Signature Style

It was with great relief that I sat through "Kaiyoppu" for the second time. Films that depict common man and his problems have become such a rarity in Malayalam Cinema. Kaiyoppu and Ore Kadal are the kind of movies that makes the audience feel that not all is lost for genuine movie lovers in Kerala!

What is fascinating about Kaiyoppu is the skill with which the scenarist links the problems of the protagonist and his small group of friends to the one big problem that the nation is facing these days! If you are not conversant with modern English literature and are not a book lover, you will probably not understand the passion that the lead characters share for literature. References to modern stalwarts like Isadora Duncan and Umberto Yaco are in plenty and the script writer also leaves no chance to pooh- pooh the psyche of the average Malayalee who is moving away from the realities of life!

Jaffer Idukki's characterization proves a winner. Mukesh and Neena Kurup share a delightful chemistry and appear to be rejoicing at the opportunity to play characters that are real and identifiable. Mammootty adds another golden feather to his already overcrowded cap with his subtle portrayal of Balachandran- his helplessness and goodness have been very well expressed by the gifted actor. However, it is Khushboo who lingers in the heart of the viewers with her mature, good looks and effortless performance. Vimmy Mariam George does a good job with the dubbing.

And this is one movie where all technical departments have worked well together- Manoj Pillay's camera, Beena Paul Venugopal's editing, Vidyasagar's background score, Saburam's Art Direction- everything is first rate! Renjith deserves a special pat on his shoulders for bringing alive that forgotten Talat Mahmood melody- "Jalte Hain Jiske Liye"- which has been soulfully rendered by Gayathri. Watch out for the song picturization- you can watch it over and over again- just like the short movie which leaves a poignant message behind!

Lollypop sucks!

Commercial Malayalam Cinema is undoubtedly at its worst phase these days- a film like "Lollypop" is an example. A straight lift out of Indra Kumar's "ISHQ" (1997), the only difference the scriptwriter has made is that the lead characters are siblings and cousins instead of plain friends. The villain here is another youngster and not the parents as in the original. But, while the original provided wholesome entertainment, the duplicate only tests your patience!

Lack of originality in script, repeated comic sequences and dialogues that irritate, boring songs and dull song picturizations, overacting by most of the cast (Salim Kumar and Jayasurya are the saving grace), shoddy editing, tacky art direction and outrageous props- these are only some of the drawbacks of this listless enterprise. One can only feel sorry for the young brigade of Malayalam Cinema- if these are the kind of scripts that the youngsters are going to choose, this industry will be ruled by the 2 mighty superstars till they die. Shift your attention across the border guys- let us look forward to the theatrical release of Abhiyum Naanum, Villu and the like- they will definitely entertain us better!

Eating ahead...

The first time I traveled to North America was way back in 2004! (4 years is history for a 29 year old, right?). I had a lot of my friends warning me that as a vegetarian traveling to the west, I will find it really difficult to survive. I was mentally prepared for the worst but I was in for a pleasant surprise when I landed in Syracuse, NY, USA. Wherever I went, I had soups, salads, pizzas, burgers and wraps (all vegetarian) readily available to be consumed. Not only that I had quite a variety to choose from, everything that I ate was really tasty! As if all this was not enough, there were those universally liked french fries and onion rings- the kind that you will never get to eat back home!

Ever since, I have been excited at the prospect of visiting a new country- apart from meeting new people, experiencing a new way of life and visiting new places, eating new kind of food has also fascinated me. I am one of those few people in my office who does not bother to carry any food stuff on my visits to NA. I have always been the "take life as it comes" kind and the back up plan on my mind was a diet of cookies, biscuits, ice creams and toast that where available in plenty everywhere I went around in NA.

When I was asked to travel to Halifax during Nov 07, I was as excited as traveling to any other city in NA. But, only when I landed here did I realize that I was right in the middle of a city full of restaurants. What more could a foodie like me ask for?

That is the reason why I thought I should post something about the kind of food that I ate in Halifax, now that I am on my third visit to the city. I have survived mostly on the food courts of the Scotia Square Mall, thanks to its proximity to my work place and the hotel I stay in. I would not call it a real big mall because it has more of office spaces than shops and most of its shops are of the boutique kind. But, it does boast about a fairly good food court and you have quite a lot of options to choose from. My favorites have been the following:

• The Dill Pickle- Run by a very amiable Lebanese family, this is your essential soup, salades, sandwiches place. However, it is the hot, fresh and tasty breakfast that attracted me to this one. Sample their Omlette, Home fries and Toast combo or the scrambled vegetable wrap. They are awesome!
• Ray's Lebanese Cuisine- Falafals, Fatayars, Potatoes, Stirred Vegetables, Lentils and Rice- that more or less sums up their vegetarian menu. However, the food at Ray's has that quality that keeps you calling back for more
• Mama Grati's- The sheer variety of coffee that they serve is more than enough for this one to be on your list of favorites. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sight of all those out of the world salads make your mouth water! Their selection of soups is extremely good as well- hot, spicy (!) and very, very tasty!!!
• Taste of India- Last but not the least comes home food so far away from home. I would not call this Indian food at its best but it is definitely the best Indian food that you can get in Halifax. It is quite homely except for the fact that you see the same spread day after day. Still, I would not mind tasting the dal, chana masala and mixed vegetable curry with the yellow rice at least twice a week!

Right across Scotia Square Mall is the Barrington Place shops that houses 2 of my favorite restaurants- Sam's Macchiato- that serves wonderful coffee and excellent omlettes and egg-o- renos and located immediately next door is Boston Pizza- I can go on and on and on about Boston. I have not eaten such tasty pizzas in any other place. Rich crust, lots of cheese and a generous dose of veggie toppings served hot for you- do you really want anything more? Plus, their garlic bread basket and sweet potato fries taste fantastic! For an Indian traveler, Boston Pizza is not really cheap- but who cares for the couple of extra dollars you shell out when you get such heavenly pizzas served by celestial beauties? (added attraction!)

Well, I am not including the McDonald's- Subway group in here- they would be the favorites of any traveler to the West- thanks to their standardized menu, easy on the pocket rates and universal availability. Now, let me take you to the few restaurants that I visited along with the client and that left a lasting impression on me:

1. Great Wall- This is Chinese at its North American Chinese best! Hot Spring rolls, choice of veggie soups and that wonderful vermicelli dish cooked with all vegetables- though the choice is limited, they are enough to make any vegetarian go ga- ga over the food! I keep visiting this place just for the spring rolls- they are awesome
2. Baan Thai- You talk about Chinese food and how can Thailand be left behind? Honestly, I never had the guts to try out Thai food before since I was not sure whether they really offered anything vegetarian! But, my visit to Baan Thai changed all those misconceptions- more spring rolls and vegetable noodles and fried rice make it a safe option for all vegetarians. They are extremely tasty as well!
3. McKelvie's- Primarily a seafood joint, the reason why McKelvie's figures on my list of favorites is because of the variety of pastas they serve- you can ask them to make any kind of pasta available on the menu without the meat and let me tell you, all of them taste fabulous! And if that was not enough, the excellent ambience and the old world charm about the whole place add to its value. And they serve fabulous spring rolls too :-)
4. OCarroll's Restaurant and Irish Pub- This one is a favorite not because of the food but because of the ambience and the wonderful Irish live music that plays on and on and on. That said, the veggie burger rich in cereals is quite a treat, the sweet potato fries and nachos are absolutely stunning starters and the pizzas and the pastas are fresh and tasty! Those martinis have wicked names that stay in your minds for a long period of time...

