Ulsaha Committee - Malayalam Movie Review - Jayaram, Isha Talwar

Cast

 Cast: Jayaram (Apoorvan), Sheela (Rossamma), Baburaj (Chopra) , Kalabhavan Shajon (Babumon), Suraj Venjaramoodu, Vinaya Prasad, Lakshmipriya, Shaju, Kochupreman, Sunil Sugatha, Joy Mathew, Kalinga Sasi, Nelson

Crew

Director: Akku Akbar
Producer: Arun Ghosh & Binoy Chandran
Production House: Chand VCreations
Music: Bijibal
Lyrics: Rafeeq Ahmed, Jophi Tharakan, Engadyoor Chandrashekaran
Cinematography: Anil Nair
Editing: Lijo Paul
Art Direction: Nandan Mannoor
Story/Writer: Shyju Anthikad
Costume Design: Kumar Edapal

 Apoorvan is the self proclaimed scientist of Mantharakadavu Village, who is pretty much interested in inventing various things. Babumon, his financial support and Chopra, his henchman, are his close buddies. Even though many of the inventions are useful for the villagers, the three when join together create mess that than anything. So one day the villagers are forced to kick them out of the village. The 3 thus end up in Rosamma's house, who is a millionaire. What happens next forms the rest of the story.

Akku Akbar with Jayaram has given 2 family hits in the past, the Producers gave the 2nd biggest hit of last year too. But when they united for a mad comic caper, the resultant product is an utter failure.

The film not only lacks a credible story line is a disaster in the scripting department too. There are only few good one liners  in the entire movie, every thing else falls flat. The acting too is over the top here. Jayaram has tried Palakkadan slang in the movie, which is not patch to Biju Menon in 'Ordinary'. Baburaj, Suraj often goes to 'Unsahikkable' levels. Isha Talwar had nothing much to do and her acting/lip sync hasn't improved much from her 'Thattam' days.

Director had no clue about the proceeding and did a below average job. Cinematography was Good. Music was disappointing while Background score was interesting at parts. Editing was okay. 

In all, Ulsaha Comitte, is a crassier crass comedy that you might wanna check out when its premiered on TV

Rating: 1.5/5

Verdict: Escape.....

Last Word: This committee will rip apart your 'Ulsaham' and burn it on the floor....

Mr. Fraud - Theatrical Trailer - Mohanlal, Manjari Fadnis, Mia George, Pallavi

Mr. Fraud - Theatrical Trailer 

Teaser 1

Teaser 2

Song Teaser

Ring Master - Malayalam Movie Review - Dileep, Honey Rose, Keerthy Suresh

Ring Master - Malayalam Movie Review - Dileep, Honey Rose, Keerthy Suresh

Crew 

Director: Raffi  
Producer: Vyshakha Rajan  
Music: Gopi Sunder  
Cinematography: Shaji  
Editing: Shyam Sasidharan  
Art Direction: Rajan Akkulam  
Story/Writer: Rafi  
Costume Design: S. B. Satheesan

Studio     Vaishaka Cynyma
Release dates     April 12, 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

Dileep as Prince
Honey Rose as Diana
Keerthi Suresh as Karthika
Mohan Jose
Kalabhavan Shajon as Dr.Muthu
Aju Varghese
Suraj Venjaramoodu
Sai Kumar
Kalabhavan Haneef
Saju Kodiyan

Dileep's mass entertainers rarely miss their mark at the Box Office, thanks to reach the star has amongst Ladies and Kids. Ring Master is another Vishu release from Dileep, aiming at his target audience. The posters featuring Dogs have helped the curiosity factor to work out and gives a feel of the actor's cult comedy hit CID Moosa.

Prince has been fond of animals from child hood. His father was animal trainer in a circus company. Circumstances make Prince too a dog trainer, and the dog he trains, Diana, become a popular movie canine star. One day Diana gets a chance to act in a movie, in which Prince's lady love, Super Heroine Diana plays the female lead, who dumped him for movies. This creates confusion and chaos in the sets and the two are at loggerheads. Karthika is a blind who is living with her guide dog Toby, who is the father of Diana the Dog. How all the mess gets sorted out forms the rest of the story.

