Ayaalum Njanum Thammil [Between him and me]

Ironic it is for sure that Prithwiraj has decided to move to Bollywood. We saw him in the moronic "Ayya" with over the top and also downhill Rani Mukherjee and then we see him in fantastic form with the equally magnificent Prathap Pothan in Lal Jose directed "Ayaalum Njanum Thammil" [Between him and me].

Lal Jose seems to be in a mood to explore the medical field. If he dealt with the extravagant young Oncologist learning his lessons in life in "Diamond Necklace", here we have an irresponsible spoilt brat of a young Doctor going through the travails of life to turn into a great Cardiac Surgeon.Well, I am not complaining because he has given us a beautiful movie that makes us sit up, take notice, enjoy, think and then return with the pleasant feeling of having seen an earnest movie. 

The story revolves around the coming of age of Dr. Ravi Tharakan [Prithwiraj] with the able guidance of an upright and dedicated senior Doctor Samuel [Prathap Pothan]. I wouldn't like to deal with the story and spoil the thrill because I want everyone to watch this movie.

The story is narrated in multiple flashbacks with flashbacks inside flashbacks causing a little bit of a problem early in the first half. But things move smoothly, once we realize the technique. The lighting sometimes gets ridiculously dim and from a Doctor's point of view, I wouldn't accept that. But otherwise, Lal Jose has done his homework thoroughly and deserves all the credit for handling the technical aspects and medical language very well.

The camera work, music and back ground score gel very well with the mood of the movie though the movie could have done very well without songs. Munnar becomes an independent character in the movie. It was only a background for song and dance sequences in most movies hitherto. The silent breeze, the noisy wind, the unpredictable rains and the fog are used with stunning effect to suit the different moods of the character of Dr. Tharakan. And in the climax, we see a pleasant and contented Dr. Tharakan ruminating over the place that made him what he is !

Narein as Ravi's close buddy Vivek, Rima Kallinkal as the lady who puts together the jigsaw puzzle of the story and Ramya Nambeesan as his conscientious colleague have given wonderful performances. Kalabhavan Mani too has given a very good account of himself. Samvritha Sunil as Dr. Tharakan's junior and girlfriend is a little subdued. Sukumari as head-nurse and Salim Kumar as the Cirrhosis patient making a living thanks to his disease are good too.

But the movie belongs to Prathap Pothan and Prithwiraj and both have given stupendous performances. It is as if each has brought out the best from the other and in that sense, the title works beautifully. It is truly between these two. I'd be disappointed if Prithwiraj doesn't win the State Award for best actor for 2012. Well, tough competition for Lal [Ozhimuri] there. He also deserves at least a nomination for the best actor at national awards. Same for Prathap Pothan.

My Opinion: A wonderful movie and a must watch for all Malayalees who love their language and their cinema !

Post Script: I end this piece from where I began. 

Dear Prithwiraj, it is understandable you are quite peeved with the enormous negative vibes, hate campaign and bad press you have received in your home state. But the truth is you will be a misfit in Bollywood and Malayalam cinema needs you as much as you need Malayalam cinema. Public memory is fickle and nobody or nothing can suppress your talent if you continue to work in movies like this. Stay back !

"Ozhimuri" : A Document of Resurrection !

A Document of Resurrection !

What did I feel while watching Madhupal's poignant "Ozhimuri". Even as I felt amazed by the story, Direction and fabulous performances by the star-cast, I actually felt sad. What was Shweta Menon doing all those years of her prime, acting in C-grade Hindi movies ? In the past 3 years or so, she has dazzled Malayalam cinema like very few people have and here she once again proves her versatility. 

"Ozhimuri" is the story of a 55 year old lady Meenakshi [Mallika], who files a petition for separation from her 71 year old husband while her son Sivan Pillai aka Sharat Chandra [Asif Ali] stands by her. The junior advocate Bala [Bhavana] fighting the case for the husband Thanupillai [Lal] tries to convince the teacher son to withdraw the case. 

The story is constructed with a series of flash backs narrated by either Sharat or Meenakshi interspersed with court room proceedings. There is realistic touch to the proceedings. The Kanyakumari background fits the story because of the Tamil - Malayalam cultural clashes becoming the subject of discussion in a subtle manner.

