Agadam Review from Times of India!

Synopsis: Three men bury a woman they have murdered in the middle of the night. They get an unexpected visitor, who wants to do business with them. Soon, the ghost of the dead girl turns up before them sending them running for their lives.

Review: Oh, the irony that is the interval! You only have to feel sorry for Mohamad Issack. He has made a film that has been certified by the Guinness World Records as the longest uncut film but his very achievement is tarnished by the fact that the film is cut (read stopped) midway by the theatre operator for the interval.

In fact, indirectly, this very act is a statement on the significance of Issack's efforts. Watching the film, we realize that it isn't ambition or the subject of his movie that has necessitated this attempt but the need for such a gimmick to attract an unsuspecting viewer. This is novelty for novelty's sake, nothing more.

The film's plot heavily draws on Karthik Subburaj's trendsetting Pizza. If the latter film had an individual trapped in a lonely mansion that has a ghost, here it is four characters who are scared to death by a ghost in a house. The difference is that while Vijay Sethupathi was the protagonist there, here, the victims are all corrupt men, who distribute expired medicines and murder those who try to expose them. There is also a twist towards the end, as in the earlier film. And, like Pizza, this one too has been shot on a shoe-string budget.

But the comparisons end there. While Karthik Subburaj's film is a dazzling example of what a director with a command over his craft can do with a minimal budget, Agadam is a cautionary tale that proves that while digital has made it possible for anyone to make a film, not everyone should make one. This is an unnecessarily over-long film with a sloppy script, amateur performances, shoddy camerawork, template music and unintentionally funny sequences, with not a single redeeming feature (no, the longest shot doesn't count). The only horror here is not the one the characters experience but what we, the audience, undergo.

 

Rating:*1/2

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/moviereviewarticlelist/agadam/movie-review/28463733.cms 

Vizha Review from Times of India!

Synopsis: Sundaram, a tappu player, is attracted to oppari singer Raakamma, but his act of helping a friend's romance threatens to take her away from him. 

Movie Review: Updating the classic Thillana Mohanambal premise of individuals in similar professions falling in love with each other, Barathi Balakumaran presents an old-fashioned romance done the old-fashioned way with Vizha. If the hero in the earlier film is a nadaswaram vidwan, here, he is a tappu player, who performs at funeral houses. The heroine is an oppari singer (in the older film, she is a Bharatanatyam dancer), and the 'saavu veedu' is their meeting place. We have had a few films based on this idea even earlier ( Karagattakaran and Sangamam did it in the late 80s and 90s respectively), and Vizha feels like an adaptation for this generation.

Tappu player Sundaram ( Mahendran) is attracted to Raakamma (Malavika), the young oppari singer, and she too reciprocates his love. When he helps his friend Pandidurai, who is a foreign return and the heir to the stuck-up local bigwig Bakkiyammal, get married to his childhood sweetheart, Bakkiyammal tries to get her revenge by arranging a match for Raakamma with Manimaran ( Yugendran), who works for her, and sending her goons after Sundaram. However, the good-hearted Manimaran offers refuge to Sundaram, and the lovers are left in a dilemma — should they stop the planned marriage or tell the truth to Manimaran?

The plot is a fairly interesting (even if it is familiar) one but what makes Vizha a lesser film than it should have been is the amount of unnecessary padding that the director brings to this story. He is severely hampered by his decision to take the 'whether Raakamma loves Sundaram' plot till the interval and so devotes the entire first half to the shenanigans of the hero and his friends which are so been there done that. Even the opening block, which he uses to detail the customs at a house of death, lacks the punch that it needed and so doesn't quite come across as atmospheric (this week's other release, Madha Yaanai Kootam, does this in superb fashion).

The second half is much better even though we are able to predict the outcome of certain scenes — when a character in an earlier scene tells Sundaram that he should play the tappu for his death, we know that he'll die in the end; and we always know that Manimaran will, in the end, stand by Sundaram. Still, Balakumaran manages to pack a punch in the scene where the lover affair between the leads comes out in the open. James Vasanthan's song too plays a crucial role in elevating the emotion here (and, his score is a major plus throughout).

