Konda Polam

Posted on December 15, 2021 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: So, we continue to go through films of different languages.

Vampire Bat: The second Telugu film to be at this website.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but Drushyam 2 was basically something we knew so well already.

Vampire Bat: The reflection of Drishyam 2, as we see them.

Vampire Owl: This is a fine thing brought about by the Corona virus.

Vampire Bat: Yes, the release of films in Amazon Prime Video is more certain now.

Vampire Owl: The rise of OTT was only a matter of time.

Vampire Bat: The world has changed with entertainment too.

Vampire Owl: Yet, humans remains the same, as evil as they can.

Vampire Bat: They were able to find more evil from the OTT platforms, as they were not ready for it.

[Gets a vegetable cutlet and three glasses of chocolate shake].

What is the movie about? :: Kataru Ravindranath (Panja Vaisshnav Tej) is someone from a remote village who has passed the civil service exams with top marks, and the same comes as a surprise to those who conducted the interview. He is also able to answer their questions with a lot of clarity, which leads to the interviewers to ask about him and why he had chosen Indian Forest Service when he could have taken the higher options of Indian Administrative Service or Indian Police Service. He is ready to tell his story, and it is about him and his father who are from a family of shepherds. Everyone around him are much bothered as he hasn’t got any job even after studying so much, unlike everyone else in the village. But after staying in the city for such a long time, he remains jobless. The village has been facing a drought for a long time, and he is forced to take the sheep far away in search of green pastures to feed the sheep and find drinking water. He feels that saving the sheep can prove as a blessing and remove the troubles which he has been facing in his life.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Obulamma (Rakul Preet Singh) who is an expert shepherd is another person to join the team, also provides some guidance to him, as they go through the journey, but remains afraid of tigers, especially one which is supposed to have hunted the sheep all the time. They might also have to come up against possible thieves and wolves on the way. He remains afraid of the situation, but hesitates to go back despite his father asking him to return, as he should continue to search for job, while others mock him. They come across the sheep thieves quick enough, and they also find that there are bigger thieves who are there to cut the valuable trees illegally. At the same time, they also face the problems of having only limited food and other other supplies. It wouldn’t take them much time to come across a tiger, and their abilities for survival are to be questioned soon enough. He feels that he was afraid of interviews as much as he was afraid of the tiger and the wilderness. But during the journey, he would have to start facing his fears, but it wouldn’t be that easy.

The defence of Konda Polam :: We do feel that there is something about this particular film, from the beginning itself, as the starting moments have some certain focus. The visuals are really good, with focus in the village and the forests, and also has a good number of actors and actresses playing the villagers doing a fine job. With an inspirational theme at the core, one can be glad that Amazon Prime Video did buy the film and brought it to us, as there is no other way for us to watch Telugu films around here. After watching Drushyam 2, I definitely wanted to add more to the list, and this one makes the time worth it. The movie inspires to face one’s fears, and there are many genuine people who fail to get a job in comparison with others who fake themselves during an interview. The rest gets their job due to reservation. So, what would the common righteous man in general category do? Well, one has to fight and fight harder every time. For the same, the film serves as an inspiration, and it also has a message in support of nature, as well as some action and thrills to go with it in this particular adventure.

The claws of flaw :: The usual kind of songs do come in between to bring the unnecessary break which is often considered natural, but they are not, during this time period. There are some moments which take the film a little bit forward than needed, and some of the repeated romance do have some negative effect around here. The romantic side surely could have been there all the time, but in the background instead of showing up all the time. The movie is also a little bit too long with this particular content. The movie would have served better if the intent was more visible earlier. There was not the need to go to the top, as an inspired person getting some other job which the common people go for, was fine enough, as we always need the dreams that we can pursue, like Mili did – not all of us can dream that big. The top scorer at the top of the world idea seems to be more or less of an idea to give those who are looking for mass moments something to cheer for but, this could have gone for a more realistic idea with that. Well, too much inspiration can be often disappointing, and it also means an unreal thought process.

Performers of the soul :: Panja Vaisshnav Tej plays someone who goes through the struggle that most of the youngsters face in the city, and also another struggle in the forest. The movie is more or less the bildungsroman, the coming of age story of his character, which he manages well. The problem is only with this being too steep a climb, making a few things rather unrealistic, and forcing people to dream too big at a time when the world is not kind to people who take the risks. The world is actually worse than a few people in a village asking a young man why he is not having any job yet. Rakul Preet Singh is lovely in this role, and she goes through the movie as a natural, happy girl who is close to the sheep. The only other person in the movie whom I know about is Nassar, who interviews the protagonist for the civil service. But it is to be noted that most of the actors and actresses who play the villagers do some fine job, especially the one who plays the protagonist’s father. The comic side still serves as the weakness for the characters, but as a whole, it can be left aside.

