Karam

Posted on November 11, 2025 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Do you know that we were looking forward to watching this one in theatre.

Vampire Bat: Yes, but we were very busy at that time.

Vampire Owl: The opinions were still not positive.

Vampire Bat: I still have a Thira feeling about this particular movie.

Vampire Owl: I have watched the trailer and it was really good.

Vampire Bat: And I feel that there is more than what meets the eye here.

Vampire Owl: I have wanted Vineeth Sreenivasan with a thriller again.

Vampire Bat: There is something about that change from the feel-good.

Vampire Owl: Well, feel-good has never been a reality.

Vampire Bat: Humans can create a fake infinite realities and live in the same all the time.

[Gets a kadai paneer dosa and three cups of Ceylon tea].

What is the movie about? :: Dev (Noble Babu Thomas) and Salman (John Kaippallil) were in charge of an undercover operation to capture a notorious terrorist who has been threatening India from Pakistan and other nations, but after going against a direct order, gets in trouble, with former being court-marshalled and latter landing in the hospital for quite some time. After his return home, his girlfriend Sana (Audrey Miriam Henest) meets with an accident, leading her father Abdullah (Johny Antony) taking her away, and Dev is blamed for the incident and prohibited from meeting her again. A disappointed Dev who also has problems with his father Mahendran (Manoj K Jayan), decides to get married, and find love in Tara (Reshma Sebastian) and has a son Ayaan (Nazhan Bin Najmal). One day, they have to travel to a country named Lenarco, for Tara’s international conference. It feels like a happy family trip with the help of Kamal (Kalabhavan Shajohn) who remains their driver for the trips, with places to visit and happy moments to be shared with a tour that came after a long time.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Things seem to go around nicely, but when Dev goes to a night club which also has a brother underneath, he finds Sana there as one of the experienced sex workers displayed for the clients. Confused and disheartened, he chooses her from the display, and she reveals that she was trafficked from India while escaping home in order to find and be with him against the wishes of her father. On the way, she was tracked by a human trafficking gang that kidnapped and trafficked her out of the nation. She was sold, raped and forced into sex work in the organization which runs the most powerful mafia in the land. Andre (Ivan Vukomanovic), a man with high connections and the most powerful group of goons under his control manages the operations. There is no escape for her from there as even the police are in his payroll. A distraught Dev who feels that he could have saved her from this hopeless situation if he had gone after her, decides to save her from the brothel, but it would not be so easy, with his own family at risk in a nation which seems to have less control over its gangs and guns.

The defence of Karam :: We have all waited for a technically polished thriller of international standards, and if you are not watching it despite the same, there is no hope in having more – we remember how much quality could be felt in movies like Ranam and Ivide, which did not have that success that they deserved, and this one gets into that list with ease. The movie is visually stunning, and the fight scenes never feel overdone with no love for that dumb dose of heroism and mass moments. The tension is present throughout the movie, and there are some nicely managed thrilling moments around here. The emotions are really felt here, and there is no shortage of feeling in this world which is dark and has evil hiding underneath. Unlike a few other movies, it does not hesitate to get into that world of chaos and sometimes not checking into that safe side. These kinds of movies should be considered as the true feel-good, and not others that pretend to be so, without any story and keeping on saying the same things again and again to pretend to be feel-good. The release in Amazon Prime Video would surely bring more positive opinions as people would the movie without prejudices.

Positives and negatives :: The movie could have surely used more twists in between and set the whole thing on pure survival mode, and we see that the pace is often lost regarding the attempt to escape. The ending could have also been more classic without what seemed like the deus ex machina which felt not that suitable for the overall tone of the movie. The emotional side despite being there at all times, do not keep up with the overall movie. Then there will always be those people who put negativity in movie in relation to its similarities with Thira, but one has to note that most of them supported Thudarum which was basically Drishyam in a lower quality and unnecessary mass. This movie here is basically an improvement on the technical side compared to Thira, but for some strange reason, people did not seem to go for this one that much. Well, Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra was still running strong at that time, and some others had also joined – maybe it was not the right time to have a release for this particular movie.

The performers of the soul :: Noble Babu Thomas who made his debut as actor in Helen, comes up with fine work here, and he has written this one too – portrays the character with control, unlike the usual superstars who would overdo such a role for the dumb fans. Ivan Vukomanovic is not a name less known among Keralites, as the head coach of Kerala Blasters, and when he is present on the screen, he maintains a certain quality as the main antagonist. Audrey Miriam Henest feels like a fine find for the industry as she maintains strength not just as the strong lover, but also as the damsel in distress, maintaining the emotions in strength and helplessness without holding back. It might not have been easy playing the same character in different life-changing situations, but she seems to have no trouble in doing the same, and is definitely a talent for the future. Reshma Sebastian, on the other side, comes up with a natural and memorable performance opposite the hero, and she seems to have mastered the role so well. I am sure that we will see her around again. Kalabhavan Shajohn and Baburaj adds quite well too. Johny Antony and Manoj K Jayan got some quick, veteran stuff to do nicely again.

