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

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