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) 

Peruchazhi Kerala & Rest of India Paper ADs and Theaters list

Peruchazhi gets the widest release ever release for a Malayalam film outside Kerala. The film in addition to the paper ads posted here is releasing 30-40 more screens in Rest Of India, in total about 130 screens. All India screen count is 260+ as Multiplexes are increasing shows and playing in additional screens due to huge demand for tickets. Film is also releasing in many international markets for sure. Peruchazhi is sure to set the biggest opener record tomorrow, If not All Kerala, for sure All India & Worldwide

Peruchazhi - First Look Teaser Trailer - Mohanlal

Pauly Technique - Malayalam Movie Review - Kunchako Boban, Bhavana

Pauly Technique - Malayalam Movie Review - Kunchako Boban, Bhavana

Crew

Director:  M.Padmakumar

Script:  Nishad Koya

Producers:  Kala Nair and Liyakath Tirur

Banner:  Mrinalini Gandhi Cinemas

Distributor:  Percy Pictures

Music:  Gopi Sundar

Editor:  Ranjan Abraham

Cinematographer:  Pramod K Pillai

 Lyrics:  Rajeev Nair

Cast

Kunchacko Boban - Pauly

 Bhavana - Aswathy

Vijayaragavan - Sukumaran Nair 

Aju Varghese - Becker

 Ambika 

Devi Chandana 

Shiju 

Kochupreman 

Thesni Khan 

Idavela Babu

Pauly is a jobless youth, who along with his childhood friends are members of the communist party youth wing. He is involved in all the social activities of his villages and often gets in the way of Panchayath President Sukumaran Nair, who is at logger heads with Pauly from his school days. In a terrorist attack happened in Mumbai Pauly's father, a Commando, gets killed  With the compensation money he got from the Govt., Pauly decides to buy the closed 'Dakshyani' Biscuits factory and reopen it as agro Processing and storing facility. Sukumaran Nair understanding this puts up road blocks, one after the other, to disrupt Pauly at any cost. The feud intensifies when Asawthy, daughter of Sukumaran Nair, Pauly's sweet heart from child hod refuses to marry anybody other than Pauly. The techniques that Pauly adopts to fight the corrupt politicians and officials, win over his love and make the factory run forms the rest of the story.

PAuly Technique resembles many Malayalam movies of the past, like Mithunam, Punyalan agarbathis etc, but still is able to stand on its own thanks to the interesting script by Nishad Koya, who also wrote 'Ordinary'. There wasn't much hype surrounding the film leading to its release, and even the release wasn't sure till the last moment, but finally the makers can relax as they have managed to deliver a good entertainer.

The film is predictable and we can predict every single twist and turn. Plus there aren't much 'techniques' that we don't predict coming. It gets melodramatic here and there and drags at places. The songs prove to be hindrances than anything else.

The light humor sprinkled through out the film is what makes PT works.Plus its a clean family entertainer without any double meaning dialogues or cuss words. Kunchako Boban shines as Pauly and is from the start to finish. Aju Varghese is a treat and gets almost equal footage as Boban. The rest of the cast also did a good job. Bhavana was looking great, but didn't had much to do.


This is the first time Padmakmar will be handling a Comedy subject and did an okay job is presenting a neat film. Its the second film of writer Nishad Koya, and already he is proving to be some one producers can bank upon. The predictable story has been narrated interestingly by him. Cinematography and editing also adds flavor to the film. Music and BG were average.

In all Pauly Technique is a clean family comedy entertainer that should appeal to all. The definitely have some techniques up in its sleeve.

Verdict: Good

Rating 3/5

Last Word: Entertaining Techniques.....

A Biopic on Mega Star Mammootty coming soon !!

A Biopic on Mega Star Mammootty coming soon !!

Yes, that's true, A Biopic on the life of Mollywood Mega Star Mammooty coming soon. It was Jude Anthany Joseph, the director of recently released 'Ohm Shanthi Oshaana', who announced the news via Facebook. It will be Nivin Pauly who will be steeping into the shoes of the acting heavy weight, which as expected has created shock, surprise and despair among people, especially fan. It is a well known fact that Nivin is a die hard Mammooty fan.

