They set up two worlds. The first one is inhabited by the British and chief among them Henry Moores, who wants to build a road in the plantation. Financed by a bank, Moores hopes that this road which will transport spices will make him rich, so that he does not have to depend on his father-in-law. He has one constraint – finish the road before the monsoons. The other world, symbolically located below the British bungalow, is occupied by the natives. Freedom struggle is in the air and various leaders are in the process of enlisting youth to participate in the movement.

The two worlds are connected by two characters. The first one is T.K (Rahul Bose), a native, who is Moore’s right hand man. He stays away from the freedom struggle and even questions the rationale behind it. The second one is Sajani (Nanditha Bose), the servant maid in the bunglow, who has an affair with Moores.

As the work on road progresses, the relationship between Sajani and Moores is discovered by her husband (Lal Paul) and the two worlds collide. When it becomes time for people to take sides, but TK, in an amazing display of servitude becomes a partner in Moores’ crime. He acts so cold that when Sajani goes missing and her brother Manas (Indrajith) collects the villagers to search for her, TK alone stays away.

Soon the pace accelerates and director Santosh Sivan’s camera focuses less on the landscape and more on the characters. The moving shots and closeups heighten the tension as police starts investigating.  The long roving shots which were present in the first half of the film, give way to short scenes in quick succession, accelerating the pace.

The script written by Cathy Rabin  and Dan Verete, based on the Israeli film Asphalt Zahov, focus primarily on TK. He starts off with unquestioning loyalty to the master and becomes a coconut – brown outside and white inside. As the events take over, he slowly transforms and it is this transformation that is the main thread. As he changes, the script writers do not spoon feed the audience with gimmicks or profound dialogue. Instead as the change happens, he joining groups he previously rejected, silently.

To the credit of the script writers they also do not feed us with the cliched caste, curry, cow image of India which is the staple of film makers like Deepa Mehta.  The movie is not melodramatic but  is not without imperfections. The loyalty of TK to Moores could have been explained a bit more as well as the motivation for Sajani to have an affair. There are no subtle hints as well and this makes the story stand on  thin stilts. Even with these imperfections, the movie really transports you to a Kerala 70 years back. The recreation is perfect and upholds the Merchant Ivory standards. The actors in fact become characters and Rahul Bose does a great job emoting with his eyes.

All Santosh Sivan movies have such perfect visuals that a reviewer has to see beyond that maya. We have never been impressed with Santosh Sivan as a director ever since he brutally butchered Asoka and Ananthabhadram, even though they both had absolutely stunning visuals. His Terrorist, we thought, had all the usual art house gimmicks but his picturization of pinakkamano in Ananthabhadram is one of our favorites.  In Before the Rains, he makes a movie which is normal, engrossing and realistic.

(image from wikipedia)

I don’t have absolutely anything against mindless entertainers.After all, cinema is an escapist fare and as long as they manage to entertain the audience it doesn’t matter how good or bad the story is..But what will you do if a movie (which is scripted and directed by one of the cinematic geniuses whom you admire the most) is at the same time mindless and fails to entertain you? That is exactly what Minnaminnikootam is.It is such a trash that makes you cringe to your seat and put you in deep slumber!

Minnaminnikootam starts the ‘classmates’ way,goes to the flash back mode and then comes to the present in the climax scene.Ya…right from the beginning it sounds clichéd no?This is the main flaw of Minnaminni.. it is clichéd,predictable and except for a few gags from Jayasurya and Roma is plain boring. Kamal’s intentions are clear,to make a movie about a group of friends who are I.T.professionals (who quite often behave like teenage boys and girls, and their main job is to sit and chat in the Office ‘Canteen during working hours!) and their woes in life.But what Kamal lacks is a strong story line which keeps the viewers hooked to the movie.

Coming to the performances…The movie has a dozen of stars from the youth brigade though the story revolves round the lead pair of Narein and Meera which infact is the biggest blow as far as the audience is concerned!While the supporting cast of Jayasurya,Roma,Indrajith,Samvrutha have done their roles effectively both Meera and Narein seems to be miscast in their respective roles.Narein lacks screen presence ,his acting is pretty bad (at times amateurish, esp in the ‘drunken’ scene!).Meera’s role is nothing but an extension of what she did in Vinodayathra,Calcutta News and a dozen of other recent films.She over emotes at times and becomes irritating often..Anoop Chandran and Radhika have nothing much to do except to look pretty in the posters designed for the movie!