Any prospective visitors to Halifax- now you know where to eat especially if you are a veggie. That said, I will have to confess that while I am typing this out from Halifax, I am really looking forward to the "puttu- kadala" that my dear mommie will cook for breakfast (hopefully!) this Sunday morning when I am back home- sweet- home!

So, from one foodie to another, it is bon appetit till I discuss food next time on this blog ;-)

Eating my way to glory :-)

The one good thing that comes with traveling is the chance to try out different kinds of cuisine. I stayed away from the blogosphere for quite a long period of time and that had to do with a lot of travel- one week in Bangalore and three weeks at Halifax, Canada (from where I am writing this incidentally).

Bangalore has always been a foodie's paradise- I have visited a lot of other Indian cities but the sheer number and variety of restaurants you have in Bangalore is quite uncomparable to any other city and it is not just that- all these restaurants serve tasty food- be it North Indian, Gujju, Maharashtrian, Andhra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Chinese, Italian, Continental or any other kind of cuisine. I often feel the kind of Andhra meals served in Bangalore would even put restaurants in Hyderabad to shame! I look forward to my visits to the Garden city to check out new restaurants and thanks to my extended family that shares the same interests, I often end up at interesting places!

This time around, I had the chance to eat at the following restaurants, none of which I had visited previously:

1. Beijing Bytes on New BEL Road, Bangalore- This one is for the connosieurs of Chinese and Thai food. The dumblings, momoyas, noodles and rice items you get here are fabulous! Soups are hot and tasty and you have quite a lot to choose from be it soups, starters, main course or desserts. I would not call this one authentic chinese, it is quite in the Indian- chinese mould just like any other Chinese restaurant in the country. But the nice ambience and the reasonable rates make it attractive along with the tasty food they serve
2. Banjara Restuarant, Cunningham Road- This is easily one of the best North Indian joints I have ever been to. They do serve you South Indian, Chinese and Continental stuff as well but the North Indian fare you have is absolutely mouth watering. We started off with a plate of vegetarian Kebabs (I dont eat non vegetarian, by the way) and followed it up with some pulao, Indian bread and rice khichdi. I have never eaten khichdi as tasty as that before in my life. It was absolutely stunning and tasted like heaven. This restaurant is worth a try for its khichdi and deserves a mention for having turned out everyday stuff like Khichdi into something so unique and tasty!
3. Sukh Sagar, Majestic- I had never really wanted to taste Gujarati Thali since I thought they always made sweet stuff. It was my aunt who prompted me to try the Thali at Sukh Sagar, opp. Majestic theatre at Bangalore and boy- o- boy, it was outstanding! The thali priced at Rs. 115/- is quite wholesome and extremely filling. They serve dahi vada, dal, a few vegetable curries, a chilly curry, jal jeera, kheer and papad apart from rice and phulkas. This is purely a place for eaters and I found the food to be quite authentic- there was this huge gujarati family ungly- chatting their way to glory which told me that even they were relishing the food. This is a strictly vegetarian joint (Gujarati, you know!) and highly recommended if you are really hungry and dont want to end up spending too much of money!
4. Lalith Mahal Palace, Mysore- This one is not as much about its food as it is about the kind of ambience in which you sit and eat. This is a palace converted to a heritage hotel and managed by the Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation. The building is on top of a hill and looks majestic! The interior decor has been preserved very well and the huge dining hall is very well arranged. With this kind of an ambience, anything you eat is going to be liked by you. I would not call the food outstanding or anything, but it definitely is not bad. The variety is mind blowing- right from the soups to the desserts. There is a lot to choose from and it is good value for money! Recommended after a long trek in and around Mysore- relax, refresh and restart!
5. Citrus- Hotel Leela Palace- Anyone who has seen the magnificient Hotel Leela Palace would definitely have cherished a dream to eat and stay at the mansion. I too did and though I could not fulfill my dream of spending a night at the Leela, I did get a chance to eat at one of the restaurants at Leela, thanks to a client visit at office. So, there we were, 5 of us at the Citrus (the restaurant that serves continental food- there are restaurants that specialize in Indian and Chinese besides a well stocked and highly attractive bar!) chatting and eating in between. Customary to the Leela, the food is extremely expensive but the way you are pampered leaves you yearning for more. The menu is attractive and has got a wide variety on it. The service is impeccable. The food is made hot and fresh just for you in the open kitchen- in case you wanted to see it being made. There are the hotel singing duo who come to every table and sing your favorite song! Isnt that enough? Do you really care whether the food is tasty? If you still do, let me tell you that the food is out of the world- everything right from the starters to the aromatic and spicy Biriyani (yes, we had biriyani and they brought it for us from the Indian restaurant right across) to the hot and fresh gulab jamuns were delicious...

All of you who do not know me personally would have understood by now, how big a foodie I am. This is not it, guys. I do have to list out a few more outstanding restaurants I visited while in Halifax. Keep waiting :-)

Experience at the Casino!

Till last night, all I knew about a Casino was what I had read or seen in movies. I finally managed to get into a Casino and it was at Halifax, Canada. This was my third trip to the city and in spite of having a Casino next door, I never had the guts to visit the place till yesterday and when I finally did, what an experience it was! We (me along with 4 colleagues) had to take a long pedway from the hotel we were put up to the Casino. It was freezing cold outside but I did not affect us at all, thanks to the pedway. We handed over out jackets at the counter and were about to take the escalator down to the casino when 2 of my friends were stopped by the guard asking for an identity proof. Only then did we realize that no one under 19 was allowed entry and the guards could ask for identity proof from people who they thought were under 25. None of us were under 25 but two of my friends who always used to pride upon the fact that they never looked as old as they actually were, had to eat humble pie. One of them had his driving license that helped him and the other had to rush back to the hotel to collect his passport to show his age. The other 3 were let in and when we landed into the casino, we were literally stunned to see the new world around us. There were poker tables, gaming machines, slot machines and many more of these items which we had not even heard of. All of us were at a total loss as to where to start and what to do. Finally we decided to take the safest route! We started observing other people playing the various games. None of the board games made any sense to us and they were betting on big money, which unfortunately we did not have. Finally, we decided to try our luck at the slot machines. I deposited 5 Canadian dollars and started trying my luck and bingo! I did turn out to be quite lucky :-) At one point of time, I earned upto 200 dollars. I even encashed my money and thought it was time to leave the place but the lure of the casino and the many slotting machines available therein was so strong that I decided I should take more chances! It did excite me beyond all means but unfortunately mine was not a wise decision from the monetary point of view. I tried all kinds of slot machines and finally ended up losing all money except 12 dollars which was my net gain from the casino (a friend of mine lost 10 dollars and another lost 5 dollars!) We spent close to 2 hours at the casino and were really amused at the kind of money people were spending on betting and gambling. I am not going into the moralistic side of things but I would really want to remark that it was a totally different world out there and I enjoyed it beyond means (though it did not really help me financially). The visit to the Casino would definitely be an experience to cherish for a very long time... If you want to know more about the casino I visited, here you go

