Love and action

Undertaking to make films based on real-life incidents is like walking a tightrope. The filmmaker should not only digress from truth, but also see that the project succeeds at the box office.

Vasista Pictures Kadhalar Kudiyiruppu, produced by Indhumathi and directed by AMR Ramesh, is set in the backdrop of violence that took place in Bangalore after the demolition of Babri Masjid. There is no doubt the film, a love story, has tried to live up to audience's expectations. That Ramesh, who earlier did Kuppi, has taken a lot of care to stick to the original incident is evident right through the film. However, one wished the film had a different climax — it would have been gripping.

Venkatesh Gouder (Dharma) and Viswanatha Iyer (Avinash) are constables attached to the same police station. They are great friends. One day, Gouder dies and Iyer helps his wife Jayamma (Saranya) and son lead a respectable life. Iyer has two daughters — the eldest Anitha (Shruthi) always fights with Gouder's son Asvin (Aneesh). Anitha is to marry Rohith (Lohith). On the day of Babri Masjid demolition, riots break out in Bangalore following which Anita finds it difficult to return home from college. She calls up Rohith and asks him to escort her home, but he refuses to do so. Anitha then calls up Jayamma who sends her son Asvin to pick her up. In spite of the problems, Asvin safely brings Anitha back to her house. She falls in love with him. Whether they unite in marriage forms the rest of the plot.

From the beginning, one is aware that the story happens in Bangalore — the shots showing the roadside banners in Kannada and the Kar Sevaks collecting bricks with Kannada letters on them only reinforce this. In fact, it leaves one wondering whether one is watching a Kannada film. However, the riots shown on screen lack the intensity to convey that the lead pair is going through a traumatic day in their lives.

New-find Aneesh has the looks and his performance passes muster. The same cannot be said about his co-star Shruthi. Saranya and Avinash shine in their respective roles. When Saranya gets to know her son loves Anitha and that it is not the other way round, she bursts into a whole range of emotions, which is a treat to watch. Dilipraj as the friend Raju, Lohith as Rohith, the bridegroom, and Dharma as Gouder have done a neat job.

It is music director James Vasanthan who keeps the momentum intact with his good re-recording; his songs too make an impact. Dwarakanath's camerawork is noteworthy.

Kadhalar Kudiyiruppu

Genre: Romance

Director: AMR.Ramesh

Cast: Aneesh, Shruti, Saranya, Dilipraj, Avinash, Dharma and Lohith.

Storyline: A love story set in the backdrop of violence that took place in Bangalore after the demolition of Babri Masjid

Bottomline: Good in parts.

Bloodbath and body counts

cold blooded hit-man - The Mechanic

As far as action-porn goes, The Mechanic, directed by Simon West, delivers the required bloodbath and body-count. In a remake of the 1972-Charles Bronson hit, Jason Statham takes over the mantle of the efficient hit-man Arthur Bishop. As his voiceover tells you right at the beginning, he does all kinds of contract killings — from those done in a particularly gruesome fashion to send a message, to the “best” ones done with such finesse, they look like accidental deaths. The controlled manoeuvring that goes into the latter kind of killings gives him the most, shall we say, job satisfaction.

If Arthur is cold-blooded and ruthless, off-duty, he is a connoisseur of fine music and cars, who treats the local working girl well during his visits, and also pays her generously. He works for two bosses who run a shadowy firm — wheelchair-bound Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) who is something of a mentor to him, and in whose company Arthur actually lowers his guard enough to smile; and the snake-like Dean (Tony Goldwyn), who looks about as trustworthy as a banker.

An unfortunate turn of events — with shades of a Greek tragedy — disposes of Harry pretty early on in the film. When his ne'er-do-well son Steve (Ben Foster) threatens to go off the rails at his death, Arthur feels obliged to step in. Though he'd been estranged from his father, Steve is outraged; what sort of man would shoot a man in a wheelchair, he asks Arthur.

Arthur's potential weakness is a vestigial conscience, not particularly an asset in his trade. He feels he owes it to his dead mentor to take Steve under his wing and teach the violent lad the only profession he knows — how to be a killer. Steve is enthusiastic, and proves adept at learning the tricks of the trade. However, where Arthur is emotionless and in chilling control of his game, Steve is all over the place, botching things up. But Arthur is strangely reluctant to give up on him.

Foster is excellent in his role of the weedy guy with a vicious streak, who, despite his better instincts, is always going to be a screw-up. He is a good foil to Statham's impassivity. Their interplay has a good dynamic, and is even light-hearted at times — "Couldn't you have found us someone more attractive to spy on?"  Steve asks, when staking out an obese and obviously fake religious guru.

