My trip to Kaavalam

I would have loved to post the review of the newly released "Cheeni Kum" today. But, thanks to an unexpected fever, I am confined to home today. I really hope the film stays on in Kochi for another week so that I can catch it next weekend. Nevertheless, the weekend was not completely devoid of any action. I had the good fortune to visit Kaavalam, a sleepy hamlet in the district of Alappuzha in Kerala, popularly known as the Venice of the East, thanks to the numerous canals that run through the district. It is quite shameful to admit that this was my first trip to a place like that in my 27 years of existence in Kerala, but boy, what a trip it was! There were 6 of us from office and the intention was to visit our ex boss who had just delivered a baby girl. It definitely turned out to be more of a pleasure trip than anything else. The drive till Alappuzha was quite normal. But, the moment we entered Kuttanad, things took a totally different turn. On both sides of the road, there were paddy fields stretching till eternity. It was such a wonderful sight. The fields were separated from each other by canals, all of whom had the luxurious house boats floating on them. There were street side hawkers on both sides of the road selling fresh fish, duck and the like. The less said about the number of toddy shops the better. The first deviation that we had to take from the highway was towards Pulinkunnu. This small village ended in a canal from which we had to be ferried across to Kaavalam. There were numerous passenger boats plying between the banks all of whom could carry even the vehicles. Thus, we were on the ferry along with the Qualis that we were travelling in. It was by no means a great distance to be ferried across. The canal was so narrow that one could actually communicate with the person standing on the opposite side. However, the very experience of travelling in that boat with the breeze blowing on your face was really heavenly! We disembarked the boat at Kaavalam and from there it was another 15 minutes drive to reach our destination. Located on the banks of the holy river Pamba, the house was tastefully done in traditional Kerala architecture. With tiled roof and a false wooden ceiling, it was a very cozy and comfortable house though 56 years old. After enjoying the beauty of nature and the canals in Alappuzha, we landed back in Kochi late evening. On our way back, one of my friends was heard remarking why the government could not put up bridges across the canals to make the transportation easier. However, I still feel such thoughts be better left alone since the sheer pleasure of crossing canals in boats would then remain alien to us.

Thanks a lot for the great support

I had this thought of becoming a columnist at the back of my mind in the early years of life, but at the time when I could have really worked towards becoming one, I developed cold feet and turned towards a more lucrative, less risky career. It probably was the old columnist's mind that urged me to start writing something and these thoughts culminated in my decision to start a blog. That movie reviews could be the focus of my blog was an idea that my friends and colleagues gave me since I have always been an avid movie buff, one that loved to critically analyze everything about a movie. I sprung into action soon and the result was the reviews that you see below. I had no great ideas when I sent the URL to all my friends and relatives. But what really surprised me was the overwhelming response to the blog, through the comments on the blog, through e mails, SMS, phone calls and orkut. I would really like to thank each and every one of you who took time off your busy schedule to read through my blog and who were kind enough to give me your feedback. It definitely is so heartening to know that there are so many people who care for you and take interest in the little things you do in life. Inspired by the support and encouragement, I am planning to widen the spectrum of my blog- to cover a whole lot of stuff other than just movies. I am planning to write on a wide variety of stuff hereafter in this blog- viz., music, sports, politics, business, philosophy etc etc- but, of course from a critical view point. The major attraction of the blog would still remain movie reviews though. Before I venture out, I would really be happy to know what each one of you think about my plans. Please use the comments section below to let me know what each of you feel about my lofty ideas mentioned above. Once again, thanks for all the great support and encouragement...

Chotta Mumbai is fun

After the successful "Ananathabhadram", Sree Bhadra Pictures return with "Chotta Mumbai" (Malayalam). Directed by Anwar Rasheed, the movie stars Mohanlal, Kalabhavan Mani, Saikumar, Rajan P Dev, Jagathy, Siddique, Bijukuttan, Manikuttan, Bhavana and many others. Chotta Mumbai is the story of a group of friends (Jagathy, Siddique, Indrajith, Manikuttan, Bijukuttan), headed by Vasco da Gama (Mohanlal). These good for nothing dudes belong to the streets of Fort Kochi and eke out a living by indulging in petty crimes like pick pocketing, selling movie tickets in the black market etc. Life is one big celebration for them till they witness the murder of a Police Officer (Vijayaraghavan). Enter the villain (Kalabhavan Mani) who makes life go topsy turvy for the group. How the hero and his friends come out of this entangle victoriously is what the rest of the film is all about. Benny P Nayarambalam comes up with a racy script. It defies logic for sure, but who is bothered when you don't have even a single dull moment all through. Editing, Camera, Art Direction and Sound are all first rate. Music by Rahul Raj is good and in tune with the mood of the movie. The climax song is well sung and very well choreographed. The remix of the old number "Chettikulangara" (which also introduces Mohanlal into the movie, doing a hilarious take on the yesteryear superstar, Jayan) deserves special mention. It has been a while since we saw an ensemble supporting cast in a superstar movie with well written roles. Chotta Mumbai scores a perfect ten in this regard. No wonder when you walk back home, it is not just Mohanlal who remains with you, it is Saikumar, Rajan P Dev, Jagathy, Siddique, Indrajith and Manikuttan too. Kalabhavan Mani makes a strong screen villain to Mohanlal. Bijukuttan is definitely going to be a regular in movies what with his perfect comic timing. Bhavana is refreshing as the naughty "Parakkum" Latha though she looks odd playing heroine to Mohanlal. Mohanlal, it seems, has had a ball shooting for this movie. His high energy levels translate to the viewer for sure. It definitely is not a path breaking performance from the hugely talented actor, but he is absolutely endearing as Vasco da Gama. Anwar Rasheed had set a high standard for himself with his record breaking debut in "Rajamanickam". With Chotta Mumbai, he more than proves that he is THE director to look out for in future. Chotta Mumbai is the perfect entertainer this summer for the entire family! Go for it.

