www.movieorange.com

Faster

Medium : English
Starring : Dwayne Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, Carla Gugino, Moon Bloodgood
Director : George Tillman, Jr.

Another movie from Hollywood with a title similar to the recent thriller 'Un Stoppable', has been released. This time it is 'Faster', done by Dwayne Johnson in the lead role. Don't you know him ? He must not be that much familiar to the viewers, but he is more popular with his nick name , "The Rock". A regular viewer of WWF (World Wrestling Federation) shows in mini screen, can easily identify this strong man. Don't forget that he has acted in some movies like 'Scorpion King', 'The Game Plan' etc.

The movie opens by showing the Driver (Dwayne Johnson) getting out of the prison after spending many years in it. He is determined to take revenge on the people who are responsible for murdering his brother. He is killing one by one who are there in the list. He is leaving the last man from that, as he has now become a preacher of God. The Cop, who has been investigating the case, reaches the scene and shoots him. What happens to the hero and the person who had hired the killer to destroy Driver is revealed in the climax.

The color and texture of the frames, gives us the real mood of an action movie. The use of such a location, the vehicle, hero's rough appearance etc are some factors that had given the realistic look. A couple of situations treated in an unbelievable way had destroyed the seriousness of the whole environment. The first one is the way in which the hero survives the bullet injury at the hospital. If you argue that such things can happen in real life also, then it can be accepted; secondly, the same hero escaping the bullet shot on head at the climax due to the metal chip, cannot be accepted at any cost and it became the main reason for me not to promote such a venture. The hero's face is clearly shown in the cameras, but the police with the advanced technology is unable to catch him, which is also an unnatural phenomenon. Dwayne Johnson had done the serious role well with the help of his gun, with out telling much dialogues.

'Faster' is a masala action movie from hollywood having some unbelievable situations.

Rating : 4.5 / 10

Marykkundoru Kunjaadu

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Dileep, Biju Menon, Vijayaraghavan, Salim Kumar, Innocent, Bhavana, Vinaya Prasad
Director : Shafi
Music : Berny Ignateous, Bijibal (bg score)

These days, the publicity and promotional news for any project under production in malayalam, will be normally big. If the lead role in the movie is done by a notable actor like Dileep, then it can be the talk of the town. But, in the case of his new project directed by hit maker Shafi ('Pulivaal Kalyaanam', 'Kalyana Raman', Thommanum Makkalum', 'Mayavi', 'Choclates', 'Chattambinaadu' fame) and scripted by Benny P.Nayarambalam ('Chaandhupottu',

'Thommanum Makkalum', 'Chota Mumbai', 'Annan Thambi', 'Chattambinaadu' fame), the things were different. It does not created an expected hype before its release. But, once heard the title of the movie, 'Marykkundoru Kunjaadu', nobody can forget it due to the simplicity. Dileep's previous project 'Kaaryasthan' was not the best, even then the fact to be noted is that the family audiences for his movies have helped the project to lift up a lot. Bhavana is acting with the hero after a short gap (previous one being 'Twenty 20'). Shamdatt ('Ritu', 'Vargam', 'Tiger', 'Pramaani' fame) is the cinematographer. The movie is produced by Vysakh Rajan.

Solomon (Dileep) is a jobless guy living in a high range village with his father (Vijayaraghavan), mother (Vinaya Prasad) and two sisters. Being a coward person, he has got the nick name Kunjaadu. He is in love with Mary (Bhavana), daughter of a rich man (Innocent), right from the childhood days. Her father and brothers (Anand, Appa Haja etc) has strongly resisted their relationship. The arrival of a strong bold guy (Biju Menon) in the village, has brought some changes to Solomon's life, which is shown in the later portions.

Last few releases has not been the best for Dileep. He has now realized, what the malayalee viewers are expecting from him. Thus 'Marykkundoru Kunjaadu' is a come back movie for the actor, who is in his 101st project. He has done the role in an attractive way, in his old style, without looking for the heroism and stardom. Biju Menon has got a bold character to do, which he did well. Vijayaraghavan's father character is good. Benny P.Nayarambalam's good script has been neatly handled by Shafi. The hang over of 'Meesa Madhavan' and 'Chaandhupottu' are there in few portions. The humor elements used in the movie are good. Shamdatt's cinematography covers the colorful visuals of the hilly areas of Thodupuzha at its best. Manoj is the editor. Action sequences by Mafia Sasi are good. Songs by Berny Ignateous goes with the mood. The visuals for them are done without much complaints. Bg score by Biji Bal is good, but felt loud at some areas. The dts mixing done by Ajith George, felt noisy at certain portions (don't know whether it is the problem with the theater).

'Marykkundoru Kunjaadu' is an ideal family entertainer for this X'mas and New Year season.

Rating : 8 / 10

Tournament

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Fahad Fazil, Manu, Aryan, Praveen, Prajin, John, Roopa Manjari, Salim Kumar
Director : Lal
Music : Deepak Dev, Alex Paul (bg score)

This time, director Lal has come up with something different. After giving two sequel versions for the old hit 'In Harihar Nagar', like 'To Harihar Nagar' and 'In Ghost house Inn', the hit maker had given his new youthful movie, 'Tournament' with many fresh / in experienced faces. Heroine Roopa Manjari has done her debut in tamil movie 'Thiru Thiru Thuru Thuru'. Fahad Fazil, who came to the field through

'Kaiyethum Doorathu', had done notable roles in 'Mrithyunjayam of 'Kerala Cafe', 'Pramaani' and 'Cock Tail' in his come back. Prajin got a chance to do a role in the movie 'The Thriller'. Praveen has done a small role in 'Kadha Thudarunnu'. John, from the mini screen, has done 'Chekavar' and also a song sequence in 'Sakudumbam Shyamala'. Manu has shown his face in a musical video album before. Aryan, working as RJ in the fm radio, is a new comer in the big screen.

