Marykkundoru Kunjadu Malayalam Film Review

Malayalam commercial cinema,just like other language commercial  cinema has a structure,the films should have the necessary masala ingredients to make them a  boxoffice success.Usually these type of films do well at the boxoffice but will be cliche ridden and really a pain to sit through.To give credit to Marykkundoru Kunjadu,it is a film well steeped in the usual malayalam commercial structure with the usual cliches,but fortunately do not stoop too low to be considered as garbage.The film has its moments,works like a sort of fable with an innocent charm to it so that the obvious manipulations which is on your face can to some extend be exempted.

The setting is a remote picturesque village where you meet the hero Solomon who is a simpleton with dreams of becoming a film director.He is lazy and is a burden on his poor family since he is not serious about life and is not interested in helping his family.As such he is on constant lookout by brothers of the girl  he loves,who don't hesitate to take advantage of his meek character to subject him to  physical beatings when opportunity arises.When a stray stranger appears at his house,he takes his help to fight back against his tormentors.The film looks at the mystery behind the sudden appearance of this stranger and his connection to Solomon's family.The film interestingly sets up the mystery where the audience is subjected to probe on the true intention of this guy.

As I mentioned, the film is like a fable or a children's story where there is this setting of this village with God fearing people, a church with its missing golden cross,where hero is expected to bring back the golden cross and everything will turn out fine.As such this story line looks little bit implausible,but then this is a  fable  and at the end when mystery unfolds you feel that this film has touched the right chords  and as much implausible this story is, you feel that the film has succeeded in telling a story with its human touch intact.

For Dileep who has played similar characters before this role is cakewalk and is something tailor made for him.He has done justice to the role.At some point I had a fear that given the superhero image which is expected from our  heroes,he will ultimately fight back against his tormentors and teach them a lesson which our super heroes usually do.Fortunately director do not take that route and so there is no dilution in hero's character.Some minor flaws like excessive stunt scenes to generate sympathy for the hero should  have been avoided.As a director Shafi has been able to bring authenticity to the setting and has handled his job well.Performances are pretty uniform and Biju Menon,Innocent,Vijayaraghavan,Jagathy,Salim Kumar all have contributed to make this film pretty strong as far as acting department is concerned.You can't find fault with any of these performances.For me the standout scene in this film is the introduction of Salim Kumar through the character of government doctor.This is a really well thought out scene and here the intended humor is of high quality.Of course the same quality is not  maintained throughout but as  pure entertainer,the film do not disappoint.

My RATING: ABOVE AVERAGE

Race Malayalam Film Review

You are young,successful and have a bright future ahead,You have a loving family,wife that adores you,a cute daughter and you are going great guns at your career.But then your perfect world starts crumbling around you.Young,successful doctor Aby finds himself in this predicament when he meets a woman at a medical conference who informs him that his daughter is kidnapped and his wife is held hostage.He himself is held at gunpoint and a series of events take place that turn his life upside down.The film looks at the standoff between Aby and his family against a gang of ruthless criminals where by we see the seesaw battle between them with Aby trying to save his family where as the gang tries to achieve its objective.The suspense element lies in the fact that we get the feeling there is much more to the kidnapping with all the stakeholders trying to be mysterious with some secrets to hide.

This is a film which promises so much at the beginning,but really let us down towards the end.The initial portions are really interesting,you expect the film to end up as a taut,psychological thriller.But the film disappoints in the sense that it becomes too conventional just like many other films before when you truly expect it be different and thought provoking.As such it is not difficult to guess that there is a complex reasoning behind the kidnapping and subsequent standoff and when it all unravels there is a tinge of disappointment because filmmaker has really screwed up with a lame reasoning for all the drama.

In spite of the disappointment I felt,the film do have directorial merit.For most of the part it has been able to maintain that tense,suspense element intact and definitely credit has to be given to Kukku Surendran.The performances are noteworthy with all the actors able to put in impressive performances,even though Mamta Mohandas in some scenes were little bit underwhelming.The child artist is excellent.Jagathi displayed what a seasoned performer he is with his scenes with the child particularly worth mentioning.Kunchacko is in his elements here.Indrajith also do justice to the role.Music is not worth mentioning and is not memorable.Some scenes which do not add up to logic is the ones where Aby and his wife try to upstage their tormentors which the predicament in which they are in find hard to believe.Then again there is no need to over analyze and little bit of a leeway can be given as long as film is able to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat.The film accomplishes this to some extent and as I mentioned before unfortunately crumbles towards the end.In spite of the cringe worthy reasoning behind the whole drama,there is no doubt the noble intention of the filmmaker to highlight a serious malaise affecting our society.

