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

Shikkar

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mohanlal, Lalu Alex, Jagathi, Kalabhavan Mani, Kailash, Ananya, Sneha, Mythili
Director : M.Padmakumar
Music : M.Jayachandran, Ouseppachan (bg score)

A project planned with Mohanlal and Nasrudeen Shah on the background of forest and bamboo trees, has been announced with Viji Thamby as the director, almost 7-8years ago. If my memory is right, Mohanlal's character name 'Balaraaman' itself was the title for the movie. Any way that project didn't happened, in the middle, the name of Lal Jose came in the director's list. Now, the chance has gone for M.Padmakumar ('Ammakkilikkoodu', 'Vasthavam', 'Vargam', 'Parunthu' fame), to be the captain of the ship, a former associate to master craftsman Renjith. 'Shikkar', which is shot in the dense forests of Kothamangalam, Pooyamkutty etc were also in the news as actor Sreenath's end happened during the shooting days of particular movie. S.Suresh Babu ('Thaandavam', 'Daada Saahib' fame) is the script writer.

The story happens in the high range village of Chittaazha which is busy in the bamboo season. Balaraaman (Mohanlal) is a lorry driver, he has got a companion (Kalabhavan Mani) always. He acted against the baddies who came to create an unstable environment with in the workers, thus he is loved by all in the locality. He lost his wife (Sneha), he now stays with his daughter Ganga (Ananya, 'Positive', 'Naadodikal' fame) is a medical student. Some of the incidents that happened in the life of Balaraaman always haunts him. Ganga started loving Manu (Kailash), a press photographer. When known about Manu's past, Balaraaman opposed their relationship and later he was forced to reveal his flash back.

Mohanal is excellent and his appearance has got the flavor of movies like 'Naran' and 'Bhramaram'. M.Padmakumar has not been successful to dominate 'Shikkar' over those projects, the inclusion of some unwanted scenes added to the negative. The tamil song 'Sembakame Sevappazhake...' featuring Lal (director) and a girl with dancers was only helpful for some viewers for going out to have a smoke and come. Please don't forget that Lal doesn't have a Prabhudeva image among the crowd. It is time for Suraaj Venjarammood to be choosy in his roles, more over his character is showing identical behavior as Jagathi's one. Kalabhavan Mani was not at all needed, he is here to support the hero in punches. Jagathi coming in a rich man appearance for the second time, is shown with his son-in-law (Kannan Pattaambi, production controller), such a scene won't creates laughing as you expected; the reason for the former calling the latter as brother-in-law is not known.

The story of 'Shikkar' is good, but the movie is lagging in many areas. The telugu dialogues heard in the forest has got a 'nagavally' tone, which should have been avoided, as the owner of the voice is shown later. The climax fight happening in between the thick mountains and forest shows that the crew had suffered well, but the output was not thrilling as expected. Since the time and location of the incidents are shown in between the title credits, it creates a confusion in the beginning. The relation of Balaraaman and Ganga can be doubtful (at least for me), whether she is his daughter or his brother's ?. The funny dialogues told by most of the characters in the end of every shot or scenes (might have done during dubbing) are not attractive. The characters of Kochu Preman, Sreelatha, N.L.Balakrishnan etc can be used as fillers only. The reason for Jagathy's fear for the hero's character left unknown. The action scenes and its build up in the first half is an adaptation from many such heroic subjects. The hit duet 'Enthedi Enthedi...' should have been visualized welll, in a greenery backdrop rather than the Hyderabad location.

The telugu song and the associated incidents are shown well to register Abdulla's character to a great extend (though I expect the crowd would be restless, it was not like that). The message given in the climax is good. M.Jayachandran had given the songs for the mood. Bg score by Ouseppachan is good. Manoj Pillai's cinematography is excellent. Ranjan Abraham is the editor. By giving her own voice, Ananya did well in the role. Even in a small role Samudrakkani marked his presence.


'Shikkar' won't stands up to your expectation. It can be watched to witness Mohanlal in another rough and tough role.


