Saturday, December 29, 2012

KARMAYODHA

KARMAYODHA

Theatre : Aluva Zeenath
Showtime & Date : 3.00pm, 29-12-2012
Status : Balcony No idea, FC 50 people


Major Ravi after box office debacle Kandahar is back with his new movie KARMAYODHA with Mohanlal in lead which has no military backdrop.




Story
The whole story is inspired from hollywood flick TAKEN with Mad Maddy aka Madhavan DCP Mumbai(Mohanlal) in search of her kidnapped daughter.

Performances
Mohanlal as Maddy was cool and makes most scenes of the movie engaging. Rest of the actors - Mukesh, Janardhanan, Anil Murali, Bineesh Kodiyeri, Rajeev Pillai, Asha Sarath... all were good and bad at parts. Sukumari after a long time on screen with Mohanlal makes scene refreshing and energetic.

Songs & BGM
Though music by M G Sreekumar fails, BGM by Jonathan though copycat, was awesome

Technical
Pradeep Nair's cinematography was fine, but Editor Don Max needs some more concentration.

Script & Direction
Script by whoever in the court case, had a nice thought though copied which is a socially relevant theme in current Indian scenario. Screenplay could have been more crisper. This one lacks the thrill at many parts. Major Ravi handled the subject very lazily I should say. The theme had everything to set the screens on fire with a fire brand character on screen but failed in directing the movie to a level the script demanded. Shaji Kailas or Joshiy was the best option

On the whole a watchable socially relevant movie

Verdict : Watchable
BO Verdict : Above Average to Hit

Sunday, December 16, 2012

KUMKI

KUMKI

Theatre : Aluva Casino
Showtime & Date : 3.00pm, 16-12-2012
Status : 60%

Prabhu Solomon after the success of MYNAA is back with his new movie KUMKI with Vikram Prabhu(son of actor Prabhu) and Lakshi Menon(Sundarapandyan fame, check the song in Vinayan's Raghuvinte Swantham Rasiya, you will find her) in lead. Whether movie entertains us or above like MYNAA. The answer as a Malayali audien is NO. 

For me,
KUMKI = Mammootty-I V Sasi team's MRUGAYA+ Dileep-Fazil-Muralikrishnan's SUNDARAKILLADI



Story
KUMKI is the name given to elephant trained to protect people from attack of Wild Elephants who often comes to the village. Bomman(Vikram Prabhu) lives with his elephant Manickam along with his uncle(Thambi Ramaiah) and his assistant played Ashwin Raja - the fat boy who played the spoiled brat in Boss Engira Baskaran. They live their life by taking their elephant for festivals and other functions in towns. Once they were forced to go a village with their elephant for just two days instead of another person with elephant to keep the word of their caretaker. Actually their elephant was not Kumki. The original person was expected to come to Kumki elephant. Once they reach there, they were treated well. These tribes still follow the rules as old as 200 years. Though they try to leave the place in two days, once Bomman falls in love with Alli(Lakshmi Menon) daughter of village chief - love at first sight, plan change. The rest whether they unite and whether Manickam defeat wild elephant becoming a Kumki.

Performances
Vikram Prabhu made a promising debut performance especially in the starting scenes and emotional scenes. In romantic scenes, the performance was similar to that of a college boy, though costumes and character were not. Lakshmi Menon had nothing much to do. Thambi Ramaiah steals most of the scenes with his oneliners. Ashwin Raja was apt. Sreejith Ravi was wasted in a poorly written role. Rest all did their parts. Manickam the elephant was superb.

Songs & BGM
Both departments were usual. Nothing great. D Imman disappoints

Technical
Cinematography by Sukumar was awesome especially waterfall sequences. Editing could have been more crisper, lags a lot at parts. Art direction was fine. CGI works were good at many points except a few climax portions.

Script & Direction
Script by Prabhu Solomon was a mix of malayalam movies Mrugaya & Sundarakilladi. Though the storyline was fine, converting it to a full length movie failed due to lengthy and cliched love story which lacks conviction at many points. It is Thambi Ramaiah's role which makes movie entertaining on both halves but still we feel his character could have been limited. Once the leads fall in love, we were waiting for the climax to happen as the in betweens were predictable for a normal film goer. It is the cinematography & virgin locations which makes the movie watchable. Climax was a poorly written incomplete one. Direction couldn't hide the problems with the script. MYNAA stands a mile above this one. Though tried to be a man-animal relationship, in that point of view succeeds to an extent but the love story spoiled the show as there is no proper villain to make the movie engaging. Sreejith Ravi could have been used well. Songs were badly picturise as if the characters were like college students. The final song was a crap with tribals doing heavy cinematic dance.

On the whole, wait for the DVD. Or else if you want to see some visuals on screen then go for it

Verdict : Average
BO Verdict : Average

NEETHAANE EN PONVASANTHAM

NEETHAANE EN PONVASANTHAM

Theatre : Aluva Madhurya
Showtime & Date : 11.30am, 16-12-2012
Status : 40%


Gautham Vasudev Menon, after a big hit romantic movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya is back with his new movie Neethane En Ponvasantham - an Ilayaraja Musical with Jiiva and Samantha in lead roles. Whether the movie entertains us??? Before watching the movie, the first & only thing you have to forget is VINNAITHAANDI VARUVAAYA.




Story
Its all about Varun(Jiiva) & Nithya(Samantha) - their love & breakups at various stages of life. Whether they unite or not - watch it on screen.

Performances
Jiiva was good in a well written role with depth of a lover boy with possessive nature as a school kid, a happy-go-easy loverboy in college life, a loving son who recoginises his duties to family & ultimately as a LOVER. He performed what the character demanded. Samantha was cute in all stages of life lookwise. But when comes to acting, she needs more homework especially in such a movie where female character having equal importance, may be more than that of hero. Missed a golden chance in my opinion. Still the school episode and second half and climax episode will make an impact because of the well developed and well written character by Gautham. Santhanam - once the movie starts and first song will make you feel whether he is the hero. Yes to an extent he's also a hero in the movie. His Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya spoof episode in opening second half sequence was superb. As usual, his oneliners will make us laugh throughout in scenes he appear. Ravi Raghavendra repeated his role in Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi with a dull tone. Even the school friends of Samantha was the same in Kadhalil Sodhappuvathu Eppadi. Rest of the characters were fine in limited roles. Once again GANESH rocks with his trademark dialogue.

Songs & BGM
Songs were a big letdown except Saayndhu Saayndhu. Rest of the songs looked totally unfit for the movie. BGM was okay. 
A R Rehman or Harris Jeyaraj could have taken movie to another level with both songs and BGM.

If this is your first impression, then you are thoroughly mistaken. The songs in the movie are like slow poison which will haunt you like anything once you watch the movie. Saayndhu Saayndhu, Mudhal Murai, Satru Munbu - Ilaiyaraja is a genius. BGM was superb. The best BGM was Saayndhu Saayndhu BGM used at parts, especially with climax.


