Balan Vakeel

Posted on March 3, 2019 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: S Balakrishnan (Dileep) is a lawyer who works under the reputed advocate Pramod Sujanapalan (Arjun Nandakumar). But he hasn’t been able to achieve much in his professional career due to his stammer, even though he was known to be a smart & intelligent person during his college days. His father and mother (Siddique and Bindu Panicker) are concerned about him, but are sure that he can only be a failure in life, with former also being a chain smoker who tries different drugs. His first successful case is that of Ansaar Ali Khan (Aju Varghese), a local goon who is involved in a robbery case. Ansaar doesn’t have the cash to pay as his fees, and therefore provides him with a place to stay at low rent. But this new place has Irumbu Babu’s (Bheeman Raghu) presence, and he considers it to be his own room and wants him to leave. But it will be the smallest of his problems.

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: It is then that his brother-in-law P Mohanan Pillai (Suraj Venjaramoodu) comes up with a plan to make some easy money. He asks Balakrishnan to be a part of it, and she accepts the same reluctantly. He sends a notice to a given address asking for compensation in the name of a woman (Priya Anand) who claims to have been abused by the person at the address. But it turns out that it is the address of the DGP of Kerala Police, KE Eapen (Renji Panicker) who is suprised to get the same. The charge of investigation goes to Indhulekha Marar (Lena) who gets only a limited amount of time to solve the case. Meanwhile it turns out that the person whose name is in the letter is Anuradha Sudharshan (Mamta Mohandas), a woman who is completely unaware of this. There seems to be some conspiracy behind all these. But there is no clue regarding where to begin.

The defence of Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel :: There are the twists in store in Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel for sure, and there is mystery awaiting to be revealed, related to a conspiracy. We also have incidents which seems to reflect reality, but there is the certainty of exaggeration regarding the same. The emotional flashback in the movie becomes effective with the last twist, but otherwise it feels strange, and makes you wait the whole time trying to find something out of it. There is also the presence of a fine cast to support everything out there, making sure that they manage all that this movie can provide. There is some good humour out there, even though not throughout the flick. It is seen more in the initial stages, starting from the introduction of the main character itself. The interval punch is strong enough to make one interested in the second half, even though the first half wasn’t that much there.

The claws of flaw :: It can be seen that there is no attempt to make this movie go through a fully entertaining path, and there is no plan to make this a perfect journey as an investigation thriller either, as this is caught somewhere in between. The jokes are also just partially effective, and we see that the funny side in the name of children hitting older men, people falling on electricity lines and surviving, a drug addict father instead of the usual alcoholic one etc – they are just there for the sake of adding some strange funny side. There is also the presence of some unnecessary mass scenes, and the hero sending people flying around comes in, and the struggling protagonist that we wanted to watch from the trailer is lost. Having such a protagonist beating up people all of a sudden works against the overall mood of the movie, and what we know about the protagonist. The songs are not that good either.

The performers of the soul :: This seems to be a movie nicely made for Dileep, as he has this in control, just like many other movies of the same kind. There is no problem here, as he had played advocate trying to serve justice before in Passenger, and there was Mamta Mohandas there too, with the same name for her character, Anuradha. Well, Passenger is a movie long way ahead of this one, without doubt. Mamta Mohandas is here for a full role unlike what she had in 9. There is not much for her to do regarding the investigation here though, as she is the victim and there is the protagonist to save the day. A little romantic side added there seems to be rather forced though, as this movie could have done without it. The focus on its main idea would have been enough, and trying to play cupid between the main character didn’t do both of them any good.

Further performers of the soul :: Siddique’s father character is kind of strange, but brings the funniest moments of the movie with ease. There is his comic timing that lightens up the movie really well. Aju Varghese is the next person in the comedy department, and it works well for him most of the time too – he does get some memorable funny ones. Suraj Venjaramoodu also has the comedy working in his favour, even though at parts it seems out of order. Priya Anand gets another smart role after Ezra and Kayamkulam Kochunni, but with lesser time spent on the screen. Veterans like Ganesh Kumar and Renji Panicker right there, doing what they do the best in police roles. Another person who shines so well inside the uniform is Lena, who is also there Varikkuzhiyile Kolapathakam, and mystery-solving journey of puzzles which is also running in the theatres.

How it finishes :: For B Unnikrishnan, this movie comes after Villain, which was a smart one for sure. Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel does take the path of Vikadakumaran and Jolly LLB, a trend related to a struggling lawyer whenever the same is the protagonist. This one has its moments of thrills and twists are brought into the scene, but there is not doubt about the fact that this could have done better. There is the fine premise already set, and the idea that has scope for a lot, but it is not utilized in the best way. Maybe we have to wait to get something better out of a story related to courtroom, and we can do that. Until then, lets watch Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel and enjoy the interesting side. For those who wants the more realistic side, there is always Kumbalangi Nights & June running, and seemingly good enough to keep doing the same for a long time.