Venu, who worked with Lal for the previous two ventures, is the cinematographer. This time, director's brother Alex Paul was given the job to do the bg score only, thus Deepak Dev comes as the in charge of the songs. Editor is V.Saajan. This road movie starts in Kochi and the majority of the incidents are happening in and around Gundalpet, on the way to Mysore. P.N.Venugopal had produced the movie and it is distributed by Lal Creations.

The story starts as three friends (Fahad Fazil, Praveen, John) planning to participate in the cricket selection tournament at Banglore. One among them is injured and is unable to join them. Others leaves for the destination, with their friend, a wild life photographer (Roopa Manjari). At the airport, they meet another guy (Manu), who is also participating in the tournament. They missed the flight and thus the group had decided to travel by road, which later leads to a series of incidents and how they reached their destination is shown towards the end.

The title of the movie, 'Tournament' has got a tag line, "Play...Replay". In the first few minutes itself, the director had added a sequence that registers the tag line. As the journey goes on, some unexpected incidents are happening. Most of the characters are badly affected due to this. The replay version has been implemented in all such occasions. The number of twists happening there should have been minimized. Inclusion of more natural elements might have given the viewers, not to imagine themselves anything in advance, they would have also traveled with the flow. Here almost all the characters are behaving in an identical way, which is far from reality. Even then, the director is successful in keeping a couple of good suspense elements towards the end. The climax portion, which is the key point of any movie, should have been created in a more effective way. The arrangement of furniture in the truck looks like cinematic. The tribal episode featuring Indrans is an unwanted one.

Manu, who comes in a character with the Trissur slang, has got a duet song also to do; he is the best from the lot. Fahad Fazil, a relatively experienced face among the youths has done the role with ease. New comer Aryan's role is notable and he has handled it comfortably. As a new face in malayalam, Roopa Manjari is good. Praveen's character is funny, the bulky guy had tried to create comedy which is not effective in many areas. The reason for getting his stomach upset is told as a 'snake' curry, but in the previous scene it is shown that he has not eaten it. Prajin caught attention by giving a different appearance using beard. John didn't have much to do, rather than a song and a couple of jumping sequences. Salim Kumar creates some laughter. The process of adding the dialogues for characters with out lip movement in the dubbing room, has been applied in the case of Bijukuttan's introduction. The songs by Deepak Dev are in the modern style, the visuals are done in an attractive way. Among the three songs, two are coming in small intervals. Bg score by Alex Paul is ok. Venu's camera work is colorful.

'Tournament' is an youthful one from director Lal. Though it cannot be rated excellent, without big expectation, the attempt with many new faces can be watched for the different treatment.

Rating : 6 / 10

Tees Maar Khan

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Akshay Kumar, Akshay Khanna, Arya Babbar, Katrina Kaif
Director : Farah Khan
Music : Vishal - Sekhar, Shirish Kunder (bg score)

giving two hits like 'Om Shanthi Om' and 'Main Hoon Naa' with the favorite star Sharukh Khan, choreographer turned director Farah Khan had done her new movie with another star, Akshay Kumar. It was heard that Akshay had agreed to do the lead role, after Sharukh had rejected the director's request. Katrina Kaif is once again doing the heroine role for Akshay, their previous projects being 'Blue', 'Singg is Kinng', 'Welcome' and 'Namastey London'. Another major name to be noted in the technicians list is Shirish Kunder, who comes in the role of producer, script writer, editor and even he gave the background score for the movie and Shirish is none other than Farah Khan's husband.

The police force is searching widely for the notable thief, Mirza Khan (Akshay Kumar), who has escaped from their captivity, many times. He is in love with Anya (Katrina Kaif), a struggling actress who is deeply passionate for films. Mirza had committed the task to rob a train loaded with valuable materials owned by the government. He had made a plan using the actor Aatish Kapoor (Akshay Khanna). Mirza appears in front of him as a director. Aatish had agreed to do the movie and the villagers were also participated in the fake shooting episode, where the ultimate aim was to rob the train passing through that village, whether they got succeeded in their task is shown towards the end.

The story of the movie is good, but the foolish presentation of the movie had affected the seriousness to a great extend. Some of the dialogues here and there creates laughing, but the addition of some non sense ingredients had polluted the environment.. The hero's flash back is portrayed in a song, while he is in the mother's stomach, with the help of graphics sequences are good; but the hospital scene at its end is good for a situation in the cartoon magazine for children. Akshay Khanna is shown here as a well known actor, the way in which he believes the fake shooting scene as a real one, cannot be accepted at any cost. The director and the crew might be able to fool the poor villagers, but how a well known artist like him simply keep silent and obey orders of somebody who pretends to be a director. More over the camera looks like a toy only, but they were seriously speaking about putting film roll in it. We might lose our temper, when the visuals shot by the crew has been made into a movie and more over such a movie is winning an oscar award, which is a dream come true for Aatish. The director should explain, whether such a creation is included to generate humor. The two officers following the hero are looking gentle, but their activities are too foolish. The hero is succeeded in escaping from the middle of such a tight security, which is also an unbelievable episode to be noted. The 'sayamees twins' placed as the leading villains and their activities are the best example for un professionalism.

Akshay Kumar is there in his usual style. Akshay Khanna had done the comedy oriented role in his best way. Katrina Kaif is kept here to show maximum glamor. Her artificiality in performance is still there, but it is a confusing one; one might asks, is that deliberately done or is that her realistic approach, only the performer knows. Salman Khan's presence for a single song was not at all needed one. The art work done by Sabu Cyril for the railway track is ok, but the side fence is placed too close to the rails, which in turn felt that the location is a created one. The title sequence done using computer graphics of building models are colorful, but some of the names are moving fastly with in fraction of seconds, which should have been avoided. 'Sheela Ki Jawani...' song and its choreography is a catchy one. The village song is confusing by the improper mixing of real visuals with the cinematic ones. Cinematographer P.S.Vinod ('Musafir', 'Neal N Nikky', 'Striker', 'My Wife's Murder' fame) had given some rich frames.

