Tag Archives: Jayaprakash

Mr. X

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Vampire Owl: I have heard about an entity known as Vampire X.

Vampire Bat: I doubt if the X here could be used for the vampires.

Vampire Owl: Dr. Frankenstein had successfully created such an entity.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein couldn’t even create a cup of tea with his hands.

Vampire Owl: You underestimate the story of Frankenstein, dear vampire of the night.

Vampire Bat: Which Mr. X movie do you underestimate though? There have been many.

Vampire Owl: Sadly, I have seen none of them.

Vampire Bat: Well, you have been a fan of X-Factor in WWE, I think.

Vampire Owl: Yes, until I met the team of Evolution there.

Vampire Bat: I have to say that I personally like the cast of this particular movie.

[Gets a Chicken Masala Puffs and three plates of Strawberry Shortcake].

What is the movie about? :: Gautham (Arya) has been serving as an undercover RAW Agent for some time under Indira Varma (Manju Warrier), being assigned some small missions with his team mostly in the Chennai area, and rarely extending to other parts of Tamil Nadu. He is in love with Keerthana (Anagha Maruthora), a doctor working in a nearby hospital where he often goes when he gets injured. Gautham identifies as a businessman who often gets injured due to some reckless actions and Keerthana is not aware of anything more about the person. As their relationship crosses three years, they decide to get married, and Gautham who is not able to keep the secret about him being in the special wing for that long, decides to quite from his job, soon submitting his resignation to Indira. But at the exact moment when he says that they should get married as soon as possible, Indira arrives with another mission, something different from what they had been doing in the past, and it is a very significant one.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is revealed that Gautham’s father Parameshwar a.k.a. Mr. X (R Sarathkumar) has been a RAW Agent all the time, and he had managed to save a nuclear device from falling into the wrong hands, which would trigger a large-scale conflict or even a war, keeping it with him for quite some time while hiding in an undisclosed location. But he was captured by a group of Russian mercenaries, which had led to Indira sending a special agent Amaran (Gautham Ram Karthik) to Moscow. But soon, he joins the other side, and captures Mr. X with his group of mercenaries from Pakistan. A video with him is sent to Indian intelligence, warning that he is going to be sent to Islamabad with the nukes. This leads to the Indian military sending a group to Moscow to find and kill Mr. X and get the nukes, while Indira sends her own team to find him alive along with the nukes. Gautham is to be part of Indira’s team, but when they reach the place, they only find a woman who identifies herself as Mr. X’s daughter, Aditi (Athulya Ravi), but they are ambushed by Amaran who snatches the nukes and get ready for a nuclear attack. Can the team stop him in time?

The defence of Mr. X :: The movie has high quality written all over it, and unlike the Bollywood movies with superstars which spawns many movies and spin-offs and create unreal universes, this one surely brings more believability and also a certain amount of class with the same. The action scenes, chase sequences, multiple surprises and suspense ready to make an impact – everything is just there for the eyes with the support of some stunning visuals as the locations chosen for the movie are just perfect. The covert missions, conspiracies and problems of national security or even a possible nuclear disaster adds intrigue to the plot. The cinematography has a certain amount of style and quality which makes the whole thing rise above many other movies which claim to deal with a similar situation. The female characters are also given a lot of importance in the movie, and without them, the day is never really saved – the action also has a lot of them which also never gets overdone like in the high absurdity mode of Bollywood. There is also that fine ending and the promise of a sequel after a satisfying climax.

Positives and negatives :: It can be said that some plot developments may feel predictable to viewers who often watch similar spy thrillers. The emotional side is not that strong and some characters do not really have that much of development, but with so much to add here with a complex tale, such a thing would not be considered as a big deal. After all, we have some fine motives for even the antagonist, and some well-developed female characters here, with none of the two among them being the same; some of the best characterization variety among ladies’ roles. The final moments at the nuclear reactor are of Hollywood quality, and despite those initial moments when the movie takes some time to get going, the level is raised very soon. It seemed like some beginning moments except for the side of the nuke never really had the audience interested. But you will see that when you get going with the main mission here, things never get slow, as the pace could only get more and more. The feeling that the idea here is superior to many other movies, keeps us even more interested as its world moves forward.

