Goal

Medium : Hindi
Stars : John Abraham, Arshad Warsi, Bipasha Basu, Bomman Irani
Direction : Vivek Agnihotri

The super success of 'Chakde India' has motivated another director,Vivek Agnihotri and the big producers UTV Pictures to come with a film,'Goal' which has got a theme dealing with sports.
Apart from the former film which was based on the Indian hockey team, this film tells the story of football team based in Britain.


Here the coach role is handled by Bomman Irani.( I felt that Bomman Irani is the biggest discovery as far as bollywood is considered in the last 10years )
This film titled 'DhanDhanathan Goal' is entirely picturised in London.


The film opens with the demise of a coach of a South Hall team.The captain (Arshad Warsi) searches for a new coach and finally ends in the discovery of a veteran player/coach(Bomman Irani).He finally decides to make this team a champion,which has not won a big tournament in the past.At the same time,you got an Indian( who is born in Britain) in their main rivals Arston team(played by John Abraham).Due to the racism,he failed to get selection in the final list.So as per request from the coach,he joins the South Hall team.This is not liked by their captain and most team-mates.Any way finally after beating all hazards how this team wins the tournament is what this film deals with.


Hearing the story line,you will be feeling some comparisons with 'Chakde India'.Yes it is,but 'Goal' cannot be compared with 'Chakde India',which has got the best script & direction.You will get thrilled and have a spirit watching the sports scenes in 'Chakde India' and 'Lagaan'.But in that sense 'Goal' is a total failure.


This is for the first time, I felt something negative for Bomman Irani. He is a wrong choice for the coach role.The captain role played by Arshad Warsi is not pleasing.Bipasha Basu in the role of a physiotherapist has not got anything big to do.Quarelling between the team members is dramatic.

John Abraham's body language is good for such a role,especially some of the actions/signs he shows resembles the style of English league players.

The item song placed in the movie is unnecassary.The commentory scenes lacks originality.I dont know why an english-hindi combination is used there.

We dont feel any sympathy or we dont pray for the players in the South Hall team,like we did with players in 'Lagaan' or 'Chakde India'.The football matches are shown colorfully,but the matches & the championship winning scenes are not presented in a lovable and believable way.


The director Vivek Agnihotri who showed technical brilliance through his previous film 'Choclate' has failed to sustain his name here.Cinematography by Attar Singh Saini is excellent.


'Goal' is like a practise match only.The real spirit in watching a professional football match is not at all there.

Rating : 2.5 / 5

Vel

Medium : Tamil
Stars : Surya, Asin, Vadivelu, Kalabhavan Mani
Director : Hari

In 'Vel', Surya & Asin has paired together once again, after the super success of 'Gajini'.This film is directed by Hari, who gave superhit films like 'Sami' & 'Ayya'.After a short gap, Surya is coming in double role.(previous one being, 'Perazhakan', the remake of malayalam film 'Kunjikkoonan')


Like every double role - stories, this one also starts in the younger days of the heroes.While travelling with their parants,one of the twins get separated.Some of the villagers adopted him & he grew up there; while the other one is staying with his parents in the city.The former one is a man of the masses in the village, the latter one is working in a private detective agency.

The city guy fall in love with a VJ in a private channel.When she went to the village side to shoot a programme, accidentally she saw the village hero.At the same time, when the village guy came to the city, he saw his twin brother also.So inorder to make the things little bit more confused and make it a happy ending, both the characters are interchanging their respective places.Thus in the second half the film is taking its pace.In the end how the heroes took revenge on the villain is what 'Vel' tells us.


'Vel' is a mixture of many double role films & Director Hari's previous films like 'Thamarabharani' & 'Ayya'.The villain character played by Kalabhavan Mani and his attitude is told many times before.The director has given more importance to the village background.Only difference is that, for the village hero character, we dont have any heroines. Vadivelu is there to create the comic episodes.


