Agent Vinod

A nuclear bomb which can be activated by Ummar Khyyam's Rubiyyat has been acquired by a terrorist group who are planning to detonate it in New Delhi and thereby triggering a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. The plan is intercepted by a RAW agent, who is killed before he can pass on the full information, which brings Agent Vinod on this case.  You will get all that is expected of a spy movie with bomb blasts, shooting, guns going bam bam, lots of running, bike chase, auto chase, everything.  Movie has a fast pace, so it will keep you engaged.  Saif has done a good job as an action hero, he has spotted a stubble (more than a stubble) throughout the movie perhaps in an attempt to look macho.  Kareena looks great.  Prem Chopra, Gulshan Grover, Shahbaz Khan are the other baddies.  The only spoiler in my case was a guy sitting beside me who kept on saying "yeh bakwas movie hai" to his girl friend.  I wonder what more he was expecting in a movie named Agent Vinod.

THE HELP

The help is a drama movie based on a novel of the same name by Kathryn Stockett. Movie attracted me because I read in newspaper this movie received four Academy Awards nominations. So curiousity made me watch this movie and it was worthwhile.

The movie is set in Jackson, Mississippi during Civil Rights era in early 1960s. The movies revolves around Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan (Emma Stone) and 2 maids, known as Helps, Aibileen Clark (Viola Davis)and Minny Jackson(Octavia Spencer).

Skeeter has moved back home to her family's plantation after graduation from University of Mississippi. Back home she find that her childhood maid who raised her, Constantine, has quit job at her home. She is quite upset about this because she thinks Constantine would have written to her.

She finds job as a homemaker columnist with Jackson daily and for that she takes help of maid of her friend Elizabeth, Aibileen who is a middle aged lady who has been raising white children all her life from the age of 14. She knew she would be a maid because her mother was a maid, her grandma was a house slave. Skeeter feels uncomfortable the way her white friends treat their Helps, especially Hilly Holbrook Bryce Dallas Howard) a strong racist who has proposed a bill to provide separate bathrooms for black maid because they carry different diseases to white people.

Skeeter eventually tells her plan of writing a book from the Help's percpective to Aibileen to which she refuses telling it will cost them their life because of the law in Jackson. Later Aibileen changes her mind when she realizes that white children they raise are growing up just like their parents hating colored people. Her friend Minny, who is outspoken but with excellent culinary skills also join Aibileen. She was thrown out of job from Hilly Holbrook's because she used their bathroom during a tornado storm night. Hilly poisons all other families and Minny is left jobless and her daughter drops out of school to work as a maid.

Aibileen helps Minny find job with Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain) who is married to a rich socialite Johnny Foote (Mike Vogel)who also is ex-boyfriend of Hilly Holbrooke. Celia being from a working class is not accepted by Hilly and group even though she is white.

Skeeter send stories of Aibileen and Minny to Miss Stain, an editor for Harper Row in New York, who thinks it as interesting but needed a dozen more. But no one was willing to come forward until Medgar Evers, an Civil Rights Movement activist was brutally murdered and following arrest of Hilly Holbrooks' new maid for pawning a ring because she was not given loan by Hilly for helping maid's children go to college. The Helps realize that this book will give them an opportunity for their voices to be heard. Minny shares a last story so that no one will reveal the book was about Jackson, Mississippi. She as a revenge for firing by Hilly, bakes a chocolate pie and presents it to Hilly. After she finished 2 slices,Minny informs her that her own shit was baked into the pie. Skeeter wanted to add her own story and confronted her mother who told Constatine was fired by her to save herself during a reception. But when later they went to bring her back home, they knew that she passed away heart broken as soon as she was thrown from Skeeter's home.

The book is published and became a huge success. Skeeter shares the royalty with each maid and Skeeter got job with a publishing company in New York. Her boyfriend but breaks up with her when he comes to know about the book. Hilly make Elizabeth fire Aibileen and Aibileen denounces Hilly as a godless woman and leaves the job to start a new life and Skeeter leaves to New York.