Though 'Tees Maar Khan' gives you few laughing situations here and there, the total output will only be helpful to lose your temper.


Rating : 4.5 / 10

Manmadan Ambu

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Kamalhassan, Madhavan, Kunjan, Trisha, Sangeetha, Urvashi, Manju Pillai
Director : K.S.Ravikumar
Music : Devisree Prasad

Universal Hero Kamalhassan's new venture 'Manmadan Ambu' has got some peculiarities to be noted. After 'Unnaippol Oruvan', (not the best remake of a neatly made hindi movie 'A Wednesday'), this is Kamal's next release. K.S.Ravikumar is directing the hero after both of them did movies like 'Avvai Shanmughi', 'Panchathanthiram', 'Thenali' and 'Dasaavatharam' before. Madhavan is acting with Kamal after 'Anbe Sivam'. This is Trisha's first chance to act in a Kamal movie. Young music director from telugu, Devisree Prasad ('Singam', 'Kanthasamy, 'Santhosh Subramanyam' fame) also got the lucky chance to do a Kamal movie for the first time. Malayalam actors Kunjan and Manju Pillai are placed in roles that comes through out the movie here and there. Young and big producer Udaynidhi Stalin has produced this movie under the banner Red Giant Movies. This is the first tamil movie where the majority of the portions is shot in a cruise ship. New comers Manush Nandan and Shaan Mohammed were given the major roles to do the cinematography and editing parts. The scripting of the movie is done by the hero himself.

Nisha (Trisha) is a leading actress who got engaged with Madan (Madhavan), a rich business man. He is not interested in allowing her to continue the profession after marriage. She defended it, the difference in opinion caused a split up between the two. After three years, she is on a trip to London to meet her friend Deepa (Sangeetha). Madan still doubts that his fiancee might be having an affair with some one else. He is appointing a private detective, Major Mannar (Kamalhassan) to watch her proceedings and give updates. Nisha joins Deepa with her kids for traveling in a cruise ship, Major follows them. What is the feedback obtained to Madan, what happens to Major etc are the portions through which the story travels in rest of the part.

When Kamalhassan joins with K.S.Ravikumar, you will naturally expect many humor oriented situations happened in the case of 'Panchathanthiram' or 'Thenali'. Here, such situations are coming in the end portions of the second half only, that too are not shown in the best way. The major drawback of the movie is the spot sound. The facility of using the sounds on location can give a natural feel, but the additions of noise and the cross talking in few areas had affected badly. As a result, you are not able to understand few humor dialogues in between (Adding more situation comedy scenes accompanied with necessary sound effects and punching bg score, should have given a good output for the movie).

While drunk, Madhavan's dialogues are not conveyed properly. The taxi driver's talk in the beginning, tv scenes in the bar episode featuring Madhavan and friends, a couple of scenes featuring Madhavan and police persons etc are those areas that are not presented neatly. The continuity of the movie is lost in certain portions. The confusion drama set in the climax scene has not created the required tempo, some dialogues caused big laughs, while there are many that left unnoticed. The story is not ended in the best way. The necessity of malayalam actors Kunjan and Manju Pillai in such a story is not understood. The need for three action directors in the movie can be questioned as you have got a small action sequence in the hero's introduction scene only.

The story is good. Even though you have got some problems in the execution side, the movie is not a boring one. Nearing the 60's, Kamalhassan is there in his usual style, he has got a couple of sad situations also to do. Trisha has done well, after giving a good performance in 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa'. Madhavan and Sangeetha are ok. Her combination scenes with Trisha is good. The first song 'Oyyale...' is notable due to its presentation. 'Dhagidu Dhattam...' song is placed in a correct situation. 'Neela Vaanam...' song won't sounds excellent in Kamal's voice, but the song sequence featuring the hero's story is done in an excellent way. The scenes featuring the hero's friend and his wife are shown in a touching way. Manush Nandan's cinematography is colorful, especially the foreign locations, the helicopter shots and the cruise scenes are shown good. Editor Shaan Mohammed has done his duty well.

'Manmadan Ambu' has not reached up to the expectation created by Kamalhassan - K.S.Ravikumar combination before; a hard core fan of Kamal and a regular follower of kollywood comedy flicks can watch it.

Rating : 6 / 10

No Problem

Medium : Hindi
Starring : Anil Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Akshay Khanna, Sunil Shetty, Paresh Rawal, Sushmitha Sen, Kangana Ranaut, Neetu Chandra
Director : Anees Bazmee
Music : Pritam, Sajid - Wajid (bg score)

Directors like Dawid Dhavan, Priyadarshan and Rohit Shetty are notable for making funny entertainers in bollywood. Now Anees Bazmee, the director of movies like 'Hulchul', 'Pyar To Hona Hi Tha', 'No Entry', 'Welcome', 'Singh is Kinng' etc have come up with a 'mega' movie (in the case of star cast). Like 'No Entry' and 'Welcome', this is also a comedy oriented subject. Such a movie with maximum number of actors can create huge attention. The posters and the promotional videos of the movie

are good enough to attract crowd to theaters. But, these days it is not easy to cheat the viewers, if there is anything interesting, then the project might be a hit otherwise it will ended in a negative result. The movie is produced by Anil Kapoor and Eros International.

Yash (Sanjay Dutt) and Raj (Akshay Khanna) are thieves who had robbed a village bank. The manager (Paresh Rawal) is in search of those thieves who had ran away to Durban. At the same time, a big gang of robbers (Sunil Shetty, Neetu Chandra, Ranjeet etc) are involved in a diamond robbery in the city. The police officer (Anil Kapoor) is in search of them. He is having a wife (Sushmitha Sen) and a kid. Her sister (Kangana Ranaut) is getting into an affair with Raj. The throwing of bag containing the diamonds from one person to another is the major happening in the confused climax.

