Gangster - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Gangster - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Crew

 Directed by     Aashiq Abu
Produced by     OPM Dream Mill Cinemas
Written by     Ahmed Sidhique, Abhilash Kumar
Music by     Deepak Dev
Cinematography     Alby
Editing by     Saiju Sreedharan
Art Direction: Ajayan Chalissery 
Action Direction: Anbariv  
Choreography: Anb Ariv  
Costume Design: Sameera Saneesh
Distributed by     Aan Mega Media
Release dates     April 11, 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Mammootty as Akbar Ali 

    Nyla Usha as Sana Muhammed
    Sekhar Menon as Anto
    Aparna Gopinath as Lilly
    John Paul as Uncle Sam
    T. G. Ravi as Hajikka
    Kunchan as Mani Menon
    Hareesh Peradi as Michael
    Dileesh Pothan as Vidhura

 'Gangster' has been making news from the time the project was announced, way back in 2010. Due to date issues, script rewrites and many other reasons the film kept on getting postponed. Finally the film has hit the screens with the backing of one of the best pre release publicity campaign ever, with excellent buzz .

‘Gangster’ is a revenge action-drama set against the backdrop of Mangalore’s organized crime groups. Mangalapuram underworld is ruled by three factions, lead by Akbar Ali, Mani Menon and Uncle Sam. Everything was going peacefully till Anto, Uncle Sam's son enters the scene. Like all movie Gangsters, Akbar too has some principles, against  which Anto moves, which creates backlashes. The opposition becomes stronger and Akbar gets pushed to a corner. Will he rise against his enemies and gets his revenge?, forms the rest of the story.

Gangster is undoubtedly one of the stylized movies to come out of 'Mollywood'. But it doesn't matter if you are working with the world's best crew unless there is a proper script. Adding to the woes of 'ages old storyline' is lack of a proper script, hell the film doesn't even have proper dialogues. Sekhar, who plays the villain open his mouth (and irritates us ) more than Mammootty. There are no claps worthy moments in the films, except for die hard fans in which Mammuka appears in different stylish costumes and cooling glasses.

The films doesn't make any connect with the audience at any point of time. Even when Akbar is left to die., cos the characters have been poorely etched.The film is painfully slow, as if some art house director made a mass film, thanks to the plethora of slow motion (Somebody was saying 90 mins films stretched to 140min).Aashiq Abu might have obsessed with the looks that he forgot that there was no story to tell or engage viewers. Even 'Saga Alias Jacky' [another over hyped stylized gangster movie that failed to set Box Office on fire]  looks like a classic compared to this. If a class movie is what the makers intended to make, please watch Aaranya Kandam or Gangs of Wassyepur.

There are references to God Father, Sholay and even Breraking Bad.

Feels really sorry for Mammootty the actor. He is looking dashingly handsome, which we have seen many times in the recent past, but once again the script fails him. Compared to those, here he has nothing to do, rather than walking around changing costumes and accessories. Nyla & Aparna got nos scope to perform, but where looking their beautiful best. Sekhar I think over did the role, and fails to make any impact after the initial sequences. Rest of the cast were also just going with the motions

The animation portions in the beginning and during climax, (clearly inspired from QT's Kill Bill) was a brilliant Idea, rather than making the same old Kid, who do Mammukka's childhood in almost all his recent films, do those. The promotional material says 'Gangster Rises' and the film do resembles 'The Dark Knight Rises', even though it would be unfair to Nolan to compare both.

The Cinematography was Outstanding, one of the best that we have seen in Mollywood.Special credits should be be given to the stylists - be it the Makeup man, or the Costume designer, have done excellent job in making the film look slick and stylish. Aashiq Abu looked like had no control over proceeding and his graph is going down after a promising start to career. The sufi song was good, but the placement was wrong. BG score was okay. Script & Dialogues were BAD. Can't imagine this is what they come up with in 4 years and multiple rewrites.

So in all Gangster is an unholy mess of a movie that fails to even come anywhere in the vicinity of the hype that it created.

