Two months in exile from broken lenses....days and nights with my eyes hooked up on to the LCD monitor.....hands stuck to the keyboard...after the 7 frustrating months with the deceptively shallow recession period,coorporate life began to take its toll yet again......and hence the abundant silence in broken lenses over the past two months.
So time to break the silence with Paramani and In ghost House Inn.
Pramani....
B Unnikrishnan tries out another Maadambi this time with Malayalams Megastar.Plotted against the Kuttanadan Backdrop , Paramani tells the story of a corrupt Panchayat President - Vishvanatha panikar(Mammooty).The president who wisely involves in all issues in his village only to negotiate the deals to his advantage.Together with a team of corrupt members and the typical 'filmy money crazy relatives' panikkar reigns abolishing the feeble oppositions that arise in his village.The opposition though weak is strenthened by the neighbouring village panchayath president(Janardhanan) ,Vishwanatha panikers panchayath secretary(Sneha) and the young blood of Shanu's character ,who happens to be the son of Panikkers late friend(Prabhus role).Prabhus character and Panikker were close friends since thier childhood and had similar political ideas.Both were equal in the eyes of Prabhu's character's Mother (Lekshmi)as well.
In an effort to pocket a large slump of money, panikker's panchayat comes to a deal with an IT company that agrees to convert the paddy lands in his village to an IT park.With an increasing number of his sincere relations going to the opposition side,panikkers mind tends to under go the cinematic change of the negative hero to the ideal one.As expected ,this makes his his previous well wishers go against him while the previous oppositions go ahead with him.How Panikker sorts out his enimies and the Land Mafia issues is what the rest of the movie is all about.
B Unnikrishnan deserves some credit for the fact that whatever presented is neat though there is nothing much to boast about.Most of the characters seems to be picked directly from his previous flick Maadambi.The veteran Mammootty has a cakewalk role in the shoes of Vishvanatha panikker with very little scenes to perform.Unnikrishnan should take the blame for not having shot the confrontation scenes with the required punch to elate the fans/crowd.With the story being old as malyalam cinema, Unnikrishnan should also have shown some sense to go for sequences/scenes that were out of the routinte stuff.Some of the dialogues and scenes tends to promise to deliver but falls short lacking the energy.This issue was really obivious in Maadambi too but there it was much well packed.Songs are worth litsening and well picturised.Comedy plot by Suraj is stupid and irritating.Lakshmi and Sneha puts in decent performances while KPAC lalitha had a great time lying in the bed with a single dialouge over the entire movie.Janardhanan role as the rebel president is well characterised.Siddique repeats his villainic act for the n+1th time.Other characters like baiju,'Slim' kumar,Shanu etc does not have much to do.
PRAMANI could have been better with a more energy filled treatment,it is still a decent family movie Nevertheless.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Friday, February 12, 2010
AAGATHAN --- Kamal's comeback Try...
Kamal and Dileep, both having a string of flops under their belt in the recent past should have kept their fingers crossed hoping for their latest try 'aagathan' to click.Well sadly though, it doesnt seem to have enough to strike in the Box office.Aagathan is another revenge story told in the beautiful back drop of Kashmir and a vineyard farmhouse in ootty (if i remember right).
Gautham menon is a successful young man in his 30's despite the fact that he was left back by his family that was a victim of terrorist attack.Gautham happens to meet charmi's character in one of his routine travels and an incident springs up love in them.After some conventional filmy confusions gautham menon is being proposed for charmis character by her brother in law(Biju Menon).Dileep finally sets out to meet his 'would be father in law'(sathyaraj) - a strict retd. army man .Here ends the 1st half of the movie without troubling you much or without moving you either.
The latter part of the movie unravels the twists in the story and justifies Gautham's urge for his revenge.
