നായാട്ട്- Movie Review

ഒരു 25 വർഷം മുന്നേ ഉള്ള കഥയാണ്. മദ്ധ്യതിരുവിതാംകൂറിലെ ഒരു ക്രിസ്ത്യൻ വിവാഹം. അന്ന് 'ഞങ്ങൾ അങ്ങ് പള്ളിയിൽ എത്തിക്കോളാം' എന്ന ന്യായം മര്യാദകേടായി കണ്ടിരുന്ന കാലമാണ്. അത് കൊണ്ട് പള്ളിയിലെ അത്രയും തിക്കും തിരക്കും വീട്ടിലും കാണും.

ഇതിൻ്റെ ഇടയിൽ കൂടി ഓടി നടക്കുന്ന പണിയാണ് Photographer ന് ഉള്ളത്. ഫിലിം വേസ്റ്റ് ചെയ്യാൻ ഇല്ല, Lighting adjust ചെയ്യാൻ പറ്റില്ല, ആളുകൾ മസിലും പിടിച്ചിരിക്കുകയും ചെയ്യും.

പക്ഷേ ഈ കല്യാണത്തിന് ചെറുക്കൻ്റെ അടുത്ത സുഹൃത്തും വനിതാ മാസികയിലെ photographer വരുന്നെന്ന് കിംവദന്തി കേട്ടു. സുഹൃത്ത് പെട്ടെന്ന് വന്നു, തിങ്ങി കൂടിയ ആൾക്കാരെ ഒക്കെ വെളിയിലാക്കി, കുടയൊക്കെ നിവർത്തി സെഷൻ ആരംഭിച്ചു. ഞാനാ വാതിൽ പാളിയിലൂടെ ഇത് വാ പൊളിച്ച് കണ്ട് കൊണ്ടിരുന്നു. ആൽബം വന്നപ്പോൾ അതിലും വാ പൊളിച്ചു.

ഈ സ്റ്റൈൽ trend ആകാൻ വർഷങ്ങൾ വീണ്ടുമെടുത്തു. അന്ന് കാലത്തിന് മുന്നേ സഞ്ചരിച്ച photographer ആണ് 'നായാട്ട്' സംവിധായകൻ.

ഞാനീ കഥ പറയാൻ കാര്യം കാലത്തിന് മുന്നേ സഞ്ചരിക്കുന്നതിലും പാടാണ്, മുന്നേ പോയ trend ന് പിറകേ പോയി പിടിക്കുക എന്നത്. അതാണ് സംവിധായകൻ ഈ പടത്തിൽ ശ്രമിക്കുന്നതും ഒരു പരിധി വരെ പരാജയപ്പെടുന്നതും. കഥ പറയുന്ന രീതിയും ക്യാമറയും conternporary സ്റ്റൈലിൽ പരീക്ഷിക്കാൻ നോക്കിയെങ്കിലും വിജയിച്ചു എന്ന് പറയാൻ വയ്യ. ചുരുക്കി പറഞ്ഞാൽ സംവിധായകന് ഒട്ടും comfortable ആയ framework ൽ അല്ല പടം എടുത്തിരിക്കുന്നത്.

ഈ സിനിമയുടെ ' Political Correctness ' വലിയ ചർച്ചയായതാണ്. എന്നാലും fringe groups നെ പ്രതിപാദിക്കുമ്പോ കുറച്ചൂടെ maturity & Sensitivity ആകാമായിരുന്നു.

അതു പോലെ തന്നെ പ്രസക്തമായ വിഷയമാണ് പൊതു സമൂഹത്തിൻ്റെ പ്രതികാര-ദാഹം ശമിപ്പിക്കാൻ നിരപരാധികളെ frame ചെയ്യുന്നത്. ഈ വിഷയവും 'നായാട്ട്' എന്ന theme ആയി ഒരു പരിധി വരെ connect ചെയ്യാൻ സാധിച്ചെങ്കിലും ആ വിഷയത്തിന് കുറച്ചു കൂടെ treatment ആകാമായിരുന്നു.

Casting ൽ ചിലയിടത്ത് ആവശ്യത്തിലുപരി കഴിവുള്ളവരും ചിലയിടത്ത് പ്രതീക്ഷയ്‌ക്കൊത്ത് ഉയരാൻ പറ്റാത്തവരുമായി പോയെന്ന് തോന്നുന്നു. ഉദാഹരണത്തിന് കുഞ്ചാക്കോ, നിമിഷ എന്നിവർടെ കഴിവിന് പറ്റിയ റോളായിരുന്നോ എന്ന് സംശയവും മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിയുടെ റോൾ കുറച്ചു കൂടെ ശക്തമായ കഥാപാത്രങ്ങൾ അവതരിപ്പിക്കാൻ കഴിവുള്ളവരാകേണ്ടതുമായിരുന്നു എന്ന് അഭിപ്രായമെനിക്കുണ്ട് .എ

എന്തായാലും'കണ്ടിരിക്കാൻ' പറ്റുന്ന നല്ല സിനിമ

Movie Review - കെട്ട്യോളാണെൻ്റെ മാലാഖ

മലയാളം സിനിമയിൽ പണ്ട് ഒരു popular genre ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു. അതായത് തന്നിഷ്ടക്കാരിയായ ഒരു സ്ത്രീ. Fashionable dress ധരിക്കും, kitty parties പോകും, ഇടയ്ക്ക് അല്പം Feminism പറയും. പക്ഷേ climax ൽ ഭർത്താവ് ചെകിട്ടത്ത് ഒരടി കൊടുക്കുന്നതോടെ 'നന്നാവും'.

