Kavi Uddheshichathu?

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Tennyson

What is the movie about? :: The action takes place at a village called Allimoola which is known for the game of volleyball, and its crazy fans, as well as the players who have dedicated their lives towards the game – but it is all in the past now, with the new generation of youngsters looking only for the easy ways to make money, without doing anything really valuable to the society. The women of the village considers the game to be a big wastage, and the men are no longer interested in it as part of their lives. There are only those players of the past who keep talking about their lost glory. Still, there is a section of people who believes that the game is in the blood of the villagers and they don’t believe that they game can ever disappear suddenly – they are hoping for the emergence of better players from the place who can rise above the best.

So how are things moving forward in this movie? :: It is the richest guy in the village, Vattathil Bosco (Narain) who conducts the tournaments now, in memory of his father who used to do the same years ago. But unlike his father, he has no real interest in the game, and only wishes to show the power of his money and wants to be more and more famous, but gets not much of respect from the villagers. He is in love with Lillykutty (Sija Rose), the sister of Kavalam Jimmy (Asif Ali), who is his major opponent in life, a story of dislike which has been going on for many years. Meanwhile, Jimmy is in love with Jasmine (Anju Kurian), who is the sister of Bosco. Jimmy and his friends, including Karala (Balu Varghese), Dineshan (Sudhi Koppa), Aneesh (Benson), Charles (Abhishek) and Sukoor (Ganapathy) form the better known faces of youth in the village who do simple work to make their living.

So, what happens next? :: With the love story of Jimmy and Jasmine being known to people, things get further complicated. At the meeting where the decision on the tournament was to be made, the two opponents end up betting against each other – what they ask for is the hand of the other person’s sister in marriage. The whole village consider takes this in the sportsman spirit, and decides that time has come to celebrate the tournament this time. Looking for a sponsor, Jimmy and his friends find one in Gladys (Lena) who doesn’t like Bosco’s family. Bosco finds a new ally and the team’s coach in Noble Jacob (Saiju Kurup) who had problems with Jimmy and his friends earlier. Joshy (Bijukuttan) arranges a special coach for Jimmy’s team, Minnal Simon (Biju Menon) who is a drunkard and is ready to lose the game for money. So, where does things go from here?

The defence of Kavi Uddheshichathu? :: You know that there will fun around with this movie as you look at the title itself. There is that nostalgia of those old village movies that runs right through this movie, and there is also that feel-good effect that gets to the highest level in the end – it might be what the movie has been aiming for all the time. The locations are nicely captured, with the movie being shot at Iritty in Kannur district, located on the banks of Valapattanam River. The entertainment is guaranteed here, even though it is not provided without the breaks in between. It is the middle part as well as those moments with Biju Menon that stays the strongest here. There is simplicity all around this movie, and even the bad guys in this movie are not that easy to be hated – this is that kind of a comedy movie which leave one without much to think about, and focuses more on what is there to bring some laughter.

The claws of flaw :: There could have been a more interesting story-line, without doubt – instead, this one goes into the territory which Karinkunnam 6s had explored just a few months earlier. The climax is rather predictable, even with an extra dose of feel-good added in the end – everything gets sorted out in the end, and there are no more enemies. There is a certain amount of emptiness in the movie at times due to the same reason – the effort here seems to be to make the feel-good comedy thing work all the time rather than focusing on anything else. We are also left too far away from the characters – there is no real feeling for the character even in a funny way as they do the predictable on the screen. There is also the lack of a strong enough climax that could have finished this the way it should have done – instead this one floats all the way there.

Performers of the soul :: Even though he arrives late, Biju Menon is the soul and heart of this movie – coming after one and half hours in a movie which has only about forty to forty five more to get to the finish, he raises the level of the comedy in this movie. Asif Ali does his job naturally, and there was nothing huge there for him to perform. Narain looks perfect for this role, but it is not really so when he goes on as the character; there is a consistent struggle with comedy going on here, and it never ends until the movie finishes. Lena plays a strong and admirable character with ease. Anju Kurian makes a beautiful addition to this movie, and even in a movie that focuses more on its male stars, leaves a mark; and also leaves the big smiles behind. Sija Rose is also notable in the small role. Among the supporting cast, Balu Varghese stands out, even though the viewers might have expected more from him. Dinesh Prabhakar and Veena Nair forms a nice combination too.