Rating : 7 / 10 (revised)

Oru Naal Varum

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Suraj Venjarammood, Sameera Reddy, Devayani
Director : T.K.Rajeev Kumar
Music : M.G.Sreekumar

The tensions prevailing between various organizations in the malayalam cine industry like producers, distributors, exhibitors etc along with the monsoon season has affected badly the release of Mohanlal's new movie 'Oru Naal Varum'. The movie which was planned to release in the second half of May has now reached theaters, after affecting certain controversies also. We are aware of the fact that a third party came to the lime light claiming the real story credit of 'Oru Naal Varum'. Anyway now the issues are solved and the distributors assume that since the football fever is in its climax, this is the right time for the release.

After the hit movie 'Udayanaanu Thaaram', Sreenivasan once again decided to take the pen for Mohanlal. T.K.Rajeev Kumar, who is notable through his debutant project, 'Chaanakyan' (by Kamalhassan), has directed it. He did a a couple of projects like 'Pavithram' and 'Thacholi Vargheese Chekavar' with Mohanlal before. The producer Maniyanpillai Raju has given a movie with the same director before, 'Kannezhuthi Pottumthottu'. This time the hero's pair comes from the north, Sameera Reddy ('Musafir', 'No Entry' fame). The music section here is handled by M.G.Sreekumar, who is concentrating more on the composing side, these days.

Sukumaran (Mohanlal) wants to construct a new house in the city. He needs approval from Gopikrishnan (Sreenivasan), the Assistant Town Planning Officer, a corrupted guy. Gopikrishnan lives with his wife (Devayani) and daughter, who is deeply interested to join MBBS course. He is planning to get admission for his daughter in a self financing seat. Sukumaran tried hard, but he is unable to get positive sign from the officer. The instability in the family relationship between Sukumaran and his wife Meera (Sameera Reddy) is also shown. She is staying separately, leaving her husband and little daughter. At last, Sukumaran decided to bribe Gopikrishnan, which leads to a certain chain of incidents in both their families, thus the story of 'Oru Naal Varum' progresses.

Some of the incidents shown here has got the flavor of Mohanlal's recent movie, 'Ividam Swargamaanu' since both the projects discussed the activities related to the government departments. The base story idea is good, but script by Sreenivasan needs more professionalism in conceiving it. Though the family matters of the hero is shown parallelly, it is incomplete and has seen many times before. Such situations are incorporated to attract the family crowd and also to take an attention away from the cat & mouse game happening between Mohanlal and Sreenivasan's characters. No big humor is happening here, even though Suraj Venjarammood is given a role (under pressure), as Gopikrishnan's driver. The name of the village 'kundathode' written on a board and placed beside hero's plot is the last way to generate laughter. The full stop given to Nedumudi Venu's character in such a way is not acceptable. Even though we can demand realistic situations, a cinematic finish should have been done for such a story. Sameera Reddy struggled a lot to show emotions.

The transformation happening to the hero's character is an appreciated one, which is the highlight of the movie. Some of the lighter actions by him in the beginning areas is catchy. Manoj Pillai's cinematography is good. 'Paadan Ninakkoru...' song is already a hit and the only attraction of 'Naathoone...' song is Mohanlal's voice, but they are not included in the movie. Bg score by M.G.Sreekumar goes with the mood. The dialogues has got Sreenivasan's touch, the comic ones are not impressive all the time, but the serious punches in the combination between the hero and his opponent can caught attention. T.K.Rajeev Kumar is lucky enough to get a 'come back' movie, as he got the most experienced artists in the lead roles.

As viewers like us doesn't want anything new, the creators are also not ready for an experiment...let us hope, it will change, oru naal varum...

'Oru Naal Varum' cannot be rated as top class from Mohanlal-Sreenivasan combination. It targets family audiences and also good to see Mohanlal in the role of an 'ordinary' man, without much heroism incorporated in it. Watch this without much expectations, then you won't be disappointed...

