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.

PRANAYAM --- FEEL LOVE.....!

How often has a movie given you an experience so poetic,so adorable,so close to life or so inspiring, sort of feelings? Rare are such talents in this Era who can convince you that the life you led could be better just within the time frame of 2hrs and 20 mins.Blessy does more than that with his latest attempt on human relations, Pranayam.

Penning up a script based on a not so common love track and portraying it without going overboard isnt easy these days.Blessy succeeds big time narrating it in the most poetically convincing manner, that you cannot imagine any better execution for most parts in the movie.He lets the characters meander through from the stroke of the titles till the climax frames.All begins when Achuthamenon (Anupam Kher)meets his ex wife Grace(Jayaprada) who is now married to Mathews(Mohanlal).What you witness there after is some thing to be felt through.

The movie is shouldered along by the three characters Mathews,Grace and Achuthamenon and without their scintillating show ,the movie could not have quite managed to become what it does!Mohanlal,the extraordinary actor,though with limited movements(half paralysed) and on screen time once again mesmerises as Mathews.Anupam kher was a brilliant casting.With many brilliant actors in malayalam to do such character roles,Blessy justified himself why he chose Anupam kher.But for me the real surprise was Jayaprada who bagged the role of her life time.The character not only demanded the charm of a mid aged lady but the emotions she goes through isnt something which any actress can portray.Any flaw on her performance would have stooped the movie down!Anoop Menon once again exposes the acting talents in him.He is sure to make a mark in Indian cinema in the days to come.All others gels in well.

Music as usual with Blessy movies delights in Pranayam too.Songs and BGMs carry along the tempo of the movie without distracting you.Camera is excellent with love embedded on each and every frame!Blessy,undoubtedly among the best scriptwriter of this era has come up with very inspiring scenes and dialogues,one being ....SWAPNANGALEKKAL MANOHARMAANU JEEVITHAM ....JEEVIKKANARIYAAMENKIL....!

The movie just flows along without any hiccups for most of the time.One may feel the plasticity in the way Grace and Achu falls in love or may be even the role of Cardiac arrest in the movie ,but that takes away nothing from Pranayam,being close to his First and Best Kaazcha.

PRANAYAM --- FOR THE ONES WHO LOVE LIFE....OR WANT TO LOVE IT.!

Salt n Pepper --- Yummmy

Have you tried something different recently,well Asiq Abu certainly did and he delivers his stuff big time with Salt n Pepper.If Daddy cool could show only glimpses of his his talents,salt n pepper exhibits the filmmaker in him.

The whole plot of the movie is a love story which isn't anything new but the theme of movie narration based on the delicious recipes makes it a stand out. Be it the main characters or the scenes ,food items form the link between them.A smoothly inserted story of the foreign war hero and his wife(who is waiting with a cake each day, for his return)simply shows the good work behind the screens.

Lal was good as usual.Mythili too wasnt a miscast, but the real picks for me were Baburaj,Shwetha menon and Asif Ali.Babu raj-What a transformation from the roles of the tried and tested villain/goonda to the soft hearted cook in salt n pepper.Never would have he won so many hearts with any of his previous characters.Kudos to Ashiq Abu in using him this way.Shwetha was excellent i portraying a the frustrations of a companionless middle aged.Asif Ali has really emerged from the dubious guy in rithu to one who could handle comedy numbers with ease.He surely can bring the house down on his own in the future days.The rest of the cast fits in well too.

Music from Bijibal is another mention-worthy aspect that helps the cause of the movie.Avial song impresses too with a perfect sign off.

Final word - None among the audience bothered to move even after the climax titles started rolling.They waited for the avial song to finish off to exit gratified.

Bombay March 12 -- Bold n Classy

Movies based on terrorism have come and gone,some made minimal impact while some others created a strong wave of emotion within you.Fortunately Babu janardhanans debut directorial venture falls to the latter category.The Movie is wholly based on the innocent muslims who falls a victim to the terrorism atrocities.

