Vedivazhipadu - Malayalam Movie Review - 'One of India's boldest film'

VEDIVAZHIPADU  - Malayalam Movie Review

Written & Directed by: Shambhu Purushothaman
Produced by: Arun Kumar Aravind
Banner: Karmayug Movies
Director of Photography: Shehnad Jalal
Editor: Prejish Prakash
Art: Subhash Karun
Music: John P. Varkey
Sound Design: Godly Timo
Associate Director: Nitin Michael
Make Up: Baiju Balaramapuram
Costumes: Shibu Parameshwar
Production Controller: Jith Pirappancode
Stills: Najeem M. Bawa
Designs: Thought Station

Distributor: Thameens Films

  Cast: Indrajith Sukumaran, Murali Gopy, Saiju Kurup, Srijith Ravi, Sunil Sugatha, Ashvin Mathew, Mythili, AnuSree, Anu Mol

The reunion of the successful team of 'Ee Adutha Kalathu' & 'Left Right Left' [Arun Kumar, Indrajith, Murali Gopy] gave the movie good hype since the day it was launched. The quirky title, posters and trailer added only to the publicity. But it got the maximum reach thanks to the CBFC who initially refused to clear the movie. Overcoming all hurdles the film has hit the screens and lets see how it is..

'Vedivazhipadu' deals with events happening to four couples on a single day, the day of 'Aatukal Pongala'. Bored with their routine lives the 'boys' decides to have some fun on the day on Pongala when their wives will be busy in temple with the festivities. Initial half sets up the characters and their 'master plan' and the later half unravels the plan, will everything work out as they 'planned' what happen to their lives etc.

The film is no means for 'Kids' and those who hate adult comedies, its an out an out film for 18+ audience. If you hated 'Trivandrum Lodge' please don't even bother going anywhere near to a theater playing VV, coz as my friend its the baap of TL and one of the boldest movie to be produces in India. There are no double meaning dialogues here, everything is direct, in your face, most of these happen in the 2nd half. Still can't beleive that Director, who is also the writer was expecting a U/A certificate for this.

Mixing such an adult story with 'Aatukal Pongala' and using the 'pongala commentry' in sequences in 2nd half could have forced the Censor Board to deny permission initially, can't really blame them for being paranoid after what all we saw in neighboring state recently.

With that being said, I like adult comedies and I liked VV too. It had plenty of laughs. It also questions sexual hypocracy, double standards, moral policing etc. Its a mirror placed against society, especially the Kerala one which is the most double standard, one according to many.

Saiju Kurupp & Anumol steals the  show in the acting department. Saiju got most of the claps and may be his best and toughest role so far. Kudos to  Anumol for doing such a role with elan, I cannot imagine any other heroine doing such a bold role, you have to watch it to understand how raw and real it is, Hats Off. Others have also did their part well. Srijith Ravi, Sunil Sugatha were impressive too. Rest of the cast also did decent job.

Director has made a confident debut, his writing was good too. Camera, Editing were efficient. BG was Okay. There are no songs in the movie.

So, in all, Vedivazhipadu is a bold watchable Adult entertainer

Rating 3/5

Good, Time Pass

Arm twisting by Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation continue - Bans a theater

This is what Crown Cinema, Calicut posted in their Facebook page

Sorry to announce that we have to stop the screening of RAJA RANI due to trouble from industry sources... So The Conjuring and Lunch Box get more screen time..

Well.. Last year the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation, of which we WERE a member, called for indefinite closure of Cinemas protesting Govt.Policies. Being a member of the body, we had decided to stick to the closure cos the demand of KFEF with the Govt was genuine. But they kept changing the date of the closure to favour the interests of certain parties. And then one fine day they announced the closure from 2nd Nov 2012. That we had committed to Sony Pictures to screen SKYFALL from Nov 1st 2012, the last Bond movie, we, along with other Cinemas in Kochi,requested the body to change the date again. They dint agree. So we were forced to stick to our commitment and stay away from the strike. We resigned the membership from the body too. But ever since, the KFEF has placed an UNWRITTEN embargo on us - that if we screen any Malayalam or Tamil movie, none of the theatres in malabar will screen it. We managed to screen some movies like Neram & Nee Ko Na Cha. But most distributors were forced to keep away from us. Now the distributors of Raja Rani showed the guts to supply the movie to us. But the Honchos of the KFEF arm twisted them and threatened them with dire consequences. So, to ensure that the distributor does not suffer losses cos of our screening the film, we decided to stop screening. Its a Mad Mad Mad World!!!  