My Rating: AVERAGE 

Makeup Man Malayalam Film Review

When Balu faces financial ruin due to the mismanagement of his company,he seeks help from his close friend,Kichu who is a production controller with movie company.Not only he has trouble in the financial front but also in his love life where he is forced to marry his longtime lover Surya.Kichu helps him by arranging a place to stay since Balu is facing evacuation from his own house due to the loan he has taken from loan shark Vareeth.Misunderstandings galore occur wen Surya is misunderstood as an actress seeking opportunity in the film industry.She gets an opportunity to become the heroine of a movie.Since Balu is clutching at the straws as far as his financial situation is concerned,he readily accepts that and forces the reluctant Surya to accept the offer.The film looks at the aftermath of this when in order to be in proximity of Surya,Balu takes up the job of a make up man.The hilarious sequences that follow constitutes the basic premise of this film.

A positive aspect of this film is that humor do not go overboard most of the times.Director Shafi and writers Sachi-Sethu have been able to give a fairly pacy screenplay to grab the attention of the viewer.The way misunderstandings pile up is handled with an element of humor of fairly good standard.The character of proud,arrogant,hot tempered director has been handled well.The skirmishes between the director and producer has been handled properly and has been able to provide fodder for some natural humor.Even though film was really interesting at the beginning,it starts to move towards boredom from mid portion onwards when the fight between the couple escalate where I feel screenplay loses its grip on the proceedings.Still filmmakers have to be applauded for handling a theme of distrust,inferiority complex,one-upmanship between the couple with sensitivity without too much of damage.Kunchacko's and Pritviraj's guest appearance is also well handled and fortunately do not take away the attention from the core story,rather compliments it well.The way television channels handle stories to increase the TRP ratings by playing on the lives of celebrities is brought forth in an interesting way.The story as such is old wine in new bottle,but since because of earnest performances from lead actors,a fairly good screenplay,a satisfactory conclusion,due to these factors I do not feel that viewer will be disappointed after watching this movie.

Jayaram and Sheela as lead characters have been able to give good performances.In the case of jayaram we have seen him in similar roles before many times,still to give credit to him he has not failed the audience here.But I feel the standout performer is Suraj as the production controller.He brings the house down with his humorous antics,add his own unique style to make this character interesting.Another great performance is by jagathy,as the loan shark who is at the receiving end always.He has been able to imbibe the characteristic slang in the language this character speaks,the slyness required in the character to perfection.Rest of the cast is adequate with special mention to Siddique and Janardhanan.Music is poor and none of the songs register any impact.
 
My Rating: AVERAGE

Gaddama Malayalam Film Review

There are some films that shock you with realism,the films that tug at your heartstrings,Gaddama belongs to that category.An average Malayalee is a migratory bird,he is someone who risks dangers to give life of happiness to his near and dear ones.When Ashwathy a young woman,who fell into financial difficulties due to untimely death of her husband accepts the job of a housemaid in a conservative,male centric but oil rich gulf country with tribal laws, she didn't expect the dangers that awaited her there.The film looks at her journey,her attempt to escape from her life of misery,the people she meets in this journey,most with sinister objectives,but some with hearts of gold.It also looks at the life of an immigrant population,the race to earn money,how it extinguishes humanness,how it forces people to betray their own people.This is a film by a director with a profound sense of knowledge of human conditions,acute observation power of Malayalee way of life,he who observe the various shades of gray even in relatively harmless common man and bring forth it  convincingly to the audience.

Even though on the outset the film looks like telling the simple story of a harassed house maid trying to escape from her employer,there is far more beyond that in this film.There is a level of complexity in this film ,that astute viewers could extrapolate if given sufficient attention,the way various stakeholders try to play their game and utilize the occasion to steer it for their advantage.The journalist who takes advantage of the situation by giving an yellow journalistic aspect to the story to increase circulation of his newspaper,the driver who betrays Ashwathi,these people in fact are far more dangerous and malicious than the tribal laws that punish innocent people like Ashwathy and her protector.You can see the strength of screenplay here where even a minor character like that of injured construction worker,how he takes advantage of the social worker who tries to help him,which proves that even among the so called common man you can find parasites which sucks the blood out of good Samaritans.

Kavya as Ashwathy has given an excellent performance.Her expressive eyes speak volumes,her transformation from innocent, wide eyed woman with hope of a bright future ahead to one who lose all hopes when everything crumbles around her is astonishing.Another noteworthy performance is by Murali Gopy.He is able to inculcate the conflicting emotions that character has to endure where by he has to decide between himself and another fellow being in need.Srinivasan is aptly cast as the social worker with a conscience among the hard hearted,selfish people around him.He has done justice to the role.Suraj also has given a good performance.Another noteworthy performance is by Shine Tom in the role of Basheer.Director Kamal has to be applauded for bringing forth this true story to silver screen and telling this in a simple straightforward manner without the usual trappings of the commercial cinema.The dialogues are also worth mentioning with dialogoe writer complimented for coming up with humane,hard hitting,realistic dialogues.