How it finishes :: We have seen the tiger fight with Pulimurugan, and that episode of this tale is not something we are not familiar with. There is the difference here though, as the focus goes divergent, but there are some effective elements related to that, reminding one also of the eco-friendly Malayalam movie, Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi. Even though this movie also has a similar message about nature and conservation of environment, it is also about facing one’s fears and takes it to the next level, a little too much, maybe. We can note that with the resources, they have surely managed this one well enough. With moments of glory also in store, the film gains advantage quick enough, even though not all motivation is realistic. In one way or the other, it is an inspirational movie which races towards that one goal, which completely focuses on facing one’s fears by the end. You can see that by avoiding a few elements which deviate, with some elements being the common ones, and here is a movie which doesn’t hold back in the end.

Release date: 7th December 2021 (Amazon); 8th October 2021 (Theatre)
Running time: 142 minutes
Directed by: Krish Jagarlamudi
Starring: Panja Vaisshnav Tej, Rakul Preet Singh, Sai Chand, Kota Srinivasa Rao, Nassar, Annapurna, Hema, Anthony. Ravi Prakash, Syamala, Pranitha, Mahesh Vitta, Racha Ravi, Ashok Vardhan, Anand Vihari

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

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Neerali

Posted on July 14, 2018 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: Sunny George (Mohanlal) is gemologist who works for a reputed firm. He is an expert in the science dealing with natural and artificial gemstone materials, and is considered to be someone at the top of the company heirarchy with his experience and connections. Working at Bengaluru, he only makes some visists back to Kerala when possible. His wife, Molykutty (Nadhiya Moidu) is pregnant with twins after a long wait, and as the date approaches earlier than expected, it calls for an urgent visit back home. The other two girls in his life, Naina (Parvatii Nair) and Lekshmi (Megha Mathew) are attracted to him, and the former is so attached to him that she is not willing to let him go. But Sunny sneaks out of the office and travels to Kerala in the pickup truck of Veerappa (Suraj Venjaramoodu) who has his own problems. To add to this, they are quietly followed by a team of goons lead by Rajan (Dileesh Pothan).

So, what happens with the events to follow? :: They are traveling through the highranges, and all of a sudden, they come across someone crossing the road, and while trying to save the man, hits on the side of a truck, leading to Veerappa losing control of the vehicle. They go all the way down, and stops at the edge of the cliff further below the road. The two are stuck inside the vehicle, with just the back tyres stuck on a log. With the front side of the pickup truck suspended in the air, they have no way of getting out. Veerappa is seriously injured and cannot move, while Sunny’s attempts to get back to the cliff bear no fruit. Veerappa’s mobile is stuck in a precarious position while Sunny’s mobile has no outgoing facility because of Lekshmi forgetting to pay the bill despite being assigned the task. The two incoming callers Naina and Molykutty are in no mood to hear what he has to say as the former thinks that his intention was always to cheat her and the latter feels that she is going to die. Is there a chance for escape though?

The defence of Neerali :: A good survival thriller is something that we have all lacked for a long time – Hollywood had so many of them including The Grey, The Shallows, The Martian, Everest, Gravity, 127 Hours, The Revenant, Buried and others, while Bollywood had that less known little flick known as Trapped. There are moments that has us on the edge of the seat, and the question mark about more than one thing is always present. We also have interesting questions being asked here, about relationships and on what it takes to survive, even though they are not taken that much further. There are moments when movie go a little philosophical, and we see a little bit of magic realism with the protagonist’s father making an appearance with a gun pointed at him. There is no heroism from the protagonist this time, and it is a clear bonus, and having a the main character as a helpless and rather realistic one is always better than having those supercops and superfighters. The visuals are nice too.

The claws of flaw :: We can see that Neerali was aiming for more, but it is not that much there as a survival movie – so many things could have added to this tale of survival, and we could have had the protagonist facing more, and getting out of all those troubles in a believable way. We know how well the mobile phone can be used in a survival thriller as proven by the movie Buried. The idea to bring back the Nokketha Doorathu Kannumnattu model with Mohanlal and Nadhiya is still something to be questioned, as all the references fall flat, and fails to make any positive impact – the same only gets irritating. The first half had actually promised more than what the second half could deliver. Adding some better music would have been nice too. There are also a few things that are left untouched in the end, and one is left wondering if it was done intentionally, and if it was done so, one has to wonder about its effect.