The main hindrance to the movie making an huge impact is the predictability of the story /screenplay . Had the script been composed out with more care to make it more interesting or had the narration been given a a bit more commercial treatment,the outcome could have made a huge difference.Kamal as a director limits himself and tries to play safe without trying anything adventurous. Panoramic Frames from Ajay Vincent yet again reveals why he is one among the best in the business.Songs are hummable and have already been accepted from the TV itself....Coming to the performances dileep looked so composed and controlled in his portrayal of gautham menon ...one role in the recent times in which he looked very pleasing.Charmi as the heroine doesnt have to put in anything spectacular but performs well enough.Sathyaraj puts in an apt performance to give life to the tough retd army man.Others like Biju menon,Sareena wahab,innocent has nothing significant to do.
Aagathan is certainly a different breather from some of the recent malayalam movies but could have fared well if they would have commercialized it a bit more....
Gautham menon is a successful young man in his 30's despite the fact that he was left back by his family that was a victim of terrorist attack.Gautham happens to meet charmi's character in one of his routine travels and an incident springs up love in them.After some conventional filmy confusions gautham menon is being proposed for charmis character by her brother in law(Biju Menon).Dileep finally sets out to meet his 'would be father in law'(sathyaraj) - a strict retd. army man .Here ends the 1st half of the movie without troubling you much or without moving you either.
The latter part of the movie unravels the twists in the story and justifies Gautham's urge for his revenge.
The main hindrance to the movie making an huge impact is the predictability of the story /screenplay . Had the script been composed out with more care to make it more interesting or had the narration been given a a bit more commercial treatment,the outcome could have made a huge difference.Kamal as a director limits himself and tries to play safe without trying anything adventurous. Panoramic Frames from Ajay Vincent yet again reveals why he is one among the best in the business.Songs are hummable and have already been accepted from the TV itself....Coming to the performances dileep looked so composed and controlled in his portrayal of gautham menon ...one role in the recent times in which he looked very pleasing.Charmi as the heroine doesnt have to put in anything spectacular but performs well enough.Sathyaraj puts in an apt performance to give life to the tough retd army man.Others like Biju menon,Sareena wahab,innocent has nothing significant to do.
Aagathan is certainly a different breather from some of the recent malayalam movies but could have fared well if they would have commercialized it a bit more....
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
DRONA 2010 --- Not worth the Wait
Eversince movies like king , truth,or even valyettan,mammootty fans must have been desparately waiting to see thier man in Shaaji's power packed hero mode.Well if that is what you expect in drona you won't be satisfied.Infact the real culprit is not the director but the script of the movie that promises here and there but fails to deliver most of the time.
Movie begins with the introduction of Kunjunni(younger mammootty)who is someone intrested in buying down old Manas to rebulid them as resorts.Once he is drawn to a haunted mana by his rivals(thilakan n family) so as to get rid of him.Kunjunni falls for the trap and gets killed.It is here where the 2nd character is given birth to....and he does come with a bang leaving you hoping for a power packed 2nd half.The 2nd half of the movie sees madhavan in a spree to free the mana from the ghost of Saavithri.
Mammootty as pattazhy maadhavan is the soul of this otherwise lifeless movie.Some punchlines and the heroic gimmicks by both the Mammootty characters really gives a sample of what you were really expecting for.Manoj K Jayan as always excels in a role that has some shades of digambaran of Ananthabhadram.Thilakan puts in another apt performance.Suraj in the second half does what he is expected to.
Kaniha looked as beautiful and innocent as ever...KPAC,Navya,and other casts did not have much to do.Art direction by Saloo geeorge is also worth a mention.
Music dept impacts very slightly with the only one kaniha song.The BGM by Rajamani however, is absolutely thrilling .Shaaji Kailaas seems to have controlled himselves from over using graphical and camera gimmicks that were real headaches in some of his previous ventures.However he fails to create any sort of haunting emotions among the viewers.This actually is aided by a docile script by AK Saajan,who fails to impress for the umpteenth time in the nearby past.
On the whole Drona is not a Bad film to say the least, but isn't anything special either.Average movie.
