Which Malayalam film did you watch recently ?

[Sarna]

here you go :boo:

[Sarna]

Paandippada :- thanks for Asianet channel :bow: :bow: purely fun-filled entertainer :)

[complicateur]

Sarna,
nanRi hai!

AksharangaL. Jeyamohan contrasted Lohi's women with M.T's M.T.Vasudevan's women in Lohi's obit. Easy to notice it when you observe Seema's character in this film. A lot of similarities to her ALkUttathil thaniyE character.

[Murali Srinivas]

[tscii:f2dad4a31d]Deepak,

Nice to see you mention about Aksharangal and Alkootathil thaniye. If only you had mentioned that Jayamohan is the character name of Mams in Aksharangal [the teacher role - always felt Mam - IVSasi -MT combo was superb], less initiated would have understood it well.

Another happy news is Mammookka's latest movie "Loud Speaker" directed by Jayaraj and released today seems to be very good. The reviews have been good so far. Here is one

Loud Speaker -Review

By Cine Critic | 20th september, 2009| 3:40:15

Mammootty has proved time and again that he is at his best in family-oriented films. Thaniyavarthanm, Valsalyam, Kazhcha, Amaram,are some of the films which have evoked wholehearted response from the cine-goers. It is a big relief to note that after a brief flirtation with flippancy in Bhootham and Love in singapore, the Malayalam megastar is back on familiar ground in Loud Speaker. The result of the Mammootty-Jayaraj team-up is a delectable mind-blowing family entertainer.

This is the second time Mammootty and Jayaraj have come together, the first time being in Johny Walker. Family-centric plots are Jayaraj’s forte too. Two of his films that spring to mind are Thalolam and Deshadanam, both of which secured critical as well as popular acclaim.

Story starts when Mike Philippose coming from a village to the city to donate his kidney for his financial needs. Menon, (Sasikumar) he lost both kidneys and living on dialysis who requires an emergency kidney replication. Philippose comes and started staying with Menon in flat. Philippose is a loud speaker by nature and becoming a nuisance for both Menon and other people who lives in other flats. But slowly but gradually Philippose becoming a part of their whole life and how this relationship grows and leads into a stunning climax.

Strong point of Loud Speaker is competent performances from, Mammootty and Sasi kumar . And when it is propped up by a powerful script (Jayaraj) and crisp dialogues, the outcome is a fare that appeals to all, cutting across gender and age barriers.Then there is Salim Kumar & Suraj whose mahout provides the comic element, and Gracy Singh who plays an home Nurse, nothing much to do for her but done her part well. Kochin haneef, Jagathi and KPAC Lalitha acquit themselves well in supportive roles.

Bijipal’s music meshes well with the mood of the movie. One song remix of , “Alliyambal” sung by Vijay Yesudas has caught on popular imagination.

All in all, Loud Speaker is a simple story told in a simple way. Jayaraj takes a mighty swipe at modernity that kills relationships and blights fraternal bonds. No matter the hurdles, love ,Friend ship and kin triumph in the end. That is the enduring message of Loud Speaker. And Jayaraj has conveyed it convincingly.

Verdict: Excellent

Waiting for Chennai release.

Regards[/tscii:f2dad4a31d]

[P_R]

[tscii]
If only you had mentioned that Jayamohan is the character name of Mams in Aksharangal [the teacher role - always felt Mam - IVSasi -MT combo was superb], less initiated would have understood it well.

He meant writer Jeyomahan, who wrote a series of posts about Lohitadas when he passed away. In those posts he contrasted the way MT Vasudevan Nair and Lohitadas portrayed their women.


எம்.டி.வாசுதேவன் நாயரின் கதாநாயகிகளுக்கும் லோகியின் கதாநாயகிகளுக்கும் நிறைய வேறுபாடு உண்டு. எம்.டியின் பெண்கள் எல்லாரும் ரெண்டு வார்ப்பு. 1, திமிரான பெரிய இடத்துப்பெண்கள்.2. அடக்கமான அன்பான கிராமத்துப் பெண்கள் இன்னொரு வகை. இந்த இரண்டாம்வகைப்பெண்கள்தான் துக்கபுத்திரி என்று கேரள மனதிலே பதிந்திருக்கிறார்கள். அந்தமாதிரி கதாபாத்திரங்களைத்தான் பிறகும் நிறைய்பேர் உருவாக்கினார்கள் . ஆள்கூட்டத்தில் தனியே என்றபடத்திலே சீமா பண்ணிய கதாபாத்திரத்தை உதாரணமாகச் சொல்லலாம். அவள் பணம் இல்லாதவள். ஆகவே கைவிடப்படுகிறாள். ஆனால் அது அன்பையும் பாசத்தையும் காட்ட தடையாக இல்லை. ஏனென்றால் அது அவளுடைய இயல்பு. அதேமாதிரி கதாபாத்திரம் மீண்டும் மீண்டும் எம்டி கதைகளிலே வரும். சீமாவே நாலைந்து பண்ணியிருக்கிறார்.

ஆனால் லோகியின் பெண்கள் வேற் மாதிரி. அவர்களும் மிகவும் கஷ்டத்தில் இருப்பார்கள். ஆனால் அந்தக் கஷ்டத்தை துணிச்சலாக சமாளி¢ப்பார்கள். எதற்கும் பயப்பட மாட்டார்கள். ‘வீண்டும் சில வீட்டுகாரியங்கள்’ படத்தில் வரக்கூடிய சம்யுக்தாவர்மா கதாபாத்திரம் போல. துணிந்து நின்று உலகத்தை சமளிக்கிற அபலைகள் அவர்கள்.

[Murali Srinivas]

Thanks Prabhu for the clarification. The name Aksharangal mentioned by Deepak made me to write that. Now reading his sms type message again [obit etc], I get it.

Regards

PS: On second thoughts, the teacher jayamohan - is it Aksharangal or Anubandham?

[complicateur]

Murali Sir,
The Anubandham character is 'Muralidharan Master', I believe :) . In AksharangaL Mammootty plays a writer called Jayadevan.

P_R has rightly pointed out the article I was referring to. I was in a rather cryptic mood while typing the post. Possibly because I didn't expect many people to read it. :)

I am actually more happy for Jayaraj if Loud Speaker is good. For someone who made films like kaLIyAttom and DeshAdanam, 4 the people and its likes were a significant drop in quality.

It seems there have been a few good Malayalam movies of late (KANA kaNmaNi, oru black and white kudumbam, Loud speaker...). And Pazahassi Raja is expected in a couple of weeks.

[Murali Srinivas]

Thanks Deepak for the Jayadevan -Jayamohan clarification again.

Regarding Jayaraj, you are right. He had made films in two extremities. If you see his latest films like Rain ! Rain --, you would be shocked to the core and would wonder whether this was the same guy who did Deshadanam and Kaliyaattam. Now it seems he has redeemed himself with Loud Speaker. This is the first time he had written the screenplay by himself [Mams asked him to do it. Earlier Ranjit was supposed to write it] and it has come out well.

But I am not sure of other films you had mentioned. While Kaana Kanmani seems to be a horror movie [Prethabaadha pidikkuna oru kochukutti] and is average, I heard. After Veruthe Oru Bharya, Jayaram is struggling to sustain that success though Baagya Devatha helped a bit [thanks to Sathyan Anthicaud].

Black and White kudumbam seems to be a disaster. That's what I was told.

Regarding PAzhassi Raaja, the film is scheduled to hit the theatres on Oct 2nd, though the Tamil version may release on Deepavali day. Yesterday the audio release function took place in Ernakulam and here is the link.

http://www.keralapals.com/2009/09/th...lusive-report/

Regards

[AravindMano]

Thiraikkadha. Prithviraj - Priyamani. Supposed to be based on Kamal-Srividya affair. Too dramatic for my taste. Disappointing. And for those hype and hoopla that Priyamani would get national award for this film, blasphemy. Oru wig vechchukitta, award kuduththiduNama!

[ajaybaskar]

Thiraikkadha. Prithviraj - Priyamani. Supposed to be based on Kamal-Srividya affair. Too dramatic for my taste. Disappointing. And for those hype and hoopla that Priyamani would get national award for this film, blasphemy. Oru wig vechchukitta, award kuduththiduNama!

It is being dubbed in Tamil to cash in on 'Prithvi-Priyamani' affair.

[madhu]

pranayavarnangal...

TV-la sariyA pakkala.. so oru DVD kidaichadhu..

nice movie.. :P

[Sarna]

Bhramaram got released here :) is it worth a watch ? anyone please confirm

[Murali Srinivas]

Saravana,

You can watch Bhramaram solely for Mohanlal. He had given out a splendid performance. [Ofcourse, that's what I heard. I have not seen myself].

Regards

PS: You tell me one info! The film Josh - starring Nagarajuna's son [Naga Chaithanya] and Radha's daughter [Krithika], how was it? Is it a hit?

[complicateur]

Two great posts (http://jeyamohan.in/?p=4190) on writing, the differences (http://jeyamohan.in/?p=4195) between Thamizh and Malayalam cinema (or at least what Malayalam cinema used to be) and the literary nature of a screenplay in Jeyamohan's posthumously published interview of A.K.Lohithadas. I am translating it to English because I believe a wider audience needs to read it.

[Murali Srinivas]

Thanks Deepak. It was a good read. Lohi is one of my favourite screenplay writers and this was a good introspection.

Regards

PS: Pleasantly surprised to see my letter still there in his blog. Earlier the entire thing [Sivaji -MGR kindal] had been removed.

[P_R]

Two great posts (http://jeyamohan.in/?p=4190) on writing, the differences (http://jeyamohan.in/?p=4195) between Thamizh and Malayalam cinema (or at least what Malayalam cinema used to be) and the literary nature of a screenplay in Jeyamohan's posthumously published interview of A.K.Lohithadas.
Oh yeah. I was just mentioning (http://www.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1920719#1920719) it in the other thread.

As he mentions in his second post, it was apparently published in 2003 itself in a journal edited by documentary filmmaker Leena Manimekalai. He republishing it in his blog.

[complicateur]

Murali Sir,

You are welcome.

P_R,
I think in the post-Padmarajan/Bharathan era, Lohithadas written films were the last bastion before Malayalam cinema fell into complete disarray. It seemed that he was losing his touch slightly since SoothradhAran (Jeyamohan indicated possible reasons in his obit).
As artists Lohi and Bharathan are incredibly close to my heart. Which is ironic because we could not be from more dissimilar backgrounds. I am if anything, quintessential middle class, while they were salt of the earth people. And yet I understand nearly every sentiment of theirs. I was so into every word of that interview I translated most of part 1 and posted it on the google groups created for those who attended the workshop. I felt it is sort of essential reading. But as aapiser Panneerrrrselvam might say "Response-E sariyilla" :mad: !
Anyway these are movies I would recommend in Lohi's filmography:
1.ThaniyAvarthanam
2.Kireedom
3.Jathakam (unmentioned usually but I think it is a lovely small film)
4.Mudra
5.His Highness Abdulla (there is a lot of comedy here and I am not sure if subtitles can do it justice - I have the VCD).
6.Bharatham
7.Amaram
8.Venkalam
9.BhoothakkaNNAdi (directed by him)
10.Kanmadam (directed by him)
That is 10 films. How many filmmakers can you say that about in India?

[Plum]

compli, link to your translation please

[complicateur]

[tscii:ef458a80bc]Plum,
It isnt posted anywhere you can read it immediately... So I will post the part I am done translating here. P_R, Murali Sir and others may correct any mistakes. If there are enough requests I will continue translating the whole thing.

Jeyamohan (JM): Why did you choose cinema as your medium? What kindled your interest?
A.K.Lohithadas (AKL): Cinema became my medium much later. My first medium was literature. My first introduction to the written word was at a young age. To be honest, I think writing came to me well before reading.
Every child looks to express itself, to justify its existence. It finds an outlet based on its own character, talents and surroundings. Music, sports, studies etc… Writing was something that reached me in this manner. From a very young age, I found indescribable strength in giving my worries and tears words. I felt untouchable … as if I was beating my worries…

JM: Your youth was quite sorrow-filled.
AKL: Yes. My father abandoned us when I was young. I grew up a hungry orphan. Lived in many of m relative’s homes. The written word was my greatest companion. I am a littérateur at heart. Cinema is the medium for my literature.

At the same time, words were insufficient. I needed acting as well. I would always act out what I wrote in my mind. I started writing in a manner that engendered acting and these became suitable for theatre. By 22 I was a recognized theatre writer, my first play “The Sindhu flows peacefully”.

In 1985 my first movie ‘ThaniyAvarthanam’ was released, directed by Sibi Malayil. That was a play I had originally conceived. I believe theatre is a basic art form. Acting is older than literature, maybe even language…

JM: Yes. In “The Gods must be crazy” the Bushmen act out their hunting experiences. Their language is still a very basic sound…

AKL: Everyone is an actor. Every second that we speak with our mouth, we speak with our body as well. As we grow older we grow extremely conscious of our bodies. That self-consciousness becomes a barrier to ac. It is harder to make an intelligent person act than it is a slightly developmentally challenged person. Youngsters are usually very willing actors. Teenagers are especially melodramatic…

JM: What is the relationship between theatre and literature?
AKL: Literature that can be acted out is theatre. At some point in history they should have been one and the same.

JM: In Meera Kathiravan’s thamizh translation of P.Padmarajan’s screenplay of Peruvazhiyambalam, Balu Mahendra insists that “screenplay is not literature, it cannot be read”. It is just a note for a director… (Translators Note: He said as much at the workshop on the last day)
AKL: That is a perspective. I do not want to argue. My perspective is a reflection of my reading and influences. A screenplay is definitely literature. If screenplay is not literature neither is playwriting. Shakespeare did not write to be read, he wrote to be acted. Keerthanai’s were written to be sung, yet they are literature too…

JM: Ingmar Bergman is a favorite director of mine. His Seventh Seal is unrelated to language. It is a scenic description, but reading it felt like reading literature. In our the reality of our imaginations is a greater cinema than he intended…
AKL: Theatre is considered literature only because the reader is able to visualize and act within oneself. People enter and exit our viewfinders. Screenplay is the same…

JM: But a screenplay will always be restricted by the requirements of film. Is that not a handicap?
AKL: Does theatre not have space constraints? Does it not need to fit in a cube? But the great playwrights turned this into the strength of the medium (Translators note: I remember reading how Sujatha created a play rehearsal as a play because his actors did not have time to learn the lines. This way they could carry their dialogs on stage…). They make all of life’s inequities and conflicts meet at a central point. There is a phrase called “Nadakaantham kaviththuvam”.
A screenplay is similar to that. It has to SHOW everything. It cannot meditate or think. It has to SHOW. That is its strength. Screenwriters have SHOWED life’s greatest tragedies, questions and happiness. That is how a screenplay becomes literature. Because when we read it everything comes to life in our imagination.

JM: Since the beginning in Malayalam writers have written screenplays.. Uruf wrote for ‘Neelakkuyil’, Thakazhi Sivasankarap Pillai, Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer, S.K.Petracott, Paarappuraththu Maththai, S.Suseendran so on and so forth. Malayalam cinema was shaped by great writers…
AKL: Pay attention though... these writers did not bring towards language (Translators note:I believe this might be a point against what happened in Thamizh where the sing-song nature gave way to verbosity, which was novel for its time, but does not seem relevant now). They built it as a visual art. Thoppil Bhasi, S.L.Puram Sadanandan, M.T.Vasudevan Nair (writer of the upcoming historical Pazhassi Raja), P.Padmarajan … the list goes on. They all wrote visual screenplays. Vice-versa today’s literature has been significantly affected by cinema.

JM: What is the beginning of a story?
AKL: The same way a short story or novel or painting begins. It is never planned. It is a lightning urge. That is all I can say as that is my experience. It is like full cloud waiting to burst in rain. It looks like it will happen now. But it might never deliver. One can never say when, where and why. It starts instantaneously. First as drops then as a downpour.

JM: I have heard that a character is the start of a screenplay.
AKL: Yes that is certainly important. A drama or a screenplay is a portion of life. Whose life? The question springs immediately. Hence a character is an important starting point. But a conflict or a basic question can serve as the start. My ‘Padheyam’ and ‘EzhuthAppurangaL’ were begun with the central conflict. ‘ThaniyAvarthanam’ and ‘Kireedam’ (Translators Note: My personal favorites in his work) were begun with a central character.

JM: Has a philosophy or idea been a starting point?
AKL: Rarely. Of my screenplays only ‘Jathagam’ (Translators note: another lovely small movie) was started this way. It is an observation of the belief in astrology. A screenplay’s seed is planted in the recesses of our mind well before it begins to be written. The unrest or lack of peace in you is the beginning.

For example my first directorial venture ‘BhoothakkaNNAdi’, came from a story of sexual exploitation of underage girls. It created great unrest within me, particularly a photograph of the schoolbag of one such girl. I could only view that through the eyes of a father!

VidhyAdharan was born from that unrest. He is very nervous about everyday life in the current social scenario. But he doesn’t say or do anything because he is a middle-class coward. And so his mind slips. I viewed my problem through his eyes.

JM: When I write a novel I write with a head full of steam. Then I discuss it with my editors. But here screenplays are discussed at the concept stage.
AKL: My screenplays are written like your novels. I never discuss the idea. Only after writing it completely do I discuss it with the director or actor. Discussing the central conceit will make the story seem contrived.

JM: Have you ever discussed?
AKL: Once. A story called ‘VisAraNai’ got stuck and did not gain momentum. That is the problem with a story discussion. Each person has a perspective and the central idea gets pulled in different directions. It is like fighting blindfolded. I can only make my point if I let it unfold completely as a screenplay. I can only debate certain technical aspects of screenplay writing with others.

JM: But in thamizh the norm is still to discuss.
AKL: Here cinema is a form of entertainment that tries to bring together multiple other forms of entertainment. That can always be discussed and brought into existence. A certain format or template has even been reached for this. But the soul of a story cannot be arrived at through discussion. There will be no unity in a ‘discussed’ story.

This much for today……. The rest at a later date.

[/tscii:ef458a80bc]

[Murali Srinivas]

Deepak,

Really great translation.You have done it without the soul of his views getting harmed. Kudos to you! Please continue.

Also a good list of Lohi's movies. Though I would include Dasaratham and Vatsalyam. Yes, a bit melodramatic but the central protagonist did make a deep impact inside. May be they having a shade of NT on them must have made it more attractive for me.

Regards

[Sarna]

Saravana,

You can watch Bhramaram solely for Mohanlal. He had given out a splendid performance. [Ofcourse, that's what I heard. I have not seen myself].

Regards

thanks :)


PS: You tell me one info! The film Josh - starring Nagarajuna's son [Naga Chaithanya] and Radha's daughter [Krithika], how was it? Is it a hit?

blade :oops:

[Plum]

thanks compli. I didnt realise the original was in Tamil(thought you'll be translating from malayalam). Now that I read both, have to agree with Murali Srinivas. Great translation - looking for the next part.

[P_R]

Very good translation compli. Do carry on

[Murali Srinivas]

Since Lohi is discussed here, let this also be here.

http://blog.mammootty.com/2009/07/blog-post.html

Deepak, hope you will be able to read it. For others, this was the obituary that Mammootty wrote in his blog when Lohithadas passed away. Poiganant.

[Where is Anoop? Not to be seen this side]

Regards

[P_R]

http://blog.mammootty.com/2009/07/blog-post.html
Deepak, hope you will be able to read it.

..and I hope will be able to translate it too.
How about into tamil this time.

[complicateur]

http://blog.mammootty.com/2009/07/blog-post.html
Deepak, hope you will be able to read it.

