Movie Overview 2014

Presenting the Movie Overview of 2014 on what has surely been a so-so year for Mallu movies, with its share of few good movies and a bigger chunk of crappy ones.

Top Movies of the Year Segment: ( Not by box office collections :) )

Bangalore Days: A skillful demonstration of how to make a multi star movie where all characters have their own space and a prime example of how to make an engaging movie devoid of any cliches.
Munnariyippu: A neatly constructed movie that requires you to use your brains to fully grasp the hidden intricacies in the plot and one which is complemented by two outstanding lead performances.
Om Santhi Oshana: Probably one of the most entertaining on-screen depictions of one of the oldest and simplest plot - "a girl-chasing-boy love story"
1983: A classic in its own right. A movie which deserves all the accolades for the neat and engaging execution of a different and unique plot.
Iyobinte Pusthakam:  A Gripping and intense tale where the visual beauty of each and every frame stands out and which alone would make it worth a watch.

Top Performances of the Year Segment: (Even cameos are welcome here :) )

Jayasuriya: One of the most impactful and towering performances of all-times that is going to stay with you forever.Jayasuriya was an absolute revelation as the cool and restrained villain.
Aparna Gopinath: A brilliant portrayal of a challenging and complex role and even more special due to the fact that she had to stand up against a towering performance by Mammotty.
Nazriya: The heart and soul of both ' Blore Days' and 'OSO'.
Shine & Anushree: Watch 'Ithihasa' and you'll get to know yourself.

Unlucky Misses of the Year Segment: (For the ones who deserved more :( )

Homely Meals: A movie praised by each and every critic, lapped up by each and everyone who had seen it and one which didn't have competition of any kind during its release. Still it remains a mystery why this differently made, brilliantly executed and entertaining film didn't find any takers.
Angels: Bad release timing and poor marketing could be the only reasons why the movie didn't make any mark at the ticket window. Though by no means a perfect movie, this gripping thriller did deserve better at the box office.

Not Lucky Everytime Segment: (The caption says it all! )

It's been years since he has been torturing us with his same set of movies with the same plot and same setting and same characters and similar names. Finally Dileep's luck runs out, much to the delight of a lot of genuine movie lovers, and he gets his much deserved set of flops through Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal ( end of last year),VillaliVeeran and Avatharam. 

Desperately Need  A Break Segment: ( For those who are torturing us year in and out)

An area usually reserved for Shaji Kailas and K Madhu (both didn't make any movies this year thankfully!!!!) sees them being replaced by none other than our "craftsman" director Joshiiyy who makes 2 absolute duds in the form of 'Salaam Kashmir' and 'Avatharam'. Somebody needs to remind him that his usual template of setting up the context for one hour, then moving into the plot in the next hour and then finishing off the plot in the next one hour and that too with the similar set of story lines, desperately needs a makeover. 

Mammootty and Mohanlal as usual keep their coveted places in this segment with mind-blowing stupid disasters in the form of 'Mr.Fraud','Peruchazhi','Koothara', 'Praise the Lord','Gangster' and 'Manglish'. Let's not talk much about the box office collections please :)

Jayaram as usual continues his presence in this segment with his set of blockbuster disasters. The least said about his films, the better!!!

Surprises of the Year Segment: ( Reserved for anything coming with zero expectations)

Vellimoonga - Many expected it to be a one week gap filler movie in the theatres!!!! But this simple and absolutely entertaining movie surpassed all expectations and went on to become the biggest hit of the year entering its fifth month run in many of the major centres.
Ithihasa - What was generally perceived as a movie made with just the aim of getting the satellite rights money, had a pleasant surprise in store. This movie with a daring and unique plot with some superb performances from the lead cast deservedly got into the hit charts this year :) 

Disappointments of the Year Segment ( Comes in with a lot of expectations and lets you down badly :) )

One By Two - One of the most awaited movies of the year turned out to be one of the most tortorous one !! This Manichitrathazu inspired movie ( or rather remake) turned out to be one hell of an experience that drew flak deservedly from all corners. Imagine Murali Gopy playing Nagavalli and you'll be prepared to face what's in store :) 
Gangster - The movie which came in with so much hype and was expected to end Mammotty's flop run turned out to be much worse that many of the other duds he'd given us. 

ComeBack of the Year: 

Well... Not really !!!!! But still Mammooty had a better year with a couple of awesome performances & avg hits in the form of 'Munnariyippu' and 'Varsham' to go along with his blockbuster hit ( strictly in terms of collection and the other extreme in quality) in 'Rajadhiraja'. 
Looking at his next set of movies coming up though, he might not be far away from his normal flop-delivering self :) 

Could Do Better Segment: (For those who atleast tried but failed miserably!!! ) 

Renjith desperately need to get a clear hold of his mind and go back to the set of different and beautiful movies he had given us over the past 3-4 years. Though 'Njan' was by all means a better film compared to his all time dud ' Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty' , there was no need for Renjith to make an Adoor style movie which sadly had a main character whom none can relate to or find anything signifacnt about. Hope he'll make something more significant and meaningful next time around :) 
Indrajith surely can't go on like this. Being one of the most talented and natural actors among the youth brigade, it's high time he gets his act together and starts chosing his movies carefully and meaningfully. We all are fans of you Indran - we deserve better from you :) 

2013 Mallu Movie Review

Its time for a sneak peek into the Mallu movies released over the past year. The year has been quite good for a movie buff looking for fresh and bold themes with the audience being offered a wide variety of reasonable good fares.