The songs by Bennet Veetrag is haunting and melodious.Background music  also complements the film and helps in enhancing the appeal of this well made film.

My Rating: GOOD

Sahasram Malayalam Film Review

Sahasram is a suspense thriller with an element of supernatural in the background.If an investigative murder mystery combined with a hint of supernatural in the form of a Yakshi(Ghost),makes an interesting premise,then the result can be termed as the story of Sahasram.

A film crew arrives to  shoot a horror film at a dilapidated old building in a remote village.When art director Vaishakh who is also addicted to drugs first visits this building,he meets some people and then tragedy strikes when a group of people attacks them.Vaishakh escapes from there and he later comes to know that the people whom he met happens to be the ghosts of people who got killed in that building years ago.When he explains this to others,everyone associates this as his hallucinations.While at the shooting site the main villain in the movie,Sudhir gets killed and suspicion falls on Vaishakh who had a previous history of enmity with Sudhir.Police officer Sahasranamam is entrusted with the task of unmasking the murderer.The film looks at how Sahasranamam sets about to achieve his objective and what we get is twists and turns,suspicion shifting from person to person and culminating in a surprising conclusion.

This film cannot be termed as a brilliantly executed murder mystery,but director has been able to maintain the suspense to some extent and thereby keeping the viewer interested enough to see through the unfurling of the mystery.It is also interesting that the supernatural element also fits in with the proceedings and add to the mystery element rather than meandering in a different direction.As such there are instances when you feel like it is an implausibe story,then again film as an art form especially when it comes to mystery movies,little bit of leeway can be given as long as director is able to maintain the suspense element with out taking the audience for too much of a ride.

Suresh Gopi of course has become the stereotyped murder investigator in Malayalam films.But then again nothing wrong with that since he does this job pretty well.Here I won't say he is perfect in that but can only say that he is just about adequate and has done his job.Bala as art director was pretty impressive and his interesting face and expressive eyes gave some depth to that tragic character.Some other good performances of note was that of Jagathi,Sudheesh and Suresh Krishna.Madhu is wasted in a small role.When it comes to music,the songs are really good even though background music which should play an important role in this type of films fail to rise up to expectation.

My Rating: ABOVE AVERAGE

August 15 Malayalam Film Review

August 15 is a well made suspense thriller written by SN Swamy and directed by Shaji Kailas.It cannot be termed as an excellent edge of the seat thriller since at many points pace do drop,but for most of the part director has been able to keep the viewer hooked.

An assassination attempt is made on chief minister,and police officer Perumal is assigned the task of foiling any further attempt as well as to find the assassin.But the assassin turns out to be wily,cunning,an expert at disguises who has been able to evade the police with ease. The cat and mouse game between assassin and Perumal begins where both try to upstage each other.The aftermath of this is that assassin becomes determined to carry out his mission since he is someone who cannot tolerate failure,who is a psychopath who destroys anyone in his path to achieve his objective.The film looks at this dangerous battle of control between the police officer and the criminal,with a surprising conclusion which takes you unawares when the dust settles towards the end.

Shaji Kailas films usually include Kerala politics and it is clear in this film that where his political affiliations lean towards to.Any astute viewer could see that on whom the chief minister in the film and party secretary is modelled on.Even though it gets little bit on the nerves,the chief minister here is portrayed as paragon of virtues,a so called perfect person which is hard to believe and I feel director who modelled it on real life personality has gone little bit overboard and seems to have mastered the art of flattery.Then again this is not an important thing since fortunately the focus of the film is not on hardcore politics but on the investigation aspect and here unlike previous Shaji films,tone is somewhat subdued.Fortunately there is no unnecessary fireworks in the form of bombastic dialogues and too much of slow motion walk by the hero.The inner politics among the police department is depicted,but it has not gone overboard.

As a director,Shaji kailas has not let the viewer down.The film is technically sound.The chase scene between Perumal and assassin is well handled.Talking about performances,there is nothing exceptional in the role played by Mammootty.As is usual is the case he has been able to deliver.Siddique as the psychopathic assassin has also done justice to the role.He has been able to bring out the various shades of gray convincingly required of this character.Jagathi unfortunately is little bit off color here.Generally a reliable performer,but here his character sort of didn't gel with the movie.Lalu Alex ,Vijay are quite adequate in their roles. Back ground music by Rajamani suits this genre type film.

