Sapthamashree Thaskaraha - Movie Review - Prithviraj, Asif Ali, Reenu

 

Cast

    Prithviraj Sukumaran as Krishnanunni
    Reenu Mathews as Sarah
    Asif Ali as Shabab
    Sanusha as Annamma
    Neeraj Madhav as Narayankutty
    Nedumudi Venu as Nobilettan
    Chemban Vinod
    Flower Battsetseg
    Sudheer Karamana
    Salam Bukhari

 Directed by     Anil Radhakrishnan Menon
Produced by     Santosh Sivan, Shaji Nadesan, Prithviraj Sukumaran
Written by     Anil Radhakrishnan Menon
Music by     Rex Vijayan (songs), Sushin Shyam (BGM)
Cinematography     Jayesh Nair
Edited by     Manoj Kannoth
Production August Cinema
Distributed by     August Cinema
Release date(s)     September 6, 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

 

Seven Jail inmates cum cell mates who begin as strangers develops a bonding between them as they knows about each others past. Among them Krishnanuni's & Nobilettan's story is the most tragic one and once they comes to kow that both have a common enemy,  the '7' decides to take revenge, once they all get out. How will they take their revenge, will they succeed, will the 'robber' in them take over the 'cause' etc gets explained in the remaining reels of Sapthamashree Thaskaraha (Seven Gentlemen Thieves)

SST is one of the best entertainers to come from Mollywood this year. The film is a whole some entertainer. There is plenty to laugh, clap, cheer and get thrilled. The first half of the movie, which deals with flash back stories of the '7' and the hatching of initial plan, is excellent. The 2nd half where the final plan comes into being and is executed is above average. The writer do resort to 'coincidences' and takes many 'cinematic liberties' in the 2nd half which can raise questions like But, why, who etc ... But still it has been made sure to not cross the limits our insult our common sense. The post climax even though was predictable was presented well.

 Even though Prithviraj is the face of the film he is just a part of the gang and if you count the screen time and impact on viewers can be called as doing extended cameo, same as the case with Asif Ali. Its Chemban Vinod who shines through out getting most of the claps, he was Howlarious, so was Neeraj Madhav with his cute innocent expressions. Sudheer Karamana was excellent as the 'Kili Poya' Goonda. Nedumudi Venu, Prithvi, Asif, Salaam, Reenu, Sanusha were good as well. Its rarely we see a movie where every single character impresses the viewers. Dir. (Amen) Lijo Jose Pellissery was the surprise package of SST. He was too good as the jovial Priest.

 Anil Radhakrishnan who won both the National & State awards for his debut movie, this time has taken the film a notch higher. His writing too, especially in the first half, is excellent. The dialogues were too good. The Thrissur flavor, which every body generally likes, is there in plenty. Music is good, Back ground score is excellent. Cinematography, editing were okay. 

SST is a film that can be watched by any one and everyone. It entertains sans any mass or masala, over the top action, loud crass humor, double meaning dialogues etc. This festive season, let these 7 thieves steal to bring you happiness and a nice time at the cinemas. 

Verdict: Watch It !!

Rating: 3.5/5

 

 

 

Villali Veeran - Movie Review - Dileep, Namitha

 Cast: 

Dileep - Siddarthan

Namitha Pramod - Narmada

Kalabhavan Shajon, Mythily, Nedumudi Venu, Siddique, K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Lalu Alex, Geetha Vijayan, Valsala Menon, Neena Kurup, Saju Kodiyan, Suresh Krishna, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Dinesh Panicker, Vinaya Prasad

Director: Sudheesh Sankar

Producer: R.V. Chaudhary

Music: S.A. Rajkumar

Lyrics: Murukan Kattakkada, Rafeeq Ahmed

Cinematography: Anil Nair

Editing: Jayashankar

Art Direction: Sujith Raghav

Screenplay: Dinesh Pallath

Story/Writer: Dinesh Pallath


Siddarthan lends money, runs vegetable shop etc to feed not only his family but three other families too. He is ready to do anything to keep them happy. His path often cross with Narmada an ad film make, the conflicts which slowly gives rise to romance. There is a story to why Siddarthan's father is in jail and who are the 3 families he is looking after, all of which explained in the following reels.

