3 Idiots ------ Aal izz well ( Best film of the year)

You go in to see 3 idiots expecting the dream combination of Rajkumar Hilani and Aamir Khan to weave magic on screen. But despite the mental conditioning, the impact of the film is so overwhelming that it leaves you spellbound for hours it had ended. '3 idiots' is not a film. In fact it's a roller coaster ride that guarantees to tons and tons of class and rollicking laughter. This film is like a kid that never tires of entertaining you. The creators of Munnabhai series have just raised their own standards several notches higher with 3 idiots.

Based on a Chetan bhagat novel "Five point someone" , 3 idiots is a story of three friends studying in an engineering college, Rancho(Aamir Khan), Farhan(Madhavan) and Raju(Sherman Joshi). The story is about the search of a lost friend who simply goes away after the convocation at the engineering college leaving his best buddies and lover at bay. The buddies owe of a lot of what they have in their life for their friend who is the main protagonist of this movie. The story is mostly told in the flashback about the college life and events during that time. The film follows a Non-Linear narration and who could handle with consummate ease other than the master director 'Rajkumar Hirani'?? There is an interesting comradeship and love between the friends in this movie that make you feel it is real. It may relate to your college life, with the story unfolding at a simple manner with instances that are sure to bring a smile to your lips.

Three idiots is simply amazing and a must watch movie. No one can stop himself relating to the situations developed in the plot.As expected Aamir khan has done it again. Nothing stops 44 yr old Aamir khan acting as a cheerful college lad. He ensures every moves he takes is like a sweet college boy and plays the magic at each shot. The inspired story from Chetan Bhagat's novel is re-written well to hold the viewers with loads of fun & emotional surprises. There are no moments where movie looses the track so big thumbs up to the direction. Though the jokes used are old ones but beautifully presented to make you laugh. I don't see a better way to convey the message to bring change in the education system here. All characters has played their roles with full scores and special appreciation to Sharman Joshi's role who has fit in as a natural student. Even the love story part betweeen Aamri & kareena is handled gracefully without diverting the core theme of the movie. The cute AAmir looks cutest in this one who is always ready with sharp and shrewd replies to anyone who questions him. He has naturally acted as a confident & bright student who doesn't study to top the college.The movie sends a very clear message regarding the loopholes of the teaching and the scoring marks in the semester examinations. It has also highlighted the mental pressure a student goes through because of parents's expectation and peer competition which leads to suicidal attempts. Hope this message is reached to the parents who always decides thier children's fate as engineers/doctors. Hope the new generation gets the liberty to choose theirr own career where they can flourish better than a forced engineer..

Although 3 idiots is close to three hours long, these hours will definitely be worth spend as you shall come out with many a memorable moments and an amazing inspiration that the film gives. Rajkumar Hirani deserves a special applause for creating such a movie which is a must watch for all connoisseurs of good and commercial cinema. with a good grip on emotions and entertainment, 3 idiots will be the biggest hit in the history of Indian cinema for sure. Take it from me.

Verdict : Four point someone/5 (lol)

'Ividam Swargamanu' - ENCHANTINGLY BLISSFUL

A simple story, great performances, well fleshed out characters, play of emotions and technical finesse. Roshan Andrews bounces back with flare in his new film 'Ividam Swargamanu' which is indeed a worthy watch for all connoisseurs of good, contentful cinema. Roshan Andrews with his few films have earned a very special place in Malayalam movie scenario and his last two films got widely appreciated for the same. This movie had created a certain amount of buzz even before its release due to the dream combination of actors like Mohanlal, Thilakan, Sreenivasan and Jagathy Sreekumar. Expectations were obviously sky high and the question is whether it has liven up to that....??? And the Big answer is 'Yes'.

Mohanlal plays a farmer, while Thilakan plays Jeremias, his father. Mathews is trying to realize his fathers dream of setting up a huge farmhouse with cattle, vegetable and the like on the banks of river Periyar. But things go from bad to worse as a rich man by the name 'Aluva Chandy'(Lalu Alex) comes along. Chandy wants to buy his land but Mathews is not ready for the deal. The film narrates how Mathews resists Chandy's wily moves. This movie deals with the social scenario of the state where each of the Keralites are hell bound to settle every scores on ownership of land in legal battles with little acknowledgement on the emotional bonding of people with their lands. The movie is rich with with superb humor with a slight tinge of social criticism. Roshan Andrews as a director was able to get into the nuances of human behavior while doing comedy sequences and that deserves a special mention.