Soorya has given a neat identification for both the characters. Asin is ok. On the villain side, Kalabhavan Mani should have concentrated on the stability in his performance.( since he has not used his own voice, its little bit difficult to judge him )


YuvanSankerRaja's music is blended well with the situations.Priyan has done a good job behind the lenses.Rockey Rajesh has got some big action sequences to workout.


If you want to watch a typical tamil movie which has got some story with romance, sentiments, songs, action, punch dialogues, humour etc; then 'Vel' is also a choice.

Rating : 3 / 5

Sawariya

Medium : Hindi
Stars : Ranbir Kapoor, Sonam Kapoor, Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan
Director : SanjayLeelaBhansali

After the critically acclaimed superhit film 'Black',director SanjayLeelaBhansali is back with 'Sawariya'.Yougest member of Kapoor family,Ranbir Kapoor(son of RishiKapoor) and daughter of AnilKapoor, SonamKapoor is here in the debut role.

The reports after the preview/first show of 'Sawariya' was not healthy.It says that it is not at all a good film as expected.
Since I have to write a review on the film,I had watched it without keeping in mind such comments.

While watching, I felt that all those media reports were false.How can they consider 'Sawariya' as a Film.'Sawariya' will come only under the category of "Drama" or "Light & Sound Show" or "Baale" or something like that.If you are showing any of these things in a movie theatre, you cant call it as a film.

Why I am telling like this lies in the fact that the whole sequences of 'Sawariya' is happening in a stage at night where the backdrops are curtains, building sets, paintings and illuminations.You cant witness such a township in any films across the world;may be you can see such a place in the Arabian tales.Moreover 'Sawariya' has got a non sense story to tell.

SanjayLeelaBhansali has used sets as bg in his last film 'Black' also, but since the story line was strong, it was not at all a thing to be noticed.But here, only sets in the darkness are there without any storyline.

This drama is picturised in a movie camera by Ravi K Chandran.Art director Omung Kumar has some hard work to do creating the backdrops.I will tell my comments on the hero & heroine once they had completed a project which can be called as a "movie".

I feel pity that i wasted my free time watching 'Sawariya'.

It is the biggest disaster in the bollywood history.

A piece of shit, even if covered with a colorful decorative paper, some perfumes sprayed on
it and kept in a showcase, can be called as shit only...( sorry to use such light words )


Rating : 0 / 5

Hareendran Oru Nishkalangan ?

Director Vinayan's latest film 'Hareendran Oru Nishkalangan ?' has got artists like Indrajith,Jayasurya, Manikkuttan,Jagathi,Salimkumar,Bhama('Nivedhyam' fame) & Sherin ('Moonnamathoral' fame).
Among them,the first 3 young guys were introduced to the cine field by the same director once through films like 'Oomappenninu Uriyadappayyan' & 'Boyfriend').

Though title of the film gives us an innocence feeling,its not homely as expected.The pace and the treatment in the opening few scenes (till the flash back starts) carries you to the top of expectations,but as it goes on it leads you to a big downfall.


Hareendran,title role played by Indrajith is the owner of a big IT firm.His close companion from young days Gopalakrishnan,played by Jayasurya who wants to become the executive director of the firm. His only ambition is to earn more & more money,so that he is playing double game with his closefriend.It finally ends in his own murder, leads to an enquiry, finally without much twist & turns, the culprit is caught, hanged to death.The story is not ending there.Finally the public who still feels that Hareendran is the main convict takes the law in hands & he is beaten to death ?!


I cant go without specifying here,a bulk of scenes of this kind which can make the outcome of any film to a tragedy.

The scene in which Hareendran asking his friend GK whether he took a currency bunch of 50,000rs casually and an ordinary reply by the latter as if he took an amount of 50rs is unbelievable.We should realize that we are not living in the year 2070.The biggest contrast here is that,later GK is cheating this close friend with such an attitude, for money.

Moreover It is not good to the see the college scene in which Bhama & her friend talking about former's lover.Here both of them arguing with the same negatives about him at the same time.