My Rating: ABOVE AVERAGE

Karyasthan Malayalam Film Review

Malayalam film industry always has this fascination for films related to warring families and then their happy reunion at the end.The story line of these type of films will be similar,there will be two powerful families in a village run by patriarchs with a dozen children who initially will be close friends,but due to some misunderstanding perpetuated by a villain,will become bitter enemies and their enmity will span decades until some one preferably from younger generation will set things right,whereby the villain is caught and at the end every one sings a happy song and all ends well.The story line of Karyasthan is also somewhat similar.Not only the story is one regurgitated many times before,I feel there is only one word to describe this film,and that is the word "silly".Yes this film is really silly,with its low standard comedy,manipulative emotional scenes,over acting and to add nail on the coffin,irritating songs.

Unni wants to reunite his father with his relatives,who banished him to a remote Tamil Nadu village when he married against their wish.So he sets on a journey along with his best friend Vadivelu to his grandfather's house to meet the objective of reuniting his grandfather's and his best friend's family.The film looks at the hilarious sequences that follow when he lands up at the house and take up the job of a caretaker.The film follows the usual pattern of love affairs,again misunderstanding,and it is of course the duty of the hero the emerge triumphant by demolishing the villain and needless to say everything is rosy at the end with every one singing the traditional family song in their best traditional attire.

Dilip is no doubt a good actor and this type of roles suit him,but if he wants to be taken as a serious actor,he should avoid this type of repetitive roles.Then again one cannot blame him,since he is typecast in this type of roles and if audience want this type of substandard stuff then who can blame him.Suraj as his best friend is able to evoke some laughs and that is only because of his natural talent rather than anything to do with the script.Two talented artists Salim Kumar and Harisree Ashokan are wasted in roles which require them to do overacting with the same set of expressions which they have done in countless movies before.

As such it was really a pain to sit through this boring film with tons of actors floating here and there and mouthing serial standard dialogues,there is no point in wasting time on analyzing the acting department.The direction is really poor,silly coincidences,poor script and thousands of other things I don't have time to point out.One of the worst films I have seen in my life.

My Rating: POOR    

Arjunan Sakshi Malayalam Film Review

There are some films which start of with a bang,gives you high hopes and then fizzles out towards the end.Arjun Sakshi is one such film.It had a promising start,but then ends up like just like another action film with the standard set of villains and the common man ranting against the system,which we have seen in many Malayalam films before. In spite of the flaws,the film do highlight some of the issues a fast growing city like Kochi face like the hardships common man face due to traffic jams and how some selfish people could derail people centric projects for their benefit.

A prominent newspaper receives an anonymous letter in which the writer claims to be the witness to the murder of Rashid Moopan,former collector.The newspaper publishes this,and the journalist who received this letter is threatened by an anonymous caller to disclose the identity of the writer.Roy,an architect is misunderstood as Arjun,the anonymous writer by the people involved in the murder of Moopan.This film looks at how Roy gets caught in this web from which he cannot extricate himself without causing damage,and how he tries to overcome that.

Even though the film is interesting on some levels,the way in which Roy trapped the villains,look too simplistic.Even if there is a witness to a murder,unless there is physical evidence,it is something difficult to prove.So the villans becoming paranoid seems to be created just to give the platform for the hero to win.Also I did not understand the logic behind the killing of Rashid's father.Coming to the execution of the film,director has been able to extract good performances from almost all actors,but falters when it comes to the action scenes.It is true that Malayalam films have budgetary constraints,so it is difficult to pull off heavy duty action scenes.So best option is not to atempt that and fail.The chase scene is not properly executed and looked amateurish.The final stunt scene with the four villains is also not able to make any impact.Even though primarily a comic actor,Jagathi has excelled in playing various type of characters and found success,but here in the role of Rashid's father he is not convincing.There seems to be too much of a conscious effort to get into that character,a neurosurgeon that it sort of looks artificial.Prithviraj even though stiff in some scenes has been able to do justice to the role.As such none of the other characters stand out,they all seems to be like cardboard copies you find in a typical action film,so there is no point in discussing the acting merits or demerits.

The background music is in tone with the film and is well done.The songs are nothing much to write about.They are just about there to fill in the gaps.

My Rating: BELOW AVERAGE

Best Actor Malayalam Film Review

'Best Actor' is an example of a film,which on script looks promising but when implemented do not look as plausible or interesting as in the script.This is what happens here also.A film with many implausible scenes,weakness in script,attempt to play to the gallery by creating unnecessary melodramatic scenes,irritating background score when combination of all these factors come together,what you get is an interesting concept gone wrong.