It is easy to say, not to look for 100% logic, in the case of a comedy time pass movie. In this case, you can't. The majority of the scenes are done with out any logic or sense in the scripting side. It all starts from the dual personality given for Sushmitha Sen's character and her odd behaviors, the gun fire attack on Anil Kapoor by Sunil Shetty's gang, the 'childish' make up given for Akshay Khanna as the woman and his combination scene with Anil Kapoor, the funny activities of the members of Sunil Shetty's gang especially the 'electricity man', the lie detector machine scene, the train accident episode, the entry of gorillas in the climax fight, scene in which all the actors hanging the roof of the big hall on their heads etc. Those are the areas that might be helpful for an average person to lose his mental balance.

Pritam had given some fast numbers in his style. You can't feel good for Sajid - Wajid's bg score as the scenes were not the best. Cinematography by Bobby Singh is rich and colorful. Prashant Singh Rathore is the editor.


You can't watch this movie by simply saying 'No Problem'; there are many problems in its execution side.


Rating : 3 / 10

15th IFFK - a Review

15th IFFK, Trivandrum, Dec 10 to 17, 2010

Our capital city has witnessed the IFFK (International Film Festival of Kerala) celebrations during the last week. Around 205 films from 83 countries in 16 categories has been screened in 10 theaters. Though I am not an aggressive viewer of the film festivals, this time also I was lucky enough to watch some among the best ones. I haviffke seen movies like 'Please Don't Disturb', 'The Sicilian Girl', 'Biutiful', 'Animal Town', 'Portraits in the Sea of Lies', 'Outrage', 'Night and Fog', 'Light Thief', 'Optical Illusions', 'The Japanese Wife', 'Little Rose', 'Walking on the Rail', 'Buried Secrets'; and also films from our country like 'Swapnadanam', 'T.D.Dasan Std 6B', 'Paleri Manikyam', 'Yugapurushan', 'Ponthen Maada', 'Ormakal Undayirikkanam', 'Soosanna', 'Danny', 'Kadhavaseshan', 'Laal Salaam', 'Manichitrathaazhu', 'Chemmeen', 'Kireedom', 'Aadumkoothu', 'Udaan', 'Love Sex Aur Dokha' etc. were screened. Since I have seen all the malayalam, hindi films before, I didn't wasted my time to watch them here.

The Arabic film 'Buried Secrets' featured on the three women that lived in the back portion of a big lonely house, their hidden emotions, living style, attitude towards others etc are shown in an attractive way here, which according to me was the best one from the list. Then comes 'Portrait in the Sea of Lies', a Colombian film presented in the style of a travelogue showing the real beauty of Colombia accompanied by the story of a photographer and his relative. 'The Japanese Wife' is an English movie by Aparna Sen telling the deep relationship between an Indian school teacher and his pen friend, a Japanese girl. 'Night and 'Fog' from Hong Kong is about a girl and her two little daughters who are suffering from the rude behavior of her husband, though the story is not new, the treatment of the film felt different. Japanese film, 'Outrage' has got high voltage action environment and the presentation is similar to the classic hit in the olden days, 'God Father'. 'Little Rose' from Poland is a story happening in the late 1960s about a spy lady appointed on a mission to track down certain people who are acting against the government, the commercial style treatment of the movie made it a watchable one.

The star director of 'Amores Peros' and 'Babel', Inarittu has arrived with his Spanish movie 'Biutiful', the serious presentation of the movie was good, but it felt lengthy and sometimes dragging. 'Light Thief' was a French subject made in a very simple way about an electricity worker in the village. 'The Sicilian Girl' is an Italian film which tells the story of a girl who fights against the underworld mafia. 'Animal Town' from Korea is about two guys who finds difficult to spend their livelihood in the city, both are shown in parallel tracks. The presentation of the Spanish satirical comedy 'Optical Illusions' was not an attractive one. Though the Iranian film, 'Walking on the Rail' discusses many stories, the presentation felt like an amateur one only. 'Please Don't Disturb', another Iranian movie discussing three stories ending on a single point, started in a good way, but later the tempo was lost, any way it didn't have the high standards to be a showed as a part of the inaugural function.

From the feedback I got from my friends and other movie lovers, I am quoting some other good ones that featured in the festival, which I missed. 'Certified Copy', a French film about a notable writer's life with a mix of reality and fiction; the Spanish film 'Last Summer of La Boyita' regarding a girl and her friend at the childhood days; the Austalian film 'Samson Delilah' featuring the love story of teenagers; the German docu-fiction 'Fitzcarraldo' showing the dismantling and reconstruction of a ship by the passengers; the Turkish film 'Zephyr' that tells the story of a girl spending her life with the grand mother at the valley; 'Silent Souls', the Russian one about the factory owner and his living; another film from the same country, 'How I Ended This Summer', which is about the life of a meteorologist and his colleague in the cold Artic region; the German film 'White Ribbon' about the mysterious happenings in a village during the second world war; 'Beshkempir - The Adopted Son', film from Kyrgyzstan about an adopted son who wished to search the roots regarding his birth; 'Aguirre, the Wrath of God', the German film by Herzog is an adventure one about a soldier; 'Veettilekkulla Vazhi' from malayalam, is the journey of the prison doctor who had taken the task to re-unite a child with his father who is a terrorist. Some says, 'Chitrasoothram' is a different experimental film from malayalam. 'I am Afiya Megha Abhimanyu' is a hindi film reflecting the problems and issues faced by the modern society, told in the backdrops of four cities in the country.


