Monday 28 February 2011

Malarvadi Arts Club Malayalam Film Review


This film chronicles the life of 5 youngsters who lead a pointless life with the usual trappings of youth after their college life .Circumstances force them to take up their common passion of music as a career .One among them gets an opportunity to participate in a TV realty show where he emerges a winner.He gets many opportunities which help in establishing a successful career.This causes various misunderstandings among the group and the film focuses on this..


Direction by Vineeth is commendable but in terms of story  line there is nothing new.There are lot of excessive melodrama and playing to gallery type scenes which should have been avoided or done with subtlety..All 5 newcomers are adequate even though lack of experience in acting is clearly visible in many scenes..The weakness of movie is the done to death story line and stock characters which you can find in any other Malayalam movie.

My rating : BELOW AVERAGE

T. D. Dasan Std VI B Malayalam Film Review


A filmmaker,Nandakumar in Bangalore receives a letter addressed to Damodaran from a 11 year old boy from a remote village in Kerala.On enquiry Nandakumar finds that Damodaran was driver of the previous tenant of the house where he is staying now.Damodaran happens to be father of this boy who left him years ago when he was a small child.This letter is read by Nandakumar's daughter Ammu,who starts corresponding with the boy posing as Damodaran.The film chronicles this correspondence between two children and consequences of this due to this.

Director is able to capture the fatherless boy's life in a poor family well.Shweta Menon shines as the fiery single mother who has to ward off gossips about her as well as advances from well wishers.Biju Menon as Nandakumar and Tina rose as Ammu give great performance.Direction is top class with life in a remote village captured with realism.It is a heart warming film with its share of tender moments which capture the innocence of children.

My rating : GOOD

Sunday 27 February 2011

Paleri Manikyam Oru Kolapathakathinte Kadha Malayalam Film Review


A man and a woman reaches a remote village in Kerala to enquire about the death of a woman which happened 52 years ago.As per official records the woman died of seizure,but after interviewing surviving people from that time,they reach a conclusion that it was a murder,which was suppressed by the influence of a powerful landlord.They zero in on landlord's son which leads to a surprising climax.

Mammootty in the role of detective shines,he also plays the role of landlord as well as his son.He does justice to all these roles.Siddique and Srinivasan play their roles to perfection.Director Ranjith has to be commended for taking up a subject where he had to recreate Kerala landscape of 50 years ago.He succeeds in it and is able to juxtapose the past and present and keep the viewers on the edge as far as suspense quotient is considered.There is also another angle to this where role of communist party is examined in suppressing the facts about this case in connivance with landlord.

This movie is adapted from a novel of same name  written  by T.P Rajeevan

My rating : EXCELLENT

DevD Hindi Film review


DevD is the retelling of tragic story of devdas in modern settings.Eventhough it is a familiar story already remade many times,this film differs by the novel treatment by Anurag Kashyap.Music plays an important role here.Amit Trivedi's music is excellent and appropriate placement of songs take the movie forward.Through Dev,how the emotion of love can destroy as well as redeem a man is shown expertly by director and he succeeds in it without any melodrama associated with usual commercial Hindi cinema.

Abhay Deol as Dev shines and is able to portray the gradual self destruction of Dev effectively.Mahi Gill as Paro and Kalki Koechlin as Chanda is adequate.One weakness I found was the back story of Chanda which was not convincing.

My rating :  ABOVE AVERAGE

Saturday 26 February 2011

Loudspeaker Malayalam Film review


Mike is a simpleton from a remote village,who is in town for donating his kidney to an ailing rich man Anand Menon.Mike always talk in his loud booming voice which irritates people,but he is good at heart and is willing to help anyone.He stays with Anand Menon in his flat.Anand who was initially skeptical about him later find out the goodness in him.

Mammoty is perfectly cast as Mike.He is able to convey the expressions of a village simpleton to perfection.The weak point in the movie is the back story of Anand,which is not convincing one.Initially we are intrigued what might be the reason Anand is alone and estranged from his relatives and director also through some images keeps you in anticipation,but when it comes to the reason,it do not pass muster.The brat kids scenes are also not done well and fails in projecting the intended humour.All the actors from Sasikumar,Cochin Haneefa,Salimkumar,Jagathi to Janardhanan do justice to their roles.In spite of such a heart warming theme and good execution,film fails to touch a cord with me.May be it is the snail like pace of the movie.