Rating:***

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/moviereviewarticlelist/vizha/movie-review/28065951.cms

Dedh Ishqiya Review from Times of India!

Story: A team of con men fall for a Begum and her female confidante. Does their love fructify?

Review: Dedh Ishqiya is a sequel to the zany 2010 black comedy Ishqiya. Like its prequel, the idiom and the setting are rural. The spoken language is Hindi with a peppering of heavy-duty Urdu. Thank God for the English subtitles in circuits except the Hindi belt! What's also nice is the contemporary thought woven in (with references to Iphone-5 and hamburgers in New York). So, the desi-yuppies can connect.

The plot, with many interesting twists, is about the irrepressible team of crooks, Khallu and Babban (Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsirespectively). When these two arrive in Mehmudabad, Naseer finds himself magnetically drawn to the local heiress, Begum Para (Madhuri Dixit Nene). And Arshad falls head over heels in love with the Begum's aide, Muniya (Huma Qureshi). The uncle-nephew team chase their love interests and build castles in the air about sex, life and wealth.

The women, Begum Para and Muniya, also have a back-story. Para is the widow of a debauched Nawab who gambled away his wealth on men and wine. Her crazy suitor, Jaan Mohammad ( Vijay Raaz) wants to bail her out.

In their attempt to live happily ever after, Begum and Muniya devise their own Thelma and Louise (the 1991 Hollywood flick) kind of plan. Not willing to give up, Khallu and Baban try hard to fit in.

Vishal Bharadwaj's dialogue keeps you in splits. The free usage of words like sex and chu**yapaa tickle the funny bone. Naseer is back in super-form after straying in outings like Jackpot. Ditto Arshad. Madhuri looks gorgeous but the dhak-dhak girl (now woman) falls short on the oomph meter, as compared to Vidya Balan in Ishqiya. Huma Qureshi is interesting.

Rating:***1/2

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/movie-review/dedh-ishqiya/movie-review/28591895.cms 

Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal review from Nowrunning!

As you watch Lal Jose's 'Ezhu Sundara Ratrikal', you cannot but help wonder over the lack of emotional frisson that is evident throughout. For every enlightening moment of jagged insight in the film, there's an infinity of inane smiles, bumpy conversation and awkward glances lying scattered all around.

Aby (Dileep) is happily engaged to Ann (Parvathy Nambiar) and is eagerly looking forward to his wedding. On the spur of a moment, he decides to invite his ex-lover Sini (Rima Kallingal) to his marriage, and on walking into her apartment, finds that she has the perfect family life that anyone can dream of. 

Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal Pictures   64 Pictures

56 More Movie Stills. Click to View All

If after the first half an hour, 'Ezhu Sundara Ratrikal' fails to hold your interest, it's simply because it does not have anything worthwhile to tell. Yes, the twists are definitely there, but when the disclosures are made one after the other, you wonder what the hullabaloo was all about.

When Sini soon makes the revelation that all isn't well in her marital life, you anticipate what is to follow, and Tyson (Murali Gopy), her boxer husband turns out to be the insensitive, uncaring brute that you expect him to be. What you do not really foresee is the golden heart that beats somewhere inside. Phew!

There is a subplot that involves Franco (Tini Tom) and his doctor wife Daisy (Praveena), and it takes a while to connect the two parallel narratives together. And of course several other characters spring up here and there, like the police officer in love with Ann (Sreejith Ravi), the mysterious lady bike rider (Krishnaprabha), the restaurant owner (Suraj Venjarammoodu) and Baijuraj (Anil Rajgopal), who add further complexity to the account. 