..and I hope will be able to translate it too.
How about into tamil this time.
Unfortunately, the browser doesn't seem to support the font. Even if it did my reading skills in Malayalam are rudimentary at best! Let me finish JM's interview first....

[kid-glove]

Thanks for that, Complicateur.

I've uploaded the following extras of my favorite Adoor film.

Adoor Gopalakishnan on Elippathayam/Rat-trap Interview Part 1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSQ49FjPJ9w)

Adoor Gopalakishnan on Elippathayam/Rat-trap Interview Part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4_wBn6HP8Q)

[Murali Srinivas]

[tscii:81f5e5740d]Pazhassi Raja

The most awaited Malayalam movie of the decade got released on friday the 16th and the report is extraordinary. The opinion is unanimous and after a very long time the public have given a thumbsup verdict for this movie.

It is not a one man show and everybody had contributed. Mamootty as Pazhassi Raja had given out a splendid performance and Sarathkumar has got rave reviews. Padmapriya and Manoj.K.Jayan all have earned accolades.

Pasting one sample review from another forum.

[i]Heroes are depicted in a movie in many ways. If it is a pure fiction then the writer has his own liberty to sketch a character with ultimate heroism. But if they are unfolding a chapter from history, their key challenge is to mold up the character with heroism by sticking on to the facts. But for this man, the legendary writer M T Vasudevan Nair, this challenge is a great bliss. While watching Pazhassi Raja, one will defenitely marvel at the craft which he brought into play to illustrate the heroic deeds of one of the brave sons of Kerala.

In a career spanning over three and half decades, this director can now be proud of himself. Because he has proved that ‘impossible is nothing’. Director Hariharan has given Malayalam filmdom a movie, with a flame of class and cult. In other words, the most brilliant and technically crafted movie ever made in Malayalam cinema. Breathing new life to his extra-ordinary talent which Malayalam Cinema had earlier witnessed in Oru Vadakkan Veera Gadha, he succeeded in refreshing that burning desire in him to create a new movie hero like Chanthu of OVVG. The result - On screen: Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja :

The actor who is known for his outstanding voice, exhilarating charisma and brilliant talent …. Megastar rocks. Who else can portray such a brave warrior with such exactness? His walking, costumes, dialogues, the radiance which he creates on each and every scene… Mammootty is at his best. That extra ordinary brilliance is evident in each and every scene. Delivering each and every dialogue with total perfection and splendor, he rules the canvass. Through out the movie, one will have feeling that ‘he is your King and you are residing in Pazhassi’s kingdom’. Ruling the minds of the viewers, it is simply a superb show by Mammootty.

Be it the sound of an arrow, chirp of a bird or a heavy shower or a dusty wind , Oscar Winner resul Pookkutty’s sound mixing is a different experience. The Pookkutty factor is another major reason for the entirety of the film.

Sarath Kumar as Idachena Kunkan also excels. Excellent performance by the actor. Likewise is Manoj K Jayan as Thalakkal Chanthu, Suman as Pazhayam veedan, Padmapriya as Kunki and Kaniha as kaitheri Makkam. Suresh Krishna as kaitheri Ambu also executed his character well.

Pazhassiraja is a testimony. The film shows that Maollywood can produce quality films if given the means. The film that benefits from a huge budget is of course spectacular and luxurious, but at the time by giving adequate depth to the characters, the director fully utilized all the actors. Such a solid star cast with the presence of talented actors is usually a rare occurrence for a big budget film and it proved good to Pazhassi Raja.

Ratnakar Shetty’s cinematography which is rich with artisitc touches give life to the film and brought an unexpected visual dimension. The action sequences co-ordinated by Ravi Dewan and the background score by IlayaRaja are also above the par.

It is not an ordinary movie. It reminds you of one of the great warriors which Indian soil gave birth to… It sings you an unsung story of a legend who horrified the British empire with his courage, determination and bravery…. The film will rejuvenate that patriotic flame in you …
Pazhassi Raja is …. the gem of a movie……


Theatre: Kottayam Abhilash
Show time: 9.45 am
Status: House Full__________________

The film is doing extremely well at the Boxoffice. A report.

Pazhassi Raja storms Kerala!By Moviebuzz | Sunday, 18 October , 2009, 11:22

Hariharan- MT Vasudevan Nair classic Pazhassi Raja produced by Gokulam Gopalan with Megastar Mammootty playing the title role has taken Kerala by storm.

The film has grossed an amazing record Rs 1.53 crore from 125 screens in Kerala on its opening day (October 16).

This is the highest ever opening day collection for any film in Kerala breaking the record of Twenty:20.

Says Gokulam Praveen, the Executive producer of the film: “We are very happy with the film and its gargantuan opening, which also justified our faith in the team.” Early reports say that the film’s word-of-mouth is so good that it has potential to become a mega blockbuster.

Also pasting some photos of the crowd.

Trivandrum

http://i36.tinypic.com/2jsl7s.jpg

http://i34.tinypic.com/317f894.jpg

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Palakkad

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Kottayam

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Kollam

http://i35.tinypic.com/2br8f6.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/euet7t.jpg

Ernakulam

http://i33.tinypic.com/mrpahg.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/1t33fc.jpg

Regards[/tscii:81f5e5740d]

[complicateur]

That is truly great news if Pazhassi Raja is good. Hopefully it will translate into more work for MT. Maybe I will try and catch it in Kerala this week.

[Plum]

Compli, catchunga, catchunga, reviewivunga, reviewivunga. Thalaivar music pathi rendu moonu postaavadhu podanum ok?

[complicateur]

I yaam very sorry 2 say... Audio kooda innum kEkkala :oops:

[Murali Srinivas]

There is another notable effort that has taken place. Ranjith, the script writer -director who also turned producer had hit upon a novel idea. He called 10 of his director friends and asked them to make 10 short films each with a maximum duration of 10 to 15 minutes. All are different stories with different artists. The common thread for all the 10 stories is Travel [payanam or yaathraa].

All the short films will come under one single film. Titled "Kerala Cafe", it has established directors like Shaji Kailas, Lal Jose, Anvar Rashid, Shyamaprasad and younger ones like Revathi, Anjali Menon, Unnikrishnan etc.

Again starting from Mammootty, Suresh Gobi and Prithiviraj, the artists have coordinated with the project and majority of them have not taken any renumeration for acting.

The film was first screened at Abudhabi in the Middle East film festival and is hitting the theaters on 29th of October.

Seems very interesting.

Regards

[P_R]

When in Pazhassi Raja releasing in Chennai ?

[Murali Srinivas]

Shantanu, son of Bhagyaraj who had an unsuccessful debut in Tamil had turned his attention towards Malayalam. And for him the Guardian Anjel was none other than the person who made his debut as a villan in his mother's [Poornima's] maiden movie.

Aptly titled as Angel John, it had Mohanlal playing the Angel who helps the teenager in his hour of distress. But unfortunately bad luck seems to follow Shantanu wherever he goes. Released last week, the movie has not been received well and the WOM is not good. Though some persons tried to classify this, as a movie with a message, the same is not reflecting in the BO as of now.

Regards

[Murali Srinivas]

When in Pazhassi Raja releasing in Chennai ?

I heard it will release here on Nov 6th. All technical works have been completed and it seems that producer is negotiating for a higher price in view of it turning out to be a blockbuster.

Regards

[app_engine]

And for him the Guardian Anjel was none other than the person who made his debut as a villan in his mother's [Poornima's] maiden movie.


MS,
If one goes by sify report, it appears angel has become villain to Lal :
http://sify.com/movies/malayalam/fullstory.php?id=14917048

[Murali Srinivas]

And for him the Guardian Anjel was none other than the person who made his debut as a villan in his mother's [Poornima's] maiden movie.


MS,
If one goes by sify report, it appears angel has become villain to Lal :
http://sify.com/movies/malayalam/fullstory.php?id=14917048

That/s what I also told na! The only difference is I put it mildly [from what I came to know] whereas Sify has hit it point black.

Regards

[Plum]

When in Pazhassi Raja releasing in Chennai ?
Don't see in tamil! Pointless.
But I have a feeling it won't match up to your bolly sensibilities anyway - pArthuttu sodhaa akbar levelukku illainu sollitteengannA remba manasu udainju poyiduvom adhanaala ninga paarkaama irukkaradhe nalladh :-)

[P_R]

When in Pazhassi Raja releasing in Chennai ?
Don't see in tamil! Pointless.
Hullo...waiting for Malayalam wonly.
pazhaya schoolfriend oruthanai dhoosi thatti contact renew paNNiyirukkEnnA en aarvathai paathukkunga.



pArthuttu sodhaa akbar levelukku illainu sollitteengannA remba manasu udainju poyiduvom adhunaala dhaan naan jodha akbarE paakkalai :lol2:

KovaarigarOda swadesathumbOdhE sudhaarichittEn

[Plum]

innum yaarum Pazhassi Raja paarkaliyA?
Am I the only hubber to have seen it yet?

[Murali Srinivas]

innum yaarum Pazhassi Raja paarkaliyA?
Am I the only hubber to have seen it yet?

Plum,

Film getting released here in Chennai tomorrow. Only Tamil version is getting released. It seems that they have trimmed 30 minutes of the film making it as 2hrs 45 mins. Not sure how that is going to shape out. Let's see.

Regards

[Plum]

From IR forums, aalamadangala song is getting cut, which is not a problem, though even in the oiginal I would have loved it if the moplahs had been given more than the bit piece role they get here.

Shouldn't they have released the mallu version earlier - because non-mallus are unlikely to go for the mallu version even if it is released first whereas those who want to watch in mallu might go for the tamil version because of impatience?

[Murali Srinivas]

Plum,

Pazhasi Raja release got postponed by one week. It is expected on 20th only. Testing the patience.

Meanwhile Mammoootty's two other films have also not come here so far. Jayaraj'a critically acclaimed Loud Speaker and Kerala Cafe [10 short movies in one film] are the ones.

He is having two more releases this year. Next week Ranjit directed "Paleri Manickam - Pathiraa Kolabaathakam" is hitting the screens.[Paleri is the name of the village and Manickam is a woman's name]. Based on a real incident, this was the first case of crime against woman in first communist ruled state that took place in 1957, but which was hushed up. Now a person working for Special Investigating Team who is settled in Delhi but who has roots in the same village comes to investigate it in 2009, after 52 years. Mammootty not only plays the SIT officer but also as a old man in flash back for which he had shaved his mush after so many years. This old man get up has not been given to Press so far. Surprising for an industry where the the story writer and director narrate the entire story of every film even before it goes to floors.

The second one is "Chattambi Nadu" which is being directed by Shafi. Though a masala flick, here Mammooty plays a role called Vijayendra Mallaiyaa, a Don by profession. Here he speaks Malayalam with a Kannada accent. Set for release during Christmas, they call it as Festival mood film implying it would be a mass entertainer.

It is amazing and worth emulating that how even within the commercial framework they try different genres.

After completing the above film and also finishing his Tamil Malayalam bilingual Vande Maataram, Mammootty has started shooting for Shaji Kailas directed "Drona" where he again plays a very different character. More of it later.

Plum, you were telling NOV that NT fans would love Mammootty's style and you had quoted me there. Absolutely true and one more reason is, see he is not worried about the no of releases, proper gap between two releases and doesn't interfere in the release dates etc. Any actor who had given a such a mammooth film like Pazhasi Raja would have put a big break on his next release. But he is having two releases even before the film rus 35 days. Great !

Regards

[Plum]

Murali, I had all these things in mind when I said that. Not only that, I guess shooting for pazhassi raja might have been juxtaposed with all these films' shooting. This is another NT trait, isn't it? I was flabbergasted when you mentioned a few movies of nt that were simultaneously shot - one historical, and others a range of characters - don't remember which ones but it was unimaginable. Methad acting blah blah - what do you call this? Kaalaila kattabomman, madhiyam paasa mala, nightla galatta kalyanam(movies given fo example sake not as a real life example) - is this even thinkable by aallywood stalwarts ?

[Murali Srinivas]

Plum,

Loud Speaker has released in Mumbai. Try to catch it. You would like it. The schedule is

Big Cinemas city mall - for 5 days from this Friday
Big Cinemas wadala - for 6 days from this Friday
Big Cinemas vashi - for 5 days from this Friday
Big Cinemas chinchwad - for 5 days from this Friday
Big Cinemas khargar - for 6 days from this Friday
Big Cinemas Goregaon - this Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Regards

[Plum]

Murali, Thanks for the information. Looks like I missed it. Impossible during weekdays. And the coming weekend, I'll probably be in Chennai on work.

[Murali Srinivas]

He is having two more releases this year. Next week Ranjit directed "Paleri Manickam - Pathiraa Kolabaathakam" is hitting the screens.[Paleri is the name of the village and Manickam is a woman's name]. Based on a real incident, this was the first case of crime against woman in first communist ruled state that took place in 1957, but which was hushed up. Now a person working for Special Investigating Team who is settled in Delhi but who has roots in the same village comes to investigate it in 2009, after 52 years. Mammootty not only plays the SIT officer but also as a old man in flash back for which he had shaved his mush after so many years.


Here are some snaps from this movie which is getting released next week.

http://www.mammootty.com/web/photos/movie_gallery/mainphotos/D2X_01584a87f2e6d7c17.jpg

http://www.mammootty.com/web/photos/movie_gallery/mainphotos/D2X_00364a87ef60d27a4.jpg

http://www.mammootty.com/web/photos/movie_gallery/mainphotos/D2X_06254afd3a51b381d.jpg

Regards

[raagadevan]

Kutty Srank:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/11/27/stories/2009112750980100.htm


Pazhassi Raja:

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2009/11/27/stories/2009112750580200.htm

[Murali Srinivas]

.

The second one is "Chattambi Nadu" which is being directed by Shafi. Though a masala flick, here Mammooty plays a role called Vijayendra Mallaiyaa, a Don by profession. Here he speaks Malayalam with a Kannada accent. Set for release during Christmas, they call it as Festival mood film implying it would be a mass entertainer.



Snaps and posters of the above mentioned movie to be released on Dec 24th.

http://i47.tinypic.com/50pam9.jpg

http://metromatinee.com/movies/images/m3079/large/Chattambinadu3968.jpg

http://www.mammootty.com/web/photos/movie_gallery/mainphotos/DSC_01534ad84c9877ff8.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/mt3rm8.jpg

http://i34.tinypic.com/10gae4g.jpg

Regards

[Murali Srinivas]

[tscii:39e77b4b57]


He is having two more releases this year. Next week Ranjit directed "Paleri Manickam - Pathiraa Kolabaathakam" is hitting the screens.[Paleri is the name of the village and Manickam is a woman's name]. Based on a real incident, this was the first case of crime against woman in first communist ruled state that took place in 1957, but which was hushed up. Now a person working for Special Investigating Team who is settled in Delhi but who has roots in the same village comes to investigate it in 2009, after 52 years. Mammootty not only plays the SIT officer but also as a old man in flash back for which he had shaved his mush after so many years.


The film has been released and has earned a very good report. Pasting here some of the reviews.

Palery Maanikyam - Renjith proves dependable in ‘Palery…’
IndiaGlitz [Tuesday, December 08, 2009]

After directing some good films like Thirakkatha and Kaiyoppu, and conceiving a world class project like ‘Kerala Café’, Ranjith is back with yet another film with a niche subject titled ‘Palery Maanikyam:Ouu Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha’. A movie that hardly have any prototype in India, this extremely rare kind of movie is structured to be an intriguing, textured, moody and exceedingly well crafted suspense drama.

The movie that thrills and amuse a learned audience also showcase the passion for intense acting of its superstar lead actor Mammootty, and off course, a bunch of freshers and theater artists who debut through the film. Easily providing what the serious fans of the quirky actor had requested, the movie also succeeds in preserving the quintessential Mammootty in another role.

The movie with a narrative that spans for around fifty years, have a fable like tenderness that runs through the whole narratives. Based on writer T P Rajeevan’s celebrated novel, this investigative thriller (a closest of the name of the genre, that we can attribute) has Mammootty as Haridas, a Delhi based private detective who with his closest friend Sarayu (Gowri Munjal) comes to Palery to clear off the mystery behind the murder of Maanikyam (Mythili), that happened in 1957. Apart from being the first organised murder of a woman in newly formed state of Kerala, it also had certain links with the investigator, which if unveiled now will act as a spoilsport.

Maanikyam was killed on the eleventh day of her marriage with Pokkan, the only dumb son of Cheeru. (Swetha Menon). Major suspicion fell on Murikkumkunnath Ahamed Haji (Mammootty again) a rich, landlord who ruled the area with the help of locally powerful communists and his henchmen. A staunch womanizer who hardly cared for anyone's emotions, Haji was cruel to his poor peasants who worked for him. Haridas who ran far and wide assembling parts of the whole incident, still finds that some curious missing links were still there to fill the actual story.

The movie is narrated through the viewpoint of Haridas. There are many turns in this carefully laid out mature narratives that emerge in subtle fashion, as the film progresses smoothly, even if a tad slowly in the middle. Interspersed with flashbacks depicting periodic backdrops, the film is languorously paced but is still gripping, with some good writing and superb, sharp dialogues from Renjith. Some of the lines, especially the ones mouthed by the Haji are extremely witty and elicit chuckles.

The other highlights of the movie are the awesome and neatly framed cinematography by Manoj Pillai capturing the greenery and brownish tones of the period. The historical recreation by Murugan Kattakada creates a whole world of its own and gives the film much of its great character. The background score by Biji Pal and Sharath, the off repeated title song of the movie and seamless editing by Vijay Shankar are also perfectly complement to the mood of the film.

Mammootty shines in what is another brave acting choice by the veteran actor, who gives a meticulous appearance in all the characters that he depicts in the flick. After some good work in ‘Pazhassi Raja’ this film allows Mammootty to truly come into his own strengths. Restrained, real and totally in the skin of his various characters, the movie will be showcased in his list of the bests. Swetha Menon as Cheeru also display the immense talent of the actress who was mostly seen as a glamour gal in the industry, till recently. A bunch of fresh faces act their heart out in most of the scenes, though very few shots still shows their inclination into dramatic proceedings. Mythily and Gowri Munjal appear pretty and just remain to the demands of their roles.

After ‘Pazhassi Raja’ and ‘Neelathamara’, ‘Palery Maanikyam:Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha’ is one movie that is sure to enter the best list of connoisseurs of good cinema. Definitely advised for all, who love good, meaningful cinema

REDIFF REVIEW BY PARESH C PALICHA

Very rarely does a film satisfy our expectations. But director Ranjith's latest Malayalam film Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha does.

The film is near perfect with minor ignorable blemishes. It is based on T P Rajeevan's novel of the same name. It tells the story of a private detective, who returns to his birthplace to solve a murder mystery that occurred on the same night he was born.

Dectective Haridas (Mammootty) takes up a case just to satisfy his curiosity, not to find or punish the culprit, as all the suspects in the case are dead. His purpose, which seems vague in the beginning, achieves clarity only halfway through the story.

He brings along a criminologist Sarayu (Gowri Munjal to assist him, and they have an extra-marital affair. So even his motive is suspect in the beginning; it seems as if he is only interested in having a good time with his mistress in the verdant locales of Paleri. But he peals the mystery layer by layer, fighting roadblocks at every turn.

A plethora of characters make their entries and exits without giving the viewer any inkling as to where the story is headed. But every loose end is perfectly tied up in the end.

Even if the story does not incite you, the bewitching visuals will -- the faded look of the flashbacks and bright greenery of the present. Cinematographer Manoj Pillai proves that he is one of best young talents of the country.