Excellent acting is done by Bryce Dallas Howard as Hilly Holbrook, the extreme racist,we cant help hating her. Viola Davis as Aibileen, Octavia Spencer as Minny, Jessica Chastain as Celia Foote.

Wall E

Nobody likes to be lonely, not even Wall E, a robot, who leads a lonely existence on earth.  Earth is covered with litter and human beings live in a large space ship in outer space.  His job is collecting waste (e-waste), and compressing them into cubes and then arranging them.  The year is 2775 and 700 years ago, human beings left for outer space in a giant ship called Axiom.  This ship is controlled by machine "Auto."  Human beings have still not lost hope of living on a planet, and so send probes periodically to other planets to check for signs of life.  One such probe robot named Eva lands on earth and Wall E is head over heels in love with her.  He befriends her and invites her to his home and shows her his latest collection, a young plant that he has discovered.  Eva immediately places the plant inside her and goes into sleep mode as her mission is accomplished.  Wall E tries to revive her but to no avail.  When the mother ship comes to collect Eva, Wall E also jumps on it and thus reaches Axiom, where he sees human beings for the first time.  Human beings are now obese, fully machine dependent, unable to walk.  Wall E befriends a few of them.

The captain of the ship is happy on seeing Eva’s finding on earth, and decides to take Axiom back to Earth but Auto, the machine, which controls the Axiom is against it and a mutiny ensues and how Wall E, Eva, and his friends overcome this major obstacle forms the rest of the story.

The movie touches many aspects of life such as friendship, loneliness, environmental degradation, too much dependence on technology, artificialness of virtual life.

Direction, screenplay, and story by Andrew Stanton, this is yet another winner from Pixar studios. A must watch even if you are no animation buff.

Beautiful is Beautiful !

I went to watch V K Prakash's 'Beautiful' by default because I couldn't risk taking my wife to a late night show of 'Dirty Picture'. Vidya Balan in the posters was the only other woman in the entire Cinema complex. Hence we decided to watch 'Beautiful' and I must say, we came back reasonably happy.

Let me begin with the minus points. First of all there are some gaping loopholes in Anoop Menon's story and screen play. Most important being how John, the character played by himself fails to recognize Stephen [Jayasurya] as his childhood classmate till he stumbles upon an old photograph. This is baffling considering their age when they parted during primary school days.

The second point I found awkward was why does John walk away with the Police when a case of attempted murder was foisted on him when he knew very well he has done no wrong. What happens after that is too sudden a twist, perhaps to keep the movie under 140 minutes.

Coming to the positives, let me begin with the character 'Anjali' played by Meghana Raj. She is 'Beautiful' and oozes tonnes of oomph even while fully clad. She does full justice to her role. Jayasurya and Anoop Menon strike a nice male bonding. They bring the best out of each other. Both have given fabulous performances.

Jayasurya as the millionaire paraplegic goes on to scoff at Sanjay Leela Bhansaali's 'Guzaarish' and declares life is to celebrate. Even if he can't move a finger, he still loves to enjoy looking at 'Beautiful' things in life. In an interesting scene, he derides a TV host about our love and admiration lasting only a few minutes. Anoop Menon too refuses to sympathize with the paraplegic because he has seen worse. These moments add to the wholesomeness of the movie.

Rest of the cast has given commendable performances. The movie is easy on the eyes and ears with nice photography and background music. The twist in the tale at the tail end comes as no great surprise because there are enough tell tale evidences of where we are heading. But it still has been handled reasonably well.

This is a feel good movie about positive attitude. This is also slightly philosophical without being preachy. There is male bonding and there is romance with two ill defined love triangles. One involving John, Stephen and Anjali and the second involving John, Anjali and Meera.

None of the relationships are explored below the superficial layer because a lot of time is consumed by minor incidents like those involving the ashes of Kamalu's father. And finally there is a twist with a rather abruptly handled suspense angle. Thus even though we feel we have watched a 'Beautiful' movie, we still are left with a little bit of incomplete feeling.