My Rating : ABOVE AVERAGE 

Delhi-6 Hindi Film Review


An NRI along with his grandmother returns to Delhi.Director tells this story through the eyes of an NRI about middle class Old Delhi.Here he gets to meet number of characters which include two feuding brothers,an aspiring middle class girl,lower caste trash collector girl,a money lender,an young photographer,a corrupt cop.How their lives intersect in this middle class Delhi is told through the  eyes of NRI.The film looks at how religious divisions appear among them due to report of appearance of Kala Bandar(a black monkey) which attacks people and steals various articles.

Director is successful  in recreating middle class Old Delhi neighbourhood.The superb set of character actors give authenticity to it.I would have loved the movie if director concentrated more in their lives and made it as a slice of life of old Delhi.Instead he goes after the oft repeated Hindu Muslim tension.The scenes involving Kala Bandar is picturised well with its humour elements working fine.But Kala Bander as a metaphor,as well as a mad man holding a mirror do not work,but only acts  to prove an over the top,silly intellectual exercise to confuse an average film viewer.There is no need for this type of gimmick in a commercial movie. Abhishek Bachan is a disappointment in the role of NRI.Sonam Kapoor also proves that she has miles to go before she learns anything about acting.All the characters expect Atul Kulkarni is in fine form.Atul is not convincing.

My rating: POOR


Friday 25 February 2011

The Sun's Seventh Horse-Dharamvir Bharati Novel review


This novel consists of a series of stories which are interlinked.Characters in one story appear in another.Manik Mulla is a story teller who is also part of the stories himself.Common theme on all these stories is failure of love due to economic status and caste.The woman characters Jamuna,Lila,Satti face rejection of love in their lives,but move on with their lives.The men characters Tanna and Manik prove to be weak and are not able to take any decision to fulfill their desires.The novel paints the picture of a society divided on basis of economic status and caste,but ends on a positive note with hope of children of these women a better life when they grow up.

Even though novel has a serious tone,there are instances when novelist has used humor in a subtle way to poke fun at societal order.The interlinking of stories is cleverly done and your interpretation of each character differs according to the story in which they appear.The language is poetic and keeps you engaged.

This  novel was made into an excellent movie by Shyam Benegal starring Rajit Kapur

My Rating : GOOD

Thursday 24 February 2011

Udaan Hindi Film Review


A strict father who believes that excellance can be bred only by being tough on his children.A father who take out his frustration by beating his children.Udaan looks at this father and his relationship with his two kids.Teenager Rohan is expelled from school.His strict and abusive father is disappointed with it and wants him to pursue engineering where as he wants to be a writer.He rebels against his father and this forms the crux of the movie.An younger brother is caught between this fight and this film chronicles the lives of these three in the steel city of Jamshedpur.

Director Motvane shines,but some scenes are not directed well.One scene that comes to my mind is the ragging scene of Rohan at bar.Then again there are some great moments like the scene of departure of Rohan from school.The scene where two brothers walk away hand in hand is a also a great one.In both these scenes Amit Trivedi's music also enhances the impact.In acting front Ronit Roy and  Rajet Barmecha are adequate.But acting honours go to Aayan Barodia as Arjun.Manjot Singh also impresses as Rohan's friend.

My rating: ABOVE AVERAGE 

Tuesday 22 February 2011

Bhramaram Malayalam Film Review


Unni along with wife and daughter has a comfortable life till a stranger arrives at their doorstep.Stranger informs Unni that he was a childhood friend of him,but Unni struggles to recollect this.Reluctantly he takes him in and later he founds that this stranger happens to be someone he wronged in his childhood.By that time it was late since the stranger forces Unni to travel with him to his place.The film chronicles this jouney where a close friend of Unni also joins them.

Mohanlal plays the role of stranger whose mannerisms fluctuate between that of a sane and insane person to perfection.Suresh Menon and Murali Gopy who play the roles of Unni and his friend is adequate.

Blessy as a director shines in parts,but is guilty of allowing too much melodrama towards the end.Eventhough touted as a suspense thriller,viewers can easily guess what lies ahead.The character of Murali Gopy should have been explored further.

My rating: AVERAGE
Review in Malayalam

Phas Gaya Re Obama Hindi Film Review

An NRI who becomes bankrupt due to recession wants to sell his family property in India to tide over his economic difficulties.Little did he realize that his state is held to ransom by gangs specializing in kidnappings.As soon as he lands in India,he is kidnapped for ransom.When local gangsters come to know about his bankruptcy,they hatch a plan with the idea given by NRI himself.The film looks at how they execute the plan. This film works wonderfully as a satire on the "kidnapping industry" in which police and even minister is involved.

Direction,screenplay by Subhash Kapoor  is top class.Rajat Kapoor,Manu Rishi,Sanjay Mishra play their parts well.Neha dupia is not much impressive.Amol Gupta shines in parts.