ഇത്തരം Regressive frame ൽ നിന്നു മലയാള സിനിമ ചെറിയ കാലയളവിൽ ബഹുദൂരം സഞ്ചരിച്ചു എന്നു നമുക്ക് ധൈര്യമായി പറയാം. അതും 'കെട്ട്യോളാണെന്റെ മാലാഖ'  കാണുമ്പോൾ വളരെ ഉറപ്പിച്ചു പറയാം.

ഒരു Patriarchial and claustrophobic agrarian Community ടെ കഥ ഒരു 'വരത്തന്റെ ' കണ്ണുകളിൽ കൂടി പറഞ്ഞ കഥയായിരുന്നു വരത്തൻ. എന്നാൽ ഈ സിനിമ കുറച്ചു കൂടെ aesthetic and realistic ആയി തോന്നി. The movie also showed how a innocent and innocuous young guy can be capable of violence and rape.

The director exhibited his capability in subtley and aesthetically telling a few things to the Malayali audience. Especially the plight of a youngster in his total sex illiteracy even though he was brought up in a family consisting of four sisters. There was also this minor, parallel plot of a father trying to 'secure' the future of his daughter by sending her off to nursing course.

I'm not plunging into any further post mortem on the technical or creative side of the movie except that it is a very good piece of work. But it will be unfair on my part of I don't mention a few things related to the ideology which I found to be slightly unscientific and regressive.

The protagonist is, rather happily, brought up in a religious and rigid social setup in a agrarian society where the rules are governed by the dictats of religious beliefs. The irony is even when he belongs to a close knit community, they fail to address his basic sexual insecurity when he confides it openly.

The incident, marital rape, which is center of the movie occurs in the same period when a 'family retreat' is being held at the church.

My problem is the path through which the director takes the issue from there on. The boldness in presenting such a subject gives way to religious dogma and rhetorism. How does a woman find solution in the very social setup that abuse her? Rather than a solution it is the normalization of abuse. Every religion survives by promoting patriarchal hegemony. Women are taught to 'adjust' (the normalized term for bearing torment).

Cinema, as a progressive medium, should not promote regressive ideology in any form.

Theevram and the question of Judas

The evolution of Malayalam cinema is very amusing. In the last couple of years, the change has been very startling and sudden. I wouldn’t say that the change was unwelcome. It’s been more than welcome with the commercial wing of Malayalam cinema slumping to drudgery with the ‘single-hero’ concept. There was a brief threat of sleaze cinema making a come back. But the advent of internet broadband  coupled with cheaper and faster download ensured that the porn starved youth were treated to ‘healthy’ western porn.

Malayalam film makers tried its best to hold onto the old world concepts for a long time. But nothing can beat the market economics. Mallu audiences were being increasingly exposed to Hindi and Tamil cinemas. It didn’t take long for the palate to get adjusted to the grandoise visuals. The good old Malayalam cinema had no option but to change.

The main factor that catalysed the change is technicians who came back after doing a stint at the fertile grounds of Bollywood. They brought with them a whiff of fresh air and was in a good mood to rebel against the set patterns. Besides editing was not a costly affair. The change was so startling and sudden that quite a few big names got washed off the face of Malayalam cinema.

When we keep apart the technical side and examine how the neo-Malayalam film deal with the social landscape of Kerala, more interesting facts start to emerge. Most of the movies are shot in and around Kochi, specifically- Fort Kochi. They may have better studios, and the location towards the central Kerala is an advantage. Besides there are visible evidences of urban degradation, which is not that visible in other parts of Kerala. The new generation directors prefer to base their movies on the travails of a metro crowd. Our generation has moved on from the green & good rural stories to more mean & menacing city ones. An after effect is we have lost the capability to film the diverse social set up across the country. We have some of exemplary work being done in angles, lighting, editing etc. But is there a serious creative back up or thought process to it?

Let’s take a cross section from a few new age Malayalam films that have been hitting the markets. All the characters have some strong, striking resemblance with each other- right from the job profile, the age, the wardrobe, the slang, the aspirations. A young doctor will be one sure shot character. The reason being, you’ve got doctors like plague in the streets. He will in a designer pad, driving a swanky car around with a hottie in it. The other acceptable professions are real eststae agent, software engineer or hotelier. The films which proclaim more power to women put them as Barbie dolls in call centres, private secretaries who wear tight skirts or pants. They have to show up the waxed legs to proclaim modernism and screw the boss for promotions.

Last day I went out with my friend. We had some last minute change of plans and we hit the movie halls. The movie was ‘Theevram’, which can be translated in English as Intense. The film starred the young son of erstwhile superstar. The superstar has been doing some really forgettable films while the son is faring marginally better. I loved the way he did the first two films and had some great hopes for the third.   

In Theevram the SoS (son of superstar) has gone a step ahead and played a grey shade. I learnt that the director once played the role of a child artiste long ago. As often seen in Malayalam cinema these days, the first ten minutes were dedicated to saying thanks. I wonder of this is being done seriously, or just as an offering to spare the movie!

The best part about the movie was the colour tone. From the vivid multi colour the directors are more comfortable to use mono tones to enhance the mood of the movie. Even the senior directors had to shed the apprehension and adapt to the fashion of the day. Here, in Theevram, more of grey shades were used to portray bad times and the vivid tones to show the better times. I loved that but I wouldn’t say it’s original because I have seen the same and even  better work in ‘Memento’.

Years ago when the fast paced Tamil & Hindi music crept into the Malayalam space, the music directors lamented the inability to make a fast Malayalam number. Malayalam had few ‘hard’ words in its vocabulary. In that circumstance, the ‘Malayalam Rock’ is quite a surprise. Kerala is a fertile soil of Rock music. The better reason being or never ending quench to be Americanized.  The movie has some violent beats in the tracks when the hero is out there to get his revenge.