Surprises of the Year:

HoneyBee - Asif Ali and Bhavana are the sure shot recipe combo for a disaster movie. Add Lal Sr to it and its expected to get even worse. But Lal Jr inspite of having all the above dangerous ingredients cooks out a delicious entertainer that was well worth your time!!
Philips and the Monkey Pen - A movie which came in with no hype but turned out to be one of the best feel-good movies of the year which turned out to be a hit by the sheer virtue of mouth publicity!!!!
Ann Augustine - Probably one of the worst actresses you would have ever seen on screen, Ann Augustine does a reverse by portraying the challenging role in 'Artist' with tremendous maturity without going overboard and making you feel so deeply for the helpless character of the GF of a crazy Artist :) 

Top Movies of the year:

1. Left Right Left - One of the most hard hitting and realistic movies of all times with the strongest characters ever created on screen to go along with the amazing performances on screen.... 
2. Dhrishyam - One of the best made thriller movies of all times with a terrific second half that hardly lets you breath!!!!
3. Philips and the Monkey Pen - The surprise hit of the year with a simple story which is shot superbly and has some terrific performances from the child artistes and seniors alike...
4. Amen - One of the most loved and differently shot films of the year. Surely the first of its kind for the Malayalam movie industry
5. Mumbai Police - Roshan Andrews,Prithviraj and Bobby-Sanjai deserve credit for coming out trumps with this tremendously gutsy movie.

Performances of the year:

Prithviraj - Undoubtedly the best performer of the year with his amazing choice of roles. He won all the accolades for 'Celluloid', played the most gutsy role ever written for a hero in our industry superbly in 'Mumbai Poice' and played the role of a drunk cop haunted by his past to absolute perfection in 'Memories'. 

Fahad Fazil - Had a tremendous second half  playing the blind 'Artist' to perfection, the 'OCD' guy superbly and excelling above the mediocre script to be the star of the show in 'Indian Pranaya Kadha'

Indrajith - The stand out performer among the exceptional performers in 'Left Right Left' ... Couldn't think of anyone else who would have played this eccentric character to absolute perfection !

Lucky Tom of the year:

Who else other than Dileep when he makes 'Sringaravelan', the movie any normal movie buff couldn't tolerate for more than ten min , a box office hit and 'Nadodi Mannan', which even puts some B Class tamil movie to shame, an average grosser !!!!

'Need A Ban ' Award of the year:

Who else other than the multi mega star of our Industry who dishes out flops one after the other and is fast setting new benchmarks/records for the longest survival rate in the industry without a hit !!!!

'Ultimate Horror' Award of the year:

Though 'Silence' and 'Ladies and Gentlemen' gives it some good competition, 'Lokpal' is way ahead of the competition winning this award hands down courtesy of some real poor direction, a pathetic script, an uninterested hero and some of the worst make-overs you could ever associate with a character!!!!

Disappointment of the year:

One of the most hyped and awaited movies of the year turned out to be the one which actually requires a study class to understand what the director tried to convey on screen. Its none other than 'Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty' !!

Special Mentions of the year:

5 Sundarikal - Though we have seen the concept before via Kerala Café, 5 Sundarikal was equally brilliant with Amel Neerad & Dulqar leading the pack with a superb 'Kullante Bhaarya' with Anwar Rasheed & Fahad giving it tough completion via an excellently shot ' Ami'

Idukki Gold - Making a movie with the heroes of 80's is a tough thing in the present times. But with Ashiq Abu at the helm we expected something good out of the movie and he doesn't disappoint us with this good time pass entertainer that is well worth your time !!!!

Movie Review 2014

COusins - You have a 10+Cr budget, full freedom to make a movie where logic can take the backseat and an audience expecting just an average timepass entertainer. Still in-spite of all these favourable factors, if someone comes up with a movie that bores and irritates you to the core with hardly 4-5 scenes worth laughing across the length of the movie, it is such a colossal shame. A "must-avoid" movie at all cost !!!

PK - Rajkumar Hirani and team comes up with a bold,meaningful and significant plot and makes an awesomely enticing, thought provoking and gripping movie out of it. The film scores in the fact that it rarely ventures into a preachy mode despite the nature of the subject and keeps its entertainment quotient intact throughout. Aamir Khan is brilliant in what could easily be termed as the best role of his career and is ably supported by Anushka Sharma and the rest of the supporting cast. A must watch!!!!

Seconds - A well shot and quite gripping movie that does hold your interest till the end. The director and his team deserves credit for coming up with this 'worth a watch' thriller and are aided well by the actors who are top class in the their respective roles. But still it doesn't let you leave the theaters with great satisfaction and the main reason should be the culmination sequences which doesn't surprise or excite you as a thriller ought to and has its share of loose ends 

Kaviya Thalaivan - Even terming it as 'stellar' would be an understatement to describe the performances of Sidharth and Prithviraj in the movie. Both of them play their respective roles to utmost perfection leaving the audience with an impossible task of choosing the best between them  The above mentioned factor and the entire scenes involving both are the factors that keeps you glued to the screen irrespective of the fact that the movie is not entertaining or as gripping/intense as a retro-classic would demand 

100 Degree Celsius - A pretty watchable opening half is ruined by a poor, amateuirish, silly and stupid second half presentation. A total waste of time one would say !!!!!

Angels - By no means the perfect film and one which would give u a set of reasons to dislike it due to its theme  But it's a movie that deserves utmost credit for presenting a crime thriller effectively in a never before seen format for the audience and for not deviating from the main plot for not even a minute. The interesting story and the efficient screenplay coupled with the suspense element makes it well worth a watch. The actors complement the movie quite well and it's quite a satisfying feeling to leave the theatre after watching a decent movie from one of the most naturally talented actors amongst the young crop  And the biggest highlight got to be the fact that Joy Mathew famous for his cliche and lazy acting doesn't bore you a bit:)

Mylanchi Monchulla Veedu - How long can these guys, Sibi-Udayan, continue torturing the audience like these rehashing the same story lines and themes again n again... Pathetic!!!!