Mohan is a school teacher with the ambition to become an actor in a movie.His entire life is dedicated to achieve this objective where by he even ignores his loving wife and son.When a group of assistant directors planning to make an action film make fun of him and insist that he should have real life experience of a thug,he literally believes it due to his innocent nature and starts living with four real life thugs.The film looks at the hilarious sequences that follow when he encounters professional thugs and his real life merges with the reel life he dreams on.

Credit has to be given that good actors like Venu,Lal,Salim Kumar have been able to master the local slang and make these colorful characters interesting,but a 2.5 hour movie just do not depend on just characterization,but should have an adept screenplay to hold the attention of viewer.This fact is sadly missing here.Also Lal's overacting at some scenes is off-putting.As a director Martin shines in parts,but not able to do justice in some scenes.An example which comes to mind is where the assistant directors indoctrinate Mohan with the Vivek Oberoi story.This scene do not come off naturally and seems to be fake and artificial.The actors also seems to be trying too hard to make an impact.Baiju in the role of police inspector is not convincing,and those scenes are also not handled properly.

Mammootty unfortunately is also not in his elements and in many scenes he looks stiff and uninterested.The hindi dialogue scene is really cringe worthy and embarrassing.The songs are not memorable and there is an irritating humming at melodramatic scenes.The objective seems to appeal to the emotional aspect of the viewer,but unfortunately I don't think anyone would be moved.As such I will concede that there are some really good,realistic dialogues which implies some hard work has gone into the dialogues.At least on that aspect the dialogue writer should be given credit.

My Rating: BELOW AVERAGE

Traffic Malayalam Film Review

Traffic is a brilliantly executed edge of the seat thriller.An accident at a traffic junction sets off a chain of events with in a period of 12 hours which culminate in an adrenaline pumping thriller fest.The thriller element is not in chase of a sinister villain or pulping of a dozen villains by a superstar.Rather it is in the race to save a human life by the delivery of a live heart from a town hospital to another and the entire machinery ranging from police force to the dear ones of people involved in this mission,their trials,tribulations,their emotional turmoil is captured here in a realistic manner.This mission is handled by a disgraced policeman,supported by a doctor with some secrets and by a guilt ridden youngster grieving for his best friend.Whether they will achieve success overcoming all odds,that is what this film is all about.

The best part of this film is its racy screenplay.There is not a dull moment.You are always in anticipation of what happens next.All the characters are well flushed out and ably supported by good performances from artists. Rahman as the arrogant superstar incapable of appreciating his love for his daughter gives a great performance.Sai Kumar is turning out to be one of the best character artist since Venu and Thilakan, and he gives a heartfelt performance as the grieving father. Anoop Menon is quite adequate in that role.Kunchacko Boban is a much improved actor these days and the result here also is not different.Rajesh Pillai as a director clearly shines in this film.

Even though this film can be termed as almost perfect,there is some minor flaws I would like to point.The secret behind the character of Abel is little bit unconvincing,also for the reason that he is a doctor,he should be able to control his emotions well.There is no denying that this factor is one of the reasons due to which the film was able to maintain a good level of suspense,but I feel writers should have exploited a more plausible reason.Another factor was the filmstar's fan club members trying to evacuate people in the slums,which looked rather filmy and looks as if inserted since director felt like film lacks some playing to the gallery stuff.

The background music is quite captivating.I loved the music played towards the end of the mission.The songs though not catchy,are quite listenable.

My Rating: GOOD

Ore Kadal Malayalam Film Review

A dreary,boring wannabe intellectual film by Shyamaprasad.Mammootty in the role of eminent economics professor is a drunkard,horny guy who scoffs at love,bonding,emotional attachments and is in dire need of women when the need arises.He meets a housewife Deepthi who is going through economic hardships whom he helps and as is his want seduces her.The cat and mouse game starts where you find Deepthi and Nathan going through emotional turmoils and the rest of the movie looks at the consequences of this encounter.

The character of Nathan,instead of the complexity the director is trying hard to hoist on him,comes across as a rather simple,normal guy who in the end start appreciating the fact that he is human after all.But the transformation and the events which lead to it all looks superficial by the attempt to give that psuedo intellectual arty treatment.Mammootty is no doubt a fine actor and here also he has tried his best to do justice to the role,but with poor direction and a weak script,he cuts a funny figure rather than the complex,eccentric,tragic figure.

Deepthi,the housewife who is enamoured by Nathan,who incidently unlike Nathan has strong views on what constitutes sin is tormented by the affair which even unbalances her mind.To tell the truth if this was handled by an able director,audience would have been moved by her plight.Instead there is no such feeling and I wanted the film to get over as quickly as possible.But credit has to be given to Meera Jasmine who plays this role without causing much damage.