Mammootty's performance in multiple getups may seem to be ego massaging for the star. But by the climax, we understand that it's an absolute necessity.

Among the other cast, Sreenivasan -- in a small role -- leaves a strong impact on the minds of the viewers. Siddique is his usual self, who does not have anything to experiment with.

Shweta Menon is oomphy while newcomer Mythili does not have enough screen time but she leaves an impression.

On the whole, Ranjith's take on the first recorded case of sexual harassment in the state is rich visually as well as in content.
Rediff Rating: 3.5/5

NOWRUNNING REVIEW ...........


By VN Mon, 07 Dec 2009
There are not many instances when a meaningful work in literature gains a greater magnitude when it traverses across art forms. The challenges that T P Rajeevan's novel Palery Manickyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha poses before a film maker who endeavours to adapt it to the silver screen are tremendous.

The year is 1957 and with the state witness to a political upheaval, a twenty year old girl is found hanging in front of her hut in a small hamlet by the name of Palery in North Kerala. Several decades after the accused have been let off scot-free by a local court, a private detective (Mammootty) and a crime analyst (Gauri Manjal) join hands to probe into the crime again.

Palery Manickyam offers an extremely complex narrative and time and again the writer forcefully drags us back to where we had started off. The entire process is as cumbersome to the reader or in this particular case the viewer, as it is for the chief protagonist. However the desire to get to the bottom of it all outweighs the lingering pessimism and we hang on right till the end, with certainly no hope that the answers that we seek are round the corner or that the mystery that perplexes us beyond our wits would unfurl ever so gradually before us.

Ranjith is a dynamic director in that he has continually broken down the rusty conventions that have almost corroded the core of Malayalam cinema. For one, the frankness that pervades this film of his is almost foreign to the average viewer. I am sure this candour might be interpreted in several ways by the torch bearers of morality; perhaps as brazenness, or as apathy, as an imposed disregard for norms or even as pseudo intellectualism. Alternatively it could plainly mean a refreshing audacity that never for a moment bows down before conformist expectations.

Haridas for instance, shares a few days of his life and a bed with Sarayu, and they together embark on this strange expedition to get to the bottom of the Manickyam murder. It doesn't really impede them that they happen to lead distinct lives or that they have been apart for a while. Hari does talk about his family, and so does Sarayu who talks of Gautham who has almost vanished from her life. Yet, they are together for the moment for a purpose, with no questions raised and no answers demanded.

The air permeates with the smell of raw sex throughout. In easily one of the most striking scenes of seduction in recent times, Cheeru (Shwetha Menon) lets go of her hesitation and succumbs before Ahmed Haji (Mammootty), hopelessly charmed by his authority. She soon has the village men dancing to her whims after her husband passes away. Years later, Haji roams about with an insatiable libido, Cheeru stands on the threshold of a new life beyond sex. And Manickyam with dreams writ large on her eyes gets brutally raped and murdered.

Or there is S K Pallippuram, that remarkable actor who had staged a drama the night Manickyam was murdered. We see him in a drunken stupor the first time, vehemently verbal and downright blunt. The second time though, he has mellowed down a bit, and almost offers an apology for all that he had said.

Rajeevan is at his best when he cautiously crafts each of his characters paying utmost attention to the finest details, whether it be K P Hamsa, the Communist leader who refuses to reveal that dark secret that he houses within, or Keshavan who loudly proclaims that he is neither a believer nor a communist, but just a hairdresser. The writer fuses a crisp social commentary with several sub levels of multi character analyses in this dark tale.

The episodic and not always linear script effortlessly merges with the visual sense of the director to create a magical imagery of sorts. The night of the murder as the whole village scurries to watch the drama being staged, Haridas walks towards us brushing shoulders with them, talking to us about Manickyam who has been left alone. A few scenes later, as Manickyam's corpse is being carried away across the river for autopsy, we get to see another canoe heading towards the shore, with a beaming Manickyam beside her groom all eager to start her new life at Palery, barely ten days back.

Palery Manickyam could easily boast of its remarkable cast that has none of the big names in business, barring a few. The film brings to the forefront a bevy of real talented actors from theatre, and resourcefully draws out astonishing performances from all of them. Leading this cast is none other than Mammootty himself who puts in a hypnotic act as Ahmed Haji, yet another pitch perfect feat from the actor this year. Equally proficient is the incomparable Shwetha Menon who is gradually carving a niche for herself with daring performances in markedly different films.

Ranjith's Manickyam is a rarity of a film that exceeds expectations and offers a psychedelic high for the viewer. There would be no surprise if it ignites some sort of a controversy for the boldness that it displays. For the discerning viewer though, this might perhaps be one of the best films to have come out this year.

I would refuse to attribute the art house flavour to it. Rather, it's an uncompromising film that grabs you by your throat and simply refuses to let go.

Seems to be very interesting.

Regards
[/tscii:39e77b4b57]

[Plum]

MS, Pazhassi Raja paarthAcha?

[Murali Srinivas]

MS, Pazhassi Raja paarthAcha?

See the thread Film that you last saw in Tamil films section.

Regards

[bingleguy]

CBI Diary kurippu ..... fifth time :mrgreen:

[app_engine]

CBI Diary kurippu ..... fifth time :mrgreen:

It's an interesting movie, well-taken. The only irritable part for me was the BGM. (It was even more in focus when I recently watched on dvd).

I don't remember the composer, possibly Shyam. Shyam was so good in songs but very poor in BGM in almost every movie of his I've seen.

[Murali Srinivas]

Plum,

Paleri Maickyam is releasing in at least 6 theaters in Mumbai this week - 4 in Big cinemas, 2 in PVR. If possible go for it.

App,

You know something? that music [CBI] was a craze among the people even when the fourth part got released. I have even seen people [Kerlaites] having that as the ring tone here in Chennai.

Regards

[bingleguy]

CBI Diary kurippu ..... fifth time :mrgreen:

It's an interesting movie, well-taken. The only irritable part for me was the BGM. (It was even more in focus when I recently watched on dvd).

I don't remember the composer, possibly Shyam. Shyam was so good in songs but very poor in BGM in almost every movie of his I've seen.

:shock: is it ? not completely but atleast that one piece of music that comes up when he is deep on the investigation is a good piece ... i feel atleast ...

[Plum]

Plum,

Paleri Maickyam is releasing in at least 6 theaters in Mumbai this week - 4 in Big cinemas, 2 in PVR. If possible go for it.

App,

You know something? that music [CBI] was a craze among the people even when the fourth part got released. I have even seen people [Kerlaites] having that as the ring tone here in Chennai.

Regards

MS, thx for the PR review.
indha vaaram mumbai-la illa. and adutha vaaram too.

[Plum]

Vinodayathra (http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1993684#1993684)
Typical Sathyan Anthikkad. . For an ordinary family sentiment movie, the amount of tightness in the script, the remarkable restraint in showing the devastating personal situations that the characters face, and the practical, believable way they handle it, all these stand out.
Raja and Jasmine rule. I tell you, Mary 'Meera Jasmine' Joseph is a wasted talent in Indian cinema.

[tvsankar]

Vinodayathra (http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1993684#1993684)
Typical Sathyan Anthikkad. . For an ordinary family sentiment movie, the amount of tightness in the script, the remarkable restraint in showing the devastating personal situations that the characters face, and the practical, believable way they handle it, all these stand out.
Raja and Jasmine rule. I tell you, Mary 'Meera Jasmine' Joseph is a wasted talent in Indian cinema.

Azhaga sonnenga Plum. Idhae feelings dhan enakum...
simple and true dialogues... natural acting...( Cinema thanam illadha expressions , acting.....)

Father irandha pona nerathil, Hero kite(Dilip?) Meera vin expression is excellent. ( Veetu porupai yetru konda oru pennin sogam - Nalla express seidhu irupa. Hero kite oru support ai expect pannum Expression......Very Nice...)

[bingleguy]

Raja and Jasmine rule. I tell you, Mary 'Meera Jasmine' Joseph is a wasted talent in Indian cinema.

I quite agree with you Plum ... yet another feat or hers was the movie PerumazhakAlam .... she portrays as a muslim - wife of convicted Dilip - who serves term in jail ... she has to get maapu (forgiveness) from Kavya Madhavan - a brahmin gal - wife of Vineet who gets murdered in some country ... you could see a very good piece of Meera Jasmine .... one good movie ...

[Plum]

Vinodayathra (http://forumhub.mayyam.com/hub/viewtopic.php?p=1993684#1993684)
Typical Sathyan Anthikkad. . For an ordinary family sentiment movie, the amount of tightness in the script, the remarkable restraint in showing the devastating personal situations that the characters face, and the practical, believable way they handle it, all these stand out.
Raja and Jasmine rule. I tell you, Mary 'Meera Jasmine' Joseph is a wasted talent in Indian cinema.

Azhaga sonnenga Plum. Idhae feelings dhan enakum...
simple and true dialogues... natural acting...( Cinema thanam illadha expressions , acting.....)

Father irandha pona nerathil, Hero kite(Dilip?) Meera vin expression is excellent. ( Veetu porupai yetru konda oru pennin sogam - Nalla express seidhu irupa. Hero kite oru support ai expect pannum Expression......Very Nice...)

Yes, Usha, nInga sonna andha scene and frame - Meera is absolutely fantastic - even in Malayalam Cinema where standards of acting are high, she stands out. That moment where she loses the one person in the world who loves her unconditionally and more than anyone else - even her mother treats her and her errant sister equally - and being the strong, proud person she is, the way she tries to be strong in front of Dileep(Dileep it is) but eventually the way that one expression conveys everything - the gamut of expressions she runs through...

It is easy to call something realistic acting as we would of this - but I bite my tongue when I realise that how do I know? I havent seen anyone in such a situation yet I know seeing this frame that this is as real as it can get in acting. That is the power of great acting.
(nInga sonnA maadhiri, someone who actually went through it will empathise even more.)

There is another moment, which I had observed before in IR Forums while discussing Kaiyethu. In the lead-up to the song, Murali casually mentions that he wants to frolic in the rain because "who knows if I will see another rainy season". You should watch the frame that follows, a close-up of Jasmine. It lasts about 5 seconds, but the expression that she conjures up, the genuine shock, sadness and fear that runs through her eyes - simply well you up.

[Plum]

Raja and Jasmine rule. I tell you, Mary 'Meera Jasmine' Joseph is a wasted talent in Indian cinema.

I quite agree with you Plum ... yet another feat or hers was the movie PerumazhakAlam .... she portrays as a muslim - wife of convicted Dilip - who serves term in jail ... she has to get maapu (forgiveness) from Kavya Madhavan - a brahmin gal - wife of Vineet who gets murdered in some country ... you could see a very good piece of Meera Jasmine .... one good movie ...

Perumazhakaalam runs on empty gas(script) for most of its run-time, and depends solely on Jasmine, and to a lesser extent, Kavya Madhavan. At places, I found it a little too melodramatical, and the characters seemed to be (especially Kavya's relatives) reacting in such a way as to set-up the final set-pieces for showcasing Meera/Kavya's acting chops. However, Jasmine excels as usual.
The pinnacle, however, even for this supremely gifted actress must be Kasthoorimaan and orE kadal.
(I'd request Murali Srinivas to write about orE kadal - I am sure he must have watched it :-) )

[bingleguy]

well probably right you are Plum !!!

But my take on Perumazhakkaalam is that the movie gulps in a lot of realism ....

the story was simple - even predictive - but narration was pretty much focused. Almost everything was made to feel needed for the narration - leaving very little space for strong storyline per say ! Still i feel that the screenplay - was moving at its planned pace giving importance to every character who comes across ... one good thing to note about a script that has lot of sobbing - is that this movie handles it with perfect balance - which would mean - that no dragging on !!!!! by the time you are about to get impacted by the very scene - screenplay has already moved to a different scene ... As all Malayalam movies are known for - this one too was very natural !!!

[Murali Srinivas]

(I'd request Murali Srinivas to write about orE kadal - I am sure he must have watched it :-) )

Plum,

I wrote this in our hub some 2 years ago, to be exact in Sep 2007. I am cut pasting the ame for you. I have not written much about performance and instead elaborated on the story part. Here it is for you.

[i]Saw "Ore Kadal", a Malayalam movie and this was my first screen watching at Mayajal. Would like to talk about the same.

At the very outset this is an off beat movie and the megaphone is wielded by Shyama Prasad who has to his credit some good films like Agni Sakchi and Akale.

The story is set in a Metro (though fully shot in Chennai but due to some reasons, it is being shown as a North Indian city).

Dr.Nathan is a well known socio- economist who has many laurels to his credit. He has won innumerable awards for his works and has published many papers and books. Currently he is doing a paper on Un employment in India among married folk. He is a loner who never believes in any relations or relatives(In fact the film opens up, with him getting a call from his home town asking him to come down as his Chinnamma is sinking). He is a materialistic person who spends time with a woman (who caters to the high end of the society) whenever he has the Biological urge.

Accidentally he overhears an animated conversation a woman has with her husband over the public phone as their son is not well and needs to be taken to hospital. He finds out that this couple lives in the same apartment where he stays and takes the mother and child to the hospital as the husband is away from town. He learns that the husband is presently not having a job and this increases his interest.

When the husband comes back, this woman (Deepthi) persuaded by her husband is again back to Nathan's apartment asking for money as they need to pay the rent. She offers to pledge her jewels. He refuses initially but later gives her the money but returns the jewels. Her husband who does bits and pieces of jobs earns some money and again she is asked to do one more favour. Nathan being an influential person can fetch a job for him, if he puts in a word. She goes to his apartment and finds Nathan fully intoxicated. He is "celebrating" his Chinnamma's death and he flatly refuses her request to recommend a job for her husband stating that each one has to take care of himself. Then out of the blue he asks her whether she can "accomdate" him as he wants a woman badly. He tells her if she is not interested, she can go away.Though startled by his open question, she stands there hesistantly and when he touches her she repulses feebly and after a while allows him.

Once or twice this happens and during one meet she asks her whether he likes her. He replies in the negative stating that he does not carry any love or affection for her and it was the bodily need that took him to her. To rub salt in the wound, he asks her "why you allowed me because you wanted to make sure of the job your husband badly wanted, right?" . This point blank bullet shatters her and she returns dejected.

Later she finds out she is pregnant. When she tries to reach Dr.Nathan, he is gone abroad for a seminar. Her husband unaware of all these (now firmly in a job,courtesy Dr.Nathan) would be taking care of her. While she is in the advanced stage of her pregnancy, Dr.Nathan returns and he meets her. She tries to convey the message but she is unable to do so. Again she is hurt when he cooly says that he never thought about her during his long stay away.

She delivers a girl baby. But her mind is very agitated and it gets reflected in her actions. One night her husband wakes up and gets the jolt of the life when he sees her wife trying to throw the baby away saying that it is dead. She had lost her mental balance as she is caught between the "sin" she commited and her inability to come out of that. She is taken to a mental asylum. Before this Dr.Nathan visits her and she reacts violently with him.

Dr.Nathan discusses this issue with his "companion" (he had already hinted about his relationship with Deepthi) and she spills the beans to him telling that the baby is his. He taken aback initially refuses to believe but understands later that it is true. A man who had till that time steadfastedly refused to believe in any relationship is a broken man now and he immerses himself in liquor.

Deepthi is cured (some years pass by) and they start residing in another place. She slowely comes to grips with the life but her sub conscious mind is not fully free. She indulges in Bakthi but solace eludes her. Accidentally the husband (Jayan by name) meets Dr.Nathan in a bar and invites him home.

He comes to their house. Jayan is not there and on seeing him coming, Deepthi shuts the door and refuses to open it in spite of he ringing the bell and knocking the door. Dejected he turns back and when he reaches the gate he finds the two children coming back from school and when he sees the younger one his heart starts pumping. The elder boy unable to recogonise him go past him but this girl has a deep look at him. Unable to take it any further, Dr.Nathan walks away.

Deepthi's husband on arriving in the night find the house dark and on putting on the lights find all the photos of Gods broken and she replies that she tells him that she had lost belief. She having surrendered to Almighty to "save" her finds she is unable to ward of the thoughts of the other person and had broken the photos. Unable to take it any futher, the next day she takes both of her children to Dr.Nathan's flat and what transpires between the two forms an absorbing climax.

As I said at the starting, it requires some guts to do such a movie and Shyama Prasad deserves kudos for this. He paints the complex human mind in the celluloid with a expert touch and he carefully avoids any visuals which would derail the essence of this movie.

Coming to the lead actors, Mammootty as Dr.Nathan had given out a brilliant performance. He had taken up a role which few Indian actors would dare attempt to and had come out with flying colours. As for as Deepthi character is concerned, it is again a life time performance from Meera Jasmine. The joining of National award winners Mammootty and Meera for the first time had resulted in a great treat for the audience. Naren as the unsuspecting husband fits the bill and Ramya Krishnan as the companion gives out a matured performance.

The film will not cater to commercial BO, but neverthless an absorbing film for people who look for something different.

Regards

[Plum]

Murali, thanks. I was looking more for a performance appraisal but this one is a nice review capturing the movie very well.

[Murali Srinivas]

[tscii:59ad634273]


The second one is "Chattambi Nadu" which is being directed by Shafi. Though a masala flick, here Mammooty plays a role called Vijayendra Mallaiyaa, a Don by profession. Here he speaks Malayalam with a Kannada accent. Set for release during Christmas, they call it as Festival mood film implying it would be a mass entertainer.


As expected this film that got released on 24th has hit its target audience well. Labelled as Mass Masala, the movie is rocking in BO. Here are some reviews.

Chattambinadu Movie -Sify

By Moviebuzz

If your idea of a movie is some mindless entertainment at the cinemas and your favourite hero is Mammootty, then chances are that you may like this film.

Director Shafi has narrated a story which is a potpourri of films like Rajamanikyam, Prajapathi, Thommanum Makkalum and a few others of the similar kind, but certainly without much of the charm of any of these films, in the absence of a credible storyline!
How many times have we been taken to some curious land in the Tamil Nadu border, where the hero is the God for the rather dumb natives and he has a past that will be revealed only during the second half? Amidst confusions galore, the hero will have the whole village ready to die for him, except for the villain and his cronies who will pose some problems until the climax, some minutes before the end credits start rolling.

Well, the story happens more or less the same way, in a remote village originally called Chembattunadu as well. The rivalry between two wealthy families had brought in some chattampis (goons) from neighbouring areas and after a while, they took control of the village.

Chembattunadu soon became Chattambinadu. Vijendra Mallaya (Mammootty), who speaks Malayalam with a heavy Kannada accent, soon comes to Chattambinadu, after he buys the property belonging to Mallanchira Chandramohan (Manoj K Jayan). This enrages the wicked Kattappilly Nagendran (Siddique) and he begins to pose troubles one after the other for Mallaya. There are some local chattampis in the area, like Makri Gopalan (Salim Kumar) and Dasamoolam Damu (Suraj Venjarammood) that is meant to makes things more interesting.

Mammootty looks eminently handsome in his trimmed moustache and neatly cut stubble. He wears a white kurta- pyjama, white shoes, dark sunglasses and a red tilak on his forehead that makes him quite an imposing figure. He talks in a peculiar accent and the actor has taken some nice efforts to give the character some real difference.

Mammootty’s punchline a mixture of Kannada and Malayalam is sure to become popular. But why does only his character speak in such an accent and everyone else converse in fluent Malayalam, including his gang members?

Vinu Mohan, who plays Murugan, is like a brother to Mallaya and the young actor has come up with one of the best performances in his brief career. Both the heroines, Lakshmi Rai and Manikyam Mythili, have limited roles to play.

