HOMELY MEALS

HOMELY MEALS

Theatre : TVM SReePadmanabha
Showtime & Date  : 11.00am, 03-10-2014
Status : Balcony around 15 people FC 6 people

After Jawan of Vellimala, director Anoop Kannan is back with HOMELY MEALS written and lead character done by Vipin Atley, who shot to fame years back with a film based programe called INTERVAL on Jeevan TV and later Kairali TV.

Story
Its about a person who wants to be part of TV or Cinema field, his struggle, betrayal, experiences, family experiences, friends played by Vipin Atley. We may feel like its his personal experience while making the programme INTERVAL for the TV channel.

Performances
Vipin Atley was natural and given a sincere performance. Srinda is surely an actress to stay here. Manoj K Jayan's SharathChandran character could have been better which went overboard. Kailash, after Neelathaamara performed well in his role. Neeraj Madhav was superb. Sudheer Karamana proved in his cameo that he's one of the best character artist in this generation. Babu Antony as himself in his cameo though exaggerated was superb. Nedumudi Venu did a fine job. Jugru, the Monkeypen kid rocked in Interval portion.

Newcomers were too good. The one who played Josappan is sure to stay in Malayalam Cinema, his eyes speaks a lot.

Songs & BGM
Both suits well with the movie. Bhoomiyil Theme song was a superb one which is the anthem of the movie. BGM FOR LALAN - "Lala Lala" from Vandanam simply rocked.
Technical
Art direction was good. Cinematography was good in songs sequences. Editing could have been better especially in first half.

Script & Direction
Script by Vipin Atley which we may feel like its his biography. Scenes were natural, dialogues to. First half wa a tad lengthy till he second epsiode making. That one was one brilliantly executed item - especially Babu Antony's and Shakeela's crying scene. Second half was a above first half especially Neeraj episode and climax portions were well written and executed. But there are scenes which we may find out of the box or forced ones especially poorly written Manoj K Jayan's characterisation and some comedy scenes. And those who have no idea about the programme INTERVAL may find a bit difficult to adjust with the movie as everything starts all of a sudden than taking its own time to introduce and start the plot.

Anoop Kannan made a product which looks far superior to his debut venture. He did a good job. Interval and climax portions were neatly exeuted.

Overall eventhough negatives are there, the movie never disappoints and being a newcomer's venture in script area, its a commendable work.

Verdict : Enjoyable

NERAM

NERAM

Theatre : Aluva Matha
Showtime & Date : 6.20pm, 11-05-2013
Status : Balcony Almost FULL, FC 45%

LAL JOSE FILMS, PISTAH song and an amazing trailer, these are more than enough to give Alphonse Putheran's debut film NERAM(a bilingual, Tamil version releasing a on 17th May by  Udayanithi Stalin's RED GIANT MOVIES) a try. The tagline itself was interesting.

Story
Story is waferthin one. Its the story happening from 9am to 6pm in a day. Mathew(Nivin Pauly) has to pay back the amount he borrowed from VattiRaja(Simha), a baddie. On the same day, his love Jeena(Nazriya) leaves her home to live with Mathew. On the way, Mathew loses his money. The rest of the story is full of twists and turns which director turned to a roller coaster ride.

Performances
Nivin Pauly as Mathew was good. His mannerisms & dialogue delivery was super cool. More action sequences should have given to him, he escelled in whatever given. Nazriya as Jeena - you can't look anything else on the screen on scenes which she appear. Amazing Screen presence. Her initial scenes shows the actor in her. An actress to look forward is here. Lalu Alex as Jeena's father was funny. Simha as VattiRaja was another promising actor. All the unknown actors was awesome. Joju once again proved his ability to do comic roles - Aliyan was wonderful.

Shammi Thilakan as S I Ookken Tintu and Manoj K Jayan as Achayan makes the show lively and engaging in scenes they appear and climax episode. Manoj K Jayan was awesome with his funny dialogues.

Songs & BGM
Rajesh Murugesan did a great job in both departments. All songs were equally good and picturised well and sync well to the narration.

Technical
Editing by Alphonse Putheran could have been better at parts. Cinematography by Anand C Chandran needs special mention. EXCELLENT work!!! Artists running through slums were beautifully picturised. Art direction by Mohana Mahendran was good. Action by RUN Ravi was cool.

Script & Direction
Story by Alphonse Putheran was a simple one. Its his screenplay that takes the story  to another level. Though first half was a bit slow, second half was superb with good twists and turns. Dialogues by Alphonse and Mohsin Kasim were perfect for a great entertainer.

Direction by Alphonse Putheran was superb. Whole movie was concieved in a new way. Still we feel that lots of scenes in second half, especially Manoj K Jayan's part could have been better by giving him more screenspace, Pistah song could have been used in a much better way like that. Realistic approach made the scenes funny at many points.

Another new director for malayalam cinema with new visions

On the whole, a racy entertainer with never a dull moment

Verdict : RACY ENTERTAINER
BO Verdict : Sure HIT

After AMEN, another movie fully belonging to director.

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)