Unfortunately the filmmakers didn't have enough faith in this chemistry to develop it into the fulcrum of the film. Instead, scriptwriter Richard Wenk, who updated the existing Lewis John Carlino script, ups the gore, making it the centrepiece. People don't just get hurt or die, all of it happens with an unnecessary amount of brutality, punching, piercing, goring and spattering. The Mechanic whittles away the potential to have been a Greek tragedy-cum-action flick, and settles for being efficiently rendered action-porn instead.

Genre: Action

Director: Simon West

Cast: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn

Storyline: A coldblooded killer takes on a hotheaded prot‚g‚, diametrically opposite to him in temperament and style.

Bottomline: Actionthrills delivered efficiently - if, at times, mechanically.

Inarritu does it again

profound - Biutiful

By now, you've probably already heard how depressing Biutiful really is. Don't go by that one-word conclusion. For a film about a downward spiral and bleak misfortune and tragedy, Inarritu's latest film, nominated for Actor in a Leading Role and Best Foreign Film at the Oscars, is a reassuring one about life and death.

With four outstanding films since debut — Amores Perros, 21 Grams, Babel and now Biutiful — Alejandro Inarritu Gonsalez is arguably the finest and most consistent auteur in the world. In other words, he's yet to make a bad film.

His philosophical explorations of cause and effect, life and death and how connected we are in our actions and consequences, go deeper with this tale of man whose life spirals from bad to worse, from cancer to death of hope and all means of support systems for his family.

So, yes, while it is sad and depressing when it unfolds, Inarritu makes sure that he doesn't play it up to manipulate the audience into tears. This is a film with greater ambitions. While it seeks to make a larger observation about life and how powerless we are, it also makes it a point to remind us that the universe takes care of everything.

Inarritu once again weaves an intricate tale about the nature of man, with the thread of spiritual subtext running through the plot that crisscrosses multiple lives all connected through another accident. While the accidents in Amores Perros and 21 Grams were literal, a freak incident in Babel, the accident here is a disaster beyond human control or understanding.

It's a nuanced, career-best performance by Javier Bardem as he effortlessly transforms from a cocky, short-tempered man in denial to a helpless, desperate soul filled with guilt to a frail, peaceful father gracefully accepting what's in store for him.

Despite the trappings that come with the genre (we all think we know how tragedies end), Biutiful stays largely unpredictable, without compromising the spiritual core.

It doesn't get better than this for anyone who loves world cinema. Life is Biutiful.

Genre: Drama

Director: Alejandro Inarritu Gonsalez

Cast: Javier Bardem, Maricel Alvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella

Storyline: A cancerstricken single father, who does odd jobs - from talking to the dead to illegally supplying Chinese migrant workers - for survival, needs to make arrangements for his children and make peace with death.

Bottomline: A reassuring film about life, death, karma and letting go in the wake of tragedy. Ten on ten.

Colin is Guy's guy

Aussie actor Guy Pearce has snubbed one co-star to back another for Oscar glory later this month. The Memento star Guy appears in both Academy Awards favourites The Social Network and The King's Speech but says only one of his leading men really deserves a Best Actor award. “What Colin has done is amazing,” says the former “Neighbours” star on the Oscar race between Colin Firth and The Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg. “It's really such a special performance and I think that, on the back of what he did in A Single Man, he deserves it. For those who sort of see Colin as Mr Darcy from Bridget Jones, it's most impressive as a performer. He's just a delightful guy and so great to have worked with.”

Lethally heavy

James Franco has come up with a rather gruesome use for an Oscar statuette — murder weapon. The handsome star who is co-host and Best Actor nominee at this month's ceremony, says he is shocked at just how lethally heavy one of those famous awards can be. “It's really heavy,” says James who has been busy rehearsing for the February 27 event with co-host Anne Hathaway. “I don't know if it has happened in any movie but you could do a great murder scene with one of those things!”

Tatum's hope

Johnny Depp could still make a trip down memory lane via 21 Jump Street. The Pirates of the Caribbean star, who made his acting debut in the popular crime teen drama, is wanted for a new movie version of the series. “I'm praying we get him,” says Channing Tatum, star of the new big screen 21 Jump Street. “We're beating on his door so hard that I hope he answers. We would freak out if we got him. We're on top of it every single day. I think we send him something every single day.”

