KERALA CAFE - a new beginning

Malayalam film industry is now being considered as a bit tired and no space for new experiments.Some masala flicks and usual story lines have made people opt tamil cinema which now has more experimental works and more success.Now things changed a bit.Film maker Ranjith who has always being keen in making new trends delivered his new project comprising of 10 directors with 10 stories being picturised in their own style in one movie.Kerala cafe is an amalgamation of 10 short films, a novel and experimental venture by Ranjith and a group of 10 directors.The 10 directors includes Lal jose,Shaji Kalias,B Unnikrishnan,Revathy,Anjali menon,M Padmakumar,Shankar Ramakrishnan and Uday Anandan.The binding theme of this film is 'journey'.It is a collection of films which probes into contemporary issues.

1.NOSTALGIA - The film begins with this short story directed by M padmakumar.The story centers around Dileep who plays a typical NRI.He plays a rich,selfish, self centered person and did justice to the role.This film conveys a message that one can only love his home land while he is abroad and once there has only complaints.Dileep did a character which has a slight negative tinge and he did it perfectly.The movie had a good script and narrated well by M padmakumar who deserves a special mention.

2.ISLAND EXPRESS - This film is directed by Shanker Ramakrishan who worked as an assistant for director Ranjith.This film had the perfect casting of talented and reputed actors.A good theme presented in a very simple and elegent way.Prithviraj was the narrator and played his part well.Overall a very fresh experience.

3.LALITHAM HIRANMAYAM - This film directed by ace director Shaji Kailas was noted for its expressive and rich cinematography. It was rich with post card like scenes.But i am so sorry to say that this movie lacked substance and a good script. The director failed to narrate the movie in a beautiful way. Shaji kailas once again proved that he could do movies only for the mass rather than class films.The cast includes suresh gopi who failed to deliver a good level of acting perfomance and jyothirmayi and Dhanya who did justice to thier roles.At last this turned out to be a below average flick.

4.MRITHUNJAYAM - Uday Ananthan who directed this movie failed to convey the basic theme which is "journey". I thought this film was included in the series just to show that the movie covers every theme.Legendary actor Thilakan sir as always delivered a good performance.The film started in a horror mood and the director failed to convey it to the audience.

5.HAPPY JOURNEY - Anjali Menon is a talented director whose first film 'Manjaadikuru" was enthusiastically received.This film was once of the best and was quite entertaining.Jagathy plays a flirtatious insurance surveyor who is feared to death by a young girl played by Nithya Menon. She deserves a huge round of applause. She acted brilliantly with consummate ease.

6.AVIRAAMAM - Siddique plays the lead role in this film with swetha menon as his wife.This film is directed by B unnikrishnan who gave us a series of commercial hits.Siddique once again proved that he is an awe versatile actor. He delivered one of his career best performance.In this movie B Unnikrishnan deviated from his usual way of story telling and he was successful to an extent.

7.OFF SEASON - This film directed by critically acclaimed director Shyama Prasad says the travelers and tourists are curiously bonded though they are complete strangers, caught in times of difficulties and detours.I was actually surprised to see Shyama Prasad utilizing the humour skills of suraaj venjaramood in a different way and he succeeded in doing so.This film portrays the life of people suffering from global economic recession and teaches us the value of friendship.

8.BRIDGE - This film is the best of all.Anwar Rasheed is a well known commercially acclaimed director who gave us a fist full of blockbusters like Rajamanikyam, Chotta Mumbai etc.Deviating from his usual paths he did an impeccable job.This short film is truly a master piece. I had a slight doubt rather it was hard to believe wheather it was the same Unni R whoo wrote the dialogues for Amal Neerad's 'Big B'. Anwar Rasheed also created a visual treat which helped him to narrate the story in a beautiful manner. If anyone asks which film was ur favorite? i would definitely say BRIDGE. It caused me a drop of tear.

9.MAKAL - This film directed by Revathy narrates the plight of a young girl born in an extremly poor family.It deals with some of the social relevant issues in our society.Didi Damodar who scripted for this movie did a good job and let it be an eye opener for our authorities.

10.PURAM KAZHCHAKAL - This movie was adopted from a short story written by C.V Sreeraman called 'pakal kazhchakal' which i already read even before watching the movie.So i had a slight curiosity about how the director Lal jose narrates this short story.He did it exceptionally well.This film was something like a personal narrative which had no social relevance.The cast included Mammootty, Sreenivasan etc.The way the director narrated sreenivasan's past life was just a mediocre effort. Sreeni sir did well.Mammooty appeared in 3 or 4 scenes and he did a great job as well.We could see him as an actor rather than a superstar in this movie.Overall a very great effort by Lal jose.



