Oru Indian Pranayakatha Review from TOI.

Story: The film is about the life of a young political leader and his association with a woman who comes unexpectedly into his life.

Oru Indian Pranayakatha oozes with fond recollections from some of the earlier accomplishments of Sathyan Anthikad. It narrates the tale of a youth who chooses politics as his career. His acts and motives - all driven by ambition - are drenched in sarcasm, something highly redolent of Sandesham.
 
The transformation of Sidharthan (Fahadh), the young political leader is then triggered by his association with a woman, who is smarter and more sensible than the lead male characters in Anthikad's films. Amala Paul plays a Canadian citizen of Malayali origin named Irene Gardiner. 

In a film that treads at a studied pace with hardly any eventful situations, the good-natured moments belong to Fahadh. His insouciant charm blends with an earthy humour. Fahad is unabashed while bringing out the inflated ego of an aspiring young politician and his associated cockiness. His indulgence in self-debasement is hearty and his open exposition of ignorance is ridiculously funny.

Amala Paul is more mature while dealing with emotional outbursts. She unassumingly lets Fahadh devour the fun whenever they share comic situations, something that works well for her as she seems perfectly in control. The plot is more or less confined to him, his foiled ambitions as a politician, his romance, his feelings for a woman who brings about a slow shift in his life. It is this apparent simplicity that makes the film at once engaging and more often banal. 

The joviality happens naturally, the mush is forced and jarring. There is not even a faint attempt at doing away with stereotypes although there are glimpses of promise at certain moments which never really crystallize into a heart-warmer of a film.

Rating:***
 
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/movie-reviews/Oru-Indian-Pranayakatha/movie-review/27751337.cms

Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal Review from Times of India!!

Story: The film moves around relationships of four individuals that get intertwined resulting in complexities that affect their lives.

Lal Jose dabbles in a maze of relationships in Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal. It's about people who are waiting to get married and those who are already married. The film leaves links inter-connecting all those involved in it. The result is a narrative that goes slightly out of control after the initial good-natured humour which Dileep brings to the table.

Aby (Dileep) is an ad-maker waiting to get married to Ann (Parvathy). His old flame Rima Kallingal returns to the city where he lives and their encounter sets off a series of events bordering on confusions, misunderstandings, sense of guilt and the pain of loss.

Lal Jose intently tries to hold the complexities with a sense of triviality. He does away with tears and piano at times of grave emotional crises and would instead squeeze in cartoonish sequences. The light-hearted treatment works to an extent, but not for long as the narrative is crippled by a sluggishness that results from a poorly conceived script.

There is a mad rush towards the end assembling a jumble of events to materialize a set of twists just to put things in order. In spite of all its earnestness, the attempt fails pushing the movie to levels of mediocrity. Dileep holds on to his casual, ticklish humour which salvages the film to a certain extent.

Rating:***

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/movie-reviews/Ezhu-Sundara-Rathrikal/movie-review/27751741.cms

Silence Review from Rediff!

Paresh C Palicha says Silence is the first attempt at serious film making from the writer-director team of Y V Rajesh and V K Prakash and have made a decent attempt.

Watching Mammootty play a legal eagle is always interesting. May be because he is a qualified lawyer in real life too. Director V K Prakash seems to know this fact well and uses it to his advantage in his new film Silence.

Written by Y V Rajesh, this legal thriller has taken its inspiration from a couple of Hollywood films to make a highly watchable film.

Arvind Chandrasekhar (Mammootty) is a very successful lawyer, who is appointed judge in the Bengaluru High Court. He is the youngest person to achieve this distinction. Before taking the oath, he visits his parents in Kerala. There he is harassed by an anonymous caller, who says he is not fit to be a judge. At first he thinks it’s a prank played by some friend or a rival.

But things get serious when his wife and children face dangerous situations supposedly created by the same caller. So he tries to dig into his past to see if he has made any mistakes or unintentionally hurt anyone.

He uncovers the mystery in the beginning of the second half and sets out to correct his past mistake before assuming charge as a judge.