The film begins as a typical Dileep entertainer, but then changes rack to emotional soap like drama (the debutant director has yielded Mega Serials in the past) to revenge drama and ends up an unsatisfying, boring 'Avial'. Even most of the jokes in the initial reels falls flat, except a few from Dharmajan and Dileep. The first half can be called watchable, but the later one just test the viewers patience. It lags and drags like hell.

 Dileep is totally out of form once again nafter Avatharam and the supporting cast except Dharmajan offers nothing much. Namitha and Mythili are there for namesake. The direction was average the script was bad. There is nothing much to tell and the dialogues are flat too. Cinematography was good, editing should have been crispier. The film at about 168 mins is too long. The music is average eventhough they have been choreographed and shot well. Action choreography was also good.

'Villali Veeran' is not your regular mindless Dileep comedy mass entertainer. It is long, slow, boring and most importantly sans any good humor (both in terms of quality and quantity)

Verdict - Below Average

Rajadhi Raja - Movie Review - Mammootty, Lakshmi Rai

 Directed by     Ajai Vasudev
Produced by     M. K. Nasser, Stanly Silvester Consera
Written by     Udayakrishna, Siby K. Thomas
Music by     Karthik Raja, Berny-Ignatius
Gopi Sunder (Background score)
Cinematography     Shaji
Edited by     Mahesh Narayanan
Distributed by     Play House Release, PJ Entertainments (Europe), Nanma cinemas (Australia)
Release date(s)    September 5, 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

 Cast

    Mammootty as Shekharan Kutty.
    Raai Laxmi as Radha.
    Joju George as Ayyappan.
    Siddique
    Mukesh Khanna
    Lena
    Taniya Stanley
    Nawab Shah
    Rahul Dev
    Unni Mukundan (Guest appearance)
    Shamna Kasim (Guest appearance)


 Shekharan Kutty is the manager at a Petrol pump, who also runs his own restaurant adjacent to it. He is living happily with his wife Radha and daughter. His peaceful life goes for a toes as few goons from the north enters the scene, who go after Shekharan and his family thinking he is not the simple guy who he portrays to be, instead the dreadful goon Raja from Mumbai.Who is Shekharan, who is Raja, what's their story, how all issues are settled forms the rest of the story.

The story is lifted from Rajnikanth's iconic 'Baasha' [The very same writers wrote 'Kochi rajavu' (2005) a rehash of Baasha again !!! ] but lacks the punch of the original. The film begins as a family film and shifts gears to action mode from interval block. The much talked about before release 'transformation' scene just fells flat ans instead of wolf whistles evokes yawn or (unintentional) laughter as Mammooty clearly looked uninterested in the proceedings. No matter how over the top or ridiculous the action scenes may be, the attitude of actor can make a difference, sadly here it isn't the case here. Mammootty not being a great 'mover' also had its -ve impact as he was just standing there swinging his arms and legs and the villains just comes rushing in and goes flying back.

The second half which begins with flash back sequences also fails to create the impact, Mammootty's weird Don getup also doesn't serve any good. From there own its just going with the proceedings for the audience till the end credits roll.

Ajay Vasudev shows promise as director, in the league of Vysakh. The movie has pace and there's not much of a lag or drag. The script is just rehash of rehashes and there's not even a moment of uniqueness or surprise element in it. It just evokes a sense of Dejavu and yawn. Cinematography was good, editing was efficient except mass scenes which were ruined by ages old flash cuts. Music was disappointing, a song including video lifted from 'Dookudu' and another one from a kids album. Action blocks lifted from Telugu movies like 'Brindavaanam' etc, scenes/story elements from 'Runway' 'Kanmadam' etc where also there. Action choreography was bad, should have kept the lead actor and gone with his image style and within his comfort zone. The dialogues were also ordinary as there is nothing worth mentioning.

Mammooty should stop doing such crap movies, if he looks this disinterested imagine how the viewers would be feeling. Joju impresses even though his role serves the same purpose Baburaj's role had in 'Kammath'. Rest of the cast just did what they had to, nothing worth mentioning.

In all Rajadhi Raja is not worth waiting time or money this festive season unless you are a die hard fan of Mammootty the star. To those who last week suddenly discovered some undead brain cells & 'logics' in their head, if those are still active please stay away from this film.

Verdict - Skip/Avoid

Peruchazhi - Malayalam Movie Review - Mohanlal show all the way !!!

