Reviews

"Malaikottai Vaaliban" showcases Mohanlal's brilliance, delivering a flawless performance that captivates the audience. While the film falls short of LJP's usual credibility, it doesn't compromise on his unique storytelling style. The production values, including frames, art, costumes, and sound, are commendable. However, the music treatment feels jarring and distracting. The first half is superb, but post-interval action sequences lack impact. The climax is a punch, concluding the film on a high note. While some actors struggle hard to adjust to the dramatics, Mohanlal shines effortlessly, kudos to his voice modulation, a gem of an actor, emphasising his greatness.

Despite LJP's apparent effort to impress the commoners, the film is worth a theater experience for its beautiful frames and the magic of Mohanlal after a long while. Fortunately, LJP maintains his distinctive style without compromising or accommodating for the seasoned actor.

It was disappointment to see R Balki come up with such lousy content, it was more of an intentional way of create characters like the one played by Neena Gupta to bring out the narrative.

Sujay Ghosh's attempt gave away from the start with cheap VFX from the first shot, the characters were half baked and at no point there was any excitement left to get amazed once the climax unveils. I am still not sure for what reasons lust (physical affection) takes precedence in this overall plot.

Amit's attempt was mediocre, there were casting issues especially Kajol's, it tries hard to build the authenticity of the era they want us to be in, but the plot structure and the overall casting does not elevate this story leaving it at the surface level.

The only winner is Konkana Sen Sharma's story, it was relatable, intense, and at the same time hilarious. The performance were supreme from Tillatoma Shome & Amrutha Subhash, and they have to applauded for making us believe in their characters. The treatment was matured and the filmmaker never ever slipped into cheap titillation, it was handled aesthetically and beautifully.

With huge expectations i started watching this film, the start was good, real good. It was clear from the start there is something that's going to take a bad turn for all the characters involved.

The start was to the point, and slowly we get to the point where we are introduced to the chief chef, and from there the film takes a downhill leaving us in a bad taste.

The film claims to offer interesting cuisines impacting the characters involved directly or indirectly, and that was my focal point throughout, unfortunately the films delves in some uninteresting areas to create horror and havoc among the characters.

The performance from the ensemble cast is also very stale, there are times wherein the characters lack consistency in maintaining the emotion of being scared or terrified. From a narrative standpoint, there are some plot points that were interesting and I expected the makers to make them more interesting.

All the actions taken by the chief chef to entertain the guests becomes pointless when we get into the climax. Thus leading me to ask what was the whole point in bringing the angle of food and cuisines, it did not fuse well. The cuisines presented does not create any wow moments or intrigue us in any way.

The starters were interesting in this MENU and the rest was stale-

The film had all the flavours to be one of the darkest psychological serial killing plots, and it really started well hooking me with the Freddy character.

The character Freddy is easily relatable but at times it feels the layers on the psyche of Freddy is toned down for the decisions he has taken and the reluctance he shows to socialise especially with the opposite sex. The character has confusing traits, the highlight was staring at the breast of the opposite sex with whom he might have fantasised, and when he gets a chance to be alone with them he portrays his moral side, and covers their skin, so it was confusing, and hell yeah Freddy is a confused guy who is looking out for soulmate.

With such social reluctances in Freddy it is hard to fathom that he owns a massive private dental clinic and managing the whole show with one lady seated at the front desk sending patients in. That was a tough part, and it could have been more relatable if he was employed in a hospital and the dynamics with the hospital management and staff against him could have added more layers.

Coming to the point, the film starts on a very high note, and post first half, it just gets into a revenge saga where Freddy comes out of his grey to a morally white shade and that's the biggest problem for me in this film.

The plot gets very predictable when we hit the second half, and the only part I was waiting for was the climax, and this was the huge letdown, it leaved me without any impact, no goosebumps, they had all the setup right, but the characters behaved giving it up, and succumbing to the overall closure with no survival instincts from the bad guys, and we can see a perfect crime coming to a graceful end.

This should be Kartik's best performance, he did a fab job in playing the role of Freddy, and I was easily connecting with him and his thoughts, unfortunately the character Freddy does not offered him all the complex layers which I anticipated from this film.

Freddy - the climax ruined it primarily!