A short Bonus review... ;-) for Happy husbands
"Watched Happy husbands too but did not update in broken lenses.Happy husbands is a movie based on senseless fun and slapstick comedy.A movie based on tamil flick Charlie chaplin(No entry in HIndi) is a timepass fare for those who are on look out for some slapstick entertainment.Atleast the movie gives you what its promos promised......"
Movie begins with the introduction of Kunjunni(younger mammootty)who is someone intrested in buying down old Manas to rebulid them as resorts.Once he is drawn to a haunted mana by his rivals(thilakan n family) so as to get rid of him.Kunjunni falls for the trap and gets killed.It is here where the 2nd character is given birth to....and he does come with a bang leaving you hoping for a power packed 2nd half.The 2nd half of the movie sees madhavan in a spree to free the mana from the ghost of Saavithri.
Mammootty as pattazhy maadhavan is the soul of this otherwise lifeless movie.Some punchlines and the heroic gimmicks by both the Mammootty characters really gives a sample of what you were really expecting for.Manoj K Jayan as always excels in a role that has some shades of digambaran of Ananthabhadram.Thilakan puts in another apt performance.Suraj in the second half does what he is expected to.
Kaniha looked as beautiful and innocent as ever...KPAC,Navya,and other casts did not have much to do.Art direction by Saloo geeorge is also worth a mention.
Music dept impacts very slightly with the only one kaniha song.The BGM by Rajamani however, is absolutely thrilling .Shaaji Kailaas seems to have controlled himselves from over using graphical and camera gimmicks that were real headaches in some of his previous ventures.However he fails to create any sort of haunting emotions among the viewers.This actually is aided by a docile script by AK Saajan,who fails to impress for the umpteenth time in the nearby past.
On the whole Drona is not a Bad film to say the least, but isn't anything special either.Average movie.
A short Bonus review... ;-) for Happy husbands
"Watched Happy husbands too but did not update in broken lenses.Happy husbands is a movie based on senseless fun and slapstick comedy.A movie based on tamil flick Charlie chaplin(No entry in HIndi) is a timepass fare for those who are on look out for some slapstick entertainment.Atleast the movie gives you what its promos promised......"
Saturday, January 23, 2010
BODYGUARD ---- A LET DOWN
You could sense it coming ...couldnt you? With an average product of chronic bachelor which fortunatley did fairly well at the BO ,atleast some eyebrows were raised on how long could the Hitmaker Siddique maintain his winning streak.Well having watched bodyguard i feel that this will be an irritating exception among his glorifying list of films.
Bodyguard is all about a story of Jayakrishnan,one who loved courageous heros wanting to be one among them.He grows up as a body guard of the town's well known goondas and finally comes to know about Asokettan-- a well known posh version of a goonda who is feared and respected by all.As a security to the threat faced by Asokans n his family, Jayakrishnan is asked to be a bodyguard for his daughter Ammu(Nayanthara).Jayakrishnan thus has to join Ammus college as a student so as to ensure her security.Thereafter the movie just tries to shift gears, with some campus based comedies and songs.But once the romance plot starts the movies falters yet again.
Dileep as jayakrishnan excels in his comedy numbers as usual but is found terribly wanting in the romance and senti scenes.Siddique has enthrusted the entire comedy plot to Dileep without being tempted to add Salimkumar or Suraj in the movie.Nayanthaara ,though looks good,really calls for your patience in most of her performance based scenes.Harisree Aokan,UndaPakru etc has their routine stuff.Thhyaagrajan though present only for a minimal time,puts in a neat solid presence.Some of the songs were unwanted and only stretched your sufferings further.One among the song "Arikathaayi aaro" was good to hear.
Siddique has always presented us with memorable movies in the past,but this time he went for a story influenced from the bollywood flick KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI which didnt get executed ideally....Many of the scenes and buildups looked really plastic ,quite unexpected of a Siddique movie.Songs looked unwantedly inserted into.
