Usthad Hotel ---- Must Feel !!!!!!!!!

Who could ever forget the visual breeze of Bridge in kerala cafe...the 20 minutes of soulful immortal visuals that Anwar Rashid had hard printed on our hearts about 3 years ago?Eversince the announcement of Usthad hotel, my expectation was for "the bridge feel" to be extended for 2 hours.....and it almost did in most parts....!Be it the opening scene where an electric bulb flashes to light the board of usthad hotel ,or the scene which establishes the ambience of usthad hotel and the beach,or when faizy falls for shahana....or when Kareemikka reveals the suspence of his first love......the movie brings in goose bumps to the viewers.....Thanks to the majestic visuals...the poetic visualisation aided with the career best bgms of Gopi sundar....and of course the perfos that match up to the plot.

Usthad hotel plots the story around Faizy(dulquer)'s coming of age......realizing what serving food is all about.In due course of his life he happens to split ways with his father and happens to reenter the life of his grandfather Kareem(thilakan).Its his uppooppa who forms the tutorial to develop Faizy as a good human being.A series of episodes come in including a sidelined romance tale.

Dulquar as Faizy puts in a show that should posiibly suggest just one thing....that he is here to stay , not just to be popped up as a great actor's son.....but to make a name for himself.Good Show!
Thilakan.....the master actor...proves it yet again....!Nithya menon had never before looked so beautiful on screen.....Siddique mamukkoya,Lena,kallumekkaya band, all puts in their skills to perfect blend.
Though the subject from Anjali meon had more potential in it to be developed as more  of a feel good entertainer,her script falters here and there at times.

Not to forget some wonderfully etched moments though.Kudos to Anwar Rashid...the best Director in Mallu town.The man mesmerizes with his skill to create poetry with visuals that you feel anyone in his frames would just be awesome.....! Wonderful cinematography....BGM by Gopi sunder is top class and so are the songs.....!

Walk in to Usthad Hotel.....Sulaimani and Usthad special Biriyani awaits you....!

Must feel movie....8/10......!

Feel The Spirit.......SPIRIT Review

Malayalam cinema has made a remarkable turnaround since the last year with some cinemas that dared to show up differently.Thank to the filmmakers who were behind all such movies which carved out a new face for Malayalam cinema.One man who had stood steady with his head held high for meaningful cinemas ,even when he had all the scope for rechurning hits out of the tried tested formulas is Ranjith and He deserves a bow to the bold steps he had taken through palerimanikyam,praanchiyettan indian rupee and now Spirit.

Spirit the Movie deals with the dominance of alcohol in malayale's life.Told through Raghu nanadan,who himself is a high class drunkard,spirit takes you through several lives that lost its color drenching in alcohol.Raghunandan a divorcee is a well known tv anchor ,who has let his life loose with only liquor as his companion.First half moves thorough several satirical comedies with the Ranjith flavour ,and Mohanlal once again rocking as the drunken comedian.Most of the comedies in the first half  kept the movie alive and moved on to a comparatively serious 2nd half.The movie becomes a bit serious here and drags a bit into the climax where Ranjith signs off with his manly voice.

Mohanlal - Ranjith has always been an elite combo and spirit doesn't let that down.Mohanlal has always been at ease with such kind of roles and he does it once again.Nandu gets a role of his life time as plumber mani...good performance from him.Madhu Lena tini tom etc tuned in well to the plot. Thilakan was wasted.
Kaniha gels in with some skin show though it looked that intentional at times.Some good role for her after pazhassi.Shankar ramakrishanan,Adoor govindankutty,siddarth etc used their screen space to good effect.

Ranjith the Master craftsman take a bow.He has always left me wondered with his writings.Whatever be the genre,the subject it just stands out Brilliant!

The movie is an open book with Ranjith deciding to be open in saying and showing up everything related to the subject.This could be a family repellent.But as Raghu nandan says "Who F****kin cares"?

Also watched Thiruvambaadi thmabaan....Felt it to be decent entertainer shot in the likes of tamil movie...!

