Akasha Gopuram Movie Review

Akasha Gopuram - Lost in translation
Finally, it seems to be the time to call a spade a spade. For those who haven't read Norwegian author Henrik Ibsen's classic play "Master Builder", ‘Aakashagopuram’ - the new Malayalam movie made on it, will be a sluggish, pretentious affair that hardly offers anything to treasure. And for those who had been with the master work, the movie is nothing more than an indifferent but awkward attempt. It is too sad to say that Director K P Kumaran, in his attempt to make a very faithful adaptation of the epic play, ends up making the flick as a dull, verbose drama.
The movie which made headlines much before the release, primarily due to the international crew associated with the project and for the lavish budget that was being offered, lives up little to the expectations. The movie has Mohanlal as Albert Samson, the middle aged, and much ambitious and renowned architect. A Known master in constructing churches, his custom to climb up the completed castles to perform a dedication ceremony was always widely admired with surprises by the masses. Having reached the pinnacle of his profession, with a singular pursuit for fame and glory, he had been sacrificing his personal life and ethics. He lands up in further turmoil as younger generation under him, asks for professional freedom. Samson has already pulled down his mentor Abraham, who is now in his death bed with a last wish of seeing his son Alex, an assistant to Samson, as an independent builder. Samson has also crushed the peaceful life of his wife Alice, who is now left mentally unstable, following the untimely death of her twin children and parents. Into this hardened design of Samson's mind arrives a spirited girl, Hilda Varghese, who slowly but hypnotically prepares him to climb down the way of the ambitions, realizing the real tragic consequences.
The movie which is snailishly paced even in its one and half hour narratives largely remains as a play pictured on a film. Faltering largely to give visuals to the ibsenisque symbolisms, many of the celebrated imageries like ''Nine dolls'' and every ''curious stories'' attached with the discourses between Hilda and Samsun lay flat in the ill constructed script lines. At times the visuals move to left and right as if we view in a proscenium and the actors follow the light patches in circles and rectangles, not bettering anything than in a drama stage, with little eye for cinematic wizardry.
Even Mohanlal, who tries to portray the mental tussle of Samson, fails to deliver them with sincerity ending up lip syncing umpteeth theatrical dialogues in one go. The new heroine Nithya shows sparkle in his debut venture and lives up to the mark but is often letdown by the overly heard voice patterns of her voice dubber.
Santhosh Thundiyil is the one man who has brilliantly captured the idyllic and picturesque London and its lakes, pastoral villas and dales, to lessen the suffering of this dialogue drama. Sabu Cyril's meticulous designs go well with the movie, but with the below par direction where even a close up of the well constructed castle cannot be kept cinematically engaging and realistic, the technician's work is not perfected.
The film is sure to raise very few discussions, as it rarely matches the power of the original in depicting insatiable desires that built and destroy humans. Even with such great artists like Lal and Bharath Gopi and with more than sufficient funds, this is the golden opportunity that was missed out by the director, to carve his name permanently in the history of Mollywood cinema.

Aayudham Movie Review

Aayudham - Obviously mundane
Even after a four dozen movies with Suresh Gopi in the lead, their makers still haven't find a way out from casting him in the investigation mode. Here in his latest 'Ayudham' too, he is back to save Kerala and its citizens from the vicious terrorists. The movie as usual, a thriller aspirant, tries to portray nothing -so-new-story even downplaying the usual good supplements of a Suresh Gopi movie. And the result is as expected-another disaster that promptly challenges your intellect.
The story is so ill constructed that it can be written on the back of a bus ticket. The movie opens with a carefully engineered bomb blast that kills many in the slums at Veliyam beach to ignite communal riots. Mahendra Varma (Anil Adithyan), the commissioner is into grabbing every lay man whom he has been on the spot and is forcing them to take the blame of the blasts. He zeroes upon Anwar Abdullah (Bala), the son of the local Mukri (Murali), only due to the reason that he has got some anonymous calls on the said date from some strangers surmised to have been involved in the blast. The chief Minister of the state Madhavan (Thilakan), an aged scrupulous politician call on Rishikesh I PS, D I G Crime Branch, to have a special inquiry , and arrives Suresh Gopi, this time on a stallion to assemble the bits and pieces which lead to the invincible lunatic 'Samy'.
Except for some coincidences like the recent blasts to the official announcement of vizhinjam fishing harbor and the uncanny resemblance of the characters played by Thilakan and Suresh Gopi to some real life personalities, nothing seems to work for 'Ayudham'.
Obviously joined in the lines of the formula movies from the star,'Ayudham' offers just no escape from the mundane sequencing of incidents that can be lined up even by any regular viewer of the star. The script seems derailed to the core with the missing of some connecting sequences, punch lines and the addition of a much banal climax. Some forced scenes like the Dubai episode is totally unwarranted. Except Bala and Thilakan, every other seems to be wasted in undemanding roles. Suresh Gopi as Rishikesh repeats himself for the umpteenth time in this stereotyped role and acts in the sequences as if he is having a stray walk. He ought to shed a little more flab (a lot actually), as it prevents him from performing his stunt sequences. The only impactful work on the technical front is the good but eardrum cracking background score from Raja Mani and the aptly mixed audiography. Sanjeev Shankar who handles the camera has made visuals that aptly suit an action thriller, but with little support from the script lines he can’t make his presence felt.
Director Nishad , in his third outing to films, not only faltered by selecting a hopelessly outdated theme dating back to the stone age but even didn't bother either to give it a contemporary look or to make it appealing. If we have to look for interesting things in this cocktail of several movies, they will be hard to find.