Rating : 7 / 10

Alexander The Great

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mohanlal, Bala, Sidhiq, Jagadeesh, Meenakshi Dixit, Sudha Chandran
Director : Murali Nagavally
Music : M.G.Sreekumar

A couple of weeks back, a friend of mine, who is aware of my creziness in the movies, asked me, which is the new project of Mohanlal ? When I told about 'Alexander The Great', he immediately replied that it will be a disaster. He don't know anything about the story or the director or the technical crew or any details connected with the movie, but he told the reason that the hair style of Mohanlal reminds him the films like 'Flash', 'Angel John' etc. Anyway, I didn't argued as I was also having doubts about such a film written by new comer C.Balachandran and directed by Murali Nagavally (former associate of Priyadarshan and director of the film 'Wanted'). Thus without much expectation, I decided to watch the film, produced by V.B.K.Menon.

The story happens in the backdrop of Dubai. Prathap Varma (Saikumar) is a rich business man. He has got some relatives (Sidhiq, Ganesh Kumar, T.P.Madhavan, Fathima Babu etc) who is awaiting eagerly to get the share of his immense amount of wealth. Varma's relationship with his wife (Sudha Chandran) and son Manu (Bala) is not healthy and they are living separately. After the unexpected death of Varma, the relatives came to know that the majority of the property is being written in the name of Alexander Varma (Mohanlal), in Mumbai. Thus Manu, who is facing some financial problems, goes in search of Alexander, with his lover (Meenakshi Dixit) and his uncle (Jagadeesh). They came to know that Alexander is living in a mental asylum; he is brilliant but an abnormal personality. The group tries their best to get the signature from the peculiar character, at the same time another gang is trying to kill Alexander. With the permission of the doctor (Nedumudi Venu), they took Alexander to Dubai and whether Alexander agreed to give back the wealth to his younger brother, is shown later.

The highlight of 'Alexander The Great' is the excellent performance by Mohanlal. His body language and dialogue delivery are suited well for such a character, it also creates laughing in many situations. It had got the shades of Sharukh Khan's role in 'My Name Is Khan'. The visuals are colorful and rich, as the majority of the scenes are happening in Dubai. Cinematography by Kannan is good. The bg score done by M.G.Sreekumar goes with the mood.

The film had got a good story line, but it looks like the creators had done some compromises on the presentation side in few areas, especially the climax. The suspense in the particular portion is also not done in a notable way. The situations involving the villain gang (headed by Kalabhavan Shajon) working for Sidhiq, should have been done in a more clear way, a mixture of comedy and serious mannerisms are not good. The discussions involving the relatives are done at the same locations most of the time, inside the room or at the roof top. Dubbing artist Anandavalli's voice is too dominating for Sudha Chandran's character. As in the case of 'Inn Ghost House Inn', 'T.D.Daasan Std VI B', Jagadeesh is overacting most of the time. The scene in which Alexander doing surgery in the hospital can felt cinematic, but we watched and accepted similar situation in 'Three Idiots' and 'My Name Is Khan' also, so no need to be irritated.


Films by Mohanlal and Mammootty got released on the same day after a gap and it is a rare coincidence that in both these stories, hero goes to jail for the crime committed by his father; none of the two stars are having their heroine in these movies...


With such a story, 'Alexander The Great' should have been made better. But, it is not that bad to be avoided, you can watch it once to see Mohanlal in a totally different role.


Rating : 7 / 10 (revised)

Janakan

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Biju Menon, Ranjit Menon, Kaveri, Jyothirmayi
Director : N.R.Sanjeev
Music : M.Jayachandran, Rajamani (bg score)

After films like 'Pakal Nakshatrangal' and 'Twenty 20', two stars Mohanlal and Suresh Gopi decided to act together once again in the new project named 'Janakan'. The success of films like 'To Harihar Nagar', 'Robinhood', 'Happy Husbands', Inn Ghost House Inn' etc proves that this is the correct time to launch another multi star project. In addition to this, the main back bone for this film is none other than S.N.Swamy, who is the master brain behind maximum crime thrillers. His previous work, 'Rahasya Police' with Jayaram and K.Madhu was not a hit. 'Janakan' is directed by debutant N.R.Sanjeev (formerly Saji Paravoor), who has once associated with K.Madhu (in 'Sethuramayyar CBI) and Suresh Krishnan (in 'Achaneyanenikkistam'). The film is distributed by Maax Lab.