Release date: 21st February 2019
Running time: 155 minutes
Directed by: B Unnikrishnan
Starring: Dileep, Mamta Mohandas, Priya Anand, Aju Varghese, Siddique, Ganesh Kumar, Renji Panicker, Bindu Panicker, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Saiju Kurup, Vamsi Krishna, Harish Uthaman, Lena, Arjun Nandakumar, Pramod Sujanapalan, Bheeman Raghu, Veena Nair, Pradeep Kottayam, Thesni Khan, Sajid Yahiya

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Georgettan’s Pooram

Posted on April 2, 2017 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Why is it that all these people have characters that have something or the other to highlight as a title?

Vampire Bat: You mean, like that first Malayalam movie to release this year – Jomonte Suvisheshangal.

Vampire Owl: And surely Jacobinte Swargarajyam.

Vampire Bat: Along with Darwinte Parinamam.

Vampire Owl: As well as Maheshinte Prathikaram.

Vampire Bat: This is the fifth with this kind of a title, there is no real difference in possessiveness.

Vampire Owl: I think that these people, George, Jomon, Darwin, Jacob and Mahesh are related.

Vampire Bat: There is a great chance that Jacob and Jomon are – they even tell the same story, you know.

Vampire Owl: Maybe they are from different generations, and it is just history repeating itself in a distant family.

Vampire Bat: Georgettan’s Pooram might be more distant with the use of slang in it, though.

[Gets the tickets with some caramel popcorn and vegetable puffs].

What is the movie about? :: A team of four mischievous boys have grown up to be George Vadakkan (Dileep), and his best friends who are known only by their nicknames, Vava (Vinay Forrt), Pallan (Sharfudheen) and Chullan (Thiru Actlab). Living in and around the city of Trichur, the four friends spend most of their time doing nothing, having drinks or simply sleeping, in Mathai Parambu, a piece of land donated to the public by a former Kabbadi player who was part of great achievements from the Indian Kabbadi team – they also have for company and old kabbadi player, Joseph (T.G. Ravi). But George’s father, the parish priest of the local church of the Mar Thoma denomination, Mathew Vadakkan (Renji Panicker), wishes for something or anything better for his son – nobody believes in the same though, even his own friends and relatives.

So, what happens next? :: As the four goes through the path which leads nowhere, George comes across Merlin (Rajisha Vijayan) during a funeral, and immediately falls in love with her. Even though she tells him that he wishes to become a nun and despite the fact that she belongs to another denomination, he shamelessly decides to run after her for love. Without having to do anything else in life, such things have been very easy for him. There is also the entry of Peter Mathai (Chemban Vinod Jose), who claims to be the son of E.V. Mathai and claims the ownership of Mathai Parambu. He seems to be determined to take control of land by one way or the other. But the team of four are not willing to give up their place, and in an effort to save their land as well as to make Merlin fall in love with George, they go on doing some strange things, none of which works well enough.

What follows these events? :: The team of four are clueless as usual, as they are used to do nothing good, and seems to come up with nothing constructive. Even their inspiration, Joseph dies by falling from the top of a tower there. One day, Peter seems to be ready to give up the claim to the land, but for the same, George and his friends will have to play kabbadi, and also start winning. The people of the locality also backs them in this to keep the land in the hands of the public. But is it possible for them to win against top level players with some quick training? How far can the public support and prayers boost them? Is Peter really the son of E.V. Mathai, and does he mean what he says? Can George manage to win the love of Merlin and the appreciation of his parents and siblings? Not really the easier things to do for George, but he decides not to give up.

The defence of Georgettan’s Pooram :: Despite not using the state award winning actress, the star of Anuraga Karikkin Vellam, Rajisha Vijayan to her best of potential, the movie does manage to use Dileep well enough – we get to be confident that he will be back for more with another light-hearted movie, not just producing one like he did for Kattappanayile Rithwick Roshan. Vinay Forrt and Sharafudheen also remains interesting, and there is entertainment guaranteed from their side. The level of comedy is fluctuating throughout the movie, but there are some nice ones in this flick. The second half has things getting rather intense, and the plot gets an upgrade there. Chemban Vinod Jose once again impresses the audience with the way that he carries on as the man with a mission, and he remains our hope for future in a lot of different kinds of roles. Renji Panicker continues what he has been doing the best, as the father figure, and this time at more than one level.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is just too long, and it could have easily been made shorter without some bad jokes in the first half and those slow motion sequences of heroism in the second – Karinkunnam 6s had managed to bring volleyball to the centre of everything and managed to be an interesting flick; but this one gets kabbadi too late in the second half only, and things get serious slowly only. Sudheer Karamana gets to play kabbadi here as he had done for volleyball in last year’s Manju Warrier starrer. A certain amount of absence in logic is also there, and the movie also gets confused in working with the Christian denominations. If the priest shown as protagonist’s father is actually a priest of Mar Thoma denomination, as a protestant church, the church building or the house wouldn’t be having saints or statues of anyone. If the person was intended to be a Catholic priest, he wouldn’t have been married – it is a strange world right there. One also wonders why the protagonist has to go after the girl shamelessly after she says no – shouldn’t the “no” always mean a “no”? And still he is a hero?