I don't know if this movie is inspired from some Hollywood Cinema or Korean movie. Even if it is, I still would appreciate the effort that has gone into the making of the movie. Definitely worth a visit to the cinema.

Krishnanum Radhayum

Master Feces

At least three of my friends wanted me to join them in watching Santhosh Pandith's magnum opus "Krishnanum Radhayum" in Kanoos Cinema in Kochi. I was bombarded with messages about the traffic block the movie had caused in the southern parts of Kochi.

Many people were laughing even at the mention of the name. My beloved wife asked, "What is that poster ? Who is that man looking like a clown ?". After watching the trailer of his movie on Youtube, my Mom declared, "This is Mamu Koya's son". It offended me no end. I just adore Mamu Koya, you see !

Driving past the Pulleppady bridge, I got a strange brain wave. If Santosh Pandith decides to film his forthcoming movies in 3D, he will start with an advantage. His teeth won't need much technology to reach out to the audience. They pop out even from those billboards.

But the commercial success of this ultra-low budget movie goes on to prove one thing. He has created a new trend in marketing. He has sold crap and reaped gold in one of the most sensational sales tactic I have ever seen. Santhosh Pandith is the scrap dealer in Malayalam Cinema.

So finally with all the cajoling, blackmailing, white-mailing and emailing, I still couldn't muster enough courage to view this Master Feces from the new rag [e] of the Malayalam Cinema. WHY ?

Just watch this... I simply am not brave enough !

Hail the new Merchant of Whines !

Sneha Veedu

Satyan Anthikad for me, is the finest commercial movie Director who has survived into a fourth decade of meaningful movie making. He began by directing a delectable comedy in 1982. Almost 30 years later, he perhaps is the only Director of the older generation who has retained currency in this era of decline of Malayalam cinema.

After suffering series of horrible Mohan Lal movies, I had stayed off his 'Pranayam' fearing a boring old-age drama. So if I decided to watch "Sneha Veedu" on first day, it is because of my admiration for Satyan Anthikad. Let me confess he hasn't made any great movie here and this is not 'Vara Velpu' or 'Sandesam'. It is a mix and match of Satyan's old formula. But it works beautifully simply because of the theme of love.

Ajayan Menon [Mohan Lal] as a Chronic Bachelor shying from commitment to a marriage only to see his mother happy in her old age is the protagonist. Veteran Sheila playing his mother complements the picture of 'Love' in a home full of love.

Then there is Sunanda [Padmapriya] a neighborhood girl with charming manners and great conviction in whatever she does. Balan [Biju Menon] plays the role of Ajayan's friend, philosopher and side kick. He is a Sub Inspector of Police and is fabulous. Innocent as Karinkannan Mathai is his usual best. An Anthikkad movie is incomplete without these kind of characters.

There is drama, suspense, earthy comedy, love, puppy love, mother - son sentiments [so thankfully not overdone] and a little bit of tragedy. Then there is a humane climax that comes like a wave of the ocean, all of a sudden; touches us and leaves us wet in the eyes yet happy for the effect.

I wouldn't like to spoil the thrill of watching the movie by discussing the story. But let me add this, the new boy Rahul Pillai is a huge surprise package. He walks away with honors appearing on screen for the first time along with the likes of the stars mentioned above. Some real talent !

The music is beautiful and songs are fabulous. Hariharan and Shreya Ghoshal add variety to the songs. Palakkad and surrounding villages have been shot beautifully to make the visual experience pleasant. A little bit of sagging in pace during second hour apart, "Sneha Veedu" is a wholesome entertainer.

Malayalam cinema suffered all these years because people like Shaji Kailas had turned a magnificent actor into a monstrous Frankenstein of a Superstar. We can't thank you enough Mr. Anthikad for giving us back the 'Common man' Mohan Lal !