Book Review: The Zoya Factor

I cannot help but thanking Chetan Bhagat for having made that pioneering move. Till he and his "Five point someone" happened, Indo Anglian writing was all about serious stuff- the suffering during partition and its aftermath, the travails of individuals trapped in the highly rigid caste system existing in India, India before and after independence, the effect of poverty and unemployment over Indian youth, the widening gap between the rich and the poor, the works...not that I am against any of these nor do I think these are topics that should not be discussed. Unfortunately, there were no writers who could look at the positive and lighter side of Indian life and modern India in particular (R K Narayan was an exception and a very strong one at that) That was when Chetan Bhagat happened and the rest, as they say, is history. Agreed, every third book published these days in India is about college life or life at work. But, Chetan could at least prompt someone like Anuja Chauhan, an advertising executive, to come up with something refreshingly different like "The Zoya Factor". Ms. Chauhan belongs to the Gen X and that she declares loudly with her book. The fact that it takes on something like cricket- a game that is hugely reverred in the country- itself is half the battle won and then it goes on to describe the game, not the one that is played on the field, but the games that take place behind the scenes. The sportsmen are depicted as human beings- with their struggles, insecurities, superstitions, romance et al- and successfully so- probably Anuja's experience in the advertising industry would have come in handy. However, it is the characterization of Zoya (born at the time when India won the cricket world cup in 1983, by the way), her extended family and the normal people who she meets at work that works- you really feel you are right in the middle of Delhi's upper middle class bhaisaabs and behenjis. Zoya has been depicted as a darling- the kind anybody would fall in love with and when the Indian skipper Nikhil Khoda decides that she is the one for him, it does not come across as unbelievable! Add to it, characters like Monita (Zoya's friend at work and her bodyguard during the ICC World cup- the sequences involving her son Armaan are simply hilarious), Zoravar (Zoya's soldier brother), Ritu (cricketer Nivi's girl friend and a former beauty queen) and cricketers Harvinder, Shivnath, Nivi and of course, Zahid Pathan (they all resemble current Indian cricketers one way or the other)! It is also to Anuja's credit that she keeps her writing very simple- short sentences, attractive use of phrases, falling back heavily on her advertising past (yeh to bada toyenge! is a good example :-))- that even at 509 pages, you feel as if Zoya Factor moves at break neck speed. The chapters have also been very well separated from each other keeping the momentum going. The author also makes generous digs at the media overhype for cricket and the kind of unimaginable sums of money that the cricketers pocket through ad revenues. However, the game is never shown at a totally bad light altogether. We all know that BCCI sucks and the politics within one of the world's richest sports organizations is better left undiscussed. While Anuja takes this part head on, she also stays clear from the betting controversies that marred the reputation of the sport in the last decade! To sum up, "The Zoya Factor" is a great read- it is humurous and entertaining and does justify all the positive feedback it has been receiving all through! Grab a copy fast...

Family values

It is to Blessy's credit that his actors end up looking exactly as characters on screen, even though they are the mega stars of Malayalam Cinema. After creating picture perfect families in Kazhcha and Thanmathra (I still do not agree with the casting of Meera Vasudev), Blessy does it once again with "Palunku". Lakshmi Sharma is a refreshing change and she performs as if she has lived her entire life in the hillocks of Idukki. Baby Nazria and Baby Niveditha are charming. Mammootty has always scored when he plays the illiterate villager, it is no different this time. His performance during the climax tugs at your heartstrings.

However, everything is not hunky- dory in this enterprise. The film works till Monichan, the protagonist moves to the city with family from his village, but during the second half, the script loses most of it's steam. The sequences are disjointed, you are confused whether Soman Pillai (played by Jagathy Sreekumar to perfection) is a villain or not, you wonder about the poet (Thambi Antony, overboard) who makes an appearance out of nowhere and you feel irritated with the teacher (Nedumudi Venu) who talks and moves around in a vague manner.

There is no clarity as to how Monichan's daughter would have fallen into Asalappan's trap! It is quite unconvincing considering the fact that the girl is even shown avoiding a teenage boy who winks at her in an earlier part of the film. What works to the film's advantage is the characterization and performances of Mammootty and Lakshmi Sharma. Together, they elevate the film to a totally different level and you end up forgetting most of its short comings.

Cinematography is another big- plus for Palunku and the minimalistic Art direction supports the narrative. Mohan Sithara's music is soothing. Blessy could have focussed a little more on the script and avoided some of the gaping short comings.

To sum up, Palunku is good cinema which could have been great, had Blessy been more careful. Definitely, a one time watch!

Mediocrity mars the beauty

The one thing that stands out in "Yaaradi Nee Mohini" is the fact that Nayanthara is fully clothed throughout the movie. In spite of being regarded as the "sex- goddess" south of the Vindhyas, the makers have taken special care to see to it that the actor does not even expose her thighs, forget other parts of her body! To add to it, Nayan does get a few chances to show off her talent that was hidden behind her bootilicious body all through these years. Good for the actor! Everything else in "Yaaradi..." brings a sense of deja vu to the audience. I have lost count of the number of times I have seen this story of "good for nothing son reformed by a good looking girl"- even Dhanush has done it before! In spite of that, what makes the movie bearable is the depiction of Nayanthara's joint family in the second half. Sukumari is first rate, K Vishwanath puts in a soulful performance and the young actor who plays Nayan's younger sister is someone to watch out for. She is quite a discovery and the picturization of the remix song "Palakkaattu pakkathile" is ample evidence for her talent. Yuvan keeps it simple this time. Udit Narayan does not seem to get his Tamil right, but "Engayeo Partha" is still worth a listen. The "Venmegam" song has been picturized well too. The Australia sequence could have been avoided as it does not serve any purpose. Yaaradi will also be remembered as Raghuvaran's last performance. Unfortunately, his character does not have enough meat to justify the talent of the late actor. Dhanush does a good job as usual, his confidence levels seem to increase and that shows up on screen. Karthik Kumar gets to do much more than he has done in the past. His unconventional looks and acting style can take him places if he is careful about the roles he chooses. To sum up, Yaaradi Nee Mohini is a good watch for a lazy Saturday afternoon. It has nothing new in it and belongs to the "watch it- forget it" category.

