The Thriller

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Prithviraj, Sampath Raj, Subair, Sidhiq, Lalu Alex, Katherine Theresa
Director : B.Unnikrishnan
Music : Dharan, Shaan Mon (bg score)

After 'Raavanan' and 'Anwar', young star Prithviraj's next role is also an action oriented one, the name of the movie being 'The Thriller'. It is directed by B.Unnikrishnan ('Pramaani', 'Maadambi', 'IG', 'Smart City' fame). He was also the writer of police stories like 'Sivam' and 'The Tiger' (both directed by Shaji Kailas). Sabu Cheriyan ('For The People', 'Finger Print' fame) is the producer. Cinematography is by Bharani.K Dharan ('Puthiya Mugham', 'Police Police' fame). Dharan (tamil movie 'Paarijaatham' fame) is the music director.

Niranjan IPS (Prithviraj), the DCP is investigating the murder of the young business man Simon Palathinkal (Prajin). Simon is brutally killed on the road at mid night. His last words were taken by Niranjan as a lead towards those who did the crime. He had arrested few and also assumes that the two friends who traveled with Simon just before the murder, should have some links with the case. Any way the top officials were ready to close the case since most of the men behind were caught. But Niranjan was not satisfied, he was going behind the real culprits, until it is revealed in the climax part of 'The Thriller'.

The story of the movie is based on a sensational murder incident happened in the state. The director had presented it the best way needed for a suspense investigation thriller. The maximum heroism has been given for Prithviraj, especially the introduction action scene followed by a song. His police role is reminding some of the Suresh Gopi movies in the past. The dialogues (like "born to one father...") and some of the situations created between officers in the police force, villain and the hero etc has got the flavor of the movies like 'Commissioner', 'FIR', 'Tiger' etc. Bharani.K Dharan's fast visuals gives an action mood and it has been edited neatly by Manoj, but some where the over projection of heroism to the lead character through shots were evident. Sampath Raj ('Anwar', 'Goa', 'Chennai 600028' fame) did well in his character.

The heroine Katherine Theresa needs more maturity in performance, though her role is not big. The romantic song featuring the old lovers and the item song were not needed in such a situation. The way in which the heroine tried to express her feeling towards the lover, creates a negative reaction on the viewers. The running scenes followed by actions are created in such a way that the hero is badly needed to end any illegal activities happening or to catch any criminals. Action scenes by Anal Arasu ('Anwar', 'Sagar Alias Jackie', 'Big B', 'The Tiger', 'Keerthichakra' fame) are fast and catchy, but he should take extra care to notice the fact that floor carpet beds for the extra artists to fall are revealed in many shots. The gun shots in the climax fight felt unrealistic. Songs by Dharan are not the best. Bg score by Shaan Mon ('Ring Tone' fame) matches the mood.


Those who love to watch murder investigation subjects with a suspense, can watch 'The Thriller'; here Prithviraj comes in a stylish cop's role.


Rating : 6.5 / 10

Anwar

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Prithviraj, Prakash Raj, Lal, Salim Kumar, Mamta Mohandas
Director : Amal Neerad
Music : Gopi Sundar

First it was Mammootty who gave him the chance to direct a movie, thus 'Big B' happened; Later, Mohanlal decided to use his potential for a movie having the continuation his notable character Saagar (from 'Irupathaam Noottaandu'), through an action subject named 'Saagar Alias Jacky' and that too leaving K.Madhu, who directed the previous version. He is none other than Amal Neerad, a film institute product who began his career with Ram Gopal Varma (in 'James' and 'Siva') as a cinematographer. Though the movies he took were not super hits, the ace director was successful in proving his technical brilliance through the different presentation style. Now it is his turn to direct the young star Prithviraj in 'Anwar'. National award winner Prakash Raj is doing a role here, after 'Paandippada'. Mamta Mohandas, who is pairing with Prithvi for the first time, is the heroine. She has worked with the same director in 'Big B' before.

The movie opens with a bomb blast happening in Coimbatore. The investigation officer (Prakash Raj) has arrested many suspects, Kasim Bhai (Lal) and his gang were also among them. They were remanded and sent to jail. At the same time, Anwar (Prithviraj) who is caught by police in some other case, reached the same jail. It later lead to a good relationship between Anwar and Bhai, thus goes the story of 'Anwar'.

