Khalifa

Posted on October 14, 2026 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: So, this was the first release for this Onam vacation.

Vampire Bat: Yes, this might also be the most hyped movie of the time.

Vampire Owl: Well, big hype leads to some grand falls.

Vampire Bat: There have been some big falls during Onam holidays.

Vampire Owl: I remember that every superstar had their own falls.

Vampire Bat: Yes, Dulquer Salmaan and even Nivin Pauly suffered well in the past.

Vampire Owl: But this Onam belonged to Nivin Pauly.

Vampire Bat: But he has been walking a path of redemption for some time.

Vampire Owl: Well, redemptions are never complete for mortals.

Vampire Bat: Mortality is the gift for their sins, and there can be no redemption from the ultimate fall to the grave and inferno that awaits.

[Gets a ghee podi dosa and three cups of Nuwara Eliya tea].

What is the movie about? :: Samad (Sanju Sivram) returns to Kerala from Dubai, setting his feet in India after a long time, with the intention of attending the wedding of his sister. But he is taken into custody by the customs and police who seems to have launched a special operation against smuggling from the Middle East. He sees that the Senior Member of the ruling party and Party Secretary Raghavan (Shammi Thilakan) waits for him at the police station with an offer that he would find difficult to refuse. He is asked to testify against his best friend Aamir (Prithviraj Sukumaran) who has been on the wanted list of the police for sometime for not just smuggling gold, but also for murder. Raghavan’s son was among the people dead due to Aamir’s actions and he seeks retribution, but tells Samad that he will leave him out of it and everything will only be linked to Aamir. As Samad realizes that it was Aamir who gave his name to the customs, he decides to tell the story of Aamir and what he has been doing in the past.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is revealed that Aamir is in London and as there is no treaty between India and the United Kingdom for extradition of criminals, he would remain safe abroad, away from Indian law. As Samad talks about their past, he talks about Aamir’s father Younus (Renji Panicker) who was running a moderately successful textile shop in Kozhikode as a family business along with being a full-time contractor who builds government infrastructure. They belong to a rich and influential family which had run a gold smuggling business in the past. Younus’ wife Noorjahan (Mohini) is proud of her husband who has managed to run an honest business out of nowhere after their family was accused of smuggling. With the help of his best friend Samad, Aamir marries Fiza (Malvika Sharma), a woman from a middle-class family whom his parents accept despite their own high status as they were waiting for their son to agree to a wedding for a very long time.

And what more is to happen as something awaits to unleash itself with full power? :: It is then that a wealthy businessman named Basheer (Neil Nitin Mukesh) comes into the picture with the support of the highly influential politician and party secretary Raghavan. He comes up with a deal for Younis which he rejects as the gold smuggling past is no longer with his family. They decide to get back on Younus, and has smuggled gold planted in one of his containers, which is caught by the customs officers on the information given by them. With knowledge of the gold smuggling past of the family which is known to most people of the locality, customs bring a version which works the best with the media. Now, Aamir has to get his father out, for which he needs to find that kind of a money which can be achieved only by selling most of his assets. But he decides to choose another path, the more difficult one with the help of retired smuggler Hamsa (Indrans) and almost retired smuggling kingpin Seitraj (Suresh Oberoi). They also get the support of airhostess Vyshnavi (Kyraa Vasudevan), cutoms officer Veeraswami (Pasupathi Raj) and union minister Selvam (John Vijay). But the international smugglers would not take this lightly, and bodies will fall. Who will die and who will survive?

The defence of Khalifa: The Ruler :: There is no questioning the quality of the movie with the action sequences and visuals remain top class, whether it is in India or in different locations abroad. There is a certain amount of style in the action, and the film stays stylish throughout its run. Prithviraj Sukumaran leads the stylish world of action and thrills, as the character works well for him. Neil Nitin Mukesh’s appearance in Malayalam works very well as a strong villain, and Shammi Thilakan remains that antagonist whom we will remember a lot. Malvika Sharma’s entry into Malayalam cinema is memorable, even though restricted at times due to the nature of cinema. Sanju Sivram provides some fine support as the usual friends of the hero, while Suresh Oberoi also leaves an impact. Renji Panicker’s father figure also stays strong, while Mohini back in Malayalam cinema has a role to add to her list of memorable ones. Shivajith’s villain also makes an impact while Indrans’ serious role brings out more moments that elevate the movie. Kyraa Vasudevan becomes the next important female character, and brings more charm and style in beauty.