On the Whole the first half was ok....watchable with some comedy numbers.The second half doesnt impress at all and ends with a climax out of the crediblity limits.BodyGuard Dissappoints.
Bodyguard is all about a story of Jayakrishnan,one who loved courageous heros wanting to be one among them.He grows up as a body guard of the town's well known goondas and finally comes to know about Asokettan-- a well known posh version of a goonda who is feared and respected by all.As a security to the threat faced by Asokans n his family, Jayakrishnan is asked to be a bodyguard for his daughter Ammu(Nayanthara).Jayakrishnan thus has to join Ammus college as a student so as to ensure her security.Thereafter the movie just tries to shift gears, with some campus based comedies and songs.But once the romance plot starts the movies falters yet again.
Dileep as jayakrishnan excels in his comedy numbers as usual but is found terribly wanting in the romance and senti scenes.Siddique has enthrusted the entire comedy plot to Dileep without being tempted to add Salimkumar or Suraj in the movie.Nayanthaara ,though looks good,really calls for your patience in most of her performance based scenes.Harisree Aokan,UndaPakru etc has their routine stuff.Thhyaagrajan though present only for a minimal time,puts in a neat solid presence.Some of the songs were unwanted and only stretched your sufferings further.One among the song "Arikathaayi aaro" was good to hear.
Siddique has always presented us with memorable movies in the past,but this time he went for a story influenced from the bollywood flick KUCH KUCH HOTA HAI which didnt get executed ideally....Many of the scenes and buildups looked really plastic ,quite unexpected of a Siddique movie.Songs looked unwantedly inserted into.
On the Whole the first half was ok....watchable with some comedy numbers.The second half doesnt impress at all and ends with a climax out of the crediblity limits.BodyGuard Dissappoints.
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Ividam Swargamaanu --- Lal's Best Movie in 2009
It has been a year that Mohanlal would not like to uphold in his film career.From stuffless duds like Red chillies, Saagar Alias Jackey,Bhagavan,angel john to the not so commercially successful Bhramaram(His role though was appreciable) he was losing his way.Though it is just another role for him ,Ividam Swargamaanu is without doubt his best movie in 2009.
The movie deals with the scenarios among the Land mafia kings,the way they manipulate situation and law loopholes to acquire the piece of earth they desire.Mathews (Lal) is another such victim falling to the atrocities of the land mafia headed by Aluva Chandi(Lalu Alex).Mathews however like the many other helpless victims decides not to give up and with the help of advocate sunitha(Laxmi Rai) decides to plan a plot against Chandi's money ,muscle and political power.Though the movie comes in the label of a family Movie James Albert as penned it in the mode of a tit fot tat sort of movie.
Laalu Alex as Aluva chaandi brings life to the plot as his mannerisms,dialogue deivery evoke good response in the theatre.James Albert yet again has come up with a stuff that does not let loosen the grip on the flow of the movie,other than some lagging here and there.Very rare are the scenes that evoke family sentiments that Thilakan,Kaviyoor ponnamma etc are wasted.Laxmi Rai has another of her typical heroine role which she has limited scope to perform.Mohanlal has limited scenes to impress on a role that is just another of the many he has already played.Other casts like Sreeni,Jagathi etc fits in well to the movies soul.Roshan andrews also has limited scope to exhibit his directorial skills in a movie with its soul in the scripts of James albert.
Commercial success of Ividam Swargamanu needs to be seen as the current viewer ship of the movie is pathetic even in the initial days ,that too in main centres other than that of trivandrum.If the condition picks up, this definitely deserves to be lals first commercial success in 2009.
The movie deals with the scenarios among the Land mafia kings,the way they manipulate situation and law loopholes to acquire the piece of earth they desire.Mathews (Lal) is another such victim falling to the atrocities of the land mafia headed by Aluva Chandi(Lalu Alex).Mathews however like the many other helpless victims decides not to give up and with the help of advocate sunitha(Laxmi Rai) decides to plan a plot against Chandi's money ,muscle and political power.Though the movie comes in the label of a family Movie James Albert as penned it in the mode of a tit fot tat sort of movie.