Apart from all the good part, what surprises me is the way in which the film makers treat a serious social issue with such a casual approach. The bad guy rapes and kills the good girl. The bad guy is released years later from the jail on compassionate grounds. The hero skilfully plans and executes revenge. He leaves parts of body to mock the police system.

I am not in for serial killers or rapists. But as a society we wil have to do some serious thought process into the way in which we treat our sexual offenders.  The way in which the police office mocks the judicial system for pardoning a supposedly reformed criminal is alarming. When he learns of the criminal gruesomely murdered by the hero, the policeofficer exclaims:

‘It’s only Judas who was killed’

So bumping off the bad guys are the solution for a better society!!

Even the world’s greatest directors graphically portrayed  death, destruction- Clockwork Orange, Decalogue. But there was a sprout of creativity behind the art of destruction.

Movie review - Ustad Hotel (Malayalam)

I had a discussion with a friend on the crediblity of a popular movie. One point that came across the discussion was - love is a sensory feeling . And the taste buds aren't exempted from choosing your mate.
The makers of Ustad Hotel sincerely tried to make something different from the normal recipe . Thankfully, they made sure it didn't fall into the new-generation-mallu bracket.

Anwar Rasheed arrived with a name tag of making superstar flicks. Even when he delivered with all his movies making it to the hit list, critics had serious doubts on his versatility. But then he startled everyone with a short film. And now he has proved his mettle with Ustad Hotel.
Apart from the director, the writer deserves equal accolades . Anjali Menon has come up with a beautiful script. The music-story-director team has worked in perfect harmony. The story is well placed with no unwanted scenes. There's a perfect blend of music into the frame. And the music director has come up with a diverse mix of music to suit the mood.

The sub plots in the film are beautifully balanced. At no point do we feel.them holding the pace of the movie.
The movie starts off with early stages of the protagonist and moves on to other stages. The way the story shifts is so smooth and appealing. The best part was the creativity when the protagonist's student life at Switzerland was shown through the opening credits as a caricature. It stimulated the creative cells of the viewer and saved some valuable time .
Next he meets the lady love , which resulted in another turning point in his life. He unconsciously embarks on a process of self discovery.
He meets his estranged grandfather. He learns the hooks of the job he loves. Then there's a predictable fight with the greedy sharks, he rediscovers his Love, revives his old hotel and the movie ends .

Besides the technical part, we see some great performance from the thespian- Thilakan. The way he moves from one character to another is a great lesson . I wonder where Malayalam cinema would end up ? Can we survive without the golden generation!!

(I choose to be silent on the ability of the younger actors.  I don't want to be labelled old man )

Movie review - Diamond Necklace (Malayalam)

I would shamelessly admit, in the first few minutes I had a feeling that the movie was about to fizzle out soon. But after an needlessly hurried opening, the pieces fall smoothly into their place. Hats off to the director Lal Jose. He has shown his versatility to handle subjects, characters, landscape beyond those timezones. This is where our so called greats failed - to adapt.

The film is cast mainly on three  hinges, which is worth the mention

1. Dubai :
I belong to a generation who migrated to Emirates to make their dough. Back then it was a land of boredom. The money earned was invested back in homeland. These expatriates dreamt of happily living ever after they earned a lot.

But soon the second generation who found out that they prefer the Emirates to the homeland and found it comfortable living there.

By then giant global  financial monster of asset creation gobbled up the emirates. The money generated started to be invested there. It was supported by the new western educated rulers. The emirates started to grow rich, sauve and aesthetic. Along with it came many avenues to burn up your cash.

The after effect was a credit culture that traps many of the youth in. The director brilliantly , effortlessly dwells on this major issue. He doesn't go overboard with speeches.
Slowly but surely the happy-go-lucky hero finds his life sinking into the credit swamp, taking his loved ones along.

2. Women

More the less its a fair sex  dominated movie where we see how the interaction with different women ultimately affects the evolution of  the protagonist's life. All the characters are sketched and executed brilliantly. We see a host of brilliant performances.

It starts off with elderly colleague pampering him with love and care only to have her heart broken in the end.
The Tamil nurse walks away with much applaud for her body language, attitude and emoting. She comes to Dubai to fulfil her mother's dream, only to have it broken by the man she loved.
Then comes the immature and bubbly wife, who is despised by the hero and she demonstrates the depth of her love towards the end.
The women who's dumped by her fiance on learning her illness finds solace in another man, the protagonist, who's also out there to take advantage. In the end she realizes there's more to life than material and indirectly imparting the knowledge to the protagonist.

Then there's the mother who thinks the world of her son. Although she's very well aware that all's not that well with him. She silently plots for the change in him.

Then there's a diamond necklace which binds the entire story together.

Technically speaking, there were instances when the story was rushed through. This being a longer movie compared to modern standards, the director must have decided to concentrate on the intrinsic climax.

There are some very lasting imageries. The girl deleting her fiance's details from the phone was one. It showed the longetivity and concept of modern relationship. So was diamond necklace sinking.

At the same time there were also some ordinary visuals. They looked as if someone else.screwed in a few in between.

The music was exemplary. It seems the modern theology of lighting is to create an artificial feeling of the whole setup. Or even reality may be given back seat in favor of aestheticd.

Movie review - Ishqazzade (Hindi)

I am no fan of Yash films. But I was a fan once, who pretends to be enlightened now. The  clone films coming one after another from Yash studios nearly reduced it to a laughing stock.
Today I was about to get into an enlightened movie when the friends forced me into the ' Ishqazade'. I had trouble in pronouncing the name to the ticket vendor and was very unsure about what I was getting onto.