Manikuttan's character is a left companion & always like to follow the words of great leader, Cheguvera.We dont understand whether he is serious in his principles.Also by repeatedly using Cheguvera's name and showing him through posters & tshirts,director had made this historic leader a comedy character.

The scenes in which both lovers Bhama & Manikkuttan, travelling in a bike to his native is boring. Only affordable thing happened there is a romantic song 'Kannippene...' (music by Berni Ignateous)

There are many untolerable scenes in the film like the one in which Bhama & Hareendran meets at a hotel,watched by Manikuttan & Salimkumar.Another one is a TV Talkshow where the culprit's father & others discussing and quarelling about the murder issues.There are many scenes in which the incidents are covered through TV news, all those channel backdrops & shots are too amature.

The scenes showing Hareendran's sadness is too lengthy.He is not reacting naturally when a wrong news with his foto came in a newspaper.The scene in which lovers are accepted and being taken to the hotel by her family even after her marriage got stopped is also not sensible.

The hotel song in which all are dancing is picturised in a childish way.We dont know why Bhama who is not there is also placed in few shots.Hearing the voice,its difficult to differentiate whether the singer Rimitomy is talking or singing.

We dont understand the genuinity of hotel dancer role done by Sherin;sometimes she is behaving as if she is innocent,in some other occassions she is going to an extreme end for cheating.


By giving such a climax for the film,we dont know whether the script writer-director is questioning the credibility of judiciary or medias or the public.

Indrajith is like a right man in the wrong party.

Jayasurya's characterisation is incomplete and unnatural; sometimes he is behaving like a comedian,sometimes he is serious,sometimes he is a good friend,sometimes he is a villain...like that it goes on.

Manikuttan is good & matured in his appearance.But when he opens his mouth,it reminds us the same 15year old boy in the serial 'Kayamkulam Kochunni'.He totally failed in the dialogue delivery.So the character given to him is too heavy to hold.

Bala,who is the police officer is not a correct choice for such a role.

Bhama,who got a good opening through 'Nivedhyam' is overacting all the time.


This film's story credit goes to Vishnu Vinayan(Junior Vinayan).

He dont need to be desperate, since his father also gave poor films like 'Ayiram Chirakulla Moham', 'Kanyakumariyil Oru Kavitha','Superstar' etc in the beginning of his career.


Since I am not writing a novel,stopping here.

It would have been better if the film was titled 'Satheesh Nair Oru Nishkalangan ?' rather than 'Hareendran Oru Nishkalangan ?'...
(SatheeshNair happened to be the producer of this film)

Rating : 1 / 5

Rock N Roll

Last time when I wrote the review on 'Paradesi',I started it with specifying the hero's previous venture 'Alibhai'.

Reading it,one of my friends told that it was not good to start like that,a past is a past.

So taking into account his words,I am not giving any comparisons for Mohanlal's latest project 'Rock
N Roll'.This movie is scripted & directed by Renjith.He is the trend-setter man who opened the way
for heroism subjects through 'Devasuram' followed by 'Aaram Thampuran','Narasimham','Valyettan', 'Usthad','Ravanaprabhu' etc.


Here Mohanlal is in the role of Chandramouli,who is a musician and a drum player.He has got many friends in Chennai,the homecity of south indian films.It includes music directors played by Siddique & Mukesh,Keyboard player Rehman,Violinist Lal,Tabalist Harisree Asokan etc.As per their request, Chandramouli reaches Chennai to play drums in a recording.In the first impression itself he likes the girl who came to sing the song.Lakshmi Rai,who has done some tamil-kannada films before is a new face here in this role.

Our hero,who always hate the ideas of becoming love or getting married is changing his character soon.He was in a busy schedule on the way to South Africa,but cancels his trip,plans to stays here.He himself took the role of a music director with the help of tabalist & a dummy producer,played by Jagathi.Thus in the second half what all things Chandramouli does, to get her love by creating a composition is what 'Rock N Roll' is.

