3 DOTS

3 DOTS
 
Theatre : Aluva Zeenath Screen 1
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 22-03-2013
Status : Balcony Full, FC 70%

Kunchacko Boban-Biju Menon team joins again after the first hit of this year ROMANS along with the director of ORDINARY - the blockbuster of last year which made the combo a magic one. So will they repeat the magic of ORDINARY in box office??? Lets see

Story
Vishnu(Kunchacko Boban) is a petty thief stealing mobile phones, Louiy(Biju Menon) a goon and Pappan aka Pappettan(Prathap Pothen) meets at jail. After the counselling programme by Dr.Issac(Narein), they decided to start a new life after releasing from jail. Vishnu & Louiy goes to Pappan's flat and there they starts a new life. Vishnu is now a private ambulance driver & Louiy and Pappan runs a kindergarten with the help of Dr.Issac. Their life changes when they involve to solve Dr.Issac's problem. Watch the rest on screen.

Performances
Kunchacko Boban as Vishnu has delivered a smart performance. His intro scene was stylish to the core. As usual, the romantic scenes featuring Chackochan was a treat to watch. Climax protions belongs to him. Once again his chemistry with Biju Menon works in many scenes. Biju Menon has got a good set of oneliners this time too though his performance was dull at parts especially in second half. Pratap Pothen was good as Pappettan especially his scenes in flat and gestures were funny. Narein got a good role but failed to raise to the level except in climax action sequence. Heroines had nothing much to do. Rest of the cast did their part well.

Songs & BGM
Vidyasagar was not in good form this time though the theme music and the song version was fine. Kannil Kannil is the pick of the lot. Songs were picturised very well with smart visuals. BGM was fine.

Technical
Art Director Suresh Kollam and Cinematographer Faisal Ali are the show stealers here. Awesome work by both. Editing by V Saajan was good in first half but needs trimming in second half.

Script & Direction
Story by director Sugeeth is as old as hill plot only - a rehashed version of Ramji Rao Speaking & tamil movie SA-RO-JA. Screenplay & Dialogues by Rajesh Raghavan was entertaining in first half though no major story started in first half. Not a single dull moment in first half. Second half moves in a predictable way and once Narein's plot starts the movie starts lagging. Still the climax was entertaining though predictable. Direction by Sugeeth had a fresh approach especially in first half. The way the characters were introduced and till Interval portion was visual treat. Romantic scenes were taken in a beautiful manner - with close up shots and slow motion with apt BGM. Second half faced the problem of lagging for audience due to predictability and lengthy scenes of Narein. Climax was well executed.

On the whole a good first half & tads above average second half with a fine climax

Verdict : Above Average
BO Verdict : Hit

The movie is a perfect vacation entertainer but chances for another ORDINARY show in box office is less.

Once again Kunchacko Boban-Biju Menon combo is encashed in many scenes, the title sequences is the best example for their chemistry

ROMANS

ROMANS

Theatre : Aluva Zeenath
Showtime & Date : 6.15pm, 17-01-2013
Status : Balcony FULL, FC 95%

The hit duo Kunchacko Boban - Biju Menon comes together in Janapriyan fame director Boban Samuel's ROMANS scripted by Y V Rajesh. Expectation was just a simple entertainer. But the movie turned out to be a well made kidu racy mass comedy entertainer which was never expected from the director. The duo actors made the show to the max entertaining level.

Story
Aakash(Kunchacko Boban) & Shibu(Biju Menon) escapes from way to prison and reaches Poomala village where people were expecting two priests from Rome. To find a hide out & to make money, they acts like priests from Rome & things change when they plans to conduct the church function which has got some mysterious past.

Performances
Kunchacko Boban & Biju Menon - their chemistry was magical. Throughout the film we can see them complimenting each other. The whole film was their show. Terrific combo & ORDINARY is just a history after this movie for sure

Shaju was funny with costumes & visiting card numbers. Nelson was too good. Ponnamma Babu rocks in her cameo. After a long time, Kakka Ravi aka Nizhalgal Ravi in a cameo.Lalu Alex rocks, T G Ravi & Vijayaraghavan too. Niveda was just for the sake of a heroine. The one who played Arun Ghosh's heroine is a heroine material. Awesome screen presence.
Rest of the actors did their part well.

Songs & BGM
Though songs by M Jeyachandran was passable, BGM by Bijipal rocked especially for Chackochan & BijuMenon scenes.
Technical
Cinematography was awesome, Editing was perfect for second half, but first half needs a bit more better work I felt. Art direction was awesome.