Siddique, as the menacing villain, looks fine but has nothing much to do other than what we have seen in some of his earlier films. Salimkumar and Suraj tries really hard, but they too have nothing new to offer.

It is the script that is the weakest link here and that is evident all along. The scenes and even the locations remind us that this is a rather meek hodgepodge of situations from quite a few films from the past, with related themes. Manoj Pillai's camera, however, does a brilliant job and Alex Paul's music seems to be okay in parts. At just more than two hours and eight minutes, Chattambinadu may turn out to be a mindless mass entertainer. The film is worth a look for Mammookka, he is simply awesome and holds the film together.
Verdict: Paisa Vasool

Review from another Forum

CHATTAMBINADU

It’s purely a trading with the strong screen presence of Malayalam Cinema’s showman Mammootty. And the team behind the screen succeed in that. That is what we can realize from the overwhelming response of the huge crowd who leave the theatres after watching Chattambinadu.

Cheerful comedy is Shafi’s forte. The spectators have got a touch of his comic vein in movies like Kalyana Raman , Thommanum Makkalum, Pulivaal Kalyanam and Mayavi. In his latest offering, the director joins his hand with script writer Benny P Nayarambalam to unfold the story of Chembattu Nadu, which is notorious for the big number of Criminals living there.

The basic plot gave the script writer an extra freedom to fit in bits and pieces of peculiar kind of humor that rims on perplexity and absurdity. In so called ‘Pollachi entertainers’ this perplexity is an inevitable factor. That is what Benny P Nayrambalam did with the screenplay.

As a result , Suraj Venjaramoodu and Salim Kumar came on screen with some comedy numbers that will remind you of their roles in some earlier movies. Sidhique’s villain character Nagendran is also a replica of many of his `usual’ villain roles. The story line also does not have much of a distinction from these sort of masala movies- A flashback , then the puzzlement and mistaken identities …..
So what makes the difference and add color to the whole movie…….It’s Mammootty.

It is an astonishing show by the actor. His looks -swashbuckling, his style is grand and the Megastar really excels in the lead role of Veerendra Mallayya. The fight sequences are also thrilling. His dialogue delivery- perfect.

Except her beautiful looks, Lakshmi Rai as Gouri does not have much role to stir up her acting sensibilities. The film also has a huge star cast including Janardhanan, Vinu Mohan, manoj K Jayan, Shobha Mohan, Vijayaraghavan, Saikumar, T G Ravi, MohanJose, Sphadikam Goeroge to name a few.

On the whole, Chattambi Nadu does tickle a funny bone and provide some thrilling moments, but the story lacks newness and is very much predictable. But the film may be accepted as a mass masala entertainer and the director has boosted the Megastar superbly, making the film a delight to watch for the fans of Mammootty.

Meanwhile Mohanlal's "Ividam Swargamaanu" has also been released and this family story with the backdrop of Agriculture land issues has opened to mixed response. This film is directed by Roshan Andrews [who earlier directed Udhayanaanu Tharam]. Here is one review from the same forum.

[i]Ividam swargmanu

After narrating the grievances and happiness in the life of a budding director in Udhayananu Tharam and a different kind of teenage love story (Notebook), here in his new offering Ividam Swargamanu, director Roshan Andrews touches upon land grabbing, soaring prices of essential commodities and environmental issues which are the present day concerns of Kerala.

The story is set in a small village near the banks of Periyar. Mathews (Mohanlal)is a farmer living respectfully with his father Jeromis (Thilakan) and mother (Kaviyoor Ponnamma). Later the villagers get lured by the idea of a Town ship. Actually the Township is a trap set by a kingpin in realty sector Aluva Chandy (Lalu Alex) who prompt the majority of the villagers to sell off their lands to him. Anyhow Mathews is not interested to sell his land which he has loved so dearly as his family. The rest of the story is a saga of Mathews’ emotional relationship with the soil, his cattle and his father.

The story looks simple and might also sound like a good material for a masala movie. Script writer James Albert has dealt the subject with much care and has not meddled the actual story line by adding unnecessary commercial stuff till first two hours of the movie. And the last thirty minutes of the movie is funny, but rather it seems like a compromise formula that James was forced to do so as to include some comedy moments. Till then the movie is in a serious track. The script writer could have done without those silly moments but that would have removed the little commercial touch.

And about the performances, Mohanlal has given a controlled performance, and it is a similar sort of role that he had done previously. Among the female leads Priyanka and Lakshmi Gopalasamy are apt for their roles and performance wise also it is okay. But Lakshmi Rai’s was an okay character, but performace not impressive.
Other veterans Thilakan, Sreenivasan, Shankar, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Shobha Mohan, Sukumari and Innocent are good in their roles.

Now the actor who scores the most. It is Lalu Alex at his best. His Character Aluva Chandy is a treat to watch. Likewise is Jagathy Sreekumar’s Bhuvanachandran.

As a director Roshan Andrews has not done something up to his calibre to take this film to a higher level of enjoyment. Another draw back of the film is that it does not offer some memorable scenes for you to remember or cherish about. There are no songs in the movie and this denies the spectator the moments of relief that is essential for the tight first half. The film is a bit dragging in the first half and the second half is more fast paced.. The camera work by Divakar is fine.

Anyhow it is a nice attempt to make a movie on a subject like this and the movie definitely will be appealing to serious movie buffs.
After all it is a simple movie .....……

Regards

PS: Plum, thanks for the Ore Kadal compliment.

[/tscii:59ad634273]

[complicateur]

Ividam SwargamANu - Thank God for the occasional director like Rosshan Andrews! More thoughts will come tomorrow.

[Plum]

Ividam SwargamANu - Thank God for the occasional director like Rosshan Andrews! More thoughts will come tomorrow.

ada solli rendu naalaachupA. Politician maadhiri Promises galore but no delivery :evil: :-)

I caught snatches of UdhayanANu ThAram in Asianet a month back. Maybe I didnt catch the dialogue well but the reaction was "idhula apdi enna irukku". Must admit I only watched the latter half - muzhusA parthA dhAn solla mudiyum.

[littlemaster1982]

I caught snatches of UdhayanANu ThAram in Asianet a month back. Maybe I didnt catch the dialogue well but the reaction was "idhula apdi enna irukku". Must admit I only watched the latter half - muzhusA parthA dhAn solla mudiyum.

I had watched the entire film, but still felt the same. Probably, I didn't get the references.

[complicateur]

[tscii:70b25c928f]
ada solli rendu naalaachupA. Politician maadhiri Promises galore but no delivery :evil: :-) A few thEvai illAtha AANi's got in the way. UT isnt a great film by any measure. Just the comedy and Srini's penchant for not even sparing Lal as an object of satire in a movie in which he is the lead.

Anyway here is my take on Ividam SwargamANu.

For many a month I have decried the loss of the mid 80’s aesthetic in Malayalam cinema. My initial impression after I left Sangam Cinema’s after Rosshan Andrews’ Ividam SwargaMANu, was that someone had finally heard my personal grievance and decided to address it. But on further deliberation I’ve changed my tune. Andrews’ is far to given to meticulous preparation for his characters to have the organic arc that the ones in that golden age. Nonetheless, his brand of filmmaking is certainly a few steps above what currently passes for mainstream cinema in Malayalam these days.

There is a throwaway scene towards the middle of the film where the actions of AluvA ChANdy, the ‘villain’ of the piece, are justified by briefly referencing the financial troubles that resulted from his speculative investments. In a film that otherwise paints that character rather broadly as a villain at large the scene does well in humanizing the character slightly.

The film also utilizes completely Malayalam cinema’s greatest asset – its reliably brilliant supporting artistes. It is in particular heartening to see Thilakan and Lal share screen space considering the cold relationship between the two that existed since Spadikam. Lal is as usual adequate with his brilliance breaking through in a couple of sequences. Writing “while his words portrayed confidence his body language did not” is a fairly simple stringing together of words. Navigating half a minute of screen time that naturally convinces you that Maththai is experiencing these conflicting emotions is a different ball game and it takes an actor of Lal’s caliber to execute this effortlessly. The only sore thumb in the film is Lakshmi Rai, but why pick on the only negative when there is so much else good about the film. Even the sermonizing in the latter sequences is entirely forgivable for the entertaining manner in which it plays out. [/tscii:70b25c928f]

[Plum]

Thx Compli. Will try to catch up - although if Paleri Manikkam is still running here, it will receive first preference :-)

[Plum]

Saw minnaminnikoottam last week. Although it must have been a flop and not a significant movie, I couldnt help thinking what a fall for Malayalam cinema since the heady days if movies like this can even be made in Kerala :-(
Even Meera Jasmine couldnt save this dud

[Murali Srinivas]

Pazhassi Raja completes 100 days. Few snaps of the posters/paper ads and celebrations that happened in the set where Mammootty is shooting now.

100th day Paper Ad.

http://i47.tinypic.com/vp9ag2.png

Banner celebrating the 100th day of Pazhassi and 50th day of Paleri Manickam.

http://i49.tinypic.com/2iiwg06.jpg

Fans poster comparing the two great historicals Oru Vadakkan Veera Ghadha and Pazhassi.

http://i47.tinypic.com/2ll1tau.jpg

Pazhassi 100 days celebration at the set

http://i49.tinypic.com/2afh6p3.jpg

Plum,

Saw your quote in Kamal thread that Pazhassi had grossed only 10 Cr. Actually it is double the amount. We cannot even call it as gross. It is actually the amount that Producer Gopalan got back. Theatrical returns were huge making it as the biggest Blockbuster of all time Malayalam movies. The satellite, overseas and video rights have fetched the highest amount so far. So in all probability this won't hurt him.




After completing the above film and also finishing his Tamil Malayalam bilingual Vande Maataram, Mammootty has started shooting for Shaji Kailas directed "Drona" where he again plays a very different character. More of it later.



The above mentioned movie is complete now and getting released on 27th of January. Touted as a Supernatural mystic thriller, Mammootty comes up in two different getups in the movie. The two different getups

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ETEuGX2_nG8/S0b9LVIc2mI/AAAAAAAABMo/DjDVbE-BfiQ/s1600/Drona%2B2010%2Bmammotty%2BPhotos.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ETEuGX2_nG8/S0b7BlrXJVI/AAAAAAAABJQ/X04SBduFFwY/s1600/Dhrona%2B2010%2BMalayalam%2BMovie%2BNew%2BPhotos%2 B_20_.psd.jpg

Again this is going to be a wide release with more than 100 theatres charted [big thing for Kerala]. With this Shaji Kailas who is having a lean time hopes to make a come back.

Regards

[ajaybaskar]

Brahmaram...

Excellent performance by mohanlal. Heard that the film was not a BO success. Blessy's reign continues....

Moserbaer has released the dvd of the film...

[Plum]

Plum,

Saw your quote in Kamal thread that Pazhassi had grossed only 10 Cr. Actually it is double the amount. We cannot even call it as gross. It is actually the amount that Producer Gopalan got back. Theatrical returns were huge making it as the biggest Blockbuster of all time Malayalam movies. The satellite, overseas and video rights have fetched the highest amount so far. So in all probability this won't hurt him.


MS, you'd ofcourse know better than me. I read several conflicting accounts - with one or two accounts claiming Gopalan spent 27+ Crore on the movie, which didnt sound convincing to me so I settled for the account that said 17 Cr.

[vishwwa]

BHRAMARAM...
Got to see this movie in big screen last year.The movie absolutely blew me away. So when i got my eyes on a newly released DVD of the same film i snatched it both hands.

Phew..what a movie..really haunting !!! I have seen some of Blessy's previous attempts like Kaazcha and Thanmaatra..both were extremely good as well. But Bhramaram truly turns out to be his best, IMO.

Actually it is a simple story of revenge but the way blessy deals or present his subject makes all the difference. What it ultimately turns out is a 'dig-deep' into the phsycic of a character who is so wayward in mind, on the edge of phsycic disorder.

The movie begins with Sivankutty played by Mohanlal reaching Coimbatore in search of his old school-mate.He was in with a purpose which at first wasn't clear to his friend-played by Suresh menon (i think,...he is known to host some comedy programs in hindi channels).But later he has to face some sour-truths...i'm not elaborating.
The film in second half turns into a 'road-movie' type as well.
The movie is somewhat slow at places and also doesn't have much commercial or entertainment elements.However for a true cinema lover,it is a gem to look deep into.

This movie for once reminded me of an old masterpiece from master director Bharathan- 'Thazhvaram'...but on the whole blessy's movie is well different from that classic although it gives a similar feel at places.

Anyhow, if there is one reason why to watch bramaram, that is none other than Sri. Mohanlal. Brilliant is just not enough a word to describe his perfomance in the movie...Effortlessly displaying the various facets,emotions and phases of the character whose reactions are varying almost like a pendulum.No words to describe it .Just for you to see and interpret.
Most others in cast were good as well

Blessy's script was excellent as well though maybe he could have developed the side characters even better. Also, Bhoomika as Lal's wife and the child artist playing his daughter were not that good. But considering they have little part to play,it was ok.

Camera by Ajay was brilliant and so was the begium. Songs by Mohan Sitara sounded at few places somewhat like some old IR tunes :) ..ofcourse it was good to hear.

Truly one of the best movies i have seen in any language in the recent years.

[vishwwa]

Brahmaram...

Excellent performance by mohanlal. Heard that the film was not a BO success. Blessy's reign continues....

Moserbaer has released the dvd of the film...


The movie, from what i heard, was a decent success in the BO...atleast it got its production cost back, i suppose. :D But not a big hit which is not a surprse for these kind of movies.


BTW, complicateur, haven't you watched this movie..?? :)

[ajaybaskar]

I see... I knew that the film was not in the same league of Kaazhcha and Thanmathra in terms of BO success but fared well better than Palungu and Calcutta News..

[jinju]

Brahmaram...

Excellent performance by mohanlal. Heard that the film was not a BO success. Blessy's reign continues....

Moserbaer has released the dvd of the film...

:notworthy:
undeniably, the best performance by any Indian actor in 2009 for me! Thanks a ton to Blessy for reminding that Lal can still produce such gems as only he can, amidst all the mindless masala he does nowadays!

[jinju]

[tscii:dde6ca7993][quote=Plum]

Anyway here is my take on Ividam SwargamANu.

For many a month I have decried the loss of the mid 80’s aesthetic in Malayalam cinema. My initial impression after I left Sangam Cinema’s after Rosshan Andrews’ Ividam SwargaMANu, was that someone had finally heard my personal grievance and decided to address it. But on further deliberation I’ve changed my tune. Andrews’ is far to given to meticulous preparation for his characters to have the organic arc that the ones in that golden age. Nonetheless, his brand of filmmaking is certainly a few steps above what currently passes for mainstream cinema in Malayalam these days.

Lal is as usual adequate with his brilliance breaking through in a couple of sequences. Writing “while his words portrayed confidence his body language did not” is a fairly simple stringing together of words. Navigating half a minute of screen time that naturally convinces you that Maththai is experiencing these conflicting emotions is a different ball game and it takes an actor of Lal’s caliber to execute this effortlessly. [/tscii:dde6ca7993]

fabulously written...undoubtedly, the best of malayalam cinema of 2009 along with Pazhassi Raja, Bhramaram, Kerala Cafe!

[Murali Srinivas]

Paaleri Manickam:

At the outset it can be classified as "who did it?" category. But it is not your normal investigation thing. The film unfolds in different levels with the layers surrounding the incident making it more complex.

The investigator from Delhi has a strange coincidence with the murder that happened 52 years ago, he having born on the night the murder took place. The journey he embarks upon takes him back to a period, which is seperated by half a century from the present. He in trying to unearth the hidden pieces, unsure whether these pieces still exist but nevertheless continues.

He has only the police crime records of his native town Paaleri to fall back upon, which are again doctored. Accompanying him in this journey is his friend turned mistress. He tries to put all pieces together with the help of some people who were all witnesses to the happenings and who are still alive. How he finally arrives in front of the perpetrator [a nice twist here] is told in a measured pace.

Here you don't have the fast chases, multiple suspects, some action scenes with unknown goons all associated with murder mysteries and instead the narration is told through the eyes of the investigator.

Kudos to Ranjith for coming forward to film this story by T.A.Rajeevan written some decades back. Though slow paced, he never allows the sudiences' concentration to waver. While traversing through the incidents that surrounded the murder, he deftly uses the screen play to capture the various facets of the village mileu of the 50's Kerala, where the dominant landlord castes treated the less previliged in a brutal and humilating manner. He had taken the pains to bring alive the village of 1957 in all its earthiness. The film makers of Kerala have always had the courage and took the artistic liberty of pointing out the wrong doings of the politicians irespective of who is in power and here the story happens when the world's first democratically elected communist government under E.M.S. was about to assume charge. How the government asked its party cadres to spread out and how the cadres used influential men for furthering the party's hold and how the Congress [in opposition] tried to exploit situatons are told in fleeting moments but do leave an impression.

When I see such types of protagonists, always used to think why such roles are not to be seen in Tamil. Here the investigator himself declares that he was born of a illegal relationship more due to the fact his mother had no way but to obey the village chieftan's diktats. Again in the course of his conversation, he matter of factly says that he had told some excuses to his wife at Delhi for taking this trip and talks about how his friendship towards colleague has been taken to the next level. Such flesh and blood characters make our protagonists as mere caricatures.

If Mammootty as the investigative Haridas is cool and poise, he has given out one of his best performance as Ahamed Haji, the village chieftain personifying all the evils. In a never before seen role, where he is shown to treat all the lower castes as his bonded labourers and not to forget his lust for all women who come before him, he has delivered a splendid performance. Let me not delve more for the reason it would be a give away for someone wanting to watch the movie.

Srinivasan as the old age barber, Siddique as the present day man friday dish out a natural performances. Swetha Menon is good in her part. Gowri Munjal as the friend accompanying crime analyst passes muster. For all other roles, Ranjit has chosen stage artists and trained them and for their part, they have come out without blemish.

Will not say it is a film par excellence but a very good attempt made memorable by Mammootty's Hajiyaar.

Regards

[AravindMano]

Kerala Cafe. Equal mix of good and bad shorts. "Bridge" and "Happy Journey" stand out. Espescially "Bridge", for its stunning cinematography.

[shajith1994]

Bodyguard

[Murali Srinivas]

Pramani

A village story told in a simple manner. A Panchayath President who is bent upon amassing wealth through corrupt illegal means rules the roost in the village. Neither the arrival of new Panchayath Board Secretary [a Govt Employee] who is determined to clean up things, nor the admonishing teacher with whom he shares a special relationship could make him see reason. And when he goes to the extent of sacrificing the entire agriculture land in his village for a soft ware company in return for a huge kickback, things reach a flashpoint.

The protagonist one day suddenly reaslises that money is not everything and tries to turn a new leaf but that is resisted by his own kith and kin which comes as a shocker to him. It almost turns up the whole village against him. As if this is not enough a very serious crime allegation is hoisted on his head. How he wriggles out of the imbroligo he finds himself in forms thr rest of the story.

Not much to boast about, writer director B.Unnikrishnan had sort of a redone his earlier offering Maadambi which also had the same background mileu. For the viewer it is very apparent that the movie is taken forward more by dialogues than visual. The director had tried to highlight some socially relevant issues faced by rural Kerala today like that of agriculture lands being taken away in the name of progress but it is more of a cosmetic in nature.

The character doesn't demand anything extraordinary from Mammootty and he has a stroll in the park. Sneha as Panchayath Board Secretary looks slim and attractive in simple sarees. Lakshmi makes a comeback after a long time and her Rosy teacher is a significant one.

