MARYKKUNDORU KUNJADU

MARYKKUNDORU KUNJADU

Theatre : TVM Anjali
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 30-12-2010
Status : HOUSEFULL with 90% family audience
After Chattambinaadu, Shafi-Benny.P.Nayarambalam team is back with Marykkundoru Kunjaadu, a Dileep starrer after a long gap from Kalyanaraman.The movie is a routine one time enjoyable entertainer with some good lighter moments but nowhere near the humour situations compared to Chattambinaadu.

Story
Story happens in a village where christians are most. Solomon aka Kunjadu(Dileep) is a good for nothing coward person, son of Kapyar(Vijayaraghavan) and Mary(VinayaPrasad). He is in love with Mary(Bhavana), daughter of Ittichan(Innocent). Ittichan don't want his daughter to marry Solomon as Ittichan was the one who was supposed to marry Solomon's mother Mary. His daughter was named Mary because he still have that love towards her. Solomon always gets beaten by Mary's brothers played by Anand, Appa Haja & a newface. Then comes Jose(Biju Menon) to that village. Solomon makes Jose as his brother who left home 12 years before. Who is Jose? What exactly is his motive? Will Solomon marry Mary? The rest of the story answers these questions.

Performances
Dileep as Solomon aka Kunjaadu is nothing special for him. Though in the beginning, Dileep could make it somewhat different with some good lighter moments & expressions, once Biju Menon's character enters, Dileep's character changed to what he had done in his previous movies. Even traces of Chanthupottu & Chakkaramuthu were there. And the situations in the movie spoiled his show in second half.

The real show-stealer is Biju Menon as the mysterious character Jose. With limited dialogues, powerful screen presence & expressions, he simply stole the show.
Though the title of the movie had Mary in it, Bhavana was the one who is seen least in the movie. Another routine masala movie heroine role just for songs & 4 scenes.
Salimkumar, who used to be a show-stealer in Shafi movies(Remember Pulivaal Kalyanam, Chocolate, Mayavi, Chattambinaadu) fails here. He couldn't evoke much laughter. He did his emotional scene well.

VinayaPrasad looks too young to act as Dileep's mother. She performed well.
Innocent was good, Vijayaraghavan was perfect. Ponnamma Babu, Kochu Preman, Kalabhavan Shajon, Chalipala, Anand, Appa Haja.. were apt in their role.

Sad to see a great actor seems unutilised in such a role-I'm talking about JAGATHY SREEKUMAR. He did his part well as usual with finesse. If Jagathy-Ponnamma Babu episode was not there in second half, Shafi & Benny should have been blamed for bringing that actor to that role. Jagathy's expression while seeing Ponnamma Babu at church shows his acting range once again.

Songs
Music by Berny-Ignatious was below average. BGM by Bijipal was loud at times.

Technical
Stunts were good(thanks to BijuMenon's ease in doing action sequences). Cinematography by Shamdath was good at parts. Editing by Manoj was good. Art Direction was superb.

Script & Direction
Script by Benny.P.Nayarambalam was an engaging one with lighter moments at times. In the second half and towards the climax, script had traces of movies Pappy Appacha & MeeshaMadhavan. Also the emotional scene for Salimkumar seems unwanted for a movie like this. Script could have been better. Direction by Shafi was racy. he showed his finesse in taking action sequences & comic sequences this time too.

On the whole, a watchable entertainer with some light humour at parts. Don't expect a rollicking comedy entertainer like Happy Husbands.

Verdict : Above average
BO Verdict : Hit

Surprised to see 90% family audience in Anjali theatre. BEST ACTOR would have changed the mentality may be.

TOURNAMENT

TOURNAMENT

Theatre : TVM SreePadmanabha
Showtime & Date : 11.13am, 25-12-2010
Status : Balcony Almost Full, FC 50%

Director Lal, as an independent director, after sequels of In Harihar Nagar, is back with new movie TOURNAMENT with comparitively newfaces & freshfaces in malayalam cinema in lead. The movie had a promising thread, but the paper ads & the intro about the movie by Lal before title cards spoils the whole show.

Story
Vishwanathan(Fahad Fazil aka Shanu), Balu(John Jacob, remember the dancer in the election song in Sakudumbam Shyamala) and Ummar(Praveen, a newface) got selected for APL cricket team selection from the club run by Siddhique. The selection was to be conducted at Banglore. Balu met with an accident. The other two with their friend Aswathi(Roopa Manjari of Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru fame) starts a road trip as their flight got cancelled along with another competitor Boby(Manu). The rest of the story is the betrayal by everyone to win the selection.

Performances
Shanu was cool and perfect as Vishwanathan. John Jacob as Balu has nothing much to perform. Also the fat guy, Praveen irritates us at times though good at some parts.  Manu with Thrissur slang was the hero of the movie with nice expressions but not at all a hero material. Roopa Manjari offers nothing new. Newface Prajin was apt and Aryan was surprising.

Siddhique as usual made his mark eventhough he had just two scenes in the movie. Kochu Preman was superb while Bijukuttan was not upto the mark.

The real showstealer is SALIMKUMAR. Awesome performance with bad english, typical dialogues with his style and SILSILA song.

Indrans as a tribal person was horrible which evokes no laughter. Thesni Khan & Paravai Muniamma were wasted.

Songs
The real plus point of the movie were the songs by Deepak Dev. Good work!!! BGM by Alex Paul was not upto the mark.

Technical
Editing by V.Saajan was good. Cinematography by Venu was nice at parts. Art Director Prasanth Madhav did his part well.

Script & Direction
Lal handled both departments. Direction was above average. Storyline was good. But the screenplay lags in second half. Since the paperads & intro before the movie by Lal spoiled the whole show as the viewers were vigilant with each and every scene. That negligence by the viewers were the success point of his previous movies. Here he himself spoiled his work. Lal is rehashing the same formula he did in his last two movies, REPLAY everything to see exactly what happened. Here the problem is he starts his replay from the introduction of the lead actors itself. First half was an engaging one eventhough an unwanted action sequence was there. Salimkumar's character was a big plus point for the movie. Second half drags once the lead actors reaches a tribal area. Horrible sequences to make us laugh. Also traces of In Harihar Nagar godown sequences were there.

Overall, an engaging first half and a not so well made second half with expected twists.

Verdict : Strictly Average
BO Verdict : Does not deserve a HIT status, but LAL RELEASE will make it

Lal, you are beating around the bush. These kind of REPLAY sequences once again may not work at boxoffice.

Strong screenplay with innovative ideas only can make a change in Malayalam Cinema.
Rehashing of formulas always wont work.


FANS ASSOCIATION FLEX for John Jacob & Prajin were there in theatre premises. Many don't know who they are. John had a single song and 2 scenes. Prajin had 3 scenes, thats all.

Good Songs & Nice Marketing may help it to be in safe-side as the production cost is low

SAHASRAM

SAHASRAM

Theatre : TVM Dhanya
Showtime & Date : 2.25pm, 19-12-2010
Status : Balcony 60-70%, FC just 20 people

After an unimpressive directorial debut with Mahasamudram, Dr.S.Janardhanan is back with in tinseltown with his new movie SAHASRAM with SureshGopi in lead. The movie is a well-scripted one and to an extent well executed engaging suspense thriller with a dose of supernatural element.

Story
The whole story happens on the backdrop of a cinema shooting location. Story is not a great one. But how it unfolds through subplots and twists makes it interesting. So watch the movie.

Performances
VishnuSahasraNamam IPS was a cakewalk role for SureshGopi which he executed without the hangover of any other police roles played by him. Bala & Sandhya had performed well. Rest of the casts - Madhu, Jagathy Sreekumar, KochuPreman, Kottayam Nazeer, Sudheesh, Rizabava, Kollam Thulasi, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, V.K.Sreeraman, Indrans, Krishna, Kiran Raj were good in their respective supporting roles. Niyas(Remember the hero in Kshanakkathu) as SureshGopi's assistant was not that convincing. His big mustache and bad dubbing spoiled some scenes.

