Christopher

Posted on March 12, 2023 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I have only known one Christopher in my life.

Vampire Bat: Are you talking about Christopher Marlowe?

Vampire Owl: I am not sure about University Wits being part of vampire world.

Vampire Bat: The vampires have been secretly part of all universities.

Vampire Owl: There are no vampires who study directly in universities.

Vampire Bat: Well, Dracula Castle is a university affiliated institution.

Vampire Owl: So, vampirism is now accepted as a course?

Vampire Bat: The difference between a curse and a course is lesser these days.

Vampire Owl: I would surely love to see B.A. Vampirism as a course in human universities.

Vampire Bat: Let us make it BSc. Vampirism, as humans only go for science these days.

[Gets a strawberry ice cream cake and three cups of pista ice cream].

What is the movie about? :: Among the police officers of the state, ADGP Christopher Antony (Mammootty) has a special place as one of the most efficient and honest ones. To add to his list of skills, encounter killings is a well-known one. As he finishes off five rich and influential young men for raping and murdering a young lady who was delivering food, he is hailed as a hero of the masses, but due to the pressure from human rights activists and the rich families of the dead youth, there is the order for an investigation against him. Christopher’s ex-wife, Beena Mariam Chacko (Sneha) is also in favour of an investigaion, which is led by ACP Suleksha IPS (Amala Paul). She decides to uncover Christopher’s past to make sure that the process would be easier. She finds out that Christopher’s motive to become a police officer with an interest in encounter killings goes back to childhood when his parents were killed and sister was raped and murdered. He had tried to have his vengeance, but was stopped by a police officer who was in charge, and the cop himself does the encounter of the two men who committed the act of brutality.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: This police officer who brings vigilante justice to the scene becomes his role model. Christopher was trained under the same police officer who also took care of the boy’s rest of the education. With such guidance, Christopher soon clears the civil service exam and becomes an IPS officer. He gets his first posting as an ASP in a village in Madhya Pradesh which was ruled by feudal landlords, and becomes an encounter specialist in a land of brutal murders and rapes. He was aided by SI Muhammed Ismail (Deepak Parambol), who becomes his right-hand man. From there, he begins a new journey, something which becomes headache for many. It seems that Sulekha has more than what meets the eye in front of her. Advocate Amina (Aishwarya Lakshmi) who had become Christpher’s adopted daugher after the death of her biological father Ismail, also meets him with a cause, which would mean more troubles for which there are no easy solutions for Sulekha. More people might die in encounters as long as there will crimes, but will Suleksha bring an end to this as the faith is placed on her?

The defence of Christopher :: There is no loss of style in this movie with its investigations. Even though one might feel that it will keep reminding us about Mammootty’s two other stylish movies Abrahamainte Santhathikal and The Great Father, it is safe to say that our film is far above the others in the way it progresses, and related to how it deals with the narrative in relation to a bigger picture which would remain there. It can also boast about using less drama in comparison to Jana Gana Mana which was more or less overdone with its dialogues. This one here is well-shot as a visually superior movie in comparison with many other movies, and the side of investigation mostly stays on track, even though the stylish side often threatens to do more than it was supposed to do. The background music works most of the time, and does even better in relation to the narrative and action. The movie will leave us with something to remember, as it not only has all the looks and style, but it also makes us relate things with real life incidents. Well, making sure that entertainment is guaranteed, becomes one clear target for the movie.

The claws of flaw :: The movie could do better if the focus was shifted from style to substance on a number of occasions, as the scope was so much there. There could have been some interesting twists added in here, and the investigations could have had more surprises and shocks in store too. The opportunities are never completely taken to the advantage. The psychotic sides here are not of enough strength. The ending could have also meant more. It strange that so many movie s begin so well, and continue in a similar way, but ends without being able to add any innovation in there. Well, this is a movie which seemed to have so many resources in store, and such a movie should not have degraded itself into a stylish commoner with extra elements for the blind fans. Such requirements of the fans seem to have kept this movie behind, with a certain amount of lag in the form of slow motion. It does rise above many movies which are lost in slow motion, and that can be considered as a positive. Well, there is nothing less expected here.