Hero Mallu singh Diamond Neckalce

Hero :

Mass movies are those which are expected to be entertaining/exciting/thrilling or to say the least Engaging.Unfortunately Prithvirajs Hero doesn't fit into any of the above categories though it was made up as a Mass movie.

What lets the movie down is an outdated screenplay and sloppy narration.The story that has been here since ages has been shaped up for Hero and has been executed with flashes,cut,fights,camera shakes all to form a below average flick.Prithviraj looks masculine with his oiled up muscles and thats all he had to do in such a script.Prithviraj could not overcome his aura which made him look alien among the local bunch of his colonywalas.Anoop menon was given some dialogs to score in and he did well.Thalaivasal vijay too did well.The heroine was ok. Other casts like tini tom,anoop,nedumudi,kapac etc comes n goes.Srikanth didn't look apt for the character ,may be because of the dubbing.

Songs arent good as well.


Hero- Avoidable

Mallusingh -

Another one in the format of mass masala entertainment.But this for me was a watchable flick.Just because of directorial expertise of vysakh,an average script was churned out to a watchable stuff.

Unni as Mallusingh ,though most of the time had the same kinda expression managed to not let down the movie.Looks a sure bet for the future.

Kunchakko wasnt able to bring in laughters though he desperately tried to.

Biju Menon and Manoj did not have much to entertain as they did have in seniors.

Suraj was as usual.Samvrutha,roopa and other female leads were eye candy and gelled in well with the colourful frames set.Cinematography was of top notch with the beauty of Punjab tantalizing like anything.Songs are ok.

Mallusingh - Watchable entertainer.

Diamond Necklace :

Fahadh fazil is on a relevation these days.With his 22FK still running successfully, he has managed to bring in another succes story through Diamond necklace.Lal jose movie has some predetermined standards in the minds of malayalees but he hasn't been quite there in few of his recent outings.Well diamond necklace too isnt there exactly but has a lot of feel good factors to keep you entertained.Script by iqbal kuttipuram is good enough to bring in you close to life sort of feelings.

Some scenes in the second half like the joy alukkas advertisement and the (cliched) greedy aunts of fahads wife looked plastic and could have been presented in a better way.Fahadh has surprised with his second coming and he does again doing the diamond neckalce act!Heroines were good,especially gowthami and samvrutha.The third heroine looked a bit out of sorts,may be because her character is like that!

Songs are a treat...Kudos to Vidyasagar!

Diamond necklace - A good Watch!

Gruhuaathuruthwan Thulumbunna Manjaadikkuru

Manjadiikuru ..... Manglish Review...!

Plot orupaadu thavana thiraseelayil vannu poyathu thanne....Oru valiya tharavaattile kaarnoru marikkunnu...swathu bhaagam veppinu aakrantharaaya makkal pala idathu ninnum ethunnu...avide ellarum orumichu jeevikkunna kurachu naalukal ithu thanne aanu ee padthinteyum plot...thinkalaazcha nalla divasam,raapakal,enningane orupaadu padangal ithe plotumaayi vannu nummale nombara peduthiyittundu....ennittum manjaadikkuru enna cinema enthu kondu vythyastham aakunnu...otta kaaranam...manjaadikuru enna cinema katha kuttikaliloode aanu paranju pokunnathu...vicky ennu perulla nishkalankam vittumaaratha payyante oppam kannanum, avante anujathyum,thamizhathi rojayumokke chernnu pala vattamaayi namme kothippikkunna kuttikkaalathekku kooti kondu pokunnu.....Anyam ninnu thudangiya vettukal padikalum,kariyila puthapiicha idavazhikalum,vellaka-irkkil pambarangalum ellam pala idangalilaayi ningalude ormacheppile manjaadikurukkalude smaranakal thottunarthunu ......Rojayude episode aanu padathine ithe pole ulla mattu padangalil ninnum kathaaparamaayi vythyasthamaakkunnathu...

Climaaxil maathrame ullenkilum prithviraajinte shabda gaambheeryathiloode aanu manjaadikkuruvinte katha paraju pokunnathu...Urvashi valare naalukalkku shesham nannayi cheytha oru role...Murali,Jagathi,Cinemalayile kakshi ellavarum nannaayi chythu...

first half nannayi enjoy cheythu kandu...chil a thammashkal nannaayi...2nd half palayidathum manappoorvam slow aakkiyathu aalukale mushippichu....!

paattukal kollam.