Songs
Music by M.Jayachandran was average only. BGM was ok only, but expected a much more thrilling one in a movie like this. BGM seems to be rehash.

Technical
Art Direction was superb. Editing by Mahesh Narayanan was apt. Cinematography by U.K.SenthilKumar was good. Finally a fire effect was neatly done in a malayalam movie in the climax scene.

Script & Direction
Dr.S.Janardhanan handled both departments. Story is a simple one but it is the screenplay which makes the movie an engaging one with twists and subplots. Visual cheating, usually seen in these kind of movies were absolutely absent here, Nice work. Though traces of bollywood flick Om Shanthi Om was seen, the whole execution makes movie enjoyable. Director presented SureshGopi in a police officer role without guns & fiery dialogues, but the seriousness was there with sharp dialogues which were tightly related to script. On the whole a nice work. The first few minutes were not so impressive. Other than that, I don't find any negatives.

Verdict : Well made suspense thriller
BO Verdict : Don't know, the verdict it deserves is a HIT

Hardwork done by Dr.S.Janardhanan was seen in screenplay. We can expect more tight scripted movies, whatever the genre, from him.

KANYAKUMARI EXPRESS

KANYAKUMARI EXPRESS

Theatre : TVM New
Showtime & Date : 2.30pm, 19-11-2010
Status : Balcony 50%, FC 20-25%

After a long gap, director T.S.SureshBabu is back in tinseltown with his new movie KANYAKUMARI EXPRESS. This time he tries the new method of filmmaking which Prashanth Mambully introduced in malayalam with his debut film BHAGAWAN starring Mohanlal, shoot only limited scenes & make movie a lengthy one by showing it repeatedly.

Story
MohanShankar IPS(SureshGopi) is on leave after the failure of a mission. He leaves to Kanyakumari where his enemies got killed one by one. If someone who saw the movie, please post the story as comment. I didn't find anything like that.

Performances
SureshGopi as MohanShankar was usual. Babu Antony improved in voice modulation but his acting was wooden only. Jagathy was good. Bheeman Raghu was DGP was funny & good. Rest of the cast Shanavas, Baiju, Urmila Unni, Sarayu, KiranRaj, Krishna.......had nothing much to do. Heroine debutant Gowri was horrible.

Songs
Music by Sharath was horrible. SureshGopi sang the only song, so no comments. The song reminded me the end credits song of movie Bhagawan.

Technical
Everything was bad. Editing was very very bad. Donmax, we agree that u know a set of effects to edit the films. But make sure that  you are using the techniques at the right movie & at the right scenes.

Script & Direction
Dennis Joseph was a promising name in yesteryears. His recent scripts proves one thing. The twists in his screenplay can be effectively presented onscreen by him only, remember Thudarkkadha & Appu. Direction NO COMMENTS. If you are planning to direct any more movies, please understand the script first.

Verdict : ESCAPE
BO Verdict : Super Flop

Whenever SureshGopi appeared as COP onscreen, the movie had a minimum entertainment guaranteed, atleast in some scenes.

But ithorumaathiri COP-le padamaayipoyi

BheemanRaghu acts as a la henchman police officer to Babu Antony's character. Don't know how Bheeman Raghu fans will tolerate this & how Babu Antony fans will celebrate this. But Bheeman Raghu was superb with his gestures & style.

SureshGopi was given a usual intro scene & Babu Antony was given an intro in which he gets down from a computer generated helicopter. But the best intro scene in the movie was for Bheeman Raghu as DGP opening the door of his car. 

Movie started with title SUPERSTAR SURESHGOPI in&as ACTION KING BABU ANTONY & team in KANYAKUMARI EXPRESS

FOUR FRIENDS

FOUR FRIENDS

Theatre : TVM Dhanya
Showtime & Date : 2.30pm, 28-10-2010
Status : Balcony Full, FC 98%

Ater back to back hits, Ivar Vivahitharaayaal & Happy Husbands(one of the biggest hits of 2010), Saji Surendran-Krishna Poojappura-Anil Nair team is back with their new flick FO(U)R FRIENDS. I'll rate it as the disaster movie of 2010. Though movie had a promising team behind, nothing works on screen this time. CRAP MOVIE.

The positives I felt was
1. Kunchacko Boban's performance in the hospital scene in second half
2. Jayasuriya's oneliners in first half
3. Salimkumar's emotional scene
4. Suraj Venjarammood's dialogues, though repetitive

Story
So called story(which is missing here) revolves around 4 characters.
Roy(Jayaram), a multimillionaire and an orphan, Suriya(Kunchacko Boban), an MBA student, only son of Lalu Alex(Chackochan's onscreen father again after Niram & MummynMe) & Seema, Amir(Jayasuriya) an illiterate goon who will do anything for his sister & mother(Sukumari) & Gowri(Meera Jasmine), who too have an emotional flashback. All 4 are cancer patients & they meet at a cancer treatment centre run by GaneshKumar. All 4 become friends & they decides to enjoy life before they die. All 4 plans a trip to Malaysia to meet Vineetha(Sarayu), Suriya's lover.

Performances
Jayaram as Roy was a miscast and he looks too old for the role. Kunchacko Boban as Surya was apt. Though nothing special, the hospital scene in second half was a good one. Jayasuriya as Amir was also an apt casting. His oneliners were the only saving grace of the first half. Meera Jasmine as Gowri surprisingly didn't go over the board and she was ok in that role. Also she looked too young to be Jayaram's pair. Salimkumar had a senti scene which he did well, but none of the comedy scenes worked. Suraj Venjarammood was there with his trademark dialogues. Lalu Alex, Seema, Manikuttan, GaneshKumar, Sarayu were just OK.

Kamal Hassan in his cameo was unimpressive with lenghty unwanted documentary style of dialogues & his own experiences.

Songs
Music by M.Jayachandran was above average. BGM was too loud at many parts. Also using the remix of Sholay song "Yeh Dosthi" music for senti scenes were irritating.

Technical
Anil Nair's cinematography was good at parts. Editing, I won't say anything, because without a proper script what can be done by the editor with the scenes he got on his table. Art direction was good.

Script & Direction
After a hatrick, Krishna Poojappura fails in the script department. I doubt whether a script was there for this movie. The movie was a dull documentary style of one. Don't know why an unwanted action sequence was included in second half. Saji Surendran would have concentrated on script rather than locations, stills, costumes & song picturisation. A bad movie, that was never expected from this team. The sentiment scenes & comedies, nothing worked on screen. Tearjerker serials have much better script. Storyline was interesting. But without a proper screenplay & gripping dialogues, whats the use???

On the whole, a bad movie strictly recommended on TV, if you have no other movies on other channels.

Verdict : Escape
BO Verdict : Flop

Bodyguard, another disaster movie of this year was better compared to this.

People expected a fun-filled ride seeing stills & songs & starcast. People were laughing for senti scenes & crying for those crap scenes called comedy scenes.

ORIDATHORU POSTMAN

ORIDATHORU POSTMAN

Theatre : TVM Kairali
Showtime & Date : 2.30pm, 08-10-2010
Status : Balcony Full, FC 60-70%

Shaji Aseez, one of the directors of Shakespeare M A Malayalam is becoming an independent director with new movie Oridathoru Postman scripted by K.GireeshKumar. The movie works well with the audience at many parts because of its packaging avoiding cliches, subjects it deal & an impressive starcast.

Story
Gangadharan(Innocent) is a lazy postman in Cherumkuzhy Village. He never delivers letters & money orders on time. His son Raghunandanan(Kunchacko Boban) is a very hardworking person who works as a PSC tutorial lecturer, real estate agent, LIC agent....His ambition is to become a govt employee. Once Gangadharan fails to deliver a hall ticket for Raghunandanan & this creates a separation between them which makes Gangadharan a responsible person. But that didn't last long. He got hospitalized & then Raghu came to know that his father was a heart patient. Gangadharan's last wish was to find his old friend Yaasin Mubaraq(SarathKumar) who is a wildlife photographer by profession, but mistaken as a terrorist by media & people. Gangadharan asks Raghu to find & give Yaasin the letters sent by his daughter. The rest of the story is whether Raghu finds Yaasin & the problems he face in his mission to find him.