Thrill Movie Review

Thrill - A bad excuse for a film

How can “boring" be an adjective, that applies to a film titled ‘Thrill’?

A poor excuse for a film, that got wrapped out in just one hour and twenty five minutes, ‘Thrill' is a supposed to be a crime story, that just doesn't thrill. An intended suspense thriller, the movie seems to be the one made without making any kind of home works for a thriller.

‘Thrill' can be stated as ‘‘bad’’ on so many levels. Starting from the inept handling of the subject, to the tiresome direction, poor cast and dull acting, the entire first half of the movie was bad in a bad way. “I even remember to have counted a thirty seconds for the passing of a jeep, out of the screen. Though an occasional wide angle shot and heavy background scores tries to infuse a life into the proceedings, the second half also turned things around and offered a lot more laughs than thrills”.

Based on many of the movies of the heist genre, ‘Thrill' has Rahul (Satya Prakash), leading three of his female co-workers at the computer centre, to loot a truck which carries hot cash to be dispersed as salaries to the workers of a plantation. Rahul is in need to raise lakhs of rupees for the surgery of his only sister while the other three are also facing similar appalling situations in their life. Motivated by a shared desire for money and revenge, they join forces for a robbery and influence the driver of the truck, offering a big share of their seizure.

Rahul and his gang thus accomplish their first venture of grabbing money with success, leaving very little clues. But when super cop Aneesh Thampan lays vigilante on the highways with hawk eyes, the four men army are forced to drive on to a lonely cottage amidst the woods, with the ten crore money in their bags. The movie then moves on to the regular horror to the b grade chills, before finally ending up in a miserably done climax.

A thoroughly outmoded presentation, with all new names in the cast sounded more like a dreadfully done mini screen drama, than a movie.And the couple of songs that appear at intervals gives a shock of despair than anything that bring back the interest. The most uninteresting highlight of the film is that 'thrill' is the only Mollywood film that I had witnessed with a second half length of below half an hour. That itself will say much about the planning that could have went to shape up the movie. These kinds of movies are the ones that signal the viewer to avoid every kind of small scale movies in Mollywood. And I surmise, those who had been with the movie will however, keep away from these kinds for at least a year, trying their luck with Kollywood and Hindi movies for that time.

About all associated with the film, be it in the technical side or on screen, exudes a type of coarseness. In the acting front everyone except Anoop as the C I, looks ill placed while the protagonist Sathya Prakash seems so brittle to carry the film in his shoulders.

If you are wholly prepared for the amazing, unrelenting horridness of a movie, just have a watch. It will certainly better your patience levels, with the ample display of stupidity and lunacy .

Veruthe Oru Bharya Movie Review

Veruthe Oru Bharya - Offers interesting watch


‘Veruthe Oru Bharya’ is the unassuming title for a movie, narrated with intensity and integrity, from the very beginning to the end. It is one of the best films of recent times, dealing with domestic marriage discords resulting from mismatched characters of two people who stick to their incompatible agendas. It may hit too close to home for some; others might not key in on the psychology, but find it as a digestible fun-filled drama with light hearted moments.