A movie unravels the story of a man shown as one who beats up his wife and son for no reason and is shown as cruel and heartless. The wife, who is seeking divorce or "Ozhimuri" never once blames him of being a bad man. She in fact admits he was a great father. The son, who openly hates the father gradually comes to realize his inner feelings for his father. In the process, love blossoms between advocate Bala and Sharat.

How the dominating Matriarch Kaalipillai, played with absolute elan by Shweta Menon becomes responsible for the entire happenings forms the crux of the story. One more feather in her cap. But the movie definitely belongs to Lal who plays the henpecked wrestler Sivan Pillai and his woman hating son Thanupillai and is a serious contender for a lot of awards this year. He is just magnificent in every single frame.

Mallika plays perfect foil in a landmark movie of her career. This role will be remembered for long. Bhavana excels as Bala and Asif Ali would be another contender for supporting role awards. Nandalal as Thanupillai's side-kick gives another splendid performance after "Spirit". 

There is light-hearted yet completely realistic reference to the traditions of the Nair society before and after the reforms. How most houses did have wife-beating husbands also is shown in a matter of fact revelation by Bala. Though the younger Bala advocates restraint and reconciliation, the older lady Meenakshy wants separation even after admitting her husband was not at all a bad man. 

The final realization of the reason for "Ozhimuri" comes across as a real clincher. We get to see a witch of a woman refusing to believe her son refused to see her when the Sun was setting on her. It shows us how a man who detested his mother all life breaks down after performing her last rites. 

There is a son scared of becoming like his father and his girlfriend who tells him that he is not different from his father and that there was nothing wrong with that. The domineering mother-in-law's affection for the naive and good at heart daughter-in-law is shown beautifully. And finally, it shows the daughter-in-law who always admired and respected the mother-in-law finally realizing her words, "A woman must never surrender her self-respect to a man".

This is one of the most outstanding stories told on celluloid in recent times and Madhupal has made a superb "document of resurrection". It resurrects the life of a father and a husband and a son and a wife. In the process, it also resurrects Malayalam cinema from "Mr. Marumakan" and "Cobra". A subject as complicated as 'Divorce' of an elderly couple is told in a real life manner with very little dramatization and the movie doesn't slack or bore at any time.

My Opinion: Those who don't understand Malayalam and the cultural ethos of Kerala may not relate to this movie. But every Malayalam movie lover MUST Watch this ! 

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 !

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.

Chotta Mumbai

The hero Vasco da Gama (Mohan Lal) lives in Fort Kochi with his family consisting of his wrestler father and 2 sisters.  He has 3 friends and all of them are involved in hooligan activities.  Vasco and his gang decide to mend their ways and try their luck outside India. In order to get Malaysian visa (for himself and his friends), vasco pledges his house without the knowledge of his father and the agent (Kochin Haniffa) dupes him.  Here our villain enters..Kalabhavan  Mani, a corrupt but suspended police officer, who kills an honest officer, which is witnessed by Vasco and his father.  How Vasco  deals with these 2 issues (i.e. pledged house and witness of murder) and how he comes out of it forms the rest of the story.  And there is a heroine too, Bhavana who plays an autorickshaw driver.


The movie is able to provide occasional relief with good comic performance especially by Bijjukuttan who plays Susheelan (one of the gang members of Vasco) and Paambu Chacko played by Rajan P Dev.


The movie began well with the narrator describing about himself, his friends, his family, his locality and how he created a mess of his life.   I guess the first 30 minutes were like that, but after that, it was a waste of time.  Why the story went haywire?


I usually watch movies because of directors and Anwar Rashid whose last movie that I saw (RajaManikyam) was a good masala movie, which had all the elements in the right mix and provided good entertainment value.  That was the only thing i expected from this movie (entertainment), but apart from the first 30 minutes, the movie fell flat on its nose......what a crap.....what was the point of this movie....had Anwar Rashid lost his mind..these were the thoughts coming to my mind....While watching this movie, 2 movies were pounding hard on my subconscious, Thirakatha and Udayananu Tharam.  In Thirakatha, Ajay Chandran the superstar gives his already committed dates to Akbar (the debutant hit director), who did not even cast him in the first place.  Similarly in Udayan Anu Tharam, Saroj Kumar the super star tells the director, he wont do this and do that as it would affect his persona...............my point is, "Was Chotta Mumbai a casualty of Super star syndrome"?? That Ajay Chandran of Thirakatha does resemble Mohan Lal somewhat in manners and looks also adds credence to this theory....Was Ranjith (director of Thirakatha) providing subtle hints to the viewers what our super stars are up to through his movie or is it just a fig of my imagination, can somebody throw some light here....or lets ask Anwar Rashid!!