The performers of the soul :: As expected, the movie depends on the style and charm of Mammootty to lead the movie towards something better, and that is indeed a fine advantage. There are scenes which seem to be overdone at times involving him in action. There is a little too much of heroism added on here which makes also makes the main character very much like an unstoppable force of nature, which could have been avoided up to an extent. Amala Paul’s police officer role looks pretty good despite some early struggles, and there are times when she elevates the level out of nowhere from what seems to be too usual a thing. Aishwarya Lakshmi gets a small, but interesting role, and same is the case of Sneha who is back in Malayalam movie industry and suits her role really well. Vinay Rai who plays the main antagonist has some fine moments to show the vilainy which is managed in an engaging manner. Sarath Kumar’s cameo role is also something to stay. The work of Dileesh Pothan and Siddique will also be remembered. Shine Tom Chacko plays the one fully negative police officer here without problems. The other women characters played by both Vinitha Koshy and Aditi Ravi might feel small, but are of very much relevance to the proceedings.

How it finishes :: Among the interesting thrillers of our times, this movie has an interesting place, even though not on the expected lines. There was always more to be taken, but with its contents, this one feels enough for a few hours of entertainment. Making a film a worthy investigative thriller along with being appealing to fans is not that easy, and that has been managed with some skill. After all, it is always better to have a police officer as the protagonist rather than the gangsters and crime lords in some other movies made for fans. There have been so many such movies in which have some foolish dialogues and moments to satisfy the dumb fans. Well, this one rising above such tendencies is a thing of happiness. Among all these, the movie has also managed to make so many Bollywood cop movies look so dumb, as they are expected. As this movie repeats, truth just something that is constructed, and goes on to bring final justice to the character victims. Like Grandmaster and Villain, this remains another balanced act from B Unnikrishnan, and another cop recreated nicely out of family tragedies.

Release date: 9th March 2023 (Amazon Prime Video); 9th February 2023 (Theatre)
Running time: 92 minutes
Directed by: B Unnikrishnan
Starring: Mammotty, Amala Paul, Aishwarya Lakshmi, Sneha, Dileesh Pothan, Shine Tom Chacko, Aditi Ravi, Vinitha Koshy, Deepak Parambol, Jinu Joseph, Vinay Rai, R Sarath Kumar, Vasanthi, Vijaykumar Prabhakaran. Manjulan, Rajesh Sharma, Manohari, Keerthana Sreekumar, Ramya Suresh, Shaheen Siddique, Amal Rajdev, Sohan Seenulal,Kalesh Kalakkodu, Nitin Thomas

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vaashi

Posted on July 18, 2022 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I did like the trailer enough to go for this particular movie.

Vampire Bat: Yes, but we are less interested in watching movies in general.

Vampire Owl: We can’t leave the movies just like that.

Vampire Bat: We are not leaving them. We just don’t watch that many of them.

Vampire Owl: It is a deviation from our earlier policy.

Vampire Bat: There are no permanent policies in a world of chaos.

Vampire Owl: You mean to say that chaos hasn’t left our world again.

Vampire Bat: I will not hesitate to say that it is forever.

Vampire Owl: Why is it that humans can’t keep the chaos to themselves?

Vampire Bat: Maybe they are too busy with evil that chaos is no longer deemed necessary.

[Gets a vancho cake and three cups of elaichi tea].