The best thing is Yash films have come around a full circle. They were once upon-a-time-trendsetter of Hindi cinema. Sadly they lost the edge to new age , corporate churned cinema. But they kept on pushing thanks to nostalgia and patronship of film magazine editors. Thankfully the wise men in the production house decided to do away with the tried and tested method . Considering this fact , the movie is new and fresh. Hence I'm quite surprised.

The movie is shot on back drop of rustic politics of central India. Not so long ago Mumbai underworld was a trending theme in Bollywood. Then it shifted to foreign locales and NRI sob stories. Now Delhi and UP are the places which stimulates our Desi directors' creativity.
Taking the cue from the current taste its all about blood, violence, uninhibited passions.

The characters too are cast in a different mould. The woman is fiesty, gun totting, bad mouthed bitch. She loves to indulge in her dad's political career, dances with 'dancing girls'. In short she's the manifestation of the neo feminism. The hero boy is much baddie than the villain guys. He beats up and shoots without any moral reason. He drinks a lot but doesn't think much.

The camera and lighting is exemplary. The colour tone just suits the landscape. The songs are all good and so is background score. Thankfully.the music has bid farewell to the Lata Mangeshkar era. May be the Chopra boys have atlast come into term with the fact that people do age and so does the stories.

The movie opens up with a blast. Then the treatment takes the usual slow turn. I even found time to text a beautiful bitch throughout the movie. The story gets stuck at parts and goes on winding there until it comes out of the lacunae.

Then there are some ideological inconsistencies in parts through the movie which can be again blamed on half baked script. If you are stuck at a spot, you got to come out of it through any stupid method possible. This is where Anna Veeticad's view on anti feminist treatment comes into relevance. May be the writers must have got a basic thread with no clue on how to develop it.
This resulted in a really tart of a message coming out in the end.

The idea of shifting the scene to a brothel house deserved lots of claps. But sadly it stayed there for too long with no much reason. Similarily is girl breaking into hero's house. Better don't think of it. Only Yash has an answer if he has any.

The final solution for Yash films is to throw out Aditya from the writers job and save the house

Movie review - Mallu Singh (Malayalam)

There's a category for the 'feel good movie'. They are loud, pointless, breathe taking. At the end of it you feel like just having  masturbated. You felt good, but regret for wasting it.

There's some sort of lame story. There are beautiful girls, dances and a hot item. There are plenty of slow mo fights to bore you. For a change Suraj cracks clean, good jokes.

The best part is the hero Unni Mukundan. Another hulk with plenty of muscles and great attitude. He did carry the predictable story very well. Although the character didn't test him much. K Boban, supposedly on the return from ashes tries to do a lame aping of Dileep. The women are hot.

Malayalam cinema is facing a dangerous trend of shortage in support caste. The same crew does the same boring roles. The old men try to pass off as sweet teenagers. And they do some real wierd hair do. The heroes use plenty of editors' knives to feign the style. Bits and parts are borrowed from all parts of India. Absolutely no creativity

I've never seen a worse lighting. The story board is too amateurish.

And ...sheesh..not worth it

Movie review - 22 Female Kottayam (Malayalam)

In the early hours of morning  an angel appears to Ashiq Abu and reveals: Dude, Mallus are very much a movie loving kind of species. But they have no 'New-Gen' movies to meditate on. From now on you take the mantle of messiah of Mollywood.

On hearing this Abu gets up and goes to the library. He hunts for the latest Tamil and Hindi flicks. Then he picks up a few old popular ones. Abu puts the old wine in the new bottle. Here is your new-gen movie.

The movie works because Abu hits your raw nerve. It fills up the theatre seats and pages of the publications. None bothers if its the same old heady story.
The pure, innocent girl is brutally raped and sent to jail for attempt to rape. She befriends the bad women there and they teach her out to be an underworld don. Yes, she comes out and sets the world on fire.

Now how is it shot in the new-gen method
1. The whole movie is shot in very dull color tones. There will be plenty of slow-mos, a few closeups . There will be someone singing in husky, high pitch voice, constant jarring of guitar.

2.  The new Indian movie symptoms where even the jobless hero lives in the posh apartments, wears designer outfits, hits the swankiest pubs, dates the hottest girls. The new movie makers are reluctant to show the drudgery and decadence through the lens. How much we miss the portrayal of realism.

3. Mr. Fazil , the king of sugar candies , introduced his son, Fahad , long time back. The media made sure they welcomed him with much fanfare. As usual the Fazil movie sank without a trace. The cute, handsome, wooden faced wonder was a phenomenon who was doomed to ignominy.
But years later he comes back without much ado in a characteristic bald and stubble. He's the epitomization of new age anti hero. In this movie he even displays his hairy chest and jockey underwears.

Still the wooden face stays on.

To be fair to him, except for the few yesteryear actors , none display the panache for the slick dialogues or the under played  style of emoting. But the great part is director kneads skilfully metal music into places to make up the sad acting.

Seeing a bunch of guys from the golden era of Malayalam cinema was wonderful. They are an ageing and fast fading breed.

4. Abu trumpets the era of the new age Mallu women. She comes out of closet onto the bright world carrying with her all the sensualities and absolutely no emotional baggage. She curses, pass lewd remarks, wear a miniskirt , spots a bold hair do, happily sleeps with bosses to migrate to Canada.

Abu hints regularly Kerala has changed and its women too. But then you Google for Mallu Masala- the same portrayal in a different light can be seen. What the fuck are you conveying ,Mr.Abu.