The movie will definitely introspect at least some men who finds a glimpse of them on screen. Presenting Jayaram in a solid workable character, ‘Veruthe Oru Bharya’ accomplishes to bring out the emotional chaos created by broken marital relationships on the victims and their children, somehow sidestepping all the related cliches.

The film focuses on the lives of a very few characters - Sugunan (Jayaram), an overseer with the electricity board, his wife Bindu (Gopika) and their teenage daughter Anju (Nivedita), Sugunan's colleagues and Bindu's family, comprising of her parents and her brother Ramesh (Madhu Warrier). Sugunan is a typical egoistic and ever complaining husband, who has his core of stipulations to his ever submissive wife. Sugunan considers Bindhu just as a person who is obliged to meet all the pressures in managing homely affairs. Neither he acknowledges his wife's efforts in maintaining the peaceful atmosphere at home nor does he help her in any of the related matters. He is more a hypocrite who never allows his talkative wife to engage with her friends or relatives or attend public functions. Never do Sugunan takes his wife for leisure to have a break from her routine pressures.

Having lost the ardor of a love they once knew together, the growing discord between Sugunan and Bindu leads to a point for Bindu, to break the cycle. She decides to take a break from their strain of their disagreements and return to her father (Innocent) leaving her husband to take care of her daughter. Sugunan takes it as another chance for a fight and tries to manage things, but in vain.

The highlight of the movie is that, a man and woman who have lost intimacy and passion in their marriage and their mild-mannered approach to dealing with themselves may feel uncomfortably familiar to most of the viewers. Well, there are light and humorous moments but it's a serious subject handled seriously. The tightly paced writing from K. Gireesh Kumar, the convincing directorial from Akku Akbar and acting are uniformly excellent. The only down points are the later half which drags a little at times and the complete preachy dialogues in the climax which makes melodrama seem mellow.

Akku Akbar in his first independent venture in direction is a revelation. With a heavily loaded script that take its principal characters to extremes situations, ‘Veruthe Oru Bharya' about confrontations, revelations and self-discovery, does feel particularly truthful. The director has immensely succeeded in creating the pitch-perfect "emotional atmospherics’" for the story to happen.

Jayaram, after a long gap, scores heavily in a role that is tailor made for his capabilities. He invites claps as never before, when imitating the singing styles of all heroes from yester year, Prem Nazir to today's Mammootty. Gopika looks evidently younger that what the role demands, but make better by convincing act in her complex title role as Bindu. She makes a poignant cake walk through the role, delivers majority of the dialogues and at times appear strong and scared at alternate scenes. Nivedita also shines as their daughter. Rahman and Ganesh kumar appear in short cameos.

A word of mention must also be made of Suraj Venjaramoodu, who once again has repeated his magic of creating a laugh riot, when ever on screen. He maintains his flourish in the act without tarnishing with the integrity of the character, he is in.

Shaji’s evocative location cinematography is used to greater effect; the shadow -laden frames, actually becomes a character in the film-appearing somehow lovely and wistful at the same time. Art director Saloo K George excels with his sets while Ranjan Abraham in editing also does his bit to finely shape the movie .Popular album musician Shyam Dharman's songs are immensely popular, which very well suits the mood of the film. The only low point in the post production is the not so effective background scores.

All in all, ‘Veruthe Oru Bharya’ is one of the best thought provoking family movies, surfaced in recent times.

Well recommended for viewers who are ready to share a glimpse of the maturely narrated entertainers.

Kabadi Kabadi Movie Review

Kabadi Kabadi - A mindless comedy


After quite some time, we are again into a mindless comedy which is targeted for an audience who is prepared to laugh on every silly occasion. ‘Kabadi Kabadi’, a presentation from a debut director duo Sudheer Manu, doesn't shows much promise than being another close rehash version of a decade old movie 'Makkal Mahatmyam'.

‘Kabadi Kabadi' also includes many familiar sequences that we had been to in many older comedies. But the film may not sink in the Box office only because we are of late into much larger tragedies that this movie.

‘Kabadi Kabadi' tells the story of Vijayan and Madhavankutty, stepbrothers who are at loggerheads due to plenty of old scores. Sons of the late police officer Mampilly Rajashekharan, Madhavankutty is the only son of Rajashekharan's legally married wife, but Vijayan, the illegitimate son was given the right to light the funeral pyre during his father's death. From there, Madhavankutty who refuse to acknowledge Vijayan as his brother, singles out every opportunity to irk and denounce Vijayan and his mother who are now considered as his sworn enemies.