Technical
Cinematography lacked the usual sharpness found in Gautham Menon movies. Good visuals are also not there much. Editing by Anthony was fine in first half, but second half could have been better. Art direction was good as usual by Rajeevan. Costumes by Nalini as usual rocked bringing apt colour tones with the background at the sametime making characters look realistic.

Script & Direction
Gautham Vasudeva Menon once again presents a romantic movie this time his trademark autobiographical narration was missing throughout the movie. Story by Venkat Somasundharam was a wafer thin one. Screenplay by Venkat & Gautham had enough moments. Somewhere we feel like Venkat wanted this one to be a routine tamil flick where as Gautham wanted to be his trademark film. Felt like this conflict spoiled many sequences. Dialogues as usual rocked especially "Melbourne friend". Email idea was extreme brilliance of script writer. Direction lacked a 100% dedication in second half I think. This can be called as 100% musical love story. Climax was awesome

On the whole a good love story

Verdict : Good
BO Verdict : Hit (low production cost as this one has no foreign location & street dancers, a pure Tamilnadu flick)


The theatre experience of this movie purely lies on the hands of audience watching with you. You may find many scenes as touching while others may find boring. Vice versa too. Their reactions may spoil your viewing experience too. So don't conclude your verdict with public reaction.

INTHA MAATHIRI PADAMELLAM PAATHA UDANE PUDIKKAATHU, PAAKKA PAAKKA THAAN PUDIKKUM


Sunday, December 2, 2012

MY BOSS

MY BOSS

Theatre : Aluva Zeenath
Showtime & Date : 3.00pm, 02-12-2012
Status : Housefull


Jeethu Joseph after Detective & Mummy n Me is back with his new movie MY BOSS with Dileep & Mamtha in lead roles. To know whether Jeethu scored a hatrick, read more.

Story
Manu Varma(Dileep), an engineering graduate with distinction in Computer Science joins Quadrek Softwares as assistant to the boss Priya(Mamtha), a strict person by profession hailing from Australia. Manu had to face a lot of work pressure from her. At a stage, when next CEO of the company has to be selected, competition arises between and Mathew(Anand). By the time, Priya's visa period reaches the deadline which will force her to be back to Australia. To be the CEO and to stay in India, she claims that she is in love with Manu & they are going to get married. Manu takes this oppurtunity as a visa card to live in overseas. Things change when Manu takes her to his family in his village. See the rest on screen.

Performances
Dileep was super cool as Manu Varma. He plays with such an ease which we really didn't see from him for last few years. Really enjoyable performance which will make us laugh well. Mamtha was good as the boss Priya. Her fluency in English was well utilised. Tailor-made role for her which she did with 100% perfection. Kalabhavan Shajon as Ali was refreshing. First half gave him ample scope to make us laugh which he did successfully. Saikumar makes us laugh in his role in second half with the witty oneliners. He shines in sentiment scenes too. Mukesh,Ganeshkumar, Rekha & Anand in their cameos did their part well. Seetha & Valsala Menon were usual. Rest of the casts did their part. Dharmajan Bolgatty in his cameo makes us laugh.

Songs & BGM
Songs were enjoyable. Sejo John, though not upto his music in Mummy n Me, impresses us with the BGM & Kuttanadan song & opening song, especially orchestration. Songs stick well to the movie except the album song Enthinennariyilla which was totally out of box.

Technical
Cinematography by Anil Nair was good with fine visuals of Mumbai & Kuttanad.  Editing was good. Art direction needs special mention for his work in first half

Script & Direction
Jeethu Joseph handled both departments. May be the initial spark of the movie would have been hollywood flick THE PROPOSAL, but this one is entirely different. Script was a tailor made one for Dileep & Mamtha. Oneliners were sharp & the proceeding sequences were enjoyable if you are not thinking much of logic. Dialogues wre raser sharp especially for Saikumar. Direction by Jeethu reached next level with this. If Bolgatty Palace was avoided as location & some other in Kuttanad was taken it would have given much more effect(strictly my opinion).

Overall an enjoyable comedy entertainer

Verdict : Good Entertainer
BO Verdict : Hit


Jeethu Joseph won the harick!!!

Without Suraj Venjarammood or Salimkumar and slapstick humour, a clean comedy entertainer is here.

Friday, November 30, 2012

FACE 2 FACE

FACE 2 FACE

Theatre : Aluva Matha
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 30-11-2012
Status : Balcony No Idea, FC 40%


Mammootty after a string of flops is back with new release FACE 2 FACE directed by V M Vinu. Interested to read more???



Story
Balachandran(Mammootty) is a police officer under suspension is now a real estate delar & share market broker. He's a drunkard too which created a seperation in family life in the past with Jayasree(Ragini Trivedi). A murder happens in the town & Balachandran's former colleague Prasad(Siddhique) deals the case with Kalabhavan Mani. Initially Prasad suspected Balachandran & later Balachandran decides to find the truth.

Performances
Mammootty was good in parts. For the first time, Mammootty looked very bad in a police uniform on screen like Suraj playing dummy police officer role. Radhika Trivedi was just okay in her 3 scenes. Siddhique as usual was good. Vijayaraghavan repeats his role in movie Nasrani again. Don't know what was the relevance of Roma & Vineeth Kumar. Kalabhavan Mani & Mamukoya shines in their roles. Rest of the cast including newfaces were horrible.

Songs & BGM

Both departments by Alphons. Songs were too loud mixed with rap music & executed very badly with worst picturisation. BGM, though lacks thrill, but was fresh for the theme in first half.

Technical
Ajayan Vincent's camera was good at parts. Rest were nothing worth to be mentioned.

Script & Direction
Theme was a socially relevant one debutant Manoj executed the screenplay in a very bad manner. First half though predictable had enough moments to keep the audience engaged with fine oneliners in between. Second half was a big letdown without a proper ending. Direction by V M Vinu was good in first half. Second half looks like it was directed by someone who came to see shooting. Performances by newcomers in second half was enough to make the audience boo. Songs were misplaced ones with bad picturisation

On the whole, an engaging first half & bad second half with no climax.

