Goynar Baksho (The Jewellery Box)

While I am still deciding if I want to write the review of Bahubali, I ended up watching this Bengali movie on Amazon Prime.

Directed by Aparna Sen Goynar baksho includes a stellar star-cast of Moushami Chatterjee, Konkona Sen Sharma, Srabanti Chatterjee, Saswat Chatterjee amongst others.

The movie is the story of Somlata (Konkona), her husband’s aunt Rashmoni (Moushami) and her daughter Chatali (Srabanti).

The story starts pre-independence where at eleven, Rashmoni is wed to a middle-aged man who soon dies leaving her a widow at age twelve. As were the customs, she must wear a white sari, cut her hair and eat bland vegetarian food. Being a child still all Rashmoni has is her jewellery box with 5000 grams of gold. She lives with her brothers and their family who have now moved to West Bengal from Faridpur, now in Pakistan.

The men in the house are good for nothing with no work. On top of it the two brothers have an ongoing court case to decide which family will inherit the house. Debts start mounting given the fact that men have mistresses and gamble.

Somlata who is a newlywed in the house, accidently discovers that Rashmoni has died while sleeping. In a hilarious turn of event, she sees Pishima’s ghost who instructs her to steal the jewellery box and hide it so that no one can find it. Pishima who is foul mouth, vile and bitchy ghost scares the simple Somlata to no ends.

Soon the family is on brink of poverty and none of the men in the house do any work. Heeding her mother-in-law’s advice, Somlata encourages her husband to start a saree shop. She pawns some jewellery from Pishima’s box for the business capital. Pishima’s ghost creates havoc for that and keeps on haunting and scaring Somlata. She only steps down when she realizes that Somlata has named the store “Rashmoni Saree house” after her. She guides and advises Somlata on various business affairs to help her run the store. In a humorous almost lyrical sequence, Somlata’s in-laws are haranguing her to find out how she got the capital to start her business, when “the ghost” Pishima whispers their weaknesses in their ears and they back off. I wish Aparna Sen had continued in the same way for the rest of the movie – it would have been a master piece. In another sequence, a man besotted by Somlata follows her every day and Rashmoni eggs her on to take on a lover. Finally, the store does well and all is settled. We see the jewellery box passed on to Somlata’s daughter Chaitali (played by the same actor who plays the young Rashmoni). She is in love with the son of an erstwhile house-help whose grandfather was once in love with Rashmoni. She ultimately gives off the jewels to the cause of Bangladesh liberation.

The movie starts off on a humorous light-hearted note. Moushami Chatterjee as the cursing, foul mouthed tricking ghost of Pishima is par excellence. Treated unfairly because she was widowed at such a young age, she spares no one. In her old age, everyone suffers her only because they eye her jewellery box. Once dead, the ghost realizes that there is no sin or virtue and come back to help and haunt Somlata. This take on unfairness in the way the world treats men and women differently is light hearted yet hard hitting.

Unfortunately, after the first half Aparna Sen loses her way. The story becomes disjointed with too many lose ends. The story of Rafiq, the man besotted with Somlata is left with no conclusion. The liberation war is unnecessary backdrop and Chaitali’s role in it is hardly convincing with no screen time.

Konkona Sen has played Somlata with a lot of restraint and panache at the same time. Srabanti is much more convincing as young Rashmoni then as Chaitali. Saswat Chatterjee, the cheating no-good husband of Somlata fails to leave a mark.

The movie belonged to Moushami Chatterjee as Pishima’s ghost 😊

While a tighter script and crisper editing would have made a huge difference, still can be worth a 

watch.

Can Watch.

Satyanweshi (The Truth Seeker)

When a movie is based on a book, how do you review it? Should you watch it just as a standalone movie with an independent screenplay or should you compare it to the actual story? If two people review it, one who has seen the movie directly and one who has read the book followed by the movie then which one to follow. It’s a dilemma.

I recently ended up watching Rituparno Gosh’s Satyanweshi which is one from the Byomkesh Bakshi series. In the Hindi speaking diaspora, this character was made famous by Rajit Kapoor when he starred as Byomkesh Bakshi in Basu Chatterjee’s series aired on Doordarshan.