Anyway 'Rock N Roll' has not received a good opening.(i have been regularly witnessing the first day crowd for any superstar films in the capital city for more than 15years).
Till first half Mohanlal's character is having a very long hair.So the posters showing such an appearance,some pre-release reports which came in film magazines and also the english title of the film must have deflected negatively on the audience.

'Rock N Roll' is a different attempt by Renjith which is picturised completely in Chennai.Here also the
director is trying to project the heroism,but it is not in an usual action style.The scenes in the beginning in which Siddique searching for Chandramouli, reminds us the scene in 'Aaram Thamburan'.
Words praising the hero like, Mouli has got only few friends in India like ARRehman & Zakkir Hussain, is just difficult to digest.

There are also dialogues in which his friends says that Chandramouli is unpredictable,he behaves in a different manner always,he is like that only... they are all different words to boost heroism.

The second half where the hero tries to shine infront of the heroine by composing songs,is treated in a comic way with the help of Jagathi & Suraj Venjarammood.It reminds us some of the old Priyadarsan films where there were no place for a depth in story telling.In the middle we have the
character of Manoj K Jayan,who is a goonda & an old friend of the hero.He is a character created to
guard the hero from some of the hazards he is facing.


There are some unwanted characters and situations in the film.

The main one being Swetha,who is in the role of a choreographer.Her friendship with Chandramouli shown in an european style must have been liked by north indians,but an average malayalee dont want to see such hi-fi sequences which is not at all necassary for the subject.

Then Rehman's character who goes behind every women & his strict wife's role played by Praveena is already told a 100 times before.

Mukesh's character is also not necassary for this subject.Also the song featuring Chandramouli & his friends singing and dancing infront of the heroine is appearing without any notice.

Suraj Venjarammood's character is there to grab his popularity.He is in the role of an untalented music director,who is a judge for reality shows.(I am totally disagreeing with the words Chandramouli
telling to this man.The script writer is targeting music director Sharath here.Sharath's talent/caliber should not be judged with the number of films he has worked.If you had heard songs from
'Kshanakathu','Pavithram','Sindoorarekha','OttayalPattalam' etc you will also agree with me...)

Only thing which is strong here is the relationship between Lal's character & his divorced wife's role done by Rohini. Also the director has taken effort to show some of the things which are not discussed so far in our films like music composing, live recording, final mixing etc.

In the climax song,'Ravereyaayi...' in which the hero expressing his love is a good composition by Vidyasagar.He has scored the high pitch number with an excellent orchestration.He is a notable name in the technical team as far as 'Rock N Roll' is considered.

ManojPillai's photography,in which the majority of scenes happening in indoor portions is colorful. Bijibal has done the re-recording.


'Rock N Roll' is not a big entertainer to promote / at the same time it is not too bad to be cornered.If this film was released at a time 10years before,with a different name,it would have been flown with the wind.

But at this time,I dont think it will create a news.

Rating : 2.5 / 5

Om Shanthi Om

" Have you seen 'Om Shanthi Om' ? ", " Have you seen the song in 'Om Shanthi Om' featuring all the top stars in bollywood ? ",these are the FAQs by the public these days.Such publicity stunts has never affected me.If i wish to watch a movie,it will happen at any cost.A promotion is necassary for a movie to reach the audience,but its not a good trend to follow the media hype as it is.



'Om Shanthi Om' is Sharukh Khan's next venture with choreographer turned director Farah Khan after 'Main Hoon Na'.The movie is produced by the hero itself under the banner of Red Chillies
Entertainment.This is heroine Deepika Padhukone's debutant film in hindi.She being daughter of veteran sportsmen Prakash Padhukone,has acted in a kannada film before.



When I saw the title logo style in the posters of 'Om Shanthi Om',I discussed the difference in it with a friend of mine.We thought it was just a new style adapted from the olden days.But when i watched the film i understood,the style was created according to the mood of the story which happens in the later 70's.