What is the movie about? :: Advocate Ebin Mathew (Tovino Thomas) and Advocate Madhavi Mohan (Keerthy Suresh) are collegues who have only started some progress in their field of expertise. While Ebin struggles to find the cases, Madhavi feels that she is wasting her time under a senior lawyer who doesn’t value her at all. Even though Madhavi is not even able to submit documents to the court properly, she blames other for it, and continuously plays the victim card. Advocate Satheesh Mulloor (Baiju Santhosh) tells them that there is a room available for setting up a lawyer’s office. They start working together, also falling in love in the process, and soon, Ebin gets appointed as the public prosecutor, as his influential brother-in-law manages to get his name ahead of the other lawyers trying for the post. Soon, as both of them are forced by their parents to get married, the two finally decide to get together with one another, even though Madhavi feels that she is not ready, as she is not settled yet. She is insecure because she always feels that she is targeted because she is a woman, but in reality, she remains an irritating person who doesn’t know how to talk to people with mutual respect. Ebin gets his first duty in the form of Anusha Shivakumar (Anagha Narayanan) who has filed a case against Gautam Ganesh (Anu Mohan), which goes forward as breach of promise to marry after intercourse.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Anusha had also tried to commit suicide after he had refused to marry her. But it turns out that Ganesh is a relative of Madhavi, and she is forced to take the case, much to the shock and dismay of Ebin, as he sees her in the court in defence of the accused. The two decide to keep the matters of court away from their personal lives in the beginning stages. Even though the two families find their marriage idea with the case going on in the background complicated, they agree to the alliance despite the community differences. But their battle against each other in the court soon begins to cause problems in their personal life, and most of the time, they try not to let anyone else know about the crisis. Ganesh assures Keerthy that he made no promise to marry Anusha at any point of time, and that they didn’t come close to a proposal either. Ebin and Madhavi continues to fight over the case, and the relationship gets to a new low. But the question remains about how far they can go on like this, and also about who will win the case in the end? Who will be the one desiring for a win the most? Where will pride and prejudice lead them?

The defence of Vaashi :: The film is pretty much effective as a courtroom drama, and has its moments to lift the level. It doesn’t make a mess of things even when there were so many chances – it sticks to the points instead of looking for mass masala dialogues like Jana Gana Mana, and there is not that much of a stress on romance and other usual nuisance which comes to ruin a film which deals with the relevant things. The movie has control over the world, and doesn’t go on to add the dialogues to get the claps. There are messages about right and wrong, while also talking about the complicated situation of law, as subjectivity and objectivity might come up with different results every time. It reminds us that people can’t be understood by just feeling that we have known them for very long, and also that balancing work and family is important. The songs are mostly good, even though not that much effective to remember for long. It is the combination of the leading performers that makes this one better – they do make us feel that they are stronger together, and the supporting cast contributes nicely. This is the kind of the movie which makes you feel the need to watch it from the trailer itself.

The claws of flaw :: The emotional side is not that effective unlike how it seems to have been intended. The movie rushes through some of the moments which should have taken more time, while it slows down for no particular reason at times. It doesn’t try to make the point strong enough, and in the end, even though there seems to be valid ideas, there are rather too many of them, and we feel that they bring conflict with each other, as ending struggles. The final talk about no right and wrong being present feels rather foolish, as one just can’t put everything in the grey zone, for good and evil makes the grey, sometimes a lighter version or at other times the darker one. Having one’s own principles matter in life, and trying to be righteous is not a bad thing. You just can’t avoid the opportunity to find the right thing to do, and it is where the spectrum of feel-good films lie, and we appreciate them for the amount of goodness it displays against the chaotic world – the female lead’s ideas also go vague from the beginning itself. In the end, it feels that the movie is trying to lose the meaning rather than to find it by the end.

The performers of the soul :: Tovino Thomas has another interesting movie for him, and manages to come up with a fine performance yet again. Minnal Murali star has had the different varieties of movies – Kaanekkaane of the emotional side, Forensic of the thriller side and Kilometers and Kilometers of the funny side. He gets to shine here, more than anyone else, as his character feels that it is the naïve young woman that needs justice as there was manipulation. Keerthy Suresh is back to Malayalam movie industry, and we only hope that she is here to stay. Even though her character does seem irritating in the beginning stages, she gets her moments in the later stages, and finishes off really well – the dialogue from Maayanadhi is nicely used in her speech, providing a reminder that women often get away easily due to the favourable laws and men are punished. Baiju Santhosh has another solid role which is done very well. Anagha Narayanan gets her moments to perform, and she contributes well – she could be the talent that Malayalam cinema industry could use more in future. Anu Mohan also gets a good role to work with after Twenty One Grams, and there is no trouble there either. Rony David also has a notable role which will be remembered. Kottayam Ramesh as magistrate is very much a fine act too. At the same time, Nandu plays the father figure in a convincing manner.

