AUGUST 15

AUGUST 15

Theatre : TVM Dhanya

Showtime & Date : 6.15 pm, 24-03-2011

Status :Balcony FULL, FC not more than 35 people

In 1988,  AUGUST 1..? by SIBIMALAYIL-S.N.Swamy team released with somewhat fresh theme at that time - an engaging thriller in which there was no suspense element to be revealed at the climax. The movie was a flop I think. The theme of the movie was a group of people plans to kill the Chief Minister(Sukumaran) of the state through a professional killer & an efficient police officer Perumaal(Mammootty) to safeguard him.

22 years later S.N.Swamy recreates the same situation with the current political scenario & this time too Perumal enters the scene to safeguard the Chief Minister. In my opinion, this movie is not a sequel, but a remake of the original with changes.

Story

Story is same as that of August 1..? as mentioned above with changes to suit with 2011 social & political developments.

Performances

Mammootty as Perumal had nothing much to do other than roaming in his bullet vehicle, a set of scenes with chief minister & senior officers. Siddhique as professional killer was nothing special. If compared to Captain Raju's character in the original, Siddhique's nowhere. Lalu Alex, Jagathy Sreekumar, Saikumar, Nedumudi Venu, Krishna, Renjith, Chalipala, Kiran, Johny, Balachandran Chullikkadu, Harisree Ashokan....many were there with nothing to do roles. Why Madhu was invited for such a small role? Shwetha Menon & Meghna(Yakshiyum Njanum fame) were there as unwanted female characters with nothing to do in the story's proceedings.

Songs & BGM

After watching the promo song by Shaan, I was disappointed. Is this the same Shaan who rocked with Shaji Kailas in THE TIGER & CHINTHAMANI KOLACASE???

BGM by Rajamani was loud and the remix version of classic theme music by SHYAM was used everywhere in the movie making the audience start hating that. The BGM used for Captain Raju in the original was missing here.

Technical
Prashanth Nair's cinematography was Ok only. Editing too.

Script & Direction

S.N.Swamy is disappointing us for last few years with movies like Sagar alias Jacky. The only better outing from him in recent times was JANAKAN. He just tried to modify his own original script to suit the current changes in technology. Ofcoure he updated himself this time by explaining the opening sequence with something happened in overeseas. But failed to present it effectively through screenplay. The problem with the script was in the original the process of how a genuine politician becoming chiefminister & how he became a problem for the villain group & how they planned to kill was there. Also Perumal character enters the scene & story unwraps through the journalist character played by Sreenath. Here everything starts from the post interval portion of the original. Also S.N.Swamy tried his own dummy game in CBI series here too. And how Perumal finds Siddhique's real face was funny. Check Swamy's brilliant way of that sequence in the very same team's movie THE TRUTH. Dialogues were very funny at times. To cite an example, Mammootty saying "കാക്കിവേഷത്തില് എനിക്കെന്നെത്തന്നെ കണ്ടൂട". Also Johny in villain team says a dialogue with modulation as if a boy talks to his lover like "കണ്ണടച്ചാല് policente മുഖമാ". Also there was a suspense in the climax which the audience knw who was the real villain from the first frame onwards was also there.

It's the direction by Shaji Kailas which makes the movie watchable. First half was en engaging one. But second half was totally out of track. With an unwanted badly made chasing & accident sequence with graphics spoils the show. Shaji Kailas avoided his usual team & takings but without a proper script he can't change or do anything. The fire brand show from Shaji Kails was missing

Overall an engaging first half & a bad second half with a highly predictable unwanted suspens revealing scene.

Verdict : If you have somefree time, nothing else to watch on theatres & Television, then take a look

BO Verdict : FLOP

I think Perumal was not affected by the petrol price hike. He was roaming in his bullet throughout the movie, don't know what for.

In August 1..? coling glass was used by Perumal in climax sequence only, here throughout the movie he's using that.

SHAJI KAILAS is the only director who attained a stardom among directors in my opinion. After NARASIMHAM in 2000, none of his movies had performed well meeting audience's expectations except CHINTHAMANI KOLACASE & THE TIGER.

SOUND OF BOOT, BABA KALYANI, NATTURAJAVU, THANDAVAM, DRONA, THE DON...Shaji Sir, please concentrate on script.Don't just direct a movie just because u got the dates of a star. Please understand script is the base of a movie.

So as shown in posters, HISTORY REPEATS. Both AUGUST 1..? & AUGUST 15 failed at BoxOffice