The performers of the soul :: Arya leads the way here as the man who is responsible for too many things, but has to go on with it while dealing with his past which involves a lost father and sister, followed by a troubled childhood. He remains solid in his work as the one who has a tale of love on one side and the missions to save the world on another. He excels in fight scenes too, and the looks surely suit the same. Anagha Maruthora whom we had started so well in her first movie itself in the form of Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu does a lovely job here as the one heroine of the film. She goes through the romantic and crisis moments well. Manju Warrier is solid in the action role, and it is great to see her in such roles; it remains a pleasure to see her in different types of works after her grand comeback. Gautham Ram Karthik remains a strong antagonist who also has so many moments for us to remember the character, and this is a strong one. Then there is Athulya Ravi who is a lovely addition to the movie, and she is also a character with secrets that we will remember. Raiza Wilson has a charming presence here with her own secrets of the character, while Tara Amala Joseph plays the next relevant female character who makes an impact. R Sarathkumar has a fine presence, but will have more to do in a possible sequel.

How it finishes :: It feels like Arya’s movies never really got the attention it deserved, even though there has always been talk about them in this part of the world. This is another movie which did not gain that much of an attention, and most of us never really knew that this movie released. We knew that the Bollywood movie with the same name existed, but not this one, which is a shame. After all, this is a stylish and engaging spy thriller that successfully blends action, suspense and twists with a certain amount of quality that stays on. The director needs a lot of appreciation for bringing this entertaining cinematic experience which feels mostly complete. The film also benefits greatly from the committed performances of the cast, as nobody lags with the work. Sometimes, one would feel that the lack of romance between RAW and ISI agents are just enough, and the absence of those dance numbers which come in the middle of nowhere would also be enough compared to the Bollywood spy universes which go on party mode. This needed to be a big hit, but does not seem to be so, and we will still hope for a sequel, as people will be appreciating this one on Jio Hotstar.

Release date: 17th April 2026
Running time: 153 minutes
Directed by: Manu Anand
Starring: Arya, Gautham Ram Karthik, R Sarathkumar, Manju Warrier, Athulya Ravi, Anagha Maruthora, Raiza Wilson, Jayaprakash, Kaali Venkat

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Oozham

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oozhamm

What is it about? :: Surya (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is an engineer working in the United States. His family includes his father, the health inspector Krishnamurthy (Balachandra Menon), his mother Subhalakshmi (Seetha) and his sister Aiswarya (Rasna Pavithran). He also has an adopted brother Aju (Neeraj Madhav) who has returned home after resigning from a big job in Microsoft. All seems to go well until one incident changes their lives forever. The world knows it as a mysterious illness killing three members of a family – the father, mother and daughter, but Surya and Aju know that it is not so. Bound by the need for revenge, they team up with Gayathri (Divya Pillai) who has also lost her sibling to an incident on the same day. Soon, they realise that both these incidents are connected.

So what happens next? :: As doubts are raised about who would want to kill the members of this family, all fingers finally point to Wilfred Marcus (Jayaprakash) and his sons Andrew Wilfred Marcus (Tony Luke) and Edwin Wilfred Marcus (Anson Paul). As they set on a path of war against the multi-national company run by these three, there is sure to be a tough job ahead – Surya uses his skills as an expert in creating controlled explosions as part of his job in the United States, while Aju and Gayathri supports the cause. So, this huge firm which supplies medicines after spreading diseases, will have no regret in wiping families out – will they stand these three people going on a war against them? How can a multi-billionaire empire be brought down to its knees by people with no influence? It is to be seen.

The defence of Oozham :: The better side of the movie might be the drama, but that also seems to be on the lines of many other movies; a perfect family with things going worse all of a sudden. With the presence of one cute little sister and a rather modern younger brother goes in lines of Jacobinte Swargarajyam. The idea is good, there is no doubt about it, but had to be presented in a better way, as an original work with more thrills. The cast is all good, and the effectiveness depends on them. The visuals are also nicely done. There is also the message which rather goes lost. The hero-heroine romance never really gets going – that is a relief, as the movie would have drifted further otherwise. This one surely has some interesting moments, and it is for the same that we can go for this movie.

The claws of flaw :: The biggest problem of this movie is that things come too easy. The protagonists all of a sudden seems like people who have been doing the same thing for centuries, may be from the time when the first civilisation was born on the banks of a river – only the immortals could do things this easily against what is claimed to be such a giant organisation. Even the idea itself goes back to the time when the first man was born. Oozham remains outdated in its idea, and even in the way of presentation, it just adds a non-linear narrative which is rather too strange, just like that unnecessary magic realism in Life of Josutty. There are no twists around here, and things finish too comfortably as we wait for the big climax to take our breath away – that is never really there. From the realistic, flawed heroes of Memories, Drishyam and Life of Josutty, we are back to those perfect heroes, sadly.

