Movie review: Samastha Keralam PO (Mal, Apr 2009)
A total disaster…! This is how I would describe SKPO. I am not sure what the writer and director wanted to communicate to the audience. The film is a total waste of time and money. It has nothing new to offer and is a clichéd product which has been served stale.
I had high expectations from the writer Girish Kumar when I went to watch the film. My expectation was build from the script that Girish had drafted for Veruthe Oru Bharya. My expectation from Girish post VoB was a story of the common man told in a realistic way in a down to earth manner. However, all my expectations were shattered when I realized what Girish had to offer through SKPO.
The main problem with the film is that there is no focus in the screenplay. The film does not have a proper plot and the development of the plot through the proceedings is staggered and artificial. The characters do not have life in them and many a times seems like dumb caricatures. There is no logic in the proceedings and as a matter of fact, the proceedings are very slow and do not more forward much.
I have not seen any other movies of Bipin and hence do not have any introduction to his attitude and aptitude of filmmaking. I had some positive toughts on his style of film making after understanding the theme of One Way ticket, even though I have not seen it till now. That image has been damaged to a great extent after SKPO. He is successful in creating the mood and ambience. His visual sense is also commendable. I think what he lacks is script sense and needs some work to be done in that area. The way he has shot the song scene with Jayaram and Sera needs to be appreciated.
None of the actors in the film have anything to offer. All of them look disinterested in the whole proceedings. Most of the roles offered to the actors are clichéd and lackluster. None of them have the depth in the roles offered to them and hence turn to be dumb characters onscreen.
The cinematography is good and so is the director’s selection of locales for shoot. The performance of the antagonist is very bad that it projects like a sore thumb. The new girl Sera has a long way to go as far as performance is concerned. She has to do tons of homework if she wants to make a future in films.
One point that I want to emphasize here is that if Girish is trying to be Sreenivasan, then it is a big mistake. He should try to create his own identify rather than trying to adopt some one’s style.
The experience for two hours and half was not at all worth the money and time that I spent for it and hence my rating for Samastha Keralam PO is *. Films like this pull down the intellect of the audience and such films should not be encouraged to be made.
*****Landmark**** Excellent*** Worth a watch** Avoidable*Disaster
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Movie review: 2 Harihar Nagar (Mal, Apr 2009)
Movie review: 2 Harihar Nagar (Mal, Apr 2009)
In these uncertain times making a film that appeal to the Kerala audience is a great challenge and a highly risky proposition. To make a sequel to a landmark in the history of Malayalam cinema is a perhaps the greatest risk that one can take at these times. Lal has done exactly that, taken the risk and emerged highly successful.
The success of 2 HN lies in the script that Lal has put together. It is very evident that enough homework has gone into the preparation of the sequel to one of the landmark films in the history of Malayalam cinema. The sketches of the four friends have been plotted flawlessly by Lal. The script is a perfect blend of comedy, emotional bindings, adventure and suspense.
The success of the sequel lies in the fact that the homework done is evident and as it should be the work is rewarded by the audience. The visualization is inline with the modern times and hence the connect with the audience is duplex. All the departments associated with the making of the film have done justice to the process of film making and as a result, the final product is truly shining.
All the performers have done compete justice to their roles and the actor who enacted the role of Freddy is someone to watch out for. He is a very promising youngster. Lal has done an extremely commendable job in developing the script of the movie and it can be described in one word as FANTASTIC.
The obvious references to the incidents in the first version give the audience an impression of a sequel. The new music version by Alex Paul is also commendable even though personally I think that the English lyrics could have been avoided and also avoiding all the remix gimmicks in the songs. The film is a pure entertainer and the experience that the film offers is worth the time and money that you spent for it.
My rating for 2 Harihar Nagar is ****
*****Landmark**** Excellent*** Worth a watch** Avoidable*Disaster
In these uncertain times making a film that appeal to the Kerala audience is a great challenge and a highly risky proposition. To make a sequel to a landmark in the history of Malayalam cinema is a perhaps the greatest risk that one can take at these times. Lal has done exactly that, taken the risk and emerged highly successful.