The claws of flaw :: The movie’s three cameos by Mohanlal, Tovino Thomas and Soubin Shahir feels totally unnecessary, even though Tovino’s moments at least serve some purpose in the storyline – even if a sequel is being planned, the ending with cameos felt rather strange; with the lack of a box-office success, people are surely going to wonder further about the purpose here. The tale surely could have been better, as this seems like a movie taken out of the older movies, seemingly having something on the surface, but that feels like everything movie can do – we never get any deeper with this seemingly usual, repetitive thing. This kind of a journey would feel narrative during these times when we keep getting so much more. Going old-style during these days surely needed a stronger dramatic side and better thrills. Even with such long run-time, the characters are not developed that much. The interest in movie keeps going up and down. The vengeance in the movie also keeps losing steam.

How it finishes :: This one depends directly on the strengths of its director who is best known for Pulimurugan and leading star Prithviraj Sukumaran who commands the screen with his effortless charisma and intense action hero power. He is in control of the proceedings from the first appearance itself. With the striking visual aesthetics, a fine pan-Indian ensemble, and full-action m ode, the film delivers on its promise of being a spectacle with strong theatrical energy, even though it stays with the too old a narrative. The idea of going through familiar genre tropes and a somewhat predictable narrative arc seems to keep pulling the movie back. Still, it could have been a bigger hit if not released during the Onam season with bigger competition from the Nivin Pauly and Dulquer Salmaan movies. The makers seem to forget a major idea about Onam releases, as the timing never really suits this kind of movies – the best for the Onam season is the one that works well with the family audiences; RDX is often seen as an exception, but it was more of family action thriller with family at the core, and it was also battling against two other movies with action. Maybe another time, this movie could have been a hit, and can do well in Amazon Prime Video where it has released now too.

Release date: 20 August 2026
Running time: 159 minutes
Directed by: Vysakh
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Malvika Sharma, Shammi Thilakan, Indrans, Sanju Sivram, Kyraa Vasudevan, Anand Manmadhan, Suresh Oberoi, Renji Panicker, Sudheer Karamana, Sijoy Varghese, Joy Mathew, Mohan Sharma, Shivajith, Pasupathi Raj, Sadiq, John Vijay, Shine Varghese, Tinu Thomas Kannur, Don Michael, Master Nafash, Mohanlal (cameo), Tovino Thomas (Cameo), Soubin Shahir (cameo)

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Night Drive

Posted on April 11, 2022 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: Do you remember the last time when the vampire team was on a night drive?

Vampire Bat: We only have night drives around here. We don’t go for morning drives.

Vampire Owl: Yes, but the night drives have been rare too.

Vampire Bat: That is because we don’t drive, but fly.

Vampire Owl: Not all vampires can fly, or even glide.

Vampire Bat: Yes, but we bats and owls do.

Vampire Owl: Yet, we can go for a drive in the vampire-mobile.

Vampire Bat: It is a bat-mobile, and it is my private property.

Vampire Owl: You don’t use it as you can fly.

Vampire Bat: It will not be used for night drives, and that is final.

[Gets a vegetable samosa and three cups of Vagamon tea].

What is the movie about? :: Georgy Jacob (Roshan Mathew) works as an Uber driver and hopes to migrate to the Middle Easy for a better future. He is in love with Riya Roy (Anna Ben), a very popular news reporter, and they used to be childhood friends for a very long time. They do keep a certain amount of distance between them, as Riya’s father, Roy Mathew (Renju Panicker) who has retired from the military forces is not fond of Georgy. For Riya’s birthday which is also the Christmas evening, they decide to go on a night drive without her father knowing anything about it. At the same time, Rajan Kurup (Siddique) is caught in a gold smuggling scandal which was discovered by Riya and her channel, a case which has been transferred to NIA. He expects to be arrested by the squad on the very next day, and asks Chacko Cherian (Kalabhavan Shajohn) to find a way to get rid of the gold in his home before NIA comes for the raid. Rajan’s trusted aid Jaleel (Sudheer Karamana) assigns the minister’s personal assistant Balu (Kaliash) to get the gold to a safe house.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Meanwhile, Riya who was driving the car gets into a fight with Circle Inspector Benny Moopen (Indrajith Sukumaran) who was doing routine vehicle checking. Benny lets them go so that he can avoid any of the people there spreading the news about him bothering a lady in the middle of the night, but is clearly angry about the incident. Riya who keeps arguing with Georgy over the earlier incident suddenly spots someone in front of their car, and the vehicle seems to have hit that person, who is revealed to be Balu with a bag full of gold. The two manages to take him to the hospital, which brings Francis (Prasanth Alexander) who owns the car they were driving and Ammini (Sreevidya Mullachery) handles that particular Uber fleet operations to the hospital too. The police officer in charge of the case is Benny, who is only happy to torment Riya and Georgy over the incident. He decides to keep them in the hospital, but the arrival of Chacko at the hospital with other motives complicates things.