My rating: GOOD

Monday 21 February 2011

Peruvazhiyambalam Padmarajan Malayalam Novel review

Teenager Raman in a heat of moment in self defense kills Prabhakaran Pillai,local thug.He tries to escape from his village but is haunted by fear of police and about his  sisters he left behind.Help comes from unexpected quarters, a nemesis of Prabhakaran Pillai,a prostitute and from a person wronged by Prabhakaran Pillai.Eventhough safe in shelter provided by these people he is haunted by guilt and wants to return to his village.

Padmarajan beautifully captures troubled teenage mind and also the hapless lives of people left behind after violence.This novel formed the basis of his first feature film as a director.

My rating: EXCELLENT

Review in Malayalam

Mystery of Fortress-Saradindu Bandopadhyaya Novel Review


This book consists of 4 short stories and a novella of Byomkesh Bakshi mystery series by Saradindu Bandopadyaya.Byomkesh Bakshi made famous by Rajit Kapur in TV serial by Basu Chatterjee,unravels mystery behind the death of a woman in "invisible triangle",mystery of missing gold in "iron biscuits",brutal killing of a thug where the suspect happens to be an invalid,mysterious death of money lender in "Thus spoke Kavi Kalidasa" and mystery of a treasure and series of murders in "mystery of fortress".The stories keep you engaged and writer has been able to maintain the suspense well in all these stories.

My rating: EXCELLENT

Sunday 20 February 2011

Band Baaja Baaraat Hindi Film review

Bittoo Sharma(Ranveer Singh) is a lazy  college graduate who don't have any plans for future.He meets Shruti Kakar(Anushka Sharma) at a marriage party.He falls in love with her,but she is not interested in him rather she wants to pursue her dreams of becoming a wedding planner .Circumstances force them to become partners in a wedding planner company.The film tells how they achieve success in wedding planning business,how Shruti started to have feelings for Bittoo and how he reacts to it.

Debut director Maneesh Sharma impresses.He is able to extract great performances from Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.Dialogues by Habib Faisal is natural and captures Delhi effortlessly.Music by Salim Sulaiman is adequate.

My rating: ABOVE AVERAGE

Daylight Robbery-Surender Mohan Pathak novel review

This is one of Vimal series books by Surender Mohan Pathak.This novel tells about a daring robbery committed by four desperate criminals,one among them being Vimal who is forced to be part of this. But things don't work out as per their plans.Even though  they plan these things perfectly some things go wrong and their lives are changed for ever.The pacing of this story is excellent,the characters have depth,novelist has been able to capture the various shades of gray in human beings when they are in desperate situation.Translation from Hindi is excellent.

My rating: EXCELLENT

Neelathamara Malayalam Film review

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Kadha Thudarannu Malayalam Film review

Kadha Thudarunnu is the story of the struggles of a  single mother to survive in a world divided by religion.It also tells that there are kinder souls out there.Vidya a hindu marries,Shanawaz a muslim against opposition from their parents.Eventhough there is no support from their respective families,they decide to face life with courage.They are happy in their little world with their daughter,until fate plays a cruel game where Shanawaz is killed.After Shanawaz's death how Vidya copes up with life and struggle to give a comfortable life to her daughter forms the crux of the movie.


Jayaram plays the role of good samaritan autorikshaw driver and he does justice to his role.Eventhough film starts on a promising note after a while film drags and is not convincing as it progresses.Sathyan Anthikad as a director is in fine form here but same cannot be said about the screenplay.Innocent,KPAC Lalitha do their supporting parts well.Sathyan regular Mamukoya is in only one scene,but proves that he is such a natural performer.

My rating: AVERAGE

Review in Malayalam

Mummy and me Malayalam film Review

Mummy and me points a mirror to contemporary life of a middle class Malayalee family.The film deals with clash between a mother and teenage daughter about how they deal with their lives.Mother is possessive about her daughter and wants to have a say in each and every small thing she does and daughter as is the case of teenager rebels against it.This clash forms the crux of the movie and father is caught in between this fight and there is a mischievous brother who adds fuel to fire.

Director Jithu Joseph succeeds in telling this story with elements of humour convincingly.Mukesh is his usual self in the role of hapless father.Archana Kavi is passable in the role of teenager.In some of her scenes she overacts a bit but overall she is adequate as the troubled teenager.Urvasi is the star attraction of this movie,she is at her absolute best as the possessive mum.Kunjacko,Lalu Alex,Syari,Sudhish all do their respective parts well.

My rating: GOOD

Review in Malayalam