How it finishes :: Georgettan’s Pooram could have done a lot better not only with its comedy, but also with its sporting side. But as it is now, it is surely a watchable flick, and the best entertainer with Dileep as the main character after Two Countries which had him at what he has been doing the best. The protagonist shouldn’t have turned a super kabbadi player all of a sudden though, battling against the big players. Maybe some restraint could have been brought with the heroism. Maybe, a better flow could have been maintained. But for some time-pass, nobody can deny that this movie has something here and there for most of the people. Surely bigger in fun compared to Dileep’s recent movies, and surely better than any movie in that long list of continuous movies from Kammath and Kammath to Ivan Maryadaraman, Georgettan’s Pooram can ask for some of your time as long as you enough to spare!

Release date: 1st April 2017
Running time: 155 minutes
Directed by: K. Biju
Starring: Dileep, Rajisha Vijayan, Chemban Vinod Jose, Vinay Forrt, Sharafudheen, Thiru Actlab, Renji Panicker, T. G. Ravi, Sudheer Karamana, Kalaranjini, Assim Jamal, Jayaraj Warrier, Sunil Sukhada, Sathi Premji, Kulappulli Leela

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan

Posted on November 20, 2016 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: Why isn’t the name spelled Hrithik Roshan?

Vampire Bat :: Because a change of spelling will make all things right.

Vampire Owl :: I am really annoyed with any bad spelling.

Vampire Bat :: Dude, this is intentional.

Vampire Owl :: Which is why I am intentionally protesting against it.

Vampire Bat :: I don’t understand your intentions.

Vampire Owl :: You only need to get me one cup of tea, vegetable puffs and cheese popcorn. It is a good understanding of intentions.

Vampire Bat :: You needn’t fight for that. You can have them with ease.

Vampire Owl :: A fight is cent percent needed. See, all things are lies. They say there is no money, and see the number of people who are here to watch this movie.

Vampire Bat :: Well, even we are here. It is a crowd-puller as you can see.

[Gets the tickets with tea and caramel popcorn].

What is it about? :: Geo (Siju Wilson) is ditched by his lover Neethu (Swasika) who is about to get married in a grand function. Disappointed and feeling hopeless in losing the girl whom he thought was his true love, Geo decides to commit suicide. But when standing at the suicide point, he finds a letter under a stone which was written by a stranger named Krishnan a.k.a. Kichu (Vishnu Unnikrishnan). He continues to read on, as he finds his whole life there. Kichu’s father Surendran (Siddique) was a fan of Jayan and wanted to become an actor like him, but becomes a failure. So, he decides to make his son a hero in the movies, but seems to fail in that too, as everyone think that Kichu is not fair enough, and there is also a mark on his forehead which gives him only smaller negative roles in movies. But Kichu doesn’t stop trying to reach his aim.

So what happens next? :: Kichu’s only good friend is Dasappan (Dharmajan Bolgatty) who has always been there to support him, right from the childhood. They can’t stop being jealous of Giridhar (Rahul Madhav), another person who seems to have everything including the looks and money. His neighbour Kani (Lijomol Jose) has been in love with him for a long time, he fails to notice it, as his dream is to marry a very beautiful girl. She still tries to catch his attention all the time. It is when he keeps getting the roles of thieves and criminals that the director James Antony (Kalabhavan Shajohn) provides him with role of a main character in the movie. At the same time, he falls for the rich, beautiful girl who comes to live in the town, Ann Maria (Prayaga Martin). But there are twists waiting to happen in his life, and it is a little bit too early for him to be happy. Will he survive the upcoming tests?

The defence of Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan :: There is fun in store in this movie, that is for sure, and an attempt at message is made, just like it was done in Amar Akbar Anthony. But this one is a better movie than the directorial debut of the man at the helm, and an improvement in the overall quality. This one also pretends less than the other one, as Amar Akbar Anthony is supposed to have done something gargantuan, but it didn’t, except for pretending to be this and that all the time. Here we have some genuine scenes which invokes laughter, and they are the ones which save the day more than any other. Even though occasionally overdone, most of the characters in this movie are common people with whom we can relate. With them right in the camera, the humour works better than Amar Akbar Anthony which was a little bit of a low class pretender. Kattappana is also well captured. Yes, the message is there to be taken, if you want it.

The claws of flaw :: For some reason, Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan suffers from a complete lack of brains, something which would surely save it from the zombies, but makes the intelligent viewer feel the pain, for even a movie in the comedy genre like this one can use it to make the funny side clever rather than foolish – but that is a rare thing between the cliches that stretches its arms towards climax and the finish. The movie is also hypocritical in its core, often working against whatever it seemed to convey, a terrible beauty of a quality which Amar Akbar Anthony also possessed. A lot of comedy scenes are repetitions, or something we have heard before – we knew that from the trailer itself with the use of the word “photogenic” which is a comedy that goes years back. The emotional side is also only partially working. The songs are just terrible, and the predictability factor is so strong.