The songs by Biji Bal and Anil Panachooran is a big let down.Technically also the movie is weak.Cinamatography by Manoj Pillai is just ordinary.

Bottom Line: This Minnaminni is not worth your time and Money!

(Crossposted at Movie Mazaa)

Blessy’s Calcutta News is a slickly designed film that unfortunately has very little to say. Well intentioned, but astoundingly unexciting, the film is a major disappointment in terms of content, concerns and convictions.

Ajith Thomas (Dileep) is a Senior Correspondent with Calcutta News who inadvertently runs into a Malayali couple, Hari (Indrajith) and Krishnapriya (Meera Jasmine), on the bustling streets of Kolkata, in the midst of a hectic Kali Puja shoot. When Hari is discovered murdered a few days later, Ajith along with Krishna, embarks on a perilous journey that would decidedly change both their lives forever.

Social satire has always been Blessy’s forte; one which has at times, vehemently displayed a fierce passion that is at once authentic and intense. The Blessian protagonist is hence quite at ease donning the spectator’s garb, be it Madhavan in Kazhcha or Monichan in Palunku. However, Calcutta News badly falters as the censure this time around is distinctly strained; arising out of a hoard of illogical and terribly specious sequences that are seemingly as disjointed as they possibly can get. And it doesn’t help a bit that the film has as its premise a done to death theme, albeit set in a different milieu.

This is a film that fervently aspires to be something but sadly turns out to be something else. It’s unbelievably unsure of itself. One moment it’s a drippy, dopey tale of romance and a psychological thriller the next; at times it’s a moral fable and a little later a surreal parable. It means to be seductive but merely progresses from the contrived to the manipulative. There is a frantic attempt to maintain an air of mystery through out, which falls flat on its face, since it gets increasingly wary as the minutes pass on. Bewilderedly led round and round along the street maze of Kolkata, you dolefully lose what’s left of your curiosity, when at the end of it all you find yourself stranded where you had set off a couple of hours back. And it does ultimately go overboard with a totally theatrical denouement that is clogged up with visually spectacular shots sans a reason or purpose.

It’s refreshingly wonderful to see S. Kumar back in action after a while. His camera generates sheer poetry on celluloid. Having realized that there is not much of a story to bank on, it assumes a life of its own and sets out on a voyage, capturing a host of dazzling hues, detailed portraits and outstanding moments in the process. Be it the hazy Kolkata rains or the star studded nights, the russet avenues or the raging river, Kumar is at them with a zealous vengeance and the results are nothing short of captivating.

I am appalled by the lead performances though. For, Calcutta News does neither of its leads any particular favors. Dileep in a journo act looks refreshingly modish, and yet it isn’t what I would term an effortless makeover from his usual Romeo roles. He staggers on quite a few occasions and essentially needs a few lessons in articulation. Meera Jasmine on the other hand runs the danger of being stereotyped as the damsel in distress; she looks a tad jaded and world-weary throughout and startlingly manages at times, in sudden spurts of eagerness, to ham to the hilt as well. Of course, there might still be some appeal to the outcome if there were any charisma in the leads or any chemistry between them. But that’s not the case either. There’s absolutely no spark between them, forget a fire, though they strive desperately to rub up some warmth.

The film has no particular result; rather it shoves a contrived ending down our throats as we still wait with several of those jigsaw bits dying to fit together. It remains caught up in its baffling rationale, and ends up looking scheming and gauche. The more intricate it tries to be, the less convincing it becomes and hence rightly invites ponderings about method over matter.

We had great expectations for Sibi Malayil’s come back movie, but he seems to have lost sense of cinema during the time he was off. How else do you explain the fact that he agreed to direct such a movie, which is losely based on Manichithathazhu in which Sibi himself worked? The reviewers unanimously agree that this movie is torture and Mohanlal’s failure streak continues.

IndiaGlitz writes

The plot, even though half baked, is little appealing but it is the screenplay and the dialogues that proved to be the biggest negatives of the film. The director, Sibi Malayil and the scriptwriter s Bhasurachandran has miserably failed to make the film an engrossing affair, as the first half with cliched sequences is a little dragging with none of the sequences inviting our interest. Instead of shooting in different unexplored locations and dressing up your lead stars in the best of costumes, the makers could have looked for a better contrived plot. The film’s graph climbs up only after Siddhique, as the circle inspector, makes his appearance in its later half and there after the film takes the plight of an investigative thriller than the intended psychological thriller.