The film opens by showing the police party searching for Viswam (Suresh Gopi) and his two friends (Biju Menon and Harisree Asokan), who got convicted in murder incidents. Escaping from the police, they reach the house of a criminal lawyer, Sooryanarayanan (Mohanlal). Viswam tells his story and what all happened these days that lead to their present situation. By this time police reaches Soorya's house, but they were not able to catch them. In the morning, a big police force reached there and how Soorya handles the situation is shown in the end portions of 'Janakan'. The first few scenes, showing the police searching itself is lagging. The minister's son in the car escaping from the police is not created professionally, the continuity in ACP Vijayakumar's character is also a problem in the particular scene. The scene in which Viswam roaring in front of the minister is good, but the director had made it amateurish by showing it in different shots at a time. The tamil actor Sambath, who has not done any lengthy roles so far, is given an important villain role here. He is apt for the role, but the problem happened is in his flexibility which he managed a lot by using dubbing artist Shobi Thilakan's voice. The introduction shots of the DJ character is also not done in the best way. The way in which Vijayakumar fixing his cap felt un realistic most of the time. The cracking of joke towards the end by Harisree Asokan's character in such a mood should have been avoided. The climax shot in the film was unnecessary and it created a negative impact on the whole film also.

The new director, N.R.Sanjeev who came to the film field from the mini screen, had presented the film in an ordinary way only. In an investigative film like this you need more speed in the story telling, some gimmicks in the visuals and the fast cuts also required. In that way, cameraman Sanjeev Shankar and editor G.Murali did not gave an extra ordinary output. Years before, S.N.Swamy wrote a film for K.Madhu-Suresh Gopi named 'Nariman', the motive of the central character there was to expose the wrong function of the judiciary body. Through 'Janakan' also, the script writer had tried to say something which is related to the previous theme. He has made his job easier by creating (deliberately) the minister's son and police officer's daughter as friends for the central girl character which helped him for doing such a climax. You can't have any big suspense here, which you will usually witness in films like this. Here everything is straight, with a (demanded) twist in the climax. The theme of 'Janakan' is having some coincidences with Suresh Gopi-Pasupathi film 'Vairam'.

The main attraction in the film is Mohanlal. It is he who make the film lively, with his excellent performance. Suresh Gopi also gave a good support with his controlled acting.


No need to expect much from a film like 'Janakan', but the theme is a socially related one, which has been in the news in the recent past. More over, you will also be lucky to see the two superstars coming in ordinary roles after a gap.


Rating : 6.5 / 10

Ividam Swargamaanu

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mohanlal, Shankar, Srenivasan, Thilakan, Lalu Alex, Lakshmi Rai, Priyanka, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy
Director : Roshan Andrews
Music : Gopi Sundar

May be the young director Roshan Andrews has done two films only ('Udayanaanu Thaaram' & 'Notebook') in the last four years, it is a fact that he has proved his caliber through those two projects which were big hits. Now his new project named 'Ividam Swargamaanu' has got Mohanlal once again in the lead role. The film is produced by the actor himself under the banner of Ashirwad Cinemas. This is a family subject in which the lead actor comes in the role of a farmer and has also has got the senior actor Thilakan coming as Mohanlal's father after a long gap. James Albert has written the script after giving youthful films like 'Classmates' and 'Cycle'.

The film opens when the reporter (Priyanka) of Asia Vision channel reaches The village for a program shoot. She happens to meet Mathews (Mohanlal), who is a notable farmer in the locality. His big farm has got large amount of cattles, paddy fields, vegetable plantations etc. A crooked rich man, Chandy (Lalu Alex) who lives in the village is also engaged in real estate business; he wants to buy the land owned by Mathews. Since the owner was not willing to sell the plot, Chandy uses his political and money powers to get his wish done. At one stage the local police and the different administrative departments acted against the hero. Chandy gave a wrong impression to the villagers, telling that the proposed land is the site for a new township. How the hero fought against the land mafia group without using his physical strength is shown in a realistic way in the second half.

The film with a duration of 2.45hrs is too lengthy. As a result the first half areas is lagging. The area where the farm house of the hero is shown in detail has got a documentary effect here and there. The family portions of the hero (Thilakan, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Sukumari) doesn't gave the true feel which was there in the films belonging to 80's and beginning 90's. Even after doing some films in malayalam, it looks like the kannada girl Lakshmi Rai now also struggles to speak the language. Shankar, who started his malayalam film career with Mohanlal, is coming here as the hero's friend, but he doesn't have much to do.