The success of 2 HN lies in the script that Lal has put together. It is very evident that enough homework has gone into the preparation of the sequel to one of the landmark films in the history of Malayalam cinema. The sketches of the four friends have been plotted flawlessly by Lal. The script is a perfect blend of comedy, emotional bindings, adventure and suspense.
The success of the sequel lies in the fact that the homework done is evident and as it should be the work is rewarded by the audience. The visualization is inline with the modern times and hence the connect with the audience is duplex. All the departments associated with the making of the film have done justice to the process of film making and as a result, the final product is truly shining.
All the performers have done compete justice to their roles and the actor who enacted the role of Freddy is someone to watch out for. He is a very promising youngster. Lal has done an extremely commendable job in developing the script of the movie and it can be described in one word as FANTASTIC.
The obvious references to the incidents in the first version give the audience an impression of a sequel. The new music version by Alex Paul is also commendable even though personally I think that the English lyrics could have been avoided and also avoiding all the remix gimmicks in the songs. The film is a pure entertainer and the experience that the film offers is worth the time and money that you spent for it.
My rating for 2 Harihar Nagar is ****
*****Landmark**** Excellent*** Worth a watch** Avoidable*Disaster
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Movie review: IG (Mal, Apr 2009)
Movie review: IG (Mal, Apr 2009)
Film is a medium which you can use to communicate strong messages and concepts but it not always necessary to make a film to communicate your thoughts. There are many other effective ways to do that and that is exactly what happened to writer director B. Unnikrishnan’s latest offing IG. The film was supposed to be a dedication to the martyrs of the Mumbai attacks but fails to even create emotional or patriotic ripples in the audience.
The film fails to appeal in all departments. I did not find anything striking in any of the facades associated with a film. Unni had some truths to be communicated and the script was tailored to present these messages. The screenplay is shabby and loosely knit. I have always felt and believed that film makers should understand their strong areas and focus on mastering those rather than trying to be the jack of all trades. Film is a collaborative effort and hence the product gets benefited much from the many masters associated with it rather than the many rolling stones associated with it. I thin k Unni also faltered at the same point where many writer turned directors have faltered.
Direction is not his forte. He is a good script writer and his script can be enhanced and visually empowered by a strong director. This was much evident from TIGER which he scripted and left to Shaji Kailas to visualize. That is what lacked in IG. The direction was below average and not at all appealing. All the departments associated with the film performed badly and could not build the power required for the film’s mileage. The plot lacks logic and makes a fool of the viewer. The entire script is clichéd, clichéd and poorly clichéd.
Suresh Gopi looks very obese and disfigured. He looks disinterested in the whole proceedings. There are some multilingual dialogues which Unni has scripted, tailored for Suresh Gopi to perform but apart from those, Gopi looks totally wasted. I thin k Gopi should really focus on his physique and get back to shape at the earliest else not sure how he is gonna perform in his masterpiece roles in the days to come.
The dialogues lack clarity and the punch which one expects from such genre of films. The action sequences are poorly directed and are evidently poor. The shots are poorly set and many a times irritating. Cinematography was totally left to be improved. An actor of the caliber of Lakshmi was totally wasted in the movie without any respect being given to her stature.
The youngster actors who performed the roles of IG’s brother and his lover are promising performers of the future. John Kokein is wonderful as the antagonist. He has repeated his LIS act and has immense screen presence. He is a very promising budding performer. Nandini was also good in her cameo.
I think Unnikrishnan should really focus on writing scripts which has substance. Script writing is his forte and not visualization. His first venture, Smart City also had the same fate. Patches of the script of SC were good and the same is the case with IG. He has lost the mileage which he could have obtained by the success of Madambi. After viewing IG, I am forced to believe that Madami was a fluke from Unnikrishnan, even though I want to give him due credits for that.
My rating for IG is *
*****Landmark
**** Excellent
*** Worth a watch
** Avoidable
*Disaster
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Movie review: Sagar alias Jacky (Mal, Mar 2009)
Movie review: Sagar alias Jacky (Mal, Mar 2009)
Sagar alias Jacky, the underworld prince and smuggler who made a ruckus in 1988 by shooting down his business partner and son of the then chief minister, for breaking the laws of the underworld, is back after a long 21 years as the king of the underworld.