Different from the previous movies by Amal Neerad, here you have got a story to point out. But it is not a new one, it is same as every such stories based on terrorist attacks goes. The visuals are rich, but they are not colorful due to the yellowish tone used for the frames to give a hard feel. The over doze of color correction effects are evident in the climax. The director had added the dialogues and the incidents needed for such a theme in a realistic way, but they won't be an attractive sight for the audience. We have seen similar themes successfully done before in movies like 'Bombay', 'Fanaa', 'Kurbaan', 'Khadgam' (tel), 'Vedam' (tel) and in a different lovable manner in an excellent movie hindi like 'A Wenesday'. 'Anwar' can't be included in that group.

Prithviraj has done well; the dilaogue writers (Unni.R and Sajeevan) had even added some dialogues that points out the hero's original character. Prakash Raj is as usual rocking. Lal is also suited well in a notable character. Mamta doesn't have a big role to do.

Cinematographer Satheesh Kurup had done an excellent job, likewise editor Vivek Harshan. Music director Gopi Sundar had given some hit numbers, the bg score in his style also goes with the movie. The couple of hit songs in the movie happens in the second half, but within an interval of around 3-4 minutes, which should have been avoided. The visuals in the post climax song, sung by Prithvi and Mamta could have been made more attractive (but as the audience are not satisfied so far, the effort would be neglected). Anal Arasu had given some thrilling action scenes. But he should keep extra care while using floor mats for the extra artists to fell down, this is because in the slow motion shots, such carpets are clearly evident in many areas. The continuity of the hero's appearance is lost in some areas, which should have been noticed by the director's assistants.


'Anwar', that discusses the controversial subject of terror attacks and its after effects, is technically ok and the story is also acceptable; but as a whole, the atmosphere won't guarantee you an entertainment or give you a good satisfaction as expected.


Rating : 5.5 / 10

Raavanan

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Vikram, Prithviraj, Prabhu, Karthik, Aiswarya Rai, Priyamani
Director : Maniratnam
Music : A.R.Rahman

A majority of the viewers still don't know that notable director Maniratnam has made his directorial debut in the early 80's through a kannada movie, then did a malayalam movie ('Unaroo', starring Sukumaran, Mohanlal, Rathish etc) and later only started making movies in tamil. He caught attention through the film 'Mouna Raagam' followed by super hits like 'Nayagan', 'Agni Nakshathiram', 'Anjali', 'Dhalapathi' etc. He entered the bollywood industry in the late 90's through 'Dil Se'. Seeing the national market for his movies, in 2004, he made a bilingual subject like 'Aayudha Ezhuthu' ('Yuva' in hindi). His latest tamil-hindi venture 'Raavanan' ('Raavan' in hindi) distributed by Reliance Big Pictures, is shot in the thick jungles of south and north east India. This movie has also got the extra media publicity, as he receives (unnecessarily) for every project started from the time of 'Bombay'.

A brief regarding some of the persons who are in front of and behind the lenses will help us to know, how big is 'Raavanan'. National award winning actor Vikram is doing the title role here. He has grown to great level, with the experience he got by doing films like 'Sethu', 'Pithamahan', 'Saami', 'Anniyan' etc. The heroine is Aiswarya Rai; it is a fact that she has entered the movie industry through 'Iruvar', directed by Maniratnam. One of the luckiest young star in the south industry is none other than Prithviraj, who is pairing with the former Miss World in this movie. Another thing is that senior artists like Prabhu and Karthik, acting together under the director, after 'Agni Nakshathiram', in a gap of around 22years. National award winner Priyamani ('Paruthiveeran' fame) also joins this group.

Though Manikandan ('Anniyan', 'Om Shanthi Om' fame) started working as the cinematographer in 'Raavanan', due to other assignments he moved out and the majority of the portions are later handled by Santhosh Sivan, who got a tamil entry through the director's mega venture 'Dhalapathi'. Dialogues for the movie are written by senior actress Suhasini Maniratnam and songs are penned by director's favorite writer Vairamuthu. Choreography for a song featuring classical steps has been done by actress Sobhana. It is a coincidence that Maniratnam had worked with Musical maestro Ilayaraja in his first 10 projects from 'Pallavi Anu Pallavi' to 'Dhalapathi' while 'Raavanan' is the 10th movie for A.R.Rahman-Maniratnam combination starting with 'Roja'.