Gopi Sundar had given an excellent background score (the chorus opera piece for the father character that repeated twice should have been avoided). Diwakar's cinematography is also good. The performance of Lalu Alex and Jagathi were notable. Mohanlal has also done well.The second half areas where the revenge episode comes has been neatly handled by the director.

The story of the film is simple and good. The title of the film is also important as its theme; in that sense this title 'Ividam Swargamaanu' is not a catchy one. A stability in scripting in the first half by cut shorting the length, adding a couple of good songs and giving little more heroism to the central character should have been done here. But the film discusses certain situations that anybody should face in his real life.

Time has changed; these days the audience don't want to see realistic subjects. Even if a film like 'Varavelpu' is releasing now, it won't be a big hit as before. On the Christmas day of its release, 'Ividam Swargamaanu' ran with around 70% attendance in the capital city for the second show, the same situation happened a day before for another super star's release also...

'Ividam Swargamaanu' is a film with a realistic story, targeting family audiences. Though it lags in the beginning areas, it takes its usual pace later and is interesting towards the end.


Rating : 7.5 / 10 (revised)

Angel John

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mohanlal, Santhanu Bhagyaraj, Lalu Alex, Jagathi, Nithya, Ambika
Direcion : S.L.Puram Jayasurya
Music : Ouseppachan

Malayalam film industry has been ruled by two big Ms for the last three decades. There exists some un noticed coincidences regarding the choosing in the theme of some of the projects by these stars. 'Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha' and 'Kadathanadan Ambadi' released at the same time, 'Aaraam Thamburan' is followed by 'Valyettan', 'Chronic Bachelor and 'Mr. Brahmachari' are identical in their names, the latest films to join these group are 'Ee Pattanathil Bhootham' followed by 'Angel John'. The first one has got the hero coming in a super human character. The "bhootham" who is able to do any thing within a matter of time and is capable of satisfying the wishes of his friends. This might have provoked Mohanlal to do almost a similar character. He comes in the role of an "angel" who is also capable of doing similar things. Like the former, he is shown well dressed like a common man (excluding the horns on head).


Max Lab, distribution company owned by the hero had distributed 'Angel John'. It is directed by S.L.Puram Jayasurya. He once associated Fazil and had given a film, 'Speed Track' with Dileep before. Now in his second film he had shown the boldness to cast Mohanlal in a role never like before. It is the heights and limits of superhuman characters. Santhanu ('Chakkarakkatti' fame, son of star couple Bhagyaraj and Poornima) has also acted in a full length role. Camera is handled by Ajayan Vincent, after his thrilling job in 'Bhramaram'. Script is written by debutant Manaf along with the director.


Maradona (Santhanu) is an useless student, who is not caring for his life and his duties. His parents (Lalu Alex, Ambika) are worried about his odd behavior. After being scolded by his father, for his untolerable attitude and bad habits, the "poor" boy decided to suicide. He is being saved by the person who is being introduced as Angel John, an "angel" sent by the God to satisfy the former's wishes. He asks him to choose the wish of normal life or a shorter life with maximum pleasures only. With such an intention the boy asks his wish every day in the form of money, physical strength and what not, anything is possible for the "angel". He is able to appear and disappear within a fraction of seconds according to his wish. Maradona's neighbor girl (Nithya, 'Aakasagopuram', 'Vellathooval' fame), though helps him in his studies, he refuses her company. Anyway in the end, the "angel" helps in molding a good character for the boy within a short period and the parents accepts him. He is being given his life back by the "angel", who leaves to some other place where another suicide happens.


I don't know who is going to be benefited by such a project. The director, being the son of great writer, late S.L.Puram should not have done such a thing. Only advantage by this film is that the hero can count one more to the total number of films for his credit.The fans kept calm for the pre interval scenes of Santhanu, with an expectation to see the superstar later. The problem in speaking the language has affected his performance a lot. By coming in such a character, Mohanlal had made the audience unhappy. The difference in the wig position of the hero is relevant in some scenes. The scenes involving Jagathi, who comes in an unrealistic character is intolerable. Baiju has got some comedy situations to handle. The characterization of the heroine is incomplete (she is being told as a handicapped, but it is not registered). Songs by the national award winner Ouseppachan is below average. The theme given by him in the bg score for the "angel" character is good.