Following a non linear narration babu janardhanan introduces sameer(Mammootty) and shahjahan(new comer) on a parallel track.The link between the tracks is establised in the second half.Pre interval the movie is nothing much to hype about with two excellent songs and romas ever best performance being the highlights to really boast off.But the 1st half does tell you that it is a buildup for something more good to come.The second half for the reviewer is the soul of the movie with shahjahans mysteries being revealed.

Performance wise

Though promoted as a movie which promised a hefty performance from Mammootty,he just had cake walk scenes.Being a fan of his ,expected a performance that would create goosbumps,but it didnt!
Roma the actress has finally evolved out.Best ever performance from her!
The newcomer as shahjahan performed without the hiccups of a newbie...definitely has an actor in him to watch out for in the future days of malluwood. Rest of the performances were apt and none of the characters looked plastic.

Songs Lyrics and Music to me is one among the best of the recent times.All the songs impressed at the first hearing itself.

Direction n scripting made this movie what it is.Though the first half could have been made more engaging he deserves a pat at the back for a movie like this. All Kudos to Babu Janardhanan for selecting a bold theme for his first venture,for the questions that he shot out at the democratic views that exists in our country,for not shying away and opting to do a commercial crap as his 1st venture.....and for making Bombay March12 a highlight in malluwood history!
Msut watch for all serious movie lovers....!

Watched cars2 -- Avg,Not anywhere near the prequel....3D effects minimal!
Kungfu panda --- Yet another g8 outing by the Dragon warrior and his friends...3D gives the icing on the cake.Enjoy!

The Train ---- Not on Track

The train from Jayaraj can be summarized as the movie Kayyoppu remade in the Traffic format.Though both the mentioned movies were excellent in their own genres,the train doesn't come out so well!

Whats Hot?

Well.The lead acting department does a cool job with the screen presence of Mammootty (a cakewalk role) and Jayasurya exhibiting once again the methodical actor in him.
The plot was promising and had the potential to make it big.The crispy,colorful frames and camera work need to applauded too.But the real standout to me was the BGM by gopi sunder,perfect for the mood that the theme of the movie could have delivered.The songs were also good,but could have reduced the number of them to help the movies pace.Jayaraj should be appreciated for seeing the possibility in the plot.

Whats not?

What lets a promising plot down after the initial half an hour is the flaws in the script which tries the tested and tried sentiments with minimal impact on audience.Tne script and direction could have been better to avoid some of the cliched scenes and dialogues. This could also have made the love track of Jyasurya more convincing.Jayaraj has the habit of picking actors who are either not good in malayalam or those lacking some natural acting instincts (including sabitha Jayaraj).He repeats this mistake here too.Some of the plots if performed by a seasoned actor could have been better!
Lack of thrills and twists without which the purpose of the movie like this is half lost!
To add ,Unacceptable number of songs in a movie like this!

The Train - is definitely better than the last few Mammotty movies,but should have been well received,with a better script and narration!


Also watched Janapriyan Last week ---- A softly treated movie which is worth a watch for Jayasurya.The script was is good enough except that it could have been better in the climax......Songs were horrible!Bhama looked good in her role and wasnt irritating (to much of my surprise---)!

COMBO REVIEWS --- Doubles,China town,Melvilasam,KO!

Hectic office schedules often makes me combine reviews....this time the reviews come late as well......with the fates of these movies already sealed!

Doubles ---- A rare example of a Mammootys experimentation with a debutant director back firing.Average script backed by below average direction helped doubles being a crap.Mammooty looked aged,Nadiya had nothing to be impressed for a comeback.The whole plot and setup looked plastic!


China town --- Another crappy multistarrer after Xian bros!Mohanlal had minimal comedy scenes while the most of the other comedies were irritating.2nd half makes matters even worse with Hangover influenced scenes going all over the place!CRAP!

Melvilasam---May be influenced by the foriegn film but this movie is well etched out!Suresh Gopi gets a good role ,Parthiban excels with his emotions in the 2nd half.Dialogs by Krisnmoorthy are sharp that the entire flash back can be visualized from them.As expected the audience turnout is poor!

KO! -- Brilliant entertainer.KV Anands frames and making style reminded of Gouwtham menon films.Excellent portrayal by Ajmal.Jeeva and rest of the cast are good too.The real hero being the script and the direction!