NEELAKASHAM PACHAKADAL CHUVANNA BHOOMI

       

      NEELAKASHAM PACHAKADAL CHUVANNA BHOOMI is a simple story, but not aimed at all kinds of audience. This SAMEER THAHIR movie is Kasi's (played by DULQUER SALMAN) journey from Kerala to Nagaland to his lover Assi (played by SURJA BALA). NEELAKASHAM PACHAKADAL CHUVANNABHUMI is thus a love story told through a journey from Calicut in Kerala to Tawang in Nagaland.

          NEELAKASHAM PACHAKADAL CHUVANNA BHOOMI is directed by SAMEER THAHIR who used to be a cinematographer. Typical shots and traits of a cinematographer-turned -director's movie are frequently visible throughout the movie. Many beautiful shots captured shows the beauty of India as well as enhances the beauty of the movie. The movie's cinematographer GIREESH GANGADHARAN did a great job at it.

          The screenplay is typical of a movie that tells the story through a journey. HASHIR MOHAMMED had brought many instances into this journey that made the story move forward as well as to tell the past of the hero. These instances brought to be faced by Kasi and his friend Suni (played by SUNNY WAYNE) during their journey remind them of their college life and Kasi could relate these instances to different incidents of their college life. These scenes also tell us the social conditions as well as the culture of different parts of India.

          REX VIJAYAN had done a good job with the music department of the movie. He had composed the apt background scores for a story that is told through a journey. His signature style could be easily recognized through the songs.

          Overall, NEELAKASHAM PACHAKADAL CHUVANNA BHOOMI is a simple movie which tells a love story in a single rate of flow without any change of paces at any instance of the story.

DA THADIYA

          AASHIQ ABU had repeated his magic of youthful success through 'DA-THADIYA'. A fully youth-oriented movie, that is what 'DA-THADIYA' is. The simple style of story-telling that AASHIQ ABU had in 'SALT N PEPPER' as well as '22 FEMALE KOTTAYAM' is also followed in 'DA-THADIYA' which makes the movie beautiful.

          'DA-THADIYA' is the story of 'Luke John'(Played by SEKHAR MENON) who is obese. The complexes and habitat of the obese Luke is discussed beautifully in the movie. SEKHAR MENON had done his role in this debut venture very well. ANN AUGUSTINE, NIVIN PAULY, SREENATH BHASI and senior actors like IDAVELA BABU, MANIYANPILLA RAJU etc had performed well in this AASHIQ ABU movie.

          Along with discussing the problems and conditions of Luke, the movie also sarcastically points finger towards few political and social conditions of Malayalees. A lot of fun and youthfulness in the movie makes it interesting.

          The script is beautifully framed by SHYAM PUSHKARAN, DILEESH NAIR and ABHILASH S KUMAR. It had made the full use of the central character. All the twists and turns that can be created using the central character is beautifully included in the script. Although it makes a lot of fun out of the obese Luke, it never breaks any limit.

          As was in AASHIQ ABU's previous ventures, BIJIBAL had done the music for the movie as well as SHYJU KHALID the camera. Both had done their work beautifully.

          The fight scene prior to the climax was clearly adopted from the Hollywood animation movie 'KUNGFU PANDA'. This creates a feeling that the whole thread of the movie was adopted from 'KUNGFU PANDA'.

            With another beautiful movie, AASHIQ ABU had strengthened his place in Malayalam film industry.

BAVUTTIYUDE NAMATHIL

                                    

          BAVUTTIYUDE NAMATHIL is the film MAMMOOTTY - RENJITH team had done after 'PRANCHIYETTAN & THE SAINT'. Although it was RENJITH who wrote the script, G.S. Vijayan directed it. it was the return of G.S. Vijayan to Malayalam films after 12 years (his previous film was coverstory (2000)).

            Many instances in the movie represents the punches of a typical RENJITH script. The usual criticism to Malayalees appears many a times in the movie. Apt dialogues were also nicely included in the script. The story being based in Northern Kerala, the Malabar slang of its characters was inevitable. None in the movie presented it with sarcasm or exaggeration.

            'Bavutti'(played by MAMMOOTTY), being an orphan is portrayed as a character who values for relationships very much. His attachment to 'Sethus'(played by 'SHANKAR RAMAKRISHNAN') family is nicely discussed in the movie. KAVYA MADHAVAN had played her role of 'Vanaja' very well.