How it finishes :: The movie is surely better than what the critics have been talking about, and it surely scores more than most of the overrated movies of the same genre. It is quite surprising that the audience did not support this movie that much, especially when the quality of the movie is so much, and keeps on an engaging route. The movie has so many good moments to remember, and if you liked Thira from the same director, there is no chance that you will feel the need to like this any less. The feel-good nonsense has been getting on our nerves after that and we needed to get out of them which keeps doing the meaningless for such a long time. Reminding us of Thira, this one deals with human trafficking with an international setting, unlike the usual one, and therefore feels not that close to the usual, but this is something of a grander setting. When a movie thrills and keeps one on the edge of the seat, there is not much more that you need. A technically polished work with ambitions and performances set in a classic world is something one would not miss, even with some problems here and there. This kind of movie surely needs to be appreciated to inspire more of the same kind; for now, do check it out on Amazon Prime Video.

Release date: 25th September 2025
Running time: 126 minutes
Directed by: Vineeth Sreenivasan
Starring: Noble Babu Thomas, Audrey Miriam Henest, Reshma Sebastian, Ivan Vukomanovic, Manoj K Jayan, Baburaj, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Sudev Nair, Vishnu G Varrier, Johny Antony, Shweta Menon, Redin Kingsley, Vineeth Vasudevan, Joji Mundakayam, Nazhan Bin Najmal, John Kaippallil, Basheer Rimmi Singh, Vettai Muthukumar

<<< Click here to go to the previous review.

<<< Click here to go to the previous Malayalam film review.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Little Hearts

Posted on June 8, 2024 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Do you remember those days when we were eating Little Hearts without limits? Those were the most approved biscuits.

Vampire Bat: Those were the days of fine nostalgia. We were not even limited to Little Hearts as we continued lives focused on the little moments of joy.

Vampire Owl: So, they have named a movie after a packet of biscuits. It is a good idea to keep the focus on the food.

Vampire Bat: On the greatest packet of biscuits that we will ever know. Not just us, the greatest that humans will ever know.

Vampire Owl: So, you mean to say that the greatest of them all is not Bourbon or Hide and Seek with those classic looks?

Vampire Bat: There is nothing that matches Little Hearts, and there are not many that matches the old model of Milk Bikis.

Vampire Owl: I am assuming that you are going through a biscuit induced nostalgia, not focused on tea for a change.

Vampire Bat: Well, we have been among the people who have eaten so much of biscuits that we are close to breaking records.

Vampire Owl: We have also waited for this movie to release for a little too long.

Vampire Bat: Well, the first proposed date of release was much earlier.

Vampire Owl: The release should have happened during the vacation.

Vampire Bat: Well, the holidays had seen some strange films creating records with collections.

Vampire Owl: I will never know how these new generation and mindless movies make so much of collection.

Vampire Bat: Well, human taste has always been strange.

Vampire Owl: Trusting their taste is the strangest thing a vampire can do.

Vampire Bat: At least the trailer of this movie did a pretty good job in making an impression.

Vampire Owl: You know that making a trailer is often too easy a job if there is not that much of a content to show in the full film

[Gets a box with tomato popcorn and three cups of cardamom tea and moves into theatre].

Vampire Owl: This is an interesting movie, even though there is no attempt at variety. It goes on well, as if it was just determined to move on.

Vampire Bat: After RDX: Robert Dony Xavier and Vela, Shane Nigam seems to have quite a different role here and has nailed this one too.

Vampire Owl: Shane Nigam and Mahima Nambiar team has returned as a pair quite well, even though latter should have been there for more.

Vampire Bat: Well, the romantic side of Shane and Mahima has the least focus among the romances shown in this movie.

Vampire Owl: The three romances here face problems due to different reasons, and none of them seems to be ready to be accepted by the society.

Vampire Bat: Well society, economic well-being and sexuality will always have roles to play in the society forever.

Vampire Owl: Well, I would say that these are rather eternal, like Uncle Dracula.

Vampire Bat: The tale of Baburaj and his relationship with the son played by Shane Nigam makes the biggest impact though.