Sometimes it so happens that in a particular scene, there comes by someone who is expected t be lurking in the background, and yet who grabs all the limelight and walks away without as much as a word. As an anxious Aby waits for Ann's call, a group of merry kids brush past him, as they scamper out of the house on to the courtyard. And then you see someone scurrying after them, a toddler in a diaper, who just seems to have mastered the art of walking, who spreads mirth all around.

And the last half an hour is an extreme drag, and you wait for the inevitable to happen. When the wedding bells finally ring for Aby, and the end credits start rolling, you realize that a bit of truth could have saved us a lot of time. But then, if that was the case, this film wouldn't be here at all.

There are a few hilarious moments here and there, without doubt, in the film, but that does not relieve you of the monotony that is to follow. The animated sequences that are expected to be side-splitting at times hit the mark, and at other fall short by a mile. 

Dileep is perfectly cast as the man who finds the seven nights prior to his marriage messed up beyond repair, and Rima looks gorgeous and lends ample support. Parvathy Nambiar makes a fine debut, while Anil Rajgopal turns out to the scene stealer in the film, with his compelling presence and self-assured performance. 

Losing out around midway, and never quite recovering after that, Lal Jose's 'Ezhu Sundara Ratrikal' fails to generate any sensitivity beyond the baffling squabbles that are playing out on the screen. It's this prevailing bleakness that drags the film down, despite having a gifted director and an impressive cast at its helm.

Rating:**

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/12939/malayalam/ezhu-sundara-rathrikal/4507/review.htm 

Oru Indian Pranaya Kadha Review from NowRunning!

Sathyan Anthikad's 'Oru Indian Pranayakatha' draws a heart all around the title cards , heavily emphasizing that the stage has been set for a love tale. And if that isn't enough, the ultimate romance symbol is laid out in green and orange, literally shouting 'India' from the rooftops. And it's in a small town in mid-Kerala that we find the film's protagonist Aymanam Sidharthan (Fahadh Fazil) in; a local leader of the RDF party, waiting to contest the elections. However, his hopes are dashed when the High Command opts for a more influential candidate. Almost giving up on his political aspirations, Sidharthan takes up a job as an assistant to a young woman named Irene (Amala Paul) who has just arrived from Canada, to make a film on orphanages. 

Oru Indian Pranayakadha Pictures   114 Pictures

106 More Movie Stills. Click to View All

Now here is the conclusion. Its bad news when you have a heroine who's back in the country after a long while, searching for roots. If she's a documentarian with profound social concerns, it's likely to get worse. And if you have a jobless hero roaming around, trying to make a general impression on her, the devastation is complete. What's disheartening is that this isn't much of a love tale at all. You see, when the roots that I had mentioned earlier grab all the limelight, there isn't much of a scope for anything else. Hence we see the two individuals who are supposed to fall in love run from pillar to post, on a quest to find out Irene's parents, and by the time they do, it's time to end the tale.

Mission Identity Unearthing isn't an easy watch, and after a while, it gets plain boring. The last one hour of the film looks like a toy helicopter with a faulty remote that flies this way and that before dashing into a wall and crashing on to the ground. 

When Sidharthan and Irene start pretending to be husband and wife for sheer professional reasons, you drop your jaws in disbelief. We thought we were done with all that drama, and it props up again, making us shake our heads this way and that. At one hundred and forty minutes, 'Oru Indian Pranayakatha' is a bit too long, and the latter half in particular is a test on fortitude. Jaisalmer is too far away, and when Sishdarthan suggests that they make the journey to Rajasthan, you sigh, knowing very well that they will refuse to leave until they dance to their heart's content in the sand dunes. And woah, you are indeed right!

Perhaps in an attempt to keep up with the changing times, a highly embarassing scene is wedged into an otherwise calmingly serene Anthikkadan narrative. Irene sitting next to Sidharthan in a bus, tries to test his self control, but getting a bit too close to him. When the time arrives to alight from the bus, Sidharthan refuses to get up for very obvious reasons. Well, fantastic, but no way does it fit in here.