Recommended: For every Malayalee who has missed the beautiful family entertainers of the 80s and early 90, go watch this one. And for the new generation growing up on Hindi, English, Tamil and dubbed Telugu masala movies, watch this one to understand Malayalam Cinema !

Chappa Kurishu: A Must Watch !

Disclaimer: I am not much of an avid watcher of foreign language movies because I don't understand those languages. If the movie I am talking about is a remake of some Korean movie, don't bombard me with references. I am happy with Indian movies, even if they are inspired; simply because I can understand what they are talking.

Two in a Crowd !

After the delicious 'Salt and Pepper', the next Malayalam movie I watched was "Chappa Kurishu". Being a Non-Malayalee, I had no idea what it meant. But after watching the movie with a strange name, I am happy I chose to watch it.

It is a story of two totally different people, Arjun [Fahad Fazil in a come back role] and Ansari [Vineeth Sreenivasan]. One is a rich and upwardly mobile techie with ruthless selfishness. The other, a much abused lowly employee of a super-market. The former is getting engaged to a rich girl Ann [Roma in a dumb belle role], but indulges in oh so hot romance with his colleague Sonia [gorgeous Remya Nambeesan]. 

Ansari on the other hand is a slum-dweller who can't even express his soft corner for his beautiful and supportive colleague. He takes all abuses of his Supervisor and others without a whimper and continues to eat cheap food to save money so that he can send money-order to his mother.

Arjun shoots his own rendezvous with Sonia on his mobile camera. When Sonia realizes that he is getting engaged to another girl, she wrecks havoc in his professional life. In the middle of an extremely well shot altercation, Arjun loses his phone. That phone lands in the hands of Ansari who doesn't even know how to use it. This is the beginning of a chase and a race that changes two lives completely.

As Arjun frantically tries to get his phone back, Ansari begins to feel a strange sense of power. He isn't after money. For the first time in his life, he wants to enjoy the power. He uses Arjun to avenge his insult. But this act of innocent rage lands the lives of Arjun, Ann, Sonia and all the people connected to them in a huge turmoil.

The movie smoothly moves towards the climax with some tense moments involving Sonia and Arjun and a series of hit and miss events between Arjun and Ansari. The climax is all about how the incident changes the life and outlook of both the protagonists completely. Arjun, the suave operator realizes the importance of relations in life and Ansari gets the balls to take life head-on.

Vineeth Sreenivasan is simply fantastic and lives the role of the underdog. But Fahad Fazil who looked like a dud in his first movie [Kaiyethum Doorathu] is a complete revelation. Remya Nambeesan looks gorgeous, does a very competent job as the sinned against Sonia and has done a very bold love scene without which the movie would have been incomplete. Niveditha as the friend-less Ansari's only friend looks cute and does well. Roma does well in a very limited role. All the supporting cast is equally efficient.

Music and background score adds to the tempo of the movie. Camera-work is excellent and brings out Kochi as a character on its own in the movie. Perhaps the movie would have been even better with a little crispier editing. But as a whole experience, I will buy this from a first time Director. Sameer Thahir making his Directorial debut will have a lot to live up to in future. Here is one more new Director with a fabulous first movie. All this augurs well for Malayalam Cinema and I am happy for that.

Iqbal

Cricket is a passion for us, Indians, and Iqbal, the protagonist of this movie is no different, but there are differences, unlike us, he is deaf and dumb and also he wants to represent India internationally.  Coming from a rural background he faces a lot of hindrances and roadblocks, but love and support of his mother and sister and his own persistence eventually helps him to realize his dream.  Along the way, he also converts a drunkard ex-player into his coach, his cricket hating father into a supporter.  This movie has shown the politics that goes down at the grass root level and how some coaches manipulate those in power to get their ward selected.  Watch it if you have not already, it is sure to lift you up....starring Shreyas Talpade as Iqbal, Nassruddin Shah as Mohit jee (his coach), Shweta Prasad as Khadeeja (Iqbal's sister ~ you are going to love her).  Nagesh Kuknoor is the director.


Watch this song for the feel of this movie