This film opens with the song from Karz,'Om Shanthi Om...' featuring Rishikapoor.We can see our hero Omprakash dancing with the audience in the shooting floors.He is an extra artist here wishing to become a big hero one day.He is in mad of the super heroine Shanthipriya.Omprakash saves her from
an accident happened during a shoot.Thus both become close to each other.One day he came to know that she is having some problems with the producer Rakesh Mehra(Arjun Rampal).But he cant stop the worse from happening.Shanth is murdered and in a desperate attempt to save her life,he lost his life also.


In the post interval session,the story is happening in the current period.Here our hero got a rebirth, he is the new superstar in bollywood now.Some of the incidents happened 30years before comes to
his mind often.He who know the villain plans to trap him.The NRI,Mehra is planning to take a movie after a long gap.How the hero & party takes revenge is what shown in this film which turns a slightly horror look in the end.


Though the old period is not recreated as it is in the first half,we are getting a sense of it through the huge building sets used for shooting those daya.Art director SabuCyril has got a big role in
this film.The Costume department headed by Manish Malhotra & Karan Johar helped the director very well.Make up according to the period for artists should also be noted here.(make up and body language of Omprakash played by Sharukhkhan is very average only,it needs more clarity)


The visual effects work done by Red Chillies VFX for songs in which Deepika acts opposite SunilDutt & RajeshKhanna is good to see.Music director Vishal-Sekhar has given songs based on the situations, but it wont be remembered for a long time.Re-recordist Sandeep Chowta has got a different job to do in both halves of the story.Cinematographer Manikandan has got some colorful frames.


The scenes in the second half is not having its depth.The major portions are covered by a Filmfare function in which our hero gets the best actor award,a song in which almost all the bollywood
artists are dancing,an item song by the hero himself & a song in the climax.Other scenes are there only for a lead to the climax-anti climax portions in which the villain is being cornered.


There is no logic in the 10mnt song featuring a bulk of artists, right from Dharmendra to SayedKhan. It is good only to be used as a promo for this film.Also people who love to see many actors together, without watching hindi films usually, will like such a song.


The film fare award function scenes are presented in a sarcastic manner.Since we people are not so close to the hindi actors,i dont know whether it will reach the audience as expected.The scenes in which the superstar comes to act in a film,hears the story from a director who behaves like a joker etc are all there to create a laugh,but the impact is not there.


Shreyas Talpade who came through 'Iqbal' is the friend of Sharukh.He got two different appearances, but he has to get more experience to handle the old aged role in the second half.ArjunRampal, Kirankher & Bindu has peformed well in their roles.The tall Deepika Padukone is not having much to do infront of camera.Sharukh Khan is here in his usual style only.


'Om Shanthi Om' is not that big compared to 'RangDe Basanthi', in which two different periods are blended well with a good script/direction.
Also this film is not giving any message like Sharukh's previous hit 'ChakDe India'.

But if you had planned to watch,I wont block your attempt.Its a different film.

Rating : 3 / 5

Aayur Rekha

The film 'Aayur Rekha' directed by debutant GM Manu is based on a literary work by writer KK Sudhakaran.Dennis Joseph has provided the screenplay for this subject.He once gave notable big budget hits in malayalam like 'New Delhi','Rajavinte Makan','Indrajalam', 'Nirakkoottu', 'No 20 Madras Mail' etc.This is what gave me some confidence in this project.But in the course of time,at a span of last 6-7years,unfortunately he dont have a big hit to be projected.His recent films 'Vajram', 'Thaskaraveeran', 'Ebraham Lincoln','Chirattakalippatangal' etc are infront of us as examples.


Cinematography of 'Aayur Rekha' is handled by Aanandakuttan,the most experienced cameraman in the South India.Castings include Mukesh,Sreenivasan,Jagathi,Saikumar,Indrajith,Urvasi,LakshmiSharma('Palungu' fame),Jyothirmayi etc.