Prabhu - For me it was a disappointment as he turns up just in 4 scenes out of which 3 pass by as background. He has only one scene of dialogue and emoting and ofcourse he does it with elan. Probably the chance to share screen space with Mammootty must have lured him.

Time pass movie.

Regards

[jinju]

Watched the remake version of Neelathamara directed by Lal Jose in MT Vasudevan Nair's script. The original released in 1979 marked noted actress' Ambika's debut. The reasoning behind the remake as per producer Suresh Kumar that it was a film he watched around 16 times and felt that the story still had merit for today's age and need to be retold...so some trims n addons after, we have the new version!

The film narrates the story of a servant girl in a rich household. The mother, who is the master of the house is aging and all alone in the vast household as her son is away studying in the city of Ernakulam and comes home only on weekends. The girl develops an infatuation/love towards the son whose intentions are obvious! Another angle where the servant has a rough n tough "muraimaaman" who actually takes her to the household for work. //now we know where the 90s-00s superhits Nandanam, Sallapam, etc, owe their origin to :D .// After his intentions are taken care of in one fateful night, the son moves on, gets married with another girl of his same strata leaving the servant ponnu searching for answers! What follows next is told in a languid manner by Lal Jose.

A film enacted completely by newcomers, Neelathamara is no great shakes as cinema, but is worth watching for the 3 strong/emotionally weak women characters that the magician MTV weaves. Archana Kavi as the maid (in a strong debut), Rima Kallingal as her neighborhood friend, Samvrita Sunil as the bride are 3 strong female characters that typify the lack of such ilk in today's malayalam cinema n reassert the strength of malayalam cinema of those times! if not for anything else, this effort should be lauded for the above reasons, Vidyasagar's melodies, n Lal Jose's mastery of the craft! Kailash also makes a notable debut as the rich son who exploits the servant girl, so does Sridevi (late Monisha's mom) as his mom.

[jinju]

Pokkiriraja, one of the most expected malayalam movies of 2010, starring Mammootty, Prithviraj and marking the malayalam debut of Shriya Saran released yesterday amidst much fanfare. The movie is supposed to be a mass masala entertainer, something that malayalam cinema has fallen prey to in the recent times. It has been earning average to good reviews and may turn out to be a winner at the BO because of its saleable stars and malayali audiences' new found love for masala flicks. Bordering on the done-to-death theme of lost and found brothers, the film is a first time effort by director Vyshakh, formerly an assistant to the uncrowned king of malayalam commercial films, Joshi.

will watch it soon and post my review...posted below one of the reviews

http://f4s.in/entertainment/pokkiri-raja-review/

[Sudarsh]

Guys i just saw Bharya Onnu Makkal Moonuu recently and im telling you seriously this is the best movie I've seen this year and is one of the best movies I've ever seen in my life. Rajasenan direction is Superb! The movie goes so fast that you dont even realize the time fly by! The whole movie felt as if it just started 5 mins ago and ended in 5 mins so beautifully directed and picturized. I loved the message in the movie about family and love! Its been done so well I just love the movie! I'm still feeling for this movie so much even after watching it! I think its an great family experience! Rajasenan and the whole crew including Mukesh, Jagadeesh, Rahman and all have acted really well! Wishing Rajasenan the best of luck in the future! :D :) 8-) :wink: :mrgreen: :clap: :clap: :notworthy: :thumbsup: :bluejump: :redjump: :omg: :ty: :ty: :victory: :victory: :yes: :yes: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :cool2: :exactly: :cheer: :happydance:

VERDICT: THIS MOVIE WILL ALWAYS REMAIN IN MY HEART FOREVER AND I WILL REWATCH THIS AGAIN AND AGAIN BECAUSE ITS ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES IN THIS WORLD AND I LOVE RAJASENAN'S DIRECTION AND HIS MOVIES! :D :) 8-) :wink: :mrgreen: :clap: :clap: :notworthy: :thumbsup: :bluejump: :redjump: :omg: :ty: :ty: :victory: :victory: :yes: :yes: :2thumbsup: :2thumbsup: :cool2: :exactly: :cheer: :happydance:

[Cinefan]

Do they do DVD's with English subtitles?????

Pazhassi Raja DVD is out and apart from this I have a long list of movies I want to watch.Problem is my very very limited knowledge of malayalam.

Despite the handicap have seen and got very impressed by movies like Thazhavaram,Devasuram,Class mates,Vaasthavam and quite of few on DD during the 80's whose names I forget.

Of course since I pick and choose,obviously don't get to see the crap ones which I am sure are made.

[Cinefan]

Also a movie which flew out of the theatres as soon as it came in has bagged a lot of critical acclaim,goes by something like TB Dasan Standard IV.Anybody seen that?

[jinju]

Do they do DVD's with English subtitles?????

Pazhassi Raja DVD is out and apart from this I have a long list of movies I want to watch.Problem is my very very limited knowledge of malayalam.

Despite the handicap have seen and got very impressed by movies like Thazhavaram,Devasuram,Class mates,Vaasthavam and quite of few on DD during the 80's whose names I forget.

Of course since I pick and choose,obviously don't get to see the crap ones which I am sure are made.

Cinefan, dvds now come with english subtitles...do check out Thirakkadha, Loud Speaker, Bhramaram, Kerala Cafe, etc among the new ones...yes, TD Dasan VI B is an amazing film i heard, cud not watch it coz am settled in cbe now and on one of my occasional visits to kerala, found out that after a poor 2-week run, the movie got dislodged by the usual crass commercial ones...that's the sad state of malayalam films today...tho this film has got some fantastic reviews...don't know whether one will be able to get to watch it on dvd, coz such films don't have takers there also! let's hope....

meanwhile check out one of the well written reviews for td dasan

T.D.Dasan Std.VIB : An Enchanting Experience

Theatre : Little Shenoys, Ernakulam
Show : Matinee
Attendance : 30 - 40 persons

I was absolutely stunned when I arrived at the theatre after my sudden decision to watch the film for a matinee show. The reason for my surprise: Well, the crowd that turned up for the show which was about 3 times my expected count, standing there on the scorching heat waiting for the ticket counter to open. With that happy note, I stated my cinematic experience of the day, at the end of which I decided to show my gratitude through this review towards my SS comarades ( I am not mentioning specifically ) for recommending this film.

Plot
****
Ammu and her father Nandan, an AD maker leads a very quiet and uneventful life in Banglore until a letter comes to their home addressed to some Divakaran. Both Ammu and Nandan (in seperate ways, ofcourse) being able to identify with the author, a boy called Dasan from a rural village, tries in their own ways to find a solution to this unexpected occurence in their life. While Ammu tries to do this by being an understanding father to the boy (which she lacks), Nandan tries to confront the issue by creatively channeling it to a film script. The rest of the film is about how both their ways plays out to meet the situation ending on a climax, which is the best I have seen in recent times.

Critique
********

The first thing I noticed from the film is the way the director has subtly narrated sequences which he presents as tip of icebergs. The best example for this is the prologue sequence of palm trees which works as an apt premonition to some of the films's latter half sequences. The aura of kavus, the mango tree (symbol of his father for Dasan), snakes etc. are truly ingenious when you think of things on a bigger scale.

Equally mentioning is the way in which director has created the enchanting mythical atmosphere for the proceedings through devices like Solomon's "Song Of Songs" or 1001 Nights. While it is questonable that a father presents a hightly erotically chared text like 1001 Nights to his 12 year old daughter as a birthday present, it is obvious that the director is aiming for that ambiguity. This thought of mine was amplified by the very next scene in which she asks her neighbour for Solomon's Love hymns. Just Notice each time from where Ammu takes those tragic letters each time for the reference. SUPERB indeed!!!

The emotional plunge that the film takes in my belief is the way in which Ammu shows her frustation towards her father by being one to someone like Dasan in whom she finds that same urge. It is clear in many sequences that Nandan doesn't meet her expectations as a father (one having him completely forget her in office). While this is the case, Nandan tries to be a better father figure in his dreams which becomes evident from the climax of his film idea. It is simply ironic that this dream has to finally face the reality as a mirror!!!!

Technical Department
********************
Even though made on a small scale, the technicians of the film have made sure that the audience wouldn't know the difference. The photography by Arun Varma hence captures the vistas of Palakkad with the appropriate cloudy chillness while gifts the busy Banglore life with sunny harsh days. Equally good is the editing by Vinod Sukumaran who has also done the cuts well that we flow the flow as right. But the real star on this account is the composer Sreevalsan.J.Menon who has provided that mood of film by his soothy BGMs and a nice song with the help of Refeeq Ahmed's lyrics.

Direction & Script
******************
Both direction and script by the debutant director Mohan Raghavan gets the loudest applaude reserved for the film. He gets his hands on things but the excellence is in the gripping with which he has hold on thhings. He delves into issues of social values without getting preachy which I believe some of our even veteran directors has to still learn. Equally spot on is the way in which he has casted the actors for their respective roles. BRAVO!!!

Cast
****
All including Biju Menon, Swetha menon, Suresh Krishna etc have done their parts well. But the honors I believe must go to Master Alexander (Dasan), Miss Teena Rose (Ammu) and Valsala Menon. Jagadeesh has hammed up a little in an other wise excellent casting.

Last Word
*********
SO...After seeing the film, I thought what is the place which we people we have reserved for this film in the Galleries. It is sure, it won't be a superhit as guarenteed by a typical mass masala entertainer or an award contendender for that matter. Well..Atleast we can appreciate these efforts by seeing it..Who Knows?> Tommorrow that 30 can be a 300!!!!

Verdict: 4/5

http://www.snehasallapam.com/malayalam-movie-discussions/2023-c-d-dasan-std-vib-enchanting-experience.html

[Cinefan]

Thanks jinju.Have never seen a Blessy movie,with subtitles I would be very interested.Hope Pazhassi........ is also with subtitles.

Thirakkadha-the one supposedly based on the relationship between KH and Srividya???How is it?Also kerala cafe-good?

Please recommend some good movies as and when they are relased on DVD and also ones which are already out and worth watching.

Ona side note,don't know when the tamil film industry will start releasing original DVD's at least 6 months after theatrical release.

[ajaybaskar]

Cinefan,

Pazhassi Raja,
Thanmatra,
Brahmaram,
Kaazhcha,
Kerala Cafe,
Twenty 20,


All thse films have been released in DVD format. Give a try...

[Cinefan]

Thanks Ajay

[jinju]

Thanks jinju.Have never seen a Blessy movie,with subtitles I would be very interested.Hope Pazhassi........ is also with subtitles.

Thirakkadha-the one supposedly based on the relationship between KH and Srividya???How is it?Also kerala cafe-good?

Please recommend some good movies as and when they are relased on DVD and also ones which are already out and worth watching.

Ona side note,don't know when the tamil film industry will start releasing original DVD's at least 6 months after theatrical release.

welcome...yes, all blessy films till date from Kaazhcha to Bhramaram are out on dvd with subtitles, priced at 100. Kaazhcha, Tanmatra, and Bhramaram r 3 blessy films one cannot afford to miss!

thirakkadha, yep based on the same relationship, directed by Renjith...also, if u can, try getting Kaiyyoppu dvd, it's out on Moserbaer...directed by Renjith and starring Mammootty n Khushboo...it's not much of commercial cinema and so may not be known to many outside kerala, but reminds one of the gud ol' days of malayalam cinema, it's the kind of cinema we crave to watch but get rarely nowadays...don't miss!


kerala cafe is a first of its kind experiment in malayalam cinema where 10 different short films directed by 10 different directors including lal jose, revathy, syamaprasad, anwar rasheed, anjali menon, shaji kailas, etc, all based on the concept of journey(call life's journey if u might)...around 5 of the short films r fantastic including revathy's, anwar's, and lal jose's and the remaining 5 range from gud to average...the cast include various stars of malayalam cinema ranging from mammootty, prithviraj, sreenivasan, to sureshgopi, dileep, etc...again, this daringly different attempt is helmed by director Renjith inspired from the French film Paris Je T'aime, which was an assortment of 10 short films...

about the latest n worth watching malayalam film dvds, will keep u posted...

[raghavendran]

blessy.... :notworthy: ...mammootty in kaicha.... :clap:

[Appu s]

Paleri manikyam :2thumbsup: the movie is perfect with minor ignorable flaws. a investigation movie with different narration,mamooty a private detective wants to solve the mystery behind the murder which happened 50 years ago,the murder happened on the same night he was born. He doesnt want to punish anyone since no suspects are alive.

a big bow to director Ranjith who given a perfect screenplay for this complex story,the way he handles the screenplay with 50 years ago flashback scenes and present scenes are ... :bow:

Cast :thumbsup: all the actors given their best.
Mamooty :bow: :bow: brilliant performance as the brutal.. :thumbsup:

[ajaybaskar]

Narasimham..

I have watched this movie over ten times but still I have not got bored. Probably, Shaji Kailas' best film till date. Grapevine was that he has trying to remake this film as Janaa but finally ended up remaking Baasha. Had Ajith acted in Narasimham remake, it would'Ve well suited his image..

[jinju]

watched Pokkiriraja yesterday...2 prominent actors, shreya as heroine, an above 5 crore budget...a pity that with such riches at disposal, director Vysakh has made a film generously borrowing scenes and shots which are straight lifts from 80s Rajini movies and his follower Vijay movies...! Even more appalling is the approval he gets from an actor like Mammootty to go ahead with this project! The team behind this movie has seen the eroding taste of malayalam cinema audience of nowadays to come up with such trash, no wonder the film has taken a really good opening, but how long will it sustain the interest needs to be seen!

i did not expect anything else, going by the title and the scriptwriters namely sibikrishna-uday thomas (the pen behind cid moosa, e pattanathil bhootham etc), other than a timepass entertainer...the only entertainment this film offers r the scenes where comedians suraj and salimkumar appear...the first half would have fallen flat if not for the nonstop laughter these guys provide with their one liners n exceptional comic timing! apart from that, the first 15 minutes of the film itself convinces u that u r in for a torture ride...a village festival, the father of the 2 boys (our heroes) accidentally kills a boy from the rival group, the elder boy takes the blame, is sent out of the village...lands up in madurai, enter charanraj the madurai gunda but gud samaritan whose kid our boy hero saves from death and is taken under charanraj's wings...grows up to be madurai raja alias mammootty in the most hammed up role of his career! then the titles play up with the song in the background playin as something like this "ivan pokkiri raja, aangilathil mannan, tamizhum pesuvaan, aanaal ivan thaaimozhi malayalam" oh yeah, the stage is set....i told myself, just think that you are watching Sura and not a mammootty film...ok, still the first half with prithvi trying to ape all vijay heroisms tests one's patience thanks to the inefficiency of the actor in doing a role tailormade for a vijay! but the lighthearted moments by the comedians save the show and one eagerly waits for mammootty to make his entry which by interval he does...within 5 minutes of that, one realizes even that is not going to save the show!

and, second half proves one right...the worst police commissioner character i've ever seen written in cinema essayed by Siddhique...sample a scene: the madurai gunda played by mammootty enters the police commissioner's house, beats the commissioner's henchmen black and blue and challenges the commissioner that he'l make sure that the commissioner's daughter eventually gets married off to prithvi, his younger brother despite the commissioner's objection to it...in between the fight, the commissioner makes calls to the police force to reach ASAP to his house at which point, madurai raja's henchmen call home minister, chief minister and whoever possible...the police force arrives and tells commisioner "we can't do anything sir, this man has connections all over india!" and go back beaten! enter raja: "you call police, i call home minister...u call home minister, i call chief minister, u call chief minister, i call prime minister...u call prime minister, i call obama obama!"....did i hear anyone laugh at this dialogue, yeah pls, it's supposed to be comedy :( ! yeah, raja uses (in)appropriate english throughout the film in an attempt at humor, a straight lift from the Superstar's 1980s comedy scenes' english template, but the attempt is below par and not even a patch on rajini's style of 'inglis' usage!

and u bring a heroine like Shreya to malayalam cinema, at least give her some screenspace or 2 gud songs, alas, that's also not there...she doesn't even have as much screentime as the sidekicks of the heroes and is the usual bimbo heroine that one encounters in mass flicks!

now i can take mass masala flicks in tamil in its own spirit, and as i mentioned above, i got the gist of the film from the first 15 minutes of the movie and knew what to expect...but when the scriptwriters indulge in cheating the audience by filling illogical scenes one after the other, shove corny dialogues scene by scene, and labeling it entertainment, mass masala, sorry it is just not on...i can as well watch a vijay/vijaykant/sarathkumar mass film and i don't want to go to theater to see mammootty mouthing dialogues like "this is indian pokkiri service, u r indian police service...yes it's an IPS war" :shock: and then lift the main punch dialogue also from tamil "raja solradha dhaan seyvaan, seyradha dhaan solvaan" comeon, gimme a life, me n my wifey screamed and ran out of the theater well before the climax fight and the eventual happy ending!

a wasted sunday afternoon! :oops:

[Cinefan]

Thanmathra-Simple movie told a very simple way.

MohanLal :clap: ,the way he used his body and face was amazing.
Also the effortless ease with which he changed from a normal dad,husband,son to some one suffering from Alzheimers.

My eyes were brim throughout the second half.

The supporting cast was equally good esp the guy who played Lal's son Mannu.

Just a couple of small complaints-Meera looked too young as the wife and the Mannu-Anjali angle was dropped midway.Some how had got the feeling that it will play a role.

Subtitles helped as I could focus on the movie instead of thinking what was spoken the previous scene.Wish this facility was available for some of the 80's movies too.

What are the other Blessy movies-Kazha,Brahamaram,Calcutta News,anything I have missed??

[ajaybaskar]

Palungu

[Cinefan]

Ajay,that one is also Mammotty right?

[ajaybaskar]

Yes. Blessy's third venture after Kaazhcha and Thanmathra. Not sure if the original DVD has been released.

[ajaybaskar]

CF,

Checkout Kaazhcha.. If you liked Thanmathra, you'l definitely fall in love with Kaazhcha as well. My personal favourite. Vintage Blessy!!

[raghavendran]

i loved harikrishnans...wat a film..2 stars doin non stop comedy..with juhi chawla...awesome film...a thorough entertainer

[jinju]

Yes. Blessy's third venture after Kaazhcha and Thanmathra. Not sure if the original DVD has been released.

palunku is available on dvd...in fact every blessy film till the last one, bhramaram is...

[ajaybaskar]

Thanx Jinju for the info.. :-)

Still I have not watched Palungu and CN..

[jinju]

Thanx Jinju for the info.. :-)

Still I have not watched Palungu and CN..

wc..tho not as gud as his other outings, these 2 films r far better than 90% of the films we get to see in malayalam cinema of late..

[ajaybaskar]

I see. Watched Brahmaram couple of months back and was left speechless for the next 1 hour. Mohanlal is an actor with unmatched prowess..

[jinju]

I see. Watched Brahmaram couple of months back and was left speechless for the next 1 hour. Mohanlal is an actor with unmatched prowess..

adhellaam national award winning perfo'nga...state award-e kudukkala, reason being, bhramaram has a premise that is not entirely believable :lol: ...this comment by the jury raised an uproar in malayalam film circles that how does the film being not entirely believable make the lead actor nondeserving of an award! as usual, no answers from anyone concerned... :D

[ajaybaskar]

Who won the award then?

