Movie Review – Manjummel Boys

An ode to Bromance

Long time back, when I was in school, I wanted to gift my best friend (male), the lyrics of “Mellinamae Mellinamae” from ‘Shahjahan’. Those were the days where we didn’t have internet to find the lyrics, it’s all heard through radio. ‘Shahjahan’ especially had songs with great lyrics. “Mellinamae Mellinamae” and “Minnalai Pidithu” were the ones at the top of the list. As we used to discuss the lyrics of both in school during all the periods, I thought of gifting the lyrics of my favorite among the two, “Mellinamae Mellinamae” to my best friend. I then dropped the idea thinking it’d be too gay. But see now, director Chidambaram took an evergreen romance song for a survival thriller with all boys.

‘Manjummel Boys’ is once in a lifetime kind of film. Glad that I could watch it in theatres on the verge of its OTT release. Thank god it survived the duration and ran in theatres till the time I could complete all my assignments. It would have been a serious miss if I had not watched the movie in theatres. If this film could be so much impactful in spite of knowing the storyline and nuances, I can’t help but wonder how it would have been for people who had watched without knowing anything about the film and in a jam packed theatre.

The second and third act of the film was top notch, there is nothing more to say about it but look at the ingenuity of the film in the first act. When they party, play or go through winding roads with a melodious song in the background, how fitting it is. How could Malayalam cinema achieve this so easily. ‘Chennai 600028’ is the only film which I could think to have come close to such a bonding. But ‘Manjummel Boys’ was clinical. It would have induced nostalgia for anyone.

The movie starts with “Kuthanthram” song, which has interesting lyrics. It gave me “Pardesi” vibes from ‘Dev D’. “Karthanthram” could have easily qualified in any of these drug based films but comes in a film which is totally opposite. Generally when writing a disaster film, the writers would write as if all the events are culminating to that one big event. Even if the scenes or situations are different, we still have that main event running at the back of our mind, especially when you watch the film second or third time. But here it’s just another chapter in the life. Just like how the characters wouldn’t be having any clue on what’s going to happen next, we too don’t get that feel. With films like these, the rewatch value is less because it’s just the escape event we’d be focused upon but here, the first act gives a genuine joy. The escape event is just an icing on the cake.

There have been lots of articles about how Subhash (Sreenath Bhasi) who doesn’t believe in god, eventually gets the status of god in the end, how the light from above which the taxi driver friend, Prasad (Khalid Rahman) calls out as god, eventually happens to Subhash also in the form of headlight which Kuttan (Soubin Shahir) wears. The leg injury was being compared to Pamban Swamigal, the characters going through Palani can’t be mere coincidence. The one thing which I noted in addition to these are the horns which Abhilash (Chandu Salimkumar) has when he sits outside being possessed. But even without all these themes and motifs, the film works like a charm.

Thankfully being ignorant helped me experience the movie in best possible way. As soon as the boys held the rope in the pre climax, many guessed the tug of war event in the beginning was done as foreshadowing for the main event but I couldn’t till the point Abhilash goes to the top of the rock to say, “loosu vidra”. After that it was only ecstasy, I could barely sit in my seat. Even while I type the words now, I could barely sit in my seat. Films like these with feels like these come very rarely. I’m happy that I got a chance to experience this ecstasy.

There was a mention in one of the articles asking, where are women in Malayalam cinema. I don’t know about other films but with respect to Manjummel Boys, “sometimes, dear, boys would have all the fun, there is no other choice.”

Movie Review – Varathan

Love, lust and smoking barrels

‘Varathan’ has one of the most generic, mundane of openings. It was one of the two Fahadh Faasil movies in my list which I had not heard of, but still added to my list. I’ll come up with the review of the next one in a couple of days. The opening of the movie being such a lull, made me think, that is the reason why it isn’t as famous as Fahadh Faasil’s other movies. But with time it slowly builds up and has a great ending. From a boring opening to a showy second act, it blasts open to an extremely satisfying third act. It could serve as a great guilty pleasure movie and satisfy all our senses in the end.

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The first twenty minutes or so of the movie is such a lull, where you’re not sure what you’re watching, its so easy to even stop the movie and pass off after the first fifteen minutes. It has three songs, a needless Dubai setting and worst of romances. The events too are too mundane like Abi Mathew (Fahadh Faasil) losing the job, Priya Paul (Aishwarya Lekshmi) having a miscarriage and them two returning home. The flashback song was so needless. I can understand that all that was done to showcase their love but it totally doesn’t work. ‘Ishq’ is a similar movie where the first act had been done superbly. Even though it totally transforms into a different movie after that, the way the romance was shown keeps us longing for it.

The second act is all about built up. It’s of course showy. Amal Neerad is a showy guy. It worked in ‘Iyobinte Pustakam’ which too was a Fahadh Faasil one vs all movie. But the making of it was lovely. The built up suited it because the environment was like that. The period setting added charm to it. But here with just a resort, Amal Neerad couldn’t do much. He uses a typical thriller film template. It of course makes us glued to the screen. General audience wouldn’t find a fault. But cinematically it’s not such a great skill.