Performances
Kunchacko Boban as Raghunandanan was simply superb. He's the backbone of the movie. His character was well-etched and presented well. He delivered a smart performance when he comes to know that Innocent's character passed away saying I have nothing with me to Kalabhavan Prajod. SMART PERFORMANCE!!!

SarathKumar as Yaasin Mubaraq was effective & fresh for the role. Innocent was regular. Salimkumar as lottery maniac was a caricature to many in the state, also IbrahimKutty. Kalabhavan Mani as Inspector Shahul Hameed delivered a decent performance. Suraj Venjarammood as constable Abhilash though reminds us of his character in Kunchacko Boban starrer GULUMAAL THE ESCAPE, he was given ample screenspace by script to evoke laughter which works on screen too.. Meera Nandan has nothing much to do. Rest of the characters by GaneshKumar, Shanavas, AnilMurali, Chembil Ashokan, Seema G Nair did their part well. Kalbhavan Prajod was impressive as lottery agent.

Songs
All the three songs by Mohan Sithara were situational ones, which works well with the mood of the movie. BGM was loud at many places & reused ones.

Technical
Cinematography by Anand Balakrishnan was impressive at many parts of the movie with nice visuals. Editing was apt. Art direcction was good.

Script & Direction
I will rate this as the best screenplay of K.GireeshKumar as it had no dull moments(screenplay wise). Also it had lots of social issues like terrorism, after effects of lottery in society, plastic & environment....The best thing was, all these were beautifully blended in the script. Usually movies dealing these subjects used to have dialogues with lots of advices. But here no such dialogues were there. Also characterisation of all were superb. Overall a nice work by K.GireeshKumar. Direction by Shaji Aseez was not so impressive. It had dull moments on screen. But many scenes were taken by avoiding lot of cliches like bomb blasts, public support sequences, dialogues to boost patriotism, advices, court scenes. Everything was executed in simple and clear manner. We can expect more good movies from this director if he improves handling scenes in m uch more effective & faster manner.
Usually these type of movies used to have a comic first half & a serious second half. But here comedy was there in both halves without disturbing the mood of the movie. All comedies were situational ones only.

Verdict : WATCHABLE AVERAGE ONE
BO Verdict : Average - flop

Good marketing might help this movie to be a big success.

ENDHIRAN the ROBOT

ENDHIRAN the ROBOT

Theatre : TVM Ajantha
Showtime & Date : 1.20pm, 01-10-2010
Status : Balcony Full, FC 99%

Director Shankar's ENDHIRAN the ROBOT starring Rajnikanth, which were on news for a long time had finally hit the screens. But don't expect a usual Rajnikanth film here. The movie doesn't live upto the hype created by the makers.

Story
Vaseegaran(Rajnikanth) is a scientist who is working on robotics for 10 years to complete his dream of a ROBOT which can be used by the Indian Army in the warfield. Finally he succeeds in that. The Robot is named Chitty(Rajnikanth again). As in every superhero movie, here also a set of such events like helping the needy is there. But one such incident make Vaseegaran think to give Chitty human emotions so that he can behave according to situation. Sana(Aiswarya Rai) is in love with Vaseegaran. Once Chitty gets human emotions, it falls in love with Sana. Knowing this Vaseegaran destroys Chitty. Vaseegaran's professor is envious of Vaseegaran's work. He helps Chitty to get back into old form to get the technical knowhow of the robot so that he can use that for illegal matters. He programs Chitty with new code of destruction. Chitty abducts Sana to marry her. The rest of the story is how Vaseegaran wins over the robots.

Performances
Rajnikanth as Vaseegaran & Chitty had done justice to his role. Rajnikanth's Vaseegaran character has nothing much to do. But the character Chitty had many shades. In the beginning of the movie, he is clearly a robot. Then it changes to a normal human like one & in second half, the character clearly becomes a villain. At points he was boring, looks too. Aiswarya Rai as Sana has nothing much to do other than routine stuff, Songs, some romantic seq & some scenes. Make up was bad for her at many places. Rest of the characters were just cameo only. Santhanam, Karunas, Cochin Haneefa, Kalabhavan Mani, none of them could evoke a good laughter.

Songs
Music was the biggest plus point of Shankar movies till Sivaji. A.R.Rehman disappoints big this time. Music is a big letdown here, not even a single hummable song. Picturisation of all songs were not at all impressive, very routine tamil film song stuff, what extra is the robot costumes for dance troupe members. Not even good for a second time watch. Songs were misplaced ones. BGM too disappoints.

Technical
Cinematography was good. Editing by Anthony is OK only while considered from the film's flow viewpoint. Otherwise he had done a great job as many scenes were having a lot of CG(Computer Graphics). Second half needs trimming. Art direction was excellent.

Shankar's interest to introduce new technologies was clearly seen in this movie. As per reports, he had used Animatronics & other latest stuffs for CG work. In the first half, it works well. In the second half, it feels repeated & overdone. After spending lots of money for CG, still the scene where a building in fire has been done very badly.


Script & Direction
Shankar who did the script of the movie in late 90s itself(Shankar then planned the movie with Kamal Hassan & Preity Zinta & later Shahrukh Khan, both didn't happen) seems to be inspired from hollywood flicks Terminator Series, Bicentennial Man, Godzilla, i-Robot, The Mask at many parts & Shahrukh Khan's DARR in second half's basic plot. Though engaging, it is presented with routine masala stuff like hero helping the needy, saving heroine from goons, falling in love with another person's girlfriend & stuffs like that. Unnecessary songs were  another negative. Dialogues by Sujatha, Shankar & Karky were good at first half. First half was an engaging one though masala stuff. But second half was a technical show but sadly the poor screenplay & weak plot makes it boring. Also the technical stuff shown were a bit over the board at many parts. Even the robot Rajnikanth, walks & talks like a normal Rajnikanth in Padayappa or Baasha may be be liken by Rajni fans, but for normal viewers it's too illogical. As a fantasy movie it works to an extent. Shankar's routine stuff- a court scene was there in this one's climax too.

Overall an engaging first half, boring & lengthy second half.

Verdict : Srictly a one time watch
BO Verdict : Considering the budget of the movie, it won't end up as a profit maker.

Shankar would have concentrated on script than in technical stuffs. All the technical stuff will work only on a solid screenplay only. MAGADHEERA is a good example I can say. Good CG works which suits well with what the script demands.

BOSS ENGIRA BHASKARAN

Boss Engira Bhaskaran

Theatre : TVM Anjali
Showtime & Date : 6.00pm, 26-09-2010
Status : Balcony : Almost full, FC 45-50%

Rajesh.M who delivered a box office hit with Siva Manasula Shakthi(SMS) is back with his new film Boss Engira Bhaskaran or Boss (A) Bhaskaran featuring Arya in title role.

Story
Boss aka Bhaskaran(arya) is a jobless youth yet to complete his degree arrear papers. His family consists of his elder brother a vetenary doctor, who is upset of not getting married, a sister who always talks as if she is a TV anchor & a temple crazy mother. Boss spends most of his time with his friend Nallathambi(Santhanam) who runs Thala-Thalapathy Saloon. Boss meets Chandrika(Nayantara) who is a trainee lecturer. Boss's brother's marriage happens with Chandrika's sister. Boss expresses his desire to marry Chandrika to her sister. She asks him to be responsible first & then think of marrying Chandrika. In anger, he leaves home to be successful in life. Whether he succeeds in life and how & whether he marries Chandrika is the rest of story.

Performances
Arya as Boss aka Bhaskaran was a role for him to explore his comic side, but sad to say he succeeded in parts only. Nayanthara as Chandrika has nothing much to do other than a routine Tamil movie heroine, just songs & few scenes. Santhanam as NallaThambi simply rocked with his oneliners. He got more screen space in many scenes. But at few parts he was boring. The guy who acted as Arya's brother was refreshing one on screen. He was excellent in first half with good expressions & superb dialogue delivery. Rest of the artists did their part well.