Ring Master is a typical mass comedy vehicle that one expects from Dileep. Even though the story line is down right silly, Dileep, the dogs and the supporting cast makes it a time pass watch. The movie takes a bit of time to get in the groove, but then is a laughathon for the entire 1st half. In the 2nd half the pace is uneven, especially toward the climax portions. With no story to tell the film relies heavily on the shoulders of its cast who did a great job.The Dogs are a treat to watch on screen to, special credits to the trainers and the VFX team.

RM is definitely on of the better theater outings for Dileep in a short while. Shajon once again impresses with his comic timing. Suraj also impresses in a extended cameo length role. The heroines too did their part well. The Script and dialogues written by Rafi are no patch to his earlier works (which he did in partnership with Meccartin). There are some dialogues aimed at a 'certain some one' which I felt was unnecessary. There are quintessential double meaning dialogues and cuss words, which I think the family audiences have accustomed to from Dileep movies.

The technical crew did an Okay job, nothing great or extraordinary to mention. Music and BG were average.

In all its a leave your brain at home and have fun at theaters kinda film which most people like to watch. Being a Dileep movie, a summer release, and the crowd reaction, looks like this will keep the cash registers ringing.




Rating: 2.75/5

Verdict: Above Average

Last Word: Mindless Fun.....

Gangster - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Gangster - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Aashiq Abu, Nyla Usha

Crew

 Directed by     Aashiq Abu
Produced by     OPM Dream Mill Cinemas
Written by     Ahmed Sidhique, Abhilash Kumar
Music by     Deepak Dev
Cinematography     Alby
Editing by     Saiju Sreedharan
Art Direction: Ajayan Chalissery 
Action Direction: Anbariv  
Choreography: Anb Ariv  
Costume Design: Sameera Saneesh
Distributed by     Aan Mega Media
Release dates     April 11, 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Mammootty as Akbar Ali 

    Nyla Usha as Sana Muhammed
    Sekhar Menon as Anto
    Aparna Gopinath as Lilly
    John Paul as Uncle Sam
    T. G. Ravi as Hajikka
    Kunchan as Mani Menon
    Hareesh Peradi as Michael
    Dileesh Pothan as Vidhura

 'Gangster' has been making news from the time the project was announced, way back in 2010. Due to date issues, script rewrites and many other reasons the film kept on getting postponed. Finally the film has hit the screens with the backing of one of the best pre release publicity campaign ever, with excellent buzz .

‘Gangster’ is a revenge action-drama set against the backdrop of Mangalore’s organized crime groups. Mangalapuram underworld is ruled by three factions, lead by Akbar Ali, Mani Menon and Uncle Sam. Everything was going peacefully till Anto, Uncle Sam's son enters the scene. Like all movie Gangsters, Akbar too has some principles, against  which Anto moves, which creates backlashes. The opposition becomes stronger and Akbar gets pushed to a corner. Will he rise against his enemies and gets his revenge?, forms the rest of the story.

Gangster is undoubtedly one of the stylized movies to come out of 'Mollywood'. But it doesn't matter if you are working with the world's best crew unless there is a proper script. Adding to the woes of 'ages old storyline' is lack of a proper script, hell the film doesn't even have proper dialogues. Sekhar, who plays the villain open his mouth (and irritates us ) more than Mammootty. There are no claps worthy moments in the films, except for die hard fans in which Mammuka appears in different stylish costumes and cooling glasses.

The films doesn't make any connect with the audience at any point of time. Even when Akbar is left to die., cos the characters have been poorely etched.The film is painfully slow, as if some art house director made a mass film, thanks to the plethora of slow motion (Somebody was saying 90 mins films stretched to 140min).Aashiq Abu might have obsessed with the looks that he forgot that there was no story to tell or engage viewers. Even 'Saga Alias Jacky' [another over hyped stylized gangster movie that failed to set Box Office on fire]  looks like a classic compared to this. If a class movie is what the makers intended to make, please watch Aaranya Kandam or Gangs of Wassyepur.

There are references to God Father, Sholay and even Breraking Bad.