The Annual Kabadi Championship in memorial of their father is one such event where the brothers come up for cat fights. Vijayan has Biju and Komalan as his senseless croonies, while Madhavankutty roams around with Ramesan and Basheer in a jeep named 'Mambully-Original’. It could be a point of interest and engagement for you, to count exactly how many times these pair of idiotic aides gets beaten up by virtually everyone in the frame in their attempts to bring in some sort of laughs. Chitrangadan, the former Panchayath President and his wife Sarala the present Panchayath President, are the two who adds oil to the fire, igniting new skirmishes, campaigning for and against the brothers in arms. This do-or-die Kabadi game for both brothers suddenly turns irrelevant, with the arrival of Pooja and Sneha, twin daughters of Judge Viswanathan, to the village. Madhavankutty and Vijayan falls for each of them, but don't recognize them as twins. This results in them seeing the other as rivals in love also. How all of this chaos leads to further tortuousness and subjects of forced humor, forms the rest of the movie.

The basic plot has promises of a bigger comedy flick with adequate space for action, humor, songs, romance and sentiments. But the makers fails to milk any sensible use of the plot. They frames the age old lines of narratives with comic one liners from the crew of Suraj Venjaaramoodu, Jaffer Idukky, Harishree Ashokan and Indrans. While the former two does their part convincingly, Ashokan and Indrans have a lame walk over a chance comedy riot. With plenty of loose ends in the script by Shani Khader, the movie at times turns unconvincing and nonsensical with forced sequences for generating chuckles. And in some sequences we can even predict the next ludicrous action to follow. The cat and mouse race and fights in the end are pretty matuerish, seen in hundreds of Mollywood movies before.

Mukesh and Kalabahavan Mani repeat the roles that they are always into for the whole last decade, with bulky bodies and over the top reactions. Both look a little jaded being presented again and again in roles and expressions that are beaten to death. Rambha in a twin avatar seems ok but don’t seems logical as girls from Bangalore who instantly falls for the village guys who don't even calls for admiration from the viewers. Producer Mani C Kapan dons a lengthier role as the Judge convincingly. Bheeman Reghu as Chithrangadan is another pick from the lot who tries to deliver something different.

Nadirshah’s debut into music direction doesn’t show any immense promise but one song "Minnaminungey..." is quite good. And the technical side has not much for any special comment.

All in all, this old fashioned movie can be a time pass for those who love to laugh even for hollow wits. 'Kabadi Kabadi' can be your film of the week, if you have got nothing much of any importance to do.

Laptop Movie Review

Laptop - an interesting look into objects of love


My Mother's Laptop' is a near perfect product for a generation who loves hardcore art house movies. Rupesh Paul, the young director of the movie, a journalist and writer, has honed his skills and begun to fulfill the promise he showed with his initial video films, through this movie. He has crafted a deceptively complex trilateral character study of maternal love, despair and unexpected compassion. However even with its stylistic promotions and bold multi layered narratives, the filmmaker may not be able to transcend its target market to reach a wider audience.

Based on a compassionate popular short story 'Parudheesa Nashtam' by Subhash Chandran, ‘Laptop’ proves a worthy adaptation that takes the appropriate liberties within the text to heighten character interactivity. The movie also layers a fetishistic trend of exploring illness and dis figuration of the female form in relation to their underlying sexuality and complex but sentimental needs.

'My Mother's Laptop' has Suresh Gopi as Ravi, a famous theatre artist who returns home after thirty long years, to find that his mother slipped into a coma state following some terminal illness. Enmeshed in an array of guilt and deep regrets of having deserted her, Ravi tries to complement by being with her all the days in hospital, rejecting his career and passions. He even can't accommodate his girlfriend Payal, who arrives back from Calcutta to console him and persuade him to return to his profession.

The film has several concealed layers of complexity about a man who is virtually lost in the memoirs of his mother and the love for her. The film explores how love can drift into obsession and how desire kindles uncontrollable emotions. The suggestions of Oedipus and of bedsores in the unmovable beautiful body, to the specimen taken after a total abdominal hysterectomy suggest so many manifestations of meanings as never before.