This film is an investigation subject rolls around the lady lead done by Lakshmi Sharma.She is the owner of a private hospital.She is an open character.She is married and also got a child.Due to some family problems she is seeking divorce from her husband.In the first half she is being linked with many characters through various incidents.This is only to make us confused after she is being murdered at the interval time.Srinivasan is the officer who is conducting the enquiry. In a thrilling second half,he finally reaches the culprit.



After reading these,i think you will be little bit interested in watching this film.It is natural,since investigation thrillers has got a minimum guarantee among the audience.But you will get totally
upset after you have watched 'Aayur Rekha'.



This is due to some of the non sense portions in first half.The film starts with a song in which Mukesh who is the drama musician dancing & singing with extra artists.Also there is another song in which he is dreaming about the lady neighbour played by the heroine.Those two should have been totally avoided.Then about Jagathi's characterisation;it lacks naturality.Though he is from the beginning till end,it is leaving us many questions.


In the second half the film is taking its pace.When it reaches the anti climax scenes where the police finds the culprit,we might have forget about the outcome of the previous session.But again the end climax portion which is a surprise,has resulted in a failure.



Lakshmi Sharma,Sreenivasan & Saikumar has done their roles very well.So a neatly scripted & perfectly edited first half with a believable climax scene would have changed the total quality of 'Aayur Rekha'.

Though 'Aayur Rekha' has got some positives to project,they are covered up and dominated by a bulk of negatives.

Rating : 2 / 5

Azhakiya Thamizh Makan

'Azhakiya Thamizh Makan' is young star Vijay's next tamil film after his previous hit 'Pokiri'. This film is directed by new comer Bharathan.Music of this film is given by the trend setter man, AR Rehman. Superstar's heroine in 'Sivaji',Shreya is playing the lady lead here. 'Azhakiya Thamizh Makan' has got some malayalee-connections also.The big budget one is produced by Appachan under the big banner Swargachitra.They once gave us hit films like 'Inharihar Nagar', 'Godfather','Friends' etc.

As every hero oriented subject, this film also started with an action sequence followed by a song. The hero meets his lady love asusual in the temple.Songs are there to bind their relation well.
In the plot,one twist has been given by the writer/director here;may be he might have inspired this from the english film named 'Final Destination' or malayalam film 'Iyer the Great'.Thus the extra sense of the hero is also not new to us.

Another thing that is shown here is hero's double role,where the second guy plays the negative role.As far as actor Vijay is concerned this is new,but this cliche is shown in many ways since the old days of 'Seetha aur Geetha'.The misunderstandings which is happening when both these characters are interchanged is not conceived seriously in a make belief manner.In the climax portions,how the postive character wins the match is what explained in 'Azhakiya Thamizh Makan'.

The negative character has got a glamorous heroine in the form of Namitha who comes in three scenes including an item song.Also the way in which she comes in the climax portion reminds us the unnatural masala films in the 90's.Sex bomb Shakeela's role & the comedy sequence created with the a malayalee character who comes to take a film on her is not at all appealing.Lack of good comic situations or a solid depth in story is witnessed very well in the film.

AR Rehman's songs is like an Ayurvedic medicine.Though it will take sometime to be a hit,it is matching the scenes well.Among them there is also an extra modern remix of old hit song, 'Manmadhan vanthal...' Asusual, Rehman has done an excellent job in re-recording.Cinematographer Balasubramanyam who was once associate to KV Anand is a promising name like his guru.I felt no identity or differentiation in acting when the two roles done by Vijay is compared.Sreya is charming in her role.Songs are colorful,especially the steps in the introduction song is notable.

The name 'Azhakiya Thamizh Makan' suggests something different, but it is not so beautiful as you expects.

Rating : 3 / 5

Jab We Met

Weeks before when I saw the scenes of the hindi film 'Jab We Met' in a TV Trailor show,it has some shots which is similar to that of a malayalam film 'Vettom' directed by Priyadarsan.So i double checked the director's name there;I expected it to be another buzz from that king of remakes.But to my surprise,director's name was given as Imtiaz Ali.