Feels really sorry for Mammootty the actor. He is looking dashingly handsome, which we have seen many times in the recent past, but once again the script fails him. Compared to those, here he has nothing to do, rather than walking around changing costumes and accessories. Nyla & Aparna got nos scope to perform, but where looking their beautiful best. Sekhar I think over did the role, and fails to make any impact after the initial sequences. Rest of the cast were also just going with the motions

The animation portions in the beginning and during climax, (clearly inspired from QT's Kill Bill) was a brilliant Idea, rather than making the same old Kid, who do Mammukka's childhood in almost all his recent films, do those. The promotional material says 'Gangster Rises' and the film do resembles 'The Dark Knight Rises', even though it would be unfair to Nolan to compare both.

The Cinematography was Outstanding, one of the best that we have seen in Mollywood.Special credits should be be given to the stylists - be it the Makeup man, or the Costume designer, have done excellent job in making the film look slick and stylish. Aashiq Abu looked like had no control over proceeding and his graph is going down after a promising start to career. The sufi song was good, but the placement was wrong. BG score was okay. Script & Dialogues were BAD. Can't imagine this is what they come up with in 4 years and multiple rewrites.

So in all Gangster is an unholy mess of a movie that fails to even come anywhere in the vicinity of the hype that it created.

Verdict: Colossal Disappoinment

Rating: 1.75/5

Last Word: Stay Away !!!

Mad rush of releases @ Kerala Box Office Next Week

Vishu/Summer Releases at Kerala Box Office

Summer vacation has begun, but big releases are yet to hit the screens thanks to Parliament Elections, which falls in the state on April 10th. So all the biggies will be in a mad rush to grab theaters and eye balls from 11th.

 Gangster

Gangster is undoubtedly the biggest and most high profile release of this season. Four years in planning, the film finally hit the screens on April 11th. Nothing much about the film has been released to the public. The mystery around the film is creating a buzz amongst people. The trailer, posters have been trending in social media sites. Gangster is directed by Aashiq Abu, stars Mammootty, Nyla Usha, DJ Shekar, Aparna Gopinath, Kunjan etc.

Aprill 11th - Aan Mega Media Release - In 100+ screens

Trailer - 

Ring Master

 Dileep films no matter how bad they are tend to work in Summer Holidays, thanks to Dileep's hold amongst Ladies & Kids. Ringmaster is a Comedy-Thriller, where Dileep will play the role of a Dog trainer go gets into some troubles and is on rush to solve some mysteries. Film is directed by Raffi (of Raffi-Meccartin duo) & stars Honey Rose, Keerthy Suresh etc.

April 12th - Vaishaka Cinema - 80+ screens

7th Day

15th time Prithviraj will be playing a cop in his career. Another investigation thriller for him after Mumbai Police & Memories. 7th day deals with 'David Abraham' a middle aged cop unofficially investigating a case to youch a group of youngsters are tied up to. Film is directed by debutant Syamdhar

 & written by Akhil Paul.

April 11th - August Cinemas - 70 screens

Teasers

1 By Two

Arun Kumar Aravind is back after critically acclaimed 'Left Right Left'. Stars Fahadh Faasil, Murali Gopy, Honey Rose, Abhinaya & is written by noted writer Jeyamohan. Fahadh plays Circle Inspector Yousaf Marakkar& the story is about the cat and game mouse between Yousaf & characters played by Murali & Honey.

April 11th - Thameens Films - 50-60 screens

Trailer

 

Pauly Technic

'Pauly Technic' tells the story of Pauly & his techniques to get the better of Pushkaran, a local politician & his romance with Pushkaran's daughter, SI Aswathy. Is directed by M.Padmakumar and stars Kunchako Boban, Bhavana, Aju Varghese etc. Is written by 'Ordinary' writer Nishad Koya.

April 11th - 50-60 screens

Video Song

'Naan Sigappu Manithan' stars Vishal & Lakshmi Menon. Vishal will be playing Indran who is has a form of sleep disorder called Narcolepsy. Film is directed bu Thiru (Samar) & produced by UTV Motion Pictures & Vishal Film Factory. Will Release in TN on 11th, but Kerala release will be on 15th.

