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

 

 

 

Praise the Lord - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Reenu Mathews

 Praise the Lord - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Reenu Mathews

Crew

 Direction: Shibu Gangadharan 

Produced by Milan Jaleel

Based on Paul Zacharia's 'Praise The Lord'

Screenplay, Dialogues T.P Devarajan

Banner Galaxy Films

Music Shaan Rahman

Background Score Bijibal

 Lyrics: Rafeeq Ahmed  
Cinematography: Pradeep Nair  
Editing: Sreekanth  
Art Direction: Sujith Raghav

Costume Design: Sameera Sanish

Cast

Mammootty - Joy

Reenu Mathews - Ancy

Akanksha Puri - Annie

Ahmed Sidhique - Samkutty

Mukesh

Kalabhavan Shajon

Suresh Krishna

Indrans

Joy Mathew
Kailash

'Praise the Lord' is the cinematic adaptation of Paul Zacharia's novel 'Praise The Lord'.

Mullathazhathe Joy, a farmer, has been leading a peaceful, happy life with his wife Annie and their 2 kids. In to their lives one day enter an eloped couple, Samkutty & Annie. Even though Joy welcomed them wholeheartedly to their house, the couple slowly begins to affect his peaceful life and relationship with Annie. What happens to the two couples, how everything gets sorted forms the rest of the story.

Praise The Lord is a decent family entertainer sans any double meaning jokes or dialogues. The writer have tried his maximum to do justice to the novel, but the novel was not a typical movie material, which translated into the big screen adaptation as well. The first half where the basic plot is set up is fairly entertaining, even though its a bit on the slower side. The scenes between Joy-Annie & Joy Ancy where light hearted and executed well. In the later half the mood turns serious and it drags. Adding to the woes is the rushed and weak climax.

Mammootty is the best when comes to 'achayan' oles, which he proved once again. He is the lifeline of PTL. Looked more engetic, involved and interested in the procedding unlike his many previous attempts. Reenu Mathews was good as Ancy. Akanksha Puri looked glamorous and did okay job. Ahmed was okay. Rest of the cast also did what they where supposed to do neatly.

Shibu Gangadharan has an average outing in his directorial debut, someone like Lal Jose could have done wonders here. The scripting was also uneven, but did deliver a decent entertainer from the non-film friendly source material. Dialogues were good. Shaan Rahman disappointed in the songs department, but Bijibal was good with the Background score. Cinematography was good. Editing could have been better, it drags even with a run time of 130 mins.

So in all 'Praise The Lord' is a decent family entertainer, nothing unique or special, but still watchable, largely thanks to Mammukka. Due to exam season, T20 World Cup, election fever summer releases will be hitting screens only from April 2nd week, so a safe run is guaranteed till then. Rest depends on Word of Mouth.

Rating 2.75/5

Verdict: Above Average

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 !!!