Pranchiettan and the Taint !

About the writer: A Doctor by profession. A Jack of all trades and Master of none, including the chosen profession of Medicine. Live, Love and Laugh is the motto in life. Cricket and Cinema are part of life. It all began with undiluted adoration of Bachchan in "Amar Akbar Anthony". Like Deekay, graduated to Aamir Khan, but don't have a Hero today. Believe movies belong to Directors / Writers.

Basically a movie buff and not an expert in the job of reviewing. Hence wouldn't like to brand posts as Reviews. Prefer to call them 'Views' ! That saves a lot of effort on surgically dissecting things like Screenplay and Editing which aren't easily understood.

Believe, a movie is a story. If it touches a cord, have to express it. If not, have to dissect it. Done it on Facebook and Twitter. But they are basically micro-views. This is the first attempt at organizing thoughts on a movie that was very close to heart. Thanks Deekay for the inspiration and for the opportunity to post here.

My love for Malayalam movies

For over 16 years now I have come to admire the Malayalam movies and learned the language thanks to the movies. For me, "Panchavati Paalam", "Sandesam", 'Ponmuttayidunna Thaaravu" and "Devasuram" are irreplaceable Classics from a list of a large number of magnificent movies.

You can't replicate these movies in any other language or culture. These are unique to Malayalam and that is the USP of Malayalam movies. And I loved these movies even before I became familiar with the cultural ethos of Kerala.

Unfortunately Malayalam was on a losing streak for a long time thanks to the larger than life image the Actors turned Stars cultivated and due to the demise of old Masters and also the decline of the old-time Directors like Siby Malayil, I. V. Sasi, Satyan Anthikkad and Priyadarsan to name a few. Thankfully, the next generation guys like Ranjith, Shyama Prasad, Rajesh Pillai and Ranjith Sankar have enlivened the gloomy picture considerably in recent years.

Let me be pardoned for such a long introduction. But I had to tell something about myself before I expressed my views. I would like to state that these are views of a Non-Malayalee who loves Malayalam movies more than any other movies and who 'Doesn't tolerate anyone talking about Poland' !

One movie that touched me deeply in recent times was Ranjith's "Pranchiettan and the Saint'. I loved Ranjith's flawed yet endearing 'Nandanam'. I believe his 'Paleri Manikyam oru Pathira Kolapathakathinde Katha' is a modern day Classic. So I decided to watch 'Pranchiettan and the Saint' on first day and did. I must say I was not disappointed.

Pranchiettan and the Taint !

First of all, let me be pardoned for writing on the same subject Deekay has dealt ably in the previous post. But as a Non-Malayali who has fallen in love with Malayalam movies, I had to tell this and that is why I pleaded with Deekay to give me an opportunity. Thanks again Deekay.

The Story: The whole story is about the inferiority complex of an undereducated but over-rich rice merchant from Trichur called Chirammel Enasu Francis or C. E. Francis fondly called Pranchiettan by friends and ridiculed as "Ari Pranchi" by others. Little Francis develops a dislike for that nick name and grows up hating it.

All that he does in life is to erase the 'Taint' of that name "Ari Pranchi". He does charity but the 'Taint' sticks. He starts a Jewelery to get rid of the name. But the Jewelery acquires the name of "Ari Pranchi's Jewelery". Whatever he does, the name sticks much to his dismay.

He loses his childhood sweetheart to a scheming boy who goes on to become a Doctor and again wins the election to the post of the President of a reputed club in Trichur town. Thus Pranchi's life is a continued story of debacles in public life in spite of material riches. A born loser if there was one.