The movie starts when Veera (Vikram), kidnaps Raagini (Aiswarya Rai), the wife of the police officer Dev (Prithviraj). Raagini is kept as a hostage in the deep jungles, where Veera's brothers (Prabhu and Munna, 'Gowrishankaram' fame) kept guarding the area. The police troupe headed by SP Dev, searches for Veera's hide outs with the help of a forest guard (Karthik). Raagini tried many times to escape from the custody, but all of them ended in failures. She came to know about the motive behind the kidnapping. What happens to Veera, whether Dev succeeded in catching him and how Raagini escapes from the custody etc are told in the later portions of 'Raavanan'.

Vikram's character is having a psychic nature. Though he has done well, sometimes his eccentric behavior reminds us of his roles in 'Sethu', 'Pithamahan' and 'Anniyan'. Aiswarya Rai is charming, she had adjusted maximum to be suited in such a character with the help of actress Rohini, who gave voice to her. Prithviraj is ok, he doesn't have much to add on the performance side. Priyamani has delivered her best even in such a small role. Prabhu also gave a good support.

Almost all the Maniratnam movies has got one thing in common, the lead characters won't talk straight, they will speak poetic or philosophical type of stylish dialogues, there will also be a pause or silence between sentences. A good observer might understand about this phenomenon. I personally think that it is not a good custom to follow, such a thing is repeating here also. In one way it is true that 'Raavanan' is adapted from the epic Ramayana, but the style of relationship developing between the villain and the lady cannot be accepted in such a sense. The poetic dialogue between those two characters in the beginning area and the scene in the end in which she imitates the villain's 'buck buck...' voice, doesn't felt realistic. Karthik is not fit for such a humorous role, placing any comedians instead of that would have been given a better result (Maniratnam should learn lessons from director Shankar in that area). Nobody should be blamed for the 'controversial' actress Ranjitha, who gets some negative clapping from the viewers, her presence in a couple of scenes reduced the required seriousness.

The fight sequences that leads to the emotional scenes in the climax are done well. The visual effects involved in the jumping scenes are also the best. Cinematography by Santhosh Sivan is the highlight of this movie, he did an excellent and tough job to capture the rainy jungles. Editor Sreekar Prasad also gave some neat cuts. The music section of Maniratnam movies are also getting the hype unnecessarily these days. May be his association with A.R.Rahman in the beginning has given some hit songs, but after 'Alaipayuthey', you can't have many notable numbers coming from this combination. The re-recording of 'Raavanan' is also not the best, like the songs.

Don't expect much from 'Raavanan', it is a typical Maniratnam movie which can be watched for its technical brilliance (making style).


Rating : 6.5 / 10

Kutrappirivu

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Sreekanth, Prithviraj, Kamalini Mukherjee, Sanjana
Director : Manmohan
Music : Vishwa

In the early 90's, many telugu films featuring Chiranjeevi, Nagarjuna, Venkitesh etc which are dubbed into tamil and it were released in our theaters. Later, when films like 'Aye Hero' became a big hit, a new trend started by dubbing telugu films directly to malayalam. It lasts for few years only. There after, dubbing films have lost its market value in our state. In the mid 2000 period, after the arrival of films by young telugu star Allu Arjun, such a trend once again started. It still continues and seeing the popularity of it, even tv channels are acquiring the dubbing rights of many telugu - tamil films. I prefer buying the dvds of telugu films available in the market rather than watching the dubbed version. We have discussed all these, as the new tamil film 'Kutrappirivu' is the dubbed version of the telugu film, 'Police Police'.

It is a coincidence that Prithviraj reached the tamil industry as a co-star with Sreekanth through the film 'Kana Kandein' directed by K.V.Anand, now when he did a telugu film, there also he got the company of Sreekanth in the lead role. The notable thing about the projects is that the young malayalee star had shown the boldness to do negative roles in both of them. Kamalini Mukherjee, who came as Kamalhassan's pair in 'Vettayadu Vilayadu' is the heroine of this police story.

Ravidas (Sreekanth), the ACP is a sincere and energetic police officer in the force. His deputy Ravikanth (Prithviraj), on the other hand is a selfish guy who takes the law in his hands for making money. He makes friendship with the criminals and with their support he engages in all illegal activities and successful in destroying all those who come across his way. To get fame, he had killed few terrorists who were getting ready to surrender and he even killed a senior police official who was aware of his negative attitudes. At one point, Ravikanth even tried to finish Ravidas, but the latter survives. Ravikanth got transfered to another city, Ravidas rejoins the force in another department. After a gap, Ravidas is appointed on a mission in the city where his former deputy is working. How the real criminals are caught is shown in the climax of 'Kutrappirivu'.