How it finishes :: The movie manages to be an engaging courtroom drama for most of its run-time. There are moments when the struggles appear, but with some other sequences, the movie gets over them. Here, we have something at almost all times to make up for what goes missing, and it is a film of ups and downs, but it talks about two sides of a problem effectively. The idea becomes even more relevant in the contemporary world, as similar cases have been in the news for some time, and one can only wonder if there will be answers to some questions which are raised by such situations. The world is a strange place, and it often struggles to provide truth in a world of lies. The movie also seems to have focused on taking a safe side, as there is no clear conclusion derived around here. It seems to try and make sure that it makes some point, but as it is reluctant to take any risk, the questions remain. Well, this is one movie which was of interest due to the cast and the premise, and considering the same, it has delivered well enough.

Release date: 17th July 2022 (Netflix); 17th June 2022 (Theatre)
Running time: 128 minutes
Directed by: Vishnu G Raghav
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Keerthy Suresh, Anagha Narayanan, Anu Mohan, Baiju Sathosh, Rony David, Kottayam Ramesh, G Suresh Kumar, Maya Menon, Sreelakshmi, Nandu, Maya Viswanath, Arya, Vanitha Krishnachandran, RJ Raghu, Meera Nair PS, Amal Rajdev, Vijaya Kumari

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Malik

Posted on July 15, 2021 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: Sulaiman Malik (Fahadh Faasil) is a leader of a coastal community consisting mostly of fishermen. He is taking a break from the usual activities, and is going for Hajj, when he is arrested by the police. In his coastal village of Ramadappilly, people begin an agitation. A strike is organized to demand his release, and a curfew is imposed on the area. Soon, there are riots in the streets, and the local people take on the police. It seems that there is a political game going on in the background, with corporates having a say in the same, as PA Aboobacker (Dileesh Pothan), the minister from the area also pretends that he knows nothing, and doesn’t support the request to provide some extra security to him in prison. At the same time, there are plans being made to finish Saulaiman in the prison itself, as the police hopes that this would end their troubles, and can finally bring peace to the seaside community.

So, what happens with the events here? :: Sulaiman has had a troublesome past, as he often got into trouble in school itself, and soon lands in the juvenile home, a place where he would have to go again. After dropping out from school with his best friend David Christudas (Vinay Forrt) and Peter Esthappan (Dinesh Prabhakar) he gets into smuggling with Aboobacker and Chandran (Nisthar Sait), who controls most of the happenings in the coast. But there is a rift between the groups, and they split. Sulaiman and David lead the young group which makes inroads into the business, and makes great profit at the expense of Chandran. Sulaiman falls in love with Roselin (Nimisha Sajayan), David’s sister who is the only one from the area who has studied in a college, but not many people know about this interest. At the same time, the new collector, Anwar Ali (Joju George) provides them help to start a new school. But all of a sudden, things take another twist, and Sulaiman develops into another kind of a leader, and it would change the whole equation, leading to the present events.

The defence of Malik :: Malik maintains a certain strength throughout its run, and even with its seemingly lighter moments, the same is maintained. The film goes through the strong message of political games running wild in the background, as everything seems to be planned by people in control, the government and the corporates which use religion for their own purposes, and it is more about the religious identity rather than God as long as it stays with them – of course, this is about the corporates who pay the politicians, especially those who are rather too rich. WH Auden had said about the same in his poem, Refugee Blues, on the plight of humans in comparison to animals and birds due to politicians. There are many threads of revenge and hatred which runs right through here, and some of them also takes some fine, memorable twists. The connections made here are also nice. Here, it has the struggles of the characters, and questions about who is right and who is wrong. It also takes on what happens in between everything, as something more than what meets the eye. The visuals are also really good here, as there are some fine shots of the sea and the surroundings.