[jinju]

Who won the award then?

mammootty...no qualms about it coz that was a fabulous performance as ahmed haji in paleri manikyam...but any yardstick one uses to compare it with the bhramaram perfo and pick one over the other is injustice! :cry:

bhramaram is a national award contender perfo, if not winning, atleast deserves to be second best which i think is where it will end up, coz the northies will prefer Paa over this n give it to AB, just like they overlooked tanmatra for Black in the final round! i don't know if there are any arthouse performances that is above bhramaram in 2009, but if Paa perfo is what wins it, i'l b depressed again :oops: and boycott national awards which of course has become a joke of late, but still.... :cry:

[ajaybaskar]

I have a gut feel that Paa won't make it.. AB has given much better performances than Paa. For me, Paa was a joke nevertheless..

[ajaybaskar]

-deleted for repeated posting-

[jinju]

I have a gut feel that Paa won't make it.. AB has given much better performances than Paa. For me, Paa was a joke nevertheless..

yenga, hum tum-kku saif alikku kuduthrukkaanga...appuram enna Paa joke aavudhu coke aavudhu northie mafiakku...evvlo panrom, idha pannamaattoma! :D

[raghavendran]

I have a gut feel that Paa won't make it.. AB has given much better performances than Paa. For me, Paa was a joke nevertheless..

yenga, hum tum-kku saif alikku kuduthrukkaanga...appuram enna Paa joke aavudhu coke aavudhu northie mafiakku...evvlo panrom, idha pannamaattoma! :Dpaa...shabbaaa.....amitabh pls..vitrunge

[jinju]

-edited-

[Plum]

I have a gut feel that Paa won't make it.. AB has given much better performances than Paa. For me, Paa was a joke nevertheless..

yenga, hum tum-kku saif alikku kuduthrukkaanga...appuram enna Paa joke aavudhu coke aavudhu northie mafiakku...evvlo panrom, idha pannamaattoma! :D

porumai porumai. evanaavadhu bachchan hater jury chairmanA vandhA? Congressku vEra BachchannA aagadhu. ipdillAm dhAn nAn ennaiyE thEthikitturukkEn :mrgreen:

[jinju]

I have a gut feel that Paa won't make it.. AB has given much better performances than Paa. For me, Paa was a joke nevertheless..

yenga, hum tum-kku saif alikku kuduthrukkaanga...appuram enna Paa joke aavudhu coke aavudhu northie mafiakku...evvlo panrom, idha pannamaattoma! :D

porumai porumai. evanaavadhu bachchan hater jury chairmanA vandhA? Congressku vEra BachchannA aagadhu. ipdillAm dhAn nAn ennaiyE thEthikitturukkEn :mrgreen:

yes plum thats the hope many of us lal fans r actually riding on...the government! but there cud always be other deserving perfos which we don't know about....hmm, poruthirunthu paarppom!

[ajaybaskar]

Pokkiri Raja..

Went to the theatre after reading Jinju's review. My expectation level was at rock bottom. I just wanted to wile away the time for 3 hours and opted for PR since it was running in a theatre near my house.

This film is more like Rajamanikyam. Replace Bellari Raja with Madurai Raja, Rahman with Prithviraj, South Travancore malayalam with 'dabba' english and you get Pokkiri Raja. Every scene of the movie was predictable as I have been following tamil cinema for 25 odd years.. But I have to admit that the mallu crowd in the theatre enjoyed the movie a lot and I could sense that the movie is churning out to be a superhit/blockbuster. Its running to full house in chennai and that's a good sign irrespective of the standard of the film.

Mammooty as Madurai Raja was worth watching. His charisma saves the second half of the film with the first half saved by Suraj Venjaramoodu and Salimkumar. The second half was a bit lenghty. An intelligent editor could'Ve been opted when it is one of the most anticipated projects of the year.

Just go to the theatre, leaving your brains at home. You'l definitely have a fun ride. Unadulterated mass masala!

[raghavendran]

prithvi malayalam industryukku oru slow death irukkunnu feel panraru...no young gud directors,scriptwriters it seems :?

[jinju]

Pokkiri Raja..

Went to the theatre after reading Jinju's review. My expectation level was at rock bottom. I just wanted to wile away the time for 3 hours and opted for PR since it was running in a theatre near my house.

This film is more like Rajamanikyam. Replace Bellari Raja with Madurai Raja, Rahman with Prithviraj, South Travancore malayalam with 'dabba' english and you get Pokkiri Raja. Every scene of the movie was predictable as I have been following tamil cinema for 25 odd years.. But I have to admit that the mallu crowd in the theatre enjoyed the movie a lot and I could sense that the movie is churning out to be a superhit/blockbuster. Its running to full house in chennai and that's a good sign irrespective of the standard of the film.

Mammooty as Madurai Raja was worth watching. His charisma saves the second half of the film with the first half saved by Suraj Venjaramoodu and Salimkumar. The second half was a bit lenghty. An intelligent editor could'Ve been opted when it is one of the most anticipated projects of the year.

Just go to the theatre, leaving your brains at home. You'l definitely have a fun ride. Unadulterated mass masala!

aaanggg! ungalukku pudichudha?! maybe the diprnce in expectation levels as u mentioned...

enakku indha padavum naan paatha perarasu padangalkkum romba diprnce thonala...and, i don't like to see these kind of films in malayalam...tamilla ok, appdi oru milieu irukku, so it's fun to watch...adhuvum illaama my wifey was like 'why why why waste a sunday afternoon for this?'nu after the film...adhanaala dhaan en reviewla avlo kovam :D ....! and Rajamanikyam was a far better product than this i feel, though the genre is same, but Anwar Rasheed is miles ahead of Vysakh and Mammootty more in control of the character graph in RM...

yeah the movie will turn out to be a success in Kerala, which doesn't speak much coz Sura is the only success in Kerala till now this year and also Happy Husbands (a trash remake of no entry which in turn was remake of a prabhu-prabhudeva starrer) than a TD Dasan VIB, a film which in earlier time wud've at least got a 25-day run in kerala but today is squeezed out by crass commercial ventures and doesn't even get a decent 2-week run or even Paleri Manikyam, mammootty's best in recent times that met with a disastrous bo response and the producer re-released it after it got a few state awards but the result was same as earlier coz our guys prefer Vijays n Allu Arjuns nowadays! a well made Sathyan Anthikkad movie (with all his cliches intact though) is struggling to pick up i hear though it's supposed to be one of his best ones in recent times...enna thaan panrathu...kedakkradha vechu santhosappadavendiyadhu dhaan! :D

[jinju]

prithvi malayalam industryukku oru slow death irukkunnu feel panraru...no young gud directors,scriptwriters it seems :?

slow death ellaam ille...death aayi oru varshathukku mela aachu...no gud young actorsnum sollalaam koodave... :D

[Sarna]

enakku indha padavum naan paatha perarasu padangalkkum romba diprnce thonala...and, i don't like to see these kind of films in malayalam...tamilla ok, appdi oru milieu irukku, so it's fun to watch...adhuvum illaama my wifey was like 'why why why waste a sunday afternoon for this?'nu after the film...adhanaala dhaan en reviewla avlo kovam :D ....! and Rajamanikyam was a far better product than this i feel, though the genre is same, but Anwar Rasheed is miles ahead of Vysakh and Mammootty more in control of the character graph in RM...

yeah the movie will turn out to be a success in Kerala, which doesn't speak much coz Sura is the only success in Kerala till now this year and also Happy Husbands (a trash remake of no entry which in turn was remake of a prabhu-prabhudeva starrer) than a TD Dasan VIB, a film which in earlier time wud've at least got a 25-day run in kerala but today is squeezed out by crass commercial ventures and doesn't even get a decent 2-week run or even Paleri Manikyam, mammootty's best in recent times that met with a disastrous bo response and the producer re-released it after it got a few state awards but the result was same as earlier coz our guys prefer Vijays n Allu Arjuns nowadays! a well made Sathyan Anthikkad movie (with all his cliches intact though) is struggling to pick up i hear though it's supposed to be one of his best ones in recent times...enna thaan panrathu...kedakkradha vechu santhosappadavendiyadhu dhaan! :D

enne oru uyarndha ullam :twisted:

[ajaybaskar]

What he meant was Tamil has scope for both Masala and offbeat movies. So it won't affect the standard much if a masala film releases once in a while. Tirupaachi oduna oorilathaane Autographum oduchu?

But Malayalam films are known only for their classy movies. Masala movies have never been their forte.

[Sarna]

What he meant was Tamil has scope for both Masala and offbeat movies. So it won't affect the standard much if a masala film releases once in a while. Tirupaachi oduna oorilathaane Autographum oduchu?

But Malayalam films are known only for their classy movies. Masala movies have never been their forte.

//I vehemently object :evil: :wink: //

Ajay, I got ur point :)

[ajaybaskar]

:lol:

Unga aadhangam enakku puriyudhu... Adhu vera department! :-)

[jinju]

Sarna, naanum vijay films rasichu paakkra aal dhaan from his Coimbatore Maappillai days but don't enjoy a Mammootty/Lal doing such kinda films at this point of their career, avvlo dhaan...i think i didn't put it across properly there...in fact, my wife told me "idhukku we could have watched Sura, at least Vijay punch dialogue adikkradhu, dance, fights panradhu paaakradhukku oru dhum irukkku!"nu...i meant in that vein...

if kamalhassan gives u Sivakasi/Thiruppaachi kinda films one after the other at this stage of the career, would u like it? in fact, i see lot of rajini n kamal fans impatient here that their projects r taking time to materialize, but it's the opposite we feel in kerala that kamal and rajini r so careful about their projects but the Ms are not...the problem lies in that there's no gud 2nd generation actors coming up which is not the case here...in fact, i don't mind a prithviraj giving a Puthiya Mugham which was in many ways paying homage to tamil/telugu mass formula coz he's a young and upcoming actor who aims to be a star...and i enjoyed that film with its own shortcomings...but with 2 legends at this stage of their caree, giving trash in the name of mass masala, just not on! KSR, trisha, kappal idhellaam padichappo inga irukkra naraya kamal fans eppdi aadhangappaattaangalo, appdi thaan Ms indha maadhiri project pannumbodhu enakkum some kich kich somewhere!

am not claiming tamil films r inferior in any way and malayalam films are/were superior, but ovvoru regionkkum oru nativity irukku...if u are traversing regions, then make something proper like Rajamanikyam which is enjoyable while catering to the traditional "mass masala" routine! hope i've made myself clear, and still if some of my comments hurt someone here, sincere apologies, degrading anything/anyone was/is not my intention!

[Cinefan]

jinju,
Cool!Think Sarna was just having fun pulling your leg.

Completely understand how you feel.I for one would not like to watch Mohanlal doing a punch dialogue spewing,fighting,dancing,crass movie esp after watching him in a Thanmathra,Unnai Pol oruvan,Devasuram or Thazhavaram.

As for Mammotty,cannot even imagine him dancing as my exposure to him has been through films like CBI diary kurippu,Dalapathy,Azhagan,Mounam Sammadham,the "Kadamai,Ganniyam,kattupadu" original,koodevide and one with Srividya I saw on DD in the 80's-dignified,majestic performances.

[Sarna]

Jinju, cool :) It was just for fun :)

Btw, I too enjoyed Rajamanickam when I watched it at ernakulam.... and at that time I felt it as a typical Vijay movie but mammooty doing :) FYKI, Rajamanickam ran for more than 100days in Ernakulam 8-) It shows that malayali's are expecting fun-filled entertaining movies.

I watched Prajapathy :sigh2: in theatre. Along with me and my friend only 10 peoples were in theatre that too 3rd day(Sunday) of release. Naangale poyi aapplula ukkaandhOm :ashamed:

Recently I watched Saleem(telugu) movie and had similar experience. But atleast here Ileana was there as punnukku marundhu.

[Sarna]

As for Mammotty,cannot even imagine him dancing
In Rajamanickam(???) one kuththu song is there where Rahman will be dancing. Mammooty will come and stand as if he is going to dance but he wont dance. He will repeat this for 3 to 4 times in that song and finally he will shake his hands and legs and go :|

[jinju]

thanks sarna, i thot u got angry!yeah, Rajamanikyam is in fact the highest grosser in malayalam cinema ever i believe...i don't have any issues with that film and we revisit it often on dvd...the problem is, the prajapathys and pokkirirajas are increasing just like after one superb Narasimham, so many Prajas and Onnamans increased!

in fact, yesterday me and a friend of mine were having a discussion on this same issue in a malayalam movie forum which we are members of, and telling that in tamil cinema there is equal space, respect, and BO recognition given for a Paiyya, a Naadodigal, a VTV, an Angadi Theru, a Vettaikkaran, etc...whereas in malayalam, good films don't make money at BO whereas substandard remakes/mass masala get undeserved recognition.

One cannot blame the makers alone for making such films again and again, coz afterall it's a business and like any, has to be successful...u can see all the gud recommended movies ajay n myself have given to Cinefan in this thread and yet, a majority of these were failures at the BO which doesn't encourage such endeavors in the future!

Cinefan, btw i forgot a notable movie...check out Passenger, a totally different movie whereas malayalam cinema is concerned...no songs, no heavy duty action, but a relevant theme of today's times...starring Dileep and Srinivasan...available on dvd...was released last year and won him many awards for the best newcomer prodigy in screenplay and direction...a thriller kind of a film that covers the happenings of 2 days in the lives of a couple of passengers who meet on a train...makes a lot of social comments about our society!

[jinju]

As for Mammotty,cannot even imagine him dancing
In Rajamanickam(???) one kuththu song is there where Rahman will be dancing. Mammooty will come and stand as if he is going to dance but he wont dance. He will repeat this for 3 to 4 times in that song and finally he will shake his hands and legs and go :|

adha vudunga, in this pokkiriraja movie there's a moonwalk step done by a dupe trying to pass off as mammootty but making it so obvious...it's the biggest joke going on in kerala as of now that he cud be the only actor in indian cinema who has used a dupe in a dance scene...in a recent film called red chillies, in a brahmin family pooja room Mohanlal's foto will be kept along with the other Gods, and the dialogues go like "iyaal ente bhagavan" (translates to he's my God!) and he plays a don in the movie :lol: , of course one with a gud heart! don't understand what is the need for these guys to stoop to such levels... :oops:

[ajaybaskar]

Yes... That dupe part was annoying. Mammootty doesnt need to prove that he is a good dancer and I dont think there would be a single soul who watches Mammookka movies for his dance.

Apart from the dupe, he also tries a real 'moonwalk' where he doesnt move an inch but the floor moves.. That was more funny.. :D

[raghavendran]

Yes... That dupe part was annoying. Mammootty doesnt need to prove that he is a good dancer and I dont think there would be a single soul who watches Mammookka movies for his dance.

Apart from the dupe, he also tries a real 'moonwalk' where he doesnt move an inch but the floor moves.. That was more funny.. :Doh..mammookka tried to dance...now thats a concern for mal cinema..running out of ideas or trying to copy tamil films... :shock:

[Cinefan]

Thanks jinju for the 'Passenger' recommendation.Am trying to watch them one by one.Pls keep them coming.

[great]

I see. Watched Brahmaram couple of months back and was left speechless for the next 1 hour. Mohanlal is an actor with unmatched prowess..

Watched the movie couple of days back. Wasnt that impressed with the movie. Movie started off well, but somewhere in the middle lost its track or was bit drag. Last 30 minutes was quite good. btwn do you know the language?

[ajaybaskar]

Yes.. I do.. Most ppl from Kanyakumari dist do know the language.. :-)

[Murali Srinivas]

Pokkiri Raja

I know what was in store as I regularly keep track of Malayalam movies which are on the floors/which are on the making stage. So there were no expectations. But still the film failed to even touch me. It was a typical masala pot boiler. Having seen Mammootty perform in a variety of roles during the golden period of Malyalam cinema, this was a total let down.

Not that I am more interested in Sukurtham, Mrigyaa type of charaterisations. I can and did enjoy Raja Manickam but this was not ok.

May be having seen Pazhassi and Ahamed Haji recently might have made me feel like this. But the alarming trend is the reception such movies are getting in Kerala. It has broken all existing collection records in it's first 2 weeks. Even here in Chennai, the unending whistle and applause during the introduction scene of Mammootty made me wonder whether I am really watching a Malayalam movie or Tamil.

Would wait for Shaji Karun's Kutty Srank and Gopikrishnan the Chief of Intelligence Bureau, Southern Region [Vande Maatram]. Meanwhile would have to search for Mike Philiphose of Loud Speaker as it has not been released here.

Regards

[ajaybaskar]

MS bro,

Where did you watch the movie? I saw it in PVR. The crowd response made me like the movie even better.

Mammooty also joins hands with Amal Neered again for 'Son of Alexander'. Did u know that?

[Murali Srinivas]

Dear Ajay,

I saw it in Sangam -yesterday evening show.

Regarding the film with Amal Neerad which is supposed to be the sequel to Saamraajiyam, it is only in drawing board stage. Amal Neerad with all fairness to him makes tehnically great movies but they lack in substance. Big B, definitely one of the most stylished movie ever made in malayalam lacked depth and Amal's Saagar Alias Jockey, I heard [I have not seen] was a big let down for even hardcore Lal fans.

Mammookka is all set to make his debut in Kannada. He is in Bangalore and might have started shooting. Titled Shikkaari, it has Mammootty playing a dual role. One is that of a IT Professional. Accidentally he starts reading a book given by his friend, which tells the story of a hunter and his beloved. The book is set in pre-independence period and the IT Professional has a strange feeling that the hunter in more ways than one resembles him. He gets into that fantasy world which becomes the turning point of the film. This is being directed by Abay Sinha, who I am given to understand is a promising upcoming youngster. The movie would also have it's Malayalam version and the grapewine is Mammootty himself may write the dialogues for it.

His next Malyalam movie would be Oru Cinema Kadhai. Again this is directed by a new comer Prakkat Martin who was a professional photographer. It is a story of a teacher/lecturer trying his hand at cinema. The screenplay is by Vipin chandran, who wrote for Daddy Cool.

And as I said earlier his next release would be the Tamil - Malayalam bi-lingual Vandhe Maatharam which also has Arjun playing an important role. His Shaji Karun directed Kutty shrank had already won awards in International film festivals but it's theatrical release is awaited.

Regards

[ajaybaskar]

Amal's films fall into the 'Only Style.. No substance' genre. Frankly, I liked both Big B and Sagar@Jacky.. old wine in a brand new bottle. Being a cinematographer himself, Neerad concentrates more on each frame. Mammookka's intro in Big B is definitely his best till date.. Heard that Neerad's 'Anwar' is nearing completion.

[Prabo]

Mammookka is all set to make his debut in Kannada. He is in Bangalore and might have started shooting. Titled Shikkaari, it has Mammootty playing a dual role. One is that of a IT Professional. Accidentally he starts reading a book given by his friend, which tells the story of a hunter and his beloved. The book is set in pre-independence period and the IT Professional has a strange feeling that the hunter in more ways than one resembles him. He gets into that fantasy world which becomes the turning point of the film. This is being directed by Abay Sinha, who I am given to understand is a promising upcoming youngster.
Regards

Sounds like 'The Number 23' :roll:

[jinju]

Amal's films fall into the 'Only Style.. No substance' genre. Frankly, I liked both Big B and Sagar@Jacky.. old wine in a brand new bottle. Being a cinematographer himself, Neerad concentrates more on each frame. Mammookka's intro in Big B is definitely his best till date.. Heard that Neerad's 'Anwar' is nearing completion.

:shock: :shock: ajay, certainly regarding amal, we don't have anything in common! :D

[ajaybaskar]

:-)

Understood..

I am a fan of masala films, Jinju. Only when there is an overdose, I find it difficult to sit.. I had problems with Suraa, Villu and Aadhi but liked Ghilli, Sivakasi and Pokkiri.. That doesn't mean I don't like offbeat films. I like them too...

Big B, Sagar, Narasimham, Aaram Thamburan, Valliyettan played it safe without going overboard.. Hence, they remain in my favourites list..

