as it can survive on it.

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Ee Pattanathil Bhootham

2009-07-11T12:22:00.003+05:30

Johny Antony's Ee Pattanathil Bhootham tries tremendously hard to be an adorable comic-adventure fantasy. However, it makes do with the easiest kind of humor, suffers from serious narrative sloppiness and is never as enchanting as it badly wants to be.

I have no issues with the story as such. There is this anticipatory bail that the filmmakers have splashed all over, that this is a fantasy that would get as fantastic as it can. And when you walk into a theatre to see a film that has a genie as its central character, you arm yourself up to be transformed into a baboon anyway. This is a wacky world for sure, and I would gladly trade anything to get my hand on that magic wand with the spooky skull head.

But, the plot that is spattered with mystical elements all over, gravely lacks some depth. It's mostly thin, and I immensely doubt, if it would create much of an impression on the new-age kiddos who brag of their Pixar collection. There is no sparkle, no wonder, and certainly no excitement on offer.

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Madhya Venal

2009-07-06T18:00:00.003+05:30

Madhu Kaithapram's Madhya Venal is set in a blistering midsummer with the sun blazing down obstinately on the hard baked earth. With the temperatures rising phenomenally with each passing day, it scorches down every remnant of life left, burning down green into grey and dreams into dust.

There is news for Comrade Kumaran (Manoj K Jayan) on a sweltering day, when he turns into a stunned onlooker all on a sudden, as a political ideology that had defined his very being, turns more acquiescent to accommodate materialism into its fold, pushing him out in the process. Devastated, he returns home to his wife, Sarojini (Shwetha Menon), who simply refuses to give up. Oblivious to the plight of her parents, or the shifting cultural and political scenario around her, Manuja (Nivedha) tolerantly waits for the clouds and the rains.

This is a new age story that is gritty enough to make no negotiations when it comes to staring at the truth in the eye. The reckless daughter who returns back home throwing up her arms in repentance has disappeared behind the curtains. There is simply no possibility for atonement here, since there are no regrets. All you would find is dissent welling up in the young girl's intolerant eyes, when she painfully explains for one last time, as to why there isn't a harm any more in making compromises for grabbing what you badly need. Left with no further options, the appalled mother listens. As the distress finally gives way to a sense of acceptance, she decides to breathe in a new life into her own soul and update her armory. To get across these dog days, she needs to replenish her cells, go all out and give it one last go.

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Pramukhan

2009-07-03T23:37:00.004+05:30

I strongly believe that Pramukhan refers to some goon (Sajith Raj) who heads the sand mafia in Perumbavoor. When Sub-Inspector Tomy Sebastian (Kalabhavan Mani), with a crime-cleanser reputation sets out to pull up the racket by its roots, the clan bucks up its boots and gets ready for an aggressive conflict.

There are levels of tolerable silliness in action films, but I'm afraid Pramukhan too often dips deep below the line. Most of the dialogues are downright banal, and the whole affair is pretty dumb, even by the absurd standards of such flicks.

If ever there was a story narration, it would have mostly comprised of somersaults and flying kicks, broken bones and bleeding noses. There is so much at stake here, when it comes to those action sequences. Which brings us to the saddest part. Most of the fight scenes are as vicious as they can possibly be and eminently choreographed as well. But the dullness that enwraps itself around every punch on the face just can't be wiped away.

Read the full review at Nowrunning.com!