Vampire Owl: Yes, with both the humour as well as the emotional side has been managed so well, reminding one of those early days of moving into humour from villainy.

Vampire Bat: Yet, it could not further develop on the same, and manages to travel just on the usual and predictable path.

Vampire Owl: The feel-good path is the one road too much travelled, and without trying too much to make things better.

Vampire Bat: There are still those moments with Little Hearts packets, and there is the certainty of tea being shown again and again.

Vampire Owl: The one who played the migrant worker from the North really did a great job, and brings humour being second only to Baburaj. Yet, rest of the humour goes through a struggle at times.

Vampire Bat: Shane’s avatar in a different style works well, even though he should have more of romantic side with Mahima. The deviation was not that much needed, at least with this much of an effect.

Vampire Owl: Well, even in their previous movie together, they had parted way too soon. At least with the feel-good mode one, that would not happen.

Vampire Bat: For the same, it seems that the end was forced to reach that destination of feel-good for the common soul.

Vampire Owl: In a world of viewers where they are strangely addicted to drugs and alcohol like never before, can we ever have enough feel-good?

Vampire Bat: Can you blame them with so many superstars trying to put them into a world of nonsense far away from a righteous reality?

Vampire Owl: Well, I would trust this simple feel-good film with nice green visuals and some interesting songs which are there to stay for long. There is no real danger in the happenings of this one, and the light-hearted side keeps the darkness away.

[Disappears into the darkness of the day because the clouds have done the trick to hide the sun and bring the much needed darkness].

This is the YouTube video with the second film review there. The video reviews have had the focus since the last one, and tries to make interesting comments about the selected movies. The writing will also go on through its path, but the visual side also has its say more than ever, as the YouTube channel “Scholar Nomads” intends to explore more areas of interest. For both blog and vlog, there will be films reviews and even more to be seen.

Release date: 7th June 2024 (Theatre)
Running time: 134 minutes
Directed by: Anto Jose Pereira and Aby Treesa Paul
Starring: Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko, Baburaj, Mahima Nambiar, Renji Panicker, Shammi Thilakan, Jaffer Idukki, Aima Rosmy Sebastian, Ramya Suvi, Maala Parvathy, Parvathy Babu, John Kaippallil

<<< Click here to go to the previous film review.

<<< Click here to go to the previous romantic film review.

<<< Click here to go to the review of our first favourite film of the year.

<<< Click here to go to the review of the most underrated film of the year.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Fukri

Posted on February 5, 2017 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: What about Fukrey?

Vampire Bat: I don’t think that there is a relation between the two. That one was a coming of age comedy film.

Vampire Owl: You mean just like Premam.

Vampire Bat: The genre is rather too vast. People who have no idea about that genre were blaming Premam for being close to its category.

Vampire Owl: Yes, some people even praised Blinglore Days for downgrading Premam.

Vampire Bat: It is Bangalore Days.

Vampire Owl: Whatever it is, our concern should only be about the nights, right?

Vampire Bat: It is the presence of the day that makes sure that there is night.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but we all have our preferences, don’t we?

Vampire Bat: Yes, as long as the night has darkness.

[Gets the tickets with cardamom tea and cheese popcorn].

What is the movie about? :: Lucky (Jayasurya) and Franklin (Bhagath Manuel) are best friends who are also engineering dropouts looking forward to making some quick money. For the same, they try many things. One day, they end up complicating things so much that they have to keep running from people. During his adventures in making easy money, he meets Nafsi (Prayaga Martin) and Sana (Salini RT) who needs someone to act as an elder cousin to bail them out of some trouble which they had due to bunking classes for watching a Salman Khan movie first day first show. There, posing as their cousins, they come across their real cousin, Ubaid (John Kaippallil), and ends up telling a lie that Lucky is the son of Ali Fukri (Lal) who is the son of Sulaiman Fukri (Siddique). Sulaiman and Ali has a long gone past, which has left them as terrible enemies who wouldn’t hesitate to beat each other up if there was a chance.

So, what happens next? :: Despite being hostile to his son, Sulaiman the patriarch, isn’t angry with his grandson. But Aliya (Anu Sithara) whom Lucky meets on his way back from the college, reveals that Ali has no son, and she is his only daughter. She asks him to get into the Fukri mansion posed as Ali’s son, and there is also an opportunity to be there at Ali’s wife house. Ali had married a Brahmin girl which was one of the many reasons for the problems with his father. Aliya provides enough details for Lucky to be at both places, and during his stay there, he solves almost all his financial debts. As Lucky is in love with Nafsi, he feels that this could work in favour of him in more than one way. At the same time, he decides to unite both families as well as the father and the son. But one day, Ali returns, and he is certainly not happy with it – he wishes to destroy all happiness in Fukri family, and one has to wonder what would happen next.