Originally this detective was created by the Bengali writer Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay.

Satyanweshi is based on the story “Chorabali” or Quicksand. So, I saw the movie first, then I saw the Rajit Kapoor episode and then I read the translated story in English. Humphhh…a tad obsessive you might say.

Consequently, I have seen two versions of the same story before writing the review and have also read the original story. Now, I can’t quiet decide what road to take for the review.

Let me try.

First, the Rajit Kapoor episode is a word by word reproduction from the story. When I read the story, I could hear Rajit kapoor’s voice in my ears. Hence, we can bundle up the two for the purpose of this review. Very scientific eh! A=B.

The movie Satyanweshi, follows the basic plot of the story. It is set in much earlier times though, of kings and queens and not just Zamindars. Himangshu is the king of Balbantpur and invites Byomkesh Bakshi and his companion Ajit for a hunting holiday. On reaching the estate they immediately realize something is grossly wrong. They learn that the librarian, Harinath has disappeared and the queen blames the king.  We see, there are many divergent plots which are not there in the original story. First, two conditions by Himangshu’s father for him to fulfil, if he is to inherit the kingdom - Himangshu cannot marry a non-Hindu girl, and must produce a legitimate heir within three years of his marriage. Second, while Dewan is kali worshipper Kaligati in the original story, here these are two separate characters. Kaligati is the family physician and has a young daughter. He is initially shown fleeing with two daughters from some other kingdom and one of the daughter mysteriously dies on the way. He lands up at Himangshu’s father’s doorstep and asks for shelter. Himangshu’s father realizes that Kaligati belongs to special sect of people who can mimic any animal and gives him special place in his palace. Third is introduction of the queen and one of the motive’s for Himangshu to harm Harinath. Alka, Himangshu’s wife and the queen is very close friends with Harinath. Harinath was particularly erudite in literature and was an accomplished vocalist. Alka, herself a singer and an aspiring actress in her single days greatly admires Harinath and finds solace in his company. Another angle to the whole plot is the mystery surrounding the name Balbantpur, which very frankly was a little far-fetched for me.

Unfortunately to write anything meaningful about the movie I will have to reveal the plot. So, if you haven’t seen the movie, proceed with caution.

In the original plot, Harinath who is the math tutor for Himangshu’s daughter, has supposedly disappeared with some account books and some cash. Byomkesh over the course of his investigation realizes that Harinath has succumbed to some evil plot and is dead. Kaligati is the old dewan of Himangshu who can mimic various animals. There is an old hut near the edge of the estate, it has the jungle on one side and a sand towards the backdoor. As luck would have it, Byomkesh and Ajit discover that the sand is actually quicksand. Byomkesh lays a trap and Kaligati is killed by Himangshu. It is revealed that Kaligati was embezzling from Himangshu and when Harinath discovered his treachery, Kaligati lured him to the hut and he drowned in quicksand.

In Satyanweshi, there is a completely different twist in the plot. Alka, has sexual aversion and has no interest in consummating her marriage and as a result cannot provide an heir to Himanghu to fulfil his father’s conditions. She sends Leela, Kaligati’s daughter with Himangshu for a hunting trip resulting in Leela getting pregnant. Kaligati hides the pregnancy from everyone and sends Leela away. Harinath is in love with Leela. One day he follows Kaligati and ends up at a dilapidated hut in the jungle. To his surprise, he finds Leela there with a newborn. He decides to marry Leela there and then. Kaligati arrives and is surprised to find Harinath with Leela. He learns of their marriage and promises to get Leela to the temple the next day. He directs Harinath to follow a path so that no one knows of his meeting Leela (to safeguard her honour) and Harinath falls into the quicksand and dies.

Kaligati wanted to live his last days as kings’ son’s grandfather instead of just a commoner and hence this deception.