In my line of career I have seen a lot of nursing graduates in the past few year years. It's so very unfortunate that such an inaccurate portrayal is made. I wonder if the director ever thought of how the lowest paid people can afford a swanky flat. Is just sleeping around a ticket to USA?

Rat faced superstar

The good thing about being a Tamil superstar is you will have a hysterical fan following. The bad thing about being a Tamil superstar is you'll have a hysterical fan following. On one hand you'll easily get the much needed hype for the opening. On the other hand you'll have to churn up the same product time and again.

I was in high school when Vijay came into limelight. He had this habit of remaking the small budget, romantic hits from Malayalam into big budget, picturesque Tamil. Onto the Malayalam formula he added the Tamil masala. There would be two women chasing the hero ( Vijay ofcourse ) . One would be a busty vamp always on short skirts, low cut blouse climaxing into orgasm on slightest excuse. The second would be a good natured, village damsel who will have no chance against our hero. But at the end Vijay will walk away with village girl, satisfying the Indian dharma .

Added to that there would be the usual cowdung - banana peel jokes and a bunch of idiotic cronies hanging on to him. Vijay wasn't handsome , strictly speaking.  There's a story that goes around that a production executive made fun of his 'rat face'. Still he resolutely carved a niche at his own terms thanks to his mesmerizing dance steps.

It was then the romantic Vijay shifted gears and moves onto the super human Vijay with the epic 'Gilli'. The movie was about a young guy who fights out the notorious bad guys to win his girl. Although Vijay scripted the success to his name, the honours have to be shared with the heroine and the anti hero who did a fabulous role. The movie turned out to be a jackpot for many associated with it.

Vijay decided inorder to hang on to his fame he will have to do the same thing again and again. Then followed a stream of homogeneous products. Vijay (or his fans) anointed him as the little prince. The movies started screaming his name. Later on he managed to get a doctorate added and thus became the Dr.Vijay. The bad guys would be creating havoc in the streets, when Vijay would coming in beating the living daylights out of them. Then the village babes would come out singing his praises. Rest of the story would be predictable. The only change would be the villain. He might indulge in black marketing in a movie, trafficking in next, money lender in next. Invariably he would be the MLA or a minister.

Vijay was riding on a steady wave when he found out the whole industry moved on leaving him behind. He started pulling in new directors  and technicians, perhaps a bit overconfident in his own abilities. The end result - his movies started sinking even before it came out.

But recently I watched his latest movie. The Tamil bad man spoke to the Arabic terrorist in Tamil and they understood each other very well. I just loved the part. He then steals some outfit out of a museum, which.strangenessly resembles a video game. In the end he turns a dark knight and chides the common man for expecting a saviour. Is it going to be another turn on the road.

Movie review - Paan Singh Tomar

It was on my brother's insistence we went for a less heard of movie burning some cool money.

Before we entered, the usher came and told us there was a technical snag and film will not be played. I was relieved of the refund when the manager came and told us all the technical snags are resolved and its being played in another screen.

Paan Singh is indeed a good film but certainly not great and not good enough for a Imax show.

The film came in with so little publicity. Hence people were taken in for a surprise. The story is about the Chambal dacoity told more appealingly compared to its predecessors.

The reason behind the dacoity is more due to neglect of the government towards Mr.Paan's days as an award winning athlete. The director goes overboard with it and many important and real reasons behind lawlessness are brushed aside. The camera work is very good especially in the race shots. We really lack an expertise in those.

There's a great opening. We may except a lot out of it.  Towards the second half the weakness in script gives away and whole plot fizzles out. There's  terrific performances from every character.

Hopefully the set designer will do some home work before his next film. The director has to be a little more careful with his script. He needs to do some heads on when he deals  on a social issue. The timelines are confusing too.

In short don't go for any take away from it . There's no steamy scenes or jokes or dances. Hence its not a weekend film too. There's not even much to write about

Movie review - Kahani (Hindi)

This was a week which remained faithful to Murphy's law - everything that could possibly go wrong , did go wrong. I got a slight whiff of cold while in Kochi. So I had to cancel my plans to meet up some pretty friends. Then I lost a month's earning thanks to faulty systems of IRCTC.

It was at that time my friend came up with a comment ' Vidya Balan is the Indian version of Meryl Streep'. As a hardcore Streep fan I wanted to check out. On the way home from the railway station, I got to see the poster of 'Kahaani'. I made up my mind to go for the movie.

And as luck would've it, my buddy called up and we made plans for a movie. It's a huge bore to go to a movie hall alone. Although he had ideas for a Mallu , I convinced him for this one.

But everything didn't go well exactly. It started raining as soon as I stepped out of house. I reached the hall completely drenched. To make matters worse, I had to choose a broken  seat. I heard Mr Murphy laughing at me from the corner of the dark hall.

My apprehensions seemed to come true, when the movie opened up with a very ordinary start. The acting (barring Balan) , lighting, frames, colour tones, handy cams seemed very much ordinary.
I feel the new age, city bred directors are losing their talent of wide frames. They are drawing too much inspiration from the 'city of god' and we have to end up seeing numerous roadside chaiwalla, mithaiwallah, crowded bus stands, railway stations. It used to enamor me , but I have reached the irreversible path of boredom. Hope atleast they try improvising.

The Bombay Marine drive was, once upon a time, crowded with Bollywood cinema shooting. Then recently they shifted the entire equipment to NewYork and London with plenty of chubby Punjabis cracking horrid jokes. Then they once again came back, but this time to the rich mansions of Delhi. Thankfully the director tried something new in Kolkota, the city which always carried a cultural and emotional baggage with it. It's so easy to arouse the cultural complex of a Bong. The Durga Pooja had offered an ideal chance for that. The story has festival running in backdrop. The director has also brilliantly portrayed the inherent laziness in a fast moving city.