Sreekanth is good and stylish in his role. Prithviraj did well in the negative character. Bg score by Vishwa is rich and noisy also. Cinematography by Bharani.K.Dharan ('Puthiya Mukham' fame) is excellent. Editor Sreekar Prasad did the fast cuts. Director Manmohan had tried to make the action packed movie without much lagging.

Though the dubbing and lip sinking is neatly handled, the feel in watching a dubbed movie is still there. Prithviraj's hair style changes from time to time in few scenes; the director's team should have noticed the fault happened. The story demands some twists and turns; as we are shown the bad police officer in the beginning itself, the only thing remaining is that how the evil will be destroyed in the end.


'Kutrappirivu' is an action film showing the two contrasting sides of the police force, those who are very particular about such types of masala entertainers can watch it.


Rating : 5.5 / 10

Pokkiri Raaja

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Prithviraj, Shriya Saran, Sidhiq, Suraaj Venjarammood, Salim Kumar
Director : Vysakh
Music : Jassie Gift, Rajamani (bg score)

The grand success of films like 'Twenty 20' and 'Happy Husbands', provoked the creators to come up with multi-star projects. Though 'Twenty 20' had got a big star cast, the main stars of the particular film might be none other than the script writers duo, Uday Krishna and Sibi K.Thomas. To write such a big project, incorporating all the ingredients necessary for an entertainer by giving all of them equal importance, should be a commentable thing. We shouldn't forget that they are also the writers of the mega budget film by Joshi named 'Christian Brothers', which is under production. Now their new film 'Pokkiri Raaja' had got Mammootty and Prithviraj in lead roles. They are coming together after the unsuccessful film 'One Way Ticket', where the former did the guest role only. The new project is directed by debutant Vysakh, a former associate of Johny Antony and Joshi. Heroine Shriya Saran ('Sivaji' and 'Azhagiya Tamil Makan' fame) comes to malayalam for the first time.

Raja (Mammootty) and Soorya (Prithviraj) are brothers. In the childhood days, due to the quarreling between the two families in the village, Raja went to jail, after being involved in a murder incident. When returns, he is not welcomed by his father (Nedumudi Venu) and he is forced to leave them and reaches Madhurai, where he met a rich man (Charan Raj) and started working for him. When grown up, Soorya reaches the city to live with his sister (Bindu Panicker) and her husband, a coward inspector (Suraaj Venjarammood). Soorya gets in touch with the daughter (Shriya Saran) of the police commissioner (Sidhiq) ans started loving her. This was not liked by his father, as his daughter's marriage was already fixed to the home minister's son (Riyaz Khan). Though both of them tried to destroy Soorya, they were not succeeded. Now the police officer takes the help of Raaja, a 'don' from Madhurai. At the same time, Soorya's father asked his elder son (the same Raaja) to save Soorya from the cruel police officer. How Raaja reacts to such a situation, is told in the second half portions.

'Pokkiri Raaja' is made in a masala entertainer format, where you have got three songs and six fights mixed with some comedy sequences. Jassie Gift gave some good fast numbers, as per the mood (they reminds us of the hit tamil songs from 'Pokkiri', 'Dhool', 'Ayya' etc). The hit duet song 'Manikkinaavin...' by Yesudas-Sujatha must have been included in the film. Songs have been neatly choreographed by Shobi ('Priyanu Mathram... fame). He has been successful in making Mammootty dancing (without vulgarity) in the club song. Swetha Menon finds very difficult to dance in the first song with her 'heavy' body language. Rajamani gave the bg score in his usual style only (he might be fast in delivering the output, but his work is not attractive most of the times). Fights by Kanal Kannan and Mafia Sasi are good. In some shots, the carpets on the floor, for the fighters to fall, are evident; i don't know who among the two stunt masters, is the culprit.

The father character done by Nedumudi Venu and the dialogues by him in many parts felt like a cliche. Just before the introduction of Prithviraj, his uncle (Vijayaraghavan) makes a big 'dramatic' laughing, to praise the former character, which should have been avoided. The childhood scenes of the heroes had got resemblance with films written by Benny P.Nayarambalam, like 'Raajamaanikyam' and 'Annan Thambi'. The character of Sidhiq has got the shades of his own role in the film 'July 4', by Joshi with the same writers. The comedy scenes of Suraaj Venjaramood is repetitive, Salim Kumar's character is having more scope to create laughing situations, which is not done well. The introduction of hero's god father character (Charan Raaj), 'coming out of a luxury car with a gun in white outfits', is not an attractive sight. As the story tells, when calculated the age, Mammootty is in his late 30's; it should have been avoided by generalizing the period, in place of specifying the correct year count !