Dancer Jamie put to the sword

The Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell has two left feet when it comes to fighting. The 24-year-old King Kong star admits he struggled to come to grips with his all-action role in The Eagle because of his dancer background. “You would think dance would help with fight scenes in a way, but bizarrely, sword fighting breaks all the rules because you're supposed to go right foot, right arm forward. Dance is right foot, left arm,” explains Jamie. “With the fight choreographer, I had to unlearn the way you teach sword fighting and teach it backwards for me, because I literally couldn't do it. I cannot make a step with my arm going at the same time, because in dancing it's a very unnatural movement.”

Race Malayalam Movie Review – Kunjacko Boban, Mamta

Movie Name :- Race.

Star Cast :-

Kunjacko Boban, Mamtha Mohandas, Baby Anika, Indrajith, Jagathi Sreekumar, Sreejith Ravi, Manu Jose, Geetha Vijayan, Kavitha, Lekshmi etc.

Malayalam Movie Race Review :-

Race is a new family thriller movie directed by Kukku Surendran. Kunchako Boban, Mamtha Mohandas, Baby Anika and Indrajith appears in the lead roles.

The movie is produced by Shaji Mecheri & Jose K George under the banner of Pentavision.

Music: Viswajith, Lyrics: Rajeev Nair & Vayalar Sarat Chandra Varma.

Expected release date of movie Race :- February 4, 2011.

After the not much applauded movies like ‘Oraal’ and ‘Veeralippattu’, young director Kukku Surendran is now filming a thriller to prove his mettle as a thinking director. Titled as 'Race' the movie being shot in and around Kochi has Kunchacko Boban, Indrajith, Mamta Mohandas and Gouri Munjal as important characters. A thread about the race for money, the movie bases on the conflicts between honest and dishonest ways in making money. Planned with a racy narrative spiced up with needed mystery, the movie will be promoted as a family thriller.

Kunchakko Boban plays Dr. Abey John, a successful cardio surgeon, who had been even accorded with IMA special awards for his significant services. Mamta dons the role of his wife, Niya, a homemaker who hails from an affluent family. They have a beautiful daughter Achu. The versatile Indrajith plays the villain Niranjan, a mysterious character who enters Abey's life all of a sudden to wreak havoc. Niranjan actually kidnaps Dr Abey, who is on his way to attend the doctor’s conference at Bangalore.

Interestingly, this is the fifth time in which Kunchakko Boban is being in a character whose name is Aby. He had been in the same name for hit films like ‘Niram’ to ‘lollipop’. But for ‘Race’ he appears in a mature look with glasses and Bulganian beard.

Gouri Munjal who debuted in Malayalam with ‘Palerymanickyam’plays Swetha, a glamorous girl who has got critical links with the kidnapping event. Jagathy Sreekumar, Baby Anika, Manu Jose, Kavitha Lekshmy, Sreejith Ravi, Geetha Vijayan and Chembil Asokan are also in the cast.

Though a thriller, the movie scripted by the director Kukku Surendran will not feature any fight scenes. But the movie canned in moving shots will follow a continuous race for life which starts fifteen minutes into the film. Robin Thirumala will pen the dialogues

Pramod Varma is the cinematographer while Viswajith handles the music section. Bipin Mannur is the editor while Sabu Mohan heads the art department.

‘Race' being produced by Jose K George and Shaji Varghese under the banner of Pentavision, will grace the theatres for this March.

China Town Malayalam Movie Review

     After meeting a debacle trying to screen ‘Love in Singapore’, the director of humorous slapsticks, Rafi and Mecartin are getting ready to shoot for another Mohanlal film.
     Titled 'China Town', this movie will have Kavya Madhavan as the heroine. The movie which will present humour with a little bit of action, will be produced by Antony Perumbavoor in the banner of Aashirwad Films.
Planned to start its shoot by May, the movie will be presented to theatres by Max Lab entertainments.
Many will remember that when Rafi- Mecartin joined together with Mohanlal for the first time in ‘Hello’, they got one of the biggest hits of that year. Audience expect the same to repeat in ‘China Town’ also.
      After Twenty 20 it was Joshy'sChristian Brothers which was the next multi starer film. Now another multi starer film is going to start its shooting for 2011 Vishu release. China Town directed by Rafi Mecartin will have the the three super starsMohanlal, Jayaram and Dileep in the leading roles and Kavya Madhavanis in the female leading role. Its Rafi-Mecartin's second movie with Mohanlal and the first one, Hello was a big success.
      China town is a comedy entertainer with some action in it. China town tells the story of three friend going to China Town in Goa and the problems faced by them. The shooting locations of China Town will be Pondicherry, Kochi and Goa. The producer of China Town is Antony Perumbavoor.

