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