Mohanlal, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar and Sreenivasan are actors who give great performances every time. Mohanlal and Thilakan had been the best father-son duo to have ever come up on screen. They were exemplary pair who made superhits like Kireedom, Spadikam, Chenkol and Narasimham. Thlakan, as usual was good. Mohanlal delivered an exceptional performance. He delivered mannerisms, smile, and nuances as a 'common man' with consummate ease and proved why he is called the best actor in India..! Lalu Alex as Aluva chandy was nothing but spectacular. This is arguably the best ever role played by Lalu Alex in his whole career. He lived as 'Aluva Chandy'. Jagathy Sreekumar illustrated what 'methord acting' is all about. His mannerisms, looks, gestures etc was quite supreme and he proved his versatility. Sreenivasan proved full justice to the role assigned to him and his 'one liners' was accepted and appreciated by the audience. 'Ividam swargamanu' has three heroines in Priyanka Nair, Lakshmi Rai and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy. This is the first big role in a commercial movie for Priyanka Nair, who won the Kerala state film award for the best female actor last year. She plays Betsy, a TV reporter who supports Mathews for his love for land. she did a commendable job. Lakshmi Rai disapponited me with her poor acting skills and that is the only negative i felt about the movie. Kaviyoor ponnamma and Sukumari also did justice to their jobs.

Now Coming to the technical aspects of the movie. Diwakar handled the camera work and he did it brilliantly. His cinematography was rich and expressive and he created frames of class and cult. James Albert the script writer of movies like Classmates and Cycle is the scenarist and believe me his script was just awesome. For me he is one of the most sensible script writers left in malayalam film industry today. BGM by Gopi Sundar was good. Roshan Andrews used his directorial skills to the maximum to make this movie a huge success.

All in all, this movie is a must watch for all who love that good middle stream movies propagated in the eighties and early nineties by Satyan Anthikad, Priyadarshan- sreenivasan, Siby - Lohitdas Combination. And i am sure the plight of no other movie protagonists could have haunted you like this in recent times. Hats off Roshan Andrews and James Albert for this beautiful, touching effort.

My Verdict : 4.5/5

"Palery Manikyam-Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Kadha" IS IMPRESSIVE

In the early seventies and eighties, Malayalam cinema turned into the desi literature to convert inspiring pieces of literature into movies. And that resulted in the creation of some landmark movies in the history of Malayalam cinema. But for quite some time, Mollywood seems to forget that Malayalam literature is such a huge evergreen source where they could search for any kind of movies in any genre. Anyhow Director Ranjith had made such an attempt on his new movie "Palery Manikyam-Oru Pathira kolapathakathinte Katha".

This movie is based on a novel written by T.P Rajeevan. The film is about the investigation into the death of 'Manikyam', who was murdered mysteriously 11 days after her marriage in 50's. The protagonist of the movie is Haridas(mammooty)a private detective who is back from Delhi to investigate the murder mystery of a lady called 'Manikyam', which affected his life one way or the other.The whole incident happened fifty years ago.The Investigation into the murder was suspended at the time, due to unconvincing evidences and due to interferences from influential persons in power. so the case was closed as the police could not nail the culprits. Fifty two years later the case is reopened and that forms the rest of the story.This novel was earlier serialized in a malayalam weekly which is based on a true incident that happened shortly before the first ministry of kerala was sworn in. An interesting aspect of the movie is that Mammootty is doing three roles as that of a detective Haridas who comes to re-investigate the case in 2009, a feudal muslim landlord who lived in the 50's and is linked to the crime, and the third role is a mystery which will unfold while you travel through the course of the story. It is through the eyes of Haridas that the truth behind the incidents that led to the shocking murder of Manikyam unfolds at a brisk pace. The movie is trying to use a particular slang which was common in Malabar five decades ago. In order to achieve perfection, Professional stage artists from Malabar were given roles in the film. The movie is trying to establish a part of life style of early 1950's and Ranjith sir did it exceptionally well.

Mammootty is an actor who gives good performances in author backed roles and his portrayal of Ahamed Haji was nothing but spectacular. This was the best out of the three characters played by Mammootty in the movie. The film had a bunch of fresh faces, selected carefully from theatre field . These artists were given a two week conditioning camp before they were assigned the characters to be played before camera. Debutant Mythili plays the title role and she did justice to her job. Also in the cast are Sreenivasan, Siddique, and Swetha Menon who delivered good performances. Gowri Mumjal did the role of a crime analysist and she disappointed me with her poor acting skills. The technical team did a good job. Manoj Pillai did an awesome camera work. The title song of the movie was awesome but the background score was just a mediocre effort.

Ranjith deserves good appreciation taking such a good movie. This film is an exceptionally well portrayed slice of Malabar life in the early 50's. The details of each characters relationships to one another unfold slowly and are revealed in meaningful glances. I can safely recommend this movie to anyone who can savor and that bittersweet joy that can be had by watching a good movie.

My Verdict : 8/10