The defence of Night Drive :: The movie seems to move forward naturally in the beginning stages, with likable characters and the incidents which can be related by different people from various stage of their lives. The beginning stages go on with the usual, and feels like the natural order of things. It does have some fine twists, and a few red herrings are also there to make sure that one doesn’t guess it the right way. The different characters in the movie are not really what they seem to be, as the visages tend to show differently on diferent occasions. There are moments which keep you at the edge of the seat, as these are characters whom you like. The cast has been chosen well here, as you feel that there would have been tendency to go for a few others, but here we have characters getting equal importance instead of the focus shifting to one person. The visuals of Cochin are really good around here. This is the kind of movie which should have released directly on OTT, as there is a certain possibility of this going popular among the audience outside Kerala if it was first released online.

The claws of flaw :: Even though the movie had built up so well, the final scenes are not that much up to the mark. There is the plan to bring some mass action in the end, but it doesn’t suit the overall mood of the film – a darker version of the final moments would have done better for this particular movie. Let the outdated superstars do the mass action for their brainless fans, and the new generation of actors should go for class and perfection. These are not the times of such fan nonsense in the theatres, as we have the post-corona virus OTT loving audience as a strong force, and this is the flick which will be watch more on such platforms rather than anywhere else. It had a certain realistic side to the proceedings until the makers decided to go full action in the last few minutes with a specific background story added to the main characters. The first few minutes could have been shortened too, as there seems to be an extension of the less important happenings then. The conclusion could have also been kept at a higher level.

The performers of the soul :: Roshan Mathew has been continuously working hard to come up with some memorable performances, last seen in the Amazon Prime Video release, Kuruthi, a thriller with many messages. Coming out of the first big role in Aanandam and the earlier smaller ones in Adi Kapyare Kootamani and Puthiya Niyamam, he has evolved a lot to reach this higher level. His performance in this movie is realistic for most of the time, and something to be appreciated, until the mass moments come in the end. Kumbalangi Nights and Helen has already let Anna Ben set a bar which is difficult for her to overcome – even with a film like Sara’s having her as the life and soul. Indrajith Sukumaran is solid as the police officer who seems strict as well as menacing, and at the same time, likes to have a strong grip on his investigation. Siddique once again plays the corrupt politician with sinister motives well, and reminds one of Jagathy Sreekumar of Passenger. Kaliash once again has a good supporting role and so is Kalabhavan Shajohn, while it is nice to see Sreevidya Mullachery of Star Magic fame playing a memorable role here – she is indeed a lovely talent, and the fair reason for anyone to watch the popular show in Flowers television channel.

How it finishes :: Night Drive becomes a movie of interest without that much of a hype associated with it. It has some fine moments of interest, and successfully deviates from the tendency to go full nonsense like in that Shane Nigam – Shine Tom Chacko film of misery and shame, the pariah of a movie called Ishq. When two lovers are on a night drive, the situation can be tackled well to make a thriller of quality beyond the usual and the expected, as shown around here. This movie seemed to have Roshan instead of Shane, Indrajith instead of Shine and Anna instead of Ann, with the main characters going for a night ride as part of celebrating the lady love’s birthday, and in the process being stopped by the man claiming to be the police officer – seems so familiar for those who have watched that movie, but this one takes a completely different route, and also involves other characters in a journey of twists which are not about just two, three or four people. Night Drive is successful and delivers nicely when we take a fine look.

Release date: 11th March 2022 (Theatre); 10th April 2022 (Netflix/Manorama Max)
Running time: 118 minutes
Directed by: Vysakh
Starring: Roshan Mathew, Anna Ben, Indrajith Sukumaran, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Sreevidya Mullachery, Kailash, Muthumani, Prasanth Alexander, Santhosh Keezhattoor, Siddique

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

@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pulimurugan

Posted on November 13, 2016 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl :: Do you know that the Vampire Crocodile and the Vampire Penguin failed to get tickets for this movie?

Vampire Bat :: It was never part of their skills. You have seen their CVs.

Vampire Owl :: But we had assigned them to cinema ticket duty.

Vampire Bat :: It is absurd. Nobody on Earth gets tickets for Pulimurugan in the first attempt.

Vampire Owl :: But this is our first attempt and we are getting them.

Vampire Bat :: We have been trying this indirectly in many forms though.

Vampire Owl :: Like transforming into mist and other strange things?

Vampire Bat :: Yes, among those large number of tricks which Count Dracula had taught us during those special classes.

Vampire Owl :: Very risky ones though.

Vampire Bat :: You need them to get a chance to watch movies like this one.

[Gets the tickets with tea and cheese popcorn].