Gaddama Malayalam Movie Review

Gaddama: Kavya Madhavan plays the role of a domestic worker in Gulf  

Direction: Kamal

Production: P V Pradeep

Banner: Anitha Productions

Story: K U Iqbal

Script: Kamal and K Gireeshkumar

Music: Bennett-Veetrag

Cinematography: Manoj Pillai

Art Direction: Suresh Kollam

Star Cast: Sreenivasan, Kavya Madhavan, Biju Menon, Suraj Venjaramoodu, and Bijukuttan

Story :-The heroine (Kavya) hails from a village in Kerala, seeks the help of her neighbour, who is a house driver in Gulf and he arranges a Gadhama Visa for her.She lands up in the Gulf and works as a maid in the houes of an Arab but she escapes from the house in a maysterious cirumstance and ends up lost in the desert.The story is revealed through the searches made

Gaddama is the forthcoming movie from renowned director Kamal. The film stars Sreenivasan and Kavya Madhavan in the leading roles.

Gaddama is based on the story by K U Iqbal. The script for the movie is by Kamal and K Gireesh Kumar. Gaddama is produced by P V Pradeep under the banner Anitha Productions. The music for Gaddama is by Bennett-Veetrag.Gaddama is the name used to address domestic workers who come from other countries in Arabian countries. Kerala has a large number of women working as domestic workers in Gulf countries. Kavya Madhavan will play the role of a Gaddama in this movie.

After her come back to films, Kavya Madhavan is doing some good movies now, which are woman centric stories. She will play the title roles in Ithu Vare Parayathirunnathu and Bhakthajanangalude Sradhakku.

Sreenivasan will play the male lead in Gaddama. Biju Menon, Suraj Venjaramoodu, and Bijukuttan are the others in thye leading cast. A number of Egyptian television stars and two Indonesian heroines also feature in this movie.

Sreenivasan plays the role of Razakh, a kind hearted man who works in Gulf. He helps others keeping all his work apart. Gaddama tells the story of Malayalis who work in mean jobs in Gulf countries to support their living and their families.

Gaddama will be shot in Dubai and Palakkad. Pooja of the film was done at Hotel Sarovaram recently. 

Gaddama will reached the screens in 2011.

Marykkundoru Kunjadu

Dileep plays Solomon in Marykkundoru Kunjadu, a village simpleton who has been nicknamed Kunjadu, since he is adept at getting beaten up by people. In love with Mary (Bhavana) and at loggerheads with her three gigantic brothers, life isn't easy for Solomon. When he befriends a giant of a man who calls himself Vishnu (Biju Menon) and whom he saves from a well, Solomon starts life afresh, and learns to set his spine straight for once.

Shafi's Marykkundoru Kunjadu doesn't let the young lamb graze any new meadows. Rather it trots around on well-known pastures and makes do with easily identifiable story situations. Dileep's Solomon is a redraft of several characters that he himself has done in the past. In fact, Solomon is the kind of character that has over the years, made Dileep the actor and star he is today.

Shafi's story midway through makes an admittance in the form of a mumble that emerges from Solomon. Solomon admits that he would have a field day from now on, with Vishnu beside him, like 'Cochin Haneefa in Kireedom'. Perhaps this was the spur for the film itself since about three fourth of it depends on this connection that is established between Solomon and Vishnu.

Kudumbasree Travels A family entertainer in Malayalam

        It is the maiden movie of Mythri Visuals, the makers of Daya, a television serial which bagged 22 awards including the Kerala State awards for the Best Serial and the Best Director. The film with Jayaram and Bhavana in lead roles, is being directed by Kiran, the director of many TV serials including the super hit comedy serial "Ettu Sundarikalum Njanum". Lyricist Vayalar Sarathchandra Varma and Music director Bijibal are coming together for the first time for this movie as well. The distributor of this family entertainer is Central Pictures.

      What happens when an entire village with even the goats in tact, set out for the city to attend a marriage of one of their kinsmen on a bus named Kudumbasree Travels? Kiran's debut film attempts to take us along on this long drive with a shaky script that matches up in its pattern to the pits and dents on our public roads.
      Aravindan (Jayaram) is a Chakyar Koothu artist, who after many an attempt has finally found a Nangyar Koothu performer to marry. His bride-to-be Aswathy (Bhavana) stays at Cochin, and it might be just a coincidence that the City Police Commissioner and his daughter (Radhika) have been kidnapped by terrorist who have sinister plans to bomb the city. Unaware of the danger that awaits them, Aravindan with his family and friends embark on a voyage from their tiny village to the big bad city.