Madras Cafe - Movie Review

Madras Cafe - Exclusive Movie Review

Thursday, August 22, 2013

MADRAS CAFE : Exclusive Movie Review

                                          

Directed by Shoojit Sircar

Produced by John Abraham/Viacom 18 Motion Pictures/Ronnie Lahiri

Music by Shantanu Moitra

Stars: John Abraham, Nargis Fakhri, Siddhartha Basu, Prakash Belawadi, Ajay Ratnam, Raashi Khanna & Dinesh Nair

Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair

Theater – National Cinemas, Abu Dhabi, UAE

22/08/2013 – 8.45pm

Occupancy – 80% (Surprised because movie was not even promoted in overseas)

Director Shoojit Sircar debuted in 2005 with the critically acclaimed film Yahaan. But the film was a flop mainly because it was slotted among much bigger summer releases. But with his second film , Vicky Donor he bagged the National Award for Best Popular Film providing wholesome entertainment. The film was a superhit at the box office. Vicky Donor was produced by actor John Abraham! Juhi Chaturvedi was the screen/dialogue writer.

Madras Cafe is the second film of Superhit Shoojit-John-Juhi team after Vicky Donor. Madras Cafe stars John Abraham & Nargis Fakhri in the main leads. Indian television producer and quiz show host Siddhartha Basu playing a vital role in the film. Raashi Khanna makes her debut with Madras Cafe. Madras Cafe also stars Prakash Belawadi, Tamil actor Ajay Ratnam, Malayalam actor Dinesh Nair.

Story

Madras Cafe is a political spy thriller, set against the backdrop of Sri Lankan Civil War of 1990's. Madras Cafe is the story of an Indian Intelligence agent (John Abraham) is deputed into a war torn coastal island, to conduct covert operations and break a resolute rebel group. Madras Cafe is a story about the assassination of our former Prime Minister.

Madras Cafe is a must visit place for cinegoers!!! Let me start with the positives of the film.

Positives

Madras Cafe starts off very well. Infact the first half of Madras Cafe is simply brilliant, superb thrilling almost at par with the recently released thriller D Day. Madras Cafe is Shoojit Sircar's third outing and you can't help but notice the giant strides he has taken as a technician. The film is stylishly shot, has a grand look despite it being a political thriller film. Direction is top class and easily the main positive about the film. Kudos to him for making a brilliant film without a single song in those 2 hour 18mins!

Madras Cafe will be a landmark film of John Abraham's acting career (yes way better than Dhoom, acting-wise). Good to see that finally John is selecting some sensible scripts. John Abraham as Vikram Singh is remarkable. There is a marked growth in John's performances and his performance in Madras Cafe only endorses this statement.

Special mention must be given to the Background Music Composer Shantanu Moitra. BG Music is just terrific  and almost at par with my personal favorite BG music of the year, Lootera! The end credit song, Sun Le Re is really good. Cinematography by Kamaljeet Negi is topnotch, captured the beautiful locations of Kerala, Tamil Nadu & Hyderabad beautifully.

Script writers Somnath Dey, Shubendu Bhattacharya deserve a pat for attempting a novel theme and packaging it very well. Same goes to dialogue writer Juhi Chaturvedi. Her dialogues are simple, but intelligent!

Nargis Fakhri finally gets a role and this time she is really good. Her acting/expressions is improved and super confident as charismatic and passionate journalist. Raashi Khanna makes an imposing debut as John's wife. Truly admirable in the emotional scenes. Good find!

Indian television producer and quiz show host Siddhartha Basu is surprisingly good as government officer RD. Prakash Belawadi as Bala is quite a scene-stealer! Tamil actor Ajay Ratnam as Anna & Malayalam actor Dinesh Nair as Rajashekaran are proficient. Sanjay Gurbaxani as the former Prime Minister is good in a limted role. Famous Journalist Dibang's cameo is perfect. Controversial South Indian Model-Actress is OK in a 20sec role!