April 15th - E4 Entertainments - 50-50 screens 

Trailer

 

 

Allu Arjun's 'Lucky The Racer will not be releasing simultaneously with 'Race Gurram' (April 11th) due to unavailability of theaters. It might be pushed to April 25th where it will clash with Dulquer Salmaan & Nazriya's 'Samsaram arogyathinu Hanikaram'

Mollywood comes to a standstill in Satellite Rights Issue ?

There are about 10-15 General entertainment Channels (GEC) in Malayalam, with many waiting to get launched. There will be a fight, naturally, to grab the eyeballs. One of the major source of revenue for channels in Movies. Due to the growing demand for grabbing rights, the satellite rates have gone through the roof, especially in the past 2 years. For small films the rights makes up most of their production budget, and for superstar films they could even cover the budget. Since each channel is involved in a mud fight, who want the movies at any cost, weren't at first concerned about the inflating rights, even though every now and then news of stopping irrational buys come up.

The situation got worse in the past few months. A new generation film which was super hit at Box Office when premiered on TV got shockingly low TRP ratings. There were many other examples too, most of them belonged to the so called new generation films. A superstar film that released last year a figure as satellite right that was more than the film's budget, but was disaster at the Box Office. So with the number of hit films dwindling down and most of the hit film not catering to family audience channels have now decided to put a break on the mad rush to buy satellite rights at explosive rates.

This has put Mollywood in a spot of bother. Now a days many films are being made think only about Satellite Rights in mind, as the producers will get the full sum before film hits the theaters, they don't really have to worry about the fate of the film at Box Office and the channel heads end up with red face. But there are a lot of genuine film makers who got into trouble as instead of lending money from bankers or 'Shylock's', which was the usual practice till few years ago, they depend on satellite rights. Lots of movies are stuck up in cans due to this. Many announced films got cancelled or postponed indefinitely, many are stuck half way filming. Law Point which was about to release last week got postponed. Films of Mohanlal, Dileep, Mammooty won't be much affected by the regulations as even their flop movies have respectable ratings on TV. For all others it depends upo Director, songs, Box Office fate etc.  Even though there was an adalat organized by Kerala Film Producers Association for a common place for channel and movie people to interact and address the concerns and complaints of producers. But nothing much came of it either.

In a way its harsh on channels as i most of the cases they loose tons of money for no reason of their on. So strict regulations are needed. But it will not be fair to but films based on theatrical run as there are many good films, sans any stars, which don't get much of a theatrical run, for various reasons. So

1. Either show the film or selected clips from it to respected authorities of channels, like they show it to distributors
2. Give the full script to channel authorities to read
3. A Contract by which they can return a % of money if it the ratings aren't great during premiere and doesn't improve after 2/3 airings [Father's Day (2012) had better ratings durin 2nd and 3rd airings than premiere show]
4. The loss made in the film should be compensated in the future film of the studio or star or producer or director
5. Delay CD-DVD release till TV premiere

Drishyam - Magnificent 100 Days - Exclusive Report

 So finally the day is here, 100th day since the film that changed Malayalam film industry for good hit the screens. Released on December 19th as a small scale family film for Christmas - New Year season in now, after 3+ months, 100 days, entering the Summer holidays season. As they big things do come in small packages. The difference between Drishyam and all the all time blockbusters of recent times in other languages is that its purely the victory of good old 'Word of Mouth'. It didn't trend on twitter before release, it still has only 50k likes in Facebook, the trailer songs didn't go viral in YouTube, but most importantly it delivered where it had to, at the Box Office, and that too in style. Everything about the movie was low key, not even 1% of extra gimmicks for commercial purpose. Even the director before release its a small simple family thriller. But boy, he did had a trump car under his sleeves.

Drishyam  today celebrates 100 days @ about 50 centers, which is about twice the number of theaters the previous best, Thenkashipattanam, had. But it was before the era of wide releases & Multiplexes, in which Ordinary did 100 in 1/4th or 1/5th the no. of screens. Plus the film is running is 25 odd other theaters including B, C class and late release A class making it a total of 75 theaters. Plus it wil lhit 100 in Chennai & Coimbatore. Its still running in Pune, Oman, Abu Dhabi.