Lal Bahadur and Shastri - Too many cooks spoil the broth they say!!!! Similarly too many coincidences, cinematic liberties and feel good factors ends up spoiling the movie :)

Ormayundo Ee Mugham - The poor casting of Vineeth Sreenivsan as the hero is the main problem with this '50 First Dates' inspired movie which ends up being 'just about watchable'. The faults just doesn't end there but it still would have been pardonable to a certain extent if the movie had a hero who could emote on screen properly and the fag end of the second half was devoid of the over-melodramatic romantic portions. The movie boasts of some good songs, some decent funny sequences and a real good performance from the heroine and the side kicks, but none of these might be enough for the movie to make a mark at the ticket window !!!

Iyobinte Pusthakam - The movie, which in all probability would end up being labelled a 'flop' ,gives you some of the best cinematography and visual delights you could ever hope for in a movie. The first half of the movie is quite brilliant,intense and gripping with some superb dialogues and sequences complementing the well developed plot. The second half though loses its steam with the focus being more on the gore violence, revenge and the action scenes and is sure to end up having very few takers. Still overall the movie is well worth a watch and offers the feel of the vintage Hollywood classic movies that you would have come across Fahad Fazil is brilliant as the main character with Lal,Vinayakan and Chemban Vinod being equally good.But the scene stealer here is definitely Jayasuriya who delivers a truly memorable performance that is sure to stay with you forever

Varsham - A one man show all the way by a tremendously brilliant Mammotty that should finally see him breaking his flop parade and making us wish he'd only do these kind of meaningful roles in future:) Even though there is nothing great about the movie with respect to either the plot or the script, it's still a movie that has it's heart at the right place and is tailor made for the family audience. In-spite of its set of cliches and over-melodramatic sequences, the movie is still a decent one time watch and a lot of it should be attributed to the performance of the entire cast. Ranjith Shankar's direction though has his signature style making us leave the halls thinking he could have done better than the decent job he'd done :) :)

Njangade Veettile Athithikal - This physco drama movie with a poor plot, illogical sequences and an inconsistent presentation is a let-down. The movie does have its moments and the decent acting from the cast headed by Priyamani, Jayaram and Shajon saves the film from being a complete disaster. But one is left to leave the theatre feeling damn disappointed at the choice of subject and the steep decline in standards from the 'once great' director Sibi Malayil !

Kathi - Vijay tries out something different from his usual nonsense no-brainers and the result is a quite awesome watch which would surely rank as one of the best of his career. The couple of things that basically stands out compared to his recent outings are the fact that he acts quite superbly and finally does a movie which has a solid plot. Though the initial parts lag a bit and the theme is in a way preachy, Murugadoss deserves full credit for using Vijay's star power to full effect and etching out the main theme superbly with a set of real touching scenes that rarely goes overboard. Special credit to Anirudh as well for the terrific BGM and the good songs

Homely Meals - It's by no means a perfect or a flawless movie. But it's still a movie that deserves the tags 'Brilliant' & 'Exceptional' for its unique plot, engaging presentation and its amazingly funny hilarious sequences. Anoop Kannan grabs the opportunity to prove that Jawan of Vellimala was just a mistake from his kitty and Vipin Atlee deserves a big round of applause for coming up with this amazing story line and script Equal credit goes to the entire set of actors, especially the entire set of newcomers, who are apt choices and quite brilliant with their performances. It's a movie that is well worth your time and deserves a great round of appreciation for its guts to try and present something new and unique

Ithihasa - Is a simple entertainer that is well worth your time  The newbie director and team explores the rarely tried out fantasy genre in Malayalam and presents its superbly well with loads of style and humour laced into the plot  This is a great change and relief from the cheap fantasy films offered to us by Vinayan and those which were shot during the 70's/80's with Nasir at the helm  

Shine Tom Chacko and Anusree are terrific as the lead pair ( especially considering the fact that it could have gone haywire) and is well supported by the rest of the cast  Overall a sweet little surprise that would have you leaving the theatres with a smile considering the poor pre-release hype 

Tamar Padaar - We're served a bunch of bad movies every year with its set of cliches,poor plots and repetitive story-lines. Tamar Padaar is very different from all these with the fact that it is a unique and rare breed of cinema that sets a new benchmark for a poorly made film !!!! You'd rarely get a chance to see such a 'pathetically' made film that takes 1 hr 45 min just to introduce the 3 main characters and then takes the next one hour to try and come up with a non-existent,unidentifiable and a never-heard kind of story line. One would need to be under the influence of the strangest brand of drugs to even think of making this 'rare-gem' kind of a movie.

The movie does have its moments with some genuinely funny dialogues/sequences in between and decent performances from the entire cast. But in a movie that is so pathetic as a whole, these positives just about help it to evade the top spot for the worst movie experience held by the superstar movies this year 

Happy Ending - It's pretty engaging watch. But the major problem is that  it's a rehash of rom-coms Saif has already been part of and hence ends up being predictable to the core :)

Vellimoonga - The awesomely entertaining yet simple feel-good movie that is well worth a watch  It's an out n out time-pass flick (of course with its set of cliches!!!) which boasts of some genuinely funny humour sequences & dialogues which is well woven into the simple plot  Biju Menon and Aju Varghese absolutely rock in their roles and is well supported by the rest of the cast headed by Tini Tom 

The movie is a prime example of a flick that comes through with the least hype and surpasses your expectations by all counts 

Money Ratnam - Is an absolutely hopeless damp squib that is a total waste of your time and 'money'. The movie is quite a boring watch from start to end with the occasional humorous sequences and some decent acting from Fahad providing the only relief. One can't help but feel irritated by too much of the cinematic liberties, too many sidetracks and above all the Vijay style acrobatic stunt sequences from Fahad !!!!