Performers of the soul :: Vishnu Unnikrishnan does a fine job in this movie, and we are glad to see him performing as the protagonist. He has no trouble in going through the different stages of the hero’s career. Meanwhile, Salim Kumar makes a great comeback, and in the flashback scenes, he and Siddique are too good – the two manages to use their years of experience to the best, and makes us laugh. All humour is kept steady by Dharmajan Bolgatty though, and most of his jokes are right on target – the exceptions can be forgotten considering how well he has managed his character with nonstop fun, and even an emotional side that comes in the end. Among the actresses, Lijomol Jose is the pick, and once again after Maheshinte Prathikaram, in this second movie, she is amazingly good as the simple girl. Prayaga Martin doesn’t have much to do, and she is there looking good – no part of the movie is really about her character. Siju Wilson drops in to score too.

How it finishes :: The movie’s first half is cent percent superior to the second half, and we end up hoping for more in the second due to the same. The humour here is the reason why you can go for this movie, and for everything else, there are other movies. If you can go beyond the stereotypes and a certain amount of drag which comes along in the second half, this is surely going to be a fun experience without much to take home, of a better level than Amar Akbar Anthony. I would have liked to skip the final scene though, where Nadirshah makes an appearance – that was totally unnecessary, as it should not have been due to the trust on the audience that he would have casted our hero, but due to the need for bringing a skilled young man as the hero in a good movie – by placing the trust in the viewers, it has gone completely against the overall message of the movie, which is disappointing. But think not about it when you enjoy this entertainer.

Release date: 18th November 2016
Running time: 140 minutes
Directed by: Nadirshah
Starring: Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Prayaga Martin, Lijomol Jose, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Rahul Madhav, Siju Wilson, Salim Kumar, Swasika, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Thara Kalyan, Sethulakshmi, Neena Kurup, Devika Nambiar, Kottayam Nazeer, Nadirshah, Kottayam Pradeep, Jaffer Idukki

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Two Countries

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: So, which are these two countries? Are they from the time of the World Wars, the Hundred Years’ War, the Thirty Years’ War or the Cold War?

Vampire Bat :: The two countries are India and Canada. But this movie has a more funny side to the title. It says “the story of two country fellas”.

Vampire Owl :: So, it redirects towards the characters and their special qualities. There are two ways of saying it then, I see.

Vampire Bat :: Yes, and do not think on the lines of 2 States.

Vampire Owl :: Well, Dileep has returned to the kind of roles which work for the real family audience, and so, this should be an interesting watch.

Vampire Bat :: I hope for something on the lines of Marykkundoru Kunjaadu, Thommanum Makkalum, Kalyanaraman, and Pulival Kalyanam which were from the same director.

Vampire Owl :: And Dileep and Mamta Mohandas unites for a movie once again years after My Boss.

Vampire Bat :: And it will be some Christmas fun.

Vampire Owl :: Yes, we couldn’t go for a movie yesterday and we will try to make sure that the celebrations get better with this one.

Vampire Bat :: It is all that we will do on this day!

[Gets the tickets with some cheese popcorn].

What is the movie about? :: Ullas (Dileep) is one of the jobless people who wander around his hometown doing some business or indulging in some other activity. His best friend is Avinash (Aju Varghese) who is part of most his adventures and ends up in trouble because of Ullas. Most of the things which they work on, never really bring anything positive; it is not just about business. As they take huge loans from a man at Fort Cochin (Makarand Deshpande), Ullas decides to marry his daughter Simran (Isha Talwar) who is on a wheel chair; he finds this an easy path to getting rich. For the same, he sends his elder brother Ujvalan (Jagadish) to speak for his marriage against the wishes of his parents. But things change as another marriage proposal arrives on the scene.

So what is this suddden change of direction in life about? :: The situation changes with the arrival of the proposal of Laya (Mamta Mohandas) to whom Ullas speaks on phone pretending to be someone else. But as she as well as her parents become very much interested in the man on the other side of the phone and the stories which he tells them, she decides to come to Kerala. It turns out that they knew each other from childhood, and Ullas uses this opportunity to pretend that he has always loved her from the time they were kids so that he can fly to Canada as her husband. So, he chooses Laya over Simran, but after marriage, he understands that things are not like he had thought, and his new wife has a lot of problems, with her family being just one of them.

The defence of Two Countries :: There is no shortage of fun in Two Countries, as it is evident from the scene of introduction itself. The comedy shifts to Canada from India, and it only gets better; the story also reaches a better level then. The strength of the movie remains the humour, as most of us expected. There are also some emotional moments which work pretty well. The cast itself becomes a bonus to this movie as the list which begins with Dileep. The best scenes happen at the party, court and friends’ home. It is a nice flick to watch with family, and the youth will also love the fun provided. The visuals of Canada are good too, even though more could have been utilized. It was clear that people in the theatre enjoyed the comedy and the claps were there. This is also a lot better entertainer than the overrated comedy of the year, Amar Akbar Anthony.