Cast

Mohanlal as Jagannathan

Mukesh as Francis Kunjappan

Ragini Nandwani as Jessy

Vijay Babu

Baburaj as Pottakkuzhy Jabbar

Aju Varghese as Vayalar Varkey

Sean James Sutton as John Kory

Sandra Thomas

Poonam Bajwa

Shankar Ramakrishnan

Delhi Ganesh

Ramesh Pisharody

Aneesh Menon

Ashvin Mathew

John Wusah as Dup Lee

CAST

Directed by Arun Vaidyanathan

Produced by Vijay Babu, Sandra Thomas

Written by Arun Vaidyanathan,, Ajayan Venugopalan (dialogues)

Music by Arrora

Cinematography Arvind Krishna

Edited by Vivek Harshan

Production      Friday Film House

Distributed by Fox Star Studios (ROI), Friday Tickets (Kerala), Singapore Coliseum (Singapore), PJ Entertainments (Europe), Achu Achu's Creations (Australia)

Release date    August 29, 2014

Running time 154 minutes

Country India

Language Malayalam

Unable to  stand the ever growing popularity of Jaganathan & considering him to be a threat to his 'seat' Minister Francis Kunjappan when got a chance tricks and send him to the United States of America to help 'Sunny' his relative who is he campaign manager of John Kory, standing for contesting election for the Governor's post in the state of California. What happens as Jagan and his close aides Jabbar & Varkkey reaches USA forms the rest of the story. 

"Please switch off your mobile phones & logic" is the message that welcomes you into the movie, being of spoof & satire genre there can't be a better hint for things to come (Also warning note for the so called intellectuals ;-) ). ["Alcohol consumption is injurious to health, wealth etc etc... is another funny note that could be spotted in the fast moving titles].  

The titles are shown with some of the iconic dialogues of Mohanlal, which was a interesting thought. The 1st one hour of the movie went in rocket speed, with tons of laughter, Mohanlal playing it to the gallery, very well supported by Baburaj & co. Towards interval the pace slows down and the 'very long' 1st half ends on a good note. Eventhough the second half is comparatively shorter in length (felt so !) it couldn't match upto the initial one as the fun factor reduced and too many sub plots and silly twists took the fun away from the movie. But still the one man entertainment troupe fondly called 'Lalettan' binds everything together. Climax was okay, especially if you remember the 'warning note' shown first.

Peruchazhi takes a dig at the Indian Political system and our Politicians. Its a spoof / imaginary story on what happens if cultural exchange happens in the field of politics between the World's 2 biggest democracies. There is no point on applying logic in such movies, take Hollywood for eg, or even 'Tamil Padam' for that matter. Such movies are just made for fun, but where Peruchazhi suffers is that its too long, by atleast 20 mins and the fun part is missing greatly in the 2nd half. The romantic thread was completely unnecessary and weird. The item number could have been cut short and the action block in the 2nd half was not upto the mark.

Mohanlal is once again seen in all his elements, everything a fan expect from him has been cleverly incorporated which he beautifully delivered. Apart from few scenes he was looking good and energetic too. Baburaj after a small gap is back to his 'comic ways' and his combo with Lal brought the entire house down on multiple occasions. Aju had nothing much to do & Ragini event though looked gorgeous got a completely unnecessary character. Mukesh was good, but his role was limited and the much cherished, loved Lal-Mukesh magic wasn't there. Vijay Babu was very good and Ramesh Pisharody scored in what ever (limited) scenes he got. Among the foreign actors Sutton and Johnn Wusah was impressive.

Direction was average and the script wrote by Director himself lot the steam mid way. Its the actors along with Ajayan Venugopalan (Akkara Kazchakal fame)'s dialogues that made the film entertaining. Camera was good, captured USA in its glory & Editing was efficient. Music was good (but Lyrics wasn't) and the Background score simply rocked. Special kudos to Blaaze. 

In all 'Peruchazhi' is a typical LALtainer, even though it falls short of the humongous expectations the makers created pre-release. 