Laalu Alex as Aluva chaandi brings life to the plot as his mannerisms,dialogue deivery evoke good response in the theatre.James Albert yet again has come up with a stuff that does not let loosen the grip on the flow of the movie,other than some lagging here and there.Very rare are the scenes that evoke family sentiments that Thilakan,Kaviyoor ponnamma etc are wasted.Laxmi Rai has another of her typical heroine role which she has limited scope to perform.Mohanlal has limited scenes to impress on a role that is just another of the many he has already played.Other casts like Sreeni,Jagathi etc fits in well to the movies soul.Roshan andrews also has limited scope to exhibit his directorial skills in a movie with its soul in the scripts of James albert.
Commercial success of Ividam Swargamanu needs to be seen as the current viewer ship of the movie is pathetic even in the initial days ,that too in main centres other than that of trivandrum.If the condition picks up, this definitely deserves to be lals first commercial success in 2009.
Friday, December 25, 2009
ChattambiNaadu - Mass Entertainer
The man has always been supreme in handling different dialects and getups and this time too he doesn't disappoint you.Mammootty as Virendra Mallaya in Chattambi Naadu puts in another performance to elevate the level of an otherwise average and tried plot.
Chattambi naadu is a small village which got named so from chembattu naadu ,courtesy the goondas dwelling there.Virendra Mallaya(Mammootty) gets himselves involved in the issues between the two major families in chttambinaadu and there starts the fun ride with the kannada - mallu languaged goonda Mallaya.The whole plot seems to have popped up from the character Mammotty played in Adoor's Vidheyan -Bhaskara Patelar.
Mammootty excels as usual with his looks style and dialogue delivery and steals the show whenever present on screen.Suraj-Salim kumar combo delivers exactly whats expected of them in such a entertainer movie.The heroine part by Laxmi rai does very little and even worse is the role of Maithili as her sister.If Palerimanikkyam did not give her much of a scope to perform,Chattambi doesnt provide her even a chance to utter a dialog.Other casts puts in decent efforts to live along the movie.Shafi deserves credit in having narrated a very average story in a racy manner with lots of fun ,heroism and other mass elements.Benny with his script dissappoints witha plot that has the shades of many previous mammootty movies.Songs are ok considering the mood of the movie.
Chattambinaadu is another fun ride in the likes of Annan thambi,Thommanum Makkalum and Mayavi.Out and out entertainment for 2 hours.Enjoy.
Chattambi naadu is a small village which got named so from chembattu naadu ,courtesy the goondas dwelling there.Virendra Mallaya(Mammootty) gets himselves involved in the issues between the two major families in chttambinaadu and there starts the fun ride with the kannada - mallu languaged goonda Mallaya.The whole plot seems to have popped up from the character Mammotty played in Adoor's Vidheyan -Bhaskara Patelar.
Mammootty excels as usual with his looks style and dialogue delivery and steals the show whenever present on screen.Suraj-Salim kumar combo delivers exactly whats expected of them in such a entertainer movie.The heroine part by Laxmi rai does very little and even worse is the role of Maithili as her sister.If Palerimanikkyam did not give her much of a scope to perform,Chattambi doesnt provide her even a chance to utter a dialog.Other casts puts in decent efforts to live along the movie.Shafi deserves credit in having narrated a very average story in a racy manner with lots of fun ,heroism and other mass elements.Benny with his script dissappoints witha plot that has the shades of many previous mammootty movies.Songs are ok considering the mood of the movie.