Positives and negatives :: There is something that Malik seems to miss in between, some periods of time which could have been better shown here. The ending could have also been better, as the movie finishes without leaving the mark which was set earlier. In the end, there is the understanding that there is no hope, and this is where the movie seems to try and bring the beginning of a repetition. For a film which had this much of a grandeur in store, this kind of a finish doesn’t serve enough of the purpose. Maybe, the lack of triumph on the side of the common man is more or less a reflection of what actually happens in this world where the powerful will continue to reign, and it doesn’t matter who is at the helm. It does show how terrifying it will continue to be, as long as religion is in the hands of politicians, who are more of atheists rather than believers, from the way they use religion for their own advantages. Malik can surely use a more positive sequel too, even if far from reality.

Performers of the soul :: Fahadh Faasil has another film added to the long list of films that have made an impact. He was last seen on OTT, then too on Amazon Prime, with a wonderful performance in Joji, and this one also follows the same suite, but in a different way, as the characters go divergent in both cases. Here, he plays another strong character, and it has been one which the audience has been waiting for, since months ago – the movie has been getting delayed all the time for releasing in the theatres, and it has come to OTT, which is a perfect move, for Fahadh has his admirers everywhere. This performance from him will be listed among the big ones too. He has moments in different points of the main characters’ life, and all these time periods have something special from his side, for the audience to remember. Nimisha Sajayan who was last seen in Nayattu, also has a fine job to do here, which she manages to do without any struggle. She also has a strong role here, and the support that she provides is of high quality.

Further performers of the soul :: The next person who has our attention is Vinay Forrt, who gets into this role with ease. He adds a natural performance to the whole thing. Dileesh Pothan comes in, and plays a typical politician with his own sinister motives, and it is done naturally too. Indrans’ role of the police officer also becomes very much notable. Joju George also has some nice contribution to provide here, and he is supposed to be doing a role which was initially meant for Biju Menon. Dinesh Prabhakar is also here, adding to the totality. Appani Sarath and Sudhi Koppa have some contributions to provide here, and they do it well, only to have only a short stay there, when we were expecting something grand to be there. Salim Kumar also has a comparatively smaller role to do around here. There is the lesser known among the cast who have also done some nice job around here, and it includes Sanal Aman who played the character of Freddy, Parvathy Krishna who played the doctor, along with some police officers and people of the village.

How it finishes :: Malik was supposed to be one grand film to be released in theatre with all the grandeur that it deserved, and even its OTT release, the film maintains some of it. The wait has been worth it, when we look at the movie as a whole. The question would be still be about if it could have been more, as the expectations were that high, and there is the certainty of deviations from what was actually expected after watching the trailer. But the film is indeed strong, and with Fahadh Faasil and Nimisha Sajayan in the lead, you would expect that. Well, it is nice to see that it has finally released, because the same wouldn’t have happened in the theatres soon enough, and releasing something like Marakkar on the big screen will be a big risk even in the month of August, as we see where the COVID-19 numbers are going – it is certainly much above what was expected, and we don’t really see things getting safer with another possible wave on the way. Until then, we can also watch Cold Case, Mohan Kumar Fans, Kho Kho, Aarkkariyam etc among others on Prime again!

Release date: 15th July 2021 (Amazon Prime)
Running time: 160 minutes
Directed by: Mahesh Narayanan
Starring: Fahadh Faasil, Nimisha Sajayan, Joju George, Vinay Forrt, Dileesh Pothan, Anjusha CA, Divya Prabha, Amal Rajdev, Indrans, Jalaja, Salim Kumar, Appani Sarath, Sudhi Koppa, Devan, Dinesh Prabhakar, Rajesh Babu, Meenakshi Raveendran, Rajesh Sharma, Irshad, Abhijith Krishna, Nisthar Sait, Dev Mohan, Sanal Aman, Parvathy Krishna, Devaki Rajendran, Asif Yogi