The defence of Fukri :: There is the presence of comedy, and the jokes work most of the time, and at other times, we have to make ourselves believe that there is some fun stuff going on. The songs are mostly okay, but there is nothing much to remember for long. It is still nicely done for the family audience, and without any bad joke added here and there and hurting no religious or community sentiment, manages a clean work – it needed someone like our veteran director to do the same, even though it is surprising that he had chosen to go through such a safe path with no risk taken. Even though it stays for more time that it should have, lasting above two and half hours, we don’t end up complaining about the length. Denied its release during the Christmas season due to the theatre owners’ strike, this one has a festival mood too, with all the colour and style that we see around. This might be the right choice to spend the time you have in extra.

The claws of flaw :: The main problem with this movie is that it has the kind of idea that has been tried again and again so much. It is certainly an old wine in a pot which he seems to have borrowed from a number of older movies – he has just added a little bit of flavour, and so we know that we have seen this before on lots of occasions. From the beginning itself, it is so predictable, and one twist with the daughter might be the only exception. The first half is rather brainless with comedy thrown in here and there, and the second half has a little bit too much of melodrama and it ends as if they had to force an ending out of nowhere. There is a little too much of Udayapuram Sulthan here, with one son trying to unite families from Hindu and Muslim families posing as someone else; his father was the main problem-maker there too. Posing as the cousin was the main idea in Dilliwala Rajakumaran too, and Kaaryasthan also had the protagonist trying to unite families – the examples are many, and it is a rather outdated idea for these times.

Performers of the soul :: There are three people who control this movie with ease – Jayasurya, Lal and Siddique, playing the fake grandson, and the next two generations of parents. The three generations effectively make this one worth our time. Jayasurya still has it easy compared to the kind of roles with which he had surprised us earlier. Lal and Siddique are perfectly suited for their roles, as their looks and style also compliment being the two big characters. Among the heroines, it is Anu Sithara who plays the daughter figure who scores the best – we had last seen her in Happy Wedding. Prayaga Martin pales in comparison, except for the looks – even though she looked even better in Kattappanayile Rithwick Roshan. It was also good to see Bhagath Manuel playing the second fiddle. Joju George is the one person to create the best effect on screen with minimal screen presence.

How it finishes :: There has been something different going on with the Siddique movies in the last few years – Ladies and Gentleman and Bhaskar the Rascal were clearly terrible movies, and even after bringing a combined effort with Lal in King Liar, nothing really changed with that. Bodyguard was an overrated movie too, with similar overrated remakes coming in many languages. And then there is Fukri. Coming directly into this situation, Fukri is definitely is a better flick. As we consider all these movies, Fukri is also the closest to a pretty good family flick which you can watch for the weekend. With Munthirivallikal Thalirkumbol and Jomonte Suviseshangal running in the theatres and Ezra all prepared to release, it is back to the busy times for Malayalam cinema industry after that terrible break due to the strike! Still, this could have been a laugh riot with its premise already established long ago – but that is not the case.

Release date: 3rd February 2016
Running time: 156 minutes
Directed by: Siddique
Starring: Jayasurya, Lal, Prayaga Martin, Bhagath Manuel, Siddique, John Kaippallil, Anu Sithara, Joju George, Krishna Praba, KPAC Lalitha, Sreelatha Namboothiri, Thesni Khan, Reena, Naseer Sankranthi, Salini RT, Sajan Palluruthy

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Annmariya Kalippilaanu

Posted on November 16, 2016 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: The title itself says that the kid is dangerous. Is it actually safe to watch this particular flick?

Vampire Bat :: What? Now, you are afraid of kids?

Vampire Owl :: Yes, one kid called me bad owl and threw a stone at me when I was doing my owlish meditation.

Vampire Bat :: Owls don’t meditate. This makes no sense.

Vampire Owl :: What are you talking about? Even Kungfu Panda meditates. Why not me?

Vampire Bat :: He does Kungfu. The only thing that you do throughout the day is sleep and worry about the possible devastation of the New Vampire World.

Vampire Owl :: I meditate in my dreams. Sometimes, I even meditate inside the dream within my dream’s dream.

Vampire Bat :: You are my nightmare!

Vampire Owl :: I occasionally dream within nightmares to make them better too.

Vampire Bat :: I am going to declare you the Nightmare Owl, the one true creature of the dark nightmares.