            Although the script by RENJITH was the main attraction of the movie, it can only be rated as just an average venture & nothing more. As ' BAVUTTIYUDE NAMATHIL' succeeds 'MAMMOOTTY - RENJITH' team's 'PRANCHIYETTAN & THE SAINT ', it was awaited with a great lot of expectations. But MAMMOOTTY's performance as 'Baavutti' comes nowhere near the shadows of 'Pranchiyettan'. Even 'Bavutti's' characterization wasn't strong enough to make the audience feel him.

            Though RENJITH's script gave strong backbone to the movie, the direction wasn't good enough to meet the expectations it had created before its release. In fact many scene & styles in the movie made it feel little over and bored.

            Although it wasn't RENJITH who directed the movie, his usual teammates, RAFEEQ AHMED and SHAHBAZ AMAN are also part of this movie. SHAHBAZ AMAN had done the music to lyrics of RAFEEQ AHMED in 'BAVUTTIYUDE NAMATHIL'. The title song was wonderfully done by this team.

            Considering the movie in its whole, it is just an average movie. But it never does any harm to the hopes of good and better movies from RENJITH.

JAB TAK HAIN JAAN

The last movie from Yash Chopra gifted the viewers with a beautiful love story. Though the story was beautiful, the screenplay couldn’t support the story well. The weakness in the screenplay caused the nearly three-hour movie feel little boring.
Yash Chopra’s last film and Shahrukh Khan’s Diwali release for the year had created great expectations in the people for these reasons. But it was nothing but an average Bollywood a love story movie for them. Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma, who played the lead female roles in the movie made the movie colourful by their presence.
The real beauty of the movie was AR Rahman’s music. All the songs he had composed for the movie are beautiful and had obtained positions in the hit chart. Gulzar’s lyrics also had equal importance in creating the songs beautiful.
As usual SRK had played the role of a romantic hero very well in his own class. Through JAB TAK HAI JAAN, he had tightened his position as bollywood’s most romantic hero. Anushka Sharma also did her job wonderfully in the movie. While, Katrina Kaif couldn’t does it well.
Although the movie represented a great love story, it couldn’t get the real attraction due to its weak script. In fact the weakness in the script made the movie really lengthy. The screenplay couldn’t make the viewer’s feel the story. It failed to represent the highly emotional situations within the story with their required strength.
Katrina’s not-so-good acting and Aditya Chopra’s script made the beautiful story look ‘just an average movie’.
Let the memories of Yash Copra be long living through his beautiful movies.

AYALUM NJANUM THAMMIL

                               Ayalum njanum thammil is a beautiful movie from Lal Jose and the Bobby – Sanjay team. Bobby & Sanjay had written the movie well. They seem to be placing themselves among the leading script writers in Malayalam film industry. As for Lal Jose, it is just another good movie he could make.

          Bobby & Sanjay had included many instances in the script to emotionally evoke the viewers. It starts with the heart surgery of a 6 year old girl who happened to die during the surgery. This incident draws the media attention to Dr. Ravi Tharakan (played by Prithviraj), the movie then explores into the life of Dr. Tharakan. The script is beautifully framed and exhibits traits of what is called a new-generation movie.

          The script is framed in such a way that the life of Dr. Tharakan is explained through different characters who have known him at one stage or another of his life. The life of Dr. Tharakan and molding of himself into a dedicated and matured physician is explained beautifully in the script. Prithviraj have done well in this role.

          The movie explains to the viewers the life and hardships of doctors. Dr. Samuel (played by Prathap Pothan) who runs the Redemption Hospital is pictured as a highly dedicated and committed doctor. Dr. Tharakan’s rural service in Redemption Hospital and his co-working with Dr. Samuel cover most part of the movie. This phase of Dr. Tharakan’s life is explained through Dr. Supriya (played by Remya Nambeesan), who was also doing her rural service in the hospital with Dr. Tharakan.

          Narain played the second lead role of Dr. Vivek, the best friend of Dr. Tharakan. Dr. Vivek’s character explains campus & love life of Dr.Tharakan. Like in ‘Classmates’, he was chosen to replace Kunchako Boban, who was the primary consideration for Dr. Vivek’s role, but opted outs. Though the movie had been compared with ‘Classmates’, there isn’t anything similar in both (other than its director and the actors played the lead role).

          There was a terrible mistake within the movie. The assistant commissioner says that Dr. Tharakan’s cell phone was found from the accident site and its last call was to a taxi driver. But in a later scene, it is shown that Dr. Tharakan calls for taxi from his home, using his landline.