( Since 'Vettam' is already a hindi remake, I thought it was my foolishness thought.But there are also examples like 'Dhol'.It is a new hindi film directed by Priyadarsan which is the second remake of malayalam hit 'Inharihar Nagar'.Someother director has already remade it in hindi 12years before. )


All those predictions was in vague,when i watched 'Jab We Met'.It was a totally different film.Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor played the main roles here.The story rolls around these two characters,the hero being the son of a multi millionaire and the other one a smart young lady who belongs to a higher class sikh family.



Shahid is leaving his own company due to some family problems.On the way, in a train he came across Kareena who is in search of her lover.She is too talkative; in the beginning he doesn't like this character; later her such an attitude towards the life is inspiring him, thus he accepts the reality & came back to normal life.As time passed,on the other side when her jolly life is changed to a little darker side, he comes to her help. What happens to them in the end is a suspense, it is not as you see in all hindi films.



In the 70's & 80's almost all the hindi films has some story to tell and it was widely accepted by the audience.In such an aspect,'Jab We Met' will remind us about that golden era as far as the industry is concerned.This film is a great relief from the 'Murder' trend these days.


Other than shahid & Kareena, the only well known artist in the film is Dhara Singh,who comes in the role of heroine's grandfather.All the artists has performed well, among them Kareena & Shahid should be given the maximum marks.


Director Imtiaz Ali who came from the tele serial field has directed a film named 'Socha Na Tha' before.But this time he has caught attention by moulding the characters very well in such a love story.Music by Pritam,Cinematography by Natraj Subramanyam also goes well with the movie.


If you are a regular viewer of hindi films, then dont miss 'Jab We Met'. Here no gimmics is used to tell the story.

Rating : 4 / 5

Naalu Pennungal

Once I reached home after watching new malayalam film, 'Naalu Pennungal', one of my friends phoned me & asked,
'How was the movie ?
'I said, 'What to say, film is having 1hr45mnts in length,among them 45mnts is spend for showing road tarring,eating meals etc...'
In reply, he who knows about my blog told me that he is eagerly waiting for my review on 'Naalu Pennungal',also challenged me to write the same words on review.
Though I agreed to do it at that time,I am not specyfying those words here.

Veteran Adoor Gopalakrishnan has scripted & directed 'Naalu Pennungal' based on 4 short stories by notable malayalee writer Thakazhi.The director's last film,'Nizhalkoothu' got released almost four years ago.That film was his first movie to be picturised in Cinemascope and it has got background score by Ilayaraja.

I heard that initially Adoor was planning to take a tele series in Doordarshan based on Thakazhi stories.Later the plan got changed & then this feature film got happened.But what i felt now is that Adoor's choice would have been better if he had picturised these stories for television.
All the stories are happening in the mid century period,the time when our country got freedom.

The first story 'Oru Niyamalanghanathinte Katha' has got artists like Padmapriya, Sreejith Ravi, Sona Nair, Manoj K Jayan & P Sreekumar.Padmapriya has got the role of a sex worker.Road tarring scenes & Court scenes covers the majority of the backdrops here.

The second story 'Kanyaka' has Geethu Mohandas,Nandu & M R Gopakumar in lead roles.The consequences of the marriage happening in a lower middle class family is discussed here.Paddy field scenes & Eating scenes are shown deeply here.

The third story 'Chinna Amma' has Murali, Mukesh & Manjupillai in it.It deals with the problem faced by a middle aged couple after a long run of marriage life.Nothing special to be noted in the story.Also i didn't understand the climax of this story.

The last & lengthy story 'Nithya Kanyaka' has got big starcast like Nanditha das, KPAC Lalitha, Kavyamadhavan, Asokan, Ravi Vallathol, Ramya Nambeesan etc.What happens if an elder member remains unmarried and fedup after all the members in the family got partners is shown here.Most of the time marriages of different members are shown in the background.