The villains do a decent job but instead of heavyweights, he had used young guns here. Arjun Ashokan was terrific in whatever little screen space he gets. The new gen actors like him, Sreenath Bhasi, Shane Nigam and all are such a pleasure to watch. Even though Sreenath Bhasi is my absolute favorite, whom even I thought would have done a great job if he had been in place of Fahadh Faasil, Arjun too is an actor who does so well without being so loud.

Even though the whole film is a lead to the final act, it could have been named differently. The title was too plain and simple. Just by the title the director makes it evident that he doesn’t care about others. But for such a movie to work, more than the fight, the reason for the fight is important. The reason here is Priya. The movie could have been even named as Priya. That would have served a whole lot of purpose. She was terrific in the role. Right from the time she says that she didn’t see heartbeat in her child to the climax where she shoots his abuser, she was fabulous. And a whole lot sexy too. Her costumes were brilliant. Except for one bad scene which brings in a transformation in Abi, other scenes were good.

Abi explodes in the climax. It would have been a total fanboy moment for all Fahadh Faasil fans out there. It’s a piece of cake for him which he does effortlessly. One should appreciate the fact he leaves the last bit of pleasure to Abi. It was so satisfying. Both the shot and her expression. But till the end, they don’t reveal what job he was doing, how he garnered all these Mission Impossible skills. It was still a “nee idhuku saripatu vara matae” setting. But it’s not a movie to criticize that deep, it’s a movie to watch with emotions. If it had to be criticized, there are lots to be done before the third act.

Movie Review – Kappela

Conservatism with a charming context

‘Kappela’ is one film which got huge accolades in this lockdown season. Guess I’m pretty late in watching it. Anna Ben has become the face of Malayalam cinema whose any movie looks fool proof. ‘Kappela’ too has that instant charm but may be because I watched it this late, I was too hyped upon the movie, because of which I was waiting for events to happen back to back and excite me. But it takes its own sweet time to establish and then, bam, comes the twist, one of the most unexpected, which I guess just minutes before it happens.

The film opens with a scared young girl, Jessy (Anna Ben) going on bus on a rainy day. The very opening shot is interesting with camera coming in from the sky, to her. The scene cuts once she closes the window and we see an ever-effervescent Anna Ben from the start. Coming from a conservative family who don’t approve even a school going girl kid to come with a stranger, Jessy does something which none would even think of. From a missed dial to constant dial, she falls in love with a person whom she hasn’t met.

Thanks to the hoarding outside a shop, he knows her but she doesn’t know him. He seems to be an auto driver based in Kozhikode, namely Vishnu (Roshan Mathew). Even though new, he has a lot of customers and appears friendly with everyone. On the other hand, a rich man who opens a textile shop wants to marry her. But his mother disapproves it, citing “status” as a reason. But somehow their engagement gets fixed, it’s unclear whether his mother had approved of it or not. But Jessy panics because of that and decides to meet Vishnu first who unfortunately sees an accident case so gets stuck in that. Instead Jessy goes to Kozhikode. It’s a dramatic scene which we wonder why, initially as a viewer we feel that its cheaply made opening scene just to garner attention but we get to know why that’s made like that.

No, it’s not accident which happens but being an innocent naïve girl, she is afraid of everyone she sees including the conductor, porter etc. Unfortunately, Vishnu who comes to meet her loses his phone. That marks the entry of Roy (Sreenath Bhasi) who comes across as a rude rowdy guy without any job. He even creates ruckus in a tea shop and takes gold jewels from his cousin Annie (Tanvi Ram) for money. We see a little backstory of him and then see him getting Vishnu’s phone from a petty thief. He poses as Vishnu and talks to Jessy, we feel due to the frustration of the interview, he’d do something to her. Because till that point nothing fascinating has happened, it’s unclear as to why it’s hailed so much.

Only post that is the biggest twist, which makes viewers look in awe. I’d not like to discuss it for the benefit of viewers but it’s not only the screenplay which keeps us intrigued but also the charm of the land. Anna Ben as usual is prolific, the way she holds the shirt of Vishnu and her slight hesitance when they take selfie and when he hugs from behind were beautiful. And the climax where she wants to see the sea, would have put a smile on anyone’s face which would have been filled with tears till then. But what goes unnoticed is the acting of Roshan Mathew, though I’m not a fan of him and didn’t like his role both in ‘C U Soon’ and ‘Kappela’, I could understand that it’s what he’s meant to do. Sreenath Bhasi is amazing, who effortlessly oozes mass. Even his walk is prolific. I’m waiting to see him in out and out massy film. He was great in ‘Kumbalangi Nights’ as well here. It’s the combined acting of the two which makes us appreciate the film.

Even though it’s a great twist and the feel goodness of the film provides necessary charm, it makes us wonder what’s there once we know the twist. In that way I was not as impressed as it thought I should have. May be even the hype spoilt it. Otherwise it’s a fine breezy thriller to watch with your family. It so lovely captures the opposite emotion of ‘Ishq’ with same finesse. Time and again proving that it’s not story which is important but storytelling.

Movie Review – Trance

Wonder Why?

