degree – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: I thought we had reviewed this movie a long time ago.

Vampire Bat: We had watched it long ago, but did not review the same.

Vampire Owl: This might be one of the longest delays in writing any review.

Vampire Bat: It keeps coming on television all the time, so there are multiple watches.

Vampire Owl: I think we have kept watching it on Asianet Movies.

Vampire Bat: Watching it on television channels is not the best option though.

Vampire Owl: Yes, we keep missing parts of the movie at times.

Vampire Bat: But we watch parts of the movie that we missed the next time watch it.

Vampire Owl: But the movie has stopped repeating in the channel now.

Vampire Bat: Well, they have kept doing it for rather too long.

[Gets a Schezwan masala dosa and three cups of Darjeeling tea].

What is the movie about? :: Long ago, at a time when sorcery was considered to be part of common life, the ruler of Vijayanagara had a magical artefact created for his leisure, but understood that the device brought about something more than just entertainment. He realized that this was so powerful that it could even be used to control people or even the world, and tried to keep its existence a secret. But the huge army of Tipu Sultan marched to the declining kingdom and captured the same. This helped the Sultan’s further wars against other Indian kingdoms intending to conquer the lands for himself, as the artefact aided him from a side. But he was stopped by the King of Travancore who inflicted a big defeat to the Sultan’s army with the help of a great wizard. The victorious king decides to bury it in the battlefield itself so that nobody would be able to use it, and marked its location on some secret palm leaves. Soon, the tale itself losses its significance as it is considered as a fable. But many decades later, someone had started searching for the same and found it.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: At present, Jithin (Sandeep Pradeep), Ramzad (Arun Pradeep), Nakul (Arjun Ajikumar) and Kannan (Saaf) are four students who are pursuing their bachelor’s degrees in Engineering at the exact same location where the final war had occurred – there stood a monument surrounded by a reputed institution called Shri Kartika Thirunal College of Engineering. As Jithin’s girlfriend Jeevika (Niranjana Anoop) who returned from a trip brings some doubts about their relationship, he writes down his feelings on a piece of paper, which is taken by the lecturer who was in the class Shaji (Suraj Venjaramoodu). As a strike is called and chaos happens in the college, Jithin losses the idea of where that paper was taken. As the protest for bringing down the Head of the Department intensifies, another lecturer Renjith (Sharaf U Dheen) recommends Shaji as the next Head, which surprises everyone, as they were not on good terms. Shaji is delighted about this as he has been working at the college for a long time without any appreciation, but Renjith actually had other plans.

And what more can happen here as a crisis takes the spotlight? :: Renjith had the ancient artifact in his possession, which he uses to control Shaji and manipulate him into getting into a public fight which leads to him being suspended and Renjith becoming the new Head. This is supported by students as he is a popular teacher who helps students even against other teachers and management when in trouble unlike Shaji who as a learned man has always gone with the rules. The students enjoy their cool and supportive teacher becoming the Head, but Jithin accidentally sees Renjith using the artifact to control Shaji through the CCTV footage while trying to find the piece of paper which Shaji took, and talks about this to his friends. While searching on the artifact, they understand that a person can control another person who uses it by just playing his turn – it is revealed that the other person does not have to use it, and just the missing player’s blood on the dices is needed. They feel that the earlier teacher who died and was replaced by Renjith as new appointment might have also been a victim and decides to steal the artefact, but can they do that?

The defence of Padakkalam :: A supernatural campus story becomes a perfect new model for the viewers who are expecting divergence, and the magical artifact, mind control and body swaps do not usually come to the movies of this part of the world. The big three of the movie – Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sharaf U Dheen and Sandeep Pradeep come up with classic performances not just with the comic side, but also with a certain amount of skill which is reflected even more when the swapping of bodies is done. Sharaf U Dheen going on between a charismatic professor and a power-hungry antagonist, and his moments after body swapping strikes us well, while Suraj’s transformations between characters are outstanding, and humour strikes very well with him around. Sandeep’s comic timing remains outstanding, and he becomes a perfect choice for a campus character. Niranjana Anoop does well within a smaller screen space, while the friends of protagonist add some fine fun around here as the comic side gets further boosting. Pooja Mohanraj also becomes a good addition here.

Positives and negatives :: One might feel that the movie could have explored the past of the artifact a little more, but that is understandable considering the plan to provide maximum entertainment. The movie’s female characters also have very less to do other than being reasons for a few things to happen, which is surprising for a campus movie. The superhero references also add some funny elements, and the situations leading to humour instead of forcing the comic side comes up with more advantage to the flick. The initial setup, character introductions, and the spread of mystery make sure that the starting is nice, and the ending is also very well done. When it seems to be ready to have a slight dip, the situation immediately gets a lift, and thus the movie keeps a certain level. The cast needs to be credited a lot for the same. Many moments also serve as reminders that people are not really what they seem to be, and like seen before Thanneermathan Dinangal, the seemingly better teacher could easily be the least perfect one among them all.

How it finishes :: It is not easy to bring comedy and fantasy together in this part of the world, and the movie does the same so well. This one succeeds primarily as a high-energy campus entertainer that takes the risk to step away from routine college situations and blends the genres in the process. By bringing supernatural elements, mind control and body-swapping to a usual college setting, the film creates something that most people would not have expected to happen in this part of the world. The comic chemistry between Suraj Venjaramoodu and Sharaf U Dheen brings something out of nowhere again and again and keep thins lively and engaging while Sandeep Pradeep takes that title of “Padakkalam Sandeep” with ease even though most of us would love to remember Falimy as the one defining flick for noting him for the first time. Well, this is one entertainer that you do not wish to miss, that is for sure. All the fun with innovation that is seen around here will have us interested all the time. It is on Jio Hotstar, and you might also be able to find it again on Asianet Movies as it has been some time since its last arrival there.