This time it's Jeeva's turn to do cameo appearance. Remember Rajesh.M's Siva Manasula Shakthi with Jeeva in lead had Arya in cameo. Though for very few minutes only he appeared on screen, he proved his comic timing, which the whole movie demanded from Arya.

Songs
Yuvan Shankar Raja remixes his tunes once again. "Yar Antha Ponthaan" is the pick of the lot. Except that song & first song "Boss Boss", rest of the songs acted as speedbreakers.  Picturisation too lacks creativity.BGM was disappointing.

Technical
Cinematography was good at parts. Editing was good in first half, but needs trimming in second half. Art direction was apt.

Script & Direction
Rajesh.M handled both departments. Script by Rajesh.M is on the lines of Siva Manasula Shakthi only, a fast entertainer with light comedies in each and every scene. This time Rajesh tries Venkat Prabhu track too - spoofing situations of old hit films & songs & dialogues in the proceedings. First half was a good one with never a dull moment & the execution also was good. In the second half, the proceedings happens only in snail pace compared to the pace of first half. Also its too predictable once a particular situation is presented before the viewer. Second half needs immediate trimming as the length of the movie exceeds 2.5hrs and second half drags in parts. Direction by Rajesh was nothing special. He executed his script in a normal way only. Also he uses the cliche scenes which we have seen in many films to present it as comic situations in this movie.

On the whole a good first half, tad above average second half.

Verdict : Above Average Comedy Entertainer
BO Verdict : Already a HIT, may become SuperHit as families will enjoy this clean movie.

In my opinion Jeeva was the best person for the role of Boss. Comic timing of Jeeva was superb in SMS. In climax portion once Jeeva starts his play, Arya got sidelined.

ELSAMMA ENNA AANKUTTY

ELSAMMA ENNA AANKUTTY

Theatre : TVM SreePadmanabha
Status : 50%
Showtime & Date : 10.20am, 10-09-10

LalJose's new movie ELSAMMA enna AANKUTTY is not as good as it was expected. But the movie is watchable because of LalJose's making and performances of Kunchacko Boban & Nedumudi Venu.

Story
Story happens in Balanpilla city. Elsamma(Ann Augustine) is the eldest among 4 daughters of KPAC Lalitha. After her father's death, she started working as a newspaper agent/ local reporter for her sisters. Paalunni(Kunchacko Boban) is a milkman and close friend of Elsamma who never revealed his love towards her. Kunnel Pappan's(Nedumudi Venu) close pals are Elsamma & Paalunni. Then comes Aby(Indrajith) & his friends to Balanpilla city. Whats happening there after that is the rest.

Performances
Kunchacko Boban's character Paalunni is not new for him except in looks & some good scenes. He had done a commendable job in a set of scenes like his expressions when Indrajith's character talks in English, his gestures & dialogues in the above shown poster scene & a very well done performance in a scene with Nedumudi Venu in the second half telling like "he needs some time". But sad to say even LalJose too didn't utilised his talent with a not so new character & scenes. Indrajith who had done good job in LalJose movies miserably fails here because of the character he got, limited screenspace & bad dialogues. Ann Augustine as Elsamma was wooden in some scenes & missed fire in scenes like while beating her sister & all. Not so impressive, but not bad. Nedumudi Venu as Kunnel Pappan has done his part well with nice expressions & voice modulation. Jagathy, Suraj Venjaarammood, Vijayaraghavan, Manikkuttan, Manianpilla Raju, Janardhanan.... many artist were there. But sad to say the not so well developed characters, screenplay & bad dialogues spoiled the show. Jagathy & Suraj fails to evoke laughter in most parts.Meera Nandan in her cameo was not impressive. 

Kalabhavan Shajon as suspended SI who is mimicry artist too was impressive in toddy shop scene imitating PremNazir & SureshGopi. Also Kalabhavan Unni as a drunkard who sells his household articles for liquor was impressive with a dialogue " HAAI, ente veettil police".



Songs
Ithile Thozhi was enjoyable because of the visuals in parts. Aamodamaayi was enjoyable as it perfectly suited the situation. Kannadi Chirakulla was a misplaced one & unwanted. BGM was loud at parts & lacks the Rajamani touch.

Technical
Cinematography by Vijay Ulakanath was good at parts only, not so good compared to his Neelathaamara work. Editing was OK only, needs trimming in second half. Art Direction was good.

Script & Direction
The main problem with the movie is the script by M.Sindhuraj. Clearly a half baked one. The movie was expected like changes happen in Balanpilla city because of Aby's friends coming there. But sadly nothing serious happens because of them. If they were not there, then too the very same things in second half can happen. First half was entertaining compared to second half. From the dialogues in the title song itself, the movie creates a negative impact. Dialogues were bad at many parts. The interval scene was bad, the first sequence of post interval too. It reminded me MULLA's interval & first post interval sequence. Second half lags a lot with unwanted melodrama. Climax would have made better. Director LalJose carelessly handled the climax sequence and a set of other scenes, just like he don't have any interest to make this one.

Verdict : Tads above average
BO Verdict : Average----HIT(because of LAL RELEASE)

Never expected such a carelessness in making at many parts of the movie from LalJose

The positives I felt was the Kunchacko Boban-Nedumudi Venu sequence in the second half which was nicely taken with smart dialogues & the performances by them in the whole movie.

NAAN MAHAAN ALLA

NAAN MAHAAN ALLA

Theatre : TVM Athulya
Showtime & Date : 2.30pm, 23-08-2010
Status : Balcony Full, FC 80%

Suseendran, who made his debut with Vennila Kabadikkuzhu joins with Karthi, who already delivered 3 hits(Paruthiveeran, Aayirathil Oruvan, Paiyya) in the new movie NAAN MAHAAN ALLA. Just like the title of the movie, the movie also is not a great one, but it's a better entertainer available now in theaters.

Story
Film opens with the brutal murder of a girl by 4 drug addict students. Jeeva(Karthi) is a jobless youth, a happy go lucky & a very frank person who belongs to a middle class family consisting of his father(Jayachandran) who is a taxi driver, mother & sister. Jeeva meets Priya(Kajal Agarwal) in a friend's marriage function & after a series of events they fall in love. Things change when those diabolic guys tries to kill his father to destroy evidence of a murder they committed. Later they kills Jeeva's father & rest is his revenge.

Performances
Karthi as Jeeva had done a good job. His oneliners & expressions were good. But the final action sequence lacks punch according to the situation which demanded a much more fire brand performance in action too. Kajal Agarwal as Priya looked beautiful & did her part well with nice expressions & far better lip sync from a non-Tamil girl. Jayachandran as Karthi's father had done a commendable job. Rest of the cast were apt for the role especially in looks. The 4 fearless diabolic characters & goons, especially the guy who played the character Royapuram Dada, looked very much convincing.

Songs
After Paiyya, Yuvan Shankar Raja is back with another Karthi movie songs. Though certain tunes were a rehash of his own songs, songs were enjoyable. "Iragai pole" is the pick of the lot which was beautifully picturised too.

Technical
Art direction by Rajeevan was excellent. Cinematography was good. Editing was good in first half, needs trimming towards the climax of the movie. Action by Anal Arasu lacks the punch & freshness at many parts.

Script & Direction
Director Suseendran  had adopted the same formula story of Tamil cinema this time. But what makes this entertaining is the racy screenplay & a realistic approach. The first half of the movie was excellent with good oneliners & nice sequences especially the Karthi's scene with Priya's father & his meeting with Royapuram Dada. Fresh & good dialogues by Bhaskar Shakthi is a major plus point of the movie. The screenplay of second half of the movie could have improved with some interesting sequences. Kajal Agarwal had just two scenes in second half. Even Karthi, the lead role got sidelined in the first 30-40 minutes of the second half , which were fully focused of the villain characters & their planning to kill Jayachandran's character. But finally movie entertains us with the way it is executed. Direction was good. The movie never lacked the pace at any part of the film. Nothing more to say a good first half, an above average second half.

