Movie Review – Koode

Too sweet to handle

Known more famously as Nazriya’s come back film. It’s a film which is all about Nazriya’s cuteness and nothing else. A film which looked as if it’s made for her, may be quite desperately. Being a Prithviraj fan, even for me his acting looked very limited in the film. Again, some other actor could have starred in this role but Anjali Menon mostly works with stars, which works for films like ‘Bangalore Days’ but here it takes a toll on us. It’s all stars and gloss but there is no impact.

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Malayalam cinema is generally good with these feel goods. Even if we don’t like the film, they make films which we can’t hate. Like a ‘Sudani from Nigeria’ where nothing much happens but the feel keeps us glued. ‘Koode’ falls on those lines. The movie begins with a ‘Breaking Bad’ kind of opening where Joshua (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is seen working in a factory in Dubai. His work is mundane and hard, we could see it from his plain face. Once he receives a call, he heads back to home for an unfortunate event. The wide angle and top angle shots of bus around that juncture was lovely.

Once he’s back home, he grieves a bit for her sister and takes Jenny’s (Nazriya Nazim) ambulance to drive around where he spots her inside the van. The whole film revolves around how Jenny gives Joshua company and makes him come to terms with his life. Anyone who had seen ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ would instantly get reminded of the van as soon as they see it in this film. ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ is a sort of movie which doesn’t affect you much at first. Even when I watched it, I was quite laid back and casual but by the end, it left a profound impression on me. ‘Koode’ tries to match that level but here the things are more vocal, like a tea shop owner telling how a couple of hippies travelled the world around with the van and how it ended up in his dad’s place. When Joshua and Sophie (Parvathy Thiruvothu) get on the van in the climax, it should have given us that liberating feel, but it doesn’t. If it had not tried to dramatize the incident then its enough to have given internal happiness but it tries to mask that its not doing something dramatic so it fails in both the aspect.

In fact, Parvathy doesn’t have any role at all in the film. There’s an angle of her being verbally and sexually abused by her family, which could have been given a further screen space but Anjali wanted the film to be within the confines of a feel-good drama so doesn’t delve on that more. It works better in Prithviraj’s angle, where the hint of sexual abuse is subtle. But using the same template for both the stories is not such a good idea.

Other than that, it’s all about Nazriya, who generally is a bundle of charm but severely overdoes here. She was trying to impress so much with her charm, that it becomes irritating. May be an actor like Anna Ben would have known the correct level to light up the screen. At present she does these charming roles the best. We get to know about Jenny’s congenial disease right at the start, so there isn’t much surprise left. It’s a film which deals with the impact a normal person like Jenny had left behind rather than showing how charming she was. So, it’s a curious way to make a film which had to be treaded carefully. But being a normal person, this is the maximum impact she could leave. Her flashback too is pretty weak. May be Anjali wanted us to imagine the rest of it but it doesn’t spark the fire in us to really investigate

I guess the main culprit for me was Hotstar which claimed the film to be thriller. It’s drama at the most with the main emphasis on feel goodness. Around the climax, the college students saving Joshua and co, his father’s antics and Jenny’s disappearance bring a sort of thrill but that’s about it. In the end ‘Koode’ feels a like feel good film where the feel goodness doesn’t work.

Movie Review – Ennu Ninte Moideen

Disastrous in making

Like why I watched ‘Special 26’ long time back when it was said to be remade in Tamil with Vikram in lead, I watched ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ too with the same intention. ‘Special 26’ was a disaster for me, even in Hindi so I wasn’t mighty worried when it went to Surya. But at least ‘Special 26’ aimed low and achieved what it wanted to. ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ was disastrous from start to the end, I was waiting to see if at some point, something out of ordinary would happen that would interest me but it never happened. Don’t know what’s going to happen with ‘Mahavir Karna’, which the director, R. S. Vimal calls his dream project. Even though I have high hopes that the film would never be materialized at all, still the agony of Vikram falling into the trap time and again is just unfathomable.

Sometime back, while watching ‘Annayum Rasoolum’ too I had this uneasy feeling where I was struggling to sit in my seat. Because nothing really was happening. I could get that it was trying to do an ‘In the Mood for Love’. Even though it didn’t work for me, at least that inspiration part is understandable. But here in ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ it was irritating, especially the voice over for every death. Voice over was disastrous than the deaths. When a death happens in the preclimax, due to which Kanchanamala (Parvathy Thiruvothu) couldn’t come out of the house at 2 PM midnight, I had enough. So, when Moideen (Prithviraj Sukumaran) comes with a passport in the climax, we were like, she couldn’t even come out of the house at night, as if she’d go to a foreign country. So, there was no surprise in the anticlimax of the film. I was in fact happy that one of them died, so that film ended. Just like ‘Dia’, the ending was a relief that the film ended. Wish in both the movies both the leads had died. It would have been far more satisfying.

Indian new gen directors soon should get rid of the thought that slow movie equals to great movie. The audience had to be blamed more than the directors. No matter what anyone says, I couldn’t never accept ‘’96’ to be a great movie. It’s a great thought alright, but the subject is made in a way that if anyone says anything against it, they’d be called impure. That “en pondati pathini” moment. There were a lot of uninteresting scenes along with periodic brilliance. Just that both the leads acted their ass out and some excellent music, saved the film. Otherwise its all about moments, it’s a film which could have been made a lot more interestingly.

But ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ is no ‘’96’, there were absolutely no moments. An epic saga out of real life. Even if its so, and its celebrated because its real life, I still couldn’t get the point. The period setting was not something which was extraordinary because we don’t see much of the outer world. It’s just the one bus which happens to come again and again just to showcase that it’s a 60s film. That much detailing, even ‘Pa Paandi’ has. If a film has to be appreciated for detailing, then it must be as good as a ‘Subramaniapuram’, not just one old bus.

Guess it was Prithviraj who got me interested to watch the movie. The way it was proceeding, I thought they both will die and unite in their next life, thus the generic notion that it’s a love story of ages but sadly it didn’t happen at all. Prithviraj was the only respite from otherwise dramatic acting. Parvathy was overtly dramatic with her emotions. With every passing film I tend to hate her. So here it didn’t help at all. She was trying to be too perfect whereas Prithviraj was nailing it completely. Even the last scene when she enters his house, the way he looked at the camera felt so soothing. Parvathi could never do it throughout the film with any number of smirks.

It still baffles me as to why the film was approved by audience all around and made it into a highest grosser. Is it a story as famous as a Laila Majnu or a Romeo Juliet or am I missing something?

Movie Review – Kerala Cafe

Too many cooks spoil the broth

A film that runs high on ambition and looks to have a novel idea implemented. Whether it’s necessary or not is a question that needs to be asked for. There were a large section of people who had problem with ‘Dasavatharam’ because of the very same reason. It looked like a story written so that the film can accommodate ten Kamal’s, but what it did right was it accommodated ten Kamal’s properly. Whereas in ‘Michael Madhana Kamarajan’ it’s a story which got accentuated because there were four Kamal’s. It would have worked even if four different actors had worked. However, to me, both the films served its purpose. Did ‘Kerala Café’ serve its purpose, is a question to be asked for.

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Nostalgia

Well, really a nothing film which was so plasticky and mundane. Worse than the excuse which Johnykutty (Dileep) utters every now and then. Nothing really works here and the climax dialogue where Sheela (Navya Nair) says its nostalgia and the title card appearing then was just lame.

Island Express

There was hope because it had Prithviraj in it. However, as a non-Malayalee who is used to seeing only his great movies, this feature was so bad, be it the getup, dialogue delivery or even the story, which hardly settles in. This part actually makes us feel whether he could do this bad a role.

Lalitham Hiranmayam

Another horrible story and horrible acting, which felt childish. Never have I liked Suresh Gopi’s acting but this story took it to a level above. In addition, the story did not really work at all. For a wife and mistress story, it needs Dostoevsky level of artistry but it ends up being a TR level film.

Mrityunjayam

‘Mrityunjayam’ has a pretty plastic acting to start with and a premise, which would at least give short time chills but ends up doing nothing apart from showing bad graphics. Another loser.

Happy Journey

A reasonable story with some pretty solid acting by Nithya Menon. But, again, the production value was bad and the film looked very amateurish. May be it’d be a good film for a ‘Nalaya Iyakunar’ level of filmmaking but as a feature film with pro actors, it’s not up to the mark.

Aviraamam

It is a story of a businessman Ravi (Siddique) who’s on verse of suicide because of his debts. Although that part of the film does not work, Devi’s (Shwetha Menon) glam act evokes some interest in the film. If Siddique too had acted better, the chemistry would have been wonderful.

Off-season

An over the top story with over the top acting by Suraj Venjarammood. This could be a good story to read in a paper you get while you have Bajji from teashop but nothing more than that. Neither the jokes work, nor the setting.

Bridge

By far the best story and the only story with conviction. Even that did not have great acting but the setting and the way two story mingles with each other in such short span of time is something to be appreciated of. Even when the film ends and all the characters go out of Kerala Café, it is the granny and the kitten sitting who sit outside of it, evoke sympathy from us.

Makal

It is another mundane story, which works reasonably well thanks to its nativity. The climax was guessable, even though bad, it gave a little respite because it had a twist. If not for it, the impact would have been even lesser.

Puram Kazchakal

A story, which could have been better if it had been given some time but Mammootty does a fabulous job in keeping us, interested. If it had been made a full-length feature like ‘Munnariyippu’ may be the story would have got more time to evolve. Anyways the last three stories makes for not so bad ending to the anthology.

Movie Review – City of God (2011)

Ambitious, unruly and clumsy

Too many cooks spoil the broth. Trying to fiddle with all the innovative techniques like hyperlink cinema, hand held camera, multiple storylines etc. and giving us a product, which could not stay true to any genre, was naturally a disaster. Even though it was a box office disaster, may be it could have been something which people, at least a section of them, would have been in awe, because of the techniques employed, when it first released, when Lijo Jose was not a household name. However, when you now know who Lijo Jose is, it feels utterly disastrous.