Njan - Renjith (though occasionally disappoints us with duds like 'Rock n Roll' & 'Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty') has build a huge fan base for himself for his serious, meaningful movies which are commercially viable as well. But with this flick he ventures into the Adoor Gopalakrishnan/Shaji N Karun mode of 'purely made for the film festival circuit' movie making style with the result being a rather tedious and disappointing movie watching experience for the viewers.

With the mindset of watching an offbeat/award movie though,one should ideally like the first half and enjoy the movie till around the mid of the second half. The movie though loses the plot completely from then on and goes into a downward spiral culminating in a long-drawn and disappointing climax. The biggest positive though ought to be the career best performances from Dulqar Salman and Renji Panicker with some awesome,brilliant & able support from the rest of the cast.

Angry Babies -  Quite a cheap film by all counts. Still kind of watchable due to some good comic scenes in between and a decent end to the movie :)

Ek Villan - Is a terrific film with the USP of the movie being the tremendous music score and the awesome performances by the lead heroes... Though the initial twenty minutes is bit of a more mainly due to Shraddha Kapoor, the movie soon gets into the groove and then never let its quality drop till the end... Some awesome dialogues and the different plot aides the movie in a great way and offers you a good watch that is genuinely worth your time :)

Saptamashree Thaskara - Should surely and deservedly be the winner of Onam 2014  The movie is a good entertainer and presented superbly with lots of genuinely funny sequences/dialogues. It's aided a great deal by the performances from the entire cast with the great difference being the fact that the side kicks(Chemban Vinod, Lijo Jose Pallisery,Sudheer Karama & Neeraj Madhav) score a great deal with their portrayals and have more screen time than the main heroes 

Still somewhere down the line one feels that it fails to deliver as a whole, the tremendous potential it had shown in the first half. This could be attributed to the lot of unanswered questions towards the end and the overdose of cinematic liberties throughout the second half 

Rajadhiraja - The movie is an absolute torture with the makers showing no mercy to the poor movie watching public!!!!
It's quite evident that Mammootty has completely lost the plot when it comes to his choice of scripts and movies over the past couple of years. But one seriously wonders why he should choose this 'Baasha' Reloaded version wherein he tries to do action like the young Tamil superstars.It's high time somebody reminds the superstars that we no longer need commercial potboilers from them and would be more than happy to see them in only meaningful roles even if its just once in an year 

Peruchazhi - It's warned at the start of the movie to keep your brains at home and enjoy the movie as an illogical fare!!! Even taking this warning (or rather request) into account, Peruchazhi turns out to be a pretty cheap movie that relies a bit too much on the love moviegoers have for Mohanlal and his iconic characters/dialogues. And to go along with that, this movie with a poor plot has a lot of unwanted sequences including the songs and the action scene.
On the positive side though, the movie is not too close to the 'big disasters' which we have been used to seeing from the superstars recently. It does entertain you with its movie spoofs,tickle your funny bone at a few instances and has some good/interesting dialogues and sequences.The real enjoying factor though is an absolutely in-form Mohanlal who is at his vintage best and its set of supporting characters who does full justice to their roles.

Munnariyipu - Should qualify as one of the toughest reviews I would have had to write so far  The 'commercial/entertainment' fan inside me who farms out an instantaneous opinion on watching the movie would say that a interesting/decently paced first half is ruined by a slow/uneventful and lagging second half with a disappointing climax !!! But the 'serious movie loving/looking for something different' part of me would term it as an absolute classic which is etched out with utmost efficiency with a plot that is so common yet unique and requires you to use your thinking brains 

Mammooty and Aparna Gopinath are terrific in their role portrayals aided well by the supporting cast .The movie boasts of some superb and thought provoking dialogues which would need some careful thinking to understand that it's so integral to the main plot 

 Anjaan - The movie is too long and has some poor songs popping out un-necessarily during the second half. Still it's Surya's most watchable movie of recent times with Surya in fine form supported ably by Vidyut Jamwal. The main advantage of the movie is that the plot is a simple and predictable revenge drama and doesn't torture you with illogical and over the top stuff like in the case with a '7AM Arivu','Maatran' or a 'Singham 2'...

Apothecary - Haven't heard these many good reviews post the first 2 shows for a movie this year  Wellllll !!! A realistic theme, few good dialogues and great performances from Jayasuriya,Suresh Gopi and Indrans are the only positives I could take post seeing the movie  Though always expected to be slow, this movie from the director of the brilliant 'Melvilasam' is a complete letdown with its set of repetitive sequences and undermined by its poor presentation as a whole especially the long overdrawn climax 

Jigarthanda - The makers of 'Pizza' delivers yet another tasty fare that is exceptional,brilliant,offers you loads of entertainment and boasts of outstanding performances from the lead cast  I might learn later that the movie is inspired or even a copy - But for the moment i'll revel in the feeling that I've watched a movie that is truly awesome,'one of its kind' and offers you one of the best movie watching experience you could ever wish for 

Queen - A truly rocking and amazing movie that deserves every accolades that has come its way :) The presentation style,build up of the plot and the songs are magnificent and the director and team deserves all credit for experimenting with a 'unique' theme. Kangana Ranaut is brilliant in the title role and is ably supported by the equally efficent supporting cast. A magnificent piece of cinema :) :)

Avatharam - How long can Joshiy continue in this field with these sort of 'Avatharams' which follows the same pattern as any of his movies. The movie is a damn boring and torturous watch.

Vikramadityan - A movie overflowing with cliched and predictable scenes and having a story-line as old & outdated as one could think of  Still its quite a 'harmless' watch which could be credited to the neat presentation by Lal Jose, the occasional humorous sequences,some pretty good performances from the lead cast headed by Dulqar and Anoop Menon and a decent performance to be credited to Unni Mukundan 

Manglish - How could one tolerate a movie that has a poor plot, pathetic direction , unbearable comedy sequences and above all a hero character who has absolutely no interest in what he's doing and just going through the motions.... 