Clash of the Titans

In spite of the multiple issues plaguing the industry, there is one good thing about the actors and technicians in Kerala- they do come together for a cause and how? A mammoth film like "Twenty 20" would definitely not be possible in any other film industry. The extent of hardwork, planning and cooperation that has gone into the making of this historic movie does show in each and every scene. Joshy (the director); Sibi- Udayan (the scriptwriters) and Dileep- Anoop (the producers) deserve special mention for having worked so hard on a quality product. Lets face it- Twenty 20 is definitely not world class cinema, no one expected it to be one in the first place, after all it was planned as a fund raising initiative. It has all the popular names of the industry- from Madhu to Madhu Warrier and Bindu Panikker to Sindhu Menon but the 5 superstars of Malayalam Cinema make it work wonders! You have it give it to the script writers for creating characters that fit all the actors like gloves and for coming up with confrontational scenes and dialogues- the clashes between Mammootty and Mohanlal in the apartment and the consequent appearance of Suresh Gopi set the spirits soaring high in the hearts of the fan club members! The superstars play to the gallery like never before and the healthy competitive spirit only serves to enhance the quality of their performances. Mammootty as the brainy advocate, Mohanlal as the rich rogue with a heart of gold, Suresh Gopi as the tough cop with a sharp tongue, Jayaram as the friendly medical professor, Dileep as the happy- go- lucky medical student, Indrajith as the vile villain, Madhu as the retired justice, Salim Kumar as the idiotic cop- the list of impressive performances is never ending! Honestly, it is after a while that the industry is witnessing a movie that works in every department. It is unfortunate that ladies and the young brigade have very little to do. Nayanthara and Bhavana show off quite a lot of their skin while Prithiviraaj, Jayasurya, Kunchacko Boban and Manikuttan have been relegated to glorified extras. This gaping inequality apart, Twenty 20 is a winner all the way! Dont miss it, there definitely cannot be another one of its kind!

Gay Abandon, Chick scores!

Homosexuality has never looked so cool before- kudos to Karan, John and Abhishek for that! This one is no "Brokeback Mountain" or the very Indian "Mango Souffle" for that matter, but it does show homosexuality in a positive light in the middle of all those gags which is quite progressive for Bollywood!

Well, a male nurse (Abhishek Bachchan, his best performance in recent times) and a fashion photographer (John Abraham- women turning naughty and men going envious at the very sight of his lethal torso and almost every part of his well toned body) meet at Miami coincidentally. Both of them need a place to live and they land up with a Parsi middle- aged lady (Sushmita Mukherji on silver screen after a very long time). When she refuses to accept them as PG's in her niece's apartment (Priyanka Chopra looking absolutely delicious), the guys have to pretend as gays!

Things are fine till both the guys realize that they are slowly but surely falling for the sexy niece and things take a not so good turn when the girl in question falls for her sophisticated, rich, widower boss (suitably underplayed by Bobby Deol). The rest of the movie takes this rectangular love story forward and the best man wins in the end!

Dostana is not really a story driven movie. It is a film that has been made for the audiences to have a good time while watching it. So, you have John Abraham dropping off almost every piece of clothing (male sexuality sells and how); Shilpa Shetty (isn't she getting a tad too old for item numbers?) gyrating on the beaches of Miami; Priyanka Chopra roaming around wearing hot pants if not her golden swimsuit and Abhishek Bachchan walking around wrapped in cool clothes, coolers on his eyes and a cool smirk on his lips! win Boman Irani who does a Meryl Streep (Devil wears Prada) style entry and a loud and boisterous Kirron Kher- you pretty much have everything that Dostana boasts about.

Vishal- Sekhar, unfortunately are not in the best of form here and it is the song picturizations that work more than the songs themselves. Farah Khan's mindblowing choreography makes "Desi Girl" unforgettable; Manish Malhotra and Aki Narula provide the best of clothes to the lead cast(Abhishek's light shirts with matching dupattas are cases in point); Anayanka Bose does a great job with his lenses and Tarun Mansukhani proves that he is someone to look out for!

Dostana is extremely enjoyable as long as it lasts, which is very good for a mainstream Bollywood movie and it touches its highest point during the sequence of Abhishek and Priyanka at the amusement park running through the photographs- one of the most romantic scenes that I have seen in the last decade- Dostana is a must see at least for that one scene!

Bond at his worst!

I have never been much of a Hollywood person- regular readers of this blog might have guessed that by now. But, I do make it a point to watch James Bond, Indiana Jones and the like because they take you to a world that Indian movies very rarely do. I always keep track of the who the latest Bond is and which female actor was lucky enough to be his lady love. When I saw Daniel Criag playing the secret agent for the first time in Casino Royale, I thought he was quite an antithesis of what all the earlier Bond men looked like. I did like him in the movie and I thought he would be a welcome change! Not until I caught "Quantum of Solace" in theatres. Honestly, I did not understand what was unfolding in front of me. There were car chases, boat chases, jaw dropping stunt sequences et al but where was the story line and what was the director trying to explain? Bond never introduces himself as Bond, never asks for a martini and does not even have a decent car or gadget or girl to accompany him (Bond girl, Olga Kurilonka from Ukraine is wooden. Hard core Bond fans would not even accept her as one- what is she compared to Halle Berry or Ursula Andersen?). It is good to note that the Bond girl does have a story of her own but Olga does suffer from a very weak characterization. The villain looks gay (!) and lacks completely in personality, so much so that we can call him the weakest link in this drama. Daniel Craig himself looks lost and confused in the middle of all the mayhem happening around him. Time for a stirred Martini, my friend! The only positive thing in this enterprise is the extra screen time given to M, played brilliantly by Dame Jodi Dench. Everything else, including Craig himself, seems a farce! Not recommended even for hard core fans...

Laughter sans Logic!

If you are a fan of "Golmaal- Fun Unlimited" and if you have seen "Golmaal Returns"- you will wonder why I was looking for logic in the first place. Well, my answer to that is, I have not seen Golmaal in full and I did not think it was funny from whatever I saw of it.

I was not particularly keen on watching the sequel either but chose to watch it because there was nothing else in theatres and the tickets for "Fashion" were sold out. I would not say it was a totally wrong decision because sitting in the plush multiplex at Bangalore and enjoying a plethora of stars moving around at a hand's distance (front row seat, you know!) was definitely not bad! To add to it, some of the gags did work for me, some were OK but there were quite a few that were borrowed from the badly made Priyadarshan films of the 80's which was irritating!

Let me not get into the story line which is oh so thin that it will not be visible to the naked eye. It is a script that centers around situations and characters and tries to draw a cohesive storyline around it but fails miserably. The saving grace of course is Tusshar Kapoor (and you read that right!) who makes his presence felt on screen after the prequel. Shreyas Talpade is an enjoyable addition to the group. Arshad Warsi as the laughing cop pulls off quite a few scenes. But, it is Ajay Devgan who kinda irritates. There is nothing wrong in his acting; he pulls off the comic scenes pretty well too. But, when an actor who is in his 40's and who looks as old tries to pass off as a cool dude, it really irritates. Scary hair and gawdy clothes aside, Devgan is passable.