The first half moves at break neck speed. But the momentum is lost in the second half as Arvind goes on a fact-finding mission to find his mistake and correct it.

The film borrows heavily from the Richard Gere starrer, Primal Fear (1996).

Among the legion of supporting actors is Anoop Menon who plays a high-ranking police officer and a batch mate of Aravind’s in law college. He had a crush on Sangeetha (Pallavi Purohit) who later married Aravind.

Jayaprakash Kuloor is a Malayali priest and Joy Mathew plays Markos who wanted the judgeship that went to Aravind.

Mammootty gives a controlled performance as Aravind. His greying sideburns and moustache somehow add to his vulnerability.

Silence is the first attempt at serious film making from the writer-director team of Y V Rajesh and V K Prakash after low-brow comedies such as Gulumaal and Threekings.

It is notches above the previous attempts and highly watchable.

Rating:**1/2
http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-mammoottys-silence-is-worth-a-watch-south/20131209.htm

Drishyam Review From NowRunning!

With 'Drishyam', Jeethu Joseph emerges as a proficient film maker who skillfully blends words with visuals to craft a chillingly thrilling portrait of a man's struggle to prevent his much adored family from falling apart. Jeethu attempts a stunning mix of the real with the imaginary, and the result is an unpredictable cinematic artichoke that takes you by surprise at every turn. 

Georgekutty (Mohanlal) runs a cable TV business in a sleepy village called Rajakkad, that lies a few miles away from Thodupuzha. His dreams are minimal, and he is all content with the blissful family that he has been blessed with. His wife Rani (Meena) and his daughters Anju (Ansiba) and Anu (Esther), make fun of his tight fisted ways, and Georgekutty often willingly relents to their modest demands. When Varun (Roshan) walks in abruptly into their lives, the four of them and their togetherness are put to extreme test, in terrifying ways they have experienced never before.

Drishyam Pictures   93 Pictures

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Jeethu Joseph lets the tale stay on a steady, slow simmer, before raising the flame and letting it on to a high boil. For one, the core thought is terrific, and there is something riveting about the purposeful recreation of a life scene. Questions as to how much believable things that we see and hear around us are, arise, and all on a sudden they seem as incredible as the scenes that you watch on screen. 

The psychological cat-and-mouse game that ensues between Georgekutty and the lady IPS officer Geetha Prabhakaran (Asha Sarath) has several moments that thriller buffs will dig into with delight. What is appreciable however is the adversary's acceptance of defeat, and the eventual respect that the two develop for each other.

The film's single most resonant image of a terrified Anu in the interrogation room, her eyes all aghast at the sheer horror that she is witness to, will remain with us for long. A few scenes later, as she rushes into Georgekutty's open arms, she asks if she had let them down. Hugging her close to his chest, Georgekutty assures the child that she never did.

There are these jolts that are delivered now and then, and in no time you realize that the movie has stealthily slipped under your skin. Ah, and then the final scene sashays in, and it's a whopper without doubt; perhaps the very best climax that I have seen this year!

'Dirshyam' could very well boast of Mohanlal's best performance in recent times, and the actor seems to be at remarkable ease playing the affable man, who would stop at nothing until he sees that his family is safe. Meena is back, and how, and she delivers a bravura performance, along with the two young girls Ansiba and Esther who are sheer bundles of talent. A very special word of appreciation is due to Kalabhavan Shajon as well, who breaks away from the conventional comic mould that we had got used to seeing him in. 

Sujith Vasudev makes sure that the visuals are indeed deceiving and the camera moves in, out and around stuffy rooms, liberally hurling revelations at us, one after the other. The musical score by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas have a refreshingly delightful tenor to them that deserve an applause for certain. 

'Drishyam' is a stellar spectacle that prompts an animated watch, without even as much as a blinking of an eye. I wouldn't be surprised if you eat away your nails while watching this highly unsettling and yet gripping film, that is a celebration of the power of exceptional storytelling.

Rating:***
http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/13828/malayalam/drishyam/4502/review.htm

Drishyam Review by Rediff!

Mohanlal steals the show in Drishyam says Paresh C Palicha Mohanlal was endearing in roles where he played the common man. But, as his stature grew, we saw less of the kind of roles that had brought him stardom.