There where signs of influence from English movies . It wasn't a Priyadarsanesque movie making where cinema is palgiarized frame by frame. You simply feel a deja vu on seeing some sequences.
The story and the plot is brilliant and orginal. Unlike any other Indian cinema there's no sudden diarrhea post interval. The story is very evenly paced. Still It's a glued-to - your seat kind of cinema. Thankfully, the music and song melodrama has also been avoided

When we deal with secret agents and terrorist attacks, there could have been more slickness. And the acting department too could have done a bit better.

Now coming to the star of the movie - Vidya Balan rocks the whole film world. She is an enigma. I am qouting a friend ' Awesomeness personified, beauty , grace, charm, orginal, surreal. Not so long back she struggled for a foothold in an industry ruled by plastic dolls. The low point being fashion disaster in Kismat Konnection and the Filmfare paparazi hunting her down for the so called senseless choice of clothes.

The actress in her has grown quite comfortable with herself. This has been showing in recent run of successful films. She has been doing films where she stole the thunder from her male counterparts. The ' Kahani' which has coincided with women's day and has brought in parallels with the feminine gods needed a powerful woman who could carry the film on her shoulders.

Vidya did make sure that the vengeful wife held her charms and grace to overpower her foe. There's no denial of feminity or It's weaknesses. I feel the narrative at the end could've been avoided so character remained an enigma . The Indian movie maker has to stop spoon feeding and learn from the international line of thought.

The body language and ease of emoting is a must watch and learn for any acting enthusiast. I came back home and picturised all our stars in that role, I felt Vidya is irreplaceable. Another irony is Bollywood used to import women who could 'act ' from Bengal to balance the silicone babes from the north. Now here we have a Madrasi setting the screen on fire in a movie based in Bengal.

Movie Review- The Dirty Picture (Hindi)

For more reason than one, this turned out to be an eventful day. Yesterday I had one of the most awful lunch at our canteen. This almost immediately resulted in a stomach upset. Today I woke with a rumble from deep down and wondered if I should go ahead to the office. I took up the morning paper to check out the new cinemas in town and was stunned to see ‘The Dirty Picture’. The tug of war started within me- Vidya’s cleavage or Office? I opted for the former and straight away booked a ticket for the first show of the day.

Now I had this feeling of watching a dirty picture and prayed that I would be spotted by none. I got in there to see a pretty big crowd and that too a few family people and bunch of college girls. I wished if Silk had this popularity or lesser notoriety, she would have been alive by now.

The two reasons I could come up with for such a big crowd-

Silk was an enigma in her heydays. Back then sexiness were related to voluptuousness. Then the male actors were untouchables and role of the female counterpart was to merely submit to the whims and fancies of the hero. Even when the hero was portrayed as a Casanova, she had to be chaste and simple. That’s where the vamps stepped into fulfill the macho image of the hero. They appeared in all the skimpy, vulgar clothes and earned whistles in theatres and assured spaces in gossip. The negative image spilled to the real lives from reel and after the golden era, they deteriorated to obscurity.

But Silk was bolder, notorious and even handsome than her counterparts. She may have had to face the snide of the conservative women back then. Even then she had her aura around her. Before the aura deteriorated she committed suicide in most doubtful circumstances and elevated herself to the likes of Marilyn. The new generation fed with more graphic visuals find the old thighs and boobs a matter of joke. For them Silk is a mystery who still lives in her aura.

Secondly, it was the controversy generated on the vulgarity of scenes. No matter how much wiser we become after every fake controversy , our curiosity gets aroused in the next one. The raunchy stills released months ago unbridled the animal within us.

I will keep this simple with a few points. Why should you watch the movie:

This is not at all a bad movie but not a great one either. Even when the camera rolls in and out of Vidya’s flesh the director makes sure that the cinema doesn’t deteriorate to another skin show without content. The director shoes his naivety but Milan does a fine job.

To be quite frank the story line had to be predictable. Our film industry still lives with in the clichés. When the makers claimed it had no resemblance to Silk, I hoped they would twist it a bit. But as usual it’s the story of a yester year heroine who finds sudden name, fame and infamity. She has to lose everything and life in the end. But Milan makes sure the treatment is subtly different atleast to a large extent. The shots are bold and tickles your libido. There were whistles and catcalls throughout. At the end of it people had this paisa vasool feeling.

The camera and lighting were very well done. When there is no scope for such experimentation, he did prove his mettle and taste. Or else we would have slumbered off.

Naseerudin Shah was way awesome. I just love this guy. His mannerisms as the southie ‘superstar’ just proves why he is the finest in our industry. He is the guy you have to watch out for. Tushar was a surprise. He had to be there in his siters’ movie and he has come a long way from the initial goofy faced days. So is Emran Hashmi- he is not awesome but not bad either.

Vidya too did a commendable job. We have to admit her sacrifice. She had to live up in a negative limelight for a long time. The work she has done on her physique is not easy. I haven’t seen even the guys doing their homework this well. For an actress, her physique is her asset and losing it is not an easy decision to take. Its not the first time she does a seductive role and she does it with much gusto. She tickles your animal instincts and you feel you are the vile man ogling at her on the screen. Undoubtedly she is way above all those plastic dolls.(I loved the bra straps peaking out). I couldn’t help but notice when seeing her performance, the struggles to break into the Bollywood with ‘Aunty’ looks could have had parallels . She is a very under rated actor. There were many wonderful scenes , which she made memorable simply with her panache

The songs may not be trendy but fits the old era and were a pleasant experience. You can tap your feet for lala . The mindless wonders of 80s.