Drishyam is the first Malayalam film to gross 25, 30, 35 crores from Kerala. The Kerala gross is about 38.50 crore in 100 days with a distributor share of over 16 crores. The Rest Of India gross is estimated to be around 11 crore mark The film also had tremendous run in overseas, especially USA, UK, UAE, where it grossed about 9+ crores. Within a few days the film will become the first Malayalam film to enter the 50crore club (India alone) and 60 crore club (Worldwide). The film which beat the record of 'Twenty 20' being the biggest grosser ever, in just 30 days, is also doing great business in Home Video Pre-Order sales.

The played more than 24, 000 shows in theaters across Kerala, which is 9,000 more than the previous best Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja.Rest of India show count is about 3200 and overseas show count of about 1000-1500. making it close to 29 K shows worldwide. 

So lets take a moment to celebrate the work of Team Drishyam and shower all the accolades on them that we could possibly get.
  

Crew

 Directed by     Jeethu Joseph
Produced by     Antony Perumbavoor
Written by     Jeethu Joseph
Music by     Anil Johnson
Vinu Thomas
Cinematography     Sujith Vaassudev
Editing by     Ayoob Khan
Studio     Aashirvad Cinemas
Distributed by     Aashirvad Release Through Maxlab

Designs Collins Leophil

Cast

Mohanlal as Georgekutty
Meena as Rani George
AnsibaH as san as Anju George
Baby Ester as Anu George
Kalabhavan Shajon as Constable Sahadevan
Siddique as Prabhakar
 Asha Sarath as IG Geetha Prabhakar
Aneesh G Menon as Rajeesh
Roshan Basheer as Varun Prabhakar
Neeraj Madhav as Monichan
Irshad as SI Suresh Babu
Kunchan as Madhavan
Kozhikode Narayanan Nair as Sulaimanikka
BaijuV.K as Soman
P.Sreekumar as Rani's Father
Shobha Mohan as Rani's Mother
Koottickal Jayachandran as Murali
Kalabhavan Rahman as Bus Conductor
Kalabhavan Haneef as Theatre Operator
Antony Perumbavoor as Antony
Balaji
Pradeep Chandran

 Credits also to those uncredited in the Wiki page, the light boys, spot boys, drivers, caterers, make up man etc & also theaters, poster men, security, fans, audience, internet fans etc

Few articles about Drishyam

Drishyam sets another record !!

Drishyam completes 50 Glorious days - Exclusive Report

Drishyam - All Time Blockbuster - Exclusive 27 days Box Office Update

Jeethu Joseph clears the air about Drishyam controversy

Fahadh Faasil's '1 By Two' breaks Mr.Fraud's Record !!

1 by Two trailer sets new record clocking 1 lakh views in 1 day, beats the 'most views in 24 hours' record [For Malayalam Films] of the 10 second teaser of Mohanlal starrer Mr. Fraud [~ 90k views]. The trailer is also the 7th most watched video in the past 24 hours in YouTube India. The trailer has also get positive reviews generally.

Coming from Arun Kumar Aravind who gave us Cocktail, Ee Adutha Kalathu, Left Right Left One By Two is one of the most expected movies of 2014. The movie over shot its budget, shooting days, release date is finally making to theaters on March 21st.

A Universal Cinema Production

Edited & Directed by Arun Kumar Aravind
Produced by Rakesh Bahuleyan
Distribution: Thameens Release
Story: Jeyamohan
Director of Photography: Jomon Thomas
Art Director: Prathap R.
Music & BG Score: Gopi Sunder
Audiography: Harikumar N.
Sound Design: Arun S. Mani - Vishnu P.C.
Action Director: Jolly Bastian
Costumes: S.B. Satheesh
Make-up: Rahim Kodungallur
Publicity Designs: Thought Station
Trailer Edit: Prejish Prakash

Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Murali Gopy, Honey Rose, Abhinaya, Master Eric, Shyamaprasad, Sruthi Ramakrishnan, Azhagar Perumal, Ashvin Matthew, Fathima Babu, Balaji, Allanseyer

"When the Mind sings, You face the Music."