Verdict : Above Average
BO Verdict : Hit

In Kerala Box Office, this one is going to be the ultimate Onam Winner as there are no big opponents & families too prefer this movie only.

Cloud Nine started promoting their next venture MANGAATHA starring Ajithkumar & Nagarjuna, directed by Venkat Prabhu with this one. Exclusive teaser was there with the movie.

SAKUDUMBAM SHYAMALA

SAKUDUMBAM SHYAMALA

Theatre : TVM Kairali
Date & Showtime : 23-07-2010, 6.30pm
Status : Balcony Full, FC 35-40%

After Saji Surendran, another miniscreen serial director, Radhakrishnan Mangalath is making his debut in big screen with the script of Krishna Poojappura, who had already delivered two big hits. If you people have any expectation like serial director's movie will also somewhat like a TV Serial, just change that mentality. Already Saji Surendran broke that. Radhakrishnan Mangalath makes an impressive debut with Sakudumbam Shyamala which is 101% family comedy entertainer.

Story
Shyamala(Urvashi), sister of Shekharan(Nedumudi Venu), eloped with Vasudevan(Saikumar) in her early days. This creates seperation between them. Now Shyamala is the mother of Aakash(Kunchacko Boban). She still wants to win over her brother who is a collector. She wants her son to marry an american malayalee girl. Her husband is a clerk in Shekharan's office. Enters the picture Kollamkaavu Pappan(Suraj Venjaarammood) who is a local political party leader.Nandana(Bhama) is co-worker of Aakash & both are in love too.  After some interesting sequences Shyamala becomes a minister by defeating Nandana's father played by Balachandran Chullikkaad. What happens when sister comes above her brother is the rest of the story.

Performances
Urvashi as Shyamala, a housewife with lots of ambition & love, simply rocked with smart voice modulation with original Trivandrum slang like "Entharu makkale??" Nothing more to say, SIMPLY SUPERB. Negative I felt was her costumes in second half.

Kunchacko Boban as Aakash has nothing much and new to perform, but did his part well with good voice modulation & scenes with Saikumar & Urvashi. Suraj Venjaarammood as Kollamkaavu Pappan was impressive by avoiding his usual set of dialogues & introduced a fresh set of comedies, situational ones. Vasudevan is a great change for Saikumar as well as the viewers. It's a great relief to watch him other than his routine villain roles. He simply rocked with his expressions & dialogues, SUPERB. Nedumudi Venu as Shekharan was good. Jagadeesh finally did a role wihout going over the board in recent times.Bhama has nothing much to do.

It is very important to mention that director has given screen space  to all those actors who associated with him in TV serials, including late Monilal as a party leader character in a photograph, Hats off for that.

Songs
Music by M G Sreekumar was above average. Vilicho sung by Yesudas is a simple romantic song in recent times, a good one. The second song in the movie featuring Urvashi, Kunchacko Boban, Sakumar, Nedumudi Venu & Jagadeesh in various costumes of various countries was a good one to watch. BGM was a bit loud at many parts. Don't know why BGM of Mammootty starrer ROUDRAM was used.

Technical
Cinematography by Jibu Jacob was good, especially in Vilicho song & some parts of the movie. Art Direction by SabuRam was above average. Editing was fine.

Script & Direction
It's a hatrick for Krishna Poojappura. No scenes are there in the movie which will make u feel bore. Good dialogues & a racy screenplay, though predictable. The story is nothing new or something offering twists & surprises. Towards the climax just 5-8mins was a bit slow, otherwise nothing else to say as -ve. Direction by debutant Radhakrishnan Mangalath is impressive. He had handled the script very well without making the actors going over the board though the script had loopholes for the actors to do so. Very fast & impressive making from a debutant. We can expect more entertainers from him.

Verdict : Fast Comedy Entertainer
BO Verdict : Hit

Though 3 people were keep on booing from beginning of the movie purposefully, after abt 10-15 min they also started enjoying the movie.

Families will thoroughly enjoy the movie.

Scriptwriter & Director provided whatever they promised through pre-publicity in a much better way than expected.

APOORVARAAGAM

APOORVARAGAM

Theatre : TVM Dhanya
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 21-07-2010
Status : Balcony No idea, FC about 30 people

Problem with many directors & script writers in malayalam industry, who had delivered good movies in their past , is that they are not changing the style of making & subjects they are dealing with. They still remain in the time where they used to give box office hits. After a break, following a series of flops, director Sibi Malayil is back in tinsel town with his new movie Apoorvaragam starring comparitively new stars in malayalam & new faces in lead. Eventhough the film has a new theme(in Malayalam), the film ultimately fails to impress & sorry to say, director still shows his refusal to be part of modern making styles at many parts of the movie.

Story
Roopesh(Nishan) and Asif(Tomy) are college students. Roopesh falls in love with Nancy(Nithya Menon), his college mate. Problems arise & they were forced to do a register marriage. Nancy's parents came to know about this. From then onwards, story will proceed in a new route.

Performances
Nishan performed well, especially in the interval sequence but fails to sustain that later because of the character he got. Towards the climax he was a letdown. Asif was OK in his role. His voice modulation was bad in good sequences of the movie. Nithya Menon was apt for the role & she performed well. Jagathy was wasted in just 3 scenes. Santhosh Jogi did an impressive cameo. Rest of the cast including new faces were OK in their roles.

Songs
Songs by Vidyasagar were a big letdown, but the BGM was good. Vidyasagar touch was there in the first 2 lines of the song "Maanathe Meenril..", the one in the second half.

Technical
Cinematography & Editing were good at parts. Second half needs trimming & fast cuts. A fashion show sequence was poorly edited with some basic effects in available softwares, I think. Art direction was over the board. Nithya Menon's house, inorder to show richness, it was arranged like a crockery shop. Sound mixing was good at parts.

Script & Direction
Script by newcomers had got a new theme to present in Malayalam, which comprised of Love, Betrayal, Loss, Gain, Pain.......They were having a basic plot to present till some 20 minutes of the second half. After that, the script was moving in a cliched manner, ofcourse predictable. Lack of a tight script in second half makes the movie dull at many places. Dialogues, especially in the first half were a bit refreshing. Climax was a big letdown. Director Sibi Malayil carelessly handled many scenes like scene with Jagathy in second half. Director seems to be still following the very same method of making he did in past. Here the script only is different from his previous ventures.

Verdict : An average movie with half baked script & not so well developed characters
BO Verdict  : Flop

Recommended only for a DVD watch

Sarath & Shammi Thilakan had done an excellent job in dubbing for Nishan & Nithya's father character

Families will never prefer this one in theatres eventhough no other movies are there in theatres.

MUMMY and ME

MUMMY and ME

Theatre : TVM Ajantha
Showtime & Date : 6.10pm, 21-05-2010
Status : Balcony 99% full with 95% family audience, FC 30%

After an impressive debut in DETECTIVE, Jeethu Joseph is back after 3 years, this time with a family subject dealing with current generation problems & relationship of youth with their parents.Youth will find will this movie a bit boring one at many parts as many scenes seems to be a pin point advice to them but families can identify themselves at many parts of the movie.

Story
In the movie, the whole story is narrated by the heroine to the audience. Jewel(ArchanaKavi) is the daughter of Joseph(Mukesh) & Clara(Urvashi). Jewel always fights with her mother because of the indifference in the opinions in whatever matters they deal. She just don't want her mother to interfere in her matters. Clara is worried about her. Joseph deals her daughter in his own way, a friendly manner. Because of that Jewel has got a healthy relationship with her father. Rahul(Kunchacko Boban) is the only son of Thomachan(Lalu Alex) & Shari. They are family friends of Joseph's family as Thomachan & Joseph were classmates. Rahul studies in the same college where Jewel studies and is her local gaurdian too. Rahul has love towards her, but he's not ready to reveal as he don't know how Jewel will react. Jewel's main hobby  is chatting in Internet. Inorder to avoid her late coming home, Joseph gifts her a computer with internet connection. Through chatting Jewel finds a friend Amir(Suresh Gopi), a fashion designer. The rest is how Amir changes her life & how Jewel & others are affected.