Claws of flaw :: The music never really gets to be that good, and the climax seems to be rushed to an end which comes to a solution which the audience wanted rather than finishing it in the right way. A lot of fun is also directed towards the mindless side, even though it is kept enjoyable. There is not that much of a new story here with predictability running high. Some parts of the movie are also half-baked, and one will wonder if the movie used the whole of its premise to its advantage; for this isn’t that much complete as My Boss with its fun. A lot more of comedy would have been here, and the beginning situation is more like what was there in too many movies. With the names Rafi and Shafi involved with this movie, people would have expected even more; this is surely not as good as Marykkundoru Kunjaadu – but it delivers; no doubt about that.

Performers of the soul :: Dileep is once again at his full form here, as he follows the good run after Chandrettan Evideya, Love 24×7 and Life of Josutty. This is also the complete comedy movie which has full fun without overdoing the comic side, a quality which hasn’t been seen since his My Boss in 2012. This is the kind of role which he can go through with ease, and it is once again proven. His support at home is Aju Varghese and the same is provided by Suraj Venjaramoodu in Canada while Mukesh replaces Jagadish in the second half as the brotherly figure away from home; Aju and Suraj are the big comic support here. We missed Mamta Mohandas for too long with her last big role being in Celluloid. She does her character amazingly well; there are not many actresses who can do this type of comedy so well. Isha Talwar has a small role, and Srinda Ashab just supports in bringing the fun.

How it finishes :: With the support going on to Vijayaraghavan, Lena Abhilash, Asokan and Vinaya Prasad, this one brings Canada into the picture, a change from Life of Josutty which had the heroine based in New Zealand and My Boss which had the heroine as an Australian citizen; it is a welcome variation as there is no journey to United States and United Kingdom here either, which would have been the usual choices. Among the Christmas movies, Two Countries is sure to have a nice status, as it should appeal to different kinds of audience. As it seems, Christmas seems to be a blast with Jo and the Boy, Adi Kapyare Koottamani and Charlie also getting good opinions. Two Countries is surely going to entertain you, and the reviews about this have also been positive! The time period between Christmas and New Year will shine for the Keralite audience; no doubt.

Release date: 25th December 2015
Running time: 155 minutes
Directed by: Shafi
Starring: Dileep, Mamta Mohandas, Aju Varghese, Mukesh, Isha Talwar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Srinda Ashab, Jagadish, Vijayaraghavan, Lena Abhilash, Makarand Deshpande, Asokan, Vinaya Prasad, Riyaz Khan, Ajmal Ameer, Rafi, Hareesh, Carrie Marston, Megan Weckwerth, Eldon Hunter

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Life of Josutty

Posted on September 24, 2015 by Tennyson

What is it about? :: The movie goes through the life of Josutty (Dileep) from his childhood till the age of fourty. His childhood friend is Jessy (Rachana Narayanankutty) whom he wants to marry when she finishes her degree. But as he has no education or job, her father rejects the proposal. Despite the best efforts of the two, she gets married to someone else. Meanwhile, Josutty and his family goes into deeper trouble due to loans. To get rid of these problems, he decides to marry a nurse working in New Zealand, Rose (Jyothi Krishna) whose family offers to pay his loans. Even though it is her second marriage, his good friends Geevarghese (Noby Marcose), Rameshan (Pashanam Shaji) and other well-wishers tell him that it is the right or the only decision. So he gets married to the lady and soon gets the visa to New Zealand. Another stage of his life begins there.

The defence of Life of Josutty :: The first fear that the audience will have is if this will be something like Kadal Kadannu Mathukkutty due to its theme, but that is averted very early itself. The movie’s life is in the first half as there is a lot of humour right there. The best comic scenes come with the three, Dileep, Noby and Suraj, joined also by Pashanam Shaji at times. The scene during the wedding is the best of them all, and it will remain in your minds for long because it is more of a reality shown in a comic way. The emotional sequences are also very much effective, even without the depth. There are some messages which are given at regular intervals, and this movie is sure to be effective for the families. The best thing about the movie is still the cinematography. There is some CGI added, but the shots are really breath-taking, both from the hilly areas of Kerala and the landscape of New Zealand. The songs are mostly good. It is Jeethu Joseph whose way of creating magic that saves this movie when there is struggle in the story.

Claws of flaw :: Facing challenges from fans of other actors and movies due to the presence of too many movies at the theatres, Life of Josutty will have its collection of blind haters. But if one understands where the focus of the movie is, and that it is close to reality in the form of an autobiography, you can’t deny the movie its due. The movie still has a certain amount of identity crisis with its half-baked elements, the biggest of them being the idea to bring some magic realism, which was not needed – surely not in the way it was shown in this movie. The ending also fails to deliver what seemed to the purpose of this movie’s soul, and it is more like finding a comfortable ending to what was so close to life. The second half is no match to the first half, as the scenes in New Zealand lags related to the comic side, and often takes the easy way out. It seems that there is a little misconception here about what should have been the strength of the movie – otherwise, this would have been a lot deeper.