Performers of the soul :: Prithviraj, as expected remains the central figure, and the biggest selling point of this movie throughout its run. The character, no matter how less developed it is, remains safe in his hands. It is his screen presence that gives something to this protagonist, even when the trouble gets worse with the weak script full of all the cliches you have seen in the movies in so many languages. Neeraj Madhav is provided with another half-baked character who seems to be there in the name of secularism rather than anything else, and he gives some flavour to the one dimensional character that hacks anything because he can – couldn’t this character have a better identity of his own? One has to wonder. These two actors could have brought a huge blockbuster with fine reviews if the script was better.

Further performers of the soul :: Coming right out of Ayal Njanalla, Divya Pillai’s character goes on a struggle here; she has kept it going in a straight line, but there is nothing much for her, and she doesn’t come up with anything out of the box. Rasna Pavithran seems to do a simpler version of the cute act which Aima Rosmy Sebastian did in Jacobinte Swargarajyam and that certainly works. The idea of some cute sister moments has been a family favourite these days, and this movie attempts to use that to its advantage. Actually, one has to say that each member of the cast gets drawn into the set of cliches here, and that has limited the performances to an extent. Pasupathy is strong here, but is rather underused as a character that could have been presented better. Jayaprakash remains a nice villain throughout, but is let down by how the character is not strengthened by the necessary dose of corporate evil. Balachandra Menon and Seetha plays a fine couple with ease.

How it finishes :: There are better things which this movie could have done with its idea which has always been there in movies of other languages. Yes, it is more of a revenge drama than the thriller, but even in that genre, this movie has its limitations. When things come too easily, there is less scope for drama; there was the need to make one feel for the protagonist, but there is nothing there. Still, this movie doesn’t go uninteresting; we can watch it just because we have time – it doesn’t go terrible; Oozham has enough in it to make an average watch as long as you are in a good mood. The worst movie of Jeethu Joseph so far is here, but that is just a statement about his skill as a director, and not a judgment about this movie which can be watched without much expectations and some extra time to spare. This is where you find the cliche collection again; so just don’t look for anything new, even in the dialogues.

Release date: 8th September 2016
Running time: 140 minutes
Directed by: Jeethu Joseph
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Divya Pillai, Rasna Pavithran, Neeraj Madhav, Balachandra Menon, Kishor Satya, Irshad, Jayaprakash, Pasupathy, Seetha, Tony Luke, Anson Paul

oozham

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Red Wine

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This wine is not that powerful as a thriller even with its moments of suspense, as the killer is kind of known right from the beginning itself – there is still a possiblity of expecting more twists over twists, but there is none in the end. The movie progresses slowly, unlike the traditional thrill infected flicks. Still, it has a beautiful philosophical touch and an embedded social message. The movie is surely worth watching for the performance of the leading actors, especially Fahadh Fazil & Mohanlal. There seems to be no stopping the former from his awesomeness and the latter proves why he is still considered to be at his best. The support cast has also been significant. A routine investigation movie is told in a different way this time. It is supported by another experimentation with its narratives without losing its simplicity and the path towards goodness. This can be hailed not for the chills and thrills, but for those who can make a philosopher’s stone out of the darkest and the dirtiest of metals, this might be something else.

Mohanlal’s Assistant Commissioner of Police reminds more of the cop from Grandmaster than anything else. This time, the police officer is even more philosophical. He is not a person who look for action all the time, but a slow and steady officer who understands both the victim and the murderer, and knows with ease that both are the victims of circumstances, one of his own ideals of truth, justice and equality which is despised by the land mafia, while the other of his evil past and the need to pay off his loans. He understands the complicated human minds just as the Wayanad’s twists and turns on the way up. The movie is shot at Wayanad and Kozhikode, and the stories of the subaltern of the heights of Wayanad and that of the opposite side of the evil from civilized world also creeps in. This is where Mohanlal’s character has his magnificience – to balance the characters from both sides, pure good, righteous good, forced evil and pure evil, all of them making frequent appearances as significant parts of the movie at parts. He understands the two men he is searching for, as well as the ones he is not directly searching for, as he progresses through his investigation.

Fahadh Fazil carries the movie with such an ease which makes the whole movie a simple, poetic experience. This is very unlike his performances in his recent flicks – there is no strangeness like in Annayum Rasoolum, Chappa Kurisu and Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla; there is no shades of darkness or even greyness as in 22 Female Kottayam; or that confusion and uncertainty of life as in Diamond Necklace and Friday. Here, we have a good man, of only good intentions towards the fellow humans, and with the desire to do good to the society and his people. He is an Engineering graduate who passed out of college with good marks and was good enough to get a fine job with an attractive salary at home or abroad. But he chooses to work for his people as the Local committee secretary for the left. His portrayal of the victim Anoop has given the audience his most lovable character ever; that is one character on the side of pure, unadulterated political man who stands between the modern and the traditional world, having the elements of both, in such a way that he stands between the two, understanding and interpreting both with significant ease.