And the dialogues and one liners are very cheesy and smart. Even when the movie meanders at times to boredom, you're suddenly jolted alive with the a classic one.

Now coming to the bad part:

Movie starts off grandly and then from interval veers off to pointlessness and Milan wraps it all up with a predictable storyline. Three hours was an unnecessary pain and I missed my lunch.

There are times when I wished he did some shots with a little more panache. There was an award function, which went totally indigestible. Then the extras and the way they carry themselves in the background, I wondered how Milan okayed the shots.

Then there was a serious flaw in caricaturing Silk. She looked filmy and very negative. Or I would rather use the word one sided. It looked a bit single shaded and not at all creative. I found it tough to believe and wondered if the character influenced by Britney Spears. May be she was so in real life. But then that was a deviation from typical stereotypes.

And then the story confuses you in the timeline factor. You wonder if it's a non linear film at times. The location is also a big confusing factor.

Overall: It’s a one time watchable movie. Go in with your family :D

Movie Review - 7aum arivu (Tamil)

It's difficult to judge a Tamil movie by normal standards. Particularly due to their liking of fantasy and super heroism. But according to me the universal yardstick for a cinema is screen play and intent.

I did hear from others that this was a 'watchable' movie. A cousin had come down and wanted to go for any Tamil. Hoping this to be a worthwhile exercise, I booked a ticket.

The movie opened with much grandiose. It travelled back to ages, similar to the lines adopted by Kamal Hassan's Dasavatharam. Surya trotted around in his chiselled body and hair locks. He saved the Chinese from some deadly virus and then Barbarians. Camera moves into the present. The present day Surya dances and prances around in his brunette hair do. Sruti gives him company. I sit in my seat hoping the director will come to his senses. To my horror he climaxed with some of the horrific logic ever discovered.

The only good part of the movie is Surya. Murugadoss hoped he could carry along with good looks and six pack abs as he did in Ghajini. For him half the work of Ghajini were already done by Nolan. Here he had to do something orginal. He comes.up with some of the most laughable logical and genetic explanation, immersed Surya in some blue solution and passed shocks hoping it will awaken his genetic memory. Thankfully Surya's genetic memory wakes up in nick of time to save the world from a Chinese catastrophe.

Shruthi Hassan has probably decided to move into acting from her lackluster stint as Rockstar. She is a genetic engineer this time, hell bent on tracing the Tamil greatness. The one thing I learnt about genetics is copulation of two great actors needn't produce another one.

The constant harping of ancient Tamil greatness, invinciblity and the betrayal is unbearable to watch. Please grow up guys. There is more to history than Boddhi Dharma

Movie Review- Indian Rupee (Malayalam)

It turned out into a Diwali with no friends to hang out with. I go to ‘Gold Souk’, one of the prominent shopping malls in Kochi. The loneliness gets worse when standing out in a crowd of young pretty girls and handsome guys. I walk onto the multiplex and finds out that the tickets for the Hindi and Tamil flicks have been sold out. The only tickets left are for ‘Indian Rupee’. Amusing is the average Malayalee’s change in priority and tastes.

Before entering into the robes of a critic, I would admit that my view might be a bit prejudiced thanks mainly to a masterpiece I was watching from Jean Luc Godard. The section of audience took up the movie with great enthusiasm and appreciation. Judging from the reaction even days after the openin we can safely say the movie is on its way to ring cash registers heavily.

From a personal viewpoint I expected the film to do a bit more technically and creatively. High expectations is a price geniuses have to live with. The movie falls a bit short of the mark taking into consideration that the director was Renjith.

The movie deals with a very relevant contemporary topic facing Kerala population- materialism. People of Kerala has been traditional business men. The onset of Arab Oil and US visas threw open the windows for bigger opportunities. A recent trend saw desperate attempt to park the black money somewhere. Hitherto unexplored, virgin real estate scene was the best place to do so. The after effect was the real estate business slipped out of common man’s hands for cold, greedy sharks. Our hero is a typical uneducated youth with all the trappings of a common hero. Unmarried sister, highly educated lover threatening to get married off and huge, rich dreams and shades of grey. The end of the story is he realizes he has a bit of ‘goodness’ in him and hence unsuited for real estate scene.

The movie also deals on the encroachment of materialism into the finer elements of our society. Relationships, values and education has been corrupted and convoluted. Thankfully Renjith stops short of taking a stand. Its left to the element inside you to judge.

I can help but comment and commend on touching the issue of huge amounts of cash floating in and around the society. The term ‘crore’ became a very common usage now. While we sing patriotism, we don’t mind dangling with black money.

There is powerful performances from everyone. Thilakan is back to his stellar self. Hope destiny provides him with good health and many worthwhile roles (latter difficult to get than the former). Prithvi might have done the best one of his career so far. Strangely I thought rest of the cast performed way beter than him.

The choice of Kozhikkode as the focal point is significant. Traditionally Kozhikkode Is known for good food, great people and culture. The real estate culture is eating into the very ethos of the ancient city. An eye opener for the ones who keep eyes open.

Still too many plots and issues have diluted the flow and focus of the film. Many high profile characters walk in and out. May be the narrative couldn’t hold them all. The pace is too slow in the first half and is not very catchy in second half either. Some of the sequences and even the climax goes unexplained. A few shots look forced.