As a big star, he played those ‘larger than life’ roles that had the fans clapping and whistling at the superhuman feats of their idol.

The subtlety that was the hallmark of his earlier films became increasingly rare and the sly sense of humour gave way to a louder variety.

In his new film Drishyam, director Jeethu Joseph focuses on the endearing persona of the actor by casting him as Georgekutty, an orphan who had dropped out of school after the fourth grade.

He has come up in life by tilling his land. Now he is businessman running a cable TV service in a rural area. He is married to Rani (Meena) and they have two beautiful daughters.

Georgekutty is stingy and does not like to spend money on anything beyond the basic necessities. His only interest in life apart from his family is watching films. He spends most of his time in front of the TV in his small office.

He is so obsessed with movies that he takes every major decision in life by subconsciously taking an example from some film he has seen.

These details are revealed in a humorous manner in the first half of the film. There’s an obvious twist just before the interval. Georgekutty’s teenaged daughter gets photographed in the bathroom at a nature camp by a hidden cell phone.

The culprit Varun (Roshan Basheer) is the son of an inspector general of police, Geetha Prabhakar (Asha Sarath). Varun is accidentally killed by Rani and her daughter when he comes to blackmail them. It is up to Georgekutty to protect his family from the long arm of the law.

Jeethu Joseph makes this into an ‘edge of the seat’ thriller in the second half by making Georgekutty stay two steps ahead of the investigators.

Georgekutty prepares his family to face the torturous interrogations. He also makes sure that his family does not psychologically break up in the face of coercive police tactics.

Mohanlal is spellbinding in this film. That is too simple a statement to describe the magic he has created on screen.

He plays a semi-literate man who is nevertheless intelligent. He is conversant in many languages, a skill that he acquired watching all those films on TV.

He was mischievous as a teenager, and when he flirts with his wife, but is incredibly mature when dealing with dire circumstances.

Meena as his wife Rani is a middle-class woman who aspires for a better lifestyle and social standing. She holds her own opposite Mohanlal and is one of the highlights of the film.

Kalabhavan Shajon who usually plays the comic sidekick of the hero, has made a successful transition to a villain in this project. He plays a corrupt police constable who has some animosity against Georgekutty. Drishyam can be credited for bringing Mohanlal back to form and pushing director Jeethu Joseph into the big league as he has made a cracker of a thriller.

Rating:***1/2
http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-drishyam-is-mohanlals-film/20131220.htm

Vishudhan Movie Reviews from Times of India!

Story: The film showcases the life of a vicar who gets enmeshed in a series of events due to which he is forced to sacrifice all dear to him.

Working with a narrative that links psalms from the Bible to the deeds of characters, Vysakh dabbles in profound issues of morality, chastity and sin in his new film Vishudhan. A vicar and a nun are defrocked after there are allegations of a blasphemous relationship. A young girl trades her body for money and when questioned, she rebukes the purpose of reading out pastoral letters to the needy. A benign soul is scarred by personal losses and seeks bloody revenge, which then gets washed off in his remorseful tears.

A mist-drenched hamlet receives a new vicar played by Kunchako Boban and he initiates noble endeavours, ably assisted by a nun (Mia). Vavachan (Harish Peradi), the wily, pompous landlord is seldom enthused by the acts of the vicar that hinder his personal motives.

Vysakh makes ample use of biblical subtexts to portray an otherwise direct, simple conflict between the bad and the good. While doing so, his actions are marked by a lack of overemphasis, something that holds good for the whole purpose. Nandu who plays a drunken gravedigger pulls off painful, disturbing moments even as it may be jeered at for their cliched nature.

Vishudhan does throw up stereotypes and slight subtlety would have immensely helped the cause. Still the film has an unpretentious, lasting effect that comes out of certain sequences crafted with genuine moments so familiar to mankind. Shahnad Jalal lends fluidity to his frames, gently tracking the characters and capturing their close-ups in an unhurried, casual ease. 
Rating:***
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/malayalam/movie-reviews/Visudhan/movie-review/26301726.cms

Punyalan Agarbaties from Times of India!