Overall the movie had me glued to the screen. For someone who doesn’t know the story there is enough suspense. I quite liked Sujoy Ghosh, as Byomkesh Bakshi. He looks intellectual and a thinker but quick on his feet. Anindya Chatterjee as Ajit very frankly looked like a baboon. Apologies for such a harsh critique, but he smiled and acted like one too. Indraneil Sengupta as Himangshu looks the part. However, his portrayal of a worried husband, falsely accused by his wife was very one dimensional. Some shades of grey, which made you doubt his innocence would have added some much-needed gumption to the movie. There were no hair-raising moments and while you couldn’t pinpoint the motive, Kaligati remains the only suspect throughout. Arpita Chatterjee as Aloka as frail hopeless wife played the part. I wish her character was better defined. There was no real need for her to be frigid. It served no purpose in the movie. Similarly, the fact that Kaligati could mimic a tiger and a mould of tiger paw is found in his suitcase again remained a loose end.

This movie was the last movie directed by Rituparno Ghosh before his death. While he had finished most of the shooting, the remaining parts and post production was done by his team. I am not sure if the movie would have looked the same if it was released in Rituparno Ghosh's lifetime.

Just for that.

Can watch.

Royal Bengal Rahasya

Yay!

I am super thrilled. Amazon Prime has finally added subtitles to its Bengali movies and that includes the Feluda and Byomkesh Bakshi series.

Disclaimer: I have read the entire Feluda series earlier and absolutely love the detective.

For those who do not know Feluda - Prodosh Chandra Mitra or popularly known as Feluda is an investigative detective. He along with his nephew Topshe and a popular writer Jatayu (joined in the later series) frequently get invited to solve mysteries. This series was written by Satyajit Ray who also directed some of the episodes initially. Later Sandip Ray took up the direction.

Royal Bengal Rahasya is a thriller based on the Feluda series with same name. Here Feluda is invited by Mahitosh Singha Ray to help him with some urgent matter. Ray is a known tiger hunter and lives in the jungles of West Bengal. On their arrival, they are greeted by the young secretary who assists Ray.

Feluda learns that Ray found an old puzzle amongst his great grandfather’s letters and wants Feluda to solve it. Feluda surmises that the riddle gives the location of a hidden treasure. Soon the secretary or Tarit Sengupta is found dead in the jungle as if eaten by a man eater tiger. Coupled with the mysterious childhood friend Shashank and the mad older brother Debotosh, the plot will keep you guessing.

I will not write more about the story because it has been adapted with most of the plot intact. Except I do like the fact that there is a lesser reference to hunting and boasting about it. When the novel was written, hunting was probably still a royal sport which does give it a gruesome outline in the modern context.

I do like Sabyasachi Chakrabarty as Feluda. He looks the part without being overly dramatic though I must say, he is not a patch on Soumitra Chatterjee. I had seen the initial Feluda films starring Soumitra Chatterjee quite some time back. Bibhu Bhattacharya is fabulous as Jatayu and provides the comic relief much like the character in the books. In this particular title, Paran Bandyopadhyay who plays the mad brother Debotosh Singha Ray has done an excellent rendition of a mad man. No theatrics, just slight twitch and the look in the eyes. Saheb Bhattacharya as Topshe is just there nodding his head.

The movie itself maintains the suspense, and doesn’t divulge the details before time. Though I feel it needed some more hair-raising moments.

Can Watch.

Molly Aunty Rocks

I had seen this movie some years ago, but for some reason never wrote the review. Probably one of those days of slumber and inanity in Mumbai.

Anyways, I vaguely remembered enjoying the movie and decided to see it again. Prithviraj after all does add to the temptation.

Molly Aunty rocks! As is evident from the name is the story of Molly Aunty played by Revathi. She lives with her husband and two daughters in US but for past two years is in Kerala, working in the bank. All indications show that she has some financial trouble and is trying to raise money by breaking her FDs and selling ancestral property. The feisty, fearless and witty character of Molly is what lends colour to this movie. From insisting on doing everything herself, bargaining even for the smallest things and doing what she wants, Revathi gives a very entertaining performance.

One fine day, Molly gets a notice from the IT department for tax dues worth 30K. When she goes to the IT department to clarify, a corrupt officer asks her for a “gift” of 15K to make the matter go away. She rebukes the officer and later files a police complaint against him.

Within a few days, to her surprise, Molly gets another IT notice this time with due amount almost 10 Lacs. Enraged, she goes to meet the assistant commissioner Pranav Roy (Prithviraj). He comes across as an egotistical, powerful, abrasive officer and completely justifies the tax amount.