'My Mother's Laptop' is also an extremely well acted film by all in the lead and has some effectual moments of stillness that should sensitize even the most hardened cynic. While performances from a delightful cast are unsurprisingly strong, it is definitely Suresh Gopi who makes the most impact, delivering one of his careers best. The insecurities of Ravi are apparent beneath the surface of a man who keeps his emotions and past in check. His characterisations adapts well with Payal's(Padmapriya) unsophisticated but emotionally mature portrayal of a woman with youthful feminine sexuality. Shwetha as Ravi's mother also induce intense feelings, in each of the transitions to the past.Indu menon's explorations of each character throws in emotional truth and sincerity, though occasional detachment into unemotional perspectives like that of aadivasi mother and SEZ zones, prove pretentious.

The film emits a feeling of personal reflection and identification in those who embrace it without prejudice. Roopesh as a brainy director has not failed in delivering the emotive equivalence of the basic story, much in the earlier half. It is quite rare after the good eighties, that such brilliantly done subdued sexual implications, power of long silence and the tonal distinguishes are utilised with expertise in a mollywood movie. Roopesh partially falters to pull out enough substance in the later half, filling the sequences with often repeated shots. Largely depending on the wider shots, he fails to build up the desired intensity towards the climax but completes the narrative with elaan giving a worthy finish to the affairs...

The cinematographer of the movie, Vinod also shows a wonderful eye for frames and composition. He manages to stay intimate with the actors and the surroundings in an elegant way. The others in the crew including the art director sujith Raghav also rise above the mild hiccups, compensating with an amazingly focused intensity. A special ovation must be made for Sreevaltsan J Menon who with his songs and rerecording elevated the film to the level of international merit. Songs like 'Jala Sayyayil' by Kalyani Menon is definitely one of the best heard in the recent times.

Yes, the movie has some flaws and inconsistencies. Presumably much for the reasons of economy. But most of the movie is admirable as one cannot expect much wonders than this one that was made in a short take of just eleven days and a shoe string budget. The movie also reminds us that better art isn't all about creating beauty out of unsophisticated perceptible moments. All in all, this is definitely a feast for the connoisseurs of thoughtful cinema.

Parunthu Movie Review

The hype around two superstar movies with similar plots suddenly fell flat with ‘Parunthu’, ending up as one that seldom keeps us engaging. Largely inspired from the likes of ‘Devaasuram’, in drawing the negative caricatures of protagonists, the movie just places another central character, this time a cruel money lender, in the already set frame of transition and turning a new leaf in the life of the lead baddie.

‘Parunthu’ has Mammootty as ‘Parunthu’ Purushothaman, a blade mafia chief having a particular penchant for hot cash, operating in Kozhikode city. He is like the ravenous hawk who pounce upon his preys, who are in demand of money and tearing them apart with his sharp eye with little care for any human emotions. He don't believe in any form of relationships as his mother had abandoned him at a young age, leaving him to grow up as the right arm of a money lender, Kunjikka.

Purushu's curious forms of entertainments includes watching football matches on television, and practicing yoga and exercises other than eating 'Nadan' Chicken fry and creating havoc's in families, trying to milk in his capital and its crude interests.

Puroshothaman's few associates includes Vinayan (Jayasurya), another youth trapped in a planned 'Hawala' case, Kunjachan (Cochin Haneefa) a defaulter who now turns out as his cook and Poojapura Mahendran (Sooraj Venjaranmoodu), a small time land broker. Purushu's only soft corner is with Seetha (Lakshana), whose property he has taken over after the elopement of her husband, who defaulted Purushu’s loan. The only opponent of ‘Parunthu’ is Kallayi Aziz, another cunning blade mafia don, who runs the Calicut chits and real estates.

The movie opens with a mass suicide of a family due to Purushu’s harsh dealings. But Purushu never gets moved by these incidents, which he considers as a regular outcome of his business. He goes on to thrash other families who are already in his debit list and to drive them out of their properties, by using his thugs. The latest in his list is Hemanthbhai, a business tycoon who is in the verge of big loss due to pending court cases. Purushu halts the wedding of Rakhi, Bhai's daughter. And this leads to Bhai losing his mind and gradually succumbing to death.

The later half of the movie presents the expected but unavoidable change of the cruel hero into a hearty person, following a number of reasons of which, very few are convincing. In between all these incidents, Kallayi Aziz creates some situations that demands fights and intense dialogues. ‘Parunthu’, as usual, drags into its much predictable and sentimental climax, leaving the viewers much in despair.