Performances
Urvashi as the title role MUMMY Clara had performed well with a set of new expressions & dialogue delivery styles. Her worry is shown in each & every scene she comes & Urvashi performed well too. Urvashi is still the best actress who can handle every situation, the script offers, watch the SUPER MOM song. Archana Kavi was not that good what the character Jewel has to be. Though she performed well to an extent her, repeated expressions will make us a little irritating. Mukesh as Joseph is the most powerful character in the movie. He very well expressed the feelings of a confused father in each and every scene, a tailor made role for Mukesh, the actor. His comic timing is excellent. Kunchacko Boban has got limited scenes in the movie. Though certain scenes are a rehash of his previous films, what makes this special is the way Chackochan handled this one. From Gulumaal, his comedy timing, expressions... has moved to the next level in this. His voice modulation was good. Lalu Alex as Thomachan was good in limited scenes. His dialogue delivery was superb expecially the dialogue to Chackochan " Mone, ee project workout aakumo??". Master Jeevan who acted as Mukesh's son was excellent with good comic timing. Anoop Menon was usual as psychiartist. Shari, Arun, Sudheesh, Janardhanan...perfectly fitted the role.

SureshGopi as Amir, an orphan & a fashion designer by profession made his presense from the first half of the movie itself with his voice. His presence in final scene was Superb.

Songs
Songs were above average, but the first half has got 3 songs in which 2 of them(Maalakha pole & Aarume Kaanathe) seems to be the speedbreaker & mismatch. Venmukilin & Super Mom were good. BGM was top class especially title music & when the end credits roll, the music still haunts me.

Technical
Vipin Mohan's cinematography was good. Editing needs o be a bit racy. Art Direction by Saburam was good. Makeup could have been better as the location Kuttikkanam was a cool area, the makeup mixes withe cold there which is clearly seen in many scenes for Urvashi & Mukesh.

Script & Direction
Both the departments are handled by Jeethu Joseph. He had taken a very serious issue happening in our society now as the core of the movie. Movie was engaging in the first half without a dull moment. The second half drags a little bit. Mukesh-Urvashi team's Joseph-Clara couple was excellent in many scenes where both don't want to make the other fail in front of her daughter in many situations, . Dialogues were excellent. Mukesh has got the best dialogues in the movie. The story starts & ends in the very same way & the last dialogue in which she introduces her to the audience as a narrator was superb. The scene in which Lalu Alex tells Kunchacko Boban to be flexible in life was very well taken with nice dialogues. The whole story is told like happenings in high class families. The club scenes could have been avoided. Jeethu Joseph's hardwork on screenplay is clearly visible in many scenes especially the mother daughter fight sequences. Once again Jeethu Joseph succeeded as a director and a script writer.

Family audience will thoroughly enjoy each & every scene as this had happened or is happening in their lives in one or another form.

Nothing more to say a good first half and an above average second half and a good simple sweet climax.

Verdict : Above Average
B O Verdict : SORRY DON'T KNOW, current trend make me say so

This one is clearly a multiplex movie. After a long time a feel good movie, which has got good light hearted comedies without any comedy stars.

Mohanlal was offered the cameo, which was done by Suresh Gopi here. Undoubtedly I will say Mohanlal missed the golden chance. After a point the character Amir was also there throughout the movie. The character was so effective, though it reminds me of the Mohanlal's character in Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare. The climax scene was simple & good which would have been double effective if Mohanlal had done that.

POKKIRIRAJA

POKKIRIRAJA

Theatre : TVM Dhanya
Showtime & Date : 6.00pm, 14-05-2010
Status : Balcony Almost full, FC 35-40%

Many won't have seen Mammootty's first release in 2009, the box-office disaster, LOVE IN SINGAPORE. Those who haven't seen that movie, take a look at the scenes featuring JAYASURYA, who speaks English with its literal meaning in Malayalam ,next time when you get a chance.  Mammootty clearly lifts the same talking style here.
POKKIRIRAJA is a movie on the lines of Rajamanikyam, Thuruppugulan, Annan Thambi & Chattambinaadu, all the previous Mammootty flicks. This one is a mixture of many previous malayalam flicks, especially the above said ones in story line. Also with variety in talking style of Mammootty. The making of the movie is strictly inspired from many Tamil & Telugu mass masala flicks. If the question is whether the movie entertains ultimately, my answer is NO.

Story
The story begins with childhood of Raja(Mammootty) & Surya(Prithviraj), sons of a schoolmaster(Nedumudi Venu) who belongs to Kunnathur family & rivals of PuthiyaTharavadu family featuring Kalashala Babu, Johny & Santhosh. Vijayaraghavan plays brother of Nedumudi Venu, who is a handicap because of the rivalry between the families on the matter of which family to conduct festival in the temple. In mistake, Nedumudi Venu kills the grandson of Kalashala Babu. Inorder to save his father, Raja surrenders to police. After five years, Raja comes back to his village from juvenile home. There he faces problrems from rival family and forced to leave to to Madurai. There he saves the son of a goonleader, which helps him to be leader there.  The story proceeds 15 years after from there. Surya is now conducting the festival in temple & the rival family now tries to kill Surya. To avoid problems following that, Nedumudi Venu asks Surya to stay with his sister(Bindu Panicker) & co-brother Idivettu Sadasivan(Suraj Venjaarammood), a useless police officer. Inorder to handle a problem, Sadasivan asks Surya to wear his uniform & go there as a police officer. He meets Shreya in the college and acts as her bodyguard. Riyaz Khan, the son of Home Minister(Rizabava), is mad of Shreya. Siddhique plays police commissioner and stepfather of Shreya. Surya falls in love with Shreya. Siddhique traps him and plans to kill him. For that he gives quotaton through third party to MaduraiRaja. At the sametime NedumudiVenu comes to Madurai to request Raja to save his son. Raja comes to Kerala to save his brother and to solve problems.

Performances
As I said earlier, Mammootty imitates Jayasurya of LOVE IN SINGAPORE in dialogues &  Tamil Actor Suriya of upcoming film SINGAM in looks. Other than looks, nothing was there in the movie for him specially. Prithviraj as Surya has nothing special other than he did in Puthiya Mugham in action sequences and imitates some other actors in certain scenes. For the very same sequence he does different at different parts of the film though no particular reason.  Shreya was just to increase the star value of the movie & nothing else was offered in the csript for her. Nedumudi Venu was usual, Vijayaraghavan was wasted. Rest of the cast was just to make the scenes rich & nothing else. Thesny Khan & Bindu Panicker were just OK. Even the child artists were directly the same character as they do after 15 years from opening shot, especially Mammootty's child character did person with AAI. Siddhique's character is not new for him, but still scored in certain scens with his unique style.

The major plus points of same genre previous Mammootty flicks was comedy and Suraj & Salimkumar did a major part in that. In this one both were irritating & intolerable.


Songs
Music by Jassie Gift was average. BGM was too loud. Song picturisation was colourful bat lacks the thing for repeat watch. Dance steps were pathetic.

Technical
Cinematography by Shaji was good for a mass masala film. Editing by Mahesh Narayanan was good at parts, but action sequences were endlessly going especially the first action sequence featuing Prithviraj. Action choreography lacks novelty & on the air rope sequences were over the board after a while.

Script & Direction
Script by Udaykrishna-Sibi.K.Thomas team is just a rehash of many malayalam, tamil & telugu flicks.  Salimkumar-Suraj scenes makes us think of Vadivelu sidetrack in Tamil movies. Lot of scenes & dialogues seems unwanted. Certain dialogues makes us remember tamil flciks VETTAIKKAARAN & DHEENA. Direction by debutant Vaisakh offers nothing new & not that promising compared to the directors of above said previous flicks. Also the director failed in keeping the characters look as if 15 years had passed. Paravai Muniyamma was looking the same for 15 years. Many tamil artists and dialogues were there in the movie. I think producer has plans to dub to Tamil.