Over the course of time, Pranav and Molly have several altercations, involving even family and church to mediate. Finally, Molly’s husband comes back from US and hires a lawyer.

Amidst all this, while Molly and her husband keep on insisting that they do not have any money. The lawyer sets about to find what happened to the money that Molly got from sale of ancestral land, FDs etc.

The matter is finally resolved between Molly and Pranav in a surprising revelation.

There are few actors in today’s generation as versatile as Prithviraj and he does full justice to the part of a young officer slightly heady with power.

The movie is feel good, entertaining and fast paced. Having said that, this is not something that will remain with you after you finish watching. 

Direction and editing are crisp with enough comic relief and no melodrama.

Can Watch.

Vadakkumnadhan

It’s exciting to get back to a Mohanlal movie after such a long time. He is after all my all-time favourite actor.

Vadakkumnadhan is the story of Bharathan (Mohanlal), who is an acclaimed scholar of Sanskrit and Vedas. He is a professor and engaged to Meera (Padmapriya) who is also his student. Just before his wedding day, Bharathan starts behaving strangely. He walks out of an award function, resigns from university, burns his books and hits his fiancé. Ignoring it as an aberration from his otherwise calm demeanor, the family goes ahead with the wedding as planned.

On the wedding day, Bharathan disappears, presumably to witness Kumbh Mela. A year later, a sage comes back from Himalayas, carrying his ashes. The whole family, including Meera are heartbroken.

Five years later, when the family is visiting Haridwar on a pilgrimage, they are reunited with Bharathan. Then unravels the story of Bharathan's strange behavior and his disappearance.

There is an element of suspense in the movie and the build up to that is quite gripping. The director leaves you guessing as to why a learned, well-mannered and kindhearted man would disappear without any reason.

Unfortunately, for me unraveling of the mystery wasn’t quite as powerful as the built-up. For a moment, I almost thought that the director must be inspired by Tarkovsky’s Sacrifice.

It’s an interesting movie still, and Mohanlal has done justice to the role he plays which brings to light the duality of his character. Padmapriya while there doesn’t really add much to the story or to the movie.

First half is quite well directed and fast paced, though the movie does succumb to a little melodrama and introduction of an unnecessary villain. I also feel the director couldn't decide the genre of the movie - drama or romance or suspense.

Still worth a watch.

Can Watch.

Kanmadam

Another Mohanlal movie...Vishwam (Mohanlal) is a reformed thug living in Mumbai with his close friend Johnny (Lal). Though Vishwam earns an honest living, the police don't leave him alone and keep on troubling him. Johnny on the other hand is still true to the old ways and works as a pimp.

One day while waiting for Johnny, a guy gets into Vishwam's taxi and forces him and Johnny to drive on. A fight ensues, and the guy ends up dead. Vishwam and Johnny flee from the scene. Vishwam realizes that the guy left a bag in the car and goes through its contents. Along with some money and gold he discovers some letters from Damu's (the dead guy) sister Bhanu (Manju Warrier), imploring him o come home quickly as they are under severe debt and bank is threatening to take away their land. He also learns that Damu was cheated by a visa guy.

Feeling morally obligated, Vishwam, decides to go to the native village of Damu and help his family. On reaching there, he realizes that Damu’s three sisters and grandparents are living in abject poverty with some nasty villagers teasing the girls and making there life miserable. The second sister, Bhanu is carrying the burden of the family on her shoulders and thus is very harsh and bitter.

Vishwam slowly mingles with them and repays all their debts. Going is good till his good-for-nothing friend Johnny comes from Mumbai in search of him.

A slow paced, very non melodramatic movie. Mohanlal has of course done a good job but kudos to Manju Warrier as well. At times, I could feel the helplessness, the doomed existence, the cynicism that she portrayed on screen.

Definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.

The DVD is available with subtitles with MoserBaer.

Can Watch.

Spatikam (Prism)

Finally Two years after I bought the movie I finally saw it.