Award winners :

Best Film - 'Portraits in the Sea of Lies'

Second Best Film - 'Last Summer of La Boyita'

Second Best Film (Audience Poll) - 'The Japanese Wife'

Best Film (Federation of Film Critics Award) - 'Buried Secrets'

Best Film from a debutant director - 'Zephyr'

Best Asian Film - 'I am Afiya Megha Abhimanyu'

Best Malayalam Film - 'Veettilekkulla Vazhi'

Best Malayalam Film (Federation of Film Critics Award) - 'Makaramanju'

Best Indian Debut Film - 'Chitrasoothram'

Chikku Bukku

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Arya, Shriya Sharan, Preethika, Santhanam
Director : Manikandan
Music : Colonial Cousins, Praveen Mani (bg score)

After the success of 'Madrasappattinam' and 'Boss Engira Bhaskaran', rising star Arya's next release is 'Chikku Bukku'. He has been paired with Shriya Sharan for the first time. This is her tamil release after a gap; she has been traveling through telugu ('Puli', 'Don Seenu' etc) and malayalam ('Pokkiri Raja') in the past few months. Debutant Preethika comes in a notable role. The director of the movie is new comer Manikandan. Gurudev ('Yogi' fame) is the cinematographer. Hariharan and Leslie Lewis, otherwise known as Colonial Cousins did the music for the movie, after 'Modhi Vilayaadu'.

The story starts in London. Arjun (Arya) is a DJ. Anu (Shriya Sharan) is studying for MBA there. After her studies, she was returning to her home town Kaaraikkudi. At the same time, Arjun is also flying to his native for settling the land dispute regarding the village house. When reached Bangalore, due to strike by the air traffic officials, both of them were forced to travel together in the train and later by bus. That journey had bought a great bondage of relationship between the two.

The director along with Ramakrishnan had written the screenplay. The way of mixing the flash back episodes of the hero's father's life (also Arya) with the current version is good. Arya did well in both the roles. Shriya Sharan is charming (I felt that she has given her own voice for the role, if it is right, then it is a good attempt). New face Preethika is also lovable in her role. The romantic scenes between her and Arya are done well. The conclusion for the lovers in the flashback are not given neatly. Two coincidences, one at the flashback and other in the current story featuring the heroes (Arya in both versions) and his friend (Anoop Kumar) are done here, two heroines accidentally becomes a part of that substance in the story line, such a creativity can felt unnatural some times. The car chase sequence was an unwanted one, the logic in the brake failure is questionable by the way in which the scene is ended. The journey episodes had got a flavor of movies like 'Kandein Kathale' (remake of 'Jab We Met') and 'Kutty' (remake of telugu hit 'Aarya').

For a cool subject like 'Chikku Bukku', the presence of an experienced music director is a must. Music given by Colonial Cousins are not the best. Pravin Mani has managed well with his bg score. The colorful visuals of Chikmagalur and Koorg has been neatly captured by cinematographer Gurudev. Editing is done by V.T.Vijayan. The two songs shot in London are done in a stylish way. The title animation of the movie felt a little bit lengthy.


'Chikku Bukku' is a romantic journey which can be watched for a time pass.

Rating : 6.5 / 10

Tron Legacy (3D)

Medium : English
Starring : Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner
Director : Joseph Kosinski

The title of the new hollywood movie, 'Tron Legacy' didn't attracted me before. The promotional visuals were also not the best. But, when I heard that it is sequel of the old movie in the early 80's titled 'Tron', which was an inspiration to produce movies like 'Matrix' later and more over the movie is distributed by notable banner Walt Disney Pictures, the interest gradually becomes more and I decided to watch it. It is directed by debutant Joseph Kosinski and the director of the first movie, Steven Lisberger is in the role of the producer in the latest one. As usual I got the chance to watch the 3D version.

The beginning sequences of the movie showed that this is going to be yet another un believable theme in English. Sam's father is a computer expert who has been disappeared almost 20 years ago. When grown up, Sam went in search of his father. When entered the commands in the system, he is being taken to some another world functioning on the basis of computer program grids. The system existed there is similar to a computer game, he has to defeat certain opponents in order to reach the next level. He finally meets his father, how he rescues him from that environment is shown in the later portions.

The movie has got computer graphics and visual effects sequences in its extreme. The alternate world looks like an unbelievable one, but it is created in the best way. The problem happened there is in the case of logic in the theme and more over the characters and their relevance in that area is not properly defined. The story related to such an environment felt like a complex one. The scenes are lagging also. The majority of the episodes happening in the dark environment at night is not a good sight (The blue shade glasses put for the 3D effect has affected the brightness of the night scenes, this time also I was forced to remove glasses many times).

The fighting sequences is done in the style of a discus throw. The chasing scenes are done well, the visual effects done for the bike chasing are good, few shots reminds the similar situation in Jason Statham movie 'Crank'. Most of the characters in the other world appears with masks and also with LED lights on their dress, though done well, some where the light and sound show felt like an over doze. I also didn't understood clearly what has happened in the climax. Thus 'Tron Legacy' presented with excellent visual effects, has got many missing links in the story side.


'Tron Legacy' is not advisable for everyone. A hard core fan of computer games and some regular followers of hollywood movies might like the making style of science fiction subjects like this.


Rating : 5 / 10

Chaverpada

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Bala, Manikkuttan, Arun, Siraj, Muktha
Director : T.S.Jespal Music : Alex Paul, S.P.Venkitesh (bg score)

Another movie with many young faces has been released. The title 'Chaverpada' will pass the message that its is an action oriented one. Though the movie is directed by new comer T.S.Jespal, he has got notable technicians like Bharani K.Dharan ('Puthiya Mugham', 'The Thriller', 'Police Police' fame) as cinematographer and Samjith ('Red Chillies', 'Puthiya Mugham', 'Vairam' fame) as the editor. The script is written by G.S.Anil, who is notable through the tele serial 'Kayamkulam Kochunni'.

The story is about a gang (Manikkuttan, Arun, Siraj etc) named 4tech studying in the college. They are notable for their brilliance in the academic activities. At occasions they clashed with some other notorious students of the college. For a time pass, the group had once hacked some confidential web programs including the traffic signal of the city. The police had arrested and knowing that they don't have any criminal backgrounds, they were released. That incident had caused them some dangers in the later parts.