Verdict : Watch first half in DVD and trash it
BO Verdict : Disaster


Anyone interested to know the reason behind the title FACE 2 FACE?? Here's the clue



തോക്ക് താഴെയിടെടാ

എടാ തോക്ക് താഴെയിടാന്‍



നിന്റഛനാടാ പറയുന്നെ തോക്ക് താഴെയിടെടാ

Friday, November 23, 2012

101 WEDDINGS

101 WEDDINGS

Theatre : Aluva Matha
Showtime & Date : 6pm, 23-11-2012
Status : Balcony Full, FC 55%


Shafi after box office debacle Venicele Vyapari teams up with Kunchacko Boban after Ordinary & Mallu Singh this year along with Biju Menon & Jayasurya. Whether movie entertains us?? Lets see




Story
Film starts with childhood of Krrish aka Krishnankutty(Kunchacko Boban) - son of Munshi Parameshwara Pillai(Vijayaraghavan), a true Gandhian and Antappan(Biju Menon), son of a fraud played by Kochu Preman. Munshi acts against illegal works done by Kochu Preman using police. In return, Antappan always hits Krrish. To get rid of him, he makes Antappan a thief purposefully. Years later, now Krrish is a careless youth thinking of making easy money. Munshi wants him to marry Abhirami(Samvrutha Sunil) in a marriage function arranged by Kasthurba foundation. Without knowing that Abhirami is the daughter of a rich man, Krrish tries to stop the wedding by bringing Jyothish(Jayasurya) into picture as Krrish. By the time Antappan also enters there. When knowing truth about Abhirami, Krrish wants to marry her. Jyothish too wants to marry. When Jyothish comes to know about the past of Krrish & Antappan he blackmails & things become more complex when Abhirami's father too agrees for the marriage. What happens next is the rest.


Performances
Kunchacko Boban as Krrish was good. His comic timing was good with a set of well written dialogues. In sentiment scenes too, he shines. Biju Menon once again repeats his Ordinary play leaving Palakkadan language. He shines in a set of scenes & action sequences. Jayasurya as Jyothish was just okay. His sentiment scene was fine. Samvrutha Sunil looked more beautiful and did her part neatly. Bhama as Rukiya was fine. Her sentiment scene expression was horrible. The person who played Biju Menon's pair(the one who played Rima Kallingal's friend in 22 FEMALE KOTTAYAM) should have given more screenspace. Vijeesh was cool as Chackochan's side kick. Dialogues were funny at many parts. Suraj Venjarammood & Salimkummar were good in parts. Sunil Sugatha was a surprise package with good comic timing. Rest of the cast were fine.

Songs & BGM
Songs by Deepak Dev were hummable. Changathi & Muthodu  were fine. Sajalamai is the pick of the lot. Nice picturisation with good visuals. BGM was fine

Technical
Cinematography was good at parts. Editing was good. Art Direction was superb.

Script & Direction

Script by Kalavoor Ravikumar was a fine entertaining one with a set of fresh scenes and dialogues. A simple oneline, a complexilty & confusions blended neatly & presented well with a set of nice scenes & dialogues. Direction by Shafi was fine. The packaging was good presented in a nice & new atmosphere. Jayasurya's guiness performance was out of place in second half. Shafi's packaging was good as usual and with the fresh plot & atmosphere, he delivers a fine entertainer.

Verdict : A Simple Timepass Comedy Entertainer
BO Verdict : Hit


Movie heavily banks on the new team Kunchacko Boban - Biju Menon.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

THUPPAKKI

THUPPAKKI

Theatre : TVM SreePadmanabha
Showtime & Date : 8.45am, 18-11-2012
Status : Housefull with terrific atmosphere


After hatricks - Kavalan, Velayudham & Nanban, ILAYATHALAPATHY VIJAY is back with his new film THUPPAKKI - written & directed by A R Murugadoss after not so well accepted 7am Arivu. This time he created a movie that is fresh screenplay and execution, executed through not the star VIJAY alone but through the actor VIJAY too.




Story
Jagdish(Vijay) - DIA specialist in Indian Army comes to his home in Mumbai for leave. By coincidence, he catches one of the sleeper cell, who made a blast in a bus. Rest of the story is how Jagdish intelligently tracks the whole team.

Performances
Ilayathalapathy VIJAY takes the character to next level with his awesome performance. This time he's not rendering any punchlines, but the simple lines he speak in the movie makes the whole audience clap. Thanks to his immense screen presence, voice modulation & style which took the superb screenplay to a great level. The scene with retired army men was superb. A VIJAY SHOW all the way.

Kajal Agarwal as Nisha was fine in first half where she had something to do. In second half, her role was limited. She was good in her with emotional scene in restaurant. Jayaram in his brief role will make us laugh, Sathyan too. Vidyut Jamal as baddie was fresh and convincing in looks. Rest of the cast did their parts well.

Songs & BGM
Harris Jeyaraj disappoints this time. Google Google sung by Vijay & Andrea was foottapping. Vennilave, Antartica, Kuttippuli were fine with visuals though lacks the punch of usual Vijay movie songs. My pick is POI VARAVAA in climax. Awesome lyrics, superb & touching picturisation. Vennivale & Google were speedbreakers. BGM was awesome, especially the theme music was adrenaline pumping one on screen.

Technical
The whole team was superb. Considering the technical perfection from Santhosh Sivan, cinematography lacks the magic though a set of scenes looked good & the final railway station scene was awesome. Editing by Sreekar Prasad was superb. Art direction by Sunil Babu was cool. Action by Kecha needs special mention - another Peter Hein on the way I think. Hope we can expect fresh action seq from him.

Script & Direction
Both departments handled by A R Murugadoss. Though the oneline seems to be simple, the screenplay was awesome with fresh sequences - especially Interval and one in second half. SUPERB!!! Though Vijay-Kajal scenes & songs in second half were speedbreakers, we can easily forget that negative considering the whole movie. After JULAI, another movie with villain with intelligence. Direction was topnotch. Even simple things were made special with his direction.

On the whole - a great entertainer movie for those who love their nation.

Verdict : GO FOR IT!!!
BO Verdict : BLOCKBUSTER


A R Murugadoss had made not only INDIAN ARMY proud but also their families. Really great and wonderful!!!

Monday, October 8, 2012

BANKING HOURS 10-4

BANKING HOURS 10-4

Theatre : TVM Kripa
Showtime & Date : 6.20pm, 07-08-2012
Status : Balcony FULL, FC 65%


K Madhu, the master of investigative flicks in malayalam cinema is back with his new film BANKING HOURS 10-4, a bank robbery turning to a murder investigation happening in a time gap from 10am-4pm. Lets look in detail



Story
Sravan IPS(Anoop Menon) & his gang is there in LEMO Bank(the bank named after the production banner of this movie Lemo Films I think) as they got an anonymous call regarding a robbery there. In a gap of 20 seconds, a power failure leading to a murder & identifying the murderer within 4pm forms rest of the story.

Performances
Anoop Menon was fine though his Mohanlal play is there to an extent, this time Mammootty play too enters. Tiny Tom delivers a good set of laughable oneliners. More than that, its his true identity revealing scene which made the whole theatre laugh. Jishnu is still at his first movie, may be below that. Kailash was fine at parts & horrible too at parts. Ashokan fails to evoke laughter and his character was too predictable. Vijay Menon was cool as always. Sudheesh was ok. Shankar Golden star Arun, Beyon Gemini, Midhun Ramesh, Arun, Sathar, Meghnaraj, Raghavan...........all were KIDU. If someone sees any advt regarding acting courses, just get two application forms atleast - one for Shafna & other for Vishnupriya. The whole cast seems to be in need for an acting course I think.