Performers of the soul :: This debut production venture from Eros International in Malayalam has Dileep joining Jeethu Joseph for the second time, and their earlier combination was pure comedy in the form of My Boss which never ceased to entertain, and Dileep has also been moving away from mindless comedies to become closer to the regular family audience with Chandrettan Evideya and Love 24×7. This one actually gets a lot closer to his title “Janapriyanayakan” as he maintains that tranquility in his performance which makes the innocent protagonist of the movie a reflection of humanity’s lost goodness. Rachana Narayanankutty surprisingly has just a short stay while Jyothi Krishna plays her role very well. The new face, Renjini Rupesh leaves a mark as the third heroine of the movie, but she is the one who makes the biggest impact in the story.

Further performers of the soul :: In this movie which comes with lesser hype and a lot less social media promotion compared to its rivals Ennu Ninte Moideen and Kohinoor, there is no shortage of strength concerning the actors delivering the comedy as they joins Dileep. Among them, the most noticable one is Noby Marcose who plays the protagonist’s childhood friend, and this man who made the big impact in Vodafone Comedy Stars show provides us with his best comic performance in this one. It is always fun when he is around, and this time he has a lot more to do than in most of the other movies; we miss him when the scene shifts to New Zealand. Suraj Venjaramoodu comes in and gets a lot of claps as he offers some nice one-liners. Pashanam Shaji and others also add to the same, and Chembil Asokan comes later to bring the comedy. Hareesh Peradi makes the best emotional impact here.

Soul exploration :: One often wonders what life is all about. Most of the time, there is almost no point in living. But there is no shortage of things that life teaches us. The movie’s big message remains that “life is a text book from which you keep learning all the time”, and as the autobiography of the protagonist is shown, everything comes back to where it started, and our hero has managed to learn a lot in the end. This one just progresses as if it is just a reflection of life, with the protagonist’s life going on and on. The movie remains very much close to the common man’s problems and insecurities even though the ending just adds that unnecessary cliche. The reality could have been enforced better with the assertion that there are no happy endings in life. As it is already said on the poster, there is no twist or suspense, but just life itself on the screen.

How it finishes :: Life of Josutty comes from the man who hasn’t done much wrong with his works yet. Starting with one of the more complicated investigative thrillers of all-time called Detective, and following it with Mummy and Me which provided a nice lesson for both the youth and the parents, Jeethu Joseph had those humble and powerful beginnings; and the real fun movie which was My Boss continued the same. Then the magic of the psychological crime thriller Memories and the great family drama Drishyam followed, which inspired four remakes in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada. This sixth Malayalam movie and the seventh from Jeethu Joseph is another interesting work from him, but it is still not anywhere near the Drishyam – Memories level. The point to be noted is that this is the first time that he hasn’t written the story for his movie.

Release date: 24th September 2015
Running time: 165 minutes
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Dileep, Rachana Narayanankutty, Jyothi Krishna, Renjini Rupesh, Aqsa Bhatt, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Noby Marcose, Sunil Sukhada, Saju Navodaya, Sasi Kalinga, Hareesh Peradi, Krishna Prabha, Sudheer Karamana, Chembil Asokan, Vijayakumari

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Love 24×7

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Tennyson

What is it about? :: Roopesh Nambiar (Dileep) is a well-known television presenter and anchor working for a popular channel called Naalamidam. He enjoys almost a celebrity status among the people with his special shows. Kabani Sugathan (Nikhila Vimal) is a trainee who joins the channel, and very soon, the two become very close to each other, falling in love. Umar Abdullah (Sreenivasan) is a godfather kind of figure for them, and also their superior. Dr. Sarayu (Suhasini) is a family friend of Roopesh and Kabani’s stay is arranged with her. With her husband dead and son living the United States of America with his wife and child, she feels lonely, but is happy with the company of her old friend Dr. Satheesh (Sashi Kumar) who is a divorcee. Things seem happy, but is it really so?

The defence of Love 24×7 :: The biggest advantage of this movie is the first half which never drags or bores even for a second. There is a happy feel-good thing going on here and with some nice jokes within the limits, this movie keeps our interests high going into the second half. The first one hour and a few minutes can be considered as realistic and charming happy hours which do this movie a lot of good. The performances make sure that things work as expected. There is the presence of not many cliches here, and despite a big tendency, this one doesn’t go the way of another movie with Dileep and the same theme – Swa Le. There is a certain message against the coporate culture and capitalism, and even though that too struggles, it is the better one among them all; the rest are incomplete and meaningless.

The claws of flaw :: The characters are not without faults. Kabani remains the most developed character here, but that too is not without a struggle. The second half starts going down, and the latter part of the second half goes a lot further down. The climax has the incompleteness of the main plot, and chooses to complete the secondary plot and gives us the idea that it will complete like the secondary one some day later. It is like completing the secondary mission in a computer game and failing to finish the main objective, which will be considered a loss in that case. Well, the message that the life repeats itself has very rare chance of happening, and so this incompleteness waiting for a complete flourish and finish later is unreal. The messages which seem to be incompletely told are all pretty much ridiculous.