T A Rasaq is easily the topper in the list of the best of the dialogue writers, available in Mollywood. But that does not qualify him as a good scriptwriter, though the veteran had an experience in the field of around two decades. ‘Parunthu’ is one best example of this never gripping screenplay writing. The pit holes of the narratives, show more than itself in 'Parunthu', which even after with this inviting premise fails to take off to better arenas of film realization. Rasaq miserably fails to make the transition of the protagonist smooth enough to suit the demand of commercial format. Like the catchword in the scripts that he talks through the character 'Nammal randum villanmara, Villain jayikkunna charithrame illa'' and ends up taking the old fashioned ways for transformation of the villain into a savior.

Then comes the choreographer Rekha, who has done the most harm to the movie by the two songs that she has done for the movie. The first one, the Kavady song, is embarrassing and awful to watch, disturbing the mood and seriousness of the movie to the levels of amateurism. The repercussions on the viewers, who started booing this song from the shot one, subsided only after ten minutes from the song. The second song in the movie, the Gujarati stuff, also seldom invites much interest with poor shot selections, all through it

And we suspect the director M Padmakumar who has shown much promise with his first three ventures, did his very little share, to rise over an ever faltering script lines. This movie never matches the quality and ingeniousness of his previous ventures. In the acting front, Mammootty in an out and out negative role holds the movie from ending up as bits and pieces. The highpoint of the film is his attempt to break the mould of the super hero to present himself in black and grey , at the same time resisting any attempt to demeanor ‘Maadambi' - the other movie with same plot ,running in theatres, thus avoiding a star warfare. Jay Kumar, a TV serial actor, as Kallayi Azeez is a revelation and show promise of being in the industry for some more time.

The songs by Alex Paul are nothing exceptional while Ouseppacahan in rerecording has tried his best to make the movie, more engaging. Sanjeev Shankar behind the camera and Ranjan Abraham in editing just go through their routine jobs cycles.

All in all, ‘Parunthu’, provides a few good moments, but offers little else to distinguish itself from other slashed films, made with similar plots. Like any other humble birds, it is destined to fly low.

Minnaminnikkoottam Movie Review

When one of the most awaited movies of the year, 'Minnaminnikkoottam' with a stellar cast hit the theatres, expectations were naturally high. An intented emotional drama from reel one to the last, Kamal’s new flick is a tiresome effort which only succeeds marginally to live up to the expectations.

The movie opens with Charulatha (Meera Jasmine), a software techie in Singapore getting a wedding invitation via email, from Kalyani, one of her long lost friends. The movie, after leisurely unfolding the credits, goes on to a long flashback. Then we see Charulatha and Abhilash (Narain), both software engineers working in the same firm, allegedly in love resolving a recent spat, which is common between them.

Their eight-member techie gang including loudmouthed Manikunju (Jayasurya), the diplomatic Rose Mary (Roma), the pious Kalyani (Radhika), the Tamil-speaking Parthasarathy (Anoop Chandran,) who all assemble together in the flat of happily-married couple Siddharth (Indrajith) and Mumtaz (Samvrutha).

Abhi's dad (P Sreekumar), an I A S officer who holds a big position in the Prime Minister's office comes down from Delhi to meet Charu and her family and make mock off her father (Saikumar) Balan, a bank officer. This ignites more problems with their relationship and finally, results in the death of Charu’s father. The much repressed Charu then move off to Singapore, away from her friends, unable to reconcile with Abhi.

Watching 'Minnaminnikkoottam' , the two hour 25 minutes drama, devoid of any strong plot and characterization was pretty demanding than entertaining. The egocentric relationships and strains in the ''the rich boy meet poor girl'' story planted in an IT backdrop are not at all convincing.

Moreover, the problem with ‘Minnaminnikkoottam’ is that, it will be accepted only when you have people who can associate with them. So the movie seems to be just aiming at the urban audience, with its plush beautiful apartment sets, brightly colored interiors and dashing work spaces.

Amidst its lavishness and grandeur, Kamal loses the life of the plot about the complexities of relationships, which hardly leaves a couple of scenes to linger with us.

He proves his brilliance only in the remarkably pictured songs, and not many sequences few and far between, which shows some amount of life. The talk of love, commitment and relationships, gets prosaic after a while, as the director and actors goes overboard with some emotional scenes going out of proportion. The biggest flaw that remains is this overblown sentimentality in lengthy wide shots, which repeatedly fills the movie's ever-stretching, never-ending story.