Overall a strictly one time watchable in parts masala film on the lines of 80s & 90s tamil cinema in DVD.

Verdict : Below Average
BO Verdict : As there are no big opponents in BO, viewers first choice remains as this because of the rich starcast. And vacation is helping the movie a lot as the movie got a lot of a family audience.
Movie should become a flop or maximum average for the goodness of Mammootty and future Malayalam Cinema.

Mammootty(both in childhood and as MaduraiRaja) says AAI a lot of times. Not even Sarathkumar had said "AAI" this much times in his well-made mass masala entertainer by A.Venkatesh, AAI.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

ALEXANDER THE GREAT

Theatre : TVM Kripa
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 07-05-2010
Status : Balcony : 99% full, FC poor status

After an average flick WANTED, in which Mohanlal did an extended cameo, Murali Nagavally is back with a new movie which stars Mohanlal in lead role. This movie will tell you WHY MOHANLAL WAS, MOHANLAL IS AND MOHANLAL WILL BE the number one ACTOR in MALAYALAM CINEMA.

Story
Varma(Saikumar) is a business magnet in Dubai. After his death, his relatives come to know that everything will be for Alexander Varma(Mohanlal) who is his illegal son & three statements in the way that no one else could take those assets illegally. Bala, an IIM product & a failed business man, who is the son of Sakumar & Sudha Chandran, is in need of money. Bala goes to Mumbai along with his uncle(Jagadeesh) to find Alexander. There they come to know that Alexander is in a mental hospital in Pune as the court asked to put him there for treatment as part of the trials of a murder case. Bala, his girlfrend & Jagadeesh takes Alexander, the not so normal intelligent person, to get his signature to acquire the assets. The rest is how Alexander changes their lives.

Performances
Mohanlal as Alexander Varma is one of the best character he has got in recent times & he performed very well with his good comic timing, cute expressions & a very very stunning dialogue delivery. In one word, EXCELLENT, nothing more to say. Watch the movie, you'll understand. Bala has got a throughout role & he did it very well. Jagadeesh was good(except his starting few scenes) after a long time ithout much overacting & once again is chemistry with Mohanlal works. The rest of the cast Sudha Chandran, Saikumar, Siddhique, Ganesh Kumar etc were apt for the roles. The female characters in the movie except Sudha Chandran lacks originality. Kalabhavan Shajon was good in few scenes.

Songs
Music by M.G.Sreekumar was above average. The BGM for Mohanlal still haunts me, a good one.

Technical
Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction everything were usual only.


Script & Direction
Script by C.Balachandran was a refreshing one in Malayalam, though the basic storyline & Mohanlal's charcter seems to be inspired from Rajamanikyam & Dustin Hoffman-Tom Cruise starrer THE RAINMAN. Script Writer's hardwork in bringing fresh scenes & proceedings is clearly visible. Bu sadly, that susained till the some scenes in the second half only. Later it became predictable to a great extent. Direction by Murali Nagavalli was an average one only. It's the strength of the script & Mohanlal's performance made the movie, a nice one. Director handled certain scenes very carelessly, especially Climax, which would have made in a better way. PRIYADARSAN is the best person who would have directed this script, then this one would have become a GREAT ENTERTAINER. On the whole, a very good first half and an above average second half. This 2hr 40min movie has never a dull moment.

Verdict : Good
BO Verdict : Even first day evening show has got bad theatre status, hope in the coming days, Malayalee audience will realise good cinema.

IVIDAM SWARGAMAANU, LOUD SPEAKER.... all these good movies were not well recieved by Malayalee audience & they will be supporting so called mass entertainers in theatres & will tell like there are no good scripts or films in Malayalam now. After watching in DVD, they will tell, why this film didn't become a HIT then. Change Malayalee audience. Watch this in a cool calm atmosphere & not with fans of any stars.

Just like in Dasharadham(in which Mohanlal beautifully delivers a classic dialogue in the final shot), the climax shot of this movie will also generate a teardrop, here the difference is Mohanlal won't say a single word.

SURA

SURA

Theatre : TVM Anjali
Status : Housefull with 60% family audience
Showtime & Date : 5.40pm, 02-05-2010

Expectations were high as this movie is the 50th movie of Ilayathalapathy VIJAY and was rumoured as a full length mass entertainer. But sadly, there was no entertainment as it had to be. Everything was bad except ManiSharma's music & Vijay who makes the movie sit & watch atleast once.

Story
Sura(Vijay) is the do-gooder leader of fishermen. His ambition is to build houses for all the 1400 families there. Samudram(Dev Gill) is a rowdy minister who wants to build a water theme park there. He tries to evacuate the place through illegal methods, but fails. The rest is the fight between Sura & the minister & ofcourse as every mass movie, hero wins the game.

Performances
Vijay as Sura is nothing new or special for him. He does everything what he had done in his previous movies. Tammanah is just for songs & 2-3 unwanted scenes. Vadivelu was intolerable. All his scenes in the movie must be immediatly removed from the movie(atleast in Kerala). Dev Gill as the villain is loud as in every mass movie. His lipsync was poor. He was no match as a villain for Vijay. The rest of cast is RadhaRavi, Riyaz Khan......has nothing much to do.

Songs
ManiSharma's music was good, though the copy of his own music from Telugu movies. "Bommayi" & "Naan Nadanthl" were the best, both from telugu BILLA.  I think after Sivakasi, it's the first time Vijay was seen in a single costume in the opening song. Siragadikkum song was  picturised in beautiful locations, but the bad editing spoild everything. "Vaanga Kadal" song was misplaced. "Naan Nadanthal was not that stylish it has to be as per the music. "Bommayi" song was colourfully picturised but nowhere near telugu Billa Bommali which was too good in style & misplaced one int the movie. WATCH THE ORIGINAL. BILLA BOMMALI SONG

Technical
As usual for a mass movie. Kanal Kannan's action was recycled and lacks style & freshness. Camera by Ekambaram was good at parts. Editing by Donmax was poor. He once again proved that Tamil Cinema is not his cup of tea. Action sequences were endlessly going on. Only saving grace were the slow motion closeup shots of Vijay. Art direction was good.

Script & Direction
S.P.Raajakumar handled both the departments. The story had the mass element in it, but sadly the screenplay fails to impress everywhere in the proceedings. Dialogues were good at parts but directed those scenes very pathetically.  Direction was the another big problem here. Below average. Even a regular film viewer will think scenes in a much better way. The storyline had to be given to Dharani or Perarasu. They would have made this into a superb mass entertainer.

Verdict : Escape
BO Verdict : Flop, might end up as average because of the initials & no competition for one week.

It's high time for Vijay to change his style of movies to be part of.
Don't know why SUN PICTURES known for entertainers had chosen this.
VETTAIKAARAN is 100 times better than this. Oh Sorry, it's a crime to compare this with Vettaikaaran which was a well made entertainer.
Watch KURUVI or VILLU in DVD which were far better. Don't waste your money for this.

JANAKAN

JANAKAN

Theatre : TVM Sreekumar
Date & Showtime: 08/04/2010, 6.25pm
Status : Balcony Full, FC 95%

S.N.Swamy, the master of crime thrillers in malayalam cinema is back with an engaging script which was presented without any heroism or lengthy dialogues of glorificaion of heroes. The one line of the story is written in the poster below. Watch the movie to know the answer to the question HOW????

Story
The movie starts with police chasing Vishwanathan(SureshGopi), Monayi(Bju Menon) & Pazhani(Harisree Ashokan) as three of them together killed three people. All three were asked to meet Advocate Sooryanarayanan(Mohanlal) before surrendering to police. The story unfolds as flashback like Vishwanathan's daughter was brutally raped and murdered and this was the revenge. The rest is how Sooryanarayanan helps them to get out of this case.