A realistic adaptation of nexus between politics and underworld in the form of business partnership between the son of the chief minister – Shekaran Kutty and his protégé Sagar, which later turns sour owing to Sekharan’s over ambitious and inhumane attitude. Shekhar inflicts heavy causalities on Sagar, his comrades and family and uses his father’s political clout to escape from the country. However Sagar, the soft spoken but daring smuggler breaks all cordons to kill Shekhar and settles the score. Sagar surrenders to the law of the land and moves out of the scene.
That was Sagar 21 years back. Presently, he is a big player in the prized underworld ground of the middle-east. Sagar has grown very much in the last 21 years and has a wide spread empire of his own. His looks, reach, business, friends, army and what not has changed with time but what remains unchanged is the style and nature of Sagar. A well etched character from S.N.Swamy, once again.
It would be wrong to say that Sagar has changed with time. I think it is more appropriate to say that Sagar has moved with the times. He has imbibed the necessities of the changing times and hyper adapted to those. That justifies and convinces of the growth of Sagar from a local smuggler to one of the big fishes in the international underworld scene. When one becomes a big fish in the international playing ground, the opponents also tend to be bigger and that is exactly what SaJ is all about.
Heroism is built on villainy and the latter is the foundation for the former. Propagation of heroism requires larger than hero villains. When the playing field is similar to the one described above, heroism is guaranteed its mileage. The script writer in S.N. Swamy is successful in that context as he has put the right set of ingredients in appropriate proportion in this dish. Amal Neerad has proved beyond doubt that he is the promise of Indian cinema in the years to come.
The setting of the script and the contexts are well developed and properly adapted. The screenplay is properly sequenced and well scripted. The attitude of Sagar is visible in every scene he is present. It goes without saying that the character of Sagar and Jacky was safe in the shoulder of Mohanlal. The transformation of the eighties Sagar to te twenty first century Sagar has been enacted to perfection by one of the best actor Indian cinema has ever produced. It is very difficult for a great performer like Mohanlal to confine himself to an expression less, stone faced and quiet by nature Sagar and hence it would have been a great challenge for him to enact a new version of Sagar. It goes without saying that the on screen Sagar and Jacky are performance at its best by Mohanlal.
The homework done by the Amal and his team is very evident in the movie. It is visible in each frame in the proceedings. The locations have been charted properly and supplement the mood of the proceedings. Since most of the shots are canned in outdoor locations, I am sure that the art direction department could get some time off. Amal has adopted the RGV style of story telling and film making and has shown justice to the RGV school of cinema.
Amal and team has delivered a product that is very much inline with the taste of the times. The shots are thrilling and cuts are sharp. Another highlight of the movie is the music and background score. Gopi Sundar has done a very good job in terms of his compositions and bg score. The rehashed theme of SaJ is thrilling, exciting and multi faceted. Cinematography by Amal needs and salute as he has used the frames and shots as a character in celluloid. His unconventional shot angles, frame settings and progressions interlaces much with the theme and mood of SaJ.
The mood is thrilling, the proceedings are convincing and hyper paced, the presenters fit the bill to the T, the shots are stylish and racing, excellent bg score, and the visualization is stylish to the core. The conversations are all one liners and each of them has dragger sharp edges. The one liners have been properly and stylishly presented and hence the duplex connect with the audience is successful. The marketing design is commendable. A drift from the conventional mode of Malayalam cinema in movie making, distribution, release and publicity is evident and needs to be appreciated very much.
Special mention needs to be made to S.N. Swamy for etching out the characters and plotting the character maps in a very vibrant way. The screenplay is drafted in a mode that greets the times appropriately and that is why Mr Swamy requires special mention here. Sampath, who enacted the role of the senior Rossario is a revelation and needs a special round of applause.
This film takes you for a ride to a different plane and gives you a wonderful experience for two and half hours. This film is worth every penny that we need to spend for the experience and that proves the success of Sagar alias Jacky. My rating for Saj is *****.
*****Landmark
**** Excellent
*** Worth a watch
** Avoidable
*Disaster
Sagar alias Jacky, the underworld prince and smuggler who made a ruckus in 1988 by shooting down his business partner and son of the then chief minister, for breaking the laws of the underworld, is back after a long 21 years as the king of the underworld.