‘Trance’ is a confusing movie. So much so that we don’t even know why so much money, effort was used to make a film which looks only like a mockery. The joke finally is on them. They make a mockery of themselves. I too was waiting for something or the other to happen but the same stuff gets repeated again and again till the end. This storyline is so basic that there need not be so much effort put to make a big film out of it.

If the idea of the film is to showcase the bad side of these missionaries and evangelist, don’t people already know it. Why a three-hour film for it? it was definitely funny but having seen them as bit jokes in numerous Tamil films, I didn’t get the idea of making a whole film out of it. I thought there would be a bigger picture behind all this. I at least hoped. But nothing of that sort happened.

My biggest disappointment was the name ‘Trance’. I expected a super stoner film. That too with big cast involved I was expecting a riot but it was made to look like a serious film, gets a depressing overtone and ends up being a nothing movie. If the point of the film was to educate, wish at least it had taken the PK route where even though it looked like an extension of Vivek jokes in Tamil, the scenes were really funny. That’s one advantage of Rajkumar Hirani being the director. He knows the craft perfectly.

The only happy thing about the film is that there were no protests against it. By reading between the lines I guess the attempt of the director was to make a film on Christianity by the anti-Christian elements. The idea was acknowledgeable but the execution was pathetic because the film was not at all practical. Just like that, the characters come and go without any reason. And the scenes are not at all logical and what’s worse it’s not even funny.

Most of the film’s criticism was towards the slow and boring second half. I believe its because everyone expected things to change at least in second half but it doesn’t. Thus, the disappointment. If not for that factor, the whole film is a lull. The movies first act is terrific when we don’t know what its all about. Whether to be happy or sad or depressed but then when the movie gets to focus on a storyline it falls miserably. The climax where is too hard to believe and impractical. Again, a storyline which gets injected right towards the end which doesn’t stick to our mind. A pastor who’s so famous can be reached through phone just by a common man and can be found in church just like that. He could also enter and kill a couple of big shots just like that. Too many just like that’s for my liking.

The director wanted to give a platform for Fahad to go berserk but if it had been a script like ‘Magnolia’ or ‘The Wolf of the Wall Street’ then Fahad would have been remembered like a Tom Cruise or DiCaprio respectively but what he does looks just like a tomfoolery with a wafer thin script. Whereas GVM gets a solid role which fits him to the tee. All in all ‘Trance’ is a deep disappointment.

Movie Review – Virus (2019)

A Disaster movie with a heart and soul

‘Virus’ is one of the sought-after films along with ‘Contagion’ in this lockdown period. This is the time when the events would make sense and the impact will be doubled. Like watching a horror movie alone at night. Also, while discussing the film there is a moral fear that something might happen to us if we criticize the film. That also works for both of the films. Both the films could be used a template for making disaster-based films and both come out as pretty interesting ones too.

If ‘Contagion’ was all start studded and quick based movie, ‘Virus’ thrives more on the mood. The former is like any American movie where things unfold quickly and the events are similar but with ‘Virus’ we feel the situations are more real. Also, the numbers game was blown out of proportion in ‘Contagion’. In ‘Virus’ the numbers are small but the situations are equally tense. We get to see the film from the Health Departments point of view. It was lovely to foresee a situation before it actually happens. Thinking of what the bigger impact would be.

The film could have definitely been pacy but that’s how it is in real life, it doesn’t happen fast but the situation is gripping. The way it unfolds as a thriller was terrific. Just like how the people in charge would have found out the cases, we too see them in same angle, so with every link found we feel as if we get close to a conclusion. The track of finding whether Nipah had really come from single cluster forms the heart of the film. That part was superbly made. And every actor who were part of the process had acted beautifully too.

There were ‘n’ number of actors involved in the film. It feels as if they had made this film to create awareness among the public. I wonder how so many actors would agree to act in a film which has so limited screen space. For me the two people who really stood out where Parvathy Thiruvothu as Dr. Annu and Sreenath Bhasi as Dr. Abid. They both were prolific. Dr. Annu was charming in every little way as possible. Parvathy could really do any role. I was bored of her short curly haired look and roles that she was doing off late, especially ‘Charlie’. It was blown over the top but here she is more rooted and it took me a while to know that it’s her. And Sreenath Bhasi was a revelation. He did his role with so much conviction. He demands respect right through his looks. He looks like a perfect doctor in distress.

The film talks only about the positive aspects of the people and no politics was involved. I don’t know whether it was really a good thing or bad thing. May be a few not so good things could have been shown which would have added dimension to the film but the risk is that those things would make the film a commercial one and we lose the connect to the films. With people always all so good it feels like we are fighting along with them to solve the mystery and find the root cause. Wish things were that simple.

The CCTV footages played a major role in the film and so were lighting. The colors used at some junctures were trying to give a hallucinating feel. The director was trying to bridge a gap between reality and fantasy so didn’t go into trance lighting full on but I’d have preferred it that way. Here it just feels like some other color bulbs instead of regular ones were used. It didn’t give the desired effect.

All in all, it’s a film definitely worth a watch but it’d work best if you watch it now during lockdown period because post that it would not be as interesting as something which would hold your attention.