Sheer waste of "TIME"

Since the start of 2007, I had seen only 3 Malayalam movies till date- the path breaking "Kaiyoppu", the refreshing "Note Book" and the fairly thought provoking "Vinodayathra". Needless to say, I was happy and surprised at the sudden improvement in the quality and content of the recent Malayalam movies. However, my experience with the newly released "Time" (Produced by Gopan, written by Rajesh Jayaraman and directed by Shaji Kailas) made me realize that my happiness was short lived. This is definitely a 2 hour torture of the highest order and I don't think any normal person would be able to relate to such an apology for a movie. I really do not want to delve into the details - the so called story or the lack of it. But, Rajesh Jayaraman definitely is a socially aware citizen- his script has references to anything and everything that has happened in the recent past- characters inspired from personalities ranging from Arundhathi Roy to Raman Shrivastava to V S Achuthanandan, pointers towards Nandigram, Smart City etc. However, in an effort to re create all this in his script, he has bitten off more than what he or anyone else can chew. The result is a script that goes haywire lending absolutely no credibility to any character or incident. Shaji Kailas struggles with this lackadaisical script and adds his own bit by making his actors go completely over the top. Subtlety is definitely not something that Shaji cares for. His usual gimmickery of fast editing (L Bhoominathan) and slick shots (Rajarathinam) are visible in Time. But, only if he could care for the script... Unfortunately for the pretty Vimala Raman, this happens to be her debut vehicle in Malayalam, a film which she can definitely be ashamed of. The lady is promising nevertheless. Padmapriya looks fab in her Fab India costumes, thats about it. It is really disheartening to see an actress of her calibre making such horrendous choice of roles. Siddique stands out. As for the rest of the cast, well, the less said the better. Oops, I forgot that the hero of this movie is Suresh Gopi!!! I am not sure whether Mr. Gopi is watching his movies in theatre with the audience. If he does, he will get an idea of how little TIME he has to prove his mettle as a dependable superstar once again. In his efforts to portray an eccentric IPS officer, he ends up looking like a fool on camera. TIME is definitely not worth your time, even if you have a lot of time at your disposal.