Hi I'm Tony - Malayalam's recognized 'Psycho' Lal Sr takes company of 'upcoming Psycho' Lal Jr to present us this exceptionally bad 'Psycho thriller' that's sure to leave the audience running around searching for a 'Psychiatrist'.

Koothara - Not sure if it's a mere coincidence that the movie as a whole stays loyal to its title  The first half of the movie though is quite good with its set of entertaining sequences,fun-filled moments and some very interesting song lyrics  The second half though fully justifies its title and goes on a downward spiral the moment Mohanlal enters the fray  I would recommend the movie as a "must-watch" to experience the worst ever character written for Mohanlal and above all the worst ever climax for a Lal movie  

P.S : For the guys who were "lucky" enough to watch the last scene of Mr.Fraud - That "climax sequence" of this movie is much more memorable 

Bangalore Days - A genre-defining & genuine youthful film that is devoid of cliches and an absolute treat to watch!!!! The first half of the movie is quite entertaining with loads of fun filled dialogues and sequences. The second half moves into a more serious territory being a tad slow, but there is hardly a minute ( to be frank even a second) you would feel bored. Such is the top notch performances from the entire lead cast that you would have a tough time choosing the best performer  But the star of the movie ought to be director/script writer Anjali Menon who etches out a gem of a film with one of the simplest stories of recent times and sets a bench mark on making an effective multi-star film with equal importance & significance to each character 


How Old Are You - Roshan Andrews and Sanjai-Bobby creates a masterful and memorable feel-good movie that has a simple yet impactful plot, is filled with real life characters/incidents and is absolutely entertaining :) Manju Warrier is spectacular as the central character reminding us what we have been misssing for the past 14 years :)Kunchako Boban is awesome and underplays his part tremendously well and the teriffic performances from the support cast headed by Vinay Fort adds gloss to the proceedings. It would require an absolute classic to topple this movie from the summit of the hit charts this year :) 

Mr Fraud - As expected is quite terrible !!! It starts off with one of the worst MohanLal introduction scenes of recent times and never quite improves from that level  The whole of movie meanders between boring and uneventful without even offering a continuous 10 minute stretch that makes for an interesting watch  An illogical plot, poor dialogues and pathetic direction ruins the movie and the audience is forced to find consolation and laugh their heart out with the final makeover look from Lal which offers the movie's only genuine unintentional comedy :) 

Beware Of Dogs - An entertainer in its own rights and genre where logic has no place and you are just required to go along with the flow.. The movie has some genuine comedy scenes and dialogues which would make you feel not too disappointed at having watched this movie :)

2 States - A pretty decent 'one-time' watch with the apt & able casting being the major contributor to the movie's overall quality:)

God's Own Country - fades away disastrously in the second half post a pretty impressive first half. The movie is let down by some real amateurish direction and too many coincidences which is too much to digest in-spite of all the cinematic liberties you could afford to consider 

Mosayile KuthiraMeenukal - is a terrific and pleasant surprise!!! Though the movie is generally slow paced, it does entertain you quite a lot with its good plot, some real good dialogues,its picturesque locations, amazing camera work and some high quality background music. Sunny Wayne does pretty well in the role (with the tough slang)handed to him along with the rest of the supporting cast. But its Asif Ali who steals the show with a stellar performance that is bound to leave you impressed!!

Law Point - Is quite an engaging,interesting and a decent one-time watch which is devoid of a cliched approach and follows a quite un-conventional route especially towards the climax sequences!!! The script is quite interesting and the movie is presented in a decently paced manner with the cast headed by Kunchako Boban and Namitha Pramod being in top notch form :)The director deserves credit for taking up this gutsy approach which could quite well end up with more brickbats than bouquets since this movie is clearly not everyone's cup of tea:)

Onnum Mindathe - A platform for Sugeeth to certify that he's an 'ordinary' and 'one film wonder' director ! An exhibition for Meera Jasmine to showcase her poor acting and dubbing skills! And a great stage for Manoj K Jayan to show that he too can overact poorly when presented with a poor character !

Gangster - A 'must-watch' to remind yourselves how treacherous,tiresome and torturous a movie watching experience can be!!!! Kudos to Ashiq Abu and team for this most 'stupid' and 'idiotic' presentation of an equally pathetic script. 

7 th Day - Is a pretty good and watchable thriller with shades of brilliance and its set of minor flaws .The movie is directed superbly, has some awesome dialogues and boasts of a pretty good plot. Prithviraj is in top form with his performance/dialogue delivery and is supported well by the rest of the cast. Still it misses the 'exceptional' factor one could associate with Mumbai Police and the 'excellent' tag one could associate with Memories 

Ringmaster - 60 p.c of the movie is the usual over the top & boring crap that you could associate with any Dileep movie. But the rest 40 p.c somehow makes this the most watchable Dileep movie of recent times with its occasional funny moments, some genuine comedy sequences, bearable performances from Dileep/Suraj and a good show by Rafi(as an actor)/Kalabhavan Shajon.

Praise The Lord - You should be out of your mind to make a movie out of this poor plot :) And the director and team proves just that with this one hell of a movie that is totally boring, has absolutely horrible performances from the cast and is not even worth a five min watch...

Salaam Kashmir - We don't expect anything good out a Joshiy movie these days... But Salaam Kashmir seriously makes us wonder why he should downgrade to such a pathetic level, giving us a feel of the VM Vinu(family sentiments) and Vinayan(war movie) style of movie making :) 
The film offers us some genuine unintentional comedy though :) 

Pakida - Offers a quite boring movie watching experience which is easily avoidable...