Gruhaathurathwam ennum kaanan maathram kollavunna oru saadhnamaayi kaanunna pooribhaagam malayaalikalkkum ingane oru chithram theateril vannu kaanan taalparyamundaavathathu albhuthapeduthunnilla.....mobile fonum tv onnumillathirunna kaalam,current poyirunnappol manenna vilakku kathichirunna kaalam, kothichekkilla palarum.....Nalla cinemakle ishtapedunnavarkku dhairmaayi chennu kaanuka ee kochu chithram ...!

Grandmaster, Cobra,22 Female Kottayam

Grand Master: A plot based on serial killing ,a game portrayed by the killer infront of a shrewd policeman Chandrashekhar...!Parts of the movie also deals with the personal side of Mr chandrshekhars life.

What strikes .......!

Mohanlal...A relief to see his cool act.Looked trimmed,well toned and neat.

Direction: Unnikrishnan's best work till date as a director.

Babu Anony's performance was a surprise from what he presented in Cobra!

Rest of the cast too fitted in well!

What Don't......:

Script: First half wasn't engaging untill the killings showed up. The lags were intermittently present between the engaging scenes throughout the plot . The suspense story looked ordinary to the build up given to the series of killing.

Songs:One of the songs,(the first one) sounded good.The rest could have been avoided.

On the whole Gm is a neatly presented flick from B unnikrishnan.

Cobra: Lal has been successful with his hariharnagar series and he tries to repeat the same slapstick formula with Mammootty in the lead . The storyline seems to be pretty silly with the twin brothers in love with anything that starts with ko...!

+ ....

Mammootty - Looked like he enjoyed what he did in the screen.Energetic perfo.

Lal-repeats what he does best.

Salimkumar- Does his usual stuff.

Ente nenjinullile song

Boxing ring fights.
- es....

Script

Could have come up with something more convincing.The story looked half baked.

Some comedies made the characters look so silly!

The 2nd song.


On the whole Cobra is just another attempt to make merry on pre made formulas.Watchable Entertainer if you love to watch crappy entertainers!

22 Female Kotttayam

A revenge story that revolves around a nurse, her lover and his boss.A very well crafted movie.

+....

Rima kallingal...sure to sweep some awards with this perfo...

fahadh.....Though similar kidn of roles n looks...he has been very effective in presenting them convincingly....

pratap pothan,sathaar,tg ravi....all did well....

Aashiq abu displays his class.

Camera....

Well made script.

-ves

Some of the dialogues could have been avoided and looked like inserted for showing the bold approach of the movie makers.....

Bold attempt...Worth a watch with friends or alone.....Not for the kids!!!

MASTERS n MAYAMOHINI

Masters!

Johny Antony is more well known for his cartoonish approach to cinema,but the man has also done decent thrillers like cycle before.He tries out another one here in the form of the Prithviraj Starrer-Masters.Based on an investigation of a serial killer,masters begins with an attempt to establish the bond between two friends done by prithviraj and Sasikumar,this unfortunately doesn't materialize,but there after the plot gets along well with the viewers.Direction for me didn't look awful,seems like the director preferred to use the old style of film making,without resorting to any torturous gimmicks!The suspense is predictable which lets the climax down.Prithviraj provides the fire and looks that is all required in such investigative movies.Sasikumar was a total failure and never looked in a mood to do this movie.The script demands attention and appreciation but got poorly executed at the climax.Salim kumar and Biju Menon requires some special mention for their roles.Most of the other characters have minimal roles to play which were safe with them.

Johny Antony has done a decent job though the climax could have been executed differently.Though Masters doesnt give you goose bumps,or pump out your adrenaline,it certainly gives you an engaging watch!

Decent Thriller!

Mayamohini-- THE QUEEN OF CRAAAPS!