We can see all the stories discussing a common fact,the effects and consequences of marriages in different arenas of the society.It is happening in the travancore area almost 50years before.

All the artists has performed based on director's guidance & the outcome is excellent.The Costumes and the Art department has to be appreciated well.The film picturised in Ambalappuzha,in Alappuzha district will give us a nostalgic feel of kerala in the olden days. Adoor's companion for all his projects,cinematographer Mankada Ravivarma is not seen here.It has been compensated through good/calm frame work by MJ Radhakrishnan,who is an unavoidable name in such a stream of films now a days.Background music by Issac Kottukapally is also good.

Most of the situations in the film is not new,it has been seen many times in many films before. Thats why i prefered these to be told in a teleseries format.

On the direction side, I dont know why scenes/shots are deliberately dragged.Adoor has been practising the same throughout his life,but this time some sequences are repetetive and most of
them too slow to be noted.What we can witness is a 'pindrop silence'.Since such films are targeting Film Festivals outside the country, may be this lagging might have created for the viewers to read a subtitle twice or thrice and undertsand the sequence.

As you know, a film like 'Naalu Pennungal' has got a separate audience.While watching it with only 10% of theatre attendance,most of them were restless,some of them screamed,some of them left in the middle,some of them slowly criticised,some of them slept,some of them...

Now you will be feeling that I really dont like watching parallel movies like 'Naalu Pennungal', thats why i had written like this...
sorry,I always loved movies like 'Chidambaram', 'Oridathu', 'Piravi', 'Vidheyan', ' Susanna', 'Danny' etc.

Rating : 2 / 5

Namnaadu

Sarathkumar's new tamil film 'Namnaadu' is a political subject.He is acted as the Home minister.The fim is directed by Suresh,who once did films like 'Arasu' & 'Gambheeram' with the same hero.This is Karthika's debutant film in tmil as heroine.Nasser has done a supporting character in the film.



The actor turned politician Sarathkumar after being expelled from DMK,formed a new political party.So taking into account of the current political situation in Tamilnadu,i think this is the ideal role for Sarathkumar.Different from Kerala's scenario,there the heroism can reflect on one's political image also.


Hero's father role done by Nasser is a corrupted minister.
The hero character fights against his illegal behaviors and emerge as a good leader among the public. Finally when the current ministry resigns,he wins as independent candidate against his father.


Hero's seat is vital for the winning party to hold majority,he became the home minister. He is doing good for the people,finally the enemity between the father & son comes to an end, the son-in-law who is the villain doesn't like this, kills the former and in the end the hero takes revenge on him.


You might have heard this story somewhere...yes, 'Namnaadu' is the remake of malayalam film 'Lion' acted by Dileep.


Sarathkumar, who once gave superhits like Sooryan','Nattamai', 'Sooryavamasam' etc has not done justice to his role here.Most of the times,he is not active & his body language is average and ordinary.I felt this is due to his entry in the political field.In the middle of such busy schedules as a public servant,he is not at all fit to do a film where there are many retakes & dramas.


So may be the director might had given NOC to most of the shots considering the person who financed for this film.As a result there is no punch in the dialogues as well as the scenes.



Also there are many negatives on the dubbing side,mixing engineer should have concentrated more on this side.The characterisation of hero's mother & heroine's mother is very poor.I dont know why there is scarcity for artists who is doing the roles of supporting characters.
Karthika,who holds a malayalee homely image,after crossing the limits of Valayar,like any other previous artists, she has also done some extra glamour in songs.Charanraj & Riyaz Khan has done their roles satisfactory.


Only good thing that is noticable in 'Namnaadu' is the Kerala Secratariate building,which is never picturised in many tamil films before.It is shown as the Tamilnadu Secratariate where hero's office is situated.


'Namnaadu' is not a promotable one.If you have watched 'Lion',then its more than enough.

Rating : 1.5 / 5