Shyamaprasad as a director fails at many scenes which I would like to point out.A hallmark of a good director is how he handles child artists.Here Shyamaprasad fails miserably and it was a pain to sit through the scenes involving the child artists.Another scene which comes to mind is the one where Deepthi's neighbour tries to take advantage of her.Director did not handle that scene properly and a pathetic actor was chosen for that role.

Coming to side characters Narain and Ramyakrishnan have given good performances.Ramya's character also had some tragedy associated with it but like Nathan,it also comes out as artificial and fake.The scene where she gives money to a beggar boy can be termed cringeworthy including her backstory.

Background Music by Ouseppachan is just about listenable,but songs are not all interesting.It also has the same wannabe arty sound.Overall I would say a disappointing film.

My Rating: POOR

Elsamma Enna Aankutty Malayalam film Review

Due to the untimely death of her father,Elsamma, eldest of four daughters is forced to be the breadwinner of the family.She works as a local newspaper reporter and agent to support her family.She is a strong willed woman who stands up against any injustice committed against her fellow villagers.Her fiery nature makes her enemies like the local liquor baron and corrupt Panchayat member.Her best friend is Unni who makes a living by selling milk.Pappan, an old man is a neighbor of Elsamma's family and both their families love each other.The film looks at the change in this equation when Pappan's grandson Aby comes to the village along with his friends and also the relationship between Elsamma and Unni with the arrival of Aby.

Eventhough on the story aspect it is the same old wine in new bottle,Lal Jose has to be applauded for creating some plausible characters and just about enough friction to maintain the interest of the viewers in the proc eedings.As such there are instances where he tries to play to the gallery by trying to milk emotional aspect of the audience.An example of this is the incident regarding Elsamma's mother which was placed for this effect.Lal Jose has succeeded to some extend to portray the village life with its share of bondage and enmity among the villagers in a realistic fashion with right amount of masala with a hold on screenplay which forces the viewer to maintain his interest.

Ann Augustine as Elsamma,I feel has not been able to nail the character to perfection.Rather than a natural actress,she seems to be more of a director's actress.In some of the scenes that is visible,but overall she is quite adequate and has done justice to the role.Surprise package of this film is definitely Kunchacko Boban.He has definitely stole many hearts with his natural portrayal of the character of Unni.Venu and Jagathi are of course actors who can portray any roles with perfection and result here also is nothing different.Vijayaraghavan in the villain role with comic touch really shines.Indrajith as a happy go lucky youngster inspite of not looking that young somehow pulls of that character without causing much damage.Suraj is in his elements and enlivens the film with his act.

My Rating : AVERAGE

Achuvinte Amma Malayalam Film Review

A film which talks about the life of a single parent,about her daughter,the bondage and differences among them depicted in the typical,simple,realistic format in which Sathyan Anthikad excels.Achu, an young woman has only her mother Vanaja as her parent.They both love each other and since Achu realizes that any question about her father hurts her mother,she do not insist on it.Vanaja through her hardwork does well as an insurance agent and when Achu gets a job in a construction firm,their lives are filled with happiness.In course of her work Achu meets Immanuel,a handsome talkative man and they become friends in due course.The film now looks at how this relationship proceed further and how this causes a friction between mother and daughter.

Sathyan Anthikad usually has this habit of yielding to excessive melodrama and thereby hijacking the movie from its premise.Here most of the time he stays on course,but there are instances where one can see forceful insertion of melodrama to manipulate audience.One such is the hospitalization of Achu and reasons for this.Even though the back story of Immanuel had the potential for similar exploitation,Sathyan didn't go overboard and sort of maintained a balance.The ending part is also well done and it is great to see that a realistic resolution was found for mystery behind Achu's father.

Urvashi as the mother gives a great performance.Meera Jasmin as Achu do justice to the role.Narain's acting initially I find it little annoying but overall he is just about adequate in that role.Sukumari and Oduvil Unnikrishnan prove that when you have natural talent, any role that is little different from the mainstream can be played with ease.KPAC Lalitha is in fine form and my favourite scene is the one where she introduces a rich man with golden teeth as a potential alliance for Vanaja.Her insistence of golden teeth not only evokes humor but also is a dig at the usual appetite of Malayalees towards gold.The actor who played the police constable with the slang,I found initially difficult to digest,but gradually I warmed up to his acting and found it interesting.A film with its heart at its right place,some tender moments,some forgettable melodramatic scenes,but overall a film which do not disappoint.

My Rating : ABOVE AVERAGE

Adikkurippu Malayalam film Review

The films that deal with legal issues are rare in Malayalam cinema.Adikurrippu is one such film which looks at the life of a castaway and the legal problems which arise for his acceptance into his homeland.