The presentation of the movie looks amateur in many areas. The computer expert guy hacking the traffic signal (adapted from the english movie 'Italian Job') is done as a time pass and cannot be accepted here, as it is treated in a very light way. The word 'Kerala Police' is repeated many times in the scenes featuring police officers. The performance of some new faces placed in between the scenes, like the father of a gang member, the police officer etc were not serious. The introduction of the servant character done by Tesni Khan and its following sequences are too lengthy and boring. Only a malayalam movie can create such a poor sequence for comedy where the public over hears the mobile talk by professor (Kochu Preman) with another teacher through the college speaker. Actor Krishaprasad is in his late 30's, but he is shown as as a student for few moments, even though it is done to jutify the situation, we cannot easily digest that area. The hopeless item dance by the terrorist lady must have been done to cover 4 to 5 minutes without tension. The situation leading to the first song and the visuals in the songs won't felt good. The pathos song will make anyone restless in all aspects. Bala as the NSG chief didn't have the needed official appearance, he is shown in the beard look always. Manikkuttan is over acting in many scenes in the beginning including the songs. The bg sounds felt too noisy in some areas. Even the presence of Bharani K.Dharan and Samjith can't save the project due to its weak scripting. Songs by ALex Paul are going with the weak standard of the movie only. Bg Score is given by S.P.Venkitesh. Action sequences (done by Mafia Sasi, Run Ravi, Anal Arasu) are not the best, especially the unnatural in the rope scenes are evident in the last fight.


You can watch "Chaverpada', only if you are adamant enough to join this "chaver" group.

Rating : 2.5 / 10

Kandahar

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Amitabh Bachan (guest), Mohanlal, Ganesh Venkatraman, Major Ravi, KPAC Lalitha, Ragini Dwivedi
Director : Major Ravi
Music : Shamir Tandon, Vivek (bg score)

The director of military oriented movies, Major Ravi is back with a similar subject with his favorite star Mohanlal. It is based on a real incident, a plane hijack, happened many years before. Major Mahadevan, who was the hero in 'Keerti Chakra' and 'Kurushetra', is back to lead the mission. The main attraction here is that Amitabh Bachan has done a notable guest appearance in the movie. After the hindi movie 'RGV Ki Aag', this is Big B's second combination with Lal. Ganesh Venkatraman ('Abhiyum Naanum', 'Unnaippol Oruvan' fame) did the second lead. Hero's own banner, Pranavam International is the lead producers of the movie. It is more important that this is Mohanlal's first movie in the role of a military officer, after he has been awarded the Lieutenant Colonel rank.

The story opens by showing the retd. professor (Amitab Bachan) advising his son Soorya (Ganesh Venkatraman), to be more serious and become independent in his life. The son meets Major Mahadevan (Mohanlal) and tells his wish, as per request from the Major he joins the army. On the other hand, the recruitment of a local youth Soorya (Ganesh's friend) to the terrorist organization is also shown. After the vigorous training, Soorya is being recruited under Major's wing. At this time, the plane hijack happens and how Major and his team went on a mission to free the passengers are shown later.

We all know the real incidents behind the Kandahar plane hijack, but the director had given his own version for the story here. He don't want to commit the mistake he has done in the case of 'Mission 90 Days' (based on Rajiv Gandhi assassination and its after effects). But, he has not created the plane hijack and the related mission episodes in the best way. The hijacking is happening in the second half, more over the mission is ending all on a sudden, with in minutes. That episode is lacking the tense situations and the drama required (we have seen many hollywood movies , where the whole movie might be running through hijacking scenes alone). The way in which the Major taking in charge of the mission is not shown in a realistic manner. Though the situation demands so, the hero's attempt to fly the plane and its after effect shots are cinematic. The two gun fire operations (one in the flashback and other against militants in the jungle) are shown to substantiate that this is a military oriented subject. The news visuals shown in the channel (real ones also) creates a confusion about the period of the happenings.

There is an over doze of hindi dialogues in the whole movie, more over Ganesh Venkatraman's difficulty in the lip movements are evident even in the middle of an acceptable performance. The comedy used (only in a single scene) featuring Anoop Chandran and Jaffer Idukki is not needed and a childish one. The presentation of the scene in which the cadets behaving to their group leader inside such a disciplined set up, cannot be acceptable at any cost.

Amitabh Bachan is there in few scenes only, but he made his screen presence as usual with his excellent performance. The military roles are like tailor made ones for Mohanlal, he is also at his best. The couple of combination scenes featuring Mohanlal and Bachan are good, but the one towards the end felt lengthy. As usual there is no importance for female artists in the movie, even then KPAC Lalitha did well in the worried mother's role. The dialogues told by her character regarding her son's uneven journey is good. The patriotic dialogues used in the movie are good. The behavior of the lorry driver and the bike riders seeing the military vehicle, the child's act inside the plane etc are the only few appreciated moments shown. Major Ravi also comes in the role of a trainer. Cinematography by Ravi Varman and Velraj is colorful. Don Max is the editor. Songs by Shamir Tandon are not the best. New comer Vivek's bg score is ok.

'Kandahar' is not extra ordinary enough to be rated best among the military oriented subjects, the combination of two great actors in the country in addition to some patriotic situations holds the main attraction in the movie.


Rating : 6 / 10

Best Actor

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Sreenivasan, Lal, Nedumudi Venu, Salim Kumar, Shruthi Ramakrishnan
Director : Martin Prakkaat
Music : Biji Bal

Yet another new comer has got the opportunity to direct Mammootty. Press photographer Martin Prakkat is the lucky guy to get the chance to tell the word "Action...". The theme of his new project is related to the movie field. The heroine is a new face, Shruthi Ramakrishnan. Ajayan Vincent, who gave stunning visuals in 'Bhramaram', is the cinematographer. The megastar, who is still enjoying the great success of his previous role Praanjiyettan, had got a different appearance here. He comes in the role of a school teacher. The movie is produced by Noushad.