TV Serial performances were far better you may feel after watching this one

Songs & BGM
No Songs in movie. Is it the same Rajamani who made us thrilled with his BGM worked for this movie??? Horrible.

Technical
Everything was bad

Script & Direction
Script by Sumesh-Amal team had a good plot. But the screenplay failed. It seems they were in a confusion to make it a murder mystery or a bank robbery or another TRAFFIC by forcefully making things non linear in first half which has got no relevance in the movie. Dialogues were bad though some were fine. Direction by K Madhu was too careless. Though tried to make something new, the shoestring budget, the GREAT performances, bad screenplay, bad technical crew...everything gave company for director to make the final product like this one. Second half was better compared to first half & suspense elements were good though the reason is cliched presented in a very silly manner.

On the whole, a onetime DVD watch

Verdict : Not so thrilling thriller
BO Verdict : One week, MAATTRRAAN intha padathe theatresil irunthu MAATTRRUUM

Thursday, August 30, 2012

GAJAPOKKIRI ( JULAYI )

GAJAPPOKIRI(Malayalam version of Telugu movie JULAYI)

First of all, thanks to r Ganesh Kumar for his idea of theatre grading which makes the screen, seats & overall atmoshpere off Anjali theatre looks better. Happy to see a well made reservation counter too in SL Complex


Theatre : TVM Anjali
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 29-08-2012
Status : Balcony No idea, a pretty good status was there I think as the claps from balcony was superb, FC 50%


Allu Arjun, after the much hyped failure BADRINATH is back with his new movie JULAYI which made a release in malayalam as GAJAPOKKIRI after 1 week of Telugu release. Trivikram who made one of my all time favourite telugu flick ATHADU is the director of this movie. Lets take a look



Story
Ravi(Allu Arjun) is a youth dreaming of becoming rich in short time span. On the way to a bidding centre for IPL match, he accidentally meets a bank robbery gang of Bichu(Sonu Sood) planning a Rs.1500 crore robbery from a nearby gang. Ravi with his intelligence traps Bichu. From then on its a cat & mouse game - An intelligent hero and an intelligent villain.

Performances
Allu Arjun delivers a cool performance as usual in a role in which he is at his best - Happy golucky easy careless youth. Ileana was usual in a typical telugu film heroine. Her looks in initial few scenes looked superb. Rajendra Prasad as timid police officer was awesome. Brahmanandam as a thief was funny, M S Narayana too. Sonu Sood as intelligent villain Bichu is his recent best role.

Music & BGM
Music by DeviSri Prasad disappoints a bit this time. Julayi & Osey Osey were the best. O Madhu also works with the movie. Picturisation lacks freshness & most of them looked same except in location & costumes. Placement of songs kills the thrill. BGm was good

Technical
Cinematography was good. Editing was crispy though second half needs a bit trimming. Art direction was fine. Action scenes were typical.

Script & Direction
Both departments are handled by Trivikram. Plot was a supercool one which he succeeded in converting to a mass entertainer. The biggest plus point is the baddie is also an intelligent sometimes more intelligent than hero. A superb first half with all ingedients to make viewers happy is the main plus point. INTERVAL sequence was one of the best one in recent times. Compared to first half, second half is a bit down though enjaoyable. Climax episode was also a cool one except Sonu Sood's comic acting in climax similar to PrakashRaj in Pokkiri. Second half could have been a better as the plot & proceedings were superb. Intelligent is the word that can be given to the script as it proceeds with simple dialogues in first half for future proceedings. Thanks to the malayalam dialogues by Sathish Muthukulam, even comedy scenes worked well in theatres in dubbing edition. Producer Khadar Hassan had made lots of changes in banners & other items in movie to make it a malayalam cinema which is very much appreciable.

On the whole an enjoyable mass movie

Verdict : Intelligent Entertainer
BO Verdict : Hit


Wednesday, August 29, 2012

RUN BABY RUN


RUN BABBY RUN


Theatre : TVM Sreekumar
Showtime & Date : 2.30PM, 29-08-2012
Status : Balcony FULL, FC 60%

Joshiy is back with another ONAM release RUN BABBY RUN,after Kunchacko Boban starrer SEVENES last year, this time with Mohanlal after the hit movie CHRISTIAN BROTHERS - scripted by Sachi of Sachi-Sethu team. Whether movie entertains us, LETS SEE



Story
Venu(Mohanlal) - a stinger cameraman of Reuters returns to Kerala as part of a case in court. Accidently he met with Renuka(Amala Paul) who was his ex-lover who were seperated of the similar reason we saw in the case of Mohanlal & Priyamani in recent Mohanlal flick Grandmaster. Both were assigned to work on a single case which makes their life keep on running.

Performances
Mohanlal as Venu was safe in his hands. Though the flashback episode was bad, soon after the flashback episode, Mohanlal delivered a fine performance with cool oneliners. Amala Paul was okay in her role Renuka. At parts she was good. BIJUMENON as Rishi is the one who stole most of the smart scenes in the movie with well written dialogues. Superb dialogue delivery in many scenes. Vijayaraghavan, Saikumar, Siddhique, Shammi Thilakan, Anil Murali, Aparna did their part.

Ameer Niyaz makes his appearance in this movie too as Abu after SEVENES, good role though a small role.

Songs & BGM
Only the song Aattumanal sung by Mohanlal was there in the movie. Makers please dont air this song video in TV channels as it'll give only negative publicity. BGM was ok  only, lacks freshness.

Technical
R D Rajasekhar's camera lacks the magic which the theme demanded. Editing was fine at parts. Art direction was superb. Action by Anal Arasu & Pazhaniraj lacks freshness.

Script & Direction
Script by Sachi(Sachi-Sethu team) had a great plot to be a super racy entertainer. But the screenplay couldn't rise to the level of the plot. Compromise is the word which killed the party I think. Unwanted romance track, songs, a heroine, hero praising by other characters, a predictable flashback..... If these things were avoided, then it would have been a better one. The first 45 minutes were just oke with a predictable flasback & romance. After that the movie took a turn to a racy thriller with witty oneliners by Mohanlal & Bijumenon. 15 min after interval the plot became great, but screenplay became more & more predictable with a very much predictable climax episode. Villain teams were not at all convincing for the plot. Movie focuses on News TV channel wars than any other surrounding things which makes things look bore at parts. Sachi - please watch the movie KO

Direction by Joshiy was incnsistent. Direction lacked the usual Joshiy signature. The whole movie starts 20 min before interval only. To a large extent, it is this master craftman's talent which made the climax portions this engaging.