Mammootty's dialogue delivery using 'negative' English dialogues are good. Though Prithviraj got a chance to show his heroism in the first half, he is being dominated by the title character to a great extend, in the later portions. Dialogues in the combination scenes of both the heroes are also done well. The new director Vysakh had made his debut in a notable way by placing the most valuable stars in the industry, in an attractive manner.


We usually welcome many entertainers from other languages, so no need to hesitate in the case of 'Pokkiri Raaja', which can be a good time pass for this vacation days. Enjoy it with the same mentality, as if you are watching a movie with Rajnikanth & Vijay combination...


Rating : 7.5 / 10

Thaanthonni

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Prithviraj, Saikumar, Suresh Krishna, Suraaj Venjarammood, Ambika, Sheela
Director : George Vargheese
Music : Thej Merwin, Gopi Sundar (bg score)

The 50+ films older actor Prithviraj is termed as the rising star of the new generation. Within the last 8years, he has tried his best to achieve his own position in malayalam and tamil langauges. This has reached its peak as he got a chance to act in director Maniratnam's new film, 'Raavana' which is releasing by the middle of this year. His films like 'Puthiya Mukham' & 'Robinhood' were also included among the few successes happened in the industry last year. It is a fact that a minority malayalee group is still hesitating to accept the new youthful actor.

Prithviraj's new film 'Thaanthonni' is directed by debutant George Vargheese, who has once associated directors like Padmakumar, Anil.C Menon and Bipin Prabhakar. T.A.Shahid, who still has got 'Raajamanikyam' and 'Balettan' as his best works, is the script writer. His previous like 'Alibhai', 'Natturaajavu', 'Kaakki', 'One Way Ticket' etc didn't do well. Sheela ('Maya Bazaar' fame) is the heroine here. The film is produced and distributed by Marikar films.

Kochukunju (Prithviraj) is the young member of a big family based in malabar. He lived with his mother (Ambika), uncles (Captain Raju, Raamu, Vijayaraghavan) and the rest of the family members. The unemployed angry young man is shown as a drunkard guy most of the time. At one stage he even beats the police inspector. His brothers doesn't like his trouble making character. Every time when the partition of the property happens, Kochukunju leaves the scene without co-operating with them. Later, his advocate brother (Suresh Krishna) got linked with a murder and it was the hero who saved him from it when a friend of him came forward to accept the charges. When the hero's lover (Sheela), reaches a big wind wheel estate as a part of his thesis works, the hero appears there by telling that he is the owner of the whole land and tells how he became rich, through a cinematic flashback. In the later portions, he is taking revenge against those people who had destroyed his god father. In the end, Kochukunju reveals his real face. He is now accepted by the family members. His father (Saikumar) also appears in the climax; he was considered dead by the villagers once and now it is time for the re-union.

The starting of the film with the voice over of Balachandran Chullikkad and Aliyar is a cliche. The scenes in which the hero appearing in costly cars and tells the reason for becoming a multimillionaire is suitable for a b-grade old tamil film. As every hero oriented films, here also heroine has got a couple of dialogues accompanied by a duet song only ('Periya Thevare...' song and the dance choreographed by Kala is not attractive). Prithviraj, in the title role is ok, but i smelled overacting in few areas and imitating Mohanlal in the drunken scenes are evident. Suraaj Venjarammood is as usual placed to generate comedy; still he is practicing the bad custom of giving witty dialogues as the background voice in shots where there are no dialogues placed. Ambika, as the hero's mother doesn't share a good chemistry with the son's character.

The fight sequence in the desert featuring the three villains are not good. TA Shahid's script is poor, the definition given by him for the friendship is a childish one and the whole situation where the hero's friend accepting the murder charges on behalf of the hero, is not created seriously. 'Kaattu Paranjathum...' song is hummed by the hero many times, the same song in senior singer KP Udayabhanu's voice doesn't suits Saikumar's character. His make up also felt cinematic in the old age period. Cinematographer Sajith Menon ('Kadha Samvidhanam Kunjakko' fame) and editor Bijith Bala ('Calcutta News', 'Maya Bazaar' fame) didn't created extra ordinary visuals to be quoted here. The bg score by Gopi Sundar is good.