Performer of the soul :: I had missed Dileep’s earlier movie, Chandrettan Evideya due to having some exams, but I did hear from my trusted sources that it was a nice change for Dileep, and this one also proves to be the same. His last movies from Kammath & Kammath through Sringaravelan and Nadodimannan reaching Villali Veeran and Ivan Maryadaraman is not kind of Dileep that we wanted. They were all too repetitive, and going down in quality even as simple comedy movies – terrible jokes were increasing. But this movie bring the man back to the audience with that change which is readily acceptable. There is no need for big performances here, and it is a role which should have come easy for an experienced actor like Dileep, and he just manages things. Yes, Dileep is back and has moved away from the fake entertainers brought to the audience in the name of comedy.

The lady soul :: The rest of the cast also evokes our interest. Among them, you notice a beautiful face you have never seen before. The newcomer Nikhila Vimal does very well in a role which demanded more than one mode of performance, and in every case she manages her side with utmost sincerity, as it seems – a quality rarely found with a new actress. She is there are the struggling newbie from a rural background and then as the news anchor in a leading channel; the former remains her finer territory. Emoting without any impediment and the slang working very well for her, she adds to the list of the interesting new faces in the Malayalam movie industry. Seemingly very natural in her beauty and the performance, her only problems come from the story and the characterization, because it is clear that she has given a notable performance. The final few moments do her as well as her character no favour though.

The other performers of the soul :: We have Suhasini back in Malayalam movies again; even though she was there in Kalimannu, she hasn’t been that much present in a big way in the Malayalam movies since 2009 flick Makante Achan. It is good to see her doing an interesting and emotional role again. Sashi Kumar also looked so good in his performance, as with him, there was a certain amount of charm even to a character which was going to go unnoticed in a normal situation of events. There is a certain search about the cast done whenever the actors list is provided, and this one has lead me to a movie called Kaya Taran directed by this same actor, and reading on the same gives a feeling to know more about the work. Sreenivasan and Lena Abhilash has the roles which are no trouble to them.

How it finishes :: The director of this movie, Sreebala K Menon is also an author who won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for ‘Best Humor’ for her work – 19, Canal Road in 2005. She is also known to come up with some socially relevant short films and documentaries. She has worked as the assistant director in a number of movies, and it is time to welcome her to the Malayalam movie industry and Love 24×7 will do just fine. Love 24×7 should do okay this weekend because none of the Malayalam movies have managed to really meet the expectations. There are movies which can be watched, but none to create that impact which should be part of the festival season. Let us hope that these Malayalam movies stay enough for people to watch at the theatres itself.

Release date: 18th July 2015
Running time: 137 minutes
Directed by: Sreebala K Menon
Starring: Dileep, Nikhila Vimal, Anjali Aneesh Upasana, Idavela Babu, Lena Abhilash, Suhasini Maniratnam, Manju Pillai, Thesni Khan, Sashi Kumar, Krishna Prabha, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Sudhi Koppa, Sidhartha Siva

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Tennyson

The seven beautiful nights :: The name of the movie means “seven beautiful nights” and I would like wish everyone a very happy seven nights from Christmas to New Year, and then for eternity. You all deserve a great Christmas and an awesome New year, not only this year, but also for the years to come. The movie doesn’t do the same though, as it tells the story of a man’s life seven days away from his marriage and its title more inspired from an older song rather than anything else, and it is undoubtedly nothing like the twelve days of Christmas. It is the sixth movie of Dileep this year, and the fourth one in which he is playing the single leading role. This is also the third one directed by Lal Jose this year, and as both are undisputed super-hit providers, there was going to be no doubt about this one having good initial collections and having an extended run, even with Drishyam getting terrific reports and Oru Indian Pranaya Katha working fine enough. There has also been a certain amount of hype surrounding this movie, and it was always expected to do good.

What is it about? :: Aby (Dileep) has been enjoying his bachelor life for a very long time, and had been fighting hard to stay unmarried despite his parents trying their best to make him marry any girl. The situation changes when he decides to marry a model named Ann (Parvathy Nambiar) who was also evading marriage for quite some time. As both of them seemed to be going in a path without marriage, their parents are more than happy that they have chosen each other. But as Aby’s former lover Sini (Rima Kallingal) returns to Cochin and he decides to give her his wedding card along with boasting about his fiancee, the situation changes. As he losses his cigarette packet at her house, he is forced to help her when it is found out. At the same time, they seem to be indirectly related to the attack on a man who threatens them. He has to find the mystery behind that attack which sends the man into a comma, along with making sure that his fiancee as well as her husband Alex (Murali Gopy) doesn’t come to know more about it, and that the police doesn’t find anything about their presence during the attack.