The performers of the soul :: Mohanlal does a great job as the protagonist in peril as expected, and it is on him and his character that the whole thing is centered on. Its own his actions that most of the happenings in the movie proceeds – the decisions that he make would decide not just his life, but also that of others. We see the helplessness as well as the abilities nicely reflected here. We would have still wanted to see him as a more close to life character here though. Suraj Venjaramoodu is the other character whom we see here with Mohanlal for more time that anyone else, as the traveler and partner in distress, hanging above death staring from underneath. His character isn’t given that much of a depth, and we know him mostly from the dialogues made in the vehicle. He looks good here, and the kid who plays his daughter has also done a natural job. But we know that Suraj could have had more with at least some nice dialogues inside the pickup truck hanging from above.

Further performers of the soul :: Nassar has an appearance which last a few minutes while Dileesh Pothan is wasted in a role which doesn’t go anywhere – something that we don’t see with him on the screen often. Nadhiya Moidu is the biggest disappointment in this movie, as the pair never connects to the audience and the same can be said about her character – it is clearly overdone, and we feel that her presence is more as a necessary pregnant character rather than anything else. There is nothing good that she adds to the movie, and Girly Mathew of Nokkatha Doorathu Kannumnattu gets the bad name because of the attempt to drag that feeling into this flick in which the same doesn’t belong at all. Parvatii Nair does her job really well though, and she seemed to blend in so well into this character with certain problems for herself. Megha Mathew who was there for only a few minutes also leaves a mark, as we notice the same early.

How it finishes :: We can see that Neerali ventures deep into that survival thriller territory, which Malayalam cinema industry hasn’t been that interested in exploring. With some more of imagination, the movie could have done very much better – this one is still a thriller with its moments, but more could have been achieved. Yet, we can hope that there will be more of similar movies to come, and that the genre could get a much needed boost. Next time, when someone makes an attempt at this, it could go deeper. Until then, let us be glad that this movie has made an attempt at variety, and could do without much of heroism or style from the protagonist, leaving us with more of a human world rather than that of strange superheroes made from the so called superstars. Neerali brings the divergence, and we appreciate the same.

Release date: 13th July 2018
Running time: 128 minutes
Directed by: Ajoy Varma
Starring: Mohanlal, Nadhiya Moidu, Parvatii Nair, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Dileesh Pothan, Megha Mathew, Saikumar, Nassar, Santhosh T Kuruvilla, Bineesh Kodiyeri

<— Click here to go to the previous review. Click here for an interesting TV/Web Series.

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Iru Mugan

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I have heard that two-faced humans are really dangerous.

Vampire Bat: But this movie just has Vikram playing two different characters, and it is about the two faces of the actor as two different people.

Vampire Owl: That wouldn’t justify the title from within the movie.

Vampire Bat: Well, movies have become more about actors these days rather than being about itself.

Vampire Owl: It only gets worse when a movie is so bad and a superstar is acting in it.

Vampire Bat: And in some cases, movies just get the hype and rise above everything else – over-hyped movies are no lesser evil.

Vampire Owl: Yes, I have heard that the fans of such over-hyped movies have been abusing people for not liking the movie, and even for not watching the flick.

Vampire Bat: You see why we can’t take over the human world – they are just too evil; they do this with just some overrated movie. It is so hard to believe as movies are just for entertainment for the viewers and for the makers to make money.

Vampire Owl: According them, one particular flick is the greatest movie of all-time, and there will be another “greatest” later.

Vampire Bat: Yes, and the idiots don’t even know that there is a thing called opinion, and their greatest movie could be just third rate nonsense in someone else’s eyes.

[Gets three cups of cardamom tea with Hide and Seek biscuits].

What is the movie about? :: In a strange turn of events, an unknown old man goes out of control and kills many officers unleashing an attack at the Indian embassy at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A criminal scientist codenamed Love is figured out to be behind the attack, and this psychotic lover of science is known to have created a terrible mess before he was declared dead years ago. Now, as the unpredictable science terrorist threatens to unleash himself out of the dead, it is Akhilan Vinod (Vikram), a former RAW agent who was responsible for messing up the terror plans and killing Love who is entrusted with the task to bring the dead man to justice. But he has been living a life outside the grid after his wife, RAW’s senior computer analysist Meera George (Nayantara) was killed by Love at the time of that operation. The RAW chief Malik (Nassar) has a feeling that something bigger is coming up, and they need this expert officer’s service.