Such kind of movies are a result of the undeserving attention malayalees had given to craps like karyasthan,pokkiriraja ,or to generalize to most of the recent udayakrishna sibi k thomas movies.Mayamohini is a pathetic attempt to make you laugh by remixing and reusing most comedies of previous Malayalam films.Almost 90% jokes are non vegetarian,surprising for a family movie,but even surprising is the fact the families are rushing to catch their seats for maayamohini.That is their trust on Dileep,perhaps the most bankable actor as far as families are concerned.The sad part is that this trust is getting misused by churning out craps like mayamohini,karyasthan etc!First half of the movie looked terrible for me except for some laughs here and there for baburaj,but the second half was utter crap that it made me feel that the first half was sort of ok!

Direction is fast paced but still cant hide most of the loopholes,because there were plenty of them in the script.Dileep looked irritating as mayamohini,but his efforts to take up such a character deserves applause.Script-How many times they have fooled the audience and still they does,but hope not the majority of them were happy this time!Sphadikam george ,Abu salem too were asked to try the Baburaj way ,but looked miserable with their comedies.Biju Menon and Baburaj evokes some laughter here and there.

Mayamohini - Hope the audience treats such movies deservingly,else more of the same genre will frequently jump out from the pipe line --- Avoidable!

KING AND COMMISIONER -- STILL FIREBRAND!

Saving a few,sequels in Malayalam has often never been able to live up to the expectations set by their prequels.Many of the iconic heroes like tharadas, perumal,saagar,have looked silly in their second comings.Luckily Joseph alex the man with an extra bone will never have to be forced to this category.The King and Commisioner delivers big time.

Stuffed with cliches of Ranji-Shaji films ,its the verbal grandeur that lifts the spirit of the movie.Joseph Alex,the District collector who rocked the screens around 20 years back is back with the same vigour,the same fire and the same sharpness to set the screen on fire.This time he is in Delhi and is on an assignment related to the threat national security and the country's prime minister.Minutes away from the titles arrives Joseph,an intro for which a fan of his would have been waiting since an year or so .Each word uttered were pompous for the mass that most parts of the dialogues went unheard.Scenes proceed with Joseph stealing the bloody show all the way. Halfway through the movie IG Bharath chandran joins joseph as his protection officer.Thereafter both enjoys thrashing the baddies with their verbal power.

Nice to see Shaji Kailas back.Its long time that one could enjoy a shaji craft,despite his best efforts behind the camera.Ranji Panikker provides sufficient stuff for him to set fire on screen.Mammootty as joseph alex is nothing short of a wonder as he just dwells into the soul of a character he did 20 years back.The dialogue modulation,the charisma and the energy that made joseph alex,the king of the masses was amply rediscovered by him in the sequel as well.Suresh gopi too adds to the mass element of the movie with Bharath chandran.Suresh gopi as always excels once again as the arrogant police officer!Saikumar gave in a controlled performance,while Biju pappan performed well in one of the prominent role in his career.Samyukta could have been easily avoided.Janardhanan plays the typical hero friendly minister of Ranji script and did his part well though they could be trimmed cutting the 3 hours movie shorter.KPAC lalithas scene with suresh gopi just reminds you how gifted the actress is.

In brief - King and Commisioner is a return to the good old days for the Firebrand movie lovers!

ORDINARY -- NOT ORDINARY

Ordinary

The recent times have seen many promising talents,both in front of and behind the camera entering the big league of cinema.Well the latest addition to the list is the crew behind the camera of the flick Ordinary.Crafted in the misty backdrop of Gavi ,Ordinary takes you through an episode in the lives of two KSRTC employees.

The movie begins with Eravi(Kunchakko getting appointed to KSRTC as the conductor for the GAVI bus,of which Suku (Biju Menon) is the driver.In due course of their trips ,they get to be a part of the lives of people in Gavi.What follows is a series of engaging and scenically portrayed scenes which are laced with subtle wits which thankfully evokes some laughter.Towards the interval the movie meanders to its story element and ends with your hopes raised for a brilliant second half.However the 2nd half literally obliges to the movie name as it becomes pretty predictable and ORDINARY.