Highway - 'Over-hyped' is what i would say after hearing people raving about the movie :) Still its a pretty good one time watch with a different plot and some good performances to go along with some amazing music and outstanding locales :)

Om Santhi Oshana : OSO is an out-n-out entertainer with a simple story and a good narration style. The movie scores in the fact that it is devoid of any major dull or dragging moments and offers you some genuinely awesome funny scenes  Its a Nazriya show all the way and she does quite a good job at it. Nivin Pauly is quite good in the restrained role and is supported well by the rest of the cast lead by Renji Panicker (an escape from the usual Lalu Alex father cliche scenes)  Kudos to the debut director and his team for this extremely satisfying movie experience well worth your time !!!!!

London Bridge - A pretty pathetic and poor attempt which is just about watchable for the initial one hour.... The more the film progresses, the more u hate it and wanna let it finish fast :) 

1983 : A simple but superb film that is dedicated to every Indian's passion(cricket) and their God (Sachin)... It boasts of a 'realistic-fiction' theme everyone could relate to and the debutante director deserves credit for the presenting it exceptionally well on screen with a genuine dose of good humour and some great feel-good moments. Nivin Pauly does a terrific job in one of the best roles he would ever get and is supported excellently by the rest of the cast.cast. Gopi Sunder deserves credit for the superb songs and the perfect BGM  Its a highly recommended watch and is well on its way to become first genuine hit of 2014 !!!!!

Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 - Seriously no idea why these stupid guys venture out making meaningless sequels trying to take advantage of the popularity of the prequel version... The movie is patheticaly made with not even a single scene offering a genuine laugh and is a yawn fest at its best... Mukesh & Saikumar are way past their prime for such kind of roles and i seriously hope some sense prevails before casting them in such roles!!!!!

Jilla - Confused whether to term it a 'disaster' or consider it as a 'mere disappointment' !!!!!

2012 Mid Year Review Second Half(Jul mid-yr end)

A trip to the UK has surely kept me away from one of the great passions that sustains my life - My FDFS ( First day first show) movie watching and review posting.Finally with almost all the major movie ones releasing on DVD and guys posting it online, i feel this is the best time to put forward the second half mid year review of the 2012 Mallu movies.

The second half surely wasn't as promising and happening as the first half for sure. Still there were movies that makes this writing effort worth enough.

Surprise of the mid-year - Joshiy-MOhanlal combo these days is surely a dangerous one and makes the audience wait for a bad film irrespective of the box office status. But "Run Baby Run" turned out to be a bit of exception with a pretty decent plot and good narration with a decent pace...

Bold attempts of the mid year - 

1. Theevram - Though pretty much an old wine, theme and plot wise, Theevram was packaged superbly with a good narrative style and neat presentation

2. Cinema Company - Though packaged with a lot of flaws like "new comer acting blues","cliches" and "over-sentiments", it was worth a watch for the different story,a wonderful presentation style,some superb visuals and a couple of good songs.

3. Matinee - It requires guts to think out of the box and dare to make something different. The crew behind this movie does exactly that and comes up with a superb,different and realistic movie in-spite of a not so inspiring hero and the obvious movie flaws.

4. Trivandrum Lodge - A bold and beautiful film which breaches all the benchmarks set for dialogue vulgarity albeit entertainingly... Great work in the story telling/dialogue department is complemented well by some great direction,terrific music and excellent performances from the lead cast.

Met Expectations of the mid year -  This is reserved for movies which were expected to be bad and turned out to be exactly the same. Mammotty fulfilled his share of this area with horrible duds like "Thappana" and "Face 2 Face". Prithviraj played his part with "Simhaasanam",Saji surendran with "Husbands in Goa" and Sathyan Anthikkadu delivered what he promised ( old wine again and again in the same old bottle) with "Puthiya Theerangal".

Directors who need a break -

1. Shaji Kailas- High time the producers association does a divine deed by banning the most useless director of recent times for coming up with unbearable duds like "Simhaasanam"and ""Madirasi"one after the another.It has been years since one of his films have made some money at the box office and it still makes me wonder how people have the guts to make movies with him

2. K Madhu - High time someone reminds K Madhu that times have changed and his style of film making requires a change !!!!

Movies of the mid year - 

1. Ayalum NJanum Thammil - It is very rare that everything associated with it clicks for a movie. Ayalum Njanum thammil turned out to be one of those with an excellent script,superb direction and simply 

brilliant performances from the entire cast with some good music to go along with it.

2. Ozhimuri - A true master-piece  with a superb script,brilliant direction and exceptional acting. 

Performances of the mid-year -

1. Prithviraj - A simply mind blowing & career best performance in "Ayalum Njanum Thammil" as the careless youth & the matured middle aged man bringing out all his talent when it mattered the most. This was a dream role and he does justice living up superbly to the task ahead of him.

2. Prathap Pothen - The greatness of his performance in "Äyalum NJanum thammil"  lies in the fact that no one can think of any other actor portraying the role with such aptness

3. Lal - A performance which truly deserved all the acting awards.

Lucky Tom of the mid-yr - Dileep continues his presence in this category again escaping with "box office hit"but un-inspiring movies like "Mr.Marumakan"and "My Boss"

Horror movie of the year - Though there were many movies which would have fitted the bill, the award unanimously goes to VK Prakash and his team for coming up with "Poppins", one of the most stupid and horrible films in recent memory.

Movie Review 2013

Oru Indian Pranayakadha - Sathyan Anthikad, it was said, had taken a break from movie making to come up with something different to his usual 'same route bus' kind of stories and film making style. And it seemed that the ploy had worked well, when watching the first half which was thoroughly entertaining, had some superb scenes and was totally worth your time. But he comes back to his usual self in the second half which reminds us of 1980's movie making style with over-dramatic and un-necessary sentimental scenes and a pathetic plot which is presented even more badly on screen.