It's been a while to come across a Malayalam film like Appan to reassure my belief that there is a tremendous potential in character actors and given a chance they will create magic, and Appan has created one of those!

A perfect blend of great performances, amazing locations and visuals, smooth narrative, apt music is what makes Appan a special movie. I would expect state & national recognition for Pauly Valsan who gave a breathtaking performance, she handled her complex character with such ease & grace, it made me relate to her instantly. Hats off to Pauly Valsan, she has solely surpassed every other seasoned actors in this film.

This is Sunny Wayne's career best performance, and more than that I respect him for taking up the challenge to produce & promote such a different narrative. Ananya. Radhika, the kid gave a matured performance supporting the overall flow of events, and finally we have Alencier, the central character, who gave his career best as well with his extravaganza act, making us hate his character from the onset.

The filmmaker had tremendous control over the narrative, and the way he blended visuals, the characters, the music- it was very close to perfection without any distraction. The narrative takes a little dip in the second half with an unnecessary build up for the climax, but that does not take away anything of what this film contributes at large.

I would suggest and recommend every film lover to watch this film primarily for performances. Proud of Malayalam Cinema & the acting talent we have!

Highly Recommended!

The film starts off well, and then collapses miserably in the second half. The premise, the people, their problems really helped make the first half more convincing. The second half was more of a stretched version to prove the mettle of the protagonist, to give the character much needed high, and that leads to a bigger issue of characterisation.

The protagonist is weak in every aspects, the initial graph builds up very well and then it strays and leads us to a place where I was wondering what was this movie all about. I felt the protagonist did not led me to any particular emotion where I can connect, everything looked superficial, even his qualms, his humiliation, his sudden spark of anger, all of these came out very casual without any empathy element, probably that could lead us to another aspect, the treatment.

Yes, the treatment worked for me to a large extent, the realistic approach. The treatment somehow loses its grip to convey the noble thought visually owing to poor characterisation and probably lack of some interesting plot points, especially in the second half.

Performance wise, nothing much to brag about except this should be Shammi's film, he gave a fab performance, the moment his character went offscreen, I felt the film took the downhill.

This could have been a far better & impactful short film.

I didn't like the trailer, as I do not prefer action films, and when this film got released, I was hearing rave reviews about the film. The subconscious in me did not notice the positive reviews were more towards the treatment of the film than the fight sequences.

Anyways, fortunately I got a chance to see this film, and this is one of the different films I have watched this year. The treatment, be it cuts, the music, the songs, the costumes, the action choreography, the performances, and controlled direction were spot on! The maker has to be way matured to understand how thin line the maker was treading to conceive this film, it's a commendable effort in visualising this film. I wonder how did they got the script locked with so much dynamics running shot after shot.

Every aspect of the film was well thought of, and it fused so well as one single audio visual narrative. Especially the non linear narrative was dealt so subtly, there was no ruckus to prove the continuity of any scene with any shot shown earlier, everything flowed so fluently, neatly done!

Lastly, it is a niche film, and the problem with such films, either it would work or will not work, there are middle ground for such films. I loved it to the core, and full credits goes to the maker for bringing a fresh treatment keeping me glued till the end credits.

Highly recommended!!

Oruthee was a huge let down, the hype is not at all justified. The film starts with the character Balamani and her daily chores. It started off well, setting up the main character, her surrounding, her family/friends, but it really got on my nerve to wait for the first conflict that would lead to the whole purpose of this movie.

The first conflict happens after an hour of its run time, and this has really drain my interest in the film. In the second half, expected some revival, and here the makers have taken the audience for a ride by selecting a conflict which is handled so immaturely making the characters behave like fools, and making it tough to relate. The only relief was the role enacted by Vinayakan, his character had potential depth and this was not explored to the maximum.

Performance wise, I am not sure what's the buzz around Navya Nair's strong comeback, she did just a mediocre job in enacting the character, nothing to brag about. Vinayakan's presence was the only saving grace, the makers should have told this story from his perspective and it would have been even more interesting.

If this same treatment was told in half an hour timeframe, probably it would have some impact, the makers just conveniently stretched the film to make it a feature, it looks like.

The filmmaker claiming to work on this project for more than a decade and when the first instalment is out, the primary and only focus of the filmmaker looks more on the technical side of storytelling and that has come out very well and it would be a treat if you get a chance to view on 3D.