Kunchakko once again proves that he has the mettle in him to entertain the masses.he repeats what he did in Dr Love with a cool head!Biju menon surprisingly had a different slang which was well dubbed by him but one felt that it never was in sync with his body language.The new heroine was ok for the role she had while Ann Augustine was terrible as usual!Baburaj once again entertains in his newly found comic avataar and along with Biju menon,kalabhavan navas's brother (donno his name) provides the humour element which gives life to the movie.Asif Ali was blessed with a brilliant intro ,but the character proved too heavy for him by climax.Other cast like Lalu Alex,Jishnu, etc fits in well enough.

The first half of the movie would often mistake you for this being a Lal Jose flick.Sugeeth the debutant director has to be applauded for this being his first attempt.The screenplay by Manu and nishad was engaging to say the least.The camera work was good enough though nothing to be called as eye candy!Music wasnt good enough to engage you in the first hearing except for Sun Sun Sundari.

To sum it up Ordinary is not Extra ordinary but is definitely worth a watch if you are ready to forgive the minor faults considering this as the first outing of the team!

Also Watched EE ADUTHA KAALTHU-Another of those new generation cinemas that gives you a roller coaster edge of the seat ride especially in the second half.The first half looked a bit too long and boring because of the over detailing of the characters!The brilliantly scripted second half forms the soul of the movie.Indrajith once again brings in the ease and naturality to Vishnu!Finally Nishan gets a role that gets the audience to talk about.Murali Gopi performed too well as the egoistic husband that he might have irked the viewers at times.Anoop Menon Lena and Tanushri Ghosh dwells in well.

Ee aduth kaalathu - Bold one!Thrilling second half!

CASANOVA -- COSTLY CRAP!!!

There hasn't been something so big in recent past in Malayalam cinema.Be it with the hype,the production cost,the casting or the locations, CASANOVA was a name that was thoroughly promoted by the crew over the past year.Unfortunately the same cannot be told regarding its success.

Roshan andrews's latest flick has Mohanlal portraying the title character inspired from Casanova,the ancient womaniser legend.

The one liner for the movie is difficult to be explained as there is scarcely any to boast about.The plot revolves around the hot guy,rather a middle aged man for whom the chicks drool about!Mohanlal's Casanova always arrives well dressed,with goggles,in posh cars,bikes, helicopters and with lots of hot chicks always around him!One gets a notion of the torture he is to expect right away from the intro song.With all the chicks expecting their darling in an airport waiting area,he is introduced riding a sports bike!From thereon the movie tries to exhibit the charm and tricks of casanova with which ladies easily go crazy!Casanova,who is in dubai finds a reason to stayback and tries to bring out the truth behind the death of one of his dearest girls.

It is still a pity that movies like Casnova still happen.How many times has movies with style and minimal substance failed colossally and Casanova will be no different and in fact would be even bigger considering the huge budget that the promotions boasted about.Roshan andrews as a director fails as he has nothing expect a few awesome frames to boast about.The mediocre script was made even lagging with the style of narration opted.He has tried to recreate stunts like what we have seen in movies like dhoom ,but not sure how many would agree on the success.The script from Bobby sanjay was a shocker considering their previous works.Though Mohanlal looks cool in most of the frames one would feel he wasnt the hottest guy(he is reffered to as hottest guy in newyork by the white chicks) to justify Casanova.The role doesnt offer him any sort of entertainment oriented performance scope as well.Shriya saran,lakshmi rai,sanjana roma etc tries to enrich the glossiness of a womaniser based subject.Jagathy has repeated his role in sagar elias jackie.Music is another aspect which is a letdown!

The responses once again confirms that skin shows/cars or locales cannot save a movie like Casanova.The only advantage from the movie is just that it is another chapter to learn for cinema enthusiasts that money alone need not make a good watch!

Verdict : Crap!!


Also watched

Spanish Masala-Hash of several malayalam films.Some average comedies and fresh locations may make it watchable for some.Average!

Asuravithu -- Strictly Avoidable!

Beautiful- Indeed Beautiful.Definitely to be enjoyed in theaters.

Indian Rupee--Good movie.Watchable.