Kadha Thudarunnu

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Jayaram, Asif Ali, Innocent, Mamta Mohandas, KPAC Lalitha, Lakshmi Priya
Director : Satyan Anthikkad
Music : Ilayaraja

In the cine field, usually a film will be a commercial hit and makes business under the credit of notable heroes or stars acted in it. On the other side, very few directors has also got the luck to promote a movie under their label. The senior technician in the field, Satyan Anthikkad is one such person. The director of maximum number of family movies has now done his 50th film, 'Kadha Thudarunnu'. Like the previous few films, this one is also scripted by the director himself, targeting his usual family audiences. Cinematographer Venu, Editor Rajagopal and Ilayaraja, the director's favorite musician are also there in the crew.

The film opens by showing the lovers from different religion, Shanavaz (Asif Ali, 'Ritu' fame) and Vidya Lakshmi (Mamta Mohandas) getting married even after their relatives acted against it. They got a little daughter now. One day, by mistake, a quotation gang kills Shanavaz. As days passed, Vidya finds it difficult to adjust the both ends of her life. She meets an auto driver Preman (Jayaram). When knew about her problems, he take Vidya and her daughter (Baby Ankitha) to his colony. She soon became closer to every one and thus becoming a member of the colony. The lady owner (KPAC Lalitha) of the auto, a lottery sales man (Innocent), a local thief (Chembil Asokan), the crowd supplying agent (Maamukkoya) for union meetings, a self dependent girl (Lakshmi Priya) etc are some of the people living there. As per the advice of her friend (Shruthi Menon) and help of other well wishers in the locality, Vidya decided to re-join the MBBS course, which that got discontinued in the middle. At this time, the relatives of Shanavaz comes there, claiming the responsibility of her daughter. How the situation is solved is shown in the later areas of 'Kadha Thudarunnu'.

Mamta Mohandas has done well in the central character. Jayaram gave a good support in his usual style. Asif Ali, as the key board player, is only there in the few scenes, but his character is registered well through the romantic song 'Aaro Paadunnu...' Baby Ankitha is also good and her innocence in the voice is also attractive. The crowd supplying agent and the local thief are some of the realistic characters which can be seen in any villages. The way in which the mother character telling different reasons to her daughter's doubts, without revealing their pathetic situation is treated well. The participant in the reality show, the life of the lottery sales man etc are also borrowed from the real life. The story of the film goes through a predictable way only. The director has once again successful in presenting the film for the family audiences.

Though the songs, 'Aaro Paadunnu...' and 'Kizhakkumala...' are not the best from Ilayaraja, it goes well with the mood, especially the humming in the first song is used well in the bg score also. It is time for Satyan Anthikkad to stop situations like the one happened in the 'Mazha Megham...' song. The song itself and its visuals are below average only. If song is a must, then it will be good if the musical genius can remake any of his (non popular) hit numbers in the 80's. The lyrical side of Sarath Vayalar in the film is also not strong. The scenes in which the educated lady spending night with her daughter at the railway station cannot be treated as a realistic one.

Few months before, in a discussion regarding the movies and its outcome, one among the group asked others, who is most successful business man in the industry without taking any risks ? The names of many actors, producers and distributors came there in reply, none was right; No need for an explanation, the correct answer was Satyan Anthikkad. We all agreed, hope you also...


'Kadha Thudarunnu' is a positive subject targeting family audiences. It has got yet another signature of the star director.


Rating : 7.5 / 10

Paa

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Amitabh Bachan, Abhishek Bachan, Vidya Balan, Paresh Ravel
Director : Balki
Music : Ilayaraja

Can you believe that a 67 year old actor has done the role of a 13 year old boy ? Anyway it happened in the hindi film industry and the credit goes to none other than Amitabh Bachan. The new film 'Paa' has got Big B in such a different role. In his 40th year of filmi career, this old man had not lost his passion in acting. 'Paa' is written and directed by Balki, the director of Amitabh, Tabu starrer 'Cheeni Kum'. AB Corp and Reliance jointly produces this film.