Trailer & Teaser

) )

Mohanlal's 'Mr.Fraud' commenced filming by setting multiple records !!

 Mr.Fraud will be Mohanlal's next (big summer) release after the mighty blockbuster 'Drishyam'. B Unnikrishnan - Mohanlal team that gave you super hits like Madambi, Grandmaster reunites in this project.

Only few days into filming, Mr.Fraud is already creating waves. The audio rights of the film has been sold to a record sum according to the director.

Unnikrishnan Bhaskaran Pillai

Mr. Fraud's shoot in full swing. We are going to shoot the first song tomorrow. Very happy to say that Techzone , after listening to the album, has obtained Fraud's audio right for a whopping price: perhaps the biggest price an album fetched in last five years. Gopi, Hari Narayanan, Sankar Mahadevan, Sudeep and Sithara...guys, you rock!

There are also rumors that Sony Music will be entering Mollywood via Mr.Fraud.

The makers also released the teaser, featuring Mohanlal, on the very second day he joined the sets, perhaps a first time in Indian (or may be world) cinema. The teaser has been receiving rocking response from all over, which has been viewed over 85,000 times in a single day, a record for Malayalam films. The view count has gone above 1 lakh views by now. The teaser was also trending in YouTube.

The film is currently red hot in the trade due to Drishyam factor and UKB-Lal combo. So all the rights are expected to be sold at record or close to record prizes. Film will be completed in one schedule and is expected to release on May 1st/8th.

Mr.Fraud is a heist film written and directed by B Unnikrishnan. It stars Mohanlal, ev Gill (Magadheera Fame), Siddique, Saikumar, Vijayakumar( Veteran Tamil actor), Rahul Madhav, Suresh Krishnna, Vijay Babu, Sreeraman, Devan, Sathaar, ,Biju Pappan, Arjun ( Grand Master fame), Aswin ( Vedivazhipad Fame) Mia, Manjari Phadnis ( Grand Masti, Jane Tu..Ya Jaane Na Fame), Pallavi Chandran (Silence Fame) etc..

Produced by Medimix Anoop & distributed by Aashirvad Cinemas through Maxlab

ev Gill (Magadheera Fame), Siddique, Saikumar, Vijayakumar( Veteran Tamil actor), Rahul Madhav, Suresh Krishnna, Vijay Babu, Sreeraman, Devan, Sathaar, ,Biju Pappan, Arjun ( Grand Master fame), Aswin ( Vedivazhipad Fame) Mia, Manjari Phadnis ( Grand Masti, Jane Tu..Ya Jaane Na Fame), Pallavi Chandran (Silence Fame) - See more at: http://www.thecompleteactor.com/news/21/This+Vishu+with+%22Mr+Fraud%22.html#sthash.66X5LYcy.dpuf

The cinematography of the film is handled by Satheesh Kurup (Pranayam, Anwar,etc) music by Gopi Sunder & lyrics by Chittor Gopi & Hari Narayanan. Manoj will do the editing while Joseph Nellickal is the production designer. Stunt Silva (Mankatha, Jilla, Veeram) will do the action choreography and Dance Choreography will be by Shobi.

The cinematography of the film is handled by Satheesh Kurup (Pranayam, Anwar,etc) while the music is done by Gopi Sundar under the lyrics of Chittor Gopi & Hari Narayanan. Manoj handles the editing while Joseph Nellickal is the production designer of the film. The Stunt Choreography is done by Stunt Silva (Mankatha,Jilla) and the Dance Choreography is by Shobi. - See more at: http://www.thecompleteactor.com/news/25/Mr+Fraud+to+start+rolling+from+Feb+6th.html#sthash.vrsh2B3s.dpuf