One feels sorry for Amala Paul who ,in-spite of being given a complex role she could have easily ruined, has given her best and was quite good. But your heartfelt sympathies goes out to Fahad Fasil who was exceptionally brilliant in the role of the young politician ,acting with the required maturity,artificiality and comic timing that was required of this role. In-fact he was so brilliant that his screen presence and performance made the scenes he was present the only bright spots of the second half.

We the audience deserve better from you Mr.Sathyan Anthikad !!!!!!!!


Ezhu Sundara Raathrikal - Lal Jose stoops to an all time low with this terribly boring film that is hampered by a poor plot and pathetic direction !!!! Dileep is totally miscast as the main lead and you are served a movie devoid of even some unintentional comedy to remember :( 

Dhrishyam - The film that gives you the feeling you've been yearning for years - the feeling of leaving the theatre watching a Mohanlal movie ' happy' and 'fully satisfied'.

The first half is a tad slow and lagging taking a long time to setup the 'family mood' and it is only towards the fag end of the first half that the story starts moving. The second half though is brilliantly crafted with credit to be given to the simple yet intense and attention-grabbing screenplay and a good climax. Though you could question the logic on second thought at some places, this is a movie which deserves all the benefit of the cinematic liberties you could give for a thriller 

Mohanlal is brilliant in a role tailor made for him with some superb support from the rest of the cast headed by a superb performance from Kalabhavan Shajon. But the eventual star of the movie ought to be Jeethu Jospeh whose brilliant direction in the second half makes this simple family story a must watch!!!!!

Bicycle Thieves - A pretty decent one-time watch which is made quite well with numerous twists and turns in the plot. 

Vedivazhipaadu - It's by no means a great film or not even something i would say good  But it surely does entertain you at a lot of places with its generous dose of adult comedy, one liners and some really good on-screen portrayals of real life characters that exists among us  Saiju Kurup,Sreejith Ravi and Muraly Gopy carry the film on their shoulders quite efficiently 

Silence - Mammotty & VKP continue their flop procession in absolutely gorgeous fashion with this hell of a movie that is directed horribly and has a poor storyline, pathetic climax and a villain who provides us with some unintentional comedy by virtue of his wonderful performance  

We've had enough of your horrible movies over the past one year Mr.VKP... Its high time you take your long overdue break from movie making...

Punyalan Agarbathies - A simple film targeted at the family audience with a socially relevant theme, some good humour and a great feel-good factor...  Surely worth a one time watch but still gives u a feeling that something is amiss somewhere!!!!!

Thira - A movie that has things happening a too easy for a thriller. Everything happens the way it ought to in a simplistic manner which really makes question the thriller quotient in the movie :) A brilliant Shobana and the good theme just about makes it an 'average' watch!!!

Geethanjali - A reloaded version of countless horror movies we've seen...

Priyadarshan : Why do you and Siddique come from Bollywood once in a while and torture us with these kind of stuff? And why by any means you should come back and make the kind of horror movie which our own super director Vinayan gives us every year.

Mohanlal : We frankly didn't expect a lot when you took a 7 month 'so-called' break from Mallu movies in the search of a good script. Still we wish the break had been a lil longer rather than come back in a movie with such a pathetic plot and suspense.

Nishaan : We've heard stories that you were a topper pass out in the acting department from the Pune Film institute. But please stay away from Mallu movies. We've had enough of your lifeless acting and pathetic lip/dialogue synch.

MG Sreekumar : We agree that the neither the tunes or music was great for this movie. But your singing has made it even more horrible. Please continue judging in tv shows and retire from movie playback singing.

Philips & The Monkey Pen - An absolutely awesome 'feel-good' movie that touches your heart, is shot superbly, has a simple yet brilliant storyline with some great dialogues and is enacted superbly by the child artists and seniors alike with Sanoop,Vijay Babu and Jayasuriya deserving a special mention... A movie totally worth your time and money 

Escape From Uganda - You are sure to escape out of the movie theatre within the first half of the movie... It's a real poor attempt inspite of the promising storyline...

Aarambham - The usual tamil revenge drama, with not much a story to boast off which is shot stylishly, and has Ajith and Arya in good form....

Idukki Gold - Ashiq Abu delivers yet another one of his 'simple story' but 'differently & well presented' movie genre laced with some good dialogues and great camera work. The movie is a good one-time watch worth your time with an entertaining first-half and a not so bad second-half.The 'Gold'generation was superb on the screen with Raveendran and Raju being the pick of the lot. But the stars of the movie were undoubtedly the younger lot who portrayed the gold generation's childhood !!!!!

D Company- A stupid movie by all counts with the only exception being a stupendous performance from Jayasuriya :) 

Ezhamathe Varavu - A collosal disappoinment considering the fact that the movie is coming from the MT-Hariharan combo that always had a minimum guarantee associated to it :( Bhavana and Vineeth are horribly miscast and poor in this poorly scripted movie with a pathetic story line... The biggest deterrent though ought to be the terrible songs that pop up at regular intervals and stand out as a sore thumb in this even otherwise totally flawed product...

Soodhu Kaavum - The genre defining and one of the most brilliant movies in the genre that will stay with you for long :)

Artist - One of the best movies from Shyamaprasad aided by a good performance from Fahad and a surprisingly superb one from Ann Auguestine :) A movie which surely deserves a watch!!!!

Memories - A great investigative thriller with a convincing screenplay, a good story, crafty making and some good performances from the entire cast. Prithviraj is absolutely awesome in the role of the drunkard officer and carries the entire film on his shoulders with a superb performance!!!! 