Mohan (Mammootty) is a teacher in the village school, who lives with his wife (Shruthi Ramakrishnan) and son. His ambition is to become an actor. He goes behind many directors and none of them were ready to give him a chance. Even though frustrated, he has continued his efforts. In a do or die situation, he had reached the city to meet his friend who is working in the movie industry. That journey brought some changes to his life. What happens to his dream is shown in the rest of the portions.

The theme of the movie is different and good. Mammootty' role here is the representation of many such people who are dreaming to become an actor. It is realistic also, as we know some people around us with the similar tastes. The director had given a cinematic touch for the lead character towards the second half. It would have been better, if there existed more drama in that portions. Some of the shots done on hero and his companions has got a 'Chota Mumbai' touch. All such things might be negligible as the climax is an attractive one. As new comers, screenplay written be Martin Prakkaat and Bipin Chandran can be given pass marks, but additions of more aggressive moments attached to the theme should have given a top result. The dialogues, especially the movie related ones, delivered through directors like Sreenivasan, Ranjith and Lal Jose are motivating. The title sequences done using old movie stills and voices gives a nostalgic feeling.

Mammootty did well in the role that demands contrasting characteristics. The new comer Shruthi didn't have much to perform. 'Swapnamoru...' song is good and has visualized well. The dance song should have been better. Biji Bal's re-recording goes with the mood. Ajayan Vincent had given some colorful and rich visuals. The lighting pattern of the hero's introduction scene needs special mention. Don Max is the editor. Without experience in the movie industry, the debutant director Martin Prakkaat had made the subject in the best way he can.

'Best Actor' is a watchable movie. It has got an inspiring theme for those people who wish to enter the movie industry.


Rating : 7 / 10

The Chronicles of Narnia : The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (3D)

Medium : English
Starring : Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Will Poulter, Ben Barnes
Director : Michael Apted

The 'Harry Potter' fever is still there in the theaters, now another sequel targeting children and youths has been arrived. The third movie of the 'Narnia' series came with a lengthy title, 'The Chronicles of Narnia : The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'. As I told you earlier, about the permanent 3D screen at the capital city, hence the 3D version has got released here. Like the previous, the theme of this movie is adapted from the fantasy novel. Michael Apted, the director of James Bond movie 'The World Is Not Enough', had directed the movie. It is distributed by 20th Century Fox.

The story takes its route when the three friends watching the animated painting of the sea waves hanging on the wall. They were forced to reach the deep sea through that picture. The ship carrying the King and the soldiers saves them and they continued their journey to different locations. On the way they had faced many hurdles. Before reaching the destination, they reached a volcanic mountain, then to a river that turns anything touches it to gold, then a cave where powerful swords were shown, later a dragon has joined them, the green color mist has surrounded them for few minutes and nearing the destination they have to face a monster who has attacked the team severely.

The visual effects sequences in the movie are done well. The dragon's model has been seen in some movies before. The monster and its associated episodes are created in a dark environment. The only good thing happened there is that the usage of the miniature models and the computer graphics effects won't be clearly visible. The movie gets its pace in the second half only. In whole, you don't get a good visual treat as it was in the case of the first movie, 'Narnia'. The 3D effect used in the movie is as usual good, but most of the frames viewed through the 3D glasses won't gives us the necessary brightness, hence I was forced to remove the glasses many times.


A regular follower of the 'Narnia' series can watch the latest version, 'The Chronicles of Narnia : The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (3D)' also.


Rating : 6 / 10

Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se

Medium : Hindi

Starring : Abhishek Bachan, Deepika Padukone, Vishakha Singh, Sikhander Kher
Director : Ashuthosh Gowariker
Music : Sohail Sen

The ace director of 'Lagaan' and 'Jodhaa Akbar', Ashuthosh Gowariker had done something big this time also, he had once again come up with a historical movie. The story is based on a literary work 'Do and Die', which in turn is about a real incident happened in 1930 at Chittagong, a village in Bengal. This time Abhishek Bachan and Deepika Padukone were selected to do the lead roles. Sohail Sen, who gave some excellent songs in the director's previous movie 'What's Your Raashee', is in charge of the music section. Kiran Deohans and Seetha Sandhiri have worked as the cinematographers.

The story opens up by showing few teenagers playing football, an army battalion reached the spot and defended them. The students, who were frustrated at this decided to tell this to a freedom fighter. Surjya Sen (Abhishek Bachan) is a teacher, who is also a revolutionary leader living in Chittagong. He and his companions including Kalpana Dutta (Deepika Padukone), are working silently against the English rule. The young friends told their problems to them and also willing their interest to participate in the movement against the British. Surjya had agreed to admit the youths and using them they form small groups to plan the attack. What happens to all of them is the history, which is shown in the rest of the movie.

The thrill happened while watching a movie like 'Lagaan', won't be there in this movie. This is due to the fact that the director had concentrated on the real life incidents more, rather than focusing on the cinematic punch. He should have added some dramatic incidents that can give more excitement for the viewers. The attempt made by Ashuthosh Gowariker, to make another historical movie (after two in his credits already), should be appreciated. It should be noticed that the making of such a subject is not a simple task. The selection of the location (similar to the Kerala environment), costumes and the art works for making this movie, needs special mention.

Sohail Sen had given an excellent bg score. The songs won't be the best, but goes with the mood. Cinematography by Kiran Deohans and Seetha Sandhiri are simple, but the best. Art director Nithin Desai had helped the director a lot with his immense contribution. Abhishek, Deepika and Vishakha, accompanied by a bunch of new faces had done well.


'Khelen Hum Jee Jaan Se' is yet another movie that raises the history of patriotism. The attempt to make such a different subject needs applause.