With a single film, Prithviraj tried to dominate the image of stars like Rajnikanth and Vijay, by incorporating unbelievable situations. He should keep in mind that the viewers are fed up with these kind of heroism and films like 'Thaanthonni' won't help at this stage of his career.

Rating : 4.5 / 10

Punyam Aham

Medium : Malayalam

Starring : Prithviraj, Nedumudi Venu, Nishanth Sagar, Samvritha, KPAC Lalitha
Director : Raj Nair
Music : Issac Kottukappally

For any actor to maintain the tough position of a stardom, he has to act in a separate category of movies, which is so called the 'parallel movies'. Mammootty started such a journey through 'Anandaram' with Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mohanlal has done Aravindan's 'Vasthuhara', Jayaram did 'Sesham' by TK Rajivkumar, Dileep has got 'Kathavaseshan' to his credit from TV Chandran and now Prithviraj has decided to join the race through the film 'Punyam Aham', directed by Raj Nair, grand son of great writer Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.

The film starts by showing the unnatural behavior of Narayanan (Prithviraj), who belongs to the brahmin family. This unemployed guy is frustrated always. He is blaming the system and his brahmin father who left the family earlier. His mother was a left party worker and she is from a lower caste also. One day he leaves to Kuttanad area. There he meets an old lady (KPAC Lalitha), who is not mentally stable. She takes him to the house and treats him as his son. Her daughter (Samvritha) is being sexually exploited (for money) by her own uncle (Nedumudi Venu), who is a Kathakali artist. Now when Narayanan stays in the house, he gets in affair with her.

'Punyam Aham' mainly deals with the poverty issues, effect of modernization and the nature of the humans to escape from the realities etc. The concept is good, but the film raises many questions. It is due to the problem in the narration of the film, which is not straight. An average viewer may find difficulty in understanding the facts. He may have doubts regarding the symbolic representations and unusual incomplete shots that happens in the middle of a scene, for which the director might only give the solution.

I don't understand the girl's character who stays with the hero's mother and sister in his house in the beginning area. The rich man role done by Nishanth Sagar looks like an odd one. The mental stability of characters like Prithviraj, KPAC Lalitha and MR Gopakumar changes from time to time. The usage of traditional arts like Kathakali and Theyyam to convey certain sequences in the story is different, but it is an escapism on the part of the director.


MJ Radhakrishnan, who is the favorite cinematographer of parallel films, has done a good work. Bina Paul is the editor. Background score by Issac Kottukappally is excellent. Nedumudi Venu and KPAC Lalitha had done good with their experience. This is a different role for Prithviraj; in the beginning frames he is over acting, but later on he has adjusted himself to be in the track.

Usually, I don't like the classification of mainstream movies and parallel movies. But after watching this, I felt that such a process is unavoidable. The movie that is not presented straightly and if it raises many questions, then such movies should certainly come under 'parallel stream' section, like 'Punyam Aham'.


'Punyam Aham' discusses some serious issues. As the presentation of the film is complex and shabby, it is not a promotable one.


Rating : 3.5 / 10

Robinhood

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Prithviraj, Narein, Jayasurya, Bhavana, Samvritha Sunil
Direction : Joshy
Music : M Jayachandran, Rajamani

In the very late 70's, some new directors came to the malayalam cine field, who later gave many good films in their career. But, now at this point we can't spot out many seniors that belong to those group, who are still giving super hits. Joshy is exceptional case here. Right from his first film ('Tiger Salim', 1978), he had traveled through the action path on the majority of occasions ('Aarathri', 'New Delhi', 'Nairsaab', 'Naduvazhikal', 'Lelam', 'Pathram', 'Runway', 'Naran' etc). In his first film, he didn't get a chance to cast the superstars; now this 65+ films old director's new film has got the current sensation Prithviraj, supported by promising young stars like Jayasurya and Narein.

The script is written by Sachi-Sethu team ('Choclate' fame). It is produced by Muralidharan. He has given superhits like 'Classmates' and 'Choclate' before. Shaji ('Naran', 'Red chillies' fame) handles the camera.


The name of the film, 'Robinhood' with the biline comment, "prince of thieves" cleaarly indicates the nature of the story. ATM Robbery is the main thing discussed here which is shown in the beginning itself. Hero (Prithviraj) is shown as the culprit here. The bank appoints a private detective (Narein) for finding out the way in which it is done. In the meanwhile, the police officer (Jayasurya) investigates the case. The hero is working as a tutor in a private institution. His student (Samvritha), is in love with him. Heroine (Bhavana) is a bank employee. Anyway in the end, the reson for the revenge is revealed (as there is no suspense).


