NEELATHAMARA - A poetic Reincarnation

The recreation of romantic memories of olden times is not so easy. But Laljose and crew was very optimistic about their new venture 'Neelathamara'. The movie featuring fresh faces is a brilliant adaptation of romantic film of 1979 with the same name itself. The older movie was penned by the literary face of malayalam, M T vasudevan Nair and directed by Yusafali Kecheri. Once again he has recreated the magic with his script. The expectations were sky high as it is the first remaking attempt in malayalam. So its almost a nostalgia that malayalees across the world share when it come to know about the remaking of neelathamara.

The movie follows a Non-Linear narration and M T sir handled it with consummate ease. The original movie revolved round the happenings of six months. But for the remake the film begins in 2009, turns to the happenings of 1979 before coming back to the present for an epilogue. That’s why i mentioned about a Non-Linear narration which is not so common. The title role of 'Kunjimalu' who is the protagonist in this film is portrayed by the fresh face Archana Kavi, a well known VJ. She portrayed the role brilliantly and promises to be a future prospect. Also the male roles are enacted by new comers. Kailash does the role of Haridas, earlier enacted by ravikumar while Ambika's brother suresh is essaying the role of Appukuttan, earlier played by Sathar. Also Rima kallingal and Samvritha Suresh did justice to thier roles too. The main attraction of the movie is the script itself. Another master touch from M T's pazhashi Raja is creating waves in kerala theatres. Before its waves are set down, another script from the master writer is creating an impact among serious film lovers. Its a women centric subject and the three female characters in 'Neelathamara' offer an excellent study in contrast. Kailash played a hot blooded, flirtatious youngster of the 70's and he did well too.

Now coming to the technical aspects of the movie, a big round of applause for Lal jose. He brilliantly adapted this age old story to the new screen, efficiently trimming off the frayed ends, and working up a brilliant visualization which makes him a master director that he is. 'Neelathamara' is an absolute symbol of faith in the film that blooms when Kunjimaalu(Archana) prays before the thevar, signifies more than just an optimism of the house maid and only M T sir could come up with such an idea, Hats off. Vijay ulaganath has successfully created moving frames with an authentic look. His cinematography was rich and expressive. Music director, Vidyasagar deserves a special mention too. The song 'Anuraga.....' tuned by him got received well and malayalees ringing back the same song as thier ring tones.

This film is noted for its inherent innocence and goodness more than its technical aspects. The movie was restructured to suit the tastes of present day audience with a fresh bunch of cast. But i was actually surprised to see comments and ‘boos’ for a movie like this. These people dont deserve good movies. The movie doest drag, its simple, poetic and good. Undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year and it proves to be a worthwhile experiment from Laljose and crew, that too with a specially handpicked fresh team. This film is a must watch for all connoisseurs of films.

VERDICT : 8/10

SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION

"The Shawshank Redemption" is a movie about fortitude and believing that you will make through even the harshest of times.Rarely will you ever see a movie so powerful and so deep.So here i am, out of my blue moon to express my views on the same.Ironically this movie was released in 1994,when Hollywood was operating at its peak and the movie was thoroughly overshadowed by the media favorites Forrest Gump and Pulp Fiction.Directed by master director Frank Darabont and riveting performances from the whole crew,this film was nominated for seven academy awards including best picture and it got humiliated on each of the nominated category.

Shawshank Redemption, based on a novel written by "Stephen King",is a well written,well directed tale about a banker,Andy Dufresne,played by Tim Robbins, who is convicted for murdering his wife and her lover and sentenced to two consequetive life terms in prison.The story is narrated and told primarily,from the perspective of his fellow prison inmate,Ellis Boyd Redding alias Red( because he is Irish),played by Morgan Freeman. The story chronicles Red and Andy's stay in prison,and hope.Hope that Andy never gives up on.Hope that Red gave up long ago,but,ultimately finds again.The story carries you along and keeps you hanging on every moment,then suddenly springs open like jack in the box,revealing parts that you never know existed,but where right in front of you the whole time.No matter how many times i see it or how well i know every detail, the story,the dialogues,eloquent casting of characters etc manages to enthrall me every time.Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins are great actors who give great performances.They are joined by the Colorful cast of supporting actors,each of which has thier own story and each of which grows over the course of the story.The dialogues, especially between Andy and Red is both natural and memorable.



It is difficult to give this film a high praise it deserves and not sound like the rambling of an enamored school girl savoring her first crush,so I'll stop here by saying that,to understand the greatness of this film,you must simply experience it for yourself and it is an experience I strongly recommend.

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.

Taxi Driver- My Review

The first time I saw "Taxi Driver", I knew I admired it but I wasn't sure if I liked it. It was a strange feeling that I never had experienced before. But it was a compelling piece of cinema - later that night as I lay in bed, I couldn't take my mind off of the film, I couldn't stop analyzing it. The next day I knew I had seen one of the greatest films of all time. It may seem crazy, but it is true. I re-watched the film the next day and things started to hit me hard. Little things I hadn't noticed on my first viewing I picked up this time; tidbits hidden away that I carefully analyzed for deeper meaning.

De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, is the man you pass by on a busy street and pay no notice to. He is lonely, isolated from the real world. He is a twenty-six-year-old ex-Marine, and we feel he must have been permanently scarred by previous experiences. He hates the world but the world doesn't hate him - it doesn't even notice him. The disclamation used like “u talkin to me…??” was actually ad-libbed by de niro during the shooting.Hats off to the wonderful actor.
The thing I'm never sure about is whether Travis is actually psychotic, and Paul Schrader's script, Scorsese's direction, and De Niro's performance don't give us any easy answers.

It is One of Martin Scorsese's intense film, which is a hallmark of 70's film making. The blend of Schrader's script, scorcese's direction and De niro's fantastic perfomance is both riveting and unnerving. It is a powerful film and a terrific showcase for the versatality of the star Robert de niro. Perhaps the most morally and ideologically problamatic film ever directed by Martin Scorcese. The haunting Bernard herrmann assist in making this classic about as perfect as a movie can be.The film won the Golden Palm at Cannes and received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting actress, and Best Original Score (for the great Bernard Herrmann). If you haven’t seen Taxi Driver, your education in films hasn’t even begun.