As the movie revolves around the life of three characters, one can’t avoid not fail to sympathize on the third important character, played by Asif Ali. Even as he is the least likable of the three and has less time on the screen, Ramesh is a character of circumstances. He is not someone who is a remorseless man of pure evil like Django. He is not for the depths of hell nor the upper most of firmament. His life is not to be seen separate from his wife Deepthi, played by Mia George. Both of them blends into their characters well enough, and more of the sad situation is conveyed more through their looks and expressions rather than the words. This is that part of the story which is more touching in terms of a common man. Ramesh is a man with an evil past, who has turned good after marrying his lover who is from a rich family, which has lead to their isolation from their relatives. Now, as Ramesh has taken loans over loans, this is his moment where he has to choose between the good which is poverty and the lack of provisions for his family which would soon include a newborn child, as well as the evil which is security of good life for his loved ones. There is choices for him to make and whatever choice he makes, there would be a payment in blood or cash.

Well, the human life itself is like that road to Wayanad, and all these characters fit into those twists and turns. For some of them, death might be the relief and for the others, life is all that matters. Where heaven and hell fits in between them is a matter of debate, in the life which is mixed with so much of good and evil. The strength of the movie is still its cast and their performances. Meera Nandan, Meghna Raj and Kailash comes in smaller roles, as a skilled drama actress, an RDO and a cyber cell officer respectively. Meanwhile, Saiju Kurup comes up with an inspiring performance as the protagonist’s friend Navas. The debutant Maria John and Anusree also fits in, as the lover and the best friend of the protagonist. Suraj Venjaramoodu has a more serious role to play in this one, as the one who benefit the most with the protagonist’s death, a person with hidden agendas, another suspect for the investigating officer. T. G. Ravi has another lovable character, a righteous socialist worker of the party who earns the respect of the viewers right from the beginning. Still, the one who steals the show is Fahadh Fazil, and he seems to do that with such an ease that surprises the audience.

The way in which the movie is narrated gives it more life in spite of it being slow and ordinary in the first look. There is regular breaking of narratives, not in space, but in time – from the death of the protagonist to the life of another man to the progress of the investigation and then back to the protagonist’s ideologies during his lifetime. The space changes, but is still confined to Wayanad and Kozhikode. The movement is like wine poured out of the bottle, some of it which goes into the bottle, some of it to the floor, a little of it in the table and the remaining in the bottle. This is the philosophy of life, for not all can be the same, physically, intellectually, or spiritually. To be frank, the choice to go for this one ahead of 3 Dots and Amen was a big move. It was more for the love of the title and the image of the red wine in the bottle. No, it won’t replace the everlasting image of tea as the elixir of life, nor does it make a substitute for blood. The question would be about what the red wine symbolize and why is it the title of the movie. I have always been interested in the colour, my third favourite after black and blue. It is the colour of blood; that of all the martyrs and saints who died for the mankind. It was also used in the Roman and the Byzantine Empires, such was its honour. What about St George’s Cross and the Red Cross?

The human life has always been full of the colour red, also associated with, revolution, love, socialism, communism, passion, beauty. Lets leave its negative associations for this instance, for this one is everything except pessimism. The red wine itself is a symbol of humanity and their blood in a glass. Does this also symbolize the sacramental wine, the blood of Jesus Christ, for the blood of a modern age revolutionary which was to be shed? They were shown drinking the red wine and they were also shown talking about Christ being the revolutionary, and therefore this chance is surely there. The Red Wine is no Spirit; for it doesn’t glorify drinking or anything in the first half and oppose it in the second half; it sticks to its points – of humanity, right from the beginning to the end, for the red wine symbolizes the blood of a young, educated revolutionary which was shed as he stood for the righteousness. That makes a valid allusion and a wonderful imagery. Red Wine is not your typical murder mystery, for it is a philosophy; not a psychological thriller; never a supernatural thriller, as this one is of another genre and I would like to call it a philosophical thriller. If this was more powerful as a regular thriller, and if it could have conveyed the philosophy better, the movie would have been awesome, for sure.

Release date: 21st March 2013
Running time: 140 minutes (estimate)
Directed by: Salam Bappu
Starring: Mohanlal, Fahadh Fazil, Asif Ali, Saiju Kurup, Jayaprakash, Mia George, Meghana Raj, Anusree, Maria John, Meera Nandan, T. G. Ravi, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Kailash, Anoop Chandran

redwine copy

@ Cemetery Watch
✠The Vampire Bat.