[jinju]

:-)

Understood..

I am a fan of masala films, Jinju. Only when there is an overdose, I find it difficult to sit.. I had problems with Suraa, Villu and Aadhi but liked Ghilli, Sivakasi and Pokkiri.. That doesn't mean I don't like offbeat films. I like them too...

Big B, Sagar, Narasimham, Aaram Thamburan, Valliyettan played it safe without going overboard.. Hence, they remain in my favourites list..

idhellaam enakkum pudichudhu...shaji kailas in those times was enjoyable...however, regdng Amal have the same views as MS...hes just an RGV shishyan who apes his guru scene after scene...i've watched n admired the same techniques from RGV in his hindi films maybe 5 years back, i don't find anything original from amal, that's my prob! if only amal imbibed even 5% of his guru's flawed genius, it wud b gud...Anwar, going by the storyline(if there's any :D !) and prerelease reports seems to b heading the same way...all style but no soul!

and ya, sivakasi n villu pudikkala...aanaal aadhi n kuruvi pudichudhu, maybe coz i didn't watch it first week in theater with expectations!

[vishwwa]

I see. Watched Brahmaram couple of months back and was left speechless for the next 1 hour. Mohanlal is an actor with unmatched prowess..

:exactly: Very true....the movie is just a masterpiece ,though everyone maynot like this kinda dark,tension brooding films...
For me this is Blessy's greatest effort till date as a director. But even more credit goes here to Lal which just says what kind of perfomance it was- more than brilliant .

[vishwwa]

Thanks jinju.Have never seen a Blessy movie,with subtitles I would be very interested.Hope Pazhassi........ is also with subtitles.

Thirakkadha-the one supposedly based on the relationship between KH and Srividya???How is it?Also kerala cafe-good?

Please recommend some good movies as and when they are relased on DVD and also ones which are already out and worth watching.

Ona side note,don't know when the tamil film industry will start releasing original DVD's at least 6 months after theatrical release.


Apart from the ones jinju mentioned i will add from some i think is not to be missed. These are films post 2000 :

1. Devadoothan (2000) - a Sibi Malayil- MLal film. Its a kind of fantasy thriller. a flop when it released but now considered a classic by many movie lovers. An unconventional movie with theatre/plays forming its background. Apart from 1 or 2 unnecessary fight scenes definitely a Must watch .

2. Karuthapakshikal (2007)- Directed by Kamal with Mam as hero.A nice movie with good moments.

3. Thalappavu (2008) - A very interesting movie based on a real story of a major revolutionary naxal leader being killed. starrin Prithviraj and Lal (the director/producer).

4. Achanurangaata veedu () - It portrays the odds faced by a father with 3 teenage girl children. Salim kumar plays the main role .Directin by Lal jose. Very good movie.

5.Notebook - by Roshan andrewws. Wonderful movie based ona group of youngsters in the final year at their school.

6. Soothradharan - A Lohitadas movie starring Dileep and Meera Jasmine this being her first movie. A fine movie based on a group of prostitutes. Somewhere we can see connectins with the Tamil classic 'Mahanadi' and also an old padmarajan movie 'Arappata ketiya gramam' .

7. Pakal nakshatrangal - A kind of psychic thriller starring Mlal. Again a wonderful movie.

8.Perumazhakalam - By Kamal. starring Meera and Kavya in lead roles .Very good one

9. 'Achuvinte amma' and 'Manasinakkare' by Sathyan Anthikad is also very worth a watch.

10. Paradeshi of Mlal,
Danny by T.V Chandran-Mam ,
Keerthichakra by Major Ravi-Mlal , etc. are also movies not to be missed.
I'm stopping now. There may be more especially the art house stuff. Subtitled DVDs are available for most of these if not all ,i think.

If we were to consider the 80s and first half of 90s in mal cinema, we will get an unending list ofmovies that can be considered nothing but just classics.
Now its not even a pale shadow of those times although there is scope for hope with some young directors coming with newer ideas.

[ajaybaskar]

I liked Devadoothan... Esp the songs...

[arjun885]

Pokkiri Raja & Kadha Thudarunnu.....

Pokkiri Raja - pakka tamil style movie with punch dialogues,fights & all mass stuff...gonna be a big hit...

Kadha Thudarunnu - usual Sathyan Anthikkad movie...family subject...will be having a good run...

[cepark]

recently i ve seen bodyguard...

1st hald full of comedy nd second half sentiment totally family entertainer.film is rocking.

esp deelip acting,nayans cuteness.....

[vishwwa]

I liked Devadoothan... Esp the songs...


Yup..devadoothan was a world standard movie IMO, altough there maybe 1 or 2 unwanted scenes....
and it had a soulful music from Vidyasagar...truly one of his best albums...
'Endoru....' . ' poove poove......' , etc. were all amazing tracks.
And ofcousre a superb BGM too.

[complicateur]

Watched Shyamaprasad's Rithu. Always felt like something was missing through the entire film. Ended up being quite dispassionate about he entire experience. Which is not a good thing as far as viewing a film is concerned.

[vishwwa]

Watched Shyamaprasad's Rithu. Always felt like something was missing through the entire film. Ended up being quite dispassionate about he entire experience. Which is not a good thing as far as viewing a film is concerned.

ya, same here... :)
BTW did you get to see Bhramaram ?? also palerimankyam ?

[complicateur]

Portions of Bhramaram. And none of Paleri Manikyam. Need to catch up.

[vishwwa]

Portions of Bhramaram. And none of Paleri Manikyam. Need to catch up.

why portions...were you tring to see bramaram in online..??...the original dvds have released....
paleri orig. dvds haven't released i think...wud hav 2 depend online...

[complicateur]

Nope, Bhramaram was on Asianet for Onam I think. Caught parts of it then. Will look for the DVD.

[rajprasanna]

Apart from the ones jinju mentioned i will add from some i think is not to be missed. These are films post 2000 :
Danny by T.V Chandran-Mam ,


I saw the movie "Danny" today. Thanks for suggesting this movie sir.

As mentioned in the IMDB http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0356505/#comment

The movie posed serious questions on life and existence.. :(

[ajaybaskar]

Naadhiya kollapetta raathri (Suresh Gopi, Kavya Madhavan, Siddiq)

A suspense thriller about a RACT officer investigating the murders happened in a train. Directed by K. Madhu, the film lacks the style and finesse of the CBI diary series. The movie would have been better if the director hadnt opted for the sub plots. It makes the film lengthy and gives the viewers a tiresome experience. Watchable for the climax...

[Murali Srinivas]

Launch programme and shooting stills of Mammootty's maiden Kannada venture Shikkari.

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs325.snc3/28855_440722460168_147051640168_5859694_282788_n.j pg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_XLLsV3Btn2I/S_3v_wDit9I/AAAAAAAAFN8/-c7sByqWNXw/s640/Shikari%20(49).JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_XLLsV3Btn2I/S_3vUGULRBI/AAAAAAAAFMU/4-lvLaYZCpk/s640/Shikari%20(24).JPG

http://i48.tinypic.com/dq2lmw.jpg

Mammootty - Prakkat Martin venture Oru Cinema Kadha now renamed as Best Actor and shooting stills are here.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8655/bestactor003.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1190/bestactor017.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/3059/bestactor024.jpg

Regards

[AB, how is it?]

[ajaybaskar]

Murali bro,

Edha kekkureenga?

BTW, 'Oru naal varum' is releasing in AGS Royal..

[Murali Srinivas]

Ajay,

I was asking about the stills featuring the most handsome actor of Indian cinema that I had posted!

Regarding Oru Naal Varum, it was supposed to be released yesterday in Kerala but again it has been postponed. First time from May 14th to June 25th. People are eagerly expecting the film and especially Lal fans are praying that Lal- Srinivasan combo again brings back the magic of 80's.

One more thing I wanted to tell you is regarding the collection of Raavanan in Kerala. Sify is way off the mark [don't know what is their intention] when they say the first week collection is more than that of Ms' movies. Pokkiri Raja had collected 1.57 cr in one day and it's first week gross was 4.5 cr. Pazhassi's first day collection was near 1.5 cr. Even an off beat film like Paleri Manickam collected 1.5 cr in it's first week. Compared to that Ravanan's collection is nothing. I didn't want to spoil the mood in Raavanan's thread and that's why I am putting it here.

Regards

[jinju]

Ajay,

I was asking about the stills featuring the most handsome actor of Indian cinema that I had posted!

Regarding Oru Naal Varum, it was supposed to be released yesterday in Kerala but again it has been postponed. First time from May 14th to June 25th. People are eagerly expecting the film and especially Lal fans are praying that Lal- Srinivasan combo again brings back the magic of 80's.

One more thing I wanted to tell you is regarding the collection of Raavanan in Kerala. Sify is way off the mark [don't know what is their intention] when they say the first week collection is more than that of Ms' movies. Pokkiri Raja had collected 1.57 cr in one day and it's first week gross was 4.5 cr. Pazhassi's first day collection was near 1.5 cr. Even an off beat film like Paleri Manickam collected 1.5 cr in it's first week. Compared to that Ravanan's collection is nothing. I didn't want to spoil the mood in Raavanan's thread and that's why I am putting it here.

Regards

i think Sify is the last place where people look for authentic collection reports, especially in case of malayalam films...their own contradictory reports on pokkiri raja and 20-20 was proof enough, if any was required....collection reports ellaam with a pinch of salt :D !

[ajaybaskar]

Mammootty is definitely one of the most charismatic figures in Indian cinema. Its hard to believe that he is approaching 60. The first Mammookka film i remember watching is 'Kalikalam'. He is more or less maintained the same physique from then.. :clap:

Reg 'Raavanan', I heard that Sreedhar Pillai is getting brickbats for his tweets on the film and Mani. So this so called Kerala report should be a damage control measure..

[P_R]

[tscii:b249f04ad0]Thoughts sparked by Sadayam (http://dagalti.blogspot.com/2010/06/thoughts-sparked-by-sadayam.html)


"Let us not put these faces through change"

These are the words of Sathyanath (Mohanlal, in a brilliant performance), in the pivotal murder scene in the film Sadayam (1992)

The evanescence of what one is, is arguably one of the more tormenting aspects of the human condition (flavor du jour for me for a while now). There are those blessed few who seem comfortable in a bulwarkless existence. But I can't help suspecting them of ignorance. How can change not be scary to anyone?

As the cliché goes: 'We become what we despise'. But that by itself is not scary. What is is, we do not strongly despise what we have become, because what we see depends on what we are.

A story - by getting meta on everyone it shows - seems to delude us into believing we can see ourselves as others see us. But, apart from temporary indulgences, memory doesn't yield to this. It has a survival function written into it by evolution.

Which is why judgement is always the luxury of the third person. And who are we judge the judgement?

And what is the point delaying judgement? Why wait for choices to be made for the choices to be judged on a moral scale? What if one were to choose between morality and choice itself? What if the only way to prevent change is to deny the capacity for change?

Would one have to - as ol' Bill put it - be cruel only to be kind?

And last and most important question...how the deuce did they manage to raise these questions in a bloody mainstream film?
[/tscii:b249f04ad0]

[Murali Srinivas]

Welcome back Prabhu!

Good thoughts on Sadayam [though a little Thilakish (J/k thilak)].

The movie was a 1992 release if my memory serves me right and this good film was drowned amongst the so called comedy pot boilers churned out by Lal - Priyan, Lal/Thambi Kannanmthanam combos.

Strange it would seem but somehow MT - Lal combo had not met with the kind of success one would have expected or one had seen like that of MT- Mammootty combo.

Ajay,

Kalikalam was one movie that showcased the comedy prowess of Mammootty in the earlier period. Sathyan Anthicaud who could not do justice to his earlier comedy movie Sridharante Onnam Thirumurivu with Mam, this time came out trumps. Yes, you are right about the looks. The fact that Mam even after 20 years [Kalikalm was 1990 July release] is still able to retain the same glamour and physique speaks volumes about his commitment and hard work.

Regards

[P_R]

Good thoughts on Sadayam [though a little Thilakish (J/k thilak)].
Oh ! andha range-ku pOyittEnA :lol:

I have known the 80s-early 90s Malayalam films to be very sensible and no-nonsense in their appeal. But this was not just that. The central premise was so deep and likely unpopular.

From the narrative 'taking the side' of a man who has killed 4 people including two children and creating the sense of empathy is stunning. I really didn't expect such a strongly negative core to have been chosen for a mainstream well and handled so well.

I am sure I understood only about 50% of the lines. And if the sparkle of what I understood is to be believed I think I missed a load of good dialogue. Mohanlal is excellent though.

Thank You complicateur for the cd.

[kid-glove]

Good thoughts on Sadayam [though a little Thilakish (J/k thilak)].
Oh ! andha range-ku pOyittEnA :lol:
:P

Presumably, in the old days, I was sparse subject-wise, uninviting, and tangential, but I never had this much power of articulation..

Here's the new deal: I got my kid gloves on.. :boo:

[jinju]

P_R, i believe Sadayam was based on a reallife incident (i mean the killings happened), though MT sir gave his own fictional spin on it...maybe, Muraliji can confirm it

[kid-glove]

I thought the execution was sloppy. Perhaps why Malayil never got another MT script to work with? And chuck Sadhayam (apart from Lal's magic), his best films were with Lohithadas..

[jinju]

I thought the execution was sloppy. Perhaps why Malayil never got another MT script to work with? And chuck Sadhayam (apart from Lal's magic), his best films were with Lohithadas..

:exactly:

kid, have u seen Sukrutham? that's my favorite MT screenplay, and one of my favorite Mammootty films...such a poignant one...i was reminded of this film recently when the VMC Haneefa death rumour happened! :(

[kid-glove]

Haven't seen it yet. I must confess I have seen very few Hariharan-MT films but I sense a committed writer-director relationship there..

[ajaybaskar]

P_R,

Gr8 to have u back!! Hope everything is fine with you! :-)

Sadhayam is certainly one of the best works of Sibi-Lal combo.. I was left speechless after watching the climax and that too in a mainstream movie.. I have recommended this film to some hubbers too..

[kid-glove]

Jinju,
On googling, I gather the director's name is Harikumar - Is this filmmaker any good? Or is only as good as the script.

I usually associate Hariharan with most MT scripts. Even if I think Bharathan as the best director to have worked with MT..

[jinju]

Haven't seen it yet. I must confess I have seen very few Hariharan-MT films but I sense a committed writer-director relationship there..

watch it if u can and share ur thoughts...

btw, Sukrutham is directed by Harikumar...yes, Hariharan-MT is an irresistible combination right from Panchaagni to Pazhassi Raja :notworthy: !

[jinju]

Jinju,
On googling, I gather the director's name is Harikumar - Is this filmmaker any good? Or is only as good as the script.

I usually associate Hariharan with most MT scripts. Even if I think Bharathan as the best director to have worked with MT..

:) ya i was just posting that it's Harikumar...certainly a good director...has made only a handful of films, not ur everyday commercial filmmaker...the last one i watched of him was Swayamvarappanthal, a good film about the only brother of five sisters who gets married after a lot of bride hunting and ends up in a psychiatric facility, thanks to some revelations of his wife's past and the subsequent friction...it stars jayaram and samyukta varma...had gud performances by both...i liked the film though the forced humour/characters to commercialize the film harmed its strong content...but yes, the screenplay was by sreenivasan, so maybe one can call him a script-dependent one like sibi...

[kid-glove]

Thanks Jinju !

[P_R]

Yeah, its kinda wobbly. And gets too slow after a while. But it took a new take on the age-old theme of corruption of the pristine. Couldn't help thinking of Mahanadhi all the time.

When the second girl comes into his house, life mimicking itself all over again - the absurdity of the repetition hits you hard. But (unlike the optimistic Krishnaswamy) Sathyanath thinks corruption is a foregone conclusion - one can only delay or morph its form. That is unnerving.

[kid-glove]

"the absurdity of the repetition hits you hard
..
.
Sathyanath thinks corruption is a foregone conclusion - one can only delay or morph its form. That is unnerving."

Yes, and that it's done in Mainstream filmmaking is in deed impressive.

A similar point is made in (without the sophistication of the milieu and Mohanlal's character/acting in this film) Aakrosh. but that wasn't a Mainstream film..

[Murali Srinivas]

P_R, i believe Sadayam was based on a reallife incident (i mean the killings happened), though MT sir gave his own fictional spin on it...maybe, Muraliji can confirm it

Yes, if I remember correctly it happened in Northern Kerala - Malabar side. That's what the media reported.

Harikumar did one more film with Mammootty - Udyana Palakan. A nice movie though not in the same league of Sukrutham. In fact, Mam on hearing about Harikumar struggling to make both ends meet helped him with Sukrutham [1994] through which Harikumar bought some land for his house. Later when Mam came to know that he is struggling to build the house, he offered Udyana Palakan to Harikumar [1996] and if my memory serves me right it was written by Lohithadas and Hari completed his house.

Regards

[AudazJay]

This one is for all Mohanlal's fans, esp Jinju!

Mohanlal is the latest star to join Twitter, all thanks to Big B's persuasion :)

http://twitter.com/Lal_Mohanlal

[jinju]

This one is for all Mohanlal's fans, esp Jinju!

Mohanlal is the latest star to join Twitter, all thanks to Big B's persuasion :)

http://twitter.com/Lal_Mohanlal

et tu lalettaaa?! :clap:

"facebook no, twitter kabhi nahi...aanaal ippo idhellaam nadanthidumo-nu bayamaa irukku!" SRT join pannappa kooda remba temptasan irundhathu but control pannen, but this time it lalettan :notworthy: ...i kandippa join! thanks for the news and link, audaz...

[rajprasanna]

Movie : LOUD SPEAKER
Cast: Mammootty, Sasi Kumar
Direction: JAYARAJ

Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudspeaker_(film)

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1521023/


He is from village, doesn't know english, walks bare footed, speaks out straight and loud, befriends people easily with his humourous stories.

The other is a Wealthy US-Return, Retired Research Scholar, Has everything but still lives alone.

One lives in a roofless house seeing stars above..goes to sound sleep in seconds ..

The other, an Astrophysicist who researches on stars.. but ends up with sleepless nights..

When both of them meet we start to think..

"Life is so simple that sometimes smart people fail to get it."

When MIKE (the villager) says "Vidhyaabhyaasam undu.. pashye... VIVARAM illaa .." referring to a few college students... that sums up the situation.

Good movie.

[ajaybaskar]

Happy to know tat Sibi Malayil is doing a bi-lingual. Welcome Sibi to tamil film industry.

[jinju]

Happy to know tat Sibi Malayil is doing a bi-lingual. Welcome Sibi to tamil film industry.

along with fazil, another one of the 'past masters' of malayalam who has completely lost it! can't remember the last time he made a gud film! as k-g mentioned above, a classic example of a completely script-dependent director...once lohitadas branched out into direction, sibi's struggle started and has been going on for years! hope he regains his past glory with apoorva ragam/poialagan.

heard a song from the film...eerily similar to vidyasagar's own legendary 'ethrayo janmamaayi' from Summer In Bethlehem...hopefully the audio is good as it's a youth subject...

[cepark]

watched BODYGUARD..... :thumbsup:

CUTE EMOTIONAL LOVE STORY.....

[ajaybaskar]

Original DVD of 'Happy Husbands' has been released.

[raghavendran]

watched BODYGUARD..... :thumbsup:

CUTE EMOTIONAL LOVE STORY.....oh..namme vijaykku suite aaguma?
ange andhe padam flop dhaane?

[ajaybaskar]

Flop ellam illai. It did average business..