The less said about the ladies the better- Amrita Arora is decent compared to her other outings, Celina Jaitley grates on your nerves, Anjana Sukhani walks around a couple of times wearing skimpy outfits and smiling at Tusshar and then there's Kareena Kapoor- what a waste of talent and star power! She is all over the promos but you don't get to see her as much in the movie. "Tu saala kaam se gaya" does not appear in the movie at all while the "meeeow" song appears during the end credits.

Pritam has done a good job with his music and Nataraja Subramanian's camera work is extra ordinary especially during the song sequences. The whole "Thaa kar de" song is picturized in the same style as "Thee Thee" song from Sivaji (Tamil). Editing is good for a comedy and the movie unfolds very fast! The references to Balaji Telefilms and Ekta Kapoor is in good taste. Mukesh Tiwari and Ashwani Kalsekhar score better than the lead cast in their brief appearance towards the climax.

The last 5 minutes more or less summarize the extent of seriousness with which the movie was made. But, if the public is happy, is there any cause for worry?

I am back!

I cannot believe that it has been more than a month since I updated my blog. Thanks a lot for all the regular readers who sent me e mails, SMS and comments on why I was not appearing on the blogosphere at all. It was some urgent personal and professional commitments that kept me busy over the last few weekends and here I am typing my way to glory sitting at my hotel room in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Yes guys, again!)

Quite a lot of water has flown under the Marthandavarma bridge since my last post. On the personal front, I traveled a lot- Guruvayoor, Bangalore and the ultimate of all oor's- Halifax! On the entertainment front, Dostana, Golmaal Returns, Fashion and 20/20 made money. India rocked in the one dayers against England and sent them home empty handed. I finished 2 widely reviewed books (keep your fingers crossed for which ones they are!) and if all that was not enough, there was the 26 November Mumbai blasts- active topic of discussion all over the world!

Well, I am starting off this evening and I don't know how much of what I think I should post will actually get posted. But, I am going to unplug myself over the rest of the week (hopefully) and hope you fellas agree with my thoughts :-)

Busy Weekends ahead...

I am not sure when I will be able to put up another post on this blog of mine (BTW, this is my 150th post in 2008- 150 over a 10 month period which averages to 15 per month- not bad for someone like me I suppose)

I generally update my blog during weekends (as anyone might have guessed from all those dates) but the next 2 weekends are gonna be busy since I will be traveling out of my hometown to attend a wedding and an engagement (well, I am at that stage in life where everyone around me is getting married and if I say I am busy over a weekend, it will definitely have to do with someone's marriage!)

To start with, my father's first cousin (the last among all his first cousins) is getting married next Sunday at Guruvayoor. There are reasons galore to attend this one- the wedding is at the temple town of Guruvayoor which I dont remember when I visited last; it is the last wedding in a generation and third and most important, the entire family will be attending it (my father has a massive set of cousins- they are in hundreds, you know!)

The week after that a very close relative of ours is getting engaged at Palakkad! The guy who is getting engaged is a dentist by profession and is of the same age as I (a point that many are going to reiterate at the engagement, but I am simply not interested!). I am very fond of this guy and that is the reason why I am planning to attend the function. The travel, the food and the meet and greet sessions at both these functions are definitely going to take their toll on me and so I am not expecting myself to post anything on to the blog for the rest of October! Hopefully, I will have quite a few interesting stories to post in November and yes, I will definitely write about Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan's "You are Here" which is what I am reading right now!

Ciou and lets catch up in November (or rather, as early as I can!)

Looking forward to Toronto!

I am likely to visit Canada for the third time; probably later this month or in early November. It is another work related trip and it will be to the same city of Halifax. Visiting any city thrice over a period of one year would not be an exciting idea for anyone more so when the city is as small as Halifax! However, I am looking forward to my trip to Canada this time around because if I am lucky I might be able to spend a weekend at Toronto, a city which I have not explored beyond its airport!

Well, V, a good friend and school mate of mine has landed in Toronto for a good 6 month stay (work related, need I say) and if I am lucky enough to take a break at Toronto on my way back, I will have V for company to explore the city. I am particularly excited about visiting the Niagra falls and the CN Tower. Add to that the many malls, museums and the artificial beach; traveling around in subways a la New York and opportunities to shop and dine- there are reasons galore to visit Toronto.

It remains to be seen whether my travel takes place as planned, whether I get permission to break my trip at Toronto for 3 days and most importantly, whether V would be free to accompany me on my tour of the city- I really want this to happen but all I can do for the time being is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best!!!

Staying over at a friend's!

I have always thought of myself as a friendly person. I would not say I keep in touch with every acquaintance in life regularly, but I do have my set of all time friends with whom I frequently keep in touch. We speak over the phone quite regularly, meet up whenever we can, go out for movies or dinners over weekends, wish each other on birthdays, chat on the internet whenever we can catch up, so on and so forth.

Only yesterday did I realize that in spite of having been friendly with some of the guys for a little more than 25 years, I have never really stayed over at a friend's place. The reason why I thought about this was because of two recent incidents- After our get together at M's place on Sunday, V decided to stay over at M's since it was too late for him to get back home; and yesterday a friend of my sister stayed over at our place! One thing is that I have never really had to stay over at a friend's- the only time I remember having done something like this was when I was in school. I had gone to a temple festival and stayed back till a little past midnight listening to the Ganamela which was quite a craze in those days. I was about to cycle back home and my friend's parents insisted that I should not be going back all alone. I had no other go but to stay over at my friend's that night. Not that it was tough, but somehow I have never really given myself a chance to do that again!

Another surprising factor is that I have never had a friend staying over at my place either. Worse, I have never invited anyone till date for spending the night at my place! It was and is still common for friends to sleep over at other's place but somehow it has never happened with me. May be it has all to do with the fact that I am very private when it comes to certain things and would always like my space to be strictly "mine". Not that I am worried! All that matters is that I still have a few good friends and either of us are not bothered about whether or not we have stayed over at each other's place...

Get togethers galore!