So, what happens next in the movie? :: Malik finds Akhilan and by telling him about the return of his old nemesis and convinces him that he has to be of service again. He is to work with a junior RAW agent Aayushi (Nithya Menen), who is in charge of the case, and the two of them leave for Kuala Lumpur to go further with the strange case at the Indian embassy. There they are helped by a Malaysian police inspector of Tamil origin, Muthaiah (Thambi Ramaiah) who remains rather scared of what is to happen next. More of investigations lead them to Peter (Karunakaran), a scientist who is working under the instructions of the evil mastermind, but decides to help the police. He tells them that the man who was thought to be dead is very much alive, and is responsible for the embassy attack, which was only the beginning. They are actually manufacturing a drug, which has the ability to create chaos and destruction by hiding them inside asthma inhalers.

The defence of Iru Mugan :: Iru Mugan can be listed among those movies which have tried to be different, and has tried something which can’t be done with ease – you see everything including the settings, they are all so good. If some other movies which are termed as the greatest could be that, just because they have brought something which hasn’t been seen before, this movie here has done the same too, without that much of ridiculous hype; well, it is the lack of confidence on a movie that brings the need for this extra hype, and if one particular movie was that great, it would have come and fought the battle without boasting and abusing. This is where Iru Mugan becomes everyone’s movie as the silent assassin, being a more righteous choice than those which claim to be among the greatest. There is so much of a stylish making here, and we see a lot of beauty of the place right on the screen. This quality is something which we can cherish for long. It even reminded me of the game Half-life, and its levels visually.

Claws of flaw :: There is the lack of attention right here, in how the movie has gone forward as a science fiction tale, with more seemingly spent on style and action than anything else. There was so much else that this movie could have done within one specific genre. There was a grand award to be taken here, as one of the best scienc fiction movies in Indian cinema, but that is not taken at all. There might be the feeling of knowing similar stories otherwise, but these days people just find a movie to claim that it is the greatest movie in the history of Indian cinema; so Iru Mugan, without such overdose of claims and third rate hype, is certainly there as a fine one. Then there is that “mass” effect, which should have been reduced to minimum, even though there is certain control in this movie. Also the name of the movie does little justice to the main character unlike what was expected, as there are just two characters.

Performers of the soul :: Here is another Vikram movie which depends on him more than anything or anybody else to do what he does the best on the big screen, as he once again comes up with the grand performance, and it is once more in more than one role. We had him in three different looks for one character in I, and here we have him in two different looks for two different characters, and once again, he is at the top of the game, and you remember Anniyan too which had him playing the character with three different personalities. It is his movies that I have always trusted to watched without second thoughts, and so despite missing this at the theatres due to the month of September last year being extremely busy, I managed to watch this on Mazhavil Manorama – that was more like a twist, and it is the one that I am glad about. He is there to bring both roles to the maximum effect. Nayanthara shines in her stylish avatar and Nithya Menen’s shortened stay was okay.

How it finishes :: There are only a few movies which you watch with the whole family, and everyone ends up liking it – Iru Mugan is that kind of a movie that has come up at such a safe position; this also reminds me to watch another missed science fiction thriller the Suriya movie, 24. We have a situation when it is impossible not to cheer for Vikram at each and every moment; and there is not just one, but there is two. There is also the great chemistry that work out between Vikram and Nayanthara, whether it is with the action sequences or with those song scenes. This surely wasn’t a movie with that much critical appreciation or hype as expected though. But with the bigger hyped movies, why would the one who know that the movie is so good keep talking about it all around the social media, mostly with fake profiles and abuse everyone? Thankfully, Iru Murugan never seemed to have such pathetic fans, which is why I decided to go for it despite having other things to do. I agree that we need all kinds of movies; but we need movies which doesn’t boast all the time, and those which don’t have their base and pillars built on hype, abuse and hatred – we need those which support free opinion, and unite us in difference rather than divide us. The fans of a movie are also a reflection of what a movie is, as superstar fans also symbolise their heroes. So, definitely choose to watch Iru Murugan, an amazingly stylish thriller with beautiful songs, even though its science fiction side needed some revival and the “mass” needed to go a bit down.