Neelakasham Pachakkadal Chuvanna Bhoomi - Why would one mind a film with no story to boast of and takes a lot of cinematic liberties along the way, when it is shot superbly, doesn't bore you a bit,has a hero and his sidekick in superb form, has some great performances from the supporting actors  and is shot at some real beautiful locations across India  :)

Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty - Renjith should conduct a workshop to explain to the viewers what he intended to presnet with this movie having one of the most stupid and illogical plots one could ever see.... A complete letdown !!!!

Honey Bee- Lal Jr etches out a good entertainer which, though has nothing new to offer in terms of plot, is superbly shot and presented well with some entertaining dialogues,performances and couple of good songs.. 

Shutter - Is a good movie that is worth a watch with a good plot and some decent performances worth remembering :) Still cant help note the amateurish direction and expectedly the low production values:)

Anchu Sundarikal - Starts off with a touching "Sethulakshmy" with some superb child artist performances which would bring a tear to even the strong hearted; Moves on to an entertaining and superbly shot "Isha" with some awesome shots; Then falls into a gutter with a horrible "Gowri"; Then skyrockets again with a brilliant "Kullante Bhaarya"with an amazing performance from the main character ( Kullan) and an awesome narration by Dulquar; And finishes off with a beautiful & simple "Aami"

Up and Down – Mukalil Oraalundu –  A Horribly bad movie!!!!!!

Left Right Left - An awesome and intense movie with some of the best dialogues ever written, to go along with some of the most brilliant characters ever created for a movie :) The performances are the most noteworthy thing about the movie with Indrajith delivering one of his best with some great support from Sethulakshmi and rest of the cast :) 

ABCD - A Damn poor movie seriously making me wonder how it was lapped up by audiences and turned out to be a hit...

Yeh Jawaani Yeh Deewani – Colourful,youthful,time-pass entertainer with some good performances and excellent songs.

Hotel California – It was so ‘entertaining and awesome’ that I finally gave up the 'fun' after 45 minutes. Pathetic movie with a pathetic subject.

Thank You- An atrociously horrible movie which sets a benchmark for how bad a movie can be... 

Mumbai Police - A movie that excels and thrills you with its different story, narration style, gripping script and an awesome performance from Prithviraj.. It requires amazing guts to make a movie like this and present it convincingly on screen :) By all means its a real trendsetter which deserves all kudos for its gutsy presentation :) 

English - Shyamaprasad disappoints big time with this poorly made movie filled with cliched characters,an uninspiring screenplay and a poor climax... 

Neram - Chumma "Neram" kalayan oro padangal :) 

Ladies & Gentlemen - To call this film 'bad' or 'horrible' itself would be an understatement... This is probably one of the worst movies ever with a horrible story line, an uninterested hero, some uninspiring performances from the heriones, awful music and some poor comedy!!!!!   

It would be great if Siddique could stay around in Bollywood and not come back to torture the Mallu audience like this... We've had enough you Mr.Gentleman director and will always be grateful to you for the wonderful movies you've made with Lal!!!

Immanuel - Though clichéd and quite cheap, a sincere performance from Mammotty and the directors choice of the realistic subject keeps you watching it somehow.

Red Wine - Uninspiring direction,poor choice of villains, lifeless heroines and a pathetic climax lets down this "one-time watch" movie big time.

Amen - The shots are superb,the plot is simple,the presentation style is excellent and the song picturization n lyrics are interesting.. Still the movie didn't excite me much :( 

Aurangazeb - Though the premise is flawed and old, the movie is quiet engaging with some superb dialogues, good pace and some excellent performances from the entire cast lead by Arjun Kapoor,Rishi Kapoor and Prithviraj....

Fast & Furious 6 - Enjoy the absurd and bizzare actions scenes :) And ofcourse wait for FF7 with Sthatham :)

Lokpal - Joshiy-Mohanlal combo delivers a deadly dangerous movie!!!!

Kammath & Kammath - Its ok to watch 'leave your brains behind' type movies once in a while... But why the hell tolerate one that has no comedy, the plot moves in different directions every half an hour, has a language which is tough to understand and above all is damn boring!!!!

Iron Man 3 - The franchise continues to be as entertaining as always consolidating its place as one of the best comic book adaptation of all times :) 

The Place Beyond the Pines - Though slow and a tad long, the movie is quite gripping and pans out well with a good plot and great performances from the cast... 

Romans - Though the plot might be silly, Romans would surely rank as one of the best entertainers of the year with some genuinely good time pass stuff :) 

Ek Thi Daayan - Though logical or not, though you believe in the concept or not; ETD is one well shot gripping horror supernatural movie... 

Olympus Has Fallen - Though pretty much watchable, i dont understand why i dont enjoy these kind of action movies anymore :)

Annayum Rasoolum - Realism in movies comes at a cost and this could well explain why watching this movie turned out to be one long drawn tedious experience...

Trance - The numerous twists and the complex plot makes sure that that the movie is well worth your time :)

Parker - Yet another sub-standard yet time-pass action movie from Jason Statham... :)

Side Effects - A highly gripping thriller with an excellent plot and some great performances from the lead cast.... Totally impressed with the way the events unfolded on screen :) 

David(Tamil) - Wish the makers had just concentrated on Jiva's story(good theme,well shot and some excellent performances) and made it to a full movie rather than putting in the Vikram track (totally irritating,illogical and poorly acted) therein making it a boring experience in total.

Django Unchained- An awesome performance from Christopher Waltz and superb direction from Tarantino makes this movie a great watch in-spite of its length :) 

Zero Dark Thirty - A decently made "documentary" that surely lags at places :) 

Special 26 - It's surely one of the best con films of all times with some excellent performances from the entire cast. Being set in the 80's works well to its favour such that there are no high tech con-nabbing techniques and the events that unfold on screen are entirely believable :) 

Vishwaroopam - Though by no means great or path breaking, its surely worth a watch for an in-form Kamal hasan, a decent plot and some neatly picturized shots:)