The cinematography of the film is handled by Satheesh Kurup (Pranayam, Anwar,etc) while the music is done by Gopi Sundar under the lyrics of Chittor Gopi & Hari Narayanan. Manoj handles the editing while Joseph Nellickal is the production designer of the film. The Stunt Choreography is done by Stunt Silva (Mankatha,Jilla) and the Dance Choreography is by Shobi. - See more at: http://www.thecompleteactor.com/news/25/Mr+Fraud+to+start+rolling+from+Feb+6th.html#sthash.vrsh2B3s.dpuf

First Look Teaser 

Ohm Shanthi Oshaana & 1983 - Box Office Update

The hit parade continues in Mollywood and after a disappointing start we got 2 hits in 2 weeks, both starring Nivin Pauly. '1983' which released on Jan 31st and OSO on Feb 7th have turned profitable for makers (or will pretty soon) from theatrical alone. The good trend that Drishaym and OIPK started is continuing through these films.

OSO has grossed about 6.50 crores from All India Box Office, acccording to latest reports, with Kerala contributing with about 5.5-5.75 crores and Rest Of India doing 75 lakhs plus. The film had an outstanding run outside Kerala, and is still running. The new found interest towards Malayalam film and market, thanks to Drishyam, was capitalized well by the movie as it is one of the biggest grosser ROI considering the names associated with it. Special credits also to Fox Star India, for taking such ventures and giving them a proper release with enough publicity [OSO got one of the biggest release outside Kerala] - Super Hit

'1983' even though moderately promoted had worked magic thanks to the super positive Word of Mouth. The film has grossed more than 5.5 crores so far - HIT

'Happy Journey' - Kerala Release Paper AD with theater list

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

Drishyam completes 50 Glorious days - Exclusive Report

 Drishyam which released on December 19, 2013, completes 50 days of run today in Kerala few centers outside Kerala. It has not only become the biggest grosser & hit ever in the 85 year long history of Malayalam Cinema, has also sort of created record for setting/breaking more records than any other movie.
What ever be the records, all of them were set in record time too.

Drishyam released in about 85 theaters in Kerala and is still continuing in about 71 theaters. The film has completed (or will by this weekend) about 21,000 shows worldwide.The film has crossed 3 crore mark in Ernakulam city alone, 2cr from Calicut city, 1cr from Trivandrum, Thrissur etc and close 1cr mark in Palakkad, Kollam, Kottayam etc. The film has set records in every single center that it has released.

Total Gross from Kerala alone has crossed 30 crore mark, with 5-6 crores expected from Rest of the world. Adding satellite, video & music rights the total revenue should be around 43-44 crores. Even though its still running in many theaters, can't expect the total revenue to touch 50 crore mark, or it might just do it, looking at the rush at main centers this past weekend. 

The remake's have already began pre- pre-production talks. Tamil version will directed by Jeethu himself with Kamal Haasan playing the lead. Crazy Star Ravichandran - P Vasu combo in Kannada. Victory Venkitesh will be doing the Telugu version and rumors says Ajay Devgn might do Hindi version.

37th Atlas-Kerala Film Critics awards 2014 - Complete Winners List

 

37th Atlas-Kerala Film Critics awards 2014 - Complete Winners List

The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honor both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instituted in 1977.

 Best Film - Drishyam

Second best film - Ayal

Best Popular Film - Amen

Best children’s film - Philips and the Monkey Pen

Special Jury Awards -  Orissa, Kunthapura, Vasanthathinte Kanalvazhikal, Pakaram

 Best Director - Jeethu Joseph (Drishyam)

Best Debut Directors - Sajin Sabu (Asthamayam Vare), Abin Jacob (Thomson Villa), Krishnajith (Flat No. 4b), Vinod Kumar (Test Paper)

Mala Aravindan, TG Ravi, MJ Joseph - Life Time Achievement award

Best Actor - Mohanlal (Drishyam)

Best Actress - Remya Nambeeshan (English) 

Second Best Actor - Mukesh (English, Vasanthathinte Kanalvazhikal)

Second Best Actress - Mallika (Kathaveedu)

Best child actor- Sanoop  (Philips and the Monkey Pen)

Best Debut actor -  Niranjay (Black Butterfly)

Best Screenplay - P Ananthapadmanabhan (August Club)

Best Lyrics - Prabhavarma, Madhu Vasudevan (Nadan)