Release date: 8th September 2016
Running time: 154 minutes
Directed by: Anand Shankar
Starring: Vikram, Nayanthara, Nithya Menen, Nassar, Thambi Ramaiah, Karunakaran, Riythvika, Jasper, Karthik Nagarajan, Balaji Venugopal

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Charlie

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: The titular person, Charlie (Dulquer Salmaan) is a character who is compared to many things, a djinn and the wind being just a few of them. Some people call him a mad man and someone who is completely out of his mind. He comes to the lives of people and disappears only to make a grand appearance on another day when he is least expected. He is a man known for being himself, and he is someone whom not many people forget once they meet him. He is the force of nature that unleashes himself, and there are not many things normal about him. But he is a skilled artist, and spends a lot of time helping others; but that doesn’t stop him from being a free bird. He likes no chains being attached to him, and he makes his decisions in his own way.

So what is the story about? :: The story goes through the life of Tessa (Parvathy) who is the one who do the revealing job, and it is through her that we come across Charlie. She is someone with a habit of running away from home, and when it seems that her marriage is to be fixed, she goes on a rather longer run. She stays in a room at Fort Cochin, and finds the place strange as it has things which were left behind by the earlier occupant. She notices the artistic work there and also a graphic novel which has been left incomplete. She becomes more and more interested in finding what happens next in that work, and at the same time, she is infatuated with the person who lived there before her; the man often referred to as djinn, Charlie – the person who put himself on the obituary column of the newspaper just because he could and he wanted to.

The defence of Charlie :: There is a grand amount of high quality feel-good provided in this movie, and you will sense it as the movie gets near the first half break. The way in which this story unfolds is the biggest plus point here, as the narrative style successfully brings the curiosity of the audience to the next stage. There are not many things predictable about this movie and its characters, except for the final moments; those actually contribute to making this one delightful. The beautiful visuals just support the same really well – they are not limited as they extend from the seas to the hills. The lovable characters also work their skills to make us feel the attachment to this flick. Jo and the Boy had the tagline “See Happiness”, and Charlie seems to absorb it into itself! The background music really brings the true feeling of the movie to us, and we know that this is there to stay both intellectually and spiritually – look out for the song “Oru Karimukilinu” for the true divergent magical reflection of movie’s dreamy side. Did you want change? Well, you got it right here!

Claws of flaw :: The one thing which could have been better is the story, and its reflection of life; Charlie is more like the fairy-tale, but it is not that throughout its run. Charlie has quite an unrealistic side to it, but it is completely not that. It is a mixture which won’t work for everyone in the same way. The beginning of the movie is also not that interesting; but it picks up and is at its best in the second half. People can also find the same problems related to liquor once again being branded cool and part of a “supposed to be awesome” life which also has nothing for the family. The humour could have also been better used considering the overall mood of this movie. What surprised me a lot is how the flaws were disappearing in the second half of this movie; it was as if there was something other-worldly working around, with the problems of this movie fading and the viewers feeling really good. But I did want a more believable titular character – being real is difficult here.

Performers of the soul :: Charlie has the best performance from Dulquer Salmaan and his best movie since Ustad Hotel and Second Show as far as Malayalam movies are concerned. He is the central character and you are sure to like this performance, but the focus is still on Parvathy’s Tessa as it is into her journey that we are introduced, and it is with her that we go on that adventure. When you look at her, you will surely feel that she has come a long way from Ennu Ninte Moideen, but then you remember that it also released just a few months ago. You will love her more in this movie than any other, because her character remains the seeker who won’t yield, and yet she remains the simple person throughout this flick. I believe that we are not finished with seeing her many visages of the lady who surely will only go higher during the years to come.

Further performers of the soul :: While the leading pair does steal many hearts around there, Aparna Gopinath is also here as the second leading lady, and it is a deep and serene performance here. I didn’t like her in American Born Confused Desi (ABCD), but I am really pleased to see her in this avatar, and she was also special. She makes the appearance on screen much later, but her sequences are also those which stay with us. The funnier moments belong to Soubin Shahir here. The other interesting characters are played by Nedumudi Venu, Chemban Vinod Jose and Neeraj Madhav, while Tovino Thomas, Kalpana, K.P.A.C. Lalitha and Ramesh Pisharody plays even smaller, but memorable characters. They are there to be admired, especially Tovino and Kalpana. There is a fine list of actors here, and most of the characters played by them will stay in our hearts.