Release date: 8 May 2025
Running time: 123 minutes
Directed by: Manu Swaraj
Starring: Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sharaf U Dheen, Sandeep Pradeep , Arun Pradeep, Arun Ajikumar, Niranjana Anoop, Ishan Shoukath, Vijay Babu, Luckgith Saini, Nahas Hridayath, Saaf, Shaju Sreedhar, Pooja Mohanraj

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

What is the movie about? :: Achaama (Aparna Balamurali) was born to a school teacher Varghese (Baiju) in a auto rickshaw, and continued to be a headache for her parents from childhood to youth. But her elder sister proves to be a hard working girl who stands on her own feet at an early age, but causes trouble for her parents when she marries someone against their will. Achaama decides to be an obedient girl for some time, but soon chooses against it as she joins MSW at Sree Shankara College, Kalady. Her idea of MSW is to have full fun as she considers it to be an easy course with much less to study, and joining Achaama is her childhood friend Jeena (Kavya Suresh) who hopes to go abroad and earn some extra money, working with some NGOs after this course.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: At the college, Achaama meets Harikrishnan (Askar Ali), a blind student who is her senior. Harikrishnan has been working hard to overcome his problems to do academically better than most of the other students around, who are there only for having some fun. Even though she doesn’t realize it in the beginning, she is attracted to the person who manages to go on with his life without any complaints, and never stepping back. Despite making that promise to her father that she won’t marry against his wishes, she finds that determination under threat. But can the love story of Achaama and Harikrishnan have a happy ending, considering their differences and all the other factors which seem to be good enough to finish the relationship before it even begins?

The defence of Kamuki :: In the medieval English poet Geoffrey Chaucer’s work The Canterbury Tales, The Merchant’s Tale section, the proverb that love is blind was found – it becomes further direct with this movie, as the protagonist himself is blind. The dialogues about Deepika Padukone, new generation MSW students and blindness are perfectly hitting the right spot, even though they are somewhat not used according to the situations. It is Aparna Balamurali who rises above the limitations of this movie, and the flick uses her skills to make sure that this becomes entertaining in one way or the other, as it struggles with its story which doesn’t have much in there. There is the message about rising above your disabilities and problems with a positive attitude towards life, to make the impossible possible, but the same could have shown in a better and more effective manner too. Yes, some of the comedy can be termed good enough and the music is pretty good.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is like an unstable thing which keeps showing the signs of falling apart all the time – there is no real direction, and we can never see an attempt to keep things together. The whole movie is spread in all directions, and we are often confused about where it is headed with that love story which gets more added, making the mixture look confusing. The love story in this movie itself seems half-baked, and that never really becomes strong enough to justify the title. The final moments seem to be forced to make things better, but we never get it in full strength or in a believable manner. The dramatic side is weak, because after some time, we just stop caring for the main characters. There needed some better effort in dealing with this kind of things, and we see no signs of things getting any better at any stage, as the path chosen is ordinary.

The performers of the soul :: Aparna Balamurali is indeed the one who saves this movie from drowning, when there were many chances of the same. Whenever the movie struggles, there is something from her that keeps it floating just above trouble. This one never really gets near her role in Maheshinte Prathikaaram, or even the work in Oru Muthassi Gada, but one can only blame the movie’s lack of stability for the same. Whether it was in Sunday Holiday, Sarvopari Palakkaran or Thrissivaperoor Kliptham, she has been doing a good job with her characters. Well, even with movies that refuse to rise, she gets them to do better than they are, and it is the skill that she possesses better than any other actress in Malayalam movie industry. This movie can also thank her for the same.

Further performers of the soul :: As it is said above, and just as it is expected, this one is more of the Aparna Balamurali movie, as Om Shanti Oshana was Nazriya Nazim movie. Askar Ali has his moments here and there, but never really leaves much for the viewers. Kavya Suresh has her own moments too, as the supporting cast did for Nazriya in Om Shanti Oshana – she looks nicely suitable for this role. Rony David who is best known for his role in Aanandam, once again leaves a mark. Baiju’s role is as funny as one would expect from a father character with daughter problems and high expectations. Pradeep Kottayam has some comedy to go with it. We can also find some okay performances from some lesser known actors who play those characters which come and go without contributing that much to the story.

How it finishes :: We can see that Kamuki tries to be different in love, but this particular divergence here is never really believable or interesting except in moments. There was a certain amount of hype about this movie, and the trailer was quite interesting – we just can’t see that level being reflected in the flick, and that is a shame. You can watch this one for Aparna Balamurali though, as she keeps saving the day again and again. We have had movies like Aravindante Athidhikal which dealt with a simple thing on one side, and there was Uncle on the other side which dealt with the complicated on the other side – then we have the movies like Kamuki which won’t fit in both categories. Kamuki could have been something better, and as it is now, it is almost there, becoming an okay watch for these holidays.

Release date: 11th May 2018
Running time:122 minutes
Directed by: Binu S
Starring: Askar Ali, Aparna Balamurali, Rony David, Kavya Suresh, Pradeep Kottayam, Baiju, Rosin Jolly, Ullas Pandalam