'Paa' is the story of a brilliant boy named Auro (Amitabh), who studies in the city school. He has been suffering from a rare disease named Progeria (due to which the patient's appearance will be changed, he looks almost five times older and slowly his internal organs also damages with course of time). He stays with his mother (Vidya Balan) and grandmother. On an occasion, the young MP, Amol Arte (Abhishek) visits the school. Auro got a chance to receive an award from him and later develops a friendship in between them through the email. As per Auro's wish, he had agreed to take him to see the Rashtrapathi Bhavan. Due to some official difficulties, the MP can't come on time. Later, he said sorry to the desperate Auro and took him to Delhi, which helped to strengthen their relationship. In between, the mother told the son about his father, Amol Arte. While studying abroad, both were lovers, since he was having his own ambitions in the political field, he was not interested in marrying her and thus they got split. He is still not aware of the fact that Auro is his son. Auro, who is spending his last days in his life, became unconscious and was admitted to the hospital. MP visits the hospital and shocked to see his ex-lover there. What happens to their relationship is shown in the climax scenes.


As expected, the highlight of the film is the boy character. Amitabh Bachan has done the role in an extra ordinary way. The make up for the particular character is also brilliant. It is not easy to spot out the actor, seeing his make up or the body language or the dialogue delivery. Since we are aware that this role is done by Bachan, such a task is not needed, otherwise it would be an impossible attempt.


The majority of the dialogues used by Auro had got a comedy touch. The mother-son chemistry has been neatly handled by the director here. Mother's attitude in caring his son and her deep affection towards the son is also touching. Vidya Balan gave her best performance here. The grandmother's (Arundathi Nag) role is also a lovable one. Abhishek Bachan had also done a good job as the clean politician.


Though the director might have included the MP's vision and his sympathy on the poor to justify his escapism from the heroine in the beginning, such things are also needed for the flow of the story. The climax scene might felt cinematic, but in such a situation it is also acceptable. The title sequences done by Jaya Bachan is a different attempt for such a theme.


Ilayaraja's background score gives the life for the film. PC Sreeram's cinematography is excellent. Editing is done by Anil Naidu. The make up team headed by Stephen Dupuis ('Mrs. Doubtfire' fame, the film is the original version of 'Avvai Shanmughi'), are specially notable; they are on the top of the list for giving such an extraordinary output. Unlike from the movie 'Black', which also discussed the lead role as a diseased one, here director Balki had presented the film in a humorous way.


'Paa' is a different attempt from bollywood, where the performance of the old superstar who comes in the little boy's role is the highlight.


Rating : 8 / 10

Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Sarath Kumar, Suman, Manoj K Jayan, Jagathi, Kaniha, Padmapriya
Direction : Hariharan
Script : MT Vasudevan Nair
Music : Ilayaraja

The most awaited malayalam film of the decade has released at last. It has got many specialties. After a gap of 20years, veteran writer MT Vasudevan Nair and director Hariharan creates an epic with Mammootty in the lead role; top musician in the country, Ilayaraja works with the director and the script writer for the first time; Oscar winner Rasool Pookkutty's first malayalam movie; tamil actor Sharath Kumar's debut in malayalam; the costliest film ever made in our state; the malayalam film that took a long period to complete the shooting schedules etc. were some of them. Gokulam Gopalan, a relatively new name in the field has produced it, in the middle of many hurdles and hazards. It all happened in the last 3 years for such a multicast mega budget project named 'Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja' which has been released in four languages now.


The film tells the story of the brave ruler Pazhassiraja, who fought against the East India Company during the 17th century. His palace was attacked and his wealth were looted by the British. Now he started war against them from the covers. He has got many supporters. There were many loses on either sides. Here the main area discussed is the tough time that goes through the ruler's life till his end. How such a great freedom fighter is still remembered at this point of time is what the creators have tried to show through the film.