What is it about? :: The tale is set in the fictional village of Puliyoor, named as the lands of the tiger, as it is consistently haunted by predators which come out of the forest. When these creatures attack them, they turn to Murugan (Mohanlal), a.k.a. Pulimurugan to become their saviour. Murugan lives with his wife, Myna (Kamalinee Mukherjee), their one daughter and his younger brother Manikkuttan (Vinu Mohan). His best friend and help is Balaraman (Lal) who helps him in being the hunter that he is. One day, he comes across Benny (Nobi) and Shiva (Bala) who are Manikkuttan’s friends, and are looking for his help. By providing them help, he will get closer to a man called Daddy Girija (Jagapati Babu) who is not the person whom Murugan thinks he is. He also locks horns with Krishnakumar (Kishore), and his number of enemies only increase as the movie comes to an end.

The defence of Pulimurugan :: From a long time ago, nothing has changed – Pulimurugan has been the talk of the town months before its release, and that remains the same even now, as shows run full with fans, youth, families and the lone watchers. Mohanlal makes sure that this one stays afloat all the time. Here is something that has tried the best to keep the overall quality high, as Pulimurugan undoubtedly looks really nice on the big screen. There is no shortage of visually stunning moments here, and almost everything has been well-captured. It is indeed great to see the action sequences which are without doubt of high quality, especially in the final moments. When they say that this is not something which hasn’t been seen before, they are not really joking about the same. It might be what you can choose to agree with, sans second thoughts.

Claws of flaw :: The expectations are indeed running high, and with this one hundred crore tag added, people are sure to feel the need for something huge. The tag of the “mass movie” is an abomination, because that specific classification itself is a lie which is used to cater to brainless people – no, Pulimurugan is not brainless, for its smartness is evident. Still, Pulimurugan has some of the most ridiculous sequences, especially the ones involving Namitha, and one involving Mohanlal lifting Vinu Mohan – along with these, there are some terrible comedy scenes which become a curse on this movie. There are also a little bit too much of unnecessary additions in the fine action sequences in the end. The songs are not that interesting, and the theme music is terrible, not original, and also not suiting the movie as a whole. The movie is the best when in the forest, and it should have stuck to that and its creatures – beyond that, with human villains of cities and towns, its not that much there.

Performers of the soul :: It is a Mohanlal show all the way, as we see him stretching beyond the limits to breathe more and more life to this character. He has brought this character close to us, and he has done the same with no problems at all – you see hard work here too, and there is a lot of it. Pulimurugan‘s female stars disappoint though, whether it is Kamalini Mukherjee whose character is more irrititating than anything else, or Namitha who is wasted from the very first moment of her existence, we see nothing positive from the female cast, and that is depressing without doubt. The truth is that even if they were not here, there was not going to be any change happening to the tale – Pulimurugan could have existed as the same man, especially with his own people of the village to care about. But the ladies are there, and they contribute nothing much positive.

Further performers of the soul :: It is absurd that there is nothing much with movie’s female department. Lal plays Mohanlal’s second-in-command, and he does his role with no trouble at all. After Mohanlal, he is the next person we are happy to see in this movie. Jagapati Babu is okay here as the antagonist, as the tiger becomes the one true enemy. Vinu Mohan does not much, and Bala has a rather predictable character here. Nobi has some fun moments, and Suraj Venjaramoodu has more, but none of them working this time here. There are a few others who came in smaller roles, but caught our attention – they are Siddique, Sudheer Karamana and Kishore. Hareesh Peradi is added to play another unnecessary character – there are too many of them here, that is for sure. We could have had less such characters and the existing ones having better things to do.

How it finishes :: This is the time when Pulimurugan has gone on to become the first Malayalam movie to get the collections over a hundred crore, and at the same time, the other Mohanlal movie in the theatre, Oppam gets to overtake Premam and become the third highest grossing Malayalam movie of all-time, after our movie here, and Drishyam. It is certainly the best of times, and Malayalam movies have been climbing up the ladder by a very long way. It feels great to have another golden age for the industry back here at this time. Lets hope that Pulimurugan scores even more, and also that there are other movies to follow, and get to the special one hundred crore club which should be expanded soon enough! May the strength be with these movies, and those special ones which are to follow in the next few months. Still, Drishyam is better by some way, no doubt about it.

Release date: 7th October 2016
Running time: 161 minutes
Directed by: Vysakh
Starring: Mohanlal, Kamalini Mukherjee, Lal, Jagapati Babu, Vinu Mohan, Nobi, Bala, Siddique, Kishore, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Namitha, Nandhu, Sudheer Karamana, Makarand Deshpande, Hareesh Peradi, Sasi Kalinga, Sethulakshmi, M. R. Gopakumar, Baby Durga Premjith, Master Ajas, Santhosh Keezhattoor (cameo), Antony Perumbavoor (cameo), Anjali Aneesh Upasana (cameo)