A realistic adaptation of nexus between politics and underworld in the form of business partnership between the son of the chief minister – Shekaran Kutty and his protégé Sagar, which later turns sour owing to Sekharan’s over ambitious and inhumane attitude. Shekhar inflicts heavy causalities on Sagar, his comrades and family and uses his father’s political clout to escape from the country. However Sagar, the soft spoken but daring smuggler breaks all cordons to kill Shekhar and settles the score. Sagar surrenders to the law of the land and moves out of the scene.
That was Sagar 21 years back. Presently, he is a big player in the prized underworld ground of the middle-east. Sagar has grown very much in the last 21 years and has a wide spread empire of his own. His looks, reach, business, friends, army and what not has changed with time but what remains unchanged is the style and nature of Sagar. A well etched character from S.N.Swamy, once again.
It would be wrong to say that Sagar has changed with time. I think it is more appropriate to say that Sagar has moved with the times. He has imbibed the necessities of the changing times and hyper adapted to those. That justifies and convinces of the growth of Sagar from a local smuggler to one of the big fishes in the international underworld scene. When one becomes a big fish in the international playing ground, the opponents also tend to be bigger and that is exactly what SaJ is all about.
Heroism is built on villainy and the latter is the foundation for the former. Propagation of heroism requires larger than hero villains. When the playing field is similar to the one described above, heroism is guaranteed its mileage. The script writer in S.N. Swamy is successful in that context as he has put the right set of ingredients in appropriate proportion in this dish. Amal Neerad has proved beyond doubt that he is the promise of Indian cinema in the years to come.
The setting of the script and the contexts are well developed and properly adapted. The screenplay is properly sequenced and well scripted. The attitude of Sagar is visible in every scene he is present. It goes without saying that the character of Sagar and Jacky was safe in the shoulder of Mohanlal. The transformation of the eighties Sagar to te twenty first century Sagar has been enacted to perfection by one of the best actor Indian cinema has ever produced. It is very difficult for a great performer like Mohanlal to confine himself to an expression less, stone faced and quiet by nature Sagar and hence it would have been a great challenge for him to enact a new version of Sagar. It goes without saying that the on screen Sagar and Jacky are performance at its best by Mohanlal.
The homework done by the Amal and his team is very evident in the movie. It is visible in each frame in the proceedings. The locations have been charted properly and supplement the mood of the proceedings. Since most of the shots are canned in outdoor locations, I am sure that the art direction department could get some time off. Amal has adopted the RGV style of story telling and film making and has shown justice to the RGV school of cinema.
Amal and team has delivered a product that is very much inline with the taste of the times. The shots are thrilling and cuts are sharp. Another highlight of the movie is the music and background score. Gopi Sundar has done a very good job in terms of his compositions and bg score. The rehashed theme of SaJ is thrilling, exciting and multi faceted. Cinematography by Amal needs and salute as he has used the frames and shots as a character in celluloid. His unconventional shot angles, frame settings and progressions interlaces much with the theme and mood of SaJ.
The mood is thrilling, the proceedings are convincing and hyper paced, the presenters fit the bill to the T, the shots are stylish and racing, excellent bg score, and the visualization is stylish to the core. The conversations are all one liners and each of them has dragger sharp edges. The one liners have been properly and stylishly presented and hence the duplex connect with the audience is successful. The marketing design is commendable. A drift from the conventional mode of Malayalam cinema in movie making, distribution, release and publicity is evident and needs to be appreciated very much.
Special mention needs to be made to S.N. Swamy for etching out the characters and plotting the character maps in a very vibrant way. The screenplay is drafted in a mode that greets the times appropriately and that is why Mr Swamy requires special mention here. Sampath, who enacted the role of the senior Rossario is a revelation and needs a special round of applause.
This film takes you for a ride to a different plane and gives you a wonderful experience for two and half hours. This film is worth every penny that we need to spend for the experience and that proves the success of Sagar alias Jacky. My rating for Saj is *****.
*****Landmark
**** Excellent
*** Worth a watch
** Avoidable
*Disaster
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)