It is a request that don't ever compare 'Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja' with 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha' which is created by the same team two decades before. May be it is one of the best movies happened in the malayalam film history. But here the circumstances is totally different. A history is totally different from a myth. What all happened in that period is what shown here (an exception is only there in the climax area). The previous movie was straight, silent and it gave more importance for the family sequences and the dramatic areas along with the dialogues. Can you spot a single war sequence in the previous movie. But 'Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja' is not clam, the deep dense forest and the office of the British forms the atmoshere in most areas. Moreover it is flourished with many small and big war scenes. "Less dialogues, more action" is the motto here. 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha' is known as the writer's movie, but 'Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja' will be remembered in the name of the director. Hariharan stands behind MT in 'Panchagni', 'Nakhakshathangal', 'Amritham Gamaya', 'Aaranyakam' and 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha'. As the situation, demanded the director has dominated for the first time. (i am not pulling down the efforts given by the great writer in creating such an unusual plot on papers...)


'Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja' is technically brilliant in all aspects. The cinematographer Ramanath Shetty (did tamil films like 'Allaudin', 'Mrigam' etc) has done a great job here likewise editor Sreekar Prasad. The film which has got many actors along with a bulk of extra artists and that too in the middle of war shots; needs the hands of such experienced technicians. Cameramen like Venu and Manoj Pillai also worked for few scenes.


Another main area to be noted is the music section. I heard many complaints here and there regarding the songs before the release of the film. "kunnathe konnakkum..." by Chitra; "aadiyusha sandhya..." by Yesudas, MG Sreekumar, Chandrasekhar, Vidhuprathap etc; "ambum kombum..." by Ilayaraja, Manjari etc; "aalamadankala..." by MG Sreekumar, Vidhu Prathap, Ashraf, Edavanna Gafoor etc; were among them. Anyway I kept silent for the criticism, I was sure that the songs will be suited well for the situations. Watching the film, my assumption was correct. The songs are blended well according to the situations, especially "aadiyusha sandhya...". It is sad to see that "ambum kombum..." song was not included. But we can't complaint, such compramises have to be done since the length of the film is already 210 minutes. Then, regarding the background score, done by the support of the Budapest Orchestra from Hungary, the musical genius have given one of this best works so far, which holds the backbone for the film. It stands on the top when compared to his works in the bg score side for 'Kalapani', 'Guru', 'Hey Ram', 'Virumaandi' etc.


Sound designing by Rasool Pookkutty is also excellent. The particular shot where the injured hero checks the usage of sword is the best example. I have not seen so far in an indian movie where the war sequences has been covered brilliantly with sounds; which may felt like we are in the war front. Mixing Engineer Anup Dev, who always works for bollywood films has given the best audio output. Art director Muthuraj, Costumers Sai, Vajramani etc might have witnessed sleepless nights during the schedules, but they can claim this as their best project so far. Ravi Dewan from bollywood along with Thyagarajan and Mafia Sasi have composed the best action scenes which involves the 'kalarippayattu', bow and arrow fights along with the sword fights in the film; but they should have avoided graphics shots involving ropes in it which felt un natural.


The performance of all the artists are good. The role of the "roaring lion of kerala" is comfortable in the hands of Mammootty; his scenes towards the end is notable. Sarath Kumar as the lieutenent, Manoj K Jayan as the tribal leader, Jagathi as the mediator and Padmapriya as the tribal lady should be mentioned here.


The problem that can arise while discussing a historical subject may happen in the case of Pazhassi Raja also. Almost all such films are having a common formula. It will be X against Y or vice versa all the time. Since we areaware of the base story, there won't be any chance for a curiosity or a suspense during the journey. But you should keep in mind that in those days the only aim for any citizen was to achieve independence by all means. Hence there is no chance for any dramatic situations, family scenes or any such cliche things which is part of the ordinary masala movies. The producer, director and the script writer who took the boldness to create such a big project should be noted here.


Once out of the theater, a stranger asked whether i have watched the movie, when i said 'yes', he immediately enquired whether Mammootty dies in the end!!! This is where our sensibility lies, we don't know any thing related to history, also the attitude of the audience have changed a lot in the recent past; by asking such a foolish question it is clear that the particular man is a fan of star oriented films; he doesn't want to see the hero dies in the end. who is the culprit here, the creators or the viewers ?!


Movies like 'Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja' happens once in a while; Does it gives any happiness for you by running way from it...? Such bold attempts should be welcomed and appreciated.


Rating : 8.5 / 10