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

 

The Conjuring - Movie Review

 

'The Conjuring' is a real life, supernatural horror story based on the case files of famous Paranormal Investigator/Demonologist couple, The Warrens [who also investigated the notorious/controversial 'Amityville Horror' incidents]

The film deals with the paranormal phenomenon that a family experiences in their new house & the things that unfod as Warrens start their investigation.

There was lot of media hype surrounding the film. Coming from the director of films like 'SAW' 'Insidious' 'Dead Silence' expectations were huge too. The film also got terrific reviews too when it released in the US 2 weeks back, many claiming it to bee the scariest/best horror movie error or of the decade. So all these made me, an ardent 'Horror' genre fan even more excited, but sad to say I was totally disappointed.

I try to watch almost all horror film that gets released, so i found Conjuring just cliched horror movie. Family moving into an old, isolated house. Noises in the night, Only kids 'seeing' things, 'stress to 3am', a horrific past to the house etc. 

The cliches are not just confined to the story but the 'horror tactics as well. James Wan has tried every trick in the old films to scare people, 99% of them falling flat. You can very much predict whats going to happen in the next moment very easily, which is a big negative for a horror movie. The movie reminds us of movies like 'The Orphanage', Sinister, Awakening etc etc. 

Saw was genious, Insidous was scary but this one isn't anywhere close to those horror gems. Weird faces suddenly popping in front of the screen, loud noise, doors slamming, basement/dark hallway scenes in dim light etc were the things of the past. Its disappointing to see Hollywood still sticking on the same old beaten to death formula. 

Also the script lacks any suspense or thrill, except may be the last 20-30mins. The back story wasn't interesting enough. I don't think anybody even remebers it once the movie gets finished. The films also takes a long time to get into the 'scary mood' as well.

But if you don't frequent horror movies then all the above said 'issues' might not be there for you & it will be a decent 'scary' outing. Also Rarely a Horror movie gets Indian release and that too with this much publicity. Vera Farmiga has done a very good job as 'Lorraine Warren' and is indeed looking beautiful. The camera work & sets are very good. Editing & BG worked for me. 

I personally like Horror films that haunts & creeps you much after the showtime & force you to keep the lights on when you sleep and not the one that - Conjuring is not that type.

So don't go with much expectations, just prepare for a nice horror outing and chances are there that you won't feel disappointed like me. 

'As far as the scariest ever/decade' claim goes - HELL NO !!! Paranormal Activity, Sinister, Evil dead, Insidous were more scary & interesting than 'Conjuring'

 Will be interesting to see how Wan executes the final installment of the super successful 'Fast' series 'Fast & Furious 7', his next directorial venture (After Insidous 2, which looks boring from the trailer) , due June 2014