[rajprasanna]

KAIYOPPU

Good movie. silent and artistic narration.

but gets dramatic around climax.

WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiyoppu
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0881930/

[Murali Srinivas]

Ajay,

Remember, we were talking about Oru Naal Varum. The film has been released in Kerala and it has got a mixed response. It seems that the film had not come up to the expectation levels. As I mentioned earlier, people who were expecting a recreation of the screen magic that Lal- Srini combo had been associated with in late 80s have been disappointed, it looks.

Meanwhile there was one interesting announcement [rather two] regarding two new projects of Mammootty and both are sequels. Sethuramaiyer is making a comeback and would investigate a crime, which if materialises would be the 5th part in the CBI series. S.N.Swamy is penning the script and K.Madhu would direct.

The second one was more exciting. Thevalliparambil Joseph Alex the fireband IAS officer who rocked as "The King" is back and he is joined by Bharath Chandran IPS , the "Commisioner". After a long time Renji Panicker would confine himself to the script while Shaji Kailas would wield the megaphone. The very mention of the combo of Shaji- Renji -Mammootty has raised huge expectations. Of course Suresh Gopi as Commisioner would have added glister but unfortunately he is not there and Prithivi plays the Commisioner.

It is too early days regarding the projects but more details should be coming out soon.

Regards

[ajaybaskar]

Yeah. Heard that ONV is not upto the expectations but is still better than some recent releases. We cannot discard Srinivasan's abilities that very easy.. :-)

[P_R]

Achuvinde AmmA

Actually I think I saw Ach.. and ..mmA

AFAI watched, Oorvasi paRundhu. Meera oorkkuRuvi.

[Plum]

Achuvinde AmmA

Actually I think I saw Ach.. and ..mmA

.
Statement 1 - "uvinteA"-vum pArungO!



AFAI watched, Oorvasi paRundhu. Meera oorkkuRuvi

:hammer: kadai adaippu! Although I'll shift the goal posts and refer to Statement 1 in this post - and failing that test also, shift the goal posts to Padam oNNu(desparately), Kasthoori maan, Vinodayatra and some more to be revealed once you trash these 3 also :-)

[Plum]

Achuvinte Amma is actually average fare - whether you rate it absolutely in terms of Malayalam Cinema history, or relatively as a Sathyan movie or relatively as a contemporary Mallu movie or in any which way.

idhai thAn nAn "andha average fare-la irukkaradhu kUda namma tamizh padathula varra mAttEngudhu"-nu sonnappO Equar quoted "avan school pakkamE odhunginadhiilaingarAn..."

[P_R]

Flau, in the few scenes I watched Oorvasi was the defintion of fluency while MJ's was muyarchi nadippu.

Parstu indha padam pfullA pAkkurEn. appuram michadhellAm pArukkuREn.


"avan school pakkamE odhunginadhiilaingarAn..." edhula varum? :oops:

[Plum]

Flau, in the few scenes I watched Oorvasi was the defintion of fluency while MJ's was muyarchi nadippu.

Parstu indha padam pfullA pAkkurEn. appuram michadhellAm pArukkuREn.


"avan school pakkamE odhunginadhiilaingarAn..." edhula varum? :oops:

periya idathu mApLai. I know it only second hand from you and equar - apparently, aNNan's rebuke is about Jayaram trying to live up to what he thinks is a reduced expectation from Vijayakumar and brother(nAN vENA LKG, UKG padichurkkEnnu sollidattumA?)

[P_R]

Ah ya ya. :lol:

[jinju]

Ajay, k-g oru gud news...seems like sibi malayil has come up with something special, a different attempt in malayalam cinema with his latest...

Though the media reviews and audience response is poor (as is the case for 'good' malayalam films nowadays) these are a couple of reviews from my friends who love good cinema...real cinema lovers seem to be rejoicing over the movie...eagerly waiting to catch it! hope gud wom helps the film pick up

http://www.snehasallapam.com/malayalam-movie-discussions/2535-apoorva-ragam.html


http://www.snehasallapam.com/malayalam-movie-discussions/2530-apoorva-raagam-path-breaking-stuff.html

[bingleguy]

Folks .... suggest me some good crime-solving based movies in Malayalam ..... like CBI Diary Kurippu

[Padmanabhan]

Folks .... suggest me some good crime-solving based movies in Malayalam ..... like CBI Diary Kurippu


I will suggest a few which comes to mind

Kariyila kaatu pole: Padmarajan directed flick starring mohanlal and mamooty..a bit slow for today's generation

Yavanika: Masterpiece -starring bharath gopi and mammoty directed by k.g george. ..again, a bit slow

Witness: A very good thriller starring jayaram

Mukham: slow-passable flick starring mohanlal

Utharam: Top class, intelligent suspense thriller starring mammooty..

The truth: fast paced commercial thriller starring mammootyy

kaanathaaya penkutti

charithram

[jinju]

hey friends, posting a link of "Kandahaar On Location" pics from Indiaglitz, starring Lalettan, Big B, and TN's own latest hunk Ganesh Venkataraman...check it out...hes gettin better with each film!

http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/gallery/Events/22842.html

[Murali Srinivas]

Folks .... suggest me some good crime-solving based movies in Malayalam ..... like CBI Diary Kurippu


kaanathaaya penkutti

charithram

Kaanathaya Prnkutty also has Mamootty and Jaya Bharathy.

Charithram is again Mammootty but it is a remake of Puthiya Paravai.

Vasanth,

You can also check out

[b]Oru Abhibashakante Case Diary

Crime File

Oru Thanutha Veluppan Kaalathu

The following might also interest you

August 1

Adikurippu [great script by S.N.Swamy but non Keralites might find it a bit difficult to follow].

It goes without saying except Crime file [which was inspired from Abaya Murder case that rocked/still rocking Kerala] all other films had Mammootty in the lead. Suresh Gopi was the hero in Crime file.

Regards

[bingleguy]

Padmanabhan n Murli ....

Thanks a TON for your suggestions .....

i remember seeing the movie THE TRUTH .... but i have not seen the rest of em ....

hmn, crime file seems to be interesting ... i like Suresh Gopi too .... Mamooty is always seen as the man for crime stories - especially his character as Sethurama Iyer is outstanding ...

I would chk out these movie ... thanks once again ....

[Ramakrishna]

Where can we buy(in Chennai) or download malayalam movies with subtitles.

[great]

Where can we buy(in Chennai) or download malayalam movies with subtitles.

try burma buzaar or torrents.

[bingleguy]

Utharam

well, may be if i would have seen the movie at that point of time ... i may have appreciated the way the story is been conducted ....

I somehow feel that you have to hide the answer for the riddle in plain sight .... not including new things at every stage of the movie .... somehow that doesnt give what we need .... anyways thats my humble opinion ...

as such the movie started off with a bang .... and as such everyone were way too casual in the movie ... the way how Mamooty enters every place in plain disguise is very well appreciated for collecting data .....

pretty much reminded me Chandramukhi where Prabhu marries Jo without knowing much about her background ....

It was a fast movie - so didnt bore me .... and ofcourse the movie was full of Mamooty :) so i liked it :)

[great]

tonty tonty.

Pretty ordinary fare. Surprising this movie was a huge hit :shock: . Maybe due to starcast

[directhit]

Where can we buy(in Chennai) or download malayalam movies with subtitles. hi Rk, you can get good prints out here http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/malayalam/sort/most%20recent but usually for older movies very hard to get subtitles. can google for the srt file. newer movies (if dvd print) atleast you might be able to get the subtitles

[directhit]

tonty tonty.

Pretty ordinary fare. Surprising this movie was a huge hit :shock: . Maybe due to starcast :D its such a difficult task to get all the big stars and give all the biggies almost an equal screentime/importance.

[great]

Where can we buy(in Chennai) or download malayalam movies with subtitles. hi Rk, you can get good prints out here http://www.veoh.com/search/videos/q/malayalam/sort/most%20recent but usually for older movies very hard to get subtitles. can google for the srt file. newer movies (if dvd print) atleast you might be able to get the subtitles

good. Cani have subtitle for bodyguard? :D

[great]

tonty tonty.

Pretty ordinary fare. Surprising this movie was a huge hit :shock: . Maybe due to starcast :D its such a difficult task to get all the big stars and give all the biggies almost an equal screentime/importance.

yea, esp for Mamooty and mohanlal. you can notice that in the action sequence btwn the M.

[Plum]

Tonty Tonty was quite okay. Consider that the comparitive effort in Tamil was suyamvaram, and that is even without Rajni and Kamal.

[directhit]

Tonty Tonty was quite okay. Consider that the comparitive effort in Tamil was suyamvaram, and that is even without Rajni and Kamal. plum, precisely the point - try taking a movie with SS/Kamal/Vijay/Ajith/Vikram/Maddy/Surya

[great]

dh, no chance. Nemba kashtam.

[Murali Srinivas]

Saw pices of Minnaminikkoottam, the scenes leading to climax. Meera was as usual natural and convincing. Heard this was a watchable film from Kamal.

Loud Speaker is on in Asianet. Since missed the first hour, didn't want to see it. Must watch fully as I have missed it.

Regards

[P_R]

Saw the first part of Thalavattom
(till the end of the flashback).
Kinda boring actually.

But Mohanlal's performance was excellent.
Effortless.

Was trying to get some 80/90s MoserBaer DVDs. Picked up this and kaLiyattam.

Many other films were there whose titles were written only in Malayalam. :sigh2:

[directhit]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl


Loud Speaker is on in Asianet. Since missed the first hour, didn't want to see it. Must watch fully as I have missed it. Murali Sir - though Mammookka comes quite late into the movie ur rite, you need to see the whole movie. However i'd say its a normal movie - nothing gr8, however miles better than the current lot

[P_R]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl
idhai valai veesi thEdikittu irukkEn

[Cinefan]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl
idhai valai veesi thEdikittu irukkEn


You can order online from Moser baer,am sure they will have titles written in English :D

[kid-glove]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl

Lohithadas :notworthy:

Mammootty :notworthy:

[kid-glove]

kaLiyattam.

Think you'll like this less than Omkara. Just a prediction. :wink:

[raghavendran]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl
idhai valai veesi thEdikittu irukkEni also wanna see it..i have seen mainly only lalettan films...consider him as the best actor in the country..ippo mammu padamum pakkanumnnu thonudhu..haven seen much of his mal films..pakkanum..

[directhit]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl
idhai valai veesi thEdikittu irukkEn ennatha valai veesareenga :P online la veesirukkanum

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A7A0DD6F7BAD58D9

with embedded subs - quality is good

[directhit]

i have seen mainly only lalettan films...

consider him as the best actor in the country.. :x

ellaa hotel layum saaptu dhaan best hotel edhu nu decide pannanum :P

[P_R]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl
idhai valai veesi thEdikittu irukkEn

You can order online from Moser baer,am sure they will have titles written in English :D
Tried. They don't have it.

[raghavendran]

recommend some best mohanlal and mammotty films guys...need to chk it out

[P_R]

kaLiyattam.
Think you'll like this less than Omkara. Just a prediction. :wink: Ah well you see I don't like Omakara as much as Maqbool.
Yet to see it from start to finish.

DevgananaiyE konjam sumArAdhaan pudikkin. pArppOm.

[P_R]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl
idhai valai veesi thEdikittu irukkEn ennatha valai veesareenga :P online la veesirukkanum

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=A7A0DD6F7BAD58D9

with embedded subs - quality is good

Thanks. Compli provided this link once. yeeteep konjam reNdaam patcham dhaan. varatchi ellai meerichu indha option-ai exercise paNNira vEndiyadhu dhaan.

[kid-glove]

i have seen mainly only lalettan films...

consider him as the best actor in the country.. :x

ellaa hotel layum saaptu dhaan best hotel edhu nu decide pannanum :P

As Chris rock once says of Woody Allen and Richard Pryor, we need to keep off this concept, and embrace both M's. They both got their championship belts. Thaniyaavarthanam to me is at least worth (in gold) heavyweight championship belt. :P

[kid-glove]

kaLiyattam.
Think you'll like this less than Omkara. Just a prediction. :wink: Ah well you see I don't like Omakara as much as Maqbool.
Yet to see it from start to finish.

DevgananaiyE konjam sumArAdhaan pudikkin. pArppOm.

Me too. But I have heard the reverse too. Devgan is actually pretty good as Omakaran. But Suresh Gopi is better. Manju Warrier has Kareena for breakfast. I'm still not sold who makes better Iago, but at the moment I'm inclined to say Lal (who plays Bigle in Oram po) ;)

[prashanth12]

recommend some best mohanlal and mammotty films guys...need to chk it out

Karutha Pakshikal
udayananu tharam

[app_engine]

recommend some best mohanlal and mammotty films guys...need to chk it out

Pick randomly any movie that appeared between 85 & 90 - chances are high that you'll get a good one 7 out of 10 times :-)

[Cinefan]

P_R and k-g,
Have not seen kaliyattam but personally like Omkara more than Maqbool.Maybe becos I saw both with a 1 year gap with Omkara being recent.So becomes a slightly unfair comparison.

Maybe if I see both back to back,my opinion might change.

But Devgan was good in Om.....,kareena was not bad at all and so with Saif.

[Plum]

Maqbool all the way. Unsullied by the need to present stars in a flattering, acting-chops showing manner.
Irffan Khan vs Devgan Plus Saif Plus Oberoi - No contest in favour of the former.

Really, although Devgan and Saif and even Oberoi did decently, as did Bipasha(Kareena had nothing much to do), I feel, he should have had Irfan, and perhaps Manoj Bajpai, with Ranvir Shorey fitted in somewhere( a bit stretch for him to be Oberoi's role but I think he would have managed fine).

Omkara, I consider a partial sell-out to the market by Bharadwajar.
Maqbool was completely on his own terms. Blue Umbrella rates over Omkara for me.

[P_R]

Must admit it may also be because I like Macbeth more than Othello.

[kid-glove]

Flau,
Deepak Dobriyal as Rajju shouldn't be discounted. One of the best acted characters in recent times..

[prashanth12]

Oh boy, has anyone watched the film Kerala Cafe?. This movie left me speechless. I don't know if I can go back to watching average movies anymore after seeing this...[/b]

[AudazJay]

Isn't that the one with 9 or 10 stories? Heard a lot of positive reviews about it. Managed to only watch the Prithviraj episode...kinda dull at the beginning but it made sense at the end. Have to watch the rest of the stories, though.

[vishwwa]

Saw the first part of Thalavattom
(till the end of the flashback).
Kinda boring actually.

But Mohanlal's performance was excellent.
Effortless.

Was trying to get some 80/90s MoserBaer DVDs. Picked up this and kaLiyattam.



Try to watch it completely macha, in case you haven't done yet. The movie towards the climax is really brilliant IMO, and will most probably grow upon you to change that current opinion. Do watch. :)

[vishwwa]

Folks .... suggest me some good crime-solving based movies in Malayalam ..... like CBI Diary Kurippu


I will suggest a few which comes to mind

Kariyila kaatu pole: Padmarajan directed flick starring mohanlal and mamooty..a bit slow for today's generation

Yavanika: Masterpiece -starring bharath gopi and mammoty directed by k.g george. ..again, a bit slow

Witness: A very good thriller starring jayaram

Mukham: slow-passable flick starring mohanlal

Utharam: Top class, intelligent suspense thriller starring mammooty..

The truth: fast paced commercial thriller starring mammootyy

kaanathaaya penkutti

charithram

Let me say that Karriyilakattu pole is a classic work from the great padmarajan. It can clearly be seen that this served as an inspiration for another great movie in Utharam.Both details a story of a victim seen and understood through the eyes of an investigator.

Also Mukham in the list is a classic as well.Superbly realistic. Being slow is another matter. They are class works which neds to be enjoyed with a little bit of patince.

Yavanika also a great work.

Witness and Charitram are also good detective thrillers.

[prashanth12]

Isn't that the one with 9 or 10 stories? Heard a lot of positive reviews about it. Managed to only watch the Prithviraj episode...kinda dull at the beginning but it made sense at the end. Have to watch the rest of the stories, though.

Yeah, that's the one.

Prithviraj one was good...but I think the best ones are "Bridge" and "Makal" (the second one was directed by our Revathi). If you're only going to watch one, watch one of those two. I'm still thinking about them even now.

But for some reason they put the worst story first.

[AravindMano]

Oh boy, has anyone watched the film Kerala Cafe?. This movie left me speechless. I don't know if I can go back to watching average movies anymore after seeing this...[/b]

prashanth12 - I did like the film, but only half of the film was satisfying. (Anyway, I think omnibus films can never be completely satisfying). 'Happy Journey' was my most favourite short, followed by 'Bridge' and 'Magal'. 'Bridge' had top notch cinematography. 'Aviraamam' and 'Lalitham...' were ok.

I found Pritivi, Dileep, Thilakan's episode very boring. The biggest disappointment was however Shyamaprasad's 'Off-Season'.

[prashanth12]

I agree with you that the quality is not even throughout each film. I thought Happy Journey, Magal, Bridge, and the Mamooty/Srinivasan short were the best. I liked "Island Express" too but I can understand why people might dislike it.

I thought Off-Season and the horror one seemed very out of place.

[Bala (Karthik)]

Many other films were there whose titles were written only in Malayalam. :sigh2:
Same problem harry potter also dealing :(

[raghavendran]

recommend some best mohanlal and mammotty films guys...need to chk it out

Pick randomly any movie that appeared between 85 & 90 - chances are high that you'll get a good one 7 out of 10 times :-) :)

[vishwwa]

PR - watch Thaniyaavarthanam (Mammootty ofcourse ;)) if psbl



Yes a must watch..classic..
Anyway the best of Lohi-Siby is definitely Kireedom...try to get that too...

Also try gettin Bharatham, His highness Abdulla, Bhootakannadi, Kanmadam, Venkalam for now among Lohi films...all great works

Also Veendum chila veetukaryangal(with jayaram), Kauravar can be tried..very entertaining films

[prashanth12]

I just watched this old movie, Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal. No subtitles, so I had to rely only on my Tamil to understand the Malayalam.

Even then, I think this is now one of my favourite movies -ever- and I think it's an utter shame that such a movie is so hard to find. the story is very simple and honest, it's like a fairy tale. a young girl is kidnapped at a young age, but rescued by gyspies who raise her as one of their family. the story is about how she befriends an orphan, by chance, who has a connection to her past and her old family.

i highly recommend this movie...it is the opposite of everything that is wrong with movies these days.

[Padmanabhan]

I just watched this old movie, Kakkothi Kaavile Appoppan Thaadikal. No subtitles, so I had to rely only on my Tamil to understand the Malayalam.

Even then, I think this is now one of my favourite movies -ever- and I think it's an utter shame that such a movie is so hard to find. the story is very simple and honest, it's like a fairy tale. a young girl is kidnapped at a young age, but rescued by gyspies who raise her as one of their family. the story is about how she befriends an orphan, by chance, who has a connection to her past and her old family.

i highly recommend this movie...it is the opposite of everything that is wrong with movies these days.

Great to hear that you liked it despite the language hurdle.."kakothi kavile" is a true gem of a movie and one of the best from kamal (director)..i watched it with my parents when i was in 4th standard.. :) ..
i was so lucky to grow up watching all those great gems ..the 80's - and the early 90's in malayalam were really such a wonderful period when great films used to come one after another..

[ajaybaskar]

Watched the first hour of 'Evidam Sorgamanu'. Nothing impressive so far...

[Padmanabhan]

Watched the first hour of 'Evidam Sorgamanu'. Nothing impressive so far...

it was'nt a masala crap and that's the only good thing about that film..the last 20 minutes was better that the rest of the film,though..