Negatives

Madras Cafe is slow paced at some portions in the second half. Editing could have been much better. Some of the important portions in the second half is fast paced. Climax is predictable although filming is well executed.

I would like to add an extra paragraph in this negative portion for Madras Cafe makers poor promotion. Under-promoting a film is not new in bollywood. But if you are planning to release your movie between Shah Rukh Khan/Akshay Kumar films and multi-starrer Satyagraha (releasing next week) No other option, You makers should promote the film very well!!! Disappointing to realize that makers not even promoted the movie at the overseas. Promotion strategies were undoubtedly very poor from the makers. Not to forget it is strictly a multiplex film!

Overall Madras Cafe is a honest effort from director Shoojit Sircar. A brilliant first half, good direction by Shoojit, John's performance & Shantanu Moitra's BG Music as plus points . The film is mainly targetted for limited audience, i'.e Multiplex audience. Don’t think much takers in Single Screens and also the chance of a long run is ruled out with multi-starrer Satyagraha releasing next week and Zanjeer/Shudh Desi Romance releasing on September 6th! At the box office film is all set to open 4-6crores with a weekend of 15-18crs.

Word Of Mouth will be very good!

P:S:REALLY WISH THIS GOOD FILM HAD A GOOD PROMOTIONS!!!

Verdict - MADRAS CAFE... A MUST VISIT FOR CINEGOERS!!!

Rating - 3.50/5!  Very Good !!!

This Reviewer can be contacted on Twitter : @i_spn : https://twitter.com/i_spn

Thalaivaa Worldwide Box Office Report

Ilayathalapathy's Thalaivaa Released on August 9th, 2013 Worldwide, except Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry. The film opened to thundering response wherever it was released, and held on well despite mixed Reviews.

Here are the collection details of the movie from what ever circuits available

In Kerala 'Thalaivaa' was audiences first choice despite releasing alongside 5 high profile releases (4 of them Malayalalm). The film which released in 120 screens came on top in the EID weekend beating all other releases by a handsome margin. The 4 days gross is estimated to be around 3.5-4 crores.

In Karnataka the film released in 60+ screens grossing about 3-3.5 crores in 3 days

In US the film released in about 50 screens and grossed 1.40 crores in opening weekend

In UK the film grossed about 1.19 crores from 36 screens

The Telugu version 'Anna' got a distributors share of about 2.4 crores in 3days from Andhra, which is the biggest for a Vijay film.

Details from other locations are awaited ....stay tuned to this page for updates


[Errors? Mistakes? Please Comment below]

Kerala theater owners object to screen controversial film 'Kalimannu'

Kerala theater owners object to screen controversial film 'Kalimannu'

Acclaimed Director Blessy's latest flick 'Kalimannu' has been in the news since the project was announced. The film deals the relation ship between a pregnant women and her unborn child. Shwetha Menon plays the lead role in the film who was pregnant in real life when they began shooting Director Blessy who is always known for capturing images as real as possible wanted to film the delivery of Shwetha for real and use it in the film instead of her enacting the scene. Both Shwetha & her husband agreed to it beforehand. Eventhough the news was made public much before filming began it was only after this particular scene was shot the controvorsey blew out of proportion.

This public had mixed reaction about this. Many celebrities, politicians, including women condemned the act. Many even went to the lengths of ridiculing Shwetha and her family. The theater owners then said will screen the movie only after censor procedure has been completed. The film was censored last week and got U/A certificate without any cuts. But now the theaters owners have come up with a new demand that they want a special preview of the film before its release which will be watched by certain people or members of organizations who objected the release of the film. Only if they gives the film a 'green chit' they will co-operate with the release of the film.

But Kerala Film Chamber said this is the decision of a few in the Theater owners organization and there is no official ban and will provide full support to the film passed by Censor Board.

Mohanlal did a full monty for Blessy's award winning film 'Thanmathra' which even though passed by Censors felt the wrath of audience, back in 2005. Due to negative reactions to the scene he had to chop down those after day 1.