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.