The defence of Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal :: There is lot of fun involved in the first half, and there is good scope for a thriller from the moment a twist is introduced in the movie. Dileep scores with what he does the best and the movie goes on the lines of a thriller with a comic touch and successfully catches the attention of viewers, and stays fine till the interval. Unlike what seemed to be implied by the trailer, there is no adultery involved in it, and there is a clean environment maintained throughout the movie without the vulgar jokes. There is confusion created by certain things, but none of them are intentional, and there is no real villain in the world of this movie – nobody really does anything unforgivable, and by the end of the movie, all of them are able to live happily ever after, understanding all the mistakes counting from zero to infinity. The movie might have been trying to look into the stupidity and meaninglessness of most of the relations of the world, and how the most simple things lead to disasters which is actually the result of some random act of buffoonery. We can hope that this will bring hope that one can keep the vulgar comedy flicks of extreme buffoonery like Sringaravelan away.

Claws of flaw :: The movie keeps losing its power in the second half until it looks like a sad Superman sitting in front of kryptonite and singing the praise of Lex Luthor. It trails Lal Jose’s other 2013 flicks, Pullipulikalum Aattinkuttiyum in humour and Immanuel in goodness, the two factors which should have saved this movie if added in abundance. The movie’s power as a thriller fades as the suspense is revealed, and all the things become just minor factors of no relevance, and the movie itself becomes too insignificant as if it was made to justify Sekhar Menon singing “ezhu sundara raathrikal”. There are also unnecessary characters and strange subplots which feeds on the movie rather than add to it, being parasites in its journey towards being worthy. There are also too many things which could have kept all these troubles away, and one specific thing could have nullified all the confusion. The last few minutes drag and makes the audience feel like there has been a time-shift which has caused a slowing down of their lives. Some people are married, some are not, a few are divorced, some wishes to marry someone, others are going to get married and the rest needn’t marry – marriage all around, that is what the movie is mostly about!

Performers of the soul :: Dileep is the one who is able to hold this movie together and keep the people interested. Unlike his other movies like Sringaravelan which was horribly dependent on bad jokes and vulgar humour, this one is a decent world which keeps Dileep inside the family zone, and he shines like nobody else, as Harishree Ashokan gives him great support. The newcomer Parvathy Nambiar is just somewhat good, as she just survives her stay there on most of the occasions, unlike some other debutante heroines who have been introduced in his earlier movies. May be the character itself wasn’t her kind or vice versa, as there is a constant struggle to keep up with the other performers. Murali Gopy is good with his role even as the character turns strange by the end. Rima Kallingal holds the ground, and keeps the wounds of the movie from getting any deeper. This is not a performance that will get her anything, but she is there to make sure that nothing gets any worse. Tini Tom has done a role which is not that funny, and has made it work. While Vijayaraghavan and Sreejith Ravi have gone towards the comic side in their smaller presence, Suraj Venjaramoodu has an even smaller existence which he makes significant.

Soul exploration :: The movie lacks in soul or appears to be so. Even as it should go in the list of those feel-good movies, one can’t be sure about it yet. If anyone embodies the spirit of the movie, it is Dileep, and if anything is close enough to feeling good, that should be when he is around. The movie’s abundance of good characters or those being just naughty and not that evil seems to direct towards the goodness of the movie and its attempt to take over that feel-good tag. The movie is indeed good in what it depicts, and it distancing itself from using bad words and vulgar jokes is indeed a good sign for the soul. Even our heroine comes up with a cute angelic smile for the soul on regular occasions, and that seems to be her highlight (it reminds me of my favourite Alice in Wonderland character, you know who – and I love it). There is also that song which features her that jumps out of nowhere. That smile is one boost to the soul that the Vampire Bat might want to collect personally. This is my last movie of the year, and therefore there is not much more to explore in the soul, as there is that complete break from movies until the 31st of this year – my total movies list for those watched in theatres is 103 with 52 in the first half and 51 in the second.

How it finishes :: This is a movie which could have worked with a better second half – not by a big margin, but just enough to attract more people. It still has a good amount of viewers there, as long as there is no comparison made against a few others movies in the theatre during this same season. There are not many challenges made by movies this weekend either. Sound Thoma and Sringaravelan might have scored big for Dileep at the box-office, but this one is still the best movie of him this year and the worst for Lal Jose since Mulla five years ago. The best and the worst have been made with this combination and that is indeed strange considering the expectations that shoot up. Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal will surely keep itself running into 2014, and that is something which is ensured more by the vacations causing lot of incoming audience in the form of kids and youth rather than the movie getting better opinions. Well, let this winter season of happiness disappoint no movie maker – let them all run, as even Dhoom 3 is having a magic run of the evil type.

Release date: 19th December 2013
Running time: 140 minutes (estimate)
Directed by: Lal Jose
Starring: Dileep, Rima Kallingal, Murali Gopy, Tini Tom, Parvathy Nambiar, Harishree Ashokan, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vijayaraghavan, Sreejith Ravi, Sekhar Menon, Praveena, Suja Menon, Krishna Prabha, Ambika Mohan