On the whole, a uninteresting 50 min & an engaging 20+ minutes firsthalf & a good set of moments alone in an average predictable climax

Verdict : Tad above Average
BO Verdict :  HIT, at max

After watching the movie, we may feel like the apt title for the movie was the previous one - CAMERAMAN VENUVINOPPAM RENUKA

Sunday, August 19, 2012

THAAPPAANA

THAAPPAANA

Theatre : TVM New
Showtime & Date : 6:30 pm, 19-08-2012
Status : Balcony FULL, FC 95%


Expectations were very low as THAPPANA is the latest outing from Mammootty after 8 consecutive flops & Mammootty again with Johny Antony after Thuruppugulan & Ee Pattanathil Bhootham who himself was delivering flops, the latest being MASTERS released this year. When the song started airing, the movie gave some expectation as it was picturised well. Whether the movie succeeds as an entertainer??? Lets see



Story
Samson aka Samkutty(Mammootty) - a small time good hearted thief who has difficulty in pronouncing "Sa" while talking and Mallika(Charmi Kaur) got released from jail on same day. When Mallika mets with an accident, Samson saves her & takes her back to her village. On the way both shares their flashback & Samson stays back in Mallika's village for her. Watch rest on screen.

Performances
After a long time, a full fledged energetic performance from Mammootty. Superb expressions, dialogue delivery, action & smart comedy timing. Watch the movie for Mammootty.

Charmi as Mallika was fine though second half didn't provide ample screen space except two good scenes. Vijayaraghavan, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Muraly Gopi, Suresh Krishna, Mala Aravindan, Anil Murali, Irshad, Geetha Vijayan were fine in their roles. Happy to see the very same good hearted character role of Sadhique which we last saw in LalJose's Arabikkadha if I'm not wrong. Finally Sajitha Betty performed well in a movie. She was good in the climax performance.

The actor who simply rocked, though a brief role is none other than VIJEESH aka NOOLUNDA who played the quotation gan leader SABU aka CHETTATHY SABU(Watch the movie for the reason behind the name & his terrific HHHOUUU)


Songs & BGM
There was only one song in the movie - "Oorum Perum Ariyathe" which worked well with the audience. Superb Music. "Kallan" theme song was used in between a robbery episode. BGM was cool though one was rehash of Dingiripattalam song.

Technical
Cinematography by RajaRatnam was good. Editing was good in first half, needs trimming in second half. Art Direction was good. Title animation was cool.

Script & Direction

Script by Sindhuraj was super cool in first half with witty oneliners throughout & an engaging screenplay on the lines of a road movie though no storyline was developed much till few minute before interval. Post Interval screenplay was a repeated edition of sequences though oneliners were enjoyable. Second half could have been a lot lot better with the plot, but the screenplay killed the party. There were lots of characters which were half baked. Still it works on screen with dialogues & Mammootty. The pre written predictable climax was the problem, the same we have seen in Thattathin Marayathu second half too. Direction by Johny Antony was good in first half, but lacks the sincerety in second half. Action sequences could have been better though the one presented is good. Second half lacked the punch both in script & direction.

Overall a good enjoyable first half & an average second half with good set of dialogues in both halves.
Verdict : Above Average
BO Verdict : HIT


Finally MAMMOOTTY - the ACTOR & STAR is back!!!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

അജു വര്ഗീസിന്റെ ചതി adhava THATTATHIN MARAYATHU

THATTATHIN MARAYATHU

അജു വര്ഗീസിന്റെ ചതി  adhava THATTATHIN MARAYATHU review

ആകെ കിട്ടുന്ന ഞായര്‍
സിനിമക്ക് പോയാല്‍ പാതി ദിവസം പൊകുന്ന പൊലെയാ
അപ്പൊഴാണു  ഈ പടത്തിലെ നടനും എന്റെ facebook  ഫ്രണ്ട്
ആയ അജു വര്‍ഗീസിന്റെ പോസ്റ്റ്‌ 

Aju Varghese
First time in d history of Thiruvanathapuram a theatre hold 6 shows for a malayalam film.
Thattathin Marayathu in SreeVishak
Timings: ( 8. 00, 10 15, 12 30, 3.00, 6.00, 9 15)
In addition to it der s a spcial show @ 10 am in Sreekumar (TVM)

ഇത് കണ്ടു രാവിലെ 8 മണിക്കുള്ള ഷോയ്ക്ക് പോയി
അവിടെ ചെന്നപ്പോള്‍ പ്രസ്‌ ആള്കാര്‍ക്ക് വിത്ത്‌ ഫാമിലി പാസ്‌ ഉള്ളവര്‍ക്കുള്ള ഷോ ആണ്, നമുക്കില്ലന്നു
ചുമ്മാ കണ്ടേച്ചു നിരൂപണം അടിച്ചു വിടുന്ന ഇവര്‍ക്ക് വിത്ത്‌ ഫാമിലി പാസ്‌ 
കഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടു ക്യു നിന്നു കാശ് കൊടുത്തു ടിക്കറ്റ്‌ എടുത്തു  പടം കണ്ടു ഹിറ്റ് ആക്കുന്ന നമ്മള്‍ ശശി സോമന്‍ ഷിബു.....


ഒരു നിമിഷത്തേക്ക് ഞാന്‍ The King & The Commissioner-le  മമ്മൂട്ടിടെ Intro Scenele ഡയലോഗ് ഓര്‍ത്തു പോയി, മാധ്യമധര്മത്തെ കുറിച്ച് 
chumma deshyam theerkkande



പിന്നെ 9.30nu ഉള്ള ഷോയ്ക്ക് ഒന്നര മണിക്കൂര്‍ വെയിറ്റ് ചെയ്തു ടിക്കറ്റ്‌ എടുത്തു കാണേണ്ടി വന്നു

പടം വല്യ തെറ്റില്ലാതതു കൊണ്ട് അജുവിനെ വെരുതെ വിടുന്നു
ഇല്ലെല്‍ ഇതിനു പ്രതികാരമയി എന്റെ THE KING & THE COMMISSIONER review മിനിമം 3 തവണ എങ്കിലും വായിപ്പിചേനെ

Theatre : TVM Sreekumar
Showtime & Date : 9.30am, 15.07.2012
Status : Balcony Full, FC 50%

Vineeth Sreenivasan, after Malarvadi Arts Club, is back with his new flick THATTATHIN MARAYATHU. This time too Vineeth tried the same direction pattern he used in Malarvadi Arts Club. Whether film works on screen??? Lets see

Story
As the tagline suggest, its the story of a Hindu Nair boy Vinod(Nivin Pauly) falling in love with a Muslim girl Ayesha(Isha Talwar). As usual, love at first sight, meeting, telling his love, acceptance, obstacles & a happy ending as mentioned in trailers all with the full support of friends.