Everything he does in life has a motive. We all do have our own motives. Charity for the sake of publicity is a reality. Sponsoring a public felicitation of an Oscar Award winner earns further humiliation for Pranchiettan. His appearance on the dais ends up in ignominious exit in front of his arch nemesis.

Thus he embarks upon a mission to get himself decorated with the prestigious "Padmashri" award. This ill advised mission mooted by good friend Menon ends in a disaster. He suffers a loss of 1.5 Crore rupees and earns further ridicule. As he plans to withdraw into a shell to escape the barbs, the real Padmashri enters his life.

This married and about to be divorced heiress of a reputed family brings the long missing romance into his life. She literally and figuratively brings color into his hitherto white and white life. She changes the way he dresses and the way he and his house looked. She turns it into a home. In turn, he helps her to save her ancestral home from being sold off by her uninterested relatives. Even as he plans to confess his amour to her, she flies off to Mumbai once again leaving him a loser.

This is when the next character makes entry. A precocious boy who has become a headache for the teachers as well as the Headmaster of the school where Pranchiettan too studied. To help the Headmaster realize his dream of retiring with a 100% success rate in Class 10 exams, Pranchiettan takes the responsibility of getting the boy tutored at his place. THIS act is the first ever act in his life where he expects nothing in return. NO publicity, no name, no fame and not even appreciation.

The boy defeats everyone including the tutor Pandit Deena Dayal. His failure in the exam hurts Pranchiettan and he decides to abandon the boy. That is when he comes to know the sad story of the boy. The story of a drug addict father murdering his mother and beloved teacher. The traumatized boy develops hatred for school and studies and turns hostile to life.

The boy is living with a person who happened to be a friend of his father. That person takes advantage of the situation and then runs away with the money given by Pranchiettan. This story of misery brings the human side of Pranchiettan and he decides to adopt the boy as his son and successor.

Some people like Deekay have questioned this angle of the story. How could the entire school have remained unaware of the sad story of the boy ? That definitely is a hole in the story, which could have been better explained by Ranjith and his team. But for this, the movie is a real class act.

We get to know the entire story of Pranchiettan in Eastman Color flashback, as he narrates his story to the 'Punyalan' or St. Francis De Assisi. The Saint listens his story and passes comments in Malayalam in Trichur accent. And finally Pranchiettan expresses his desire to adopt the boy to the Saint. This meets with instant approval and blessings from the Saint.

Now we reach to the most delicious part of the movie. He comes out of the Church and tells the boy of his decision to adopt him and of his encounter with Saint Francis. Pranchiettan rues the poor luck of the boy who couldn't meet the Punyalan. But the boy tells him, "I did see the Saint". As Pranchiettan counters him with when and where; the boy says, "Saints are incarnated in good deeds of Men on earth. For me, YOU are the Saint". The movie ends with the Boy and his father Pranchiettan making a resolution to face life in an honest manner.

We get to see the 'real' picture of the material world where the Doctor and his wife being in a marriage sans love and living a life of mutual cheating. We see the fraud who swindled Pranchiettan meeting his fate. 

We also get to see in advance, the fruits of one act of unselfish love. Pranchiettan gets his Padmashri; not the award but the real one. He didn't expect anything in return when he set out to help the boy and his reward was the unexpected love he had almost given up on !

"Every Human born has a Saint within. We just need to look inwards to know him, to realize him and to unleash him from the clutches of greed, lust, envy, anger and all kind of negative emotions that rule our psyche". This is the beautiful message encapsulated in this movie laced with earthy Trichur brand of humor.

This is a beautiful journey of Chirammel Francis from being an unscrupulous business tycoon to becoming Saint Francis ! In the process, he is washed off all the 'Taint' because it doesn't make any difference to him anymore.

Ranjith is in top form in all his roles. The music, dialogues and all the technical aspects are fine. Every actor from Pranchiettan to the little boy have done justice and it is tough to point out one stand out performance. Even the Midsummer Nights Dreams quoting cook is superb in his limited role. Overall a wholesome movie experience for the entire family. Every Malayalam movie buff should watch this movie.

This is definitely Ranjith's answer to "3 Idiots" which he was so much in awe of. Mr. Ranjith, I loved the One Idiot in your movie more than 3 Idiots !