Script & Direction
Script by Y V Rajesh was superb. Though the basic thought was from hollywood flick We're No Angels, the thread was beautifully made into a fresh story & executed very well with nice elements in apt mixture. Fun was there thoughout along with sentiments & horror factor. Best screenplay by Y V Rajesh till date. Dialogues were too funny at many parts which makes us miss some proceeding dialogues. Smart work

Direction by Boban Samuel was impressive. We can't believe that the same director who created Janapriyan made this. Scenes were well crafted & told in a fresh manner at many points especially flashback & story telling modes. Frame composition were awesome for 90% of the scenes. Not a single dull moment. So racy & fun filled.

Overall the first good comedy mass entertainer, enjoy with your families

Verdict : Go for it
BO Verdict : Sure Hit, chances for Blockbuster too(if ORDINARY can, this one has  double chances)

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)

ORDINARY

ORDINARY

Theatre : TVM Kripa

Status : Balcony Full, FC 70%

Showtime & Date : 11.30am,17-03-2012

Ever since the first poster of this movie was seen on 24th Jan 2010, I was very much impressed by the way it was designed. 

Finally movie started shooting towards end of 2011 & movie released today. A very impressive starcast, good songs, smart picturisaton of songs & awesome cinematography in those, smart posters everything added much to the pre-release hype of the movie. Whether movie was able to meet the expectations?  Lets take a look.

Story

IravikuttanPillai aka "E Ravi"(Kunchacko Boban) dreams of a political life. But he was forced to join as a KSRTC conductor after his father. His first posting was in an ORDINARY service from Pathanamthitta to Gavi which has Sukumaran(Biju Menon) as driver. The rest of the story is life of Iravi & Suku in Gavi & people there.

Performances

The smart combo - Kunchacko Boban & BijuMenon steals the show. Kunchacko Boban as Iravi was safe in his hands as it had some freshness watching on screen and the energy level too was high. BijuMenon as Suku driver who is alcoholic was wonderful with witty dialogues. The Palakkadan slang was superb. Be it comedy or sentiments, action or romance both shines in their own style. Kunchacko Boban was given enough dialogues & situations in script to score as a mass hero where as BijuMenon was provided with witty oneliners & a sad background for sentiments which worked out well with both.The climax action sequence in which both of them blocks the main villain was awesome.The best taken action sequence frame I have seen in recent times.

Asif Ali as Bhadran seems to be a miscast. He had nothing to do in first half. In second half, he was just shouting & smiling. Repeating the same expressions every time created boos in theatre. He is still what we have seen in Apoorvaragam. Jishnu was fine as Jose mash. BabuRaj again rocked as Vakkachan the Gaviboy in first hal, in secon half he was absolutely missing. Ann Augustine is another person who should be given an application form to an acting school along with Asif Ali. In song sequnces & dance steps she was wooden. Debutant Shritha was just okay only. Dharmarajan will make us laugh. Lalu Alex, Raghavan, T P Madhavan, Vaiga did their parts

Songs

Lyrics were writtenby Rajeev Nair(who is also the producer of the movie). Lyrics were fine & simple, catchy too especially Sun Sun & Enthinee MizhiRandum. Vidyasagar once again is back in form. Sun Sun & Enthinee are already topping the charts. Superb music & awesome picturisation. Thechippoo song was situational one though it makes us remind of Vidyasagar's composition of Sundariye song in Oru Maravathoor Kanavu at times.  Opening song Chenthamara was beautiful with graphic titles. Suryashalabham by K J Yesudas was a good situational one picturised with awesome visuals.. BGM was good at parts.

Technical

Another hero of the movie - cinematographer Faizal Ali. The beauty of Gavi was well framed in the whole movie. Movie was a visual extravaganza. Editing by V Saajan was good in first half, needs some trimming in second half. Art Direction was good. Costumes were fine.

Script & Direction

Script by Nishad Koya & ManuPrasad had a nice thread & had a good start too. But the story was too cliched to be presented in second half which is about an hour is a bit too lengthy. First half had enough nice moments though predictable. Dialogues were Superb & witty ones. Second half of the movie falls into the cliched line which we have seen in similar lines & the flashback episode & twist could have been something else.

Direction by debutant Sugeeth needs special mention. Though a debutant, he handled first half as an experienced one as a racy one. But second half could have been better. The flashback episode & climax could have been a lot better. Also the casting of Asif Ali was a wrong choice. Action sequences were well taken. If second half was made with same energy of first half, this would have been a great entertainer.

Overall a super first half & tad above average second half

Verdict : ABOVE AVERAGE

BO Verdict : HIT if promoted well & will be in theatres in coming weeks along with biggies



The dialogue which rocked the theatres
Chackochan to Sritha : Kutty, aarodum parayillenkil njanoru sathyam parayaam, SOUTH INDIAYIL ENGLISH SAMSAARIKKUNNA ORE ORU CONDUCTOR NJAANAANU

SPANISH MASALA

SPANISH MASALA

Theatre : TVM Kripa
Showtime & Date : 11.15am, 22-01-2012
Status : Housefull

What we'll expect from a Lal Jose-Benny P Nayarambalam combo with Dileep, Kunchacko Boban & Biju Menon coming together with Spain as backdrop - good comedies, nice twists, extraordinary visuals in songs & scenes - altogether an entertainer. But the outing from the team SPANISH MASALA is a total disaster.