Best Music Director - Ratheesh Vega (Orissa)

Best Singer (Male) - Najeem Arshad (Drishyam, Immanuel)

Best Singer (Female) - Jyotsana (Zachariyayude Garbhinikal)

Best Cinematography - Udayan Ambadi (English)

Best editing  - Sobin K Soman (Ayal)

Best Sound Designer - Tapas Nayik (Nadan)

Best Art Director - Saburam (Memories, Drishyam)

Best costume designer -  S B Satheesh (Daivathinte Swantham Cleetus)

Best make up - Ranjith Ambadi ((Daivathinte Swantham Cleetus, Teens)

Best Book on Cinema -  Drishyaharshathinte Samayarekhakal (P S Radhakrishnan)

  Special Jury mention - 'Kodambakam - Black and White' (P K Sreenivasan)

 

Best Article on Cinema - Manninte Manamulla Eenangal’ (V Lisi Mathews, published in Grandhalokam magazine)

Special Jury mention - 'Vamshanasham Sambhavikunavarekurichulla Kapada Vilapangal' (Chacko D Anthikad)

Salala Mobiles - Exclusive Malayalam Movie Review

  

Salala Mobiles - Exclusive Malayalam Movie Review

Crew

 Directed by     Sharath A. Haridaasan
Produced by     Anto Joseph

Banner Anto Joseph Film Company

 Written by     Sharath A. Haridaasan
Music by     Gopi Sunder
Cinematography     Satheesh M Kurup
Distributed by  Aan Mega Media  
Release dates   23 January 2014
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Cast

    Dulquer Salmaan as Afsal
    Nazriya Nazim as Shahana
    Santhanam as Alakarsami
    Jacob Gregory as Benoy
    Siddique
    Geetha
    Narayanankutty
    Janardanan
    Mamukkoya
    Jose
    Tini Tom
    Raveendran

Salala Mobiles tells the love story of Afsal & Sahaana coming from families who are at the extreme ends, economically. Afsal runs a mobile shop named 'Salala Mobiles' setup with the help of his uncle & Shahana visits the shop regularly to recharge her mobile. At the very first sight of Shahana, Afsal fell head over heels in Love . The story gets a small twist with the entry of Alakarsamy, a tech freak who develops a special kind of app which change the course of their lives.

Salala Mobiles is your usual rich girl poor boy Rom-Com + Family drama. But had it sticked to that genre the film would have atleast been passed as a breezy time pass entertainer. Instead the writer (who is also the director) added plots and sub plots which are not only confusing but irritating at many parts. Even though promoted as Rom-Com the film has very few of both, or at least the viewer feels that way thanks to the inconsistent writing and shoddy narration.

The first half is comparatively watchable, the second half completely goes down the barrel and the movie ends suddenly with an unconvincing climax.

Dulquer Salmaan was okay as Afsal but we have seen quite a few of similar roles from the actor and it is high time that he chose something different, these kind of roles have become sort of cake walk for him. Imagine the horror of heroine getting sidelined in a ROm-Com, thats the fate of Nazriya in Salala. Even in the few scenes got, she just had to look good. Being a Santhanam fan, really felt this houldn't have been his debut film/role in Mollywood, even though he was good. Gregory provided the comic relief, writer tried to cash in on the ABCD duo and it worked, one of the quite few reliefs the film offered. Rest of the 'too many' cast did what they just had to do, nothing significant.

Sharath's debut as a director could gave us only a half baked product, thanks to the script written by himself (His previous script was Jayaraj's 'Rain Rain Come Again', which ended up a disaster)

Except the title song other tracks didn't quite live upto the expectations, Gopi Sundar disappointed in that aspect but did okay job with background score. Cinematography was good, specially the songs. Editing was decent.

Salala Mobiles offers nothing much, except may be for the die hard fans. The combo of Dulquer-Nazriya will help the film to take a huge opening but after that matters looks tough for the film.

Rating: A very generous 2.5/5

Verdict: 'Average'

Last Word: This Number won't be reachable for long, so fans better rush to theaters before it goes out of coverage area.