Verdict: Colossal Disappoinment

Rating: 1.75/5

Last Word: Stay Away !!!

Gangster - Kerala Release Paper aD with Theaters List - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Mad rush of releases @ Kerala Box Office Next Week

Vishu/Summer Releases at Kerala Box Office

Summer vacation has begun, but big releases are yet to hit the screens thanks to Parliament Elections, which falls in the state on April 10th. So all the biggies will be in a mad rush to grab theaters and eye balls from 11th.

 Gangster

Gangster is undoubtedly the biggest and most high profile release of this season. Four years in planning, the film finally hit the screens on April 11th. Nothing much about the film has been released to the public. The mystery around the film is creating a buzz amongst people. The trailer, posters have been trending in social media sites. Gangster is directed by Aashiq Abu, stars Mammootty, Nyla Usha, DJ Shekar, Aparna Gopinath, Kunjan etc.

Aprill 11th - Aan Mega Media Release - In 100+ screens

Trailer - 

Ring Master

 Dileep films no matter how bad they are tend to work in Summer Holidays, thanks to Dileep's hold amongst Ladies & Kids. Ringmaster is a Comedy-Thriller, where Dileep will play the role of a Dog trainer go gets into some troubles and is on rush to solve some mysteries. Film is directed by Raffi (of Raffi-Meccartin duo) & stars Honey Rose, Keerthy Suresh etc.

April 12th - Vaishaka Cinema - 80+ screens

7th Day

15th time Prithviraj will be playing a cop in his career. Another investigation thriller for him after Mumbai Police & Memories. 7th day deals with 'David Abraham' a middle aged cop unofficially investigating a case to youch a group of youngsters are tied up to. Film is directed by debutant Syamdhar

 & written by Akhil Paul.

April 11th - August Cinemas - 70 screens

Teasers

1 By Two

Arun Kumar Aravind is back after critically acclaimed 'Left Right Left'. Stars Fahadh Faasil, Murali Gopy, Honey Rose, Abhinaya & is written by noted writer Jeyamohan. Fahadh plays Circle Inspector Yousaf Marakkar& the story is about the cat and game mouse between Yousaf & characters played by Murali & Honey.

April 11th - Thameens Films - 50-60 screens

Trailer

 

Pauly Technic

'Pauly Technic' tells the story of Pauly & his techniques to get the better of Pushkaran, a local politician & his romance with Pushkaran's daughter, SI Aswathy. Is directed by M.Padmakumar and stars Kunchako Boban, Bhavana, Aju Varghese etc. Is written by 'Ordinary' writer Nishad Koya.

April 11th - 50-60 screens

Video Song

'Naan Sigappu Manithan' stars Vishal & Lakshmi Menon. Vishal will be playing Indran who is has a form of sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. Film is directed bu Thiru (Samar) & produced by UTV Motion Pictures & Vishal Film Factory. Will Release in TN on 11th, but Kerala release will be on 15th.

April 15th - E4 Entertainments - 50-50 screens 

Trailer

 

 

Allu Arjun's 'Lucky The Racer will not be releasing simultaneously with 'Race Gurram' (April 11th) due to unavailability of theaters. It might be pushed to April 25th where it will clash with Dulquer Salmaan & Nazriya's 'Samsaram arogyathinu Hanikaram'

Mammootty's Gangster makes a grand debut smashing records !!

The film which has been awaited by one and all is slowly getting unveiled, piece by piece, thanks to the master publicist, Director Aashiq Abu. In order to capitalize on the craze and expectations surrounding the movie, Aashiq took special care not to divulge anything till he wanted people to know it. Every detail associated with the movie was released as an event, with much fan fare. And it is working wonders, People are talking about it, its creating waves in social media, fans are excited about more than Mammootty's new theatrical release 'Praise The Lord'.