'Robinhood', acted by a group of youthful stars, has been presented by one of the senior director in the industry; this itself is the attraction here. Here you have got songs, action, humor, sentiments, revenge etc which are necessary for a commercial entertainer. Prithviraj is stylish as always. Narein's role is different from his ususal style; here he has got some humor also to do, which he has managed to a certain extend. "Jayasurya in the IPS role", won't be too good to hear, but seeing it I felt that he has not done bad. (He has tried the same kind of role in the film 'Positive' before).


I am not entering into the logic of the robbery discussed in the story. But the script writers should have created a suspense till the end for the story. Since the robbery is shown straight away, only thing to reveal here is the motive; the thrill would have been more on the other way. (this is what top directors like Shankar might have been done in such a postion). But the film is not boring.

M Jayachandran has given some peppy numbers. "Priyanu Maathram..." featuring Prithviraj and Samvritha has been excellently choreographed by Shobi ("karuppana kaiyyale...", "valameenukkum..." fame). Though the tall heroine's body language has every chance to become awkward, it has not been projected due to the different frames used here. While choosing some of the female extra artists for such a good dancing sequence, there should have been extra care given.


Rajamani, "the fastest man in the re-recording field" has given the background score. He has used some English sounds in the bg for the hero's introduction and his proceedings. (I dont think that. it is necessary to create the mood; more over it is noisy also).


Still the malayalam films has not reached an above average level position on the action sequences. The carpets and floor mats for the fighters to jump and dive are clearly visible. Action directors, Aanal Arasu and Palaniraja should have been more vigilant on this by using fast frames. The title credits done in animation is good, but it had got black texts in black bg, which is not readable...(the most experienced man, who is the captain of the ship should be responsible for all such negatives happened also).


'Robinhood' is a watchable movie. It has got a revenge subject done by some youthful stars.


Rating : 7 / 10

Ninaithaale Inikkum

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Prithviraj, Sakthi, Karthik Kumar, Priyamani, Bhagyaraj
Director : Kumaravel
Music : Vijay Antony

'Ninaithaale Inikkum' is the name of a super hit film in the olden days acted by Kamalhassan ans Rajnikanth. Not only this, there are many other factors that has made this project big. 'Ninaithaale Inikkum' is the remake of malayalam super hit film 'Classmates'. The film is produced by Gemini Film Circuit and another biggies in the current industry, Sun Pictures distributes the film after 'Ayan' and 'Maasilamani'. Usually we have seen many examples where heroine doing the same roles in both languages. Shalini ('Niram' and 'Piriyathe Varam Vendum' ), Kavya Madhavan ('Oomappenninu Uriyaadappayyan' and 'En Mana Vaanil'), Trisha ('Nuvvasthonthe Ninnoduthana' and 'Something Something Unakkum Enakkum'), Asin ('Gajini', both versions) etc. But, Prithviraj got a chance to repeat his role in the tamil version of 'Classmates' also.


The story is not changed in the new version also. The friendship is the main thing higlighted here. They had change the situations where the incidents are happening. The flashback is shown during the flight journey. Some songs and fight songs has been added. The main story happens 8years before in a college where all the characters are studying. There, you are having friendship, hatred, love, competetion, success, failures etc. Now in the current period, they all assembles in their college again in memory of their beloved friend who left them years ago and the real truth between some contreversial incidents happened in those days were revealed.


'Ninaithaale Inikkum' stands below 'Classmates' in all aspects. The genuineness and the stability in the friendship or the feelings related to each and every characters is not evident here. The hatred and romance between Prithviraj and Priymani's charecters is not shown clearly. The sympathy that is obtained for Narain's role won't be there for Sakthi (son of director P.Vasu). Razia's character is also not pleasing as the original one. There is no difference felt in the appearance of all the charecters (excluding the hero) even after 8 years, which can be shown as a failure on the make up section. The director had tried to show the scene in which the friends watching the film 'Kushi' to give an idea about the period in which the story happens; but that won't be enough to give a nostalgic feeling about the past days (it was there in the original version). Even the hostel scenes where not shown seriously. Prithviraj has done well, but the national award winning girl, Priyamani didn't have much to perform here.