Must Watch for all Mohanlal fans and one time watch for others (Except those pseudo-intellectuals :p) 

Munnariyippu - Movie Review

Directed by Venu

Produced by Renjith for Gold Coin Motion Picture Company

Screenplay by Unni R

Story by Venu

Music by Bijibal

Cinematography Venu

Edited by Beena Paul

Cast

Mammootty as C.K. Raghavan

Aparna Gopinath as Anjali Arakkal

Joy Mathew as Chandraji

Nedumudi Venu

Prathap Pothan

Renji Panicker

Joshy Mathew

Sreeraman

Sudheesh

Saiju Kurup

Went to watch the movie after hearing lots of positive reviews, and (only) because of that I felt slightly disappointed once the movie ended. 'Munnariyippu', ('Warning', even though the tag line reads 'The Deadline') is the story of CK Raghavan a convict who has been in prison for the past 20 years, spenting more time than what he was sentenced for. Anjali who enters the scene to ghost write the Jail Superintend, instead becomes more interested in CK's case, cause as he always says she too believes that he is innocent.
CK finallyy gets released and Anjali take him under her his protection, only to get the materials she need to pen a book on him, for which she had signed a contract with a huge publishing company. CK's inability to write brings trouble for Anjali as pressures for all quarters begin to crumble her. Will CK help Anjali finish the book, will we get to know the 'truth' etc forms the rest of the story.

The film begins interestingly and manages to grab our attention from the word go. The build up to the story is very good and by interval time the story is setup nicely. In the second half the writing looses its grip as it keeps on beating around the bush. Even with 115min run time it drags considerably in the 2nd half. adding to the woe was the completely unnecessary cameo by Prithviraj. The film do end with a shocking climax, but felt asif they just wanted to fill the screen time with random scenes till it reach a decent run time before shocking the audience with the climax, even though it got opposite reaction from the crowd.

The film is meant for serious movie goers who like to think deep into movies. The might be able to find the 'reasons' for things depicted in the movie which sadly goes unexplained in the film. 'Munnariyippu' may not be a majority's cup of tea but surely I will recommend this if u want to try something new, than the run of the mill stuff generally offered. The critics have unanimously given +ve reviews, but going by the audience response looks like the people are on the opposite corner this time.

Aparna is the character that drives the movie forward and gets more screen time. She excelled as Anjali , hope gets much better roles in the future to 'perform'. Mammootty had to underplay his actions and emotions to portray CK which he as always did beautifully. This is indeed one of the best outing of him in recent times, making the film a must watch for the fans of the legend's 'acting'. Rest of the cast also did good job. Evven though Unni's script had flaws the dialogues were very good. Venu directed the film very well too, kudos for not resorting to art house movie type narration. The BG score is a huge turn off. Gives a feel that we are watch an art movie event though the narration is much faster.

Rating 2.75/5

Recommending for serious movie lovers, thinkers and fans of Mammootty's acting !!

Mammootty's Manglish - Movie Review

Manglish - Movie Review

Directed by     Salam Bappu
Produced by     Haneef Muhammed
Written by     Riyas
Music by     Gopi Sundar
Cinematography     Pradeesh M Varma
Edited by     Vijay Sanker
Distributed by     Red Rose Release & PJ Entertainments(Europe)
Release date(s) July 27, 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Mammootty as Tharakan Malik
    Caroline Beck as Michelle
    Srinda Ashab as Mumtaz    

Aneesh G Menon as Simmon
    Alexx O'Nell as Kevin
    Tini Tom as Boss
    Vinay Forrt as Dixon
    Suresh Krishna as Lakshman
    P.Balachandran as Swami
    Sunil Sukhada as Anglo Charlie
    Joju George
    Sathaar as Paulose Punnookaaran
    Raveendran as Pothen
    Sasi Kalinga as Mathukutty
    Kalabhavan Haneefa as Chayakaran Mani
    Gopan as H.C Chandran
    Kalabavan Rahman as Driver Rahman
    Mukundan as Adv. James
    Pouly Valsan as Veronica
    Sreedhanya as Seenath
    Sheelu Abraham as Lalitha

Mammootty is Malik Bhai, the bhai of Mattanchery, bhai with heart of gold, a do gooder and one who doesn't toleate injustice. What happens when a foreigner, Michelle enters Bhai's life, who knows only English, a language which is alien for our Bhai. 

Hearing the title One may think that this is yer another Mammootty comic caper where he talks in bad/horrible English to make us laugh, like Pokkiri Raja, Rajamanickyam etc. But once the movie ends we wish had it been like that, thanks to the writer(s). The main intention was to create mass entertainer for the festive season, with Mammootty in stylish colorful costumes, doing action, mouthing punching lines, delivering humor etc, but unfortunately none of these work, for most of the part. 