The feeling that you get when you meet up with old friends is beyond description. Of late, I have been experiencing this quite frequently and am enjoying it completely! Right now, I have 2 gangs that are expanding. One is the set of school friends I have in and around Kochi. We were all together in school and have literally grown up together. We are in professions as varied as Animation to Accounting to Aeronautics- but our alma mater runs as a common thread connecting us all. I would be wrong if I say that we had been completely out of touch at one point of time, but that said, there was a certain distance that had crept up, largely due to everyone being busy with their own respective professions. It all bounced back to old days when K returned to Kochi. K, an aeronautical engineering and an aviation management graduate works for a famous IT company at Kochi. He was instrumental in bringing all of us back together and thats when I realized that we have quite a big group over here- M, an accountant who works for a telecom company; P, a practizing criminal lawyer; G, who works for a machine tool manufacturing company; M2 who works for an engineering company and visitors from other cities like S, G2 and V who work for IT companies in Bangalore and G3 who works as an animator in Mumbai! As they say, the more the merrier. We are an enthusiastic bunch now and make it a point to meet up at least once every month for dinner! With the visitors from other cities, it becomes even more fun as we experienced recently at one of our do's. We would solely miss the overpowering presence of D though, who has recently moved to Muscat.

That is not all my dear readers. I have one more group which is my college group. We bonded with each other over some interesting and some not-so-interesting accounting and business topics while in college. The group is no less strong than the previous one. The active members apart from yours faithfully are- M who works for a yarn company; K who works for a stock broker: J who works for a housing finance company; V- the HR guy and A- the cartoonist. At least 3 of us meet up once in 2 weeks or we keep dropping at each other's homes if not to catch a movie, then to go out for dinner. Things got bigger last Friday when we all decided to meet up at M's place (his parents were away) and we had S1, S2, S3 and C for company- 4 girls who studied with us- 2 of them with their kids and 2 of them with their respective husbands- and all of us together had a whale of a time- thanks to M whose wonderful idea it was! I was meeting the girls after almost a decade and it was nice and sportive of their husbands either to accompany them and join the merriment or to allow them to attend these parties. The point is that we had a great time and we parted that night promising everyone else that we would have more such events in future as well. Here is looking forward to more ...after all, these get togethers refresh and re energize me like nothing else :-)

Happenings around...

Its been a while since I wrote anything about what is happening around me. My 3 week trip to Canada put me at a complete loss and it took me a good deal of time to get back. I do go through the daily ritual of reading the newspaper which has now become absolutely a ritual. Come on, is there anything interesting that is happening around us? Sample these:

• After all that hype and hoopla, the Nuclear Agreement has finally been signed by Pranab Mukherji and Condolezza Rice. Thank God! Honestly, I dont understand how it is going to benefit us or work against us. I really wanted this Hyde Act and 123 to stop once and for all considering the amount of print space and air time the issue has been hogging for the past many months!!!Either it had to be signed or it had to be abandoned and thankfully for all of us, one of these have happened. Honestly, I dont think signing an agreement would matter to such a great extent since the ministries change not only in India but also in the US and it would not be that difficult for either governments to rescind the contract at a later date if it, as a whole or in parts, stands to adversely affect the interest of either country. This is what I believe and the point here is that it is all over!
• Border- Gavaskar Trophy: Now the first test at Bangalore is being projected as if it is the last game of cricket played between India and Australia. The teams are also doing their best to keep the suspense going. The scoreboards change sides like the BSE Sensex and enthusiasts of the game world over are at a loss to understand how this is going to end up. All we can say is best of luck to Kumble and Ponting and their respective teams!
• The NANO "NO-NO" Story: It is good that finally someone has managed to make Ms. Mamata Banerjee eat humble pie. Last heard, the lady was crying that Singur should have industries. But, I dont think anyone would listen. Why do something like this against the TATA's- the most respected and reverred industrial group in the country? Anyways, if at the end of all this another industrial group decides to invest in West Bengal, Buddhadeb and Mamata can thank their stars. Based on what I see, Modi's stars are shining bright and I would not be surprised if he ends up being the Prime Minister of the country
• Kandhamal, Bajrang Dal, Mangalore Episodes clearly tell us that a "sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic" exists only in school text books. I remember clearly how I used to learn the meaning of each of these terms by heart when I was in Class 6 or something. The chapter in question was Indian Constitution (These days, one has to be extremely careful while mentioning about chapters in school textbooks, remember "Mathamillatha Jeevan" controversy in Kerala?) which today stands reduced to a mere legal document. These days, even "Letters to the Editor" columns of newspapers are filled with fierce opinions from Christians and Hindus on whether or not forced conversion to Christainity exists. When one reads through all this, one clearly understands that there is no point blaming the politicians who use communalism as a weapon for vote bank politics. If the people of the country are divided on matters as trivial as caste, community and religion, why would not anyone take advantage of these issues? Looks like things have cooled down a bit after what transpired with the poor nun in Orissa. Lets hope that things get clear very soon!
• Sainthood of Sister Alphonsa: At the end of all this, there is something good also happening for the small state of Kerala and that is the canonization of Sister Alphonsa to sainthood. Sister Alphonsa who lived a short life of just 36 years was the epitome of kindness, sacrifice and love. Post death, her intervention resulted in miraculous cure of many diseases of children and that is the reason why she was canonized. First (Indian) woman and second Indian to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church, Saint Alphonsa will continue to live in the hearts of millions and hopefully, continue to create miracles in the lives of many a little things...

Book Review: Kuruthi

If you guys are wondering which one is this, let me tell you at the very outset- dont panic if you have not heard about this one! Kuruthi is a one act play by a certain Mr. K L Antony of Cherthala. It was published in 1966 and from then on, the author claims, it is being played at schools, colleges as well as atinter school and inter collegiate competitions. The author himself was selling the book door to door and the only reason why I thought I would write about it is because I did not find it half bad!

The plot is simple- Kuruthi is the story of Lazar- a petty thief and his children- Joy and Jessy. Joy is miffed with the system and has turned totally negative because he knows that his father is a thief. Jessy is a school going student who is accused of theft in school. Lazar and his family survive at the mercy of Kasim Muthalali. His son, Rahim holds a torch for Jessy. Things take an ugly turn when Kasim Muthalali tries to evict the family from his property and with Jessy being labelled a thief in school. The father- son duo misunderstand the teenaged girl and before Sreedharan master arrives on the scene to clear the air, Jessy commits suicide unable to bear the injustice meted out on her.

In a way, Kuruthi raises its voice against oppression of the downtrodden and the wily ways of the society in the 60's. It is completely anti- establishment and has strong communist overtones. A plot like this might not be relevant today but the one act play has moments of tenderness and some very strong dialogues. It is written in a school drama style and can be considered even today for a stage adaptation at school level.

Kuruthi is published by Kalakendram, Kundannoor.

Book Review: Perilla Prashanangal

Chandramathy- the reputed writer from Kerala presents yet another gem in the form of "Perilla Prashanangal" (Nameless issues)- a collection of essays penned by the writer for "Malayalam Pathram"- a Malayalam daily published from New York.

It is difficult to slot this book into a category since it is a collection of articles that appeared in the weekly column of a newspaper. However, each of these have been written from the vast experience of the writer- a teacher by profession- and clearly highlight her outlook towards life- sometimes you see Chandaramathy as a concerned citizen, sometimes you see her as a compassionate human being and at other times as a confused mother, but what binds these articles together is her sincerity- both in her approach towards issues as well as in putting them down in words.