Jude also shared the short film 'Mammookka's Biography' which he shot even before he joined Vineeth in Thattathi n Marayathu. The short film was was co produced by Nivin Pauly & Aju Varghese. The inspiration to the short film was a book on 'Mammootty'. Now the same team expect to bring the big screen version to the audience worldwide, pretty soon. Let's wait and see if the project can do justice to the powerhouse of talent called Mammukka. 

Watch the Short Film Here

Ohm Shanthi Oshaana - Opening Weekend Box Office Update

 Ohm Shanthi Oshaana - Opening Weekend Box Office Update

Ohm Shanthi Oshaana which released in 150+ screens last Friday (Feb 7th) has taken a very good opening across India, especially in Kerala. The film has got good WOM and was growing in strength day by day. The much awaited Rom-Com got one of the biggest release Outside Kerala thanks to Fox Star India & of course the all new interest to Malayalam films due to 'Drishyam' phenomenon. The film released with English subtitles which also helped the film or will help in the long run.Here is the Box Office update of OSO in its opening weekend.

Day 1 Kerala 56 lalkhs Rest Of India (ROI) 10 lakhs 

Day 2 Kerala 58 lakhs ROI 20 lakhs

Day 3 Kerala 68 lakhs ROI 20-25 lakhs

Total 3 day Gross Kerala 1.82 crore ROI 50-55 lakhs

All India gross in 3 days 2.32-2.37 crore

Punyalan Agarbathis - Movie Review

Crew

Directed by     Ranjith Sankar
Produced by     Jayasurya, Ranjith Sankar
Written by     Ranjith Sankar
Music by     Bijibal
Cinematography     Sujith Vasudev
Editing by     Lijo Paul
Studio     Dreams N Beyond
Distributed by     Central Pictures
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

 Cast

    Jayasurya as Joy Thakkolkaran
Nyla Usha as Anu
Aju Varghese as Greenu Sharma
Innocent as John Thakkolkaran
Rachana Narayanankutty as Advocate Sai
Sreejith Ravi as Abhayakumar
TG Ravi as Achuthan Master
Mala Aravindan as Ayyappan
Idavela Babu as KC Mathews
Vinod Kovoor as Pappan Kottapuram
Lishoy as Pauly

 

 'Punyalan Agarbathis' tells the story of an ambitious, wannabe Ambani of Thrissur, businessman. After trying out may ventures he finds his last resort in 'Punyalan Agarbathis', special kind of incense sticks made from elephant dung. The efforts to acquire the 'raw material' makes him ruffle feathers with few big-wigs which turns his life for ever. Will Joy succeed in the battle of & for his life, forms the rest of the story.

80s-90s are said to be the Golden period of Malayalam cinema which produced movies which common people could much identify with, dealing with issues faced by common man in his daily lives, like Mithunam, Varavelpu, Vellanakalude Naadu etc. 

Punyalan Agarbathis belongs to such series of movies. It tells the issues a common middle class man has to face to make his dream come true, without resorting to illegal paths. 

It also discuses how bureaucracy, politics etc which are meant for the benefit of people, in many cases end up being the road block, for petty reasons.

Story wise its simple, its the entertaining scrip that works big time for PA. The film is a total rocking entertainer, in the first half with plenty of humor. In the second half, especially towards the end, where the movie gets serious a tone & try to tell too many things, it dags a bit.

Jayasurya has given one of his best performance till date
 and got the 'Thrissur slang' to a 'T', a major highlight of the movie. Most of his one liners brought the house down. Another name worth mentioning is Sreejith Ravi who also got tremendous reaction from the crowd in his debut comic role. Rest of the cast did what was required of them, but wish Nyla had got a substantial role, after a superb debut in Kunjananthante Kada.

Have liked all his previous works, but Ranjith Shankar the writer has finally got the perfect blending of Commercial entertainer and social message drama in PA, which was lacking in his previous attempts preventing them from becoming HUGE box office successes. His direction was good too, presenting the cultural capital of Kerala as an important part of narration. Cinematography by Sujith Vasudev was good, presenting Thrissur in all its glory. Editing by Lijo Paul was efficient, may be a bit of trimming towards the end could have been nice. Music & BG by Bijibal were good too.

 Punyalan Agarbathis is a clean, perfect commercial treat for the entire section of audience - mass or class, family or youth - this season. A well made entertainer.

Rating 3.5/5

Verdict - Good

Last Word - Greene, veedu povoolanna tta thonae.......

Punyalan Agarbathis - Exclusive HD Posters Set