A Thrissur based man named Joy Thakkolkaran conceives the idea of making agarbathis from elephant dung and the film tracks down the challenges that await him in his venture. 
Punyalan Agarbathis derives much of its warm humour from the apparently ludicrous concept of the lead character Joy Thakkolkaran. He paints colourful dreams of entrepreneurship with his notion of using elephant dung for making agarbathis. Ranjith Sankar makes sure that he takes off from this cardinal idea and maintains a good flight, notching up light-hearted sequences and at the same time absorbing the dreams, despair and frustration of a man who wants to do something different.
The narrative is nourished with characters sketched with a fancy for the real and for satire. A bald-headed judge would chatter cheerfully with those in the dock and would lour at them in the same breath. A driver with his simpleton looks is invested with loads of childish naivete that he would weep for his mom when caught in police station.

Jayasurya infuses an easeful, sparkling wit into Thakkolkaran and he is enriched with a script that goes for slightly silly, but abundantly playful humor. This is one film where the dim-witted servants need not have to mouth obscenities to amuse themselves. They would rather seriously indulge in playing 'angry-birds', religiously treasuring each point they garner.

Even the woman characters, though a few, command a good-natured authority and presence on screen. Be it Anu, the wife of Joy or the advocate, the script treats them with respect, making them share the shine and glow of the lead character. Perhaps it's this genuine warmth about this film which helps it override certain scenes conjured up solely for the purpose of a meaningful conclusion. The lapses are easily forgotten for the rich presence of moments that make Punyalan Agarbathis a lovable film. Rating:*** http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/malayalam/movie-reviews/Punyalan-Agarbathis/articleshow/26677940.cms  

Bicycle Thieves Review from Times of India

Bicycle Thieves narrates the tale of three youths who steal bicycles for a living. They later take up a contract for theft which changes the course of their lives.

Bicycle Thieves has quite a few scenes that are heavily redolent of some of the most popular hits. In spite of this resemblance, Bicycle Thieves works to a pretty good effect, mostly owing to its cast who remain true to the narrative.

The film tracks the lives of three boys from their childhood when they take the first steps towards turning themselves into bicycle thieves. The boys grow up, their bond thickens and they chance upon a contract to steal a fairly good amount of money. Betrayal, breach of trust and misunderstanding ensue and the trio split.

Jis Joy in his debut film does show promise with his ability to craft seemingly natural sequences even while bringing in complexities which sometimes fit and most often don't. There is a conscious attempt on the part of Asif Ali to add economy and measure to his acting. He doesn't strain himself playing a good-hearted thief with smart cunning. There is restraint to the way he portrays Chacko, something that adds to the appeal of the film.

The narrative appears a bit hurried towards the end with a sudden flow of twists. They are tailored with a fair sense of conviction, still they leave a jarring effect because of their rush. Vijay Babu pulls off a studied, neatly rendered act carrying different shades in an affecting manner. Rating:***  http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/malayalam/movie-reviews/Punyalan-Agarbathis/articleshow/26677940.cms

Weeping Boy Malayalam, by Rediff!

Rating:**

Off lately we have seen a few Malayalam films tackle the subject of anti-abortion, but Weeping Boy handles it very poorly, writes Paresh C Palicha.

Sreenivasan is a name that guarantees a certain standard for whatever project he is associated with, whether as actor, writer or director.

Filmmakers have used his star power and self deprecating humour to propagate causes they believed in.

But, you cannot help wondering what a new director like Felix Joseph intends to do by giving him the title role in Weeping Boy.

Sreenivasan plays a veterinarian named Sahadevan, who is so sensitive that anything can make him cry. He is locked up in jail and cuts a sorry figure.

He seems mentally unstable as he keeps talking to someone who is invisible to others. This brings on the flashback in which he narrates to a psychiatrist how he had married late and his wife (Lena) had gone through a few miscarriages.

When she got pregnant again, her doctor had ordered complete bed rest and Sahadevan was fully involved in taking care of her.