This film which is a medley of 10 cinematic compositions with a binding concept of a railway station cafeteria is truly a landmark in malayalam film history.The most interesting part is all these characters are meeting together.Then each persons story is shown as a different movie.It means all these stories are actually related at one point.this film provides ample scope for a diverse bouquet of looks in films.
we all have different journeys and different paths along the way.The films in KERALA CAFE puts together these perceptions.As Ranjith said "life is a journey, enjoy the ride".This is exactly what kerala cafe conveys to the audience.

MY VERDICT : 8.5/10

Pazhashi Raja gets a grand opening

My review:

Mammooty, M T vasudevan nair and Hariharan have come together after the epic film "oru vadakkan veera gadha" nearly after 20 years.The expectations were sky high when i went to watch this movie.In a career spanning over three decades,director hariharan can now be proud of himself.I said this because he just proved "impossible is nothing". He gave a film with a flame of class and cult. I must say this is the most technically crafted movie in the history of malayalam cinema.

Mammooty once again proved that he excels well in author backed roles. An actor who is well known for delivering historical roles, and outstanding voice..... mammooty did well.He was very much successful in portraying the great kerala varma pazhashi raja and make us feel that "this is our king". But in my personal opinion i am sad to say that the performance he delivered in this movie failed to reached the level of performance he scaled in Oru vadakkan veera gadha.One of the best features of the movie is the tamil actor Sarath Kumar. He was given more importance than Mammootty for all the actions scenes as well as the dialogue scenes. The dubbing done for him was also excellent. I dont think that he has acted a much better film than this even in Tamil. Academy award winner Rasool pookutty did his job exceptionally well. Sound of an arrow or a gun, heavy showers, tidbit sound such as a chirp of a bird, i just got a doubt wheather it was a malayalam movie. The action choreography did'nt impress me. At some point it reminded me of some tamil movies.
Last but not the least i must mention about Ratnakar shetty's camerawork.It gives an artistic touch and very high levels of visual dimension. Must say the film is a 'Visual treat" with post-card like scenes.And hats off M t sir for delivering such a wonderful script which is the real hero and backbone of the movie.The only negative that I felt about this movie is Mammooty has not been introduced in some of the fight scenes in the movie. Though his dialogue delivery as well as acting were brilliant, his acting skills in the movie was poor and its strictly my personal opinion. The director failed to bring continuity to some scenes in the movie.

This film just shows Mollywood could create films of good quality. I just loved this dialogue from the film “He was our enemy, but a great warrior and a great human”. This is not an ordinary film, this is a technically perfect movie. Surely this movie will rejuvenate the patriotic flame in you. IT IS A MUST WATCH MOVIE. Don’t miss it.


My Verdict = 8.2/10

Scent of a women(1992) is a comedy drama you will never forget.The film's central theme is of two people who are worlds apart in lifestyle,age and understanding of the issues of life coming together and learning from each other.It is studded by characters and situations arguably unparalleled in the history of movie making.storyline in the movie takes a side line and situations and characters take over.

Al pacino plays a retired army lieutenant.He loses his eye sight in an accident for which he is responsible himself.And being an upright man all his life he finds it rather difficult to face life which is not on his terms.He plays a weekend filled with enjoyment and decides to take his life or in his own words "Blow his brains Out".Since he is blind and needs assistance,his niece hires a college kid.while this boy (played by chris O'donnel) thinks that he is supposed to take care of the colonel at home,he is in a rude shock when he is flown to newyork.The interaction between these two characters-one who has almost lived his life and the other who is just about going to start his life- is narrated wonderfully.Al pacino flies to new york first class,puts up in a five star hotel,dines at expensive restaurants,tangoes with beautiful women,has sex with another pretty lady and is all set to kill himself.Chris O'donnel feels morally obligated and not let him do so and he tries to stop him. He reminds him of his other passion-racing a ferrari and takes him to do just that. Those shots clearly depicts the acting skills of the master himself Al pacino. Al pacino as the blind officer delivers a fantastic perfomance and Chris O'donell matches him an eye for an eye.

We see a genuine love and respect develop between the colonel and the student. slade goes to baire for charlie when he gets in to trouble at the university when he gets in trouble at the university,and brings the whole house down in an unforgettable perfomance defending Chalie's(chris O'donnel) rights.In turn charlie leanrs to be a man and teaches slade( Al pacino) to remember that HE is still a man and has a life still worth living.I love the symmetry in each man showing the other how to live and love.

If you have not seen this movie yet, you are missing it BIG TIME. Al pacino got oscar for his mindblowing perfomance in this movie.It is truly a tender,dramatic and at times comedy story that is worth having in your film library.