MEMORIES

MEMORIES

Theatre : Aluva Zeenath Screen 2
Showtime & Date : 12.00pm, 15-08-2013
Status : Housefull

Jeethu Joseph who started his career with an investigation flick - Suresh Gopi starrer DETECTIVE is back to that genre after a hatrick success with MUMMY n ME & MY BOSS. Does the movie promises the ample thrills?? Lets see

Story
Its the same old wine - Sam Alex(Prithviraj)who was once a brilliant police officer is now on leave and a drunkard now because of his personal tragedy. He was asked to take up a case which he starts and finishes well, as usual towards the end it becomes personal.

Performances
Prithviraj was good as Sam Alex, especially in first half. He performed well in scenes with Nedumudi Venu. Its a big break for Rahul Madhav. Nedumudi Venu and Vijayaraghavan was good and Suresh Krishna was apt. Sreejith Ravi gets typecasted where as Madhupal is wasted. Kuttickal Jayachandran was fine in his cameo, so are Irshad & Praveen though nothing much to do. Rest of the cast were fine. Mia was an unwanted role as Varsha, the journalist while Meghna Raj had nothing to do in cameo.

Songs & BGM
Only one song in the movie which could have been avoided that adds as a speed breaker. BGM was good in towards interval and towards climax portions. But on other proceedings BGM failed.

Technical
Cinematography was fine, Editing could have been a bit more tighter. Graphics work was not upto the mark though the idea was awesome.

Script & Direction
Both departments are handled by Jeethu Joseph himself. Though the story is the same old wine, a mix of Mohanlal starrers MUKHAM & GRANDMASTER, it is the screenplay and packaging by Jeethu which makes the product a bit different. First half was more focussed on character development and from few minutes before interval, the movie falls on track. The flashback episodes were routine and the interrogation scene was the most funniest one in the film. Dialogues at few scenes were superb, but at other times, it was too artificial. Second half was much better and the detailing by director needs mention though many are left unanswered. Eventhough the suspense revealing scene and final encounter between main characters do not make any impact, it is the question to HOW(those who watched the movie may understand) he saved makes a better impression for the movie altogether(similar impact which S J Suryah could create in the climax of Newtonin Moondram Vidhi). Direction by Jeethu could have been better though initial and climax scenes were well executed, at times the movie lacks the pace.

Overall a well-written investigation flick

Verdict : Engaging Thriller
BO Verdict : Hit

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

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.

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!!!

SALT N' PEPPER

SALT N' PEPPER

Theatre : TVM Sreevisakh

Showtime & Date : 11.30am, 11-07-11

Status : Housefull

After an impressive debut with DADDY COOL(read my review) in 2009, director Aashiq Abu is back with his new movie SALT N' PEPPER with no big names in lead.

Story

Archeologist Kalidasan(Lal) is a foodie staying along with his cook Babu(Adv.Baburaj), his nephew Manu(Asif Ali) & a tribal guy Mooppan who was brought to his house to learn about new dishes & its making. Maya(Sewtha Menon) is a dubbing artist in film industry staying as paying guest in a beautician's(Kalpana) home along with Meenakshi(Maithili). Kalidasan & Maya meets through a call ordering DOSA, which was a wrong number. Kalidasan & Maya falls in love through chat without seeing each other. At a point, they decided to meet. Kalidasan sents Manu instead of him & Maya sents Meenakshi as they were really introvert & a bit complex. Whether Kalidasan & Maya unites is the rest of the story.

Performances

Lal as Kalidasan is the show stealer. The character was safe in his hands. Small movements, be it after tasting a food or after cutting the call when Swetha cries thinking about her mother, Lal was too good. A tailor-made role for him.

Adv.Baburaj as Babu the cook with some feminine nature is a change for him & audience. His oneliners & certain gestures will make us laugh at parts. But comparing to his role in DADDY COOL, its nowhere. Asif Ali as Manu had nothing much to do. He did an ok job & improved in his dialogue delivery. Swetha Menon was a miscast, atleast for me. ROHINI was the best person to play that role. Also Bhagyalakshmi's dubbing was not matching for her. She did an ok job. Mythili too had nothing much to do. In her intro scene itself, she proved that she's not a heroine material with bad expression. Kalpana had nothing to do in her bad makeup.Tribal character Mooppan was just a showcase material. Archana Kavi & NanduLal was fine in their cameo.

If someone tells you like this is a feel-good romantic movie, then you can find only one such sequence in this movie. Its not Lal-Swetha or Asif-Mythili, its none other than VIJAYARAGHAVAN. Though the character makes us remember the type of characters which Nedumudi Venu played in 80s, Vijayaraghavan's way of performance & dialogue delivery & smart dialogues in script makes you tell that this is the feel-good lovestory.

Songs

Music by Bijibal fits to the mood of the movie. Though songs are speedbreakers & seems unwanted in a movie like this, the editing of "Premikkumbol" song makes it watchable. "Kaanamullal" was an unwanted one. The final song "Aanakallan" by Avial band was a disaster. Are you the same Aashiq Abu who directed "Daddy Cool" song in that movie end titles. Bad editing results in an headache only. This song totally disturbs the mood of the audience which created till before that..

Technical

After TRAFFIC, Shyju Khalid makes an impressive work at parts. The opening forest sequence, the car crossing the bridge, a set of such visuals was impressive. But lacked the presence in the movie. Editing was good at parts & boring too at parts. The opening sequence & some scenes makes us think why so lengthy. Editing could have been crisper. Art direction needs special mention.

Script & Direction

I'll rate this film above DADDY COOL script wise & below DADDY COOL direction wise.

Script is by Shyam Pushkar & Dileesh Nair. They told a simple story on the backdrop of food. But unfortunately the script disappoints at times. The movie's first half was en engaging one. But problem is with second half. The climax is already known to audience. The scenarists failed to make it engaging with nice twists & turns or some feel-good sequences. Instead the script gave importance to Asif-Mythili sequence which looks totally out of place. Though presented the simple theme in new package, the film is not free from cliches. Mythili falls in love with Asif once he helps her & admits her in hospital following a duet. Also an irritated romance failure hero showing his anger towards his beloved ones. It is the director who gives the film another dimension. Aashiq Abu started the movie very promisingly & differently with fresh title cards. But the direction loses at many parts. Even traces of DADDY COOL was there here too. Watch out for the scene how director tells us that the characters were fined a Rs.3000 & what for. It made me remember Antony Simon's suspension scene in DADDY COOL.  In scenes with content, there lacks visual beauty & viceversa. On the whole, a decent work. Though the movie was given the tagline "Oru Dosa undakkiya Kadha"(A story which is made by a DOSA), not only that Dosa the entire food stuff which was used wantedly & unwantedly for proceedings in first half was missing in second half. Climax was another big disappointment, neither the script writer nor director provide a surprise or freshness. Also once the shooting location with flowers is shown, people started telling like this will be the climax shot.

Verdict : Entertainer, if you have no other biggies in theatres

BO Verdict : May end up as a HIT

Aashiq Abu is a director with talent, but his work is not at all consistent. Hope from next time onwards he'll overcome this.

People were booing & shouting & passing comments about Prithviraj when Swetha's opening sequence was a la'CLASSMATES sequence dubbing & later the same actor speaks about fans flex work.

Claps were there for Mammootty & Kunchacko Boban in the opening titles.Watch it!!