This can be a better movie if you are the type who doesn't demand a movie with the script racing away. And in that case, it’s quite medium paced with some flavor which conveys the dilemmas of persons in love. I surmise these types and getting rarer, these days.

Although the chemistry between Narain and Meera Jasmine is to become the mainstay of the film, they hardly have any and just not ooze any feeling as if they are in love. Narain has his grace and shows his potential of being at the centre of events. Meera Jasmine as a woman living life her way, trying to come to terms with her own inner conflicts, feels inadequate for the character, with some more added injuries from her carefree dubbing. Jayasuriya and Roma as confident, ambitious, modern youth seems the couple who provide some sort of relief to the proceedings with their share of humor and fun. Indrajith, Anoop, Samvrutha and Radhika does have cardboard roles, with not much meaty built ups.

The technical section of the movie is worth mentioning with Manoj Pillai once again, creating frames that are bright and glossy. Biji Bal's songs and rerecording suit the mood and few like ''We are in love'',''Thara Jaalam'' and ''Kadalolam valtsalyam'' are definitely hummable. Gokuldas in the art department does his bit to boost the looks of the techie atmosphere. But that cannot be said about the editing by Rajagopal, who could have trimmed down the sequences to pace it, better.

In conclusion, 'Minnaminnikkoottam' ends up as pedestrian, vacuous, body-beautiful, soul-lacking film, despite holding some amount of promise that signify nothing

Maadambi Movie Review

Maadambi - A typical Mohanlal flick

The biggest deserving debate of the recent times in Mollywood has been mainly about the non availability of refreshing story lines and imaginative writers. Recycling seems to be word that is awfully repeated in this industry from the word 'go'.

Adding to the list of these rehashed genres is B Unnikrishnan's 'Maadambi’, which doesn't have anything fresh to offer. Every events and characters that you witness in the movie reminds of many that you had been with, much before. With a basic storyline as old as the hill, and Mohanlal in his every typical mannerism, why do you find ‘Maadambi’, an above average film?
With typical commingled formula stuff sprinkled all through, the movie largely captures our interest mainly due to the slick pace and undeviating narratives which never wander out of the lead lines.

The film is scripted in the lines of plenty of the old hits like Midhya, Vesham, Balettan, Valiettan and Valtsalyam taking bits and pieces from its every predecessor. The plot lines of sacrifices of the elder brother for the younger, seems one beaten up to death, but smart packaging is all that makes a difference to make the movie work. Mohanlal for the first time in his career is appearing as a cunning money lender and a local banker, Puthen Veetil Gopalakrishna Pillai, from Ilavattom village in Pathanamthitta. And off course this is one of the rare films in which the super star has taken particular care to sound his accent so original to that of this central travancore district.

Set against this feudal Nair backdrop with ancestral mansions to the majestic 'Gajaveeran', Goplakrishna Pillai has a horrifying past, where his irresponsible father (Saikumar), a patron of arts and temple festivals has mismanaged their entire fortune to end up pennyless. The cheating of his good friend Parameshwara Kurup, who then built up a decent life for himself with the grabbed accounts, made Pillai's father vanish from the village leaving his wife and two small children Pillai has given a word to his father -to bring up his younger brother and to look after his mother without peril and for that he has rebuilt all the lost grandeur, working day and night from his younger age as a shrewd businessman, more a cunning money lender. So the stage is set, with Kurup and his venomous sons always looking forward to devastate Pillai and the protagonist taking all steps to remain unscathed from the brooding enemies. Into this atmosphere arrives Jayalakshmi with a branch of a new generation bank. Pillai’s younger brother Ramakrishnan is an aspiring movie star who does not like to work on any thing, seriously. The whole twists came up when Ramakrishnan falls for the Kurup's daughter. Kurup and his sons agrees for the marriage but had already plotted the plans for the ultimate destruction of Pillai. They persuade Ramakrishnan to bring down his brother .How Pillai stands the tycoon unleashed against him follows the rest of the very predictable flick.
The major drawback of the plot other than its recycled feel is the unconvincing final twists and flash backs. Even the court scenes appear too stagy and dramatic. Mohanlal as Pillai acts effortless but little can match his earlier similar ''ever sacrificing brother” roles like that of Balettan. Unnikrishanan has taken special care '' even to present the most brilliant actor of Mollywood, just the same way he was presented in ''Vellanakaludenadu'', 18 years ago. Kavya appear pretty but is in an undemanding role with not even a single romantic scene with Lal. Ajmal Ameer as the self-centered younger brother and Mallika Kapoor as his sympathetic wife looks out sync with the timing of the other seniors in the frames like Pillai’s lawyer Mohankumar ( Jagathy) or the local 'Karayogam' president (Innocent). Infact the Ajmal's and Mallika’s character sketches are straight lift from the hit movie 'Vesham', with events shaping up very much similar to the later. Even the supporting characters and villains are typically regular ones, in their most regular outings and dialogues. Infact, the scriptwritor in Unnikrishnan seems to have never attempted to create anything in original than to recreate. Instead, he sticks to the most conservative image and sequences that hit films of Lal always exhibits. Despite the shortcomings, ‘Maadambi’ works for a number of solid reasons and that's what the viewer carries home. Mohanlal has got his share of punch lines like ''athu nee thaangathille' which goes very well with the audience , and he maintains a brilliant restrained act ,all through .Apart from the lead star's unfussy performances, the movie hold fast a strict pace thanks to good editing from Manoj. The music and rerecording of the movie by M. Jayachandran is another highlight of the movie. The songs like ''Ammamazha'' are quite hummable. Vijay Ulakanathan’s camerawork also perfectly suits the mood of the movie, though a couple of scenes seem to have been shot at noon with dark shadows all around.