Story
Story begins with childhood days of Kamela(debutant Austrian model Daniela Zacherl) whose father is leaving back to his homeland Spain after his service as brand ambassdor in India. She learn Malayalam from her Aaya(Vinayaprasad). Then camera focuses to childhood days of Charlie(Dileep) who is not at all interested in learning especially English language. After 16 years, due to financial problems, Charlie now a mimicry artist decided to stay back in Spain after his stage programme for a job without a job visa. He gets the job of a chef in an Indian restaurant. Kamela impressed by his Dosa asks Menon(Biju Menon), the manager to buy that. Considering the health matters, he appoints Charlie as chef in her house. Kamela was in love with Rahul(Kunchacko Boban) whom she believes was killed by her father. After a series of incidents, impressed by his tatics her father decided Charlie as his son-in-law. Menon asks Charlie to bring his relatives there to take a decision regarding this. By the time, Kamela's father dies. Then comes back Rahul to the picture. I'm sure what's the rest of the story you have in mind. The very same thing without any changes or surprises can be viewed in this.

Performances
Dileep as Charlie, to an extent was a tailor-made role for him but missed the Dileep in his old movies in which he used to score a lot in similar scenes. Except some 2-3 comedy scenes and 2-3 scenes in second half, script wasted him in such a dull role. Kunchacko Boban as Rahul had a good entry in Interval sequence but the script had nothing much to offer him except two scenes with Dileep. His performance in climax sequence was Superb. LalJose & Benny P Nayarambalam should be blamed for not utilising BijuMenon in such an underdeveloped character with same style dialogue delivery throughout the movie. Nelson as Pappan had a nice debut chance but except his cliched drunken guy(in which he scores in TV shows) scene in second half, nothing evoked much laughter. Daniela Zacherl as Kamela was a cliched absent minded lover girl. Vinayaprasad was OK but Kalaranjini was bore. Spanish actors had nothing to do other than to drink wine all the time & smile for what lead actors are doing. Archana Kavi was awesome in her cameo(because she had no dialogues or any scenes to perform). Nivin Pauly had the looks, why LalJose didn't use him???

Songs
Vidyasagar always created magic with LalJose. But here that magic was missing. Arezhuthiyavo is the pick of the lot. Song picturisation tto lacked the LalJose touch. BGM was too loud at times & senti music used was heard from Doordarshan times itself.

Technical
Lokanathan, the cinematographer was sleeping giving camera to Spanish technicians I think. The trademark LalJose visuals were there in few scenes only - the sunrise scene during titles, Interval scene & Dileep-Chackochan scene in second half. Editor can't help this movie more than this is what I can say. Art direction was just okay.

Script & Direction
Benny P Nayarambalam known for presenting silly storylines with good comedies & screenplay flow miserably fails here after PothenVava & Lollypop. Plot eventhough silly had enough elements to make it a suspense thriller in second half was converted to a cliched malayalam movie which we have seen 100 times before, to be exact the early career movies of Shankar,Mammootty & Mohanlal. Predictable to the core was one problem & the characterisation of Dileep, Chackochan & BijuMenon were limited by the screenplay. Dialogues were good at parts especially Dileep's dialogue in second half, Chackochan's dialogue in climax & Biju Menon's dialogue regarding his old lover. Benny, please concentrate on script suiting today's audience or future audience but not for audience of 80s movie. Masala was there only on movie title only, but spoiled second half whcih would have been a great Masala Entertainer with twists & action. Childhood school days of Charlie's character makes us remember the Salt n Pepper first scene in school.

LalJose announced the movie & went for a tour to Spain I think. This is not what audience expected from the most promising(We were wrong) director in the new league. After Arabikkadha, your love towards movie seems to be in low level. Elsamma enna Aankutty though an average movie had nice moments with greeneries as background & nice performances. This one had nothing to take a look for second time except the following scenes
1. Dileep's 2-3 comedy scenes
2. Kunchacko Boban in Climax
3. Nelson as drunken guy
4. Interval

I don't think that today's Malayalee audience will watch this movie for the above said scenes alone just because it's a movie by LALJOSE. Please concentrate on script next time. All the very best for DIAMOND NECKLACE

Don't know why Spain was chosen as backdrop for this storyline which is as old as Himalayas for Malayalam/Indian Cinema.

Verdict : Average, at max because of those scenes
BO Verdict : Flop, considering the huge budget

Once Casanova gets released on 26th Jan & if it works well with audience, Spanish Masala will be a washout at BOX OFFICE.

Wait for a DVD release as this one had nothing worth for a theatre watch.