A ship with a castaway lands at Kochi Harbor. The captain wants the castaway Basheer to be handed over to his relatives. Basheer is unable to remember his past and no one comes forward to claim him.But an attempt is made on his life by some unknown assailants which proves that someone's feathers are ruffled by his presence. Captain contacts brilliant lawyer Bhaskar Pillai to find a solution to this problem.The film focuses on the efforts of Bhaskar to find relatives of Basheer as well as the mystery behind the attack on Basheer.

Even though there is not much of a mystery aspect to the film,K Madhu has to be applauded for going for a different theme which is not much explored in Malayalam cinema. Mammootty is brilliant as a lawyer and the legal strategies to release Basheer is well thought out.The film's weakness is the stereotypical villains and  standard fight scenes. Even though primarily a comic actor,Jagathy has won laurels in serious roles also but here as the castaway Basheer, he is not impressive.The fake beard and overacting spoils the character which had lot of potential on the emoting front. Lalu Alex,Sreenath,Urvasi do justice to their roles.

My Rating : AVERAGE

Detective Malayalam Film review

Detective is a well crafted mystery/investigative thriller. Reshmi,wife of an young,upcoming politician is murdered by administration of rat poison.Initial investigation by police  assumed it was a suicide,but political pressure forces investigation to be handed over to Shyamaprasad, a high ranking police official who also happens to be half brother of Mohan,who reaches the conclusion that it was a murder. The film focuses on the investigation by Shyamaprasad and eventual capture of a wily and cunning killer.

Director Jithu Joseph has succeeded in making an edge of the seat thriller.Unlike other films of this genre,there is not a wide pool of suspects and the usual shock value when finally the killer is revealed,still film is entertaining for the fact that how Shyamaprasad tracks down the killer.The investigation seems realistic.The film fortunately concentrates mainly on this aspect rather than the side story of the two brothers which would have been a distraction. Even though this film also has its share of bombastic English dialogues for which Gopi is famous(infamous), fortunately it is toned down and do not get on the nerves unlike his other films  There are minor irritations like showing of heroism of Suresh Gopi in the form of slow motion walk and unnecessary fight scene. On the mystery aspect it is not on par with the iconic CBI series, still Jithu Joseph has to be applauded for keeping a fair pace and able to keep audience hooked to the proceedings.

On the acting front Suresh Gopi is in his elements as the stylish Shyamaprasad and the ideal,honest but hapless half brother.He does justice to both the roles.Jagathy is wasted in a small role, which even though intended for comic relief has failed in its objective. Rest of the actors are all adequate in their roles.Background music is apt and is in tune with this genre type film.

My Rating : GOOD

The Thriller Malayalam film review

An young,rich businessman Simon is killed in a brutal knife attack.The last moments of Simon before death is witnessed by DCP Niranjan.Niranjan is mystified by the strange uttering by Simon before his death. The film focuses on this murder investigation by Niranjan to unmask the murderer.

It seems that this film is made to project Prithviraj as a some sort of Superhero rather than concentrating on the murder investigation.You get to see Prithvi walking in slow motion beating many villains to pulp and also mouth English dialogues that rival Suresh Gopi. Even though the premise was pretty much explosive and had great potential to be made into an engrossing fare,Unnikrishnan completely botches it with stereotype police characters and a typical villain.It also had the advantage of being inspired by a real event there by raising the curiosity factor to a high level but it seems director wants to only take advantage of this factor rather than come up with a credible,engaging film.I had a doubt whether I was watching a Malayalam movie,since most of the characters were conversing in English and to rub salt to wound,villain character in Tamil .An example of how filmmaker is hell bent on murdering English language is where Lalu Alex blurts out an English expression which I am sure native speakers of English may not be using in their daily life. The only redeemable feature of this completely forgettable film is the interesting twist towards the end, which takes you by surprise.

On the acting front Prithviraj is trying to ape Suresh Gopi and falls flat in this attempt. He is a capable actor,but here he looks completely out of sorts and cuts a pathetic figure.None of the actors impress and everyone seems to outdo one another to bring as much superficiality to their roles as possible.Background  music is irritating and only serves the purpose of shattering hapless viewers eardrums already battered  by  Prithvi's English dialogues. Unnikrishnan has proved in his previous attempts that he is a good director,but unfortunately here he is completely out of form.

My Rating : BELOW AVERAGE 

Mukham Malayalam Film Review

When three women are killed,a  police squad led by Assistant commissioner of police is formed to investigate the murders.He finds that all women die due to a single gunshot fired by an expert sniper.The film looks at the investigation by this police officer and his efforts to catch the cold blooded killer.