The initial part is slow and boring and nothing much happens here. All the above mentioned 'tricks' to keep us entertained fails. Its in the second half that the proceedings gets somewhat interesting. Still the movie movies predictably and ends up with an Okay climax. The first half is below average, while the 3nd in comparison to the st is above average.

It was a cake walk role for Mammooty, but seriously doesn't understand why he keeps doing films like these. Even though looked handsome, it was awkward and weird to see him in the song picturised overseas. Caroline has done an okay job. Raveendran was irritating. Its Tini Tom who delivers all of the interesting one liners in the film, one of the few saving graces of the film. Srinda ashab was once again impressive.

Salam Bappuu's direction has improved compared to Red Wine could have delivered a better product had the script was better. Ulla Ulla song was good and the other one was completely unnecessary and hard to watch as I said before. Background score was okay, don't understand the need of 'Atmos' for this. Cinematography was good and editing was efficient.

Overall 'Manglish' is a half baked entertainer 

Rating: 2.5/5

Average

Kerala: Girls gets beaten up for criticizing Asif Ali's 'Hi I'm Tony' in Facebook ??

+

Asil Ali's Eid release 'Hi I'm Tony' has been getting mostly negative reviews. According to media reports couple of girl students who posted negative comments about the movie where allegedly abused and beaten by Asif Ali fans association members. There was reportedly a gang war like situation when the association members and friends of the students collided on broad daylight in public place. There are reports claiming that they were just goons and not members of fans association. But now fans association came up with a clarification on the issue that the girls abused one of their member and even insulted his mother which lead to the fight.

The film is directed by Lal Jr; whose debut film was last years break away hit 'Honey Bee'. The film features actors like Lal, Biju Menon, Asif Ali, Mia George etc.

Bangalore Days - Malayalam Movie Review

 Bangalore Days - Malayalam Movie Review

Crew

Directed by     Anjali Menon
Produced by     Anwar Rasheed, Sophia Paul
Written by     Anjali Menon
Music by     Gopi Sunder
Cinematography     Sameer Thahir
Editing by     Praveen Prabhakar
Studio     Anwar Rasheed Entertainment. Weekend Blockbusters
Distributed by     A & A Release through August Cinemas
Release dates   May 30, 2014
Running time     171 Minutes
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Dulquer Salmaan as Arjun aka Aju
    Parvathi as RJ Sarah
    Fahadh Faasil as Das
    Nazriya Nazim as Divya Prakash
    Nivin Pauly as Kuttan
    Isha Talwar as Meenakshi
    Nithya Menen as Natasha
    Vijayaraghavan
    Maniyanpilla Raju
    Sajid Yahiya
    Kalpana
    Praveena
    Prathap Pothen
    Vinaya Prasad

One of the biggest multi starrer to release in Mollywood since 'T 20' the BAAP of all Multi starrers. Usthad Hotel team [Anjali Menon, Anwar Rasheed, Dulquer, Gopi Sunder, Nithya] reuniting after 2 years, there were plenty to look forward to 'Bangalore Days'. The trailer, song, posters also increased the expectations.

The basic plot of 'BD' deals with 3 characters, Arjun, Kuttan, Divya, who are not only cousins but thickest of friends. Even though their families have issues and egos between them these 3 gel like anything & were inseparable. In the course of time, like Most of the Malayali youth now a days, the 3 end up in the land of techies, Bangalore, even though for different purposes. Certain characters like Das, Meeenakshi, Sarah enters the lives of these 3. How all these change their character, friendship, attitude toward life etc forms the rest of the story.

'Bangalore Days' is not your typical candy floss youthful romantic film, it deals with complex relations, emotions as well. but if you are expecting a 'Manjadikkuru' or an 'Usthad Hotel' you might be disappointed. The film doesn't have memorable dialogues & the heartwarming scenes are few and far in between. The film in the beginning felt like to feed on the nostalgia of youth, deviates from that path few reels later. The main issue with the film is that its too lengthy and the pace is horribly uneven especially in the second half. Had the length been on the shorter side the emotional sequences, even though few in number, would have had greater impact. The climax was predictable. There are also in brand promotions, few of them prove to be distractions, while few have been used efficiently. Youth might be able to connect more with the film (or those who have gone through such a phase) than others.