The movie is a story of a real life rowdy called "Aadu Thomas", played by Mohanlal. Let me first start with the name of the movie, I absolutely love the fact that many Malayalam movies have well thought out names ( contrast that too the barrage of names with pyar mohabbat dil etc. in Bollywood ). It's a simple story with no shenanigans. Son of an acclaimed Math teacher, Thomas runs away from home at an early age, unable to bear the atrocities of his strict father who wants him to become a math scholar. He returns many years later, still unaccepted by his father, ends up becoming a rowdy almost revered by the people he helps. A corrupt police officer makes life miserable for Thomas and most of the movie is his rebellion against the system.

What's interesting about the movie is the way it weaves the friction between the father and the son as a backdrop amidst all the action.

While the story is simple, the storytelling is fast paced and interesting. Without much melodrama, Mohanlal gives a superbly restrained performance and carries the entire movie on his shoulder. And of course it stars the original Silk Smitha ;)

Watch it like you are reading a short story.

The DVD is available with Moser baer with subtitles - Moserbaer - Spatikam

Can Watch.

Twenty:20

Firstly I must say it's a feat in itself to pull off a movie with the stellar star cast as that of this movie. Mammootty, Mohanlal, Dileep, Suresh Gopi and all others. The director and the producer have truly done a remarkable job in getting all these people together.

Now about the movie, which is a murder mystery of sorts, has enough twists and turns to keep you riveted. Arun, grandson of a famous retired judge is Implicated in murder of a student. Ramesh (Mammootty) is a famous advocate who comes to the rescue. Arun is declared innocent and released. But soon Arun is murdered and police arrests Devan (Mohanlal) for the murder. His mother and sister request Ramesh to take the case, pleading innocence.

Ramesh believes Devan to be innocent and agrees. Devan is released. But soon Ramesh realizes that something is amiss and starts investigating. Thus unravels a complicated story of revenge, deciet and murder.

While performances, given the star cast, are stellar, it is the story which lacks crispness. The initial builtup of the judge Vishwanathan is quite useless, similarly the revenge motive of the SP (Suresh Gopi) stressed at various points in the movie does not play any part in the plot.

Another weakness is the timing of the twists. Unlike an Agatha Christie novel, where the plot changes just when you guess the murderer, here the twists come a second too soon or too late taking the edge out of the story. Also the movie could have done with massive editing.

Overall an interesting plot and good performances.

Can watch.

7th Aum Arivu (7th Sense)

I am more or less a logical person. So, whatever I do has to more or less follow logical reasoning, even my creative side has to be coherent and follow a reasoning which is logical, even if it is slapstick and kitsch.

So after a long time I went to watch a Tamil flick in theater. 7th Aum Arivu (7th Sense) stars Surya (Bodhi Dharman, Arvind) and Shruti Haasan (Subha). The movie starts in 6th century India, with a clan of true Tamilians who are great warriors, can control the elements of nature and possess great knowledge of medicines that can cure any disease. There leader is Bodhi Dharman who is instructed by his Guru to go to China and disseminate this knowledge. Bodhi Dharman is also an expert in the art of hypnotism and can control minds. Thus, starts the journey of Bodhi Dharman. He reaches this plague infected village in China and cures the villagers with his medicine and also saves them from barbarians. The villagers take him as their leader and learn the arts from him. This is said to be the founding of the Shaolin temple. Years later, after his death, Bodhi Dharman is buried there.

From here the movie moves to the present day and the Chinese government has deployed a mercenary (who along with being an expert in martial arts can also hypnotize people) to kill a girl in India who is doing some research and to start Operation red. From there the movie moves to a couple of months earlier in India where Arvind is a circus artist and gets smitten by Subha who comes to borrow a monkey from the circus for her research in genetic engineering. We realize that this is the same girl that the mercenary has to kill. From there on Arvind and Subha become friends and Arvind falls in love with her. He doesn’t know that a deep secret about Subha and research which is later revealed in movie.

The movie is a sci-fi thriller bringing back to life an ancient super hero combining modern concepts like genetic engineering. The first half of the movie is absolutely fantastic. The director and the writer build up the characters of Arvind, Subha and the mercenary superbly. The quality of production and the effects are very powerful and a delight to watch. Surya first as the great warrior and then the circus artist is commendable. Shruti is also very believable as a young scientist.