The film's Facebook page got 35,00o likes within 24 hours of the page going public, the most for a Malayalam movie page. The tally now stand at 61,054 likes [with 65,555 talking about this NOW].
The posters even though got mixed response where equally liked and shared by everyone, spreading it all over the cyber space, making even other language buffs take notice. Then the trailer was launched yesterday (20/03/2014) @ 7pm and within 24 hours it has crossed 2.2 lakh, smashing the previous record by a huge margin. 'One By Two' trailer which released last week got about 1.05 lakh views in 24 hours & the 10 sec Mr. Fraud teaser got 90,000 views in a day.

Now with the film making all kinds of noise before release, hope it can beat the record for the biggest opening by a Malayalam movie, set by Casanovva 2 years ago.

Gangster will hit the screens on April 12th as a big Vishu/Summer release.

Gangster - First Look Posters - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Gangster - First Look Posters - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Click On Images to View in Full Size

 

List of Most Awaited Malayalam Movies of 2014

Most Awaited Malayalam Movies of 2014

Here's a list of few of the Most Awaited Malayalam Movies of 2014 - Not in any particular order

One By Two

Arun Kumar Aravind's 4th film, teaming up with Murali Gopi for the 3rd time & with Fahadh Faasil for the 1st time. Movie was supposed to release last year but has over shot its budget and days. Expected to release soon

 

Teaser - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA2SaSdjbgw

Mr.Fraud

Unnikrishnan.B teaming up with Mohanlal for the 3rd time after the highly successful 'Madambi' & 'Grandmaster'. Said to be a 'heist' film which is a rare genre in Mollywood.

 

Lailaa O Lailaa

The Blockbuster team of Run Babby Run, Mohanlal-Joshiy-Amala Paul reunites in this mega budget action thriller. Script is by Suresh Nair (Kahaani, Namastey London, Singh is King, D Day fame)

 

Puli Murukan

When it comes to making mass-masala pot boilers nobody can beat Vysakh in present times, he joins with the biggest Mass icon in Kerala, Mohanlal for the first time, with super successful writer duo Udayakrishna-Sibi K Thomas.

Gangster

 

Mammooty - Aashiq Abu team reuniting after Daddy Cool. Expected to be a stylized action thriller in the likes of 'Big B' 

Ohm Shanthi Oshaana

 

 Youth Sensations Nazriya Nazim & Nivin Pauly reunites after 'Neram' for the Rom-Com

Teaser - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekE8yJ8YHWw

7th day

Said to be an investigative thriller in which Prithviraj will be playing a middle aged character with Salt N Pepper looks.

 

Lucifer

Rajesh Pillai (Traffic) Murali Gopy, Mohanlal - The names are more than enough. Plus Murali's facebook posts claiming the film will to be a mass treat for fans have made this project red hot.

 

Balyakalasakhi

 

Big screen adaptation of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's novel with the same name. Mammootty will be playing2 characters that goes through various time frames.

Anjali Menon's film

The biggest Multi starrer since All time blockbuster T20.
Direction/Writer Anjali Menon, Produced by Anwar Rasheed, Camera Sameer Thahir, Music Gopy Sundar Starring Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil, Nivin Pauly, Nithya Menon, Parvathi Menon, Nazriya Nazim, Isha Talwar- Do we need more reasons to be excited ??

KooThaRa, Ranjith-Mohanlal Project, Runway 2/Valayar Paramasivam are few of the other interesting projects to look forward to in 2014

In Mollywood new projects gets announced and dropped every single day. So only God knows how many of these might end up releasing in theaters, atleast in this year. May be like Drishyam we might get a total surprise out of the blue. Any ways the satellite rights boom has down. So 2014 will not see record breaking number of releases like in 2013 (158)

Idukki Gold - Malayalam Movie Review

 

Idukki Gold Malayalam Movie Review

Directed by Aashiq Abu 

Banner - Rajaputra Visual Media
Produced By M. Ranjith

Story by Santosh Echikkanam
Written By Syam Pushkaran , Dileesh Nair
DOP Shyju Khalid
Music Bijibal
Editor V Saajan
Costumes Sameera Saneesh
Production Controller Benny Kattappana
Distributed by Rajaputhra & Kaleeshwary
 