Performances
Nivin Pauly as Vinod was good. We may feel like he's imitating Silambarasan of movie Vinnaithaadi Varuvaaya in the scene when Ayesha expresses her love. Seems like Vineeth Sreenivasan dubbed for him. At may points I felt like, its Vineeth only & not Nivin acting in the movie simply because of smart dialogue delivery especially when Vinod expresses his love to Ayesha for the first time. Isha Talwar, a debutant in malayalam, was good in looks, but not upto the mark considering acting & lipsync. Aju Varghese as Abdu had a nice set of oneliners which worked well at many parts of the movie. Sunny Wayne, though a brief role, was awesome with his typical style(he got the maximum applause). Debutant Pradeep was fine with good dialogues. But the situation of the dialogues spoiled the show especially in second half party meeting scene. Manoj K Jayan was a miscast as a Trivandrum based Police Officer. Bhagath Manuel couldn't evoke any laughter due to poorly written character. Manikuttan was fine in his brief role. Ramu did his part well while Sreenivasan looked jaded eventhough the climax portion credits applause to his kitty just because of the well written dialogues. Aparna was wasted. Rest of the cast did their part.

Songs & BGM
Both departments by Shaan Rehman sinks well with the movie. Songs are already topping the charts. Picturisation of the songs looked repetitive at parts. BGM was fine, tried Gopi Sundar style of work especially beginning scene with BGM of some character name like Gopi did in Seniors & MalluSingh like Adiyodadi & Anikutta. Here its HAMSA

Technical
Cinematography was simple & good except in action sequence. Editing was good in first half, needs a bit trimming in second half. Art direction needs special mention so as the intro title sequence, though a full length copy of Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya DVD titles.

Script & Direction
Both departments are handled by Vineeth Sreenivasan(& his friends I should say). Basic plot is as old as hill but tried to weave the story with somewhat fresh sequences in between. It worked well at many places. Typical old Sreenivasan style was there at certain points. As told in tagline, its the story of the nair boy, who loved muslim girl. So the whole story is from boy's point of view only. This only sustains till interval. After that it falls into cliched line. That is where Gautham Vasudev Menon in Vinnathaandi Varuvaaya succeeds. Till climax, its 99% Kathik's view.  Dialogues are the biggest plus point of the movie. It's the dialogues which carry the movie than the screenplay. Screenplay was a racy one in first half. But Second half was a disappointment as the what to do next till climax situation was evident throughout. The comic scenes in second half too was a bit down the level considering the cool approach in first half. Also the party office scene looked like a forced one. Direction by Vineeth Sreenivasan was at extremes I will say. It had the freshness level & cliched level too at max levels.

On the whole an enjoyable first half & an average second half

Verdict : Tads above Average
BO Verdict : Already a blockbuster heading towards Mega blockbuster

One of the producers of the movie, actor MUKESH would have done the role played by Manoj K Jayan. It would have been a tailor-made role for him

Theatre-le kamukanmarude avastha aanu kashtam, padathil kamukanmare shashiyaakkunna dialgoues. Poraathathinu ee Kamukanmar kaamukikku maathramalla, Kamukiyude koottukarikal enna oru battallionum koodi ticket eduthu cash poyente dukhavum. Press Mediayude TIME, OASnu family pass

Saturday, May 5, 2012

GRANDMASTER

GRANDMASTER

Theatre : TVM Ajantha
Showtime & Date : 6.00pm, 05-05-2012
Status : Housefull

B Unnikrishnan, the scenarist of some engaging movies as well as some craps is back with Mohanlal again after the successful movie Madambi. The movie also marks the entry of  UTV MOTION PICTURES into malayalam cinema. The movie had created some hype with the niitial photoshoot stills itself portraying Mohanlal as an aged cop. Whether movie satisy us?? Lets take a look


Story
Chandrashekhar(Mohanlal) is the chief of Metro Crime Stopper Cell in Kochi. He was a former national level chess player & a divorced person after an issue with Deepthi(Priyamani) 10 years ago. The movie though begins with a mission, the show really starts when he gets an anonymous letter from a killer who wants the smart Chandrasekhar, like him 10 years before back in action to make his psychic killing spree a thrilling one. Though initially Chandrasekhar resists to take up the job, later he decides to play the game with the killer.


Performances
Mohanlal as Chandrasekhar looked great. Acting wise this one is a cakewalk role for him, nothing special other than his aged looks & character of a father of 16 year old. In action sequences & in dialogue delivery, as always he shines. Once again a fact got proved - Even though the character is a simple man, a simple usual dialogue becomes a punchline, only if it is delivered by the actor Mohanlal. Narien was wasted in a simple role, Jagathy too. Siddhique scores as usual eventhough he's there in movie in just 2 scenes. Babu Antony's initial scenes were superb with the mannerisms of a psychic, but somehere in between it lost. In climax episode, he was good. Manikuttan, Devan, Roma, Mithra Kurien,Riyaz Khan, Anoop Menon, Priyamani were usual characters only. Mithra Kurien didn't look the mirror during makeup session I think, HORRIBLE!!!

Songs & BGM
Songs were fine. Aaranu Nee song was a speed breaker picturised in a comparititvely low profile sets. Akaleyo was well picturised. BGM lacks the punch.

Technical
Cinematography was just ordinary. Editing lacks the thrill needed to be maintained for these kind of flicks. Art Direction was good. Dileep Subbarayan's fights were realistic.

Script & Direction
Script by B Unnikrishnan had a strong base oneline to be converted to a smart thriller. But the screenplay fails & falls into cliche pits of predictability at many times. The villain of the film was very much predictable in first half itself. Towards the second half, the reason for that too becomes predictable. Still the movie manages to engage the audience with its simplicity in proceedings. The movie seems to have required a wide canvas to execute this one. Then why it didn't happen when UTV was there?? I don't know. Mohanlal saves the show at many parts. The climax was a big failure as it becomes everything predictable because of last two years' biggest hits' shades were there. Dialogues were simple & fine. Also the style he mixes those lines for fans is a commendable one which would have been a out of the box stuff if not good.

Direction by B Unnikrishnan was engaging altogether. Climax execution was a failure. It ended as a cliche item. Shades of Shaji Kailas style as usual was there throughout the movie. Also we may feel that the script writer had a lot to tell the audience & director too wants to execute another set along with the other. Direction could have been a lot lot better. 

Overall an engaging onetime watch

Verdict : Tads above average
BO Verdict : Hit

Friday, May 4, 2012

MALLU SINGH

MALLU SINGH

Theatre : TVM Kairali
Showtime & Date : 11.30am, 04-05-2012
Status : HOUSEFULL

MALLU SINGH, which was on news after the change of title role actor replaced by a comparatively new actor & the movie which is Kunchacko Boban's 50th film hit the screens today. Expectations were there when Vysakh is back after Pokkiriraja & Seniors & Kunchacko Boban-Biju menon-Manoj K Jayan trio again. Whether movie entertains us? Lets see.