After the first half movie deteriorates as quickly as it builds up in the first half. From being a logical super hero fantasy it goes onto become a bizarre, illogical and random plot in no time.

While what’s work well is, how the superhero character (Bodhi Dharman) is defined – his powers, how he gets his powers and why are they lost, which incidentally “Ra.One” completely forgets to do. You never know what is the special power of the superhero in that. I also think in 7th Aum Arivu the director who is also the writer has done a good job at combining history, mythology and modern science. Where it fails completely is, in telling how an ordinary guy (Arvind) learns of his heritage and regains his powers. Another count where is fails is the action sequence where the mercenary is trying to kill Subha and Arvind.

Music is nothing to write about.

Can Watch.

Calcutta News

Ajith (Dileep) is a news reporter for one of the news channel in Calcutta. He lives with his mother and two sisters. One day the channel gets the news of a dead body found near the river. On seeing the dead man, Ajith realizes that he had seen the same man sometime earlier with a young girl, perhaps his wife, and they are also malayalee. Ajith who had recorded a small video of the couple on his mobile feels personally involved and sets out to search for the girl. They soon learn that a malayalee girl was found locked in a room with some head injuries. Ajith realizes it’s the same girl and meets her. The girl Krishna Priya (Meera Jasmine) finds some solace on seeing Ajith since she only speaks Malayalam.


Ajith takes her to identify her husband’s body where she breaks down and admits that she is an orphan from Kerala and just married Hari a few days earlier and came to Calcutta. Ajith and crew realize from her story that the husband was a crook involved in sex racket and was planning to sell Krishna Priya to a one arm guy who is involved in trafficking.

Initially shattered and suicidal, Krishna Priya gets better when she stays with some colleagues of Ajith. She is a beautiful singer and Ajith tries to get her some opportunities to showcase her talent. Ajith also takes her to a psychiatrist who helps in her treatment. The two eventually fall in love.

Meanwhile the ‘one arm’ villain kidnaps Krishna Priya and Ajith and his colleagues go to the red light district and bring to light the squalor and abject poverty in which the women live. All ends well as CM sends a rescue mission on seeing the story on TV.

The best bit about the movie is undoubtedly Meera Jasmine. She has played the character of innocent, lively Krishna Priya with utmost finesse. Dileep is passable though I found his expressions quite foolish and boring.

The movie starts on a very promising note, with enough mystery to keep you glued. But later he loses his grip and the hitherto realistic story becomes a cheap melodrama. The issue is that (and I saw Blessy doing the same in Bhramaram) when you take a real story, at all points you have to keep it grounded and logical. If you have to make a fantasy then see “Mr. India” and create a villains like “Mogambo”. Don’t mix the two genres. It’s as if somewhere while directing, Blessy realized that his movie was too offbeat and decided to make it more commercial.

Interesting story which goes awry. You can watch it for Meera Jasmine though.

(Can Watch)

Manmadhudu

A masala love story with all the emotions you can think of.

Abhi (Nagarjuna) is a rich, good looking, suave bachelor running an Ad Agency. The only glitch is that he hates women. All the women at the agency are tired of his attitude. His uncle decides he has had enough and appoints Harika (Sonali Bendre) as Abhi’s assistant. There are hilarious altercations between the two. At one point she is about to resign when Abhi’s uncle tell her about his past.

Abhi was in love with Mahi (Anshu), niece of one of their managers. Thinking that the two families are worlds apart, he decides to get Mahi engaged to someone else. Abhi follows her and the two leave in Abhi’s car. The car meets with an accident and Abhi is unconscious for ten days. On waking up he, learns that Mahi has married someone else and h loses his trust in women.

Harika on learning Abhi’s past decides to stay and becomes his boss. The two of them fly to Paris for an assignment and come to like each other. But Harika tells him that she is already engaged. On their return Harika tries to express her love but Abhi is oblivious. Meanwhile Abhi learns that Mahi had actually died during the accident and to save him from trauma people lie to him.

Harika finally comes to give him her wedding card before leaving for her wedding. Abhi loves her but wants her to acknowledge first. From a station enroute to the venue Harika calls him and expresses her love. Follows a chase where Abhi uses all possible forms of transport to reach Harika leading to the climax of the film.