This film starts off well with an excellent  film title music by Johnson.The initial scenes and investigation put you in anticipation of a taut,psychological thriller since killer targets only married women.But as film progresses the initial impact wears of .Even though there is a justification on the part of killer for these murders,director fails to keep this interesting enough to keep the viewers on the edge of the seat.There is enough red herrings to throw viewers off the track,but an astute viewer can easily guess the outcome.Even then also it doesn't matter if only the confrontation between pursuer and pursued were more interestingly picturized. In spite of the flaws Mohan has to be applauded for attempting a  different type of film which is quite unusual in Malayalam films.

Among the actors Mohanlal,Nasser,Ranjini give good performances.Mala Aravindan and Innocent with his Thrissur slang leave impact with their impeccable comic acts in their brief roles.

My Rating : AVERAGE

Akkare Ninnoru Maran Malayalam Film Review

Achuthan is an unemployed youth who is trying to make both ends meet.His uncle Thankappan Nair is a rich man who is cunning,wily and a miser who cheated Achuthan's mother from her share of property and who shows no inclination in helping him in his time of distress.Achuthan's objective is to reclaim the land snatched by his uncle and marry his daughter.He along with his friends decides to hoodwink Thankappan Nair by devising a scheme whereby Nair is given the impression that Achuthan got a job in gulf and he is rich.

A comedy with many laughout moments, this film is a winner all the way.All the actors have given great performances from Mukesh,Jagadish,Innocent, Mala to Srinivasan.Mala steals many scenes with his trademark mannerisms which make him such a lovable comic actor.This film shows the period when the gulf craze was at its peak and the satire here is of high class.A noteworthy scene is the one where Mala gets the job of conductor using MLA's letter.Srinivasan in different get ups especially in the Arab role brings the house down with his impeccable comic acts.Nedumudi Venu has to be applauded for playing the cunning,crafty Thankappan Nair to perfection.There is little bit of slapstick type comedy,but rather than being forced, it actually jells with the wacky nature of the film and is quite enjoyable.

My RATING : GOOD

Flash Malayalam film Review

Dhwani a college student leads the normal life of an youngster till some incident at her ancestral house makes her mentally unhinged. She is referred to a psychologist Mithun by her relative Priyan who is in love with her.How Mithun finds out the reason behind the abnormal,volatile behaviour of Dhwani forms the basis of the movie.It also looks at how he tries to extricate her out of some murders which she seems to have committed and thereby the prime suspect in the eyes of police.

This is a film in which you need tons of patience to sit through.It has its moments where there is a certain level of anticipation from the audience,but unfortunately towards the end everything evaporates into thin air by the lame story and even lamer execution.The end where the psychologist unravels the troubled mind of Dhwani is not at all convincing and to some extend blame should go to the poor execution so that there is no impact as far as the big reveal is concerned.As a director Sibi Malayil is at complete loss here. The introductory scene of Mohanlal is one example of poor direction, it is painful to watch the antics of Lal in that scene.Audience is told that Mithun is a man of many hats and the scene where he proclaims his genius by flashing cards is an unintentionally comic scene,a really ridiculous one. Parvathy,who played the role of Dhwani seems to equate acting with facial contortions rather than any real acting.Jagathy in a weird get up is relegated to dust bin after a few scenes.In the role of grandfather you have an actor who seems to be schooled in the school of over acting.Sai Kumar,Suresh Krishna being the good actors they are do justice to their roles.

My Rating : POOR

Utharam Malayalam Film Review

Utharam is one of the finest movies in malayalam in mystery genre.It is not a plain vanilla whodunit mystery with tons of suspects,but a well crafted whydunit which looks at the psychological aspect of the victim in her death.

Selina is a 27 year old talented poetess who is destined for greater glory when she suddenly commits suicide.Her supportive and loving husband is shattered.He is mystified that why she committed suicide since she had a stable life and as far as he can see he loved her and not cheated her on any way.To get at the bottom of this mystery he enlists the help of his best friend Balu who is a journalist.The film focuses on this investigation by Balu where he meets various people associated with past life of Selina which opens a can of worms.Balu came to realize that Selina had a painful past which she concealed from her husband.He had to look into Selina's school life,her childhood friends and acquaintances to unravel the real persona of Selina.These facts lead to a surprising conclusion where Balu eventually gets the answer to his quest .

Mammootty as the journalist,Sukumaran as the husband and Parvathy as childhood friend of Selina give impressive performances.Unlike other films of this genre,there is no overt heroism,rather the investigation is steeped in realism.The way journalist tries to acquire facts is depicted realistically. Pavithran as a director is in fine form and the screenplay is taut and the suspense is well maintained.Johnson's background score suits the tone of the film.

My Rating : GOOD