[Gets three cups of tea with banana chips].

What is the movie about? :: Annmariya (Sara Arjun) is the daughter of a doctor couple, Roy (Saiju Kurup) and Teresa (Leona Lishoy). The latter is working with the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement at the war-torn nation of Syria, with the former left to take care of their daughter all by herself while working at a private hospital called Nyle. He rarely has time to call, and even when he does, there is not enough time that he spends talking to his wife and child. Annmariya’s dream to get a medal in the fourth standard for long jump just like her father did, and is striving for the same. But she fails to do that as her P.T. teacher David (John Kaippallil) disqualifies her after calling her jump a foul in return for complaining to the principal about him harassing their English teacher, Megha (Anjali Aneesh Upasana).

So what happens next with Annmariya unleashing the fury? :: A disappointed Annmariya wishes for vengeance against the teacher, and for the same, he asks Avinash (Master Vishal Krishna) to help her, and as he has a crush on her, he readily agrees and consults Sarath (Althaf Manaf) who promises to find them a thug to beat up the bad teacher. For the same, they find Gireesh (Sunny Wayne), an idle young man looking for ways to make easy money and his best friend Ambrose (Aju Varghese), an auto-driver who doesn’t go for work. Annmariya gives him the i-phone gifted by her father to beat David, and after some intervention by her uncle Inspector James (Vijayakumar) and another thug Suku (Shine Tom Chako), he agrees to beat up her teacher, but things don’t go as easily as planned.

The defence of Annmariya Kalippilaanu :: It is great to see how another world of a child has been brought to the screen with all the innocence – following the path of the movies like Philips and the Monkeypen. There is sweetness in the way that each incident is shown in this movie, and there is also the presence of that cute funny side which comes in between. Whether it is the good millionaire named Baby who travels with the sign “Baby on board” or the loving servant at home who tries hard to speak good Malayalam, the exaggerated tales about the thug or the combinations of different actors, all come together to make this one a sweet, enjoyable ride to be taken with the family. You will have enough messages to take home too, about family, love for each other, and the bond of friendship, along with the strength that strong belief of other as well as yourself brings to you.

Claws of flaw :: Due to its simplicity, there is not much of the flaws being visible here. Everything in this movie is presented in such a cute way that we don’t feel much of the problems that threaten to come up here and there. There is a certain amount of time that the movie takes to get going in the beginning; also with the first few moments of introduction of Sunny Wayne’s character. The main idea of the movie could have been presented in an even better way – the whole thing could have been even funnier. There is also no attempt to bring anything special. Most of the time, we know what is to happen next, and we are just glad to have them coming here. There is also uncertainty regarding the angel, whether it is a real person or magic realism added. Not all characters are used to their full potential here though. The animation in between was rather strange.

Performers of the soul :: Sara Arjun is one amazing child lead, there is cent percent certainty about it, and it is so clear from this movie. We had seen her in Deiva Thirumagal with Vikram as well as Jazbaa with Aiswarya Rai – we can be confident about seeing more of her work, and that will be great for Malayalam movie industry. Sunny Wayne has a fine run throughout the movie in this role, and this character has him doing the job comfortably. Aju Varghese provides a nice support, and he is good teaming up with Sunny Wayne. Siddique provides some nice support here, and his character is both funny and interesting. Leona Lishoy does some fine work as the mother, and Saiju Kurup is good when he is there. John Kaippallil stays strong as the antagonist too. Shine Tom Chacko has another good role here, which also seems to suit him. Even those in smaller roles do interesting work!

How it finishes :: This movie comes from Midhun Manuel Thomas who had recently directed Aadu Oru Bheegara Jeeviyanu, a movie which was so underrated during its release, and so overrated when it released on DVD. After that movie which is more or less average in totality, Annmariya Kalippilaanu is a big step ahead for him, and it leaves us wishing for more of similar movies from him; we see the silliness in the previous movie being replaced by happiness and messages in this movie – it is the kind of stuff that we people need, and the same is delivered by this movie. There will always be something about the movies like this, as we will keep feeling the need for some inspiration, and also get those special messages that are to be kept in heart.

Release date: 5th August 2016
Running time: 127 minutes
Directed by: Midhun Manuel Thomas
Starring: Baby Sara, Sunny Wayne, Aju Varghese, Shine Tom Chacko, Leona Lishoy, John Kaippallil, Siddique, Saiju Kurup, Vijayakumar, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Sethulakshmi, Althaf Manaf, Master Vishal Krishna, Bijukuttan, Anjali Aneesh Upasana, Dulquer Salmaan (Cameo)