Nagarujuna and Sonali Bendre look good together but Anshu and Nagarjuna have even better chemistry. Hummable songs though the script could have been sharper.

A well balanced film, good timepass.

(Can Watch)

Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha (A midnight murder story)

Most of the movies I appreciate or the way I see them is with the premise that there is a core of the movie, then the backdrop and then the supporting characters that help take the movie forward. The supporting characters, backdrop might have their own story and significance, but the better movies do not make them larger than the core.

The movie Paleri Manikyam can be reviewed from many perspectives – politics and use of power in Kerala during fifties, atrocities of feudal lords and exploitation of poor, psychological analysis of what drives people towards certain actions etc.

I see the movie as a murder mystery against the backdrop of dictatorial feudal system and play of politics in the society. And as a murder mystery, it keeps you guessing till the end.


Haridas (Mammotty) is a private detective who is intrigued by two murders which were committed the night he was born at Paleri. The murderer was never convicted for the lack of evidence. Haridas wants to go back and unearth the truth and he is accompanied by crime analyst Sarayu in his quest. Almost fifty years after the murder, he travels back to Paleri to meet anyone still alive who can shed some light on the case.

Manikyam (Mythili), bride of a poor low caste Pokkan is brutally raped and murdered soon after her marriage. Pokkan’s mother Cheeru (Shwetha Menon) tries to cover it up as an epileptic attack but the police soon decides that it was a murder. The main suspect is the wealthy and powerful Murikkum Kunnathu Ahmed Haji (Mammootty) who is notorious for his affairs with beautiful village women. Infact Cheeru, Pokkan’s mother was also his mistress at some point in time. His two men are caught as accomplices but for lack of evidence are evicted by the court.


Since no one associated with the murder is alive today, Haridas tries to reconstruct the crime mainly by the versions of some village folks, like Barber Keshavan (Srinivasan) who was a communist party worker. It appears that at that time Haji was sheltered by the leaders of the party. Various reports and facts were buried and not brought to light. There was another murder at the same time which was never linked to Manikyam’s murder.

During the movie we also learn why Haridas has such unusual interest in the murder. The most interesting aspect of the movie is the narrative where Haridas narrates most of the events and moves along with the characters and which brings together the present and the past in a surreal way. Also notable is the way each character tells their version of the events such that you can almost feel getting closer to the truth but not quite there. Also with each character’s narrative you also get to see the various shades of their lives and the society they live in.

Haridas’ quest ends when he meets the eldest son of Haji, Khalid (Mammotty) during the climax.

The cinematography of the movie is pretty neat and Renjith has recreated the Kerala of yester years with brilliant finesse. The background score, not overwhelming gives a lot of character to the movie. The only place where the movie lacks is that there are a little too many characters and thus a lot of loose ends. For some of the characters there is no apparent reason for their actions. The movie could have definitely done with some editing to make the script a little crisper. Mammotty comes in three different roles but shines out as Haji.

Interesting, fast paced, quite gripping, well executed.

(Can Watch)

Devasuram

There is something very unique about the directors and script writers from Kerala. They have uniquely engaging style and a continuity in the movie they make\write.

Devasuram is one such film. Mangalassery Neelakantan (Mohanlal) is the son of a famous personality but does nothing except wasting away his father’s wealth. The only actual passion he has is for music and appreciates ad patronizes local artists.

He himself is a gifted musician but lacks the self discipline. He is also at loggerheads with another feudal family in the village and there are frequent fights between the two camps. Neela has a trusted advisor Warrier (Innocent) who takes care of his daily affairs.

The rival gang corners Warrier and beat him up one day. To retaliate Neela’s friends decide to hire a thug to rough up the rival leader but instead the thug ends up killing him. He then goes into hiding.

Meanwhile Appu master (Nedumudi Venu) is a drunkard with two daughters. He has sold all his land and has taken multiple loans for the dance education of his elder daughter Bhanumathi (Revathi) who is very gifted and is all set to go to Delhi to further her career as a dancer.