Story
Ani(Kunchacko Boban) is in search of his relative Hari(Unni Mukundan) who was supposed to marry Ani's sister Aswathy(Samvrutha Sunil), who vanished 7 years ago. Now Hari's relatives try to bag his properties using loophole in IPC. Ani finds a person similar to Hari in a TV show & starts to Punjab to find him. There he meets Hareendar Singh(Unni Mukundan). Is it the same Hari Ani is searching?? It is what Ani tries to find out with the help of Kathikeyan aka Karthi(Biju Menon), Pappan(Manoj K Jayan) & Suseelan(Suraj Venjarammood)

Performances
Its a luck for Unni Mukundan to play the title role when his seniors are playing other main characters. Unni was fine in looks. But this movie looks too early to be done in his career. He was fine in flashback episode shop scene & a wonderful intro scene(Thanks to Mahesh Narayanan's awesome editing). After that till suspense revealing scene Unni had nothing much to do other than to look rough, deliver threatening dialogues & do action in a plenty. 

Biju menon as Karthi, a coward lover of  one of Hareendar's sister had a nice intro with good oneliners in between. He did his part well. Manoj K Jayan as Pappan was good & better than Biju this time with nice dialogues, good expressions & body language. Suraj once again repeats his trademarks in between. But some of the oneliners were a riot. Mamukoya was fine in his limited role & looks a bit fresh for this role. Siddhique as usual was superb in looks, acting with nice dialogue delivery.  Saikumar was wasted in 3 scenes. Asif Ali in his cameo was just ok. Once again he proved his dubbing problem in the first scene of him. He was delivering dialogue like he was doing his role in Salt n Pepper. Among heroines, Samvrutha had a good role. Except Sentiments, she did it fine. Rest of the heroines were just for songs.

Yes, it is KUNCHACKO BOBAN, the show stealer who makes the show this much entertaining. Right from intro scene, he was doing comedy with such an ease. In train sequences, kalyanam polikkal sequence..... he was SUPERB!!! Be it, comedy, sentiments, dance, romance he shines in the movie throughout.

Songs & BGM
M Jayachandran's music seems to be a rehash of many, but suits the mood of the movie. Cham Cham is the pick of the lot. Gopi Sundar's BGM  was superb. Thousgh BGM for Unni was a rehash of THIMIRU music, it was a good one. Then BGM like Anikuttan in kalyanam polikkal scene, senti scene in second half, he scores.

Technical
Camera by Shaji was a visual treat be it Punjab or Kerala. Editing was Mahesh Narayanan was fine in first half except the action sequence. t was endlessly going. Second half needs trimming especially action sequences. Art direction was superb. Costume department's hardwork was seen in each & every frame. The whole movie looked colourful.

Script & Direction
Script by Sethu was a a commercial potboiler, rehash of many films except the background. First half was a racy one with no dull moments, but second half was moving like wait some more time to reveal the flashback, till then let it go like this(The same happened for Seniors too). Dialogues were funny at many parts. Climax looked silly as in every mass entertainers of the same league. It is Kunchacko Boban with ample support of Biju & Manoj makes the show engaging even in dull sequences. Direction by Vysakh lacked the freshness we felt in Seniors. This one is in the league of Pokkiriraja. Though he handled the whole packaging well, action sequences makes the show boring. Main reasons were the lead role done by comparitively new hero & rehashed action choreography. Cinematography too fails to bring freshness in those parts. It was keep on going on screen. Once again Vysakh uses the commercial packaging which will work with mass audience.

Verdict : Another Mass Entertainer
BO Verdict : Hit

The actor who was supposed to do the lead role could bring much more mass level to the movie, but how many times we see him in the same action sequences.

Samvutha singing Punjabi song was a kooval festval(I think Editor was sleeping)

Sunday, April 22, 2012

ORU KAL ORU KANNADI (OKOK)

ORU KAL ORU KANNADI (OKOK)

Theatre : TVM Athulya
Showtime & Date : 6.10pm, 22-02-2012
Status : Housefull


Rajesh M, after the success of Siva Manasula Shakthi(SMS) & Boss Engira Bhaskaran(BEB) comes for a hatrick with Santhanam again in second lead & debutant Udayanithi Stalin in lead and Hansika Motwani as heroine. The genre of the movie is sane as that of director;s previous flicks - Mindless Comedy Flick



Story
Saravanan(Udayanithi Stalin), son of a yet to be a graduate mother(Saranya Ponvannan) and father who is a teacher. Saravanan falls in love with Meera(Hansika Motwani) at first sight itself. Though he proposes her, she refuse that. The rest is how he wins the love with terrific performance by his close friend Parthu(Santhanam)

Performances
Though a debutant, Udayanithi Stalin had a promising debut except in songs in first half, Akila song in second half solved that too in second half. Hansika Motwani was okay in looks, had some good moments in between, but the poor lipsync spoils the show at times. Saranya Ponvannan scores in her limited scenes.

Sneha in her cameo simply outshined Hansika in the flight episode. Arya & Andrea in their cameo couldn't make an impact as director's previous flick cameos by Jiiva in BEB.

Yes, its a Santhanam Show all the way. The witty oneliners, situational comedies, expressions, chemistry with Udayanithi everything made this movie a cool entertainer.

Songs
Music by Harris Jeyaraj was fine with Akila & Kadhal Butterfly being my picks. Picturisation of Akila was smart but the rest ones were boting & lengthy. Kadhal Butterfly song pictursation will remind us of SMS marriage song. BGM was fine at parts

Technical
Balasubramanian's camera was fine in Azhage song, rest were ok. Editing by Vivek Harshan needs to be a bit racy as the movie is about 3hr running time. Art direction had nothing much to mention

Script & Direction
Both departments were handled by Rajesh M itself. Rajesh this time too handled a wafer thin storyline to a comedy entertainer with lots to laugh. This time screenplay lags a bit in second half. Though nowhere near to SMS or BEB, the movie stills works because of packaging & Santhanam. At times, scenes looked similar to his previous movies. Direction was racy but could have been better when compared to his previous flicks.

On the whole a fast comedy entertainer.


Verdict : Timepass Fun Entertainer
BO Verdict : Hit

Friday, March 23, 2012

THE KING & THE COMMISSIONER

THE KING & THE COMMISSIONER

Dear friends, I will be reviewing this movie in a bit different way. Its because personally I was a Shaji Kailas fan watching his movies in 90s who introduced a new style in presenting each scene giving more prominence to visuals especially closeup shots. He is the only director who inspired all the others in the previous & future league with making style. You may find traces of dialogues of Shaji or Renji movies in this review. Please adjust readers.

Theatre : TVM Kripa
Status : Balcony Full, FC 99%
Showtime & Date : 2.15pm, 23-03-2012

Joseph Alex & Bharath Chandran  -  two powerful characters penned by Renji Panicker and framed by Shaji Kailas in the 90s with THE KING and THE COMMISSIONER, both were superhits. Almost 17 years later Renji Panicker is once again teaming up with Shaji Kailas, both striving for a box office hit. Shaji after a series of flops & Renji after not so impressive Roudram. When both characters together & the team unites, expectations were there to an extent keeping the past few years' record of the lead actors & the technician & the scenarist. What really happened??