How it finishes :: Thomas Liju Thomas, the director of this movie had already come up with a short-movie, Ramaniyechiyude Namathil before this. It was a critically acclaimed short-film which had managed to grab a number of awards and honours. It is known for winning the first prize in the “Shoot an Idea” competition which was organised by Kappa TV. In his first full-length movie, he has made sure that it remains a complete entertainer, and finishes with a feel-good effect. It did appeal to the audience with its simple jokes, which is undoubtedly the reason why it ran for quite some time in the local theatres as well as multiplexes. Without too much application of brain, this one can work very well with the comic side, even though not that much as a sports movie – the sporting event is just a reason for things to come together; you know what you are going for in this movie instead. Well, simplicity works and so does feel-good, as already proved this year in Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho and Oru Muthassi Gadha.

Release date: 8th October 2016
Running time: 137 minutes
Directed by: Thomas Liju Thomas
Starring: Asif Ali, Anju Kurian, Biju Menon, Narain, Lena, Bijukuttan, Balu Varghese, Sija Rose, Sudhi Koppa, Benson, Abhishek, Ganapathy, Bindu Panicker, Sneha, Saiju Kurup, Manoj Guinness, Akku Melparamb, Chithra Shenoy, Dinesh Prabhakar, Veena Nair, Pradeep Kottayam, Sasi Kalinga, Balaji Sharma, Prasanth, Arul Mash, Alleppey Ashraf, Tom Joseph

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Ennu Ninte Moideen

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Tennyson

What is it about? :: In the 1960s at Mukkam in the Malabar region of Kerala, Kanchanamala (Parvathy Kottuvata), one of the many children of a landlord, studies medicine. Meanwhile, Moideen (Prithviraj Sukumaran), a socialist political worker from a renowned family of the region spends his time with the common people. Their parents are good friends and the families know each other. They fall in love, but are restricted by the society as Kanchanamala is Hindu and Moideen is Muslim. Moideen is thrown out of the house by his father for declaring his love for the lady, and Kanchanamala is locked inside her room in the house. The options available here were to run away or to forget each other, but they decide to wait. A lot of things happen in the world around them, but they just wait for things to change, and this wait goes on as fate keeps intervening in their lives.

The defence of Ennu Ninte Moideen :: The best argument in favour of this movie is that it is unbelievably clean. The humour is good and love is strong. There is nothing other than pure love that takes the centre stage – there is almost no romance, and there is no talking nonsense; there is just the decision to get married and live together. It is something worth all the applause at a time when true love is dead and buried under the fake emotions. This movie becomes a lesson to the people who can’t wait or adjust, as the world are full of the “partially loving” ones who leave their lovers to follow their ambitions. The visuals are really good, and there some very nice dialogues which the audience can remember for long. The fact that this is a true love story also makes this movie better than what it actually is – there should be thousands of great love stories which go forgotten, and it is nice that this one didn’t. Also, the first half is superior to the second.

Claws of flaw :: One problem with the movie is its length. Even though it is not at all empty like Annayum Rasoolum, there are moments which drag, and this happens mostly in the second half after a well-made first half. There are certain moments of stretching in the latter part which could have been avoided. The signs about that powerful socialist-capitalist clash which the trailer gave goes completely missing as the same only appears here and there only to disappear without leaving any trace. It is unfortunate that there is nothing about righteous politics as expected. The songs don’t have much here. Cliches are also abundant. The overrating of this movie by the fans reflects as a flaw for the flick – you exceed expectations and give a movie some “greatness” title, and it becomes a flaw for those who watch the movie with expectations of unlimited greatness. Flaws will rise easily in a movie which you declare flawless, my dear fans; keep that in mind.

Performers of the soul :: Prithviraj brings Moideen to the screen with great sincerity and wonderful skills. If you ask me, I will prefer his performances in Ivide and Picket 43 more as they were a lot more intense; but this one is serene, staying within the limits of his character – the three are his best of the year. We await his much expected movie Amar Akbar Anthony as we watch this! Parvathy impresses most of the time, and is just fine on some other occasions, and she reminds me of Sangeetha of Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala fame. Bala also does a very strong job in this one. But the one who steals the show with two shots is Tovino Thomas who strikes an arrow into our heart and soul twice with one moment at the heroine’s house and another at the hero’s club. Sai Kumar and Lena Abhilash also leaves strong impact on our minds with their characters.