The book starts with the problems she faced with her psuedonym and how it ruffled a few feathers in the beginning. One can see the human side of the writer when she writes about her experiences with a problem kid in college, her relationship with the inhabitants of an old age home she frequently visits and her interaction with a chat friend over internet. She looks at the generation gap in literature, the widespread Beauty Parlor mania and the criminalization of politics with the eyes of a concerned citizen. Her motherly instincts and family values come clearly to the fore when she worries about the future of her daughter and her friends. She has also shared her vast experience as a writer visiting various parts of the country and the world and her apathy towards the so- called "Intelligentia" in the Malayalam literary circle.

What strikes you most about Chandramathy's prose is its sheer sincerity. There is no effort taken to intellectualize things. Instead, she puts her ideas forward in clear, simple and understandable language. There is not even an iota of pretensiousness that one associates with writers when they turn columnists and that is a big relief for the reader! Perilla Prashanangal is a good read, entertaining and thought provoking at the same time...

Book Review: 19, Canal Road

Women with good sense of humor are as rare as ripe mangoes in winter. More so when it comes to Malayalam literature. Or so I thought till I grabbed a copy of 19, Canal Road by Sreebala K Menon who is famous these days as Assistant Director to Sathyan Anthicaud, the celebrated Malayalam film maker.

19, Canal Road are the memoirs of the author during her life in Chennai as a paying guest and the title of the book is rightly sourced from the address in Chennai at which the author used to live. When one says Memoirs, there is nothing philosophical about Sreebala's writings. Instead, her joltings have more to do with her keen sense of observation and understanding of the psyche of the average Tamilian. This, coupled with the cultural differences between Tamilians and Malayalees and the breezy and subtly humourous language that Sreebala uses in her prose make 19, Canal Road an interesting read!

Starting with the author's hunt for hostels to how she ends up at 19, Canal Road and progressing with the stories of the interesting set of people she meets- her room mate's love affair with the next door grocer's son, to her computer classes to Jayanthi, the servant girl and her love story; to Kanna mami and her dogs; to the old mama visiting from Denmark; to Anandham Mami; to the American kids; to Shakeela on the train- Sreebala draws up one interesting anecdote after other and in the process takes us through the stories of all her acquaintances in Chennai- all this not even with a gentle touch of exaggeration!

As writer- director- actor Sreenivasan remarks in his preface, Sreebala has the ability to dig deep into the minds of fellow human beings and take out everything that they have hidden up there. Add to this, her free flowing vocabulary and endearing narrative style- 19, Canal Road is a winner and it is for no reason that Sreebala was honored with the Kerala Sahithya Academy Award for this one! Go for it...

A Sorry Script!

Making tall claims is an art one should learn from the humble filmmakers in Kerala! Agreed, Renjith is creditted with some gems - Oru Maymasappulariyil, Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal, Devasuram and Kaiyyoppu to name a few. But, that does not mean you can forgive each and every mistake he makes- be it Neelagiri, Pradeshika Varthakal, Ravanaprabhu, Valiyettan, Mizhi Randilum, Black, Prajapathy, Rock n Roll...and definitely not mistakes that are made in the garb of meaningful cinema like "Thirakkatha".

"Thirakkatha" starts off as an attempt at path breaking cinema. It is about a young filmmaker, Akbar Ahmad (Prithviraaj) who has made his first superhit film without any superstars and is in the process of scripting for his second film while also running a coffee shop- Casablanca- with friends and the love of his life- Devayani (Samvrutha Sunil). A meeting with superstar Ajayachandran (Anoop Menon) sets him thinking about Malavika (Priyamani), an acclaimed actress of the 80's and Ajayachandran's estranged wife, who has been out of news for quite some time. Akbar plans his next film on their relationship and starts out with meeting producers, directors and actors of the 80's to understand what happened in the lives of Ajayan and Malavika.

The interesting plot has been translated well on to the screen for more than 75% of the running time. But what leaves you totally disappointed is the climax! After portraying Ajayachandran as a scheming person who would do anything to get ahead in life, Ranjith ends up glorifying the superstar in the last scene. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the character of Ajayan has been moulded on the two megastars of Malayalam Cinema- who happen to be regulars on Ranjith's movies. The superstar is even shown wearing a wig, leading an unhappy life and even sleeping around with his young heroines. All this is good but when some one like Ranjith stoops low to say that the superstar was ruined by his misunderstood ex- wife, it becomes a bit too much to take! The unshared secret here is nothing of the earth shattering kind and what remains an important question is why Ajayan never tried to locate Malavika in spite of knowing that she was fighting a deadly disease.

Ranjith through his protagonist, Akbar Ahmad takes a trip through the Malayalam film scene of the 80's and finally ends up making a movie as frivolous as the ones we got to watch in those times! In the bargain, Priyamani's talent and Anoop Menon's earnestness are wasted. As for Prithviraaj, one only feels sorry for the young actor (who looks malnourished, by the way) for having been reduced to a prop in a movie that is not going to be of any benefit to him whatsoever!!!

(S)he man Forever...

Things have reached a stage where if you want to watch a good Malayalam movie, you have to dig into your DVD Collection or depend on the sattelite channels to telecast one from the good old glorious days! Thus, it was on a lazy Saturday afternoon that I dished the CD of "Chandupottu" out of my private collection for some relief from the banal flicks that are playing out on the screens in Kerala these days.

Released in 2005, Chandupottu is a delightful love story- a tale that depicts the love that Malu (Gopika) has for Radhakrishnan (Dilip) often referred to as Radha, thanks to his effeminate ways. Things turn ugly for the couple when Kumaran (Indrajith), the local thug casts his eyes on Malu and starts plotting against Radha to eliminate him from the scene. How Radha survives and how he is united with Malu forms the rest of the plot.

On the surface, Chandupottu is no different from a regular love story. What makes it stand out is Dilip's portrayal of the effeminate Radha. Radha is brought up like a girl by his grandmother who always wanted a grand daughter and not a grand son. To add to this, Radha's father (Lal) is sent to prison for murdering a fellow fisherman (Anil Murali). Thus, his grand mother's affection coupled with his father's absence results in Radha growing up like a woman, learning dance and eventually ending up teaching dance to the girls in his village .

Benny P Nayarambalam, the scriptwriter is in fine form here. His character sketches are strong for a regular, commercial film. Radha's bringing up scenes have been done very well. Sending Radha's father, the only man in the family, to prison in the first reels itself is a clever master stroke on the part of the scenarist. Komban Kumaran and his scheming ways as well as the apathy shown by Kanaran, Radha's neighbour towards the family have come out real well. With Freddy, Rosy and Ammoomma joining the party in the second half (Biju Menon, Bhavana and Valsala Menon respectively), Chandupottu gets another major boost. How the threesome along with their Goan friends manage to instill confidence in Radha and (try to) change his feminine ways is a treat to watch.