Even though made to look like for comic relief its Nivin Pauly's characters and story that makes the film engaging and provides clap/whistle worthy moments and he has done a Good job in that too. What could have been a usual role for Dulquer gets saved with the introduction of Sarah and the story provides few touching moments too and their relationship has been etched out beautifully. Parvathi has done a great job and Dulquer hasn't disappointed either. Fahadh gets scope to perform in the later half, which he does brilliantly. In the initial half he is just confined to look a 'Uninterested husband' and he successfully manages to irritate viewers too. Nazriya too has done a good job a bubbly girl in her early 20s forced to get married and entering the serious business of 'house making'. Nithya in a cameo and Isha in an extended cameo appearances were Okay.

Direction of Anjali Menon was okay Script couldn't meet the promises or expectations her other two films created. Dialogues were good. Cinematography was outstanding. Songs except the wedding song act as speed breakers. There were much expectations from Gopi Sunder's Background score, much more than the songs, due to which it feels tad disappointing. Film should have been shorter by at least 20mins for better box office prospects. But if you have greater patience and come with out expecting a candy floss, through out entertainer or the baggage's of Anjali's previous attempts you might find the time invested worth.

So in all even though it doesn't quite match up to the expectations it created, Bangalore Days is definitely a decent watch, for the performances and some nice touching moments and visual splendor.

Verdict: A Generous, Good

Rating; 3/5

Last Word: Have a feeling that film might appeal more on the 2nd watch

'Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram' is an interesting watch - Malayalam Movie Review

 'Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram' - Malayalam Movie Review

Crew

 Directed by     Balaji Mohan
Produced by     S. Sashikanth
Varun Manian
Screenplay by     Balaji Mohan
Story by     Balaji Mohan
Starring     Dulquer Salman
Nazriya Nazim
Music by     Sean Roldan
Cinematography     Soundararajan
Editing by     Abhinav Sunder Nayak
Studio     Y NOT Studios
Radiance Media
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Dulquer Salman as Arvind
    Nazriya Nazim as Anjana
    Madhoo as Sreedevi
    Maniyanpilla Raju as Prabhakaran Thanchappuzha
    Arjunan as Sathish
    John Vijay as Boomesh
    Ramesh Thilak as Ramesh
    Vinu Chakravarthy as Thambidurai
    Chemban Vinod
    Dinesh Nair

 'Thenmala' is a hill range village situated in Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Aravind- a sales rep, who likes to talk a lot, Anjana- a Junior Doctor, who prefers silence, Nulear Star Bhoomesh, his fans who are gathered in the village showing support against the protest organized by Drinkers Association, Prabhakaran- Health Minister, Madhoo- Writer cum house wife & Anjana's step mom, Thambidurai- a rich landlord are the major characters in SAH. Each of them have different kinds, ways and reasons for talking, One day a new kind of disease called 'Dumb Flue' spreads through out the Village which prevents people from talking. What changes happens to these characters when everything gets settled forms the rest of the story.

The story may not be unique but the film do offer a good enough message. So special credits to Balaji Mohan for the daring attempt. Watched the film after reading many reviews about both SAH and Vaayai Moodi Pesavum, its Tamil version, which were extremely contrasting. So went to watch the film with a clean mind and was some what satisfied with the output. 

'Talking' can solve almost all problems, people sitting up with their egos bottled up and refusing to talk are the root cause for most issues is what the film is trying to tell us. The director uses candy floss romance, satire etc to deliver the message, which is where the film falters a bit. Sticking entirely to a satire format would have worked more I think. 

The film has a Tamil flavor too, too much detailing, hero with heart of Gold and delivering good old quotes and messages every now and then, separate comedy track etc could have been avoided. The news reading also gets irritating after a point, if it was meant to be funny , failed miserably. The ticker news too failed to raise laughs, apart from 1/2. 

Even though failed with Male lead, the way female lead character has been portrayed is pretty impressive. Kudos to Nazriya too. With out much dialogues, was able to draw out the character perfectly, esp Nazriya's intro scene and the scene after 'Talking' becomes prohibited. 

Its the 2nd half that people have harsh opinion about, where there are no conversation for major porion of the time. But I thought that too was beautifully handled. Reading all the reviews also kinda help me prepare for the 30-40 mins of 'no dialogues' and just actions [Subtitling could have helped those scenes I guess] 

Nazriya's initial conversation with Dulquer after this, Fans and Drunkard meeting [on 2 Occasions] etc were 2 of the noticeable scenes in that portion.