Neela restores an old concert hall near the temple and the villagers want to plan a grand opening. They decide to invite Bhanu to dance at the temple. When Neela’s men go to invite her, she rebukes them and sends them away for their rowdy behavior. Later Neela apologizes to Appu master and pays him the token amount to have Bhanu perform at the temple. At the last minute after the artists are ready Neel forces Bhanu to perform in front of him and his friends in his courtyard for insinuating them earlier. Bhanu though forced to dance is furious and vows never to dance again till Neela’s death. Warrier believes, she has cursed the family.

Shortly after that Neela’s life starts to disintegrate one thread at a time. The killer who had gone into hiding is caught and demands a huge sum to keep quiet. As a result Neela has to sell his ancestral land for peanuts to a buyer he had refused earlier.

Hard times also fall on Bhanu and her family as they have to give up their house to the debt collector. They start living at a relative’s house who misbehaves with Bhanu. Hearing their plight Neela sends Warrier to bring the family to live with them and Bhanu has to relent under pressure from her father. Meanwhile, Neela’s mother is not keeping well and stays with her brothers. When Neela goes to visit her he learns a terrible secret about his birth which completely shatters him. His mother dies soon after.

Neela decides to change for the better. Meanwhile Bhanu’s relative comes and offers them a place to stay. Soon after in a fight Shekharan from the rival family runs down Neela and he is paralyzed.

The rest of the movie is about how Bhanu supports him in this difficult time and how they rediscover each other.

No doubt the movie is engaging and fast paced and has the kind of attraction Godfather has. I still feel the characters needed to be etched out more. They don’t get to show individuality and seem to be always giving in to circumstances.

Mohanlal again delivers a superb performance. Revathi is not too impressive.

Fast paced, engaging.

(Can Watch)

Kalyanaraman

The movie is about a wedding planner. Ramankutty (Dileep) and his brother Achu (Lal) are wedding planners and take care of all aspects of a wedding from catering to pandals, decorations etc. At one such wedding of Thambi’s (Lalu Alex) daughter Radhika (Jyothirmayi), Ramankutty meets Gauri (Navya Nair) and likes her instantly. Unfortunately Radhika’s wedding is called of the night before the wedding because the groom loves someone else which leads to a lot of anguish as Radhika is dumb. Achu and Ramankutty seeing the bride get her married off to their younger brother Sivadas (Bobby Alumoodan) who is also a doctor. While Ramankutty likes Gauri, she seems interested in another guy Unni (Kunchako Boban) who is also a suave singer. After a lot of light hearted histrionics, Ramankutty realizes that Gauri is in love with him. The family easily agrees to their marriage. At the engagement in a kitchen accident, Radhika dies in a fire accident. Suspecting bad omen, Thambi consults a priest. The priest tells him that the groom’s family has a problem wherein all women in their family will die young and the family history corroborates. Thambi requests Ramankutty to call off the wedding. But Gauri learns the truth and tries to stop Ramankutty from leaving and meets with a serious accident. Her last wish is to get married to Ramankutty and he ties the knot in the hospital. Concurring fate against all odds, Gauri recovers and the couple live happily ever after.

Good time pass, nice comedy for lazy Sunday afternoons.

(Can Watch)

Abhiyum Naanum (Abhi and Me)

The reason I picked up the movie was because of Prakash Raj and Prithviraj. And of course Radha Mohan who directed Mozhi has also directed Abhiyum Naanum.

Loosely based on “Father of the Bride”, the plot follows Prakash Raj who narrates his experiences of raising a (now married) daughter to Prithviraj who has a young daughter. It takes you through the journey of a father watching his little girl grow up and move on in life to the point where he is no longer the only man in her life. It’s definitely a feel good movie with a delightful freshness and keeps you engaged. Though after a while I wanted the movie to rush to its predictable ending.



The script would have worked a bit better if it was little crisp in the second half. The groom and his family are a little over the top and unrealistic. I mean seriously at an instance the Prime Minister calls the groom to enquire about work.

Prithviraj is in a cameo. Prakash Raj has acted the part and I think he can carry off any role in any script without the associated melodrama. So he is fun to watch.
I particularly liked Aishwarya playing the mum. Trisha Krishnan fails to make an impact as the daughter though the girl who plays the kid “Abhi” is very lovable.

Overall a movie with better performances than script and direction which has its moments. Mediocre music.

(Can Watch)