ദാ, ഇനിയങ്ങോട്ട് വരുന്നതെല്ലാം കിട്ടിയ അവധി ദിവസം വീട്ടില്‍ അടങ്ങി ഇരിക്കാതെ മൂന്നേകാല്‍ മണിക്കൂര്‍ കൂട്ടിയ ടിക്കറ്റ്‌ നിരക്കില്‍ അതും  റിസേര്‍വ്  ചെയ്തു  ഈ ..........നു തല വെച്ച ഒരു സാധാരണക്കാരന്റെ വേദനയും രോദനവും അമര്ഷവുമായി കണ്ടാല്‍ മതി , കണ്ടേ  പറ്റൂ അങ്ങനെ , ഇനി അങ്ങനെ കാണാന്‍ ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടുള്ളവര്‍ ഇനിയങ്ങോട്ട് , കൃത്യമായി പറഞ്ഞാല്‍ താഴോട്ടു എഴുതിക്കൂട്ടയെതല്ലാം വായിച്ചു ബുദ്ധിമുട്ടണം എന്നില്ല .



Story 
The very same old wine as old as Mount Everest. Why they are not thinking of something else?
Something that may disturb the law and order of the country happens.
Hero enters the scene.
Hero may/may not have some relationship in past with the person who got murdered.
There will be a influential protector for him.
He will receive orders from the top to investigate the same on special interest of that person. 
Next Hero enters.
Heroes starts the great mission to find the villains who are introduced to us as cold blooded villains from scene one.
Fights Dialogues Fights Dialogues
INTERVAL
Again Fights Dialogues Fights Dialogues
Dialogues Dialogues Dialogues Dialogues....Dialogues * X
In between the person who asked to start investigation asks to withdraw that. Then Dialogues Dialogues
Till someone special for the person closer to the investigative team gets shot & killed the same said before post interval happens endlessly.
Once that happens, heroes gets ready for the final round of fireworks
In the end a bomb blast.

Do you have an extra spine to sit & watch this 3.15hr so called  political epic drama? Then this one's for you, Grab your tickets before the movie leaves the cinema halls.

Performances
Mammootty once again plays Joseph Alex, this time except the first few minutes in intro scene, Joseph Alex seems to be tired. Though delivers dialogues at every junction of the movie, the dialogues & the delivery by the actor, both lacks the fire & naturality as in the original. Suresh Gopi for the third time plays Bharath Chandran, this time he is IG though the title mention him as Commissioner. He is the saving grace of the movie at times. Though intro scene was a bad one & the rehash dialogues couldn't create any impact, the dialogues in second half especially the ones with Saikumar are the only positive I can mention about the second half. But we'll never feel like this is the same Bharath Chandran we have seen in previous two flicks. May be because we have seen SureshGopi  playing these 100 times.Still a dull performance with badly written dialogues. Nedumudi Venu as scientist getting murdered was bad with bad English language though he plays the chief of some intelligence department. Devan again as Shankar in THE KING was just ok. Saikumar imitiating NarendraPrasad in Ekalavyan(he is playing disciple of that character) in looks was a poorly written baddie character failed to create any impact. Rajiv Krishna as Pakisthan military officer was good in looks. Janardhanan should be given a Minster rank for playing the role of a minister this much times in movies. Samvrutha was an unwanted character in the movie, so as KPAC Lalitha. KPAC Sudheer, T P Madhavan lots and lots of artists in small roles were there in cameo roles. Jayan was good in looks as main baddie. Sanjana, Vyga lots of female in limted roles were there.

The person who needs a special mention in the movie is serial artist BIJU PAPPAN who played a good cop role in the movie assisting Suresh Gopi, awesome dialogues creating laughs & good action moments, watchout the scene in which he captures a culprit at railway station.

BGM
Rajamani though rehashed the original, it didn't worked to that level it worked in original. At times, BGM was too loud too. A bad work from Rajamani.

Technical
Cinematographer was framing Shaji Kailas's shots. All three didn't do any special work. Watch Chinthamani Kolacase to see how Shaji uses Rajaretnam in an effective way as a cinematographer. Editor was sleeping I think, especially in second half. Some one should have waken him up while editing with a cup of tea to slice the movie to shreds so that the viewers won't yawn or tirelessly wait for the debacle climax to be happened on screen so that they can run out from the halls soon. For this crime atleast I won't spare you. Makeup was bad and different at different parts of the movie

Script & Direction
Renji Panicker is still in 90s I think considerin g the framework of the movie. He should have adopted something new atleast in presenting the scene on script. The intro scene of Joseph Alex was a good one with minimal dialogues and smooth dealing by the character with others. Soon everything became the same old unwantedly boasting, verbal megalomaniac character shouting at the baddies. Remembet still the baddies wait for the heroes to complete. Who told you that using bad words in between the dialogues will work at this 2012 too. When SureshGopi tells that once or twice, people clapped, after that that too was a boring one. WORST SCRIPT BY RENJI. Eventhough Praja was a bad one, now I understood its none other than Mohanlal, his screen presence & master craftsman Joshiy Sir made it watchable, Dubai too had a good set of dialogues. Badly written script altogether. Hope you will come up with something fresh & new next time.

Shaji Kailas, if you dare to make another movie, I think people will hunt you down. ഈ പീപ്പിള്‍ എന്ന് പറയുന്നത് ദാ ഇവനും ഇവനും ഇവനും പിന്നെ ഇവനും ഇവനും തെണ്ടി ഇരന്നപ്പോള്‍ ടിക്കറ്റ്‌ എടുത്തു കൊടുത്ത അവനും അവനും പിന്നെ ദാ ബുക്ക്‌ ചെയ്തു കണ്ട എന്നെപോലുള്ള പാവങ്ങളും ഉണ്ടായാല്‍ You just don't have the right to to react എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞു പോയാല്‍ Please realise its just not because of anger towards you. Its because the love, the respect everything you acquired by making a good set of movies in the past. We still have hopes in you. I won't say that you should change the track. You should change the way  you are conceiving scene. Concentrate on script, leave whatever you had done in the past, don't go after remakes. Think of what new you can do other than keeping the frames of hero introduction scene first.

Verdict : August 15 is a classic, as it won't give give you headache after watching
BO Verdict : Flop after an initial

Many people were keep on asking, when will the movie end as the second half was endlessly going with nothing new in kitty to offer. Simnply scenes to deliver dialogues. Before we had names like Mohanthomas to rmember. As the names of baddies are all hindi names that too spoiled the show

Grab the DVDs of THE COMMISSIONER, THE KING & THALASTHANAM, still these 90s flick works.

B UNNIKRISHNAN could have done a decent job than Renji Panicker here. Atleast he would have made Samvrutha a negative character with some code word like EAGLE, BEEJUM, MUSAFIR, MEERASPA....