Half of the songs have got the colorful visuals it demanded. Music director Vijay Antony ("nakku mukku..', "dialamo dialamo..." fame) had got the songs in his style. Since the distributors had got their own tv channel, they will make them hit by playing repeatedly. Cinematographer Balasubramanyam had given colorful visuals.


'Ninaithaale Inikkum' is an youthful film which has got every ingredients needed. If you have seen its original version, then it is more than enough.


Rating : 6.5 / 10

Puthiya Mukham

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Prithviraj, Bala, Saikumar, Jagathi, Priyamani, Meera Nandan
Direction : Deepan
Music : Deepak Dev

‘Puthiya Mukham’ is familiar for us, since it is the name of a tamil film acted by Revathi and her husband Suresh Menon, released 17years before. Though the film didn’t do well, the songs were popular, it was AR Rahman’s second film in tamil. Now, with the same name, a film acted by Prithviraj happens in malayalam also. It has created big expectation even before release, as the song “Pichavacha Naal…” sung by Shankar Mahadevan in his style is already a hit by the visuals promoted through mini screen. Other notable thing is that the hero had sung a title song also for the film.

The film is directed by Diphan (titled so in the credits given). Don’t misunderstand him as a north Indian; this is director Deepan’s new name as per numerology. Deepan (s/o Anandavalli, dubbing artist) was an associate to director Shaji Kailas for years and he has directed a film called ‘Leader’ before. It was a political based action subject acted by Vijayakumar, Saikumar etc. Sindhuraj, who wrote films like ‘Pattanathil Sundaran’, ‘Jalolsavam’ and ‘Mulla’ is the script writer for ‘Puthiya Mukham’. It is produced by Anil Mathew and Murugan (two busy production controllers) and distributed by Time Ads.

The hero, Kicha alias Krishnakumar (Prithviraj) is a percussion expert who belongs to a Kalpathi Brahmin family (Nedumudi Veni and Sobha did the role of parents). He is being engaged to his lover (Meera Nandan). He got an admission in the city based Engineering College. He becomes a hero in the college through his extra curricular skills. His classmate’s (Priyamani) marriage is being fixed with their senior student (Bala). The latter one is very rich (Saikumar and Shammi Thilakan played his brother’s role) and he is notorious through his negative activities also. Though she doesn’t like him, she kept silent, since her family forced her for the marriage. Heroine’s attitude towards Kicha creates an enmity between the villain and the hero. Kicha is being brutally beaten and tortured; also he is being warned to stop studies by the villain. As per his father’s advice, he reaches the college after a gap. Now he takes his new face (Puthiya Mukham) and fought against the villains. The issues happening for the hero, his lover, his calssmates, villains etc are all discussed in the second half.

The theme of ‘Puthiya Mugham’ has got the flavor of films like ‘Kandu Kandarinju’ (malayalam film in later 80’s acted by Rahman, Mammootty etc) and Student No. 1 (telugu film acted by Junior NTR). There also the hero is a soft guy in the beginning who takes his violent character under pressure. Anal Arasu, the fight master has got more jobs to do here. The fight scenes are good compared to a usual malayalam film. But it doesn’t come near a telugu-tamil style in quality. The use of wide angle lenses, fewer strings and unlimited slow-fast mix motions created an uncertainty situation in the action scenes in some areas. Bharani K Dharan, who worked for mega projects in telugu like ‘Dubai Seenu’, ‘Devadasu’, ‘Sidham’ etc is the cinematographer. His work is good, but it is not extraordinary here. Samjith is notable through the excellent cuts done by him for ‘Red Chillies’. But he has also not done anything special on the editing side here. Deepak Dev’s background score is not the best, but it is a relief from the usual noisy bg-score. In general, the film needs big improvement in the making side. Even in the middle of certain hurdles, director Deepan had presented the film without giving much boring feel. Prithviraj, the 45+ films old actor is still not being accepted as a star. He has done the role well; this film can also be used as a stepping stone for his career. Amir Khan's walking style in 'Gajini' is imitated by him in some areas.

It is a fact that irrespective of the language, people always love to watch villains being destroyed by the heroes, if the situation demands. Here also the same thing happens. So why don’t we welcome a malayalam film, if we are ready to accept anything similar from our neighboring states. A change is inevitable…

Don’t anticipate much from ‘Puthiya Mugham’. It is a time pass - action film done by an young actor, who can be a tomorrow’s star also. (His career graph and the busy current projects provoked me to say so).

Rating : 7 / 10 (revised)