At this crucial time he gets a posting to a remote village called Kannadikkara. He reluctantly reports for duty as his job was at risk.

Communal animosity runs high in Kannadikkara. Sahadevan is privy to the love affair between Faizal (Arjun Lakshmi Narayan) and Geethu (Shritha Sivadas) and he gets involved in stopping it from culminating in a disaster, which ultimately lands him in jail.

We have seen a few anti-abortion (the crux of this film) films in Malayalam in recent times like Akku Akbar’s Kaana Kanmani(2009) and Anamika (2009), but this film handles the subject very poorly.

The storyline, credited to the director himself, not only depends very heavily on Sreenivasan, but it is confused about whether to tap into his comic image or to make the character a serious one.

This shows in Sreenivasan’d performance--he seems stranded between being outright funny and being sentimental.

Other actors make fleeting appearances, whether it is Jagadeesh, who plays Faizal’s father, or Praveena who plays his wife.

As one witty viewer remarked while leaving the theatre after watching the film, the film is not about the Weeping Boy but about the weeping audience.

http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/review-malayalm-film-weeping-boy-will-make-the-audience-weep-south/20131206.htm 

Vishudhan Review Rediff!

Rating:**

Director Vysakh, known for his mass entertainers, has tried to surprise viewers in his latest venture Vishudhan, a dark emotional drama with Kunchacko Boban in the title role.

The film opens with the camera focusing on gore all around and a voice-over intoning biblical phrases. Sunny (Kunchacko Boban), a young priest, is put in charge of a church in a rural area. The people there are faithful but poor. The church runs an old age home which is sponsored by the only rich man in the area, Vavachan (Hareesh Peradi).

There Sunny meets Sister Sophie (Mia George). The two working sincerely in the old age home and in the process discover the motives behind Vavachan's philanthropy. He has an agreement with the home that he gets the unclaimed dead bodies for the medical college run by his son (Krishna Kumar), which is always short of cadavers.

When he is threatened with exposure, Vavachan begins a smear campaign against Sunny and Sister Sophie that gets the sister, an orphan, thrown out of the church on the charge of having an illicit affair with Sunny.

Sunny then leaves the priesthood to be her protector. They get married and eventually come back to the same place to live and prove that they have not done anything wrong. The story is wafer-thin and we cannot help feeling that director Vysakh has taken this sensitive subject just to prove that he is a serious filmmaker, but somehow he misses the larger plot in the process.

His bad guys and good guys are clearly distinct as black and white. The villain is over the top as far as acting goes.

Kunchacko Boban has been trying to do serious roles that suit his age for a while now.  Mia gets a role that is on an equal footing with the hero and she pulls it off. Vishudhan, director Vysakh's attempt to get into the league of serious filmmakers, turns out to be clichéd to put it mildly.

http://www.rediff.com/movies/report/review-malayalam-film-vishudhan-is-cliched-south/20131125.htm

Nadan Review From Nowrunning!

Rating:**1/2

After the much impressive 'Celluloid', it's on a rutted ride down a hilly slope that Kamal takes us on, in 'Nadan'. It's not just the ride that tires you to bits, but the sights and spectacles that pass by have a recognizable feel that brings about tedium in no time. 

Devadas (Jayaram) is an accomplished actor from the theatre, who has seen better days. He helms the theatre group called Sargavedi, and basks in a rich tradition that has been shaped by his predecessors. By the late 90's, he's on the verge ofbankruptcy, is jobless, has ruined his familial life beyond repair and is all set to go insane. 

Nadan Pictures   54 Pictures

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'Nadan' narrates the decline of an art form that has almost submissively, given way to more assertive forms ofentertainment as the mimics show and the cinematic dance. It also attempts to trace the lives of a few hapless individuals who over the years, had lost the ability to distinguish between life and theatre, with both having blended into one. 

There is a shift in focus from the professional life of the actor on to his personal life, and when Jyothi (Remya Nambeesan) walks in as the new lead actress of the troupe, Devadas rediscovers his passion for the art. In no time, he turns into an obsessive lover, that has his disgruntled wife (Sajitha Madathil), walk out with their two kids in tow.