Don't expect too many fireworks and typical Lal numbers from 'Maadambi'. It's an extremely simple, uncomplicated old faschioned tale that never goes over the top. And if you are too addicted with the family movies of the eighties and nineties, this seems to be your best bet that has arrived in the recent times.

Kanichukulangarayil C B I -Movie Review

Kanichukulangarayil C B I - Kanichukulangara is miserably lame

As a film critic, we often pass through despairing and regretful times, forced to watch some of the movies that itself cannot be called as feature films. And in Malayalam it is more than regular to see such films that are made just for the sake of being made, with lame to nil story lines and the worst, in the technical sides.

'Kanichukulangarayil C B I' is one such movie, that was made just to cash in the importance of its title and the popularity of the murder mystery. And as expected, apart from its intriguing title, there is nothing that you can relish in those 115 minutes of directions from Suresh-Vinu.
Many would have expected this to be an investigative thriller, but apart from boredom from a ludicrous plot, there is no investigation or thrill associated with this movie.

Ajith and Suresh (Saikumar and Meghanathan), the proprietors of Aanamala Chit Funds, catapulted to greater heights of goodwill and reputation mainly due to the sincerity and hard work of its Managing Director, Ratheesh. But when he realises about the ugly deals of his bosses, Ratheesh resigns and set up another firm with the support of legal adviser, Advocate Rahim.
Ratheesh become a new success story in financial business within a nick of time, and then Ratheesh and his sister gets killed, hit by a truck, at Kanichukulangara. Dy.S.P James George, begin investigations but is cornered by another police officer 'Krishnagopal' who teams up with the baddies. In this juncture Inspector Arjun from C B I make an entry to crack the case and nab the evading culprits.

The movie suffers, as usual, due to the nonexistence of a script. Harikumaran Thampi, credited for the scripts seems to have more interests in bizarre thinking like the maltreatment of convicts unleashing scorpions and iron rods by the police officers and in organizing abounding running races, in the name of chases. Nothing is exceptional from any of the departments of the movie or from actors like Manoj K. Jayan as Arjun, Saikumar, Meghanathan, Saadique, Rajan P Dev or Kollam Thulasi. Suresh Krishna as James George tries to hold the movie at times, but in vain.
The technical aspects are extremely worse than amateurish theaters. M D Sukumaran's camera work doesn't suit the pace of an action flick. And the art director needs to be given an entry in the list of the worst that we have ever witnessed in Mollywood movies. The makes didn't even refrain from using the musical theme from the original C B I series for this movie, which could be the most regretful kudos that could be given to a music director of the original, Shyam. And the only song in the movie, not to say about the artists on which its is picturised, are too unimpressive that it could have well been avoided. And why should we mention the extensive list of each of the avoidable parts, when such a movie itself could have been averted?

If you still have appetite for thrillers, just rent a DVD of C B I series and watch it at home, than to get in for this poor excuse for an investigative C B I thriller.