Footnote: A must watch for the philosophical value. Keep your hopes a bit low on the way to ticket counter

Movie Review - Annie Hall ( English )

Rather than attempting a review it would be best suited to attempt in bringing out what Woody Allen tried doing. 'Relationships' has been something disseminated and analyzed by thinkers for a long time. It might have been probably because this complex entity is present only in humankind. Allen tries to probe this complex equation his own light hearted way.

Allen plays a stand up comedian, Alvy Singer. Diane Keaton plays Annie Hall. Both the protagonists have their own problems and issues from childhood, family and relationships. The treatment is light hearted and humorous. Woody is in no hurry to offer any solution and he doesn't seek any easy way out.

Alvy and Annie have troubles of their own in respective relationships. They meet each other and things start off very well. There is a hope of  fruition. But slowly the weaknesses comes to the fore. Still they carry on despite the inherent weaknesses. Ultimately the relationship wilts away inspite of pretension and dullness.

Overall this is a beautiful movie which deals with so many complex terms in its own simple way. The movie ends up with a story from Allen

A man goes to a psychiatrist, ' Doctor, my brother is crazy. He thinks he is a goose'
'Then bring him to me'
'Wait, let me get his eggs first'

Relations are something like that. No matter how absurd and insipid it is we want its eggs!

Movie Review- A certified copy (Italian)

I have been watching much movies recently. Sadly I haven't been able to put down any. And thus came to decision that until I put down two of them I won't be watching anymore.

'A certified copy' was recommended by a movie buff friend of mine. Directed by Abbas Khiorstami, I thought this was going to be Iranian. I kept eagerly awaiting for the flrst 10 minutes for any hint of Iranian but found out otherwise. The film is basically in Italian with international star cast. Now why did the director go for Italian would be an interesting question and I guess it might have something to do with the theme.

Abbas' has a great ability to piece together a story from numerous jigsaw puzzles. The end product would invariably be a thriller which rivets you to your seat inspite of a slow pace The movie starts off with the protagonist giving a lecture on the influence of 'orginal' and 'inspired' work in the world of art. Then walks in the heorine and the movie starts.

The movie revolves around the conversation the protagonists share and the background. As they walk, talk and have coffee a new twist in the relationship evolves. We are forced to make a shift in our perception frequently. The conversation even forces us to question ourselves on our perception on relationship.

Does people change with time? Does the relationship evolve along with people? Are we naive when we expect romance even after decades? The protagonists try to find an answer as they attempt to cure an ailing relationship. As I said earlier the movie is so much related with art and architecture. Hence Italy would have been the ideal location. There is powerful performance from Julia Binochette and Michael. The actors who appear on sideline also deliver. The camera concentrates on the central figures and their actions.

FOOTNOTE: A brilliant movie. But not best of Abbas and slightly on the slower side.

Movie Review- Pranayam (Malayalam)

I came back from the movie ‘Pranayam’ and went straight to my writing desk. Putting it in simple words- here is a movie waiting to be born, not just because men wanted it, it was waiting for its time.

I was there for a few days in Fort Kochi when we heard of a shooting going on. But never realized this was the one.

‘Pranayam’ stands for romance. Blessy transcends all norms and formulae to tread in his own path. A rather dangerous journey when the movie is made for a mass audience.

Blessy is the disciple of erstwhile maestro- Padmarajan. He borrows it a plenty from his master. The character and traits of a Padmarajan movie is obviously visible throughout the movie.

Blessy takes extreme care not to fall into any stereotypes or clichés. The romance is set into three characters who are into their twilight years. Although there was plenty of scope for pitfalls, Blessy cleverly avoids them. He uses some of the most good looking and sensuous female cast. A cue he has taken from his master. Padmarajan movies always had supple cleavage. That even earned him some negative and unfortunate feedback among the ‘decent’ class. Here the women show off their well shaped figures. Then there is a scene of the woman dressing while phoning her husband. A very natural scene but sensuous enough for the imagination. Even the old Jayaprada gives us a glimpse of the feminine beauty.

Pappan integrated the ‘physical’ element into love, graciously. Here Blessy even makes an obvious reference by ‘The man who experienced you both physically and mentally’. He even dwells on the emphasis of physical expression in romance by the new generation. Thankfully no long winding speeches are made even when there is scope to do so.

The story revolves around the lives of three elderly protagonists. Kher meets the love of his life whom he divorced years ago. He discovers that she is married to a professor on philosophy and has a family. We can say the ‘hero’ of the film is the woman Jayaprada. How she discovers another dimension of love when he meets her long lost man and son. There is selfishness, forgiveness, tender romance, passion and compassion in the love between the three. As the film says the self discovery gives theageing protagonists a second chance.

The director uses a lot of beautiful imageries and philosophy to convey the messages. As a result long windy dialogues are avoided. Director uses close up frames which suits the power house performance. But as a result the classic beauty of Fort Kochi is given a miss. Music is perfect and so is even the opening credits rolling in. Mohan Lal is at his vintage best. Padmarajan gave him some of the best films once, now Blessy is his life line. The best scene I would pick up is the one in which he defines dignity with a lot of passion. He did the role of a romantic paralyzed with absolute panache. So is Anupam Kher and his zest for life. I haven’t forgotten Anoop Menon too, one of the best ‘thinking’ actor in Malayalam.

Blessy is still far away from making a film with absolute perfection. There were a lot of bad frames, poor dialogues. Some of the non acting cast and turdy dialogues too doesn’t help him. A bit more home work was missing. I still haven't digested Anoop Menon shifting slangs constantly. That is all about the little elements missing out.

Bottom Line- The LOVE, which we forgot in the modern, fast paced, ruthless world. Don't expect any chocolate romcoms. Sit, watch and feel the love.

PS I don't write the story and call it a review. It's your job to watch it.