Anyway, I watched the film in the capital city on the last show of the opening day with a 60% attendance only. It shows that the viewers doesn't want such an un natural characterization from their favorite star. There is a situation in the film where heroine's father (Vijayaraghavan), who is a film director, searching for a good story for his next film; this is very relevant in the case of S.L.Puram Jayasurya also, who is responsible for creating such a character. (It is very sad to see that 'Angel John' is inspired from a flop hindi film by Amitabh Bachan and Salman Khan, 'God Thusi Great Ho').


At the theater compound, after watching 'Angel John', some one from the crowd screamed loudly, "who is going to be appeared as an Angel, to refund the ticket charge of this movie...?"


Rating : 4 / 10

Unnaippol Oruvan

Medium : Tamil
Starring : Kamalhassan, Mohanlal, Lakshmi
Direction : Chakri Toleti
Music : Shruthihassan


We have got only few examples where remake subjects came excellent when compared to the original ones. The best example is Kamalhassan's 'Kuruthippunal' directed by PC Sreeram which is inspired from hindi film 'Drohkaal', directed by Govind Nihlani starring Ompuri, Nasrudeen Shah ans Ashish Vidyarthi. Now the uiniversal hero had produced another remake in tamil. This time his latest project 'Unnaippol Oruvan' is a carbon copy of 'A Wednesday' acted by Nasrudeen Shah and Anupam Kher. The most important thing as far as the new version is considered is that the two legendary actors from south india, Kamalhassan (in place of Nasrudeen Shah) and Mohanlal (in place of Anupam Kher) comes together for the first time here.


Those who have gone through my reviews on 'A Wednesday' clearly knows about the value of the project. The extra ordinary performances of the main charectors there, gave me a doubt feeling when the star cast for the remake film was announced. Among them Mohanlal's role of the police commissioner was a question mark, since Anupan Kher had given his career best performance there. The original version has not been released in our state, hence it gives me pleasure to see that we are getting atleast a chance to watch the remake version. Since the story is extraordinary, when it comes through the hands of two well known performers, it is also an added advantage.


As before, i am not going to discuss the story here also.Only thing I can say that the film discusses the issue of terrorism faced by the country these days. There is no big locations covered to tell the story, the main one being the top of an under construction building where the hero lies and other one being the police head quarters where the other main character is shown most of the time.


Comparing the two versions will give us an opportunity to find more and more negatives in the remake version. Nasrudeen Shah was old, pleasing and lovable as the character demanded. Though Kamalhassan has done well, his looks in the black beard has got a pinch of small heroism sometimes, which is not suited for the story. As expected, Mohanlal is not a good choice. He is silent and shy rather than aggressive and commanding. (Prakashraj, Nana Patekar or even Mammootty would have been a better choice here). Like this, all the artists were properly placed and have delivered their best in the old one.


The new director, Chakri Toleti has copied all the scenes as it is and tried hard to make a 120mnts movie out of a 90mnts one, which ended in creating a lagging effect. Manoj Soni, the cinematographer had done his job well. On the music side you have got hero's daughter,Shruthihassan. Her background score also never stands near the original version by Sanjay Chowdhary.


'Unnaippol Oruvan' is an excellent film. It will be a visual treat if you have not seen 'A Wednesday' before.

(...but don't forget get a dvd to check the potential of the original hindi version, later...)


Rating : 8 / 10

Bhramaram

Director Blessy, came to the cine field almost 22 years before as assistant to Padmarajan through films like 'Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal', ‘Thoovanathumbikal’. He has also worked with directors like IV Sasi (‘Varnappakittu’), Venu Nagavally (‘Kizhakkunarum Pakshi’), Jayaraj (‘For the People’), Lohithadas (‘Soothradharan’) etc. His first independent film as director and script writer, ‘Kazhacha’ (with Mammootty), followed by ‘Thanmathra’ (with Mohanlal) gave an assessment on the caliber of this technician. His next few films like ‘Palungu’ (with Mamootty) and ‘Calcutta News’ (with Dileep) were not commercial hits. The concepts of those two films were good, but the main problem happened on the way in which it was narrated. Those who have seen ‘Calcutta News’ won’t forget some of the excellent visuals he took in the background of the city life (the scene in which Innocent’s character’s dreaming, treatment of climax fight etc are some of the examples).