Naan Avan Illai could have been better

Selva directs Naan Avan Illai (Tamil), a remake of K Balachander's movie with the same name released in the 70's. Looks like the remake fever is catching up with Kollywood also what with Ajith announcing Billa 2007, a remake of Rajnikanth's Billa, which in itself, was a remake of Chandra Barot's AB cult classic "Don". I know I am deviating from this remake to remakes in general. Let me come back to the remake in question. Naan Avan Illai is the story of our hero (Jeevan- can't name his character as he sports different names in the movie) who is into wooing good looking girls, marrying them and then, duping them of all their belongings, obviously, after sleeping with them. The movie starts with 4 such duped girls (Malavika, Jyothirmayee, Keerthi Chawla and Namitha) filing a complaint against the hero. The police manages to arrest the culprit and produce him in court and the rest of the movie is about how each of the girls tries to prove that Jeevan is the culprit and how he cleverly manages to claim "Naan Avan Illai" (I am not him) against each of their allegations. As the drama unfolds in the court room, the audience is taken to the flashbacks which shows how the hero had duped each of his victims. In the middle of all this, there is another girl who falls for the hero's intelligence and that is none other than the judge's daughter played by Sneha. Coincidentally, Sneha has also been duped in the past by Jeevan of some money, posing himself as a painter and delivering her an empty frame instead of the painting. At the end of it all, we have the hero being acquitted by the court since the prosecution is unable to prove that it indeed was Jeevan who duped all the four ladies. Then comes a twist, quickly followed by another and there ends the movie! Naan Avan Illai suffers from what every remake suffers- comparisons with the original. And when the original is a classic, directed by one of the best directors Indian cinema has ever seen, the comparisons and criticisms can only get worse. Director Selva does have some grip on his narration, but could have concenterated more on building up the stories and the characters, instead of wasting time by filming one song each on each of the five heroines. He seems to have made this compromise to attract the audience who will feel cheated if they dont have things like Namitha and Malavika showing off their skin during the song sequences. This is where the problem lies with the movie. It ends up being neither here nor there. At times, one wonders how could smart, educated and intelligent girls fall for a guy head over heels in just a couple of meetings. Mind it, the girls who are duped are not your dumb teenager kind- one is a model, another is a successful entrepreneur etc etc. Pattukottai Prabhakar's dialogues are good. His mastery comes to the fore in the final court verdict, effectively delivered by the veteran actress Lakshmi, who plays the judge. Vijay Antony's music is fair, "Yen Enakku" filmed on Jeevan and Sneha and the title song with Jeevan and all the five heroines stand out. Camera, Editing, Art direction and Sound are good. The movie has a glossy look about it too. Namitha scorches the screen with her presence, but the rate at which her waistline is increasing, the time is not far away when she will end up playing the screen mother to our heroes. Malavika looks hot, Keerthi Chawla does not get much screen time and Jyothirmayee is adequate. It is good to see veteran actress Lakshmi back on the screen after a hiatus, and that too in a significant role. As always, she makes good use of her screen time. Sneha looks fetching though she does not have much to do in terms of acting. The actress needs to be complimented for her extremely wearable wardrobe, as opposed to the other girls in the movie. Jeevan carries the entire movie on his broad shoulders. With every movie, one can see him maturing as an actor. However, he needs to work on his looks, hairstyle and wardrobe, if he does not want to get himself typecast as an anti hero. On the whole, Naan Avan Illai is a glossy remake of its classy original and borders on crassy at times, thanks to the presence of Namitha, who has still not learnt how to look sexy without being vulgar.

"Veyil" shines

S pictures "Veyil" (Tamil) is written and directed by G Vasanthabalan and stars Pashupathy, Bharath, Bhavana, Shriya Reddy and Priyanka.

Veyil is the story of Murugeshan (Pashupathy), the eldest son of a butcher in Virudhunagar. As a kid, he and his brother Kathir (Bharath) are upto all sorts of mischief which includes bunking classes and watching MGR movies at the local cinema. His father catches Murugeshan red handed and punishes him. Humiliated at the treatment meted out to him by his father, Murugeshan flees with some money and his mother's ornaments. He finally ends up in a theatre at another village doing sundry jobs and grows up to become the operator there. He falls in love with Thangam (Priyanka) who is the neighbouring tea shop owner's daughter. All is not well with their love story and consequent to parental opposition and some violence, it ends with the tragic suicide of Thangam.

Years later with the advent of satellite television and pirated CD's, the theatre closes down and Murugeshan has no other go but to return to his native. His father turns him down, but he is accepted and taken home by Kathir who is now a successful advertising company owner. Murugeshan is largely ignored by his family now consisiting of his 2 younger sisters also who shower all their attention on the younger and successful Kathir. The only solace for Murugeshan is his childhood friend, Pandiyammal (Shriya Reddy) with whom he shares his thoughts and sorrows.

Trouble soon erupts in the the family when Kathir is attacked by his business rivals and the violence that follows ends in the death of Murugeshan at which juncture his worth is realised by the entire family.

G. Vasanthabalan deserves all the credit for painting a true to life picture of Virudhunagar. The characters are realistic and the dialogues are natural. The casting is apt. Except for the lead players, it looks like all the other actors have been drawn from the locality itself, including the child artistes who are nothing short of brilliant.

The cinematography is fabulous, capturing the dry, rustic charm of Virudhunagar. Editing is crisp, Art Direction is very natural and lends authenticity to the narration. Debutante G V Prakash Kumar scores as the Music director. The title track Veyilodu vilayaadi (sung passionately by Kailash Kher and Jassie Gift) and the soulful Urukuthe deserve special mention.

Bhavana plays the typical tamil film heroine and her presence adds lightness to an otherwise serious film. Shriya Reddy plays a delightful cameo. Debutante Priyanka charms as Thangam. Bharath is adequate as Kathir. But, it is Pashupathy who has the cake, cream and cherry. He literally lives as Murugeshan. His voice modulation and dialogue delivery is indeed commendable and this is definitely an award worthy performance from the actor. Hope Veyil gives Pashupathy more opportunities than just limiting himself to the archetypal screen villain.

Director Shankar tastes success the third time as a producer following Kaadhal and Imsai Arasan 23 aam Pulikesi. Veyil, apparently has been selected for screening at the Cannes and is the first Tamil film to be screened there. That more than signifies how well made the movie is.