How it finishes :: Charlie was one of those most hyped movies of this year along with Ennu Ninte Moideen which should top that list. The social media was full of random information and talks about how great these two movies will be, just before the release. Coming from Martin Prakkat, the director of the hit movies like Best Actor and American Born Confused Desi (ABCD), Charlie was supposed to make the big impact; if you ask me, I can clearly define this one was the best movie from the director so far. The previous two movies were just random comedy while Charlie gets to the next level and touches the soul; it surely has a certain amount of magic. I am really happy that he dared to go through a different route. Charlie becomes another lovely experiment which will be remembered for quite a long time, and should win this Christmas season after a tough battle with the rest of the flicks – the strength here is not in the existence, but in the essence; that explains the special experience. Check out this song from the movie which I had earlier mentioned!

Release date: 24th December 2015
Running time: 129 minutes
Directed by: Martin Prakkat
Starring: Dulquer Salmaan, Parvathy Kottuvata, Chemban Vinod Jose, Ramesh Pisharody, Aparna Gopinath, Nedumudi Venu, Soubin Shahir, Neeraj Madhav, Tovino Thomas, P. Balachandran, Kalpana, K.P.A.C. Lalitha, Seetha, Jayaraj Warrier, Surjith, Renji Panicker, Joy Mathew, Nassar

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Veeram

Posted on January 17, 2014 by Tennyson

Ask the magic mirror :: “Mirror Mirror on the Wall, Who Is the Fairest of Them All?” – now here is the answer which naturally comes to any mirror which has been taken into a theatre to watch Veeram; and it is Tamannah Bhatia. Unless that mirror prefers Kristen Stewart more than Charlize Theron, and as long as the question is not about being the “palest”, it is indeed a magic mirror which can be trusted. The first thing one notices in the movie is not our leading lady, that is for sure, but as far as being fair is considered, there is only person on the screen who takes that to another level. Whenever she is around, everyone else looks darker – no that is no measure of beauty even as Tamannah is indeed the more beautiful and the cute one around, and thanks to those beautiful locations during the songs, there is the snow to give that much needed competition; being the ice princess or the snow queen has never been this easy with anybody else.

What is it about? :: This is the story of Vinayakam (Ajith Kumar), the one-man army with a possible extension to five with his four brothers, and even to an army of six if their lawyer is included in the gang. The man has become more of a landlord who takes care of his people and is extremely caring about his brothers. He is a stern businessman and a reputed man of his area. He has weakness for the name Kopperundevi (Tamannaah Bhatia) and as a lady comes up with the same name, thanks to the work of his brothers and the adopted brother lawyer, he falls in love with her, and with the good guy impression created by the brothers, she also falls for him and takes the decision to take him to meet her family. But later she comes to know that he is the rough and tough guy who beats up people whenever he sees something wrong. As she wants a more peace loving person so that he can be approved by her father, he decides to become one. But the need for fight doesn’t leave him, or does it?

The defence of Veeram :: Translated into English as “Valour”, the movie is a action masala movie, and that basically forgives most of the troubles of the movie. Another thing is that this is the movie of Ajith, or rather by Ajith, about which there is lot more to talk about. Meanwhile, the movie has immense style, and it is reflected not only in the display of the same, but also in the narrative. The use of rain, thunder and lightning along with the clouds adds such a strength to the movie that this use is nothing less than deserving applause. The locations are beautiful and those of the songs are breathtaking. The mixing of action, sentiments and humour is intelligent, and it makes up for what is lost in the old plot. Even with so much lacking in innovation as far as the story is concerned, there is a lot working out well in the other departments. There are many mass scenes and even as the action gets repetitive, the sequences are powerful.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is all about Ajith’s character, and the rest are kept in the shadows most of the times, and their existence is more to make our hero better rather than for themselves, as our leading lady exists so that he could fall in love and dance with her, and a villain to be afraid of him and another to be beaten up and killed by him. The purpose of brothers is more to show that he is superior, but that is understandable as this is more of a movie for the fans; and our hero is that awesome indeed, thanks to a powerful portrayal. The romantic side is weak, mostly due to the fact that it is forced and not rightly fit in the movie. The action scenes repeat as if put in a loop, and it could have been better if some shots of beating up villains were cut. The sentiments also go in a strange way, and the lack of logic is right there in the centre. The story should also be older than most of the actors in the movie, and its similarities to many other Tamil and Malayalam movies can be noted down.