There is ambition, ambition and ambition in every little scene, right from the start of film, until the end. So much so that it becomes annoying even before the actual film starts. There is a Mysskin like top angle shot where a jeep crashes, then a Tamil speaking villager in cycle, a gang of people chasing someone. An ideal premise for interlink cinema but too many details and the rains and the lighting just spoils the entire aesthetics of the film. Our eyes gets strained even before the opening credits ends.

The first story revolves around Tamil migrants with Swarnavel (Indrajith Sukumaran) liking one of the girls there, namely, Marakatham (Parvathy Thiruvothu). There is also someone else who is interested in Marakatham, who comes across as a dummy minor, Nachimuthu (Sudheer Karamana). Lakshmi (Rohini) is also in the mix whose character is inconsistent. She initially likes the vibe between Swarnavel and Marakatham but after a point of time, helps Nachimuthu marry her. May be the money has done the trick for her. But, when she gets to know in the end that Nachimuthu is a cheat, she is again upset. So, it’s all shady. Most of the things happen in background. But, whatever happens in foreground, that too isn’t clear. However, Rohini scores amongst all and emerges the winner in the story. Indrajith is pathetic with false accent. Paravaty as always tries too hard. With each film of his where she had done these ‘different’ roles, I tend to lose respect towards her. Only the opening act with “Kadhal Vanthiruchu” song is nice, otherwise it’s a mundane story of poor people.

The next story involves almost every other person in the film. Jyothi Lal (Prithviraj Sukumaran) who’s the henchman of Sony (Rajeev Pillai) kills the husband of Liji Punnose (Swetha Menon) for which she seeks revenge. But that goes awry as Jyothi comes out alive out of the fight. The only good thing to happen out of it is she gets a partner. There is no romance, no nothing. Some horrible acting and then they are together. No emotion was there to be seen.

Finally, Jyothi saves Surya Prabha (Rima Kallingal) during the climax fight. Even though Lijo Jose has tried so hard to to make mass scenes for Prithviraj, all of them fail miserably. None of the scene works, action choreography is poor, and editing is messy with the joints happening at absurd places and in the end, nothing registers in mind. I’m amazed as to how Prithviraj choses movies. He has nothing to do in the movie except being a driver for different people, as much as he refuses that, he does that only.

In the end when the entire story unites and the film ends, I am sure coming out of theatre would have felt like coming out of water after taking a deep breath. So exhaustive it was.

Movie Review – Driving License

Charm and warm

I was saying that I’d want to get converted as Malayali after watching this film. Such has been Malayalam movies off late. For some past 4,5 years. Taking a nothing story and making it neat and crisp. A lot of movies have come out this way which makes a great evening time watch instead of being a soupy tear jerker.

After seeing favorable reviews for the most part, I decided to watch the movie. Also, it has Prithviraj so it was an added advantage. When I saw that the film was about a superstar’s journey and it was being produced by Prithviraj I got even more interested. The opening scene where he comes a star and bashes up the villains increased the curiosity one notch up.

But with all that coming to an end and somewhere into the movie when I got to know that it’s a comedy, I was slightly disappointed. It’s not one of my favorite genres. The first half in fact was not really great. What started as a great standoff between a superstar and common man slightly fizzled away with time. There is only this much one can do when you have two people fighting. So, it became kind of monotonous.

The premise of the movie was simple as it can get, yet it’s an interesting one. I loved the way it was handled by showing Hareendran (Prithviraj) as not so great a man and not so great a villain. Even though he’s a superstar he values his commitment, loves his wife, a beautiful Deepti Sati, and at the same time a practical person too when he tells that no one asks him for license while driving, and shouting at the MVI when he sees media. Instead of him saying that he’d want to get license no matter what or going by the heroic way of procuring license only in legal manner he goes the common man way.

Similarly, MVI Kuruvilla (Suraj Venjarammoodu) is not someone who takes bribe and allows people with license and the same person is the one who is okay in giving license for someone with predated form. It’s not a big juncture where he breaks the rule. He knows the chaos it’d lead to if the actor had to come there. That’s the beauty of the script. We don’t see angels and demons as heroes and villains. We see common people. We are so used to seeing things as black and white in cinema but when it comes to real life, we don’t even know what all wrongs we are doing.

In ‘Driving License’ its people like us whom we see on screen. At some point we are judgmental but we let them be as such. It’s clear writing which makes us accept the people with real plus and minuses rather than something invented just for the sake of it. Credit has to be given to the actors too to have made it possible for us to accept them like that. Especially Prithviraj for being in negative characters who is not outright villainous but someone whom we’d love less likely between the two. He first did it in ‘Ayyappanum Koshiyum’ and now in ‘Driving License’, in the order of movies that I’ve watched.

There are scenes which was boring and slow but nothing was bad scene. The only bad scene if I’ve to knit pick would be the one was Hareendran runs to save the Kuruvilla. That was the only heroic moment where he was projected like being a hero in real life. That was a little true literal. The other scenes where he gives speech were more heroic like the film association head comments. It’s a great move by not letting Prithviraj show his acting powers even in the climax. The scene in car where Kuruvilla cries could have been easily used to showcase Prithviraj’s talent, something which Kamal would do but here he underplays even that and restores normalcy.