Fahad does succeed in making Sidharthan an endearing chap, but the writing is too shallow and does not let you get any closer to him. Amala Paul looks chic, while Shafna Nizam makes her presence felt. Innocent is around in a brief role as well. And thus it is, that 'Oru Indian Paranayakatha' adds itself to the list of imminently forgettable love yarns. And no amount of visual glitter will serve to lessen the yawns that it generates.

 

Rating:**

 

Now Running Reviews. 

Dedh Ishqiya Review from Mansa Rastogi!!

One of the biggest formulas being applied over and over again in cinema over the last few years is that of converting a hit film into a franchise by dishing out sequels one after the other only to cash in on the success of the first. Now whether those sequels have anything to do with the first one or are even closely as good as the original is a redundant query. Some of the cerebral filmmakers too have fallen into the money spinning trap so it's no surprise that you see producer Vishal Bhardwaj too doling out the sequel to his 2010 superhit Ishqiya. But does his sequel live upto the standards? Let's find out.

Dedh Ishqiya Pictures   52 Pictures

44 More Movie Stills. Click to View All

Partners in crime, Khalujaan (Naseeruddin Shah) and Babban (Arshad Warsi) are back to their silly misadventures. The setting again is the badlands of North India although with a decadent feudal system. 

Mahmudabad is the land of decrepit, crumbling Nawabs, each covering up for the bankruptcy with a sham of grandeur. Begam Para (Madhuri Dixit), an ageing widow of the late Nawab of Mahmudabad has a task at hand - to fulfil the last wish of her late husband that of re-marrying. A "Jalsa" is organised for all Nawabs, competitions held that of sher-mushairas, guns and ghazals. Enters Khalujaan under the garb of Nawaz of Chandpur followed by his Khadim Babban; the agenda - to ransack the wealth of Begam Para. Tables turn the moment Khalujaan lays eyes on Para and his heart flutters. He forgets the objective while trying to woo her only to know much later in the course, that Begam Para too, along with her aide Muniya (Huma Qureshi) has a plan up her sleeves.

The film scores ace on the laudable story of Darab Farooqui, painstakingly written screenplay of Abhishek Choubey and the saucy, witty and hilarious dialogues of Vishal Bhardwaj.

The story is extensive, there's ample back and forth, the characters are complex, each with a grey shade but it's Abhishek's master direction that doesn't leave any depiction rushed. He takes his time to establish the backdrop, that of the dying era of Nawabs. He interestingly captures their failing attempts of the few leftover Nawabs to latch on to the Nawabi royalty and its perks. He evolves his characters smartly as their real agenda blend brilliantly with the proceeding storyline. 

It all goes very good in Dedh Ishqiya till the penultimate moment and the film goes awry from thereon. It's Vishal and his protege's fascination for Tarantino that reflects in the end there the screenplay goes completely berserk and there's mindless gun-totting and bloodshed. Also the later portions of the second half appear extremely stretched and could well be edited for a crisper screenplay.

Both Naseeruddin Shah and Arshad Warsi once again form the heart of the film. Their antics and banter make for an enjoyable watch. However, this time around it's Arshad who supersedes Naseeruddin Shah's performance. 

Madhuri Dixit is luminates in her comeback film and is as graceful as ever. There are dance portions of the actress which are extremely delightful and beautifully shot. Huma on the other hand remains underutilized and hence, may be the only sore thumb in the list of actors.

Among the many character actors in the film, the one that outshines is Vijay Raaz. Not only does he get a meaty part to play but also the right director who taps his potential as an actor and extracts commendable display of acting prowess. 

To sum it up, Dedh Ishqiya falls just a step short of being flawless and that's only because of the Tarantino-esq climax. But in the rest of the portions, the film, as promised, "Dedh" (One and a half) times the fun of the original.

Rating:***

http://www.nowrunning.com/movie/10000/bollywood.hindi/dedh-ishqiya/4519/review.htm