Performers of the soul :: Ajith’s movie as one would expect, as he outperforms everyone with such an ease that what exists there is mostly a one-man show. From his entry, he keeps scoring, and his looks are perfect for this role. It does remind one about Mammootty in the 2000 Malayalam movie Valyettan, but to a small extent; with the romantic side of the brothers slightly resembling the 1991 Malayalam film Godfather. Tamannaah is dazzling, and you can often take that literally. This is the first time I am watching a movie starring her, and I am glad I finally did that; had to leave the Kajal Aggarwal starrer behind even as it was running in the same theatre at the same time, but no beauty lost in the end. Its good to see Bala too, as its been a long time since I watched one of his movies, and he plays a character with the same name which made him famous in the 2007 Malayalam movie Big B, which might once again be a luck factor. Santhanam comes up with lots of funny moments to make sure that the comic side doesn’t go weak. Nassar and Atul Kulkarni also comes up with strong performances.

Soul exploration :: The most shocking thing to the soul was the name of the heroine, especially when her nickname was revealed to be Kopu. But what’s interesting to the soul is its assertion of family values and putting one’s people over everything else. It starts off with the brothers and later extends to the family of his lover, our hero becomes a model brother and son in no time. He sacrifices his happiness to see the family happy, and keeps them away from all the problems as well as their knowledge of their troubles. We have known Jeffrey Nero Hardy as the charismatic enigma, but our hero here is nothing less throughout the movie. Another thing is the significance of “tea” as a symbol in the movie; it not only becomes a symbol of his simplicity, but also his hard-work as well as love for his brothers and family. How often do you see a movie poster with the hero happily drinking tea in it? Now that is a plus for the soul and the Vampire Bat loves it.

How it finishes :: There was always going to be a doubt about which movie to watch, with Jilla running on the other screen, and choosing this was a risk, but nothing regrettable happened in the end. It was nothing strange to see that the viewers for both movies were almost equal, and with only a few vehicles in the yard, with not even one mediocre Malayalam movie release in the same week, and both the Hollywood and Bollywood side being weak in comparison as far as normal people are concerned – shortage of big movies (Drishyam and Oru Indian Pranaya Katha are still there along with many English movies from much earlier, still in the multiplexes). The movie is reckless and violent in its action, and the use of sharp weapons cloud the movie like nothing else – if that is a positive or a negative is for the audience to decide, as it doesn’t go beyond a level. The opinion is divided about the movie, but I would say that this one deserves a check as it keeps the interest high even as it might be too long for one’s liking.

Release date: 10th January 2014
Running time: 155 minutes
Directed by: Siva
Starring: Ajith Kumar, Tamannaah Bhatia, Vidharth, Bala, Santhanam, Ramesh Khanna, Atul Kulkarni, Nassar, Abhinaya, Pradeep Rawat, Munish, Manochitra

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Geethanjali

Posted on November 17, 2013 by Tennyson

What is Geethanjali? :: Even as all of us literature students have to answer this with Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali, the collection which made him the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, and the only Indian to win the same so far. But as the Vampire Bat is not alive enough to talk about such great works of Indian literature, he is talking about a movie of the same name, not about the National Film Award-winning Telugu movie of the same name, but the recently released indirect sequel to the masterpiece which was Manichitrathazhu. It once again has Mohanlal as Dr. Sunny Joseph, one of the most loved characters in the Malayalam movie industry. Its been a long time since there was a Mohanlal movie too. Thanks to the hype and the well-made trailer, this became one of the most anticipated releases of the time, even when colliding with the other movies which released during the same weekend – Thira, Insidious: Chapter 2 and Ram-leela.

What is it about? :: There were two twins, Geetha and Anjali (both Keerthy Suresh) (together making the movie Geethanjali – if one of them was Chitra, the movie would have been Chitranjali, like the name of the studio which was used by the film?) and only Anjali is alive now, as the other is supposed to have committed suicide by jumping into the sea – and body not found. Anjali comes back to her home where she lived till her youth after her mother falls down from the terrace and goes into a comma. Her fiancee is also with him, and at the house, she has visions of her dead sister who also loved the same person. The vision of the ghost who seem to try to end her life to keep the lover away from her, makes life uncomfortable for the young lady. The fiancee Anoop (KP Nishan) calls Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) who recommends Dr. Sunny Joseph (Mohan Lal) for the case, but the question remains if the future bride can remain alive or at least in his senses before the man arrives, and if he can solve this mystery before anything horrible happens.