The film starts with a bang, and establishes the primary conflict beautifully, and thanks for the cameo from SRK. Further the plot unwinds and we are introduced to the main protagonist and the problem starts for me with this film, the dialogues are so cheesy, so banal, the humour falling flat. The problem lies with the female protagonist Isha, she is forced into the plot with no real motives and moreover this character dampens the progression of the plot when it thickens.

The first half is comparatively way better than the sluggish second half, thanks to some beautifully plotted thrilling sequences keeping me glued to the screen. Post interval, the plot intermittently gave me hope for the finale, but it was a huge letdown, culminating in a series of events that is so forgetful leaving me not at all anxious for the second instalment.

The song Deva Deva was one song that made me feel really good momentarily, it was so well visualised. If the makers made ensure they stick to the basics of story telling this would have been an epic instalment, unfortunately it is not!

The film with all the right intentions fails to impress owing to weak characterisation, plot loopholes, and missing of some key plot points to keep the viewer intriguing.

The emotional connect with Suraj's character and his son lack depth, and that lack of depth is evident in Suraj's relation with his mother. This eventually puts a lot of burden on the viewer to stay engrossed to understand the mystery behind all those killings.

Secondly, plot loop holes looked conveniently placing characters and evidences to move the plot forward, I understand the plot has to move forward, but there could have been better ways to make this happen. Especially the climax is dealt to recreate Drishyam magic and it was an disastrous attempt.

The culprit's motive to avenge was dealt with no serious thought behind it. The performance of Deepak was a huge letdown, there seems to be an issue with casting as well, Suraj's mother as well was a poor cast.

We have seen Suraj in such emotional graph playing similar characters, so there was nothing to brag about his skills. He has given yet another stellar controlled performance, but I would suggest if he reads this, to shift gear, it's getting more of a repetition or a pattern.

Overall, it's a smart move by the makers to release it on OTT.

I wasn't expecting anything extra ordinary from 12th Man primarily because of the trailer. To large extent I was right, this was a disappointment.

The film's treatment is more of a soap serial drama where there is lot of spoon feeding, lots of talking, loads of flashback leaving the feel of cinema way behind.

The film starts way too late and that's again a problem with the length of the film, it drags to a point where I wanted to end the film even if the suspense is not revealed.

The investigation episode in the second half is very flimsy, we have the usual suspects stuck in a room, where investigation officer takes round and somehow lands at the conclusion solving the mystery.

Positives- some performances by the cast were surprising, especially Anusree, she was very good. Even. Chandunath, Sshivada & Priyanka played their role well.

Mohanlal was a miscast, the hangover of big boss anchor to a larger extent in the second half was very evident.

12th Man- glad it's an OTT release, and it's okay if we give it a miss, not even close for an average outing.

The question arises why would one want to make a film tried and tested several times in all languages- a form that inspires filmmakers, enticing them with the avenge revenge dramatics.

This time the filmmaker would have convinced to give it a new perspective by adding an extra layer of Mahabharata, take one chapter and apply to this format. Unfortunately it disappoints big time, the film falls flat in characterisation, the plot structure, the overall treatment, the dialogs, and heavily on the music. I am still not getting how can the composer be applauded for this film where the marriage of music & story was way apart, they both stand at different level making it noticeable on the face.

The filmmaker inspiration of Godfather & Sarkar was very evident with the shot composition, shot framing, the Color tonality and the dialog deliveries from the key characters, but it failed to leave a mark owing to tons of slow motion, jarring music, and very weak antagonists.

There was a massive hype given to Sudev Nair's character but it did not evolve as it was expected to be, the character merely was a catalyst for the filmmaker to plot Bheeshma Parvan episode from Mahabharata. That 20 minute climax which was supposed to be an USP for this film was dealt with such immaturity that I was left clueless how could this movie be celebrated even if it's considered as a mass film, no character stands out, not one with whom the filmmaker tried to lock our emotions with, there are only glimpses of insights to key characters, that's it, lifeless characters!

A disappointing affair!

The film tries a lot to infuse all the emotions for us to relate and move us within, but it falls flat owing to lack of central core conflict, poor characters, mediocre performances and most importantly trivial plot points.