Cast

Prathap Pothen as Michael
Raveendran as Ravi
Babu Antony as Antony
Maniyanpilla Raju as Madan
Vijayaraghavan as Raman
Lal
Joy Mathew
Sajitha Madathil

The script of Idukki Gold is based on a short story written by Santosh Echikkanam under the same name. 'Idukki Gold' is the local name of 'Marijuana'. The main story is also set in Idukki

'Idukki Gold' is the story of camaraderie, 5 Men who are in their Golden 50s decides to get together like they used to do in their teens. The Events that follows on their get away to 'Idukki' for a 'nostalgic reunion' is the main theme of 'Idukki Gold'. The story switches back & forth between certain events in the past & present.

The online of IG gives one great expectations, a trip down memory lanes for every one, especially middle agers. Plus the charm of veteran actors uniting, beautiful locales of Idukki, a hit director-writer(s) combo etc also increases the hope and hype surrounding the movie. But unfortunately the film fails to meet any of those standards (Except the beauty of 'Idukki').

The film instead of being a nostalgic trip, turns out a trip just to smoke weed, drink alcohol & get high.
The first half of the movie is actually pretty decent, even though bit slow, but in the 2nd half all hell break loose. The movie drags like anything and goes on for ever, the climax twist also fells flat, it was very much predictable, especially if you have taken notice the cast & posters of IG. In order to satisfy the so called 'New-Gen' fans many things have been forcefully added into the film.

The biggest plus in the movie is the kids that play the younger version of the gang in the flashback episodes - they are simply outstanding. All of them have given  knock-out performances. One can't blame for hoping if the film was just about these kids.

 The 'vetrans' are the other saving grace of the film, especially Raju & Raveendran. Scene in which Babu Antony leaves hospital bed, walking down the hallway to the BG [which is also featured in trailer]. Idukki has been captured by Shyju Khalid like never before, it looked breath taking. There is just one song in the film which has been composed, written and shot beautifully. The movie definitely needs some editing, especially in the second half. Background score was impressive.

Aashiq Abu has done a decent job directing the movie, with whatever material he had.

There might be few out there who could identify with the movie, for whom the film might be entertaining enough. I am certainly not one of them. The film is low in content even for the likings of the so called 'New Gen' movie goers, who has been the main target.

The controversy/intelligent marketing have helped the film to get a decent opening, once the holidays are over If the movie still survives in theaters it will be a miracle, but this short run will be more than enough for the producer to break even I guess.

Hereby recommending 'Idukki Gold' for my 'Ganga' brothers, & as for others, please stay away, or just watch the 1st half and leave the theater

Verdict - Disappointing

Rating - 2.25/5

Movie Poster showing 'Lord Shiva' & 'Che Guevara' smoking Marijuana creates controversy

This is the poster designed by a group of poster designers calle 'WaxApple' for Aashiq Abu's upcoming Malayalam movie 'Idukki Gold'. The poster has created a lot of buzz in the net world, which is slowly   spreading its wings to the real world and emerging as a new controversy. We still don't know if this is an official poster or one created by fans or supporters or just another 'MalayaleeGraphy' [Posters designed based on iconic Malayalam movie scenes & Dialogues]

'Iduki Gold' is a type of Marijuana/Ganga found/cultivated in Kerala. The movie is based on a short story of same name written by Santosh Echikkanam. The poster is designed based on a dialogue in the movie - " This is Idukki Gold, the same stuff that Shiva & Che Guevara used to smoke"

A bit of googling provided the information  that both Lord Shiva & Che used 'Marijuana' - Che, being a doctor, to treat his Aasthma and Lord Shiva to beat the extreme conditions in 'Kailasam'. 

Any way this poster has given rise to unnecessary controversy and a lot of media attention too, whether intentional or not.

The trailer of the film was earlier removed by YouTube stating "

This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube's policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content"  

The makers of the movie responded to the warning by YouTube explaining everything and providing the censor certificate (U/A) given by CBFC, Trivandrum for the trailer which states its fit for public viewing. Only after this the trailer was restored. 

