In the noise of films like Hallo and Mayavi, small movies with interesting ideas get lost. They barely get noticed, don’t get enough viewers and as a consequence, such film makers disappear. Jiby John has reviews of Oral, Achanurangatha Veedu, Nottam, Akale, Vargam, Vasthavam, Oruvan, Pakal, and Sancharam and says that good Malayalam cinema is not dead.
small films we fail to know of, drowned in the worthless, pointless advertising, marketing, superstar-centric overdose that you and I are spoonfed in Kerala. I don’t want Prithviraj or any other youngster to be a superstar in the future. The reason I loved his movies recently was that he played characters who are vulnerable, characters with flaws and faults, a leading hero who lets other characters also have scope to perform, even at the risk of outshining him. Mohanlal, Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Dileep films are all about themselves. None of the acting talents of malayalam are allowed to shine in their movies, no slice of life of Kerala comes out in their movies, finally none of their characters look like you, or me, our parents, or any ordinary person in Kerala. It would be good if you remember the kind of films, they did earlier for us to put them up on such a high pedestal, now it would be equally good for us and our cinema, if we pulled these superheroes of Kerala down to our own level.[Goliath Is Winning...]
Have you seen any of these movies? What do you think of them?
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August 17, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Achanurangatha Veedu, Akale and Sancharam; especially the very last one are truly worth a mention.Margam is another fabulous one that could be added to the list.
As for the rest, I beg to differ. And here is why. Both of Padmakumar’s films showcased his affinity and inspiration towards I.V.Sasi, with whom he had worked for years. Not that there is anything wrong in it, but apart from Prithviraj who delivered knockout performances, there was little else noteworthy, not forgetting to mention the spoilsport scripts.
Pakal was an activist film that sadly ended up being pseudo-activist. At the end of it all, it was neither here nor there, leaving the director and actors gaping around in a vaccuum, (no) thanks to an inane script.
Oraal was disastrous as a movie; the different attempt and the unseemly cast might have been eye-catching, but sadly the movie wasnt. It was not just slow, but real dreary to the point of being uninspiring. Veeralipattu was another film that missed its point by a mile. A basic premise that might have turned out interesting instead ended up being a mishmash of commerical and artsy cinematic attempts.
As for Mayookham, it surely had to be Hariharan’s most disappointing fare since Prem Poojari. The wayward youth theme had been done to death, dime a dozen, by innumerable film makers over the years, and the second half was ridden with unbelievable cliches that could have given Vinayan a run for his money. After Ennu Swantham Janakikutty, Hariharan had a might fall with this one, and how…
August 18, 2007 at 9:08 am
This note is to Velu, I dont agree with the fact that Hariharan is a good director.Because all his good films were gifted with M.T.’s scripts.
Without them most of his films were blunders and box office disasters.
And without the help of M.T. the films he made were Mayookham,Prem pujari,and many stupid old films with Jayan,Prem Nazir etc.A good director constantly maintains a class;but Hariharan doen’t have that.
August 18, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Did MT write Sargam?
August 18, 2007 at 11:22 pm
No but there are glimses of M.T. support in that film.it may not be shown in the cast
but i have heard and read that they have discussed it to a good extend.
Take the film Manichitrathazhu,it was directed by Fazil,but was completed by 3 second unit directors Sibi malayil,Siddique lal,Priyadarshan.
August 19, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Agree with Velu. Achanurangatha Veedu is definitely Lal Jose’s finest. Salim Kumar was a real surprise. Akale and Sancharam were also pretty good. I liked Akale more. I couldnt sit thru Pakal for more than 20 mins. Noble intentions but bad execution. Vasthavam was pretty good. Agreed, there were loopholes in the script. Actually calling them loopholes is harsh. In that story, showing everything in detail will need a 6 hr movie. Prithvi rocked in an author-backed role.
I keep watching the scene where he confronts his brother-in-law in the meeting regarding adivasis settlement. That was one of the best executed scenes in Indian cinema in recent times. The tempo was built up brilliantly in that scene – Prithvi’s rage, the background music both build up as the camera zooms, also backed by strong dialogues. Another plus for the movie is superb performances by everyone. Cant remember a movie where all the cast acted so well – Jagathy, Jagadeesh, Salim Kumar, the guy who acted as his son, all the three ladies. Also, can anyone tell me who else is there who could have done that role, not just in present day, in the last 25 years of malayalam cinema. Only one other name comes up right?
August 21, 2007 at 10:47 am
To give an example, in movies like Vadakkan Veeragatha,one of the classics of Malayalam cinema, we saw the brilliance of the director. It was a good script indeed. Basically the director did justice to the script. Now you may say that it was actually MT who directed it, Hariharan was actually vacationing in Thailand. According to my understanding, a good cinema is a result of good team work. ie many people rising to the occassion.