From a plot perspective, the filmmaker tries to enforce a concept of family reunion under the threat of emotional harassment. The family extends their stay just because they saw their mother dying on a video wherein the ailing mother came up with her wish list for her children to follow year on year, and yet this has been told with sheer conviction and to add to that the filmmaker has been fascinated by the 90s era and looks like the 90s era is what he tried to applied to today's world and it was not worth it.

The filmmaker also tries to boast how progressive today's world has evolved to where women & men are happy to exchange their prejudiced roles, but it appears to be more of a gimmick deep down the message that came out to me from the filmmaker is that family rides on emotional blackmailing to get things done for vested interests.

The characters are etched at the surface and there is no depth added, leaving them as simple as superficial they can be. Even the actors have not full justice to their characters though they seem to try hard with not enough research and not enough inputs from the makers.

The lead actors Biju Menon & Sudheesh were able to connect at random times to evoke some empathy towards their plight, rest others behaved at a superficial level.

Salute is a fresh air in the making of an investigative journey wherein there are no sensationalism baked into the plot with twist, twist after twist rather we are invited to a world of investigators on how the challenges they face and how they try to maintain a balance between right & wrong.

The film also commences a beginning in the style of international cults where the makers together with the characters try to figure our the unknown and in the end they had to give up or be convinced that this is the far most extreme they can investigate. This was a satisfying experience to see our movies getting to a league of an international quality in this genre, and kudos to the filmmaker & writers.

The film starts off well, and the dynamics it brought in to build the first act was fascinating, protagonist & his brother, being in the same profession and working together in the same team, unknowingly gets into a place where they take separate ways professionally & personally, protagonist in search of fair investigation, and his brother to save his position by covering up the evidences planted for the same investigation

The film progresses well from the protagonist point of view to get into the layers that gets unfold, and the treatment that was chosen fits well into the overall feel.

I would disagree this is a slow burner, rather the pacing was apt and it hooked me to the plot once the first conflict was established.

The second half was way more interesting, and it reminded me of Zodiac, the way investigators get close to the killer and then they realise they are way off and then later they find something that links it back to the killer. It was realistically dealt with, there was no moment to glorify any actor or any character to make it a saucy thriller, enticing viewers to grab attention.

The climax was beautifully thought of leaving viewers in a state where they usually don't find themselves after watching the usual thrillers Indian Cinema are made. The viewers should not have any expectation of any formal closure to the investigation wherein the investigator or their team present a detail report on the killer with flashback and then a twist to surprise the audience, no that's not how this film has to reviewed or validated.

Barring the side characters and the love interest that failed to make a mark, this definitely marks a beginning of a treatment where personally I prefer to have these more often in Indian Cinema, and it's a brave effort from the makers and producer to invest making this film.

Highly Recommended!

Feeling really sad for Ukrainians with the current ongoing situation, and this documentary shows how NATO & EU used Ukraine and it's civilians to torture Russia.

The brave Ukrainians fought for every right they thought is theirs, and today the dream bubble has blown and it is out open for everyone to see the naked intentions of NATO & EU commission for not actively supporting Ukrainians.

After this documentary, I feel more proud to see how Ukraine fought not only the 2014 revolution but also the current Russian invasion.

Salute to the brave hearts of Ukraine who believed in their rights, and who fought for it without ever giving it up!

Following the legacy of A Wednesday to bring societal changes, A Thursday manages to build that legacy without being a spoilsport.

The viewers are hooked onto the first primary conflict within under 15 minutes and from there on the plot evolves organically. The treatment that follows after the initial conflict looks more familiar to some well known international web series, but that does not come as a distraction to the overall treatment.

The second act is very critical and that's the backbone of the overall screenplay, and it comes out fairly well, the screenplay is gripping, and the performances are decent, there are some areas where the performance by Atul Kulkarni is way loud and at times I felt Neha Dhupia getting out of her character especially when she loses calm, and that too looked so forced. Barring all those drawbacks, the second act is quite decent.

The second act ends with a Big Bang and makes the third act more interesting. Before the audience leap into third act, the screenplay dips down and reveals the cause for the conflict, and this is a very crucial point and this could decide the fate of the film, thankfully the screenplay is tight, and it leads into the third act with an unrealistic ask involving the PM of India.