For Dulquer, it was a cake walk of a role. Nazriya for a change gets a completely contrasting character and she has done a great job, repeating her 'OSO' feat. Madhubala's much hyped comeback turned out to disappointing one and she was struggling with Malayalam too. Chemban Vinod rocked as the head of Drunkards while RJ Shaan disappointed in his big screen debut (?). Should have used somebody else for 'Satish's' role as like the character think he messed up. Maniyanpilla Raju, Vinu C etc were Okay.

Balaji Mohan did a great job of directing the movie, but his writing faltered.May be few lines got lost in translation too. There are many cliches which could have been avoided. Cinematography was good. Background score which was loud and at times disrupting dialogues in 1st half proved to be a blessing in 2nd half. BG had a great helping hand in making the 2nd half interesting (at least for me). Editing could have been better as the film lacks pace.

I liked the movie, reviews are out, so make up your own mind, but personally don't think it deserves the harsh criticism it has been receiving especially when the Tamil version have released with glowing reviews. It will be a nice watch if do like experiments.

Rating: 2.75/5

Verdict: Above Average

Geethaanjali - Exclusive Malayalam Movie Review

 Geethaanjali - Exclusive Malayalam Movie Review

Directed by     Priyadarshan
Produced by     G. P. Vijayakumar
Screenplay by     Abhilash Nair
Dialogue: Dennis Joseph
Music by     Vidyasagar
Cinematography     S. Tirru
Editing by     T. S. Suresh
Studio     Seven Arts International
Distributed by     Seven Arts International
                                P J Entertainments (Europe)
Release date(s)  14 November 2013
Country     India

Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Mohanlal as Dr. Sunny Joseph
    Suresh Gopi as Nakulan (Cameo)
    Keerthy Suresh as Geetha & Anjali
    Nishan as Anoop
    Swapna Menon as Mary
    Nassar
    Siddique
    Madhu
    Innocent
    Harisree Ashokan
    Ganesh Kumar
  

'Geethaanjali' is the sort of sequel to All time Malayalam classic 'Manichitrathazhu', which is a huge baggage itself. Expecting anything remotely close especially with Priyadarshan at the helms of of affairs was out of the question. But still the trailer and video song were able to create some sort of hype before the release.

Story

'Geethanjali' deals with another interesting 'case' that Para-Psychologist Dr. Sunny Joseph gets to encounter in his career. On his friend Nakulan's request Sunny comes to Kerala to investigate about the paranormal activities taking place in an old mansion, once soon to be married Anjali & Anoop sets foot inside. 


Geethanjali is a nice watch for those who don't frequent Hollywood/Foreign horror films, for others this might be an under whelming outing. Its definitely one of the better horror 'attempts' from Mollywood
after a long time. 

First half was good where the story gets established. In the second half especially toward the end the writer looses complete control and felt like everything was rushed and didn't knew how to end properly. Innocent's role which was meant as a comic releif gets repeatative after a point. The basic idea of the film is inspired from a Thai film, which interestingly has been used in 2  Malayalam films in the past.

Mohanlal gets a extended cameo length role, but his 'Sunny' failed to create the charm which he had last time around. Keerthy has made a very good debut, her performance in the climax was very good. Rest of the cast did an okay job.

The main issue with the film is the half baked script. It's Priyadarshan's skill that made a decent entertaining movie out of it. His direction is good, he has tried every trick in the 'horror' book to make the film interesting, thrilling and scary (to an extent). Equally worth appreciating are Tirru's camera work and TS Suresh's editing which prevents the movie from going to a mess. Dialogues were just Okay, had a drama feel in few scenes. Music was disappointing considering the iconic songs

 'Manichitrathazhu' had, but Vidyasagar scored big time in Background score. also kudos to the art department who have done an excellent job



As a horror film it quite succeeds in scaring the audience - its thrilling and told in a convincing manner too.  If you avoid any sort of comparison with the iconic predecessor Geethaanjali can be a decent watch.

 Being the biggest/widest release ever for Malayalam film, it should at least recover investments, in the worst case scenario.

Rating: 2.75/5

Verdict: above Average

Final Word : Don't Go with huge expectations, avoid comparison  with MCT, you will enjoy this ride