'Nadan' does make some genuine efforts to capture the reality of life's struggles, and yet it manages to do so only peripherally. The tears are shed, and the air remains pungent with heavy sighs, and yet if we fail to identify with several of those characters on screen, it's simply because, it tries to be excessively high on mood.

Perhaps the most disappointing part of 'Nadan' is its stretched out climax, that takes melodrama on to higher levels. Almost dragging Devadas out of the murky misery that he had resigned himself to, the filmmaker adds on an almost synthetic feel that appears all out of place.

It's heartening to see Jayaram in a role that requires him to be someone more than acustomary husband that we quite often get to see him as. And he does grab this opportunity with a vengeance, and comes up with a brilliant performance. Remya Nambeesan and Sajitha Madathil establish their presence without much of an effort.

The real performer of 'Nadan' is of course KPAC Lalitha, who excels as a theater artist trying hard to make both ends meet, at the dusk of her life. There isn't perhaps another actress who could have brought out the anguish, gloom and desolation that Radhechi goes through, as convincingly as Lalitha does in the film.

'Nadan', at times even looks like a hysterical expression of distress that gets its modulation a bit too wrong. The wails of despair appear a bit too loud, which makes it a hit and miss affair that only fleetingly touches our hearts.

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/13103/malayalam/nadan/4484/review.htm

Vishudhan Review Nowrunning!

Rating:**

Vysakh's 'Vishudhan' is a moralistic fable that has chosen as its protagonist a priest, thereby attempting to disguise a customary revenge tale under the garb of a controversial story. At the center of it, it is nothing more than one of those accounts where a man is forced to take upon evil single handedly, finally seeing to it that justice is served.

Father Sunny (Kunchacko Boban) is ordained as the new priest in a hamlet ruled over by Vavachan (Hareesh Peradi), and soon discovers that an old age home run by the rich man is just a cover to generate cadavers for his medical college. Sister Sophy (Mia George) offers the priest concrete evidence to support his doubts, and before they know it, the priest and the nun are accused of having an illicit relationship and are shown the door out, from the church.

Visudhan Pictures   20 Pictures

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The controversial element in 'Vishudhan' is likely to emerge out of nowhere, if and when the film is viewed as an affrontation on a religious institution and the principles and codes that it upholds. On the other hand, it could also be viewed as a tale of two individuals caught in the torrents of fate, who are forced to take decisions that transform them into two new entities. 

What is unbelievable is the transformation that Sophy undergoes in no time; and there are occasions in the film, where she almost seems ecstatic at the decision that she has taken, with her straightened hair and chic clothes. That is perhaps a bit difficult to take in, especially since she was a devoted servant of the church not so long back.

While the former half of the film is fairly entertaining and does have its share of fine moments, the latter half degenerates into a messy account of a battle for justice. For most of its part, it fails to sustain your interest, and merely skims over from one predictable situation to the next. 

As much as the music sounds soothing to the ears, it does feel a bit awkward to see this odd pair break into a song and groove routine, especially given the circumstances that they live in. And with a priest (Lal) who folds up his cassock to deliver a blow or two the unyielding, making an entry, the perfunctory story design seems all set for a decline. 

This is perhaps Kunchacko Boban's best performance till date, and his efficiently restrained, and yet evocative performance is worth a standing applause. Mia George is quite effective as the nun who is thrown out of church, while Hareesh Peradi excels in the role of the baddie.

Some films are remembered for an actor, and 'Vishudhan' does have one such performer, whose name I have not yet been able to identify. This actor appears in the role of Krishnettan in the film, and the octogenarian with his stellar performance, leaves a lump in the viewers' throats. I also have a very special word of appreciation for Sasikumar, who appears in the role of a Bishop, and who is undoubtedly one of the most serene looking bishops whom we have ever seen on screen.

If 'Vishudhan' ultimately ends up being a formulaic piece of film making, it's because it sticks to the conventional mode. In fact, it does not go anywhere where you don't expect it to, and it refrains from taking up any risks along the way. 

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/14185/malayalam/visudhan/4480/review.htm