The third act lands on the predictable note of what was revealed in the later part of second half, the protagonist seeking reforms on key social issue that every other woman faces in this country. Though the execution and the dramatics that were involved to build the climax is far fetched and that could be the only major dip in the overall viewing experience to me.

The performance from Yami is top notch, the last 15 minutes she was spot on, and Dimple Kapadia as the PM has been competent enough to deliver yet another startling performance and the supporting actor Karanvir Sharma has been a surprise of coming up with a seasoned act. Atul Kulkarni & Neha Dhupia though flawed yet they provide ample support to the overall proceeding.

Filmmaker Behzad Khambata has to be applauded of providing sheer entertainment and without digressing in making his point on the hypocrisy the overall system including the governance, the politics, the police investigations, the media rides on behalf of not being truthful and lynches on to the common man's taxes and traumas, the plight they suffer, their family suffers and it indeed makes a very effective & a loud point for them to act on.

A Thursday- A brave attempt and let's hope the legacy follows and we have A Friday so that these issues are picked up and discussed widely to bring reforms.

Meppadiyan without any doubt has been an interesting experience. The surprising factor for me was the mundane topic (real estate) and how it was moulded into a mystery pot boiler has to be applauded. Secondly, this is the first time Unni Mukundan gave a very matured performance, he was into the skin of the character, the gradual emotional progression was very well handled by the actor.

This film could have been the best thriller from Malayalam film industry provided the makers were careful in the first act, it looked like the scene progression from one scene to another were placed without giving any thought. The build up is very slow and when the first conflict appears, then it gets very interesting & intriguing.

The second major flaw was with the climax which lacked clarity and it looked rushed, they would have given more time & space to close the conflict gracefully and the end credits looked out of the way from what was the whole movie all about and that was confusing.

Apart from Unni, Aju & Saiju's character, the ensemble characters lack more depth, and the lack of clarity between Unni and his family or his lover appeared more at a surface level and that could be one of the factor for me to not connect well with the ensemble cast.

Overall the experience was very good, but the film had potential to scale more heights.

Gehraiyaan has come out as an intense experience for me and this one of the fewest Hindi films off late which managed to surprise me.

The film starts setting the characters in an elite setup and that looked pretentious to me at the onset. The pivotal characters had a disturbing past, even though they attempt to move on, move on passionately, and still they have this fear of getting hurt and being pulled back to their dreadful past. These dynamics in the key characters would have helped me to stay glued to the premise irrespective of a pretentious start.

It's coming of age film for most of the viewers, the dialogues are in majorly conversed in English and it is understandable given the premise the characters are placed in. The film beautifully delves into relationships with the intensity, and the complexity it results into.

The 2 characters stand out Alisha & Zain, the characters carry a traumatic past and they both are trying to distance from their past and find a new beginning to move on. Love is a tool that mechanises them to move ahead, and then the same love is put to test against materialistic needs, and when that doesn't match up or goes beyond control which usually is the case, puts them in a state of pain ciphering them back to their past and that's what exactly this beautiful film is all about.

The maker has convincingly engaged me into the plot with beautiful scenes, the overall cinematic experience. The writing is also fluent and at parts I was questioning myself on the decisions the characters were driven to make, but that justifies when we see the film as a whole. Though there are couple of questions or subplots that are not brought to an explicit closure, but it doesn't create any I'll feeling towards the overall journey I had with this film

Every family carries dark secret that they would not dare to discuss our open and this what the maker Shakun expertises in, his early venture was also on the same line and this one is way different yet with the same tonality.

Performances from key characters especially Deepika & Siddhant were outstanding, and surprisingly Ananya gets an apt character and she does it well. Naseer Sir with his cameo role provides ample support to the overall proceeding. After Piku, this yet another striking performance from Deepika, hope she receives national recognition for this one.

The best part is the climax, when Alisha decides to move on and close her traumatic past, the viewers are left in a state of disbelief that the plight for Alisha continues and she has to keep drowning in her dreadful past.

It's an amazing film, one must watch it, it's an A rated film so it's obvious that the film is meant for Adults and let's not foul cry on the content, there is no way the film tries to sensationalise eroticism it's all handled aesthetically, beautifully.