Chattambinaadu is another fun ride in the likes of Annan thambi,Thommanum Makkalum and Mayavi.Out and out entertainment for 2 hours.Enjoy.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Avataar - Visual Extravaganza
Since My dear Kuttichathan in my childhood days ,there has never been another 3d movie visual experience.Since then I have often wondered why the hollywood with plentiful capitalization for grandeour doesnt come up with a mesmerising 3d product.It was just a month ago that i came to know that such a project was in the making ,may be from ever since the time i saw kuttichaathan.To add to all these mouthwatering infos,it was the man behind the movie that keyed me up to a greater extend ....the man who gave us visual experience of 'The terminator 1 n 2','True lies'and 'The titanic'....James Cameroon. Inspite of all the Hype i had to wait till yesterday to watch the movie.Thanks to the crappy theatre site. Finally,with loads of luck,something which has been very rare since the last new year ,i was able to get a pass for the movie without any mishmash.
With Avataar Cameroon takes you to Pandora an inhabited earth sized moon of Polyphemus.War breaks out between the Humans and the The Navi,the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora.The Human scientists creates a program creating Human-Navi Hybrids.Jake Sally is one such human getting a chance instead of his expired brother.Jake paralysed below waist gets over excited and anxious with his new Navi avtaar format.He along with two other hybrids set out to pandora to know more about the species and hence aid in the mission to evacuate them.But in Pandora Jake falls for a female Navi named Neytri.Thereafter its them leading their species to fight and survive against the Mission through the spectacular fantasy adventures that follow.
The plot tough doesnt have any impact to emotionally bind to you once you are out from the magic of 3d world.Infact without 3d the movie is just an average fare when you compare to some other hollwood animation flicks.James cameroon as usual always comes up with movies and subjects that are near impossible.Hats off to this biggie for his dedication and hard work put behind the project.Heard that he himself was engaged in the research and development of the virtual camera and other technical aspects that enabled him to develop the photo-realistic computer-generated characters.The actors puts in apt performances.Nothing to boast about though.The BGM too syncs well to the created mood.
The main drawback that i felt was that it didnt properly use the entire potential of the 3d projection.I remember watching kuttichaathan ,the viewers used to react spontaneously to the jestures in the screen ,like to that of a fire ball being thrown at at you.Avatar mesmerises the 3d effect only mostly when they show the flower of Eyva ,the sacred tree of the Navis.The other negative is the lack of an emotional plot as mentioned.
Overall : Its an experience.Do Watch it.I am sure you will.
With Avataar Cameroon takes you to Pandora an inhabited earth sized moon of Polyphemus.War breaks out between the Humans and the The Navi,the indigenous inhabitants of Pandora.The Human scientists creates a program creating Human-Navi Hybrids.Jake Sally is one such human getting a chance instead of his expired brother.Jake paralysed below waist gets over excited and anxious with his new Navi avtaar format.He along with two other hybrids set out to pandora to know more about the species and hence aid in the mission to evacuate them.But in Pandora Jake falls for a female Navi named Neytri.Thereafter its them leading their species to fight and survive against the Mission through the spectacular fantasy adventures that follow.
The plot tough doesnt have any impact to emotionally bind to you once you are out from the magic of 3d world.Infact without 3d the movie is just an average fare when you compare to some other hollwood animation flicks.James cameroon as usual always comes up with movies and subjects that are near impossible.Hats off to this biggie for his dedication and hard work put behind the project.Heard that he himself was engaged in the research and development of the virtual camera and other technical aspects that enabled him to develop the photo-realistic computer-generated characters.The actors puts in apt performances.Nothing to boast about though.The BGM too syncs well to the created mood.
The main drawback that i felt was that it didnt properly use the entire potential of the 3d projection.I remember watching kuttichaathan ,the viewers used to react spontaneously to the jestures in the screen ,like to that of a fire ball being thrown at at you.Avatar mesmerises the 3d effect only mostly when they show the flower of Eyva ,the sacred tree of the Navis.The other negative is the lack of an emotional plot as mentioned.
Overall : Its an experience.Do Watch it.I am sure you will.