But the strongest point in Chandupottu is that the movie ends with Radha being Radha. After the final showdown with Kumaran, Radha, Malu and their kid are shown walking together and even in that last scene, Lal Jose cleverly induces that feminine swing to Radha's body language making it very clear that no miracles happen in the lives of ordinary mortals.

Vayalar Sharath- Vidyasagar team come up with some beautiful lines and songs. Omanappuzha was a chart buster and Vineeth Sreenivasan scores high on this one. Chandu kudanjoru has its lines oozing sensuality and it has been picturized very suggestively, though aesthetically. Aazhakadalinte has S Janaki making a strong comeback after years.

Azhagappan's camera works magic. Never before has Gopika looked so beautiful. The color pattern that he uses for the scenes in Kerala and the richness with which he has canned the shots in Goa stand testimony to his vast talent. Renjan Abraham does a great job with his scissors. Sound, Art, Costumes, Make up and everything else work wonders!

As far as performances go, Chandupottu gave a big boost to the careers of Indrajith and Gopika. Lal, Sobha Mohan, Rajan P Dev, Koottikkal Jayachandran, Biju Menon, Bhavana, Valsala Menon and everyone else in the supporting cast have done justice to their respective roles. But, the film belongs totally and completely to Dilip. The actor puts his mimicry experience to good use but makes sure that his performance never goes overboard. The natural and spontaneous charm that Dilip lends to the character of Radha is unbelievable. It is really sad that the actor was not suitably rewarded by the various award jury in the state.

Lal Jose proves once again that he is all for variety and that he is equally at ease with all genres of film making. He exhibits a keen sense of picking up the right script and has to be congratulated for his perfect casting. Chandupottu is one film that will urge the viewers to forgive Lal Jose for his earlier mistakes like Randaam Bhavam, Pattalam and Rasigan!

Ladies Only!

It took 7 good years for Priyadarshan's "Rakkillippattu" (Song of the Nightingale) to see the light of the day. The ace director made this all- women affair in languages as varied as Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. Unfortunately, he suffers from this issue of making a multi-lingual out of South India. The film completely lacks in nativity. The girls are drawn from all over the country- you have Jothika , a Parsee teamed up with Sharbani Mukherji, a Bengali; Tabu who is from Andhra; Mita Vasisht from Maharashtra and so on and so forth. When all these pretty women converse in Malayalam on your screen with frightening lip movements, you feel sorry for the script and the producer. If things had fallen properly into place, Rakkillippattu could have been a well made thriller but the over ambitious Priyadarshan spoils it in the name of making a multi- lingual.

The plot revolves around the murder of a man that takes place on a college campus during the annual day and how 2 innocent girls are trapped in the whole affair. You have a tough she cop on the trail of the accused and a tougher she cop in disguise following the first mentioned she cop. At the end of it all, you have the first mentioned she cop being declared the murderer on the ground that she was taking revenge on the guy for having molested her sister who is now paralysed.

Priyadarshan starts it simple with your regular college and hostel fair- the masti by the girls gang at the hostel and the college, the strict and unfriendly warden, the gang wars between the girls and some real good songs tuned by Vidyasagar- all these play pretty well. But the movie as such loses much of its steam as it progresses towards the second half. The girls are all around the city still no one manages to catch them. There are no television or print ads issued by the police to catch the girls. And the whole sequence involving the escapade of the girls from the police station is sheer silliness!

Priyadarshan has managed to rope in actresses who know their jobs well- Tabu is good, so are Jothika, Sharbani, Ishita, Shweta Menon, Mita Vasisht, Lakshmy, Sukumari and KPAC Lalitha. But one cannot help wondering at the sheer amateurish treatment meted out to a plot that could have been fodder for some real good thriller. The cleverness of Priyadarshan, the director is evident in that one scene where Tabu tells the crowd of girls as to how women in India forgo their friendship when they enter into that rut of family life! Priyan deserves a pat on his shoulder for having conceived that one scene...the rest is very, very ordinary!

Dance of Doom

There is one thing that accompanies the Kerala State Film Awards every time they are announced- you guessed it right, controversies! We have actors, technicians, critics and members of the general public shouting from roof tops about the lack of credibility of the jury members and the non- sensical selection of awardees! There are evidences galore for the biassed decisions of the jury- when "Piravi" lost out to "Ore Thooval Pakshikal" in the best film category (1988 if I am right) or when Padmapriya lost out to Oorvashi in the best actress category (2005). If you want any more evidence, please watch "Rathrimazha" which was adjudged the second best feature film by the State Award Jury for the year 2006!

There is no denying the fact that "Rathrimazha' starts out on an interesting note- that of a love affair that blossoms over the internet. The female protagonist (Meera Jasmine- repetitive and getting on one's nerves) puts up a matrimonial ad on a website and she gets a response from handsome young man. They chat, e mail and exchange their thoughts only to fall in love. When things are going really well, the heroine realizes that her lover is a handicap. He happened to be a successful contemporary dancer who was his teacher's (Chithra Iyer in a frightening cameo) most favorite student. The teacher's husband (Lalu Alex playing a similar role for the umpteenth time) does not take it very lightly and conspires against the dancer. The result is an accident on the rehearsal stage which leaves our hero on the wheel chair for the rest of his life.

The heroine, being the idealist she is, still goes ahead with the wedding and things start moving out of control when the hero starts thinking that his wife is not happy and satisifed with him. Thereafter they discuss many things, try to do nice things to each other (he asks her to continue working and she takes him to his old dance school) and sing a couple of songs (listless compositions by Ramesh Narayan) but by then you completely lose interest in their lives. The dancer wants to stage a ballet with the help of his old friends and starts getting involved in that. He behaves as if he is ignoring his wife but in the meantime wants his best friend (Manoj K Jayan playing the compulsive flirt) to sleep with her. She is confused just like the hapless audience and in the end of it all, they realize their follies and come together. Sigh!

If I start listing the drawbacks of "Rathrimazha", I can go on and on and on! Lenin Rajendran has no clue about what he is doing with his script and camera. His direction is totally wrong. One wonders whether this film was edited at all! Photography and Art Direction are pleasing to the eyes. Musical score is a disappointment and the much acclaimed "Bansuri shruti" song turns out to be below average. Thanks to weak characterization, none of the actors strike a chord. Chithra Iyer is loud, Meera Jasmine is irritating and Vineeth is uninspiring. Diya of "Kurumbu" fame dances well and plays the only character in the movie that one can relate to. Even the dance sequences are not well executed. It is another mystery that the choreographers won the National Award!

"Rathrimazha" is said to be an adaptation of Chandramathy's short story "Website". Chandramathy, an unconventional writer, has always been acclaimed for the simplicity and lucidity of her essays and short stories. It is unfortunate that a director like Lenin Rajendran decided to mess up with a literary work of hers! "Rathrimazha" will definitely not be remembered by the audience- I dont know about Chandramathy and Lenin though!