Performances
Before mentioning about performances, I want to mention one thing : All the characters in this movie are presented very natural without any cinematic gimmicks.

Mohanlal as advocate Sooryanarayanan has given a commendable performance, a very natural person who speaks frankly to all. Script had provded interval sequence & climax sequence for Sooryanarayanan to shine. Also some dialogues like "Njan Cheethakkuttyaanu"(I'm a bad person) in between. SureshGopi as Vishwanathan has given a commendable performance. He too is presented very naturally only. So don't expect fire brand dialogues from him as in most of his movies of his. But the whole theatre enjoyed the scene in which he threatens Minister. Jyothirmayi,  BijuMenon, Harisree Ashokan, Shivaji Guruvayur were good. Ganesh, Kaveri & rest of the cast perfectly fitted the roles. Vijayakumar creates laughtr with his role as situation demands that.

The real show stealer of the movie is VIJAYARAGHAVAN as Police Commissioner. His character has got a number of shades : A loving father, a dutyful police officer(Watch the scene with Ganesh after seeing raped girl in hospital), an officer who fears persons above him in department, ministers & relatives of them. He's the one who got applause for all the scenes he got with his smart expressions, situatons povided by the script & a very natural performance. SUPERB SUPERB SUPERB!!!!!

Directors out there, this actor is still to be explored.

Songs
Olicirunne song was above average by M.Jayachandran. Background score by Rajamani was a disappointing one though the BGM for Mohanlal was enjoyable.

Technical
Everything was usual only. A movie like this needs crisp editing which was totally missing.

Script & Direction
Script by S.N.Swamy is a better one compared to his previous outings. He was able to make an engaging script this time & he's back in the track. He once again proved that he's the one in the  malayalam industry to work on law points in the movies. The movie got lots of claps and here the script is the hero, not the superstars in the movie.

Direction by N.R.Sanjeev is promising but needs to be improved. Handling certain emotional scenes were not good & closeup shots were more. A script like this can be presented in two ways, either as commercial thriller like old Shaji Kailas movies or as a natural one. Sanjeev was successful in presenting the movie naturally & commercially at the same time.

Verdict : Far Above Average
B O Verdict : HIT

Word of Mouth is good and the star cast is impressive to draw the audience. Worth for a second time watch too(with a responding audience)

PRAMANI

Pramani

Theatre : TVM Anjali
Showtime & Date : 6.30pm, 27-03-2010
Status : FC not more than 80 people, Balcony no idea(much better than FC, identified from claps & koovals during power off)

B.Unnikrishnan's new flick Pramani is a predictable flick with no surprising twists or turns in script, making & performances. He tried to make the movie, the same way he did Madambi. But what lacks here is a well packaging.

Story
Vishwanadha Panicker(Mammotty) aka America is a corrupt Panchayath president, who gets into other's issues and solves the problem thereby making money through illegal ways and makes official papers for what he gets in the name of Somashekhara Panicker(Siddhique) his nephew. There comes Janaki(Sneha) as a loyal Panchayath Officer who defends president's deeds. Caestro Vareedh(Janardhanan), the president of nearby village, is angry at Vishwanathan as he didn't allow the panchayath's development programmes. Vareedh appoints Mavo(Suraj Venjarammood) to destroy Vishwanathan. There comes Mangatt Vikraman(Suresh Krishna) who wants 100 acres of land for IT park, though not real. Eventhough Vishwanathan agress this in the beginning, he regrets for what he agreed as teacher(Lakshmi) reminded him of what was his mentor & her son's, Varkkichan's(Prabhu in a cameo) dreams. When Vishwanathan asks Somashekharan to stop the deal, because of the huge amount they're going to get, the whole family disagrees and asks him to leave as nothing was there in Vishwanathan's name. The rest of the story is how he stops the plan with the help of Janaki & Baby(Shanu), Varckichan's son.

Performances
Mammootty as VishwanathaPanicker has nothing much to do as the script demands nothing new. His dubbing also was not that good. Siddhique as Somashekharan, again a villain role & nothing special.  Suraj was irritating and evokes no laughter, except 2 dialogues. Sneha has nothing to do and the dubbing artist's voice was not suiting for her. Lakshmi's role is a straight lift from B.Unnikrishnan's pevious flick, IG. Janardhanan was OK only. Salimkumar was OK in his 3 avilable scenes and succeeded in evoking laughter except his intro scene. Rest of the cast has nothing special to mention. Anoop Menon, Prabhu and Kalabhavan Mani in their cameos were unimpressive. KPAC Lalitha was an unwanted character for a single scene.

Shanu aka Fahad Fazil as  Baby was refreshing but no scope for good performance. He performed well in limited scenes he got, especially the scene with Mammootty asking about his father's death.

Songs
Theme song was Average only. Karakarangana song was not that good. Oru Vennila song was good and well picturised.

Technical
Art diretion & Editing was OK only. Good cinematography by Sham Dutt though certain visuals seems repeated.

Script & Direction
Script vy B.Unnikrishnan has nothing new to offer. Each and every scene in the movie is predictable and something we have seen in many movies, even in his previous flick Madambi(which was a well packaged old wine in new bottle, even the Pathanamthitta slang). Script is an old wine tried to be packaged in new bottle but sadly, the bottle was the same he used for Madambi. An overdose of unwanted sentiments were there. As a dialogue writer, Unnikrishnan excels in many scenes, though screenplay fails. He could have worked a bit more to bring the freshness in screenplay. As a director too he offers nothing new in executing the scenes. Altogether Pramani is, at max average only movie mixed with serial kind of sentiment scenes & predictability.

Verdict : Average, at max
BO Verdict : Flop

Glorifying the hero towards the climax was a bit too over. The movie is strictly a DVD watch. Watch the movie in theatres if you have no other movies left in theatres.

VINNATHAANDI VARUVAAYA

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya...

Theatre : Thiyagaraja
Showtime & Date : 2.45pm, 12-03-2010
Status : Balcony 70%, FC just 50 people

After Vaaranam Aayiram, Gautham Menon is back with a feel good love story Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa & this time A.R.Rehman deals the music department.

Story
Karthik(Silambarasan), a hindu guy, is a mechanical engineering graduate who wants to become a film director. Jessie(Trisha) is a Malayalee Christian girl staying in the first floor of his rented home. Karthik falls in love with Jessie. The rest of the story how he convinces her his love, different problems they face and whether they unite or not.

Performances
Silambarasan as Karthik is best character of him till date as this one has no punch dialogues, superhuman fight sequences, dappamkoothu songs. He performed well though his dialogue delivery style still has the traces of his mass hero roles. Trisha as Jessie is the character around which the whole movie revolves. The whole movie is the incidents because of the inconsistent mind of this character. Trisha was looking good throughout the movie but performance wise I don't think that she diid 100% justice to her role. Ganesh, one of the producers of the movie as the senior cameraman and friend of Karthik in the movie makes us laugh with his comedy timing. Rest of the characters perfectly fits their role though nothing  much to do. NagaChaithanya & Samantha in their cameo roles were not that impressive.

Technical
Cinematography by Manoj Pramahamsa is top class, especially Alappuzha sequnces. Editing by Antony is excellent which makes the song sequences watchable repeated times though the way it is picturised is almost same. Art directon is superb, especially song sets & Trisha's home in Alappuzha on marriage day night.

Songs
Music by A.R.Rehman is good. BGM score was excellent.

Script & Direction
Gautham Vasudev Menon's screenplay is clear & superb without any subplots in between. Dialogues were fresh and excellent. The way the story is told to us reminds us of Gautham's previous outings Kaakha Kaakha & Vaaranamaayram, like the central character talking to the audience. Song picturisation also seems to be rehashed version of Vaaranamaayiram songs. Direction was top class. First half was excellent. Second half lacks pace as in first half & lengthy dialogue sequences made a bit boring. But the climax was superb and told in an excellent way. Altogether a good love story in Tamil cinema after a long time.

Verdict : Good
BO Verdict : Hit

In my opinion, new faces were the best option for the lead characters which would have been given a much more freshness.