The defence of Geethanjali :: It is hard to defend a movie which has been so much critically panned in a nation where even Krrish 3 gets positive reviews in another corner. Yes, this corner is famous for movies which usually get two or two point five out of five, and this miserly area doesn’t give away much. But let me tell you that Geethanjali scores with its environment, the almost effective scary scenes and the added twist, with the funny elements supporting it quite well. The cinematography helps the movie a lot, and this should be the first visually superior horror movies in Malayalam movie industry. The last good horror movie was Sahasram, released in 2010, starring Suresh Gopi. This doesn’t live up to that either, but the attempt is there, even if not original or with the right flow. Check out for Keerthy Suresh too, as she scores in her first movie – there is something called legacy, and she might be some of the few who might be proving it. There should be no comparisons to Manichitrathazhu though – who compares Dracula or Interview with the Vampire to Twilight? And as Alexander Pope says in Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot: “Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?”

The claws of flaw :: The worst thing that could happen to this movie is that it released with Thira, which is already a hit as it comes from a man who has cent percent success rate. I can remember that Vineeth Sreenivasan’s Thattathin Marayathu was a hit months before it released. I am also sure about watching it myself. The problem is that the more we praise that one, the more we tend to downgrade this movie. To add to it, there are the copied things, along with the ghost who looks like the daughter of the Avatar guy and The Ring girl. The mirror and the ceiling fan leaks instead of the television and there is a lot of hair like The Grudge. More details about similarities can be found in the details with spoilers section. One can say that the movie tried too much to be like Manichitrathazhu, and there is a big problem, for it can’t be the same as the world has changed and so did a lot of things. People are also looking for something of variety just like the original classic, and more flawless stuff including no small mistakes (like Armenian Orthodox Church cross having Latin inscriptions and there might be quite some concerning the twins).

Performers of the soul :: Mohanlal is the star psychatrist yet again, but this time he has less screen presence, and this surely won’t be the Dr Sunny that we remembers. He makes his entrance just before the second half of the movie, and once he enters, there is a lot of hope being built up – even as he lives up to it with his performance, there is not that much in the story. His combination with Innocent is very good and Swapna Menon is a pleasant surprise and a fine addition to the funny side of the movie. Harisree Ashokan also contributes in a lesser manner to the comic side. Nishan has a weak role, but does the romantic part very well, but not that much in he climax scene where the debutant Keerthy Suresh takes over with a wonderful performance to support the beautiful screen presence. She doesn’t go on to become another beautiful young actress who can’t act – she does incredibly well as the two sisters, too good for a debutant. Well, the beauty gets more than just the pass marks. Its her movie, as she is both the protagonist and the antagonist. Siddique and Nassar provides nice support, and Seema’s role is too limited – Madhu’s character was almost not needed.

Details with spoilers :: The story has so much in common with Nadiya kollappetta Rathri and Chaarulatha, the former was one of my favourites, and this impersonation for love was well performed by Kavya Madhavan and rightly investigated by the character of Suresh Gopi. The latter which was a remake of a 2007 movie Alone, had a lot of things which this movie now has in common. The twins who impersonate and kill for love was told as an investigative thriller in the first case, and as a pure ghost story in the second. The good thing is that they are not conjoined twins like the latter. Our movie has a psychological twist to the same, seemingly attempting to make it just like Manichitrathazhu, and also adding some comedy in between. If you haven’t watched the two movies, this shall be a new experience for you, or if you want to repeat the experience in another way, this movie can help. Those who don’t like the two movies much and don’t want any more of it, might want to skip it though. I felt so from some of the reactions from a few. This is not going to be remembered in the later days like the well-crafted Devadoothan either.

How it could have been :: This could have been a lot better, there is no doubt about that. The ghost and the supernatural would have been better not shown and not observed by the family other than the girl. The blue ghost could have done better if shown just in the shadows without the support of water and the fallen hair. The sea on one side is a clear negative on a house which formerly made us feel that it is at a remote location on some hill or mountain. The darkness itself could have been an ally to a possible psychological thriller in this one. The songs might have done better if not coming up when not needed. The suspense could have been made more shocking even without the support of deaths. Mohanlal could have made an entry earlier. Overall, there should be no following the policy of the early classic, instead having some life of its own, keeping further distance from the movies which were used as inspirations. I would be surprised if even the C.I.D Moosa sequel can be any good considering the limited imagination involved with making sequels. Meanwhile, a horrible drop for this movie might discourage horror movies in Malayalam, and I am not going to stand that!

Release date: 14th November 2013
Running time: 150 minutes
Directed by: Priyadarshan
Starring: Mohanlal, Keerthy Suresh, KP Nishan, Swapna Menon, Siddique, Innocent, Ganesh Kumar, Nassar, Madhu, Seema, Harisree Ashokan, Chris Gayle Kuttappan, Suresh Gopi (cameo)