The film is set to hit the screens on October 11th. 

'Gangster' to finally start rolling - Aashiq Abu, Mammootty

The much awaited and long delayed Aashiq Abu - Mammootty project is finally going to start rolling by December this year according to the director. The Director himsel broke the news via his social media page. The film is being planned as a Vishu (April) 2014 release. Pre Production is in its final stage. Ahmad Siddique who acted in Salt N' Pepper & Thattathin Marayathu along with 22FK, Da Thadiya writer Abhilash Kumar [Actress Lena's husband] will be penning the script. Madhu Neelakandan will wield the camera, while Deepak Dev will handle the Music department. 'Gangster' will be the first big screen venture of Open Your Mouth Cinemas' (OPM) founded by Aashiq Abu. Aashiq is presently busy with his film titled 'Idukki Gold'.

5 Sundarikal - Exclusive Movie Review

Conceived & Produced by Amal Neerad

Music by     Gopi Sundar, Bijibal, Prashant Pillai, Yakzan Gary Pereira

Cinematography     Amal Neerad, Shyju Khalid, Rajeev Ravi, Ranadive, Alby

Editing by     Vivek Harshan

Studio     Amal Neerad Productions

Release date(s)    20 June 2013
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

 Anchu Sundarikal is an anthology of 5 short films each of 30mins (approx) in length. The film is dedicated to celebrate '100 years of Indian Cinema' & '2 Decades of Camaraderie' (between the 5 directors). The 5 stories deals with the lives of 5 women.

Aami    

Director  Anwar Rasheed     

Cinematographer Amal Neerad     

 *ing Asmitha Sood, Fahadh Faasil, Honey Rose, Chemban, Vinod Jose, Vinayakan, 

A story of wife & husband, happening in one night. Shows the strength & purity of husband & wife relationship. Good perfomance by Fahadh Faasil. Gives a nice message, a feel good episode.

3/5

Esha    

Director  Sameer Thahir     

Cinematographer Shyju Khalid     

*ing Isha Sharvani, Nivin Pauly

A story of a thief and a girl who is alone in her house on a new year's eye. A Romantic episode with a double twist in the end. Is a feel god rom-com. Nothing out of the box.

Gowry     

Director Aashiq Abu     

Cinematographer Rajeev Ravi     

*ing Kavya Madhavan as Gowry Lakshmi

*ing Biju Menon, Jayasurya, Tini Tom, Rimi Tomy, Shine Tom Chacko

Story of relationship between husband and wife who are living alone with out the support of family or relatives. 

IS The weakest of the lot. A forced twist in the end. Didn't convey the message properly, if the director intended something.

Kullante Bharya    

Director Amal Neerad   

 Cinematographer Ranadive     

*ing Reenu Mathews, Dulquer Salman, Muthumani, Jinu Ben

Another good one. Story told from the PoV of a wheel chair ridden guy, about the gossip mongers living in a colony and a lovely couple. Conveys a message (may be more than one), that too beautifully. A true reflection of Malayali society

4/5

Sethulakshmi  

   

Director Shyju Khalid     

Cinematographer Alby    

*ing  Anika, Chethan, Guru Somasundaram

The best of the lot. Is the very first episode in 5  Sundarikal. It takes a while to recover from the impact that the movie creates, feels like been hit with a ton of bricks. Superb perfomances by the two child artist and heart pricking screenplay and visuals, can be compared to 'Bridge' in 'Kerala Cafe'

4.5/5

The common thing in all these 5 short films which are story wise independant are the brillaint cinematography and Background+Music. The locations are also breath taking especially in S.L, Gauri & Aami. editing is also very good.

5 sundarikal is not everyones cup of tea. Its for those who live & love cinema. Its the celebration of Indian cinema, especially Malayalam cinema. Most of the episodes mentioned succeds in making some sort of an impact.

a Movie that is made just because of the passion for cinemam, by 5 friends, not considering the box office aspects - A Brave attempt indeed

Please try to watch it !!!