          Bobby & Sanjay have proved through Ayalum Njanum Thammil that they are good in handling highly emotional instances in their script.

TRIVANDRUM LODGE

          The team of ‘Beautiful’ has repeated their success through ‘Trivandrum Lodge’. Anoop Menon, Jayasurya and VKP (plus certain others who had been part of ‘Beautiful’) have done well in ‘Trivandrum Lodge’.

          Anoop Menon’s script is the backbone and the main feature of the movie. His works resemble those of the classic writer in Malayalam, i.e., Padmarajan (resemblance in the way that they both handle the subject ‘sex’ in a class of their own, without making it appear vulgar). Even Anoop had brought the character ‘Thangal’ (Played by Babu Namboothiri) of Padmarajan’s ‘Thoovana Thumpikal’ to ‘Trivandrum Lodge’. It seems like Anoop is trying to imitate Padmarajan.

          The story evolves through the life of different people living and related to ‘Trivandrum lodge’ in Kochi. The residents, its owner and certain other people coming in touch with the lodge form the characters of the story. The one thing the movie tries to discuss is the views of all these characters regarding sex. The concept of ‘male – female relationship’ (sex) is discussed through different perceptions in ‘Trivandrum Lodge’. Different levels, layers, types and views of male – female relationship have been expressed well in the movie.

          The dialogues were absolutely and perfectly framed to match the realistic situations. But at certain situations they seem to cross the limit of polity. Some dialogues were strictly adults only (though they can’t be avoided from the script).

          Though it was Anoop Menon who had written the movie, ‘Trivandrum Lodge’, being directed by V.K. Prakash (VKP, the director of ‘Gulumal’, ‘Three Kings’ etc) was foreseen with a hesitation to accept. But Anoop’s script and the team of ‘Beautiful’ have done ‘Trivandrum Lodge’ very well blowing away all the hesitations.

          All the characters seem to be interested only in sex. An exception is ‘Ravisankar’ (played by Anoop Menon) who says he is a one–woman man. Abdu (played by Jayasurya) is an insensitive character who is deprived of all his confidence. Jayasurya has done the role really well. Honey rose and famous playback singer P. Jayachandran have also played in lead roles in the movie very well.

          Dealing with the subject ‘sex’ within a movie need to be very carefully done, else, it will look like nothing short of an adults-only movie. But the script explains the subject really well without any vulgarity.

          The music department of the movie has done well. The result was good songs (composed by M. Jayachandran) and excellent background score (composed by Bijibal).

          ‘Trivandrum Lodge’ is thus, a good movie Malayalam film industry had given, with more to expect from Anoop Menon.

FRIDAY

                                          FRIDAY MALAYALAM MOVIE REVIEW

     

          Friday is a movie that came out to form a link in the chain of new generation movies in Malayalam. It represented a great theme and idea. But this theme and idea couldn’t be well supported by its script.

          Since ‘Friday’ being only the first movie from its director ‘Lijin Jose’, its failure in living up to the expectations could only be seen as a first timer’s starting trouble. Lijin Jose has done well in his short film ‘Conditions Apply’, but ‘Friday’, as a feature film couldn’t be a fully satisfying venture.

          The movie came out as a new generation venture. But it couldn’t be fully called so. There were instances that made it feel like one, but the screenplay was very weak in establishing the new generation trend.

          The initial phase of building up of the story was too lagging and dragging, as was the end. ‘Najeem Koya’, couldn’t make his screenplay strong enough to make the audience feel the story and the intensity of the situations. There was a kind of dryness in the whole script and the character sketches. It even included unwanted characters. Like a pregnant beggar roaming around and giving birth to her second child and then again walking around with her two children. Apparently, this character never forms a link in any part of the story.

The story was moving forward with great drag and so even the songs couldn’t generate much interest in the movie. The movie represented the great theme of the incidents occurring during a single day around a few people in a town. So, there were a great lot of dramas expected from it. The main failure of the movie was in not realizing the expectation of huge drama from the theme it represented.

Like in all his ventures, ‘Fahad Fazil’ has done absolutely well in ‘Friday’. Only the scenes with him showed the only traces of the new trend. Well, it seems that the moviemakers now think that including Fahad, pregnancy and delivery scenes, and making the whole story roll around within a day would make a new generation hit. But they fail to realize that it needs to be supported with a strong screenplay.

With the first movie from Lijin Jose being an above average venture, the hopes for better movies from him are still on.