Now the ace director is coming with his latest film ‘Bhramaram’ starring Mohanlal. The title has got some tag lines saying, “Brutally innocent…” and “First Road Movie in Malayalam…” It gives us the message that it is an action subject. (Even the posters of the film reminds us of the yester year film by Bharathan-MT-Lal, 'Thazhvaram'). After working with cinematographers like Azhagappan, Sethu Sriram, Santhosh Thundiyil and S Kumar in his previous films, now Ajayan Vincent gets the chance to hold the camera with Blessy. He is the younger son of veteran director- cinematographer Vincent and younger brother of senior cinematographer Jayanan Vincent. It is a history that Ajayan’s debut film was also ‘Thoovanathumbikal’. ‘Bhramaram’ is distributed by Max Laab (Mohanlal’s distribution company).

‘Bhramaram’ is the story a protagonist (Mohanlal) who comes to the city in search of his childhood friend (Suresh Menon). There is a mystery behind the former’s visit to the latter’s family (Laxmi Gopalasamy and Baby Niveditha). He fails to identify the hero who is his old friend, the instability in his behavior also created some doubts in the family’s mind. Anyway what is the reason behind the hero’s arrival and motive and how the hero tackles the situation is what the director Blessy told in a thrilling way through the revenge story, ‘Bhramaram’.

The highlight of the film is the outstanding performance by one of the finest actors in the country, Mohanlal. His one man show in which he delivers the emotions varying from smile, laugh, sentiments, aggressiveness, enmity etc is notable. After a long time, the superstar has got such a role to execute. The attitude of this central character changes from time to time, some times he is silent, sometimes violent, he laughs and at the same time he cries.

Next thing to be noted is the excellent cinematography. Ajayan Vincent has covered the maximum locations from city side (Coimbatore) to the high range (Marayoor and Nelliambathi). The film which involves many close-up shots and interior scenes of maximum vehicles like jeep, car, auto, lorry and bus has been shown differently in a superb way. The use of Jimmy Jib cameras in most areas also gives the authenticity to the visuals.

The binding factor between the hero and the camera man is, of course, the director. Blessy has proved again by doing an excellent job. The presentation of the film is the highlight here. The combination scenes involving the two friends (Mohanlal and Suresh Menon) will make the viewers curious every moment. By making the hero, drive vehicles like lorry and jeep in the high range, the complexity and outlook of the character is also projected. Suresh Menon, Muralikrishnan (Bharath Gopi's son), Laxmi Gopalaswamy, KPAC Lalitha, Baby Niveditha etc has also performed well as per director’s orders.

The action scenes by Thyagarajan are also good. Mohan Sitara has given two songs; “Annarakkanna Vaa…” song comes as bit in many times. Background score is also apt for the subject.

In the middle of many positives, the director has committed small mistakes by compromising. By placing a little girl (as hero’s daughter), who doesn’t know how to act, the flash back portions have gone out of control in few areas. (her performance has got the flavour of heroine's younger uncle's role done by Shajin in 'Aniyathipravu', hope u remember...) Also the crowd becomes restless for the village scenes of the hero, which affects the tempo of the movie for few minutes. Bhoomika (as hero’s wife), doesn’t have much to perform. In short, the motive behind hero’s journey should have treated more professionally. (I am ready to accept all these things in the sense, since it all happened in the middle of a breathtaking voyage; I don’t want to see another outcome of ‘Thirakkadha’ or ‘Pakalnakshatrangal’ here…!). Anyway it is good that such poor scenes covers only around 10% of the film's length.

‘Bhramaram’ is a thrilling experience which won’t happen always. Though there are small hurdles in the middle, the over all effect won’t make you boring.

Rating : 8 / 10