Rating : 6.5 / 10

Again Kasargod Kadherbhai

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Jagadeesh, Gautham, Innocent, Asokan, Biju Kuttan, Suresh Krishna, Radha Varma
Director : Thulasidas
Music : Ratheesh Vega

We are still remembering the issues happened between some organizations in the movie industry, few years back. One end of the trouble was Thulasidas, the director who doesn't have big hits recently. His movies like 'College Kumaran', 'Rakshakan', 'Avan Chandiyude Makan', 'Mr. Brahmachari', 'Pranayamani Thooval' etc didn't do well. At that time, the hero who was about to act in his new project, requested him to prove (again) by giving a hit. Anyway, it is an old case now, the problems are over. The director, after a short gap, is back with another sequel of his previous hit movie 'Mimics Parade', happened almost twenty years before. 'Kasargod Kadherbhai', which came as the second part of that movie has got a pass certificate due to the comedy trend existed in that period.

'Again Kasargod Kadherbhai' has got Jagadeesh, Innocent, Babu Antony, Asokan and Baiju, that has acted in the previous versions. Radha Varma, who did the heroine role in Dileep's 'Crazy Gopalan' is coming as the heroine. 'Yakshiyum Njaanum' fame Gautham comes in a notable role. Kalloor Dennis is maintained as the script writer for this movie also. Utpal V.Nayanar is the cinematographer. This is producer Milan Jaleel's next movie after the notable project 'Cock Tail'. Ratheesh Vega, who worked as the music director for that movie gets another chance here.

The members (Salim Kumar, Biju Kuttan, Dhananjayan, Tesni Khan etc) of Kaladarshana troup had decided to celebrate the 60th birthday of father Tharakkandam (Inncoent). The old members (Jagadeesh, Asokan, Baiju) were also invited. After few days, all of them together got a chance to perform in the central jail where Kasim Bhai (Babu Antony), the son of Kadher Bhai also stays. Kasim attacks the troupe members in the middle of the show and later it was found that Kasim is dead. The police inspector (Gautham) took in charge of the investigation. The real culprit is caught in the climax.

There is not a single attractive scene in the whole movie. The dialogues are filled with many double meaning words. The comedy sequences shown here is too childish. The scenes at hospital and at the office where troupe members trying to attract the heroine are best examples. A couple of stage shows done by the troupe is shown as it is to generate comedy (the creators are still not aware that the viewers are getting a chance to watch comedy skits every minute in their favorite tv channels, this is not the 90's where there existed only one or two tv channels).

Suraaj Venjarammood once again comes in a foolish police officer who is a mimicry fan. He had done a lengthy imitating scene of many heroes, which is a repetitive thing only. The dialogue delivery of Gautham in the police officer's role is not matching well. The head shaking mannerism of the father character is an artificiality here. The second song suitable for a romantic mood is done in a comic way, featuring the oldies. The interval punch is serious, but the director had asked the viewers to take a break so that they can laugh again. The only agreeable thing shown in the whole movie is the climax where the police describes the motive of the crime, but by that time an average viewer might be in a 'pathetic' state of mind.


Movies like 'Again Kasargod Kadherbhai' will provoke more viewers to take a strong decision, not to come to theaters here after...


Rating : 1 / 10

Sahasram

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Suresh Gopi, Madhu, Bala, Jagathi, 'Kaadhal' Sandhya, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy
Director : Dr.S.Janardhanan
Music : M.Jayachandran, Rajamani (bg score)

The director of many hit mega serials and Mohanlal film 'Mahasamudram' has now done a horror based investigation subject titled 'Sahasram'. The title is so, because the hero Suresh Gopi's name in the movie is a peculiar one, Vishnu Sahasra Naamam. It is going to be yet another police officer's role for him. U.K.Senthil Kumar, who worked with the same actor in his previous project 'Kanyakumari Express', is the cinematographer. Bala and 'Kaadhal' Sandhya have also done notable roles. Seven Arts Films is the distributor.

The story is told in the background of a film shooting. As per request from the production controller (Jagathi), the art director Vaishakhan (Bala) reaches the shooting spot just before the proposed day of shooting, for the set works. He had witnessed some unusual happenings there. His personal grudge with actor Sudheer (Suresh Krishna), had caused him problems at the location and he was forced to leave the job. The shooting started and while taking a combination shot of the heroine ('Kaadhal' Sandhya) and the villain, the latter one, who is also the minister's son is killed. The police officer, Sahasra Naamam (Suresh Gopi), who is in charge of the investigation reached there and the truth is found out in the racy second half through a suspense.

The director had kept a good suspense for the story. The main problem lies in the careless handling of some incidents and inclusion unnatural dialogues in the movie. The creator should realize the fact that a movie presentation is far different compared to that of a mini screen. The lengthy opening scene in which the heroine of a movie fall accidentally into the water and the after effects of that incident are all carelessly handled. The sequences involving Kottayam Nazir in the director's role, Jagathi as the production controller, Bala as the art director and who ever related to the film shooting spots are speaking very amateur dialogues regarding their profession. The discussion happening between the director and the crew members on the scenes to be shot, are suitable for a school drama only (it is not good to under estimate the viewers, they are intelligent enough to understand the cinematic things even if they are old in a more professional and serious way).

Suresh Gopi is there in his usual style, but some times he is behaving in an abnormal manner (it is all part of the investigation, leave it). The dialogue delivery of Niyaz as SI, felt odd in few areas. Even if the suspense is revealed in the anticlimax, the director had added a dramatic climax area for revenge, which should have been done more neatly. A senior actor like Madhu is not suited in such a role of the minister. 'Kaadhal' Sandhya is not graceful in the heroine's role. Bala is ok. Bg score by Rajamani is good for the mood. Cinematography by U.K.Senthil Kumar with Ramalingam and Sujith Vasudev, who worked for the second unit, did their job well. Mahesh Narayan is the editor. Action scenes by Mafia Sasi is ok, a couple of rope shots felt bad due to his inexperience in that side.

Even if there are few ups and downs on the making side, 'Sahasram' has got a watchable investigation plot, with a suspense.


Rating : 6.5 / 10