Soul exploration :: The origins of the love story of the lovers of this movie are not much explored, as they go straight towards the point. There is not much shown about what made them so much interested in each other, and the focus is on the fact is that they decides to wait rather than run away with each other or forget each other. They wait for the society to accept them, and take that risk with two reputed families belonging to two different religions. There is more than one dramatic interference from fate along with some additional melodrama as if this love was not supposed to happen, but the story remains true to love. The thing to be admired more than anything else is that they get older and older by waiting for approval, but the society remains the same and doesn’t accept their relationship. It is a strange world, isn’t it?

Further soul exploration :: The situation which is seen in the movie still exists in this world, even without talking about love and marriages. There is a certain amount of rise in the number of people who talk about religion and make decisions or judge people based on the same. It is a surprise that it happens in this modern age; the divisions were not this strong when I was a child – yes, the number of inter-religious marriages have increased, but it is not the case with the rest of the talks about religion as you can see less love for one’s religion and more hatred for other religions. We are getting divided further and further with more and more ridiculous reasons added. The non-believers only join in to make fun of everyone creating further trouble in between, instead of working to find a solution for any possible problem. Hating people is never a solution.

How it finishes :: There is a big problem with this movie, and it is with the fans. There is too much promotion going on related to this movie, and I have always found this overrating of movies rather irritating. I have seen the same with Premam, and now I am witnessing the same with this movie. It is time people stop overdoing the promotion and stick to talking about what they liked and didn’t like in a movie. When the word “best” is used without any limitations, it can make your favourite movie suffer, and fans should keep that in mind. I have had very high expectations about this movie due to some of those random comments, and this high number of comments have led to me liking this movie less. My advice to the fans is not to overrate a movie so much that it becomes irritating; Premam had early gains from it, but understand that luck changes and so do the games of fate.

Release date: 19th September 2015
Running time: 167 minutes
Directed by: R. S. Vimal
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathy Kottuvata, Tovino Thomas, Bala, Saikumar, Shashi Kumar, Lena Abhilash, Sivaji Guruvayoor, Sudheer Karamana, Sija Rose, Sudheesh, Kalaranjini, Surabhi, Indrans, Devi Ajith, Emine Salman, George Tharakan

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Mili

Posted on January 27, 2015 by Tennyson

What is it about? :: Mili Nair (Amala Paul) is a girl who has underachieved throughout her life and has developed a certain amount of inferiority complex about not living up-to the expectations. Being a high level introvert and never having even one real friend, Mili is disliked by her room mates in the hostel, the group of three lead by Renuka Menon (Shamna Kasim) who hates her, and the other two Shelly (Swapna Menon) and Raji (Sija Rose) who feel irritated by her behaviour. Her only two means of happiness are the day-care where she works and the sisterly relationship with Nancy (Praveena). But one day, she is forced to leave her job, and the guy whom she has a crush on, seems to be in a relationship with Renuka. She is highly disappointed and thinks about suicide, but Nancy’s brother Naveen (Nivin Pauly) helps her, and after bring introduced to the friends circle of Anupama (Sanusha Santhosh), her life gets a twist or two as she finds the strength within her.

The defence of Mili :: Here is a movie with so much strength to make you feel and directly go through that path of the protagonist who becomes a kind of answer to Bollywood’s Queen, even as this won’t have that much of good reviews, because three out of five is what awesome Malayalam movies can get from the critics here. I would actually consider this movie better than Queen and also Highway with its empowerment of the central female character. It is also better than the last year’s Malayalam flick How Old Are You are which was less realistic and had a protagonist was too talented that what she comes up with is no real surprise. Meanwhile, Mili has the rise of the real subaltern who comes out of her problems which go back to her childhood and rise like the real queen. Mili is a completely realistic movie, and its incidents and emotions connect directly to the audience. Cheers to Gopi Sunder and Shaan Rahman for the highly effective music too.