Kavalan Tamil Movie Review

Kavalan movie starring Vijay and Asin is getting positive reviews from the critics. This film has faced lot of hurdles prior to release and there were so many doubts expressed over the film’s release. Kavalan finally got released on 15th January and is getting decent feedback. 

Remake of a Malyalam hit, Kavalan has everything in to woo Vijay fans. Vijay, who has been running through lean patch in his career post Pokkiri is back with a bang. Siddique, who directed Malayalam original Bodyguard, is the director of this film too. Vidyasagar’s music is passable and is in tune with the story. 

Vijay is seen in a completely new avatar in Kavalan unlike his previous masala films. He did a simpleton role which is different from his regular larger than life roles. Asin too did a fine job and has made her reentry into Kollywood count. Kavalan got the positive buzz next to Aadukalam among pongal releases. The trade experts and reviews state that it will reach the hit mark comfortably. Way to go Vijay.

Traffic malayalam movie review

Rajesh Pillai's Traffic is a brutally brilliant film in which he lends color to coincidence and unveils before us a cogitation on the dynamics of chance. A strikingly crafted film that is raw and genuine, it crawls right under your skin and stays there.

It all takes place on the 16th of September, when a few men and women, going on with their distinct lives in diverse worlds, find their paths crossing each other at a traffic island. Rehan (Vineeth Sreenivasan) is all excited about joining Indiavision as a journalist and sets out with his best friend Rajeev (Asif Ali). Aditi (Sandhya), getting over a divorce, sees him off and looks forward to something more. Dr. Abel (Kunchacko Boban) has plans to surprise his wife Shwetha (Remya Nambeesan) with a brand new car on their wedding anniversary.

Sudevan (Sreenivasan) is back at work as a police constable, after a brief stint of suspension for having accepted bribes. Superstar Siddharth (Rahman) has a new release on the day, while his wife (Lena) is worried about their young daughter's failing health. Miriam (Roma), Manager at an FM Radio station gets an alarming text message on her mobile. And all this in a matter of twelve hours on the same day.

Bobby and Sanjay's script is one in which there has been a close scrutiny of all possible leak cracks, and in which almost all of them have been filled shut. Hence the several events that take place in the film simultaneously hold together amazingly well, and there is hardly a moment in the film where your focus drops. This is quite a feat, since it involves an adept juggling between emotions aplenty, some outstanding twists, a few mind boggling thrills and some well-kept suspense. The bottom-line is that Traffic could easily boast to have one of the best scripts written in Malayalam in recent times.

The least claustrophobic of men would lean out of the car window for a gulp of fresh air at the traffic junction when the traffic grinds to a halt, where a seemingly endless line of automobiles have streamed in from all around. The horns honking behind, over and around, and an air of impatience that hangs like a smog above whipping up a whirlpool of edginess that disperses as the lights change color, and the drive back to a hazy life where sometimes it gets as cluttered as beneath a traffic signal - Rajesh Pillai's film digs deeps down into those coarse and at times savage feelings that bond together humans in complex webs of love, passion, grief and deceit.

A couple of aerial shots of the hectic traffic on a sweltering day make it assume serpentine proportions, as it slithers around forebodingly threatening to gulp down the tiny vehicles that make it up. The visual panache that is maintained throughout is courtesy some terrific cinematography by Shyju Khalid and some real tight editing by Mahesh Narayanan.

It's a mammoth star cast in Traffic, and rarely does a film offer almost all its actors what they are truly capable of. The 'moments' are there for everyone, and they impress us for a while, and gracefully make way for another to occupy center stage. No star charisma at work here; just plain acting at its very natural best. Among the men, I was enamored by Kunchacko Boban's performance and Asif Ali is quite impressive as well. Lena proves beyond doubt what an amazing actor she is, while Sandhya accentuates our belief in her.

 All those apprehensions as to whether Traffic has been inspired by the Paul Haggis directed Oscar Winner 'Crash' or the renowned Mexican neo-noir film Amores Perros can now be brushed aside. The only semblance between Traffic and the other two films is that it involves an accident. Nothing more, nothing less.

After a false start a few years back, the signal has turned a smashing green for the director of Traffic. Zoom ahead, Rajesh! We're already eager to see what you have in store for us next.

Mammotty with Mohanlal - Thamasha 2

Mammotty with Mohanlal - Thamasha