Positives and Negatives :: The movie is a straight take on its content, even as it is an ordinary story in its base. There are some silly moments in the beginning which might have been meant to bring some fun there. May be Mili should have been shown as “just another introvert” or with a further clear background. Well, the movie touches you and it shakes your heart with its emotional power. “Manpaatha Neettunna Mohangale” is a bloody good song, and when heard in relation to the movie is a wonderful experience, something that makes you feel the power of the journey of the protagonist, as long as you have a heart with enough of empathy. It is a stake through the heart, but is something of exhilaration on one end. The movie ends with a speech which is the soul of the movie, and it is up-to you to decide if you want it in the end. But the power of the final words cannot be questioned as it is incredibly strong and the return of that song in the end is a remarkable addition to the emotional strength of the movie.

Performers of the soul :: The movie is impressive in its characterization, and it is reflected in the performances of the actors. Mili’s character goes through a great path, right from the awesome child actor to the amazing performance from Amala Paul who has undoubtedly managed her best in Malayalam with this one protagonist. It is nothing other than inconceivable bliss to watch her as Mili. Here is she acting without make-up and making it work in an amazing way. Nivin Pauly gives a great support, and him doing this role in a heroine-centred role is worth an applause. Sai Kumar is also very good; the same can be said about Praveena. One thing that is to be noticed is the presence and the nice support of the young actresses in this movie, starting with Sanusha Santhosh about whom we are well aware of, and has already left her mark. The others including the better known Shamna Kasim and the rest of the list having Sija Rose, Swapna Menon and Soumya Sadanandan makes us realize that Malayalam movie industry has so much power in its core for years to come.

Soul exploration :: It is clear that some people are not able to be inspired by Mili and can’t like it. I can understand that. It is mainly because of their inability to connect with those who have problems in their life. May be they are hundred percent extroverts or some who were born with silver spoons in their mouth, or those who had a very easy path throughout their lives. They might be big genius people who knows everything. But for us others, who can connect easily with a person having troubles, this movie is a big thing. May be some people don’t need to be motivated because they are so awesome, but I am really motivated with this, as I know my weaknesses. It is okay that some people can’t connect with people having problems, but I can. May be it is because I am not that good, and the positive thing about that is that I can surely feel the power of motivation that is present in this movie. I am an introvert, a proud introvert – and I feel the pain and the abiding inspiration. Let me tell you something about Mili – she remains the introvert even in the end, but a confident one.

How it finishes :: You can read my earlier preview and expectations about this movie here: (https://theteacerebration.wordpress.com/2014/12/30/introvert-queen). But I have a request; it is that if you can’t relate to the feelings of someone who has a behaviour problem and with people having any trouble with being “normal”, don’t watch this movie. If you think that people who are different are idiots and don’t deserve anything, please stay with your higher level of people. If you think that getting high scores in exams and getting a big job with a high salary are the only things that matter in your life, please stick to the great people who have managed to do so. Mili is for people who have empathy, and it is not for those who take pride only in one’s own achievements by degrading others. Mili has a few lessons for the parents, not to scold the children for the problems that they couldn’t solve in Mathematics or for the ten marks that they lost in Physics – love your children and teach them to be good, not scoring machines.

A few more words :: The movie ends with the lines from William Wordsworth’s The Rainbow: “the child is father of the man”, and you ask yourself; how can that not be true? The other name of the poem is My Heart Leaps Up – hope that gives you a clue. Romanticism never seems to leave me. Mili has a lot for women, introverts and all the subaltern, with a mighty message to rise. The modern world asks for winners and in the world of competition as the weaker ones are avoided, a good person is the true winner. Society provides us with labels, but it doesn’t reflect the real us. During the movie, I often wondered if Mili is a manifestation of the kindred of my soul’s unexplored side. There are those moments which tunnel through your brain and heart to send shock-waves right through. You have the right not to agree with me, but my rating stands, because I completely follow my mind and heart on this one. I will leave you with one awesome song from the movie.

Release date: 23rd January 2015
Running time: 113 minutes
Directed by: Rajesh Pillai
Starring: Amala Paul, Nivin Pauly, Shamna Kasim, Sanusha Santhosh, Sija Rose, Riya Saira, Praveena, Sai Kumar, Amol Parashar, Vanitha Krishnachandran, Idavela Babu, Anju Aravind, Ambika, Bindu Panicker, Devi Ajith, Baby Nandana, Master Neil Kaushik, Baby Ammu, Sangeetha Mohan, Soumya Sadanandan, Swapna Menon