MovieBuzz is more brutal

Half way through, the audiences are left wondering where this film is heading for. No one knows, and no one cares as half the full house theatre was empty by the time it was over. Mithun Madhavan, the Mohanlal character appears 35 minutes after the film starts and just like in Manichitrathazhu makes a dramatic and comic appearance in black like a Sabarimala pilgrim. And why did the director and his script writer show Mohanlal as ‘man for all seasons’- an IT professional, a magician, a Kalaripayattu expert, when he is supposed to be a renowned psychiatrist?

After the film was over, we wonder- “Does Mohanlal ever read the script of a film that he does?” Unfortunately Flash is a proof that he does not, as the film drives us crazy and is not a wonderful experience after 2 hours and 42 minutes!

Paresh Palicha attempts something of an analysis which seems as pathetic as the movie itself.

Mohanlal tries to be charming by making exaggerated movements of his hands, as if trying to hypnotise the audience into liking what is going on the screen. But he
clearly does not succeed.

Paravathi has screen presence. With the gamut of emotions she has to display, she looks surprisingly convincingly.

No other actor has anything worthwhile to write about. Even the veteran Jagathy Sreekumar, wearing a weird wig, is reduced a character reminiscent of his role in Hallo.

It is hard to believe that Flash is the work of the talented Siby Malayil. The film is a huge letdown.

I have just made an agonizing discovery of a masochistic streak that robustly runs somewhere deep within me that prompts me to good naturedly watch yet another Vinayan film. With Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan, the director plummets further depths, digs up spanking new atrocities and concocts atypical follies that I valiantly endured in the name of an appreciation for cinema and which would without doubt, gain me a spot in paradise; my soul having already born the worst conceivable travails in hell.

The plot, such as it is, can be done away with swiftly. Hareendran (Indrajith) is the naive chap in question; a software giant who competently runs a flourishing firm along with scheming accomplice GK (Jayasurya) who harbors vile intentions of a potential usurping. Hareendran gets plausibly framed for a gruesome murder and is later let off the charges as innocent, but meets with an unforeseen end, albeit of a quite different sort.

It’s not often that you come across a film that’s bad almost any which way you look at it – be it the slapdash acting, the shoddy script or the hit and miss screenplay or even the tactless technicalities and the parched music. It’s here that the gates to the netherworld unlock before you, and the grisly torments that await you are many. When it’s a film that states in unsullied terms that a woman is the most expensive commodity on earth, it isn’t really a surprise that the fairer sex is treated shoddier than soot. Demoted to an unutterably stumpy state, she gasps for a breath of fresh air when she isn’t being coldly raped or when the dubious camera isn’t hovering lazily over her curves. A revival of sexploitation that had made a hushed exit with the soft porn of the 90’s is palpable, and the impact nothing short of dire.

A film that’s terrible beyond belief, Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan, is a total disaster that exerts a vicious enthrallment. It’s garish, over-sexualized and tedious when it’s not being vigorously distasteful and deserves to be shredded apart for the heights of dumbness that it shamelessly flaunts. There’s utterly nothing in it that hasn’t already materialized in innumerable similar situations before, in much brainier ways and manners. A movie as unfathomable as it is repressive, it inches its way to a climax that is almost startling in its hollowness.

Inexorably infantile and sopping in stereotypes, Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan is dead and deader than an alley rat run over by a screeching tire. It is so exceptionally appalling and pot-headed that it makes you gape at the screen open mouthed. As dreadful as the film’s notion is, the implementation is indescribably poorer; a repulsive jumble of gluttony, lust, and squalid harassment that even the stone-hearted will in all likelihood be disgusted by.

This despicable, expansive and ultimately redundant farce makes the director’s earlier flicks emerge as true classics! There is nothing considerate or appealing about this cranky drama; there’s not even anything remotely sharp. It’s a yarn of a film that’s shockingly unfunny and built on the most wretched of circumstances and the most exasperating of performances. To cut a protracted story slick short, there’s real awful cinema, there’s the intolerable stuff and then, there’s Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan.

(Image via nowrunning.com) 

The subject of Shaji Kailas’s movies always have contemporary socio-political issues in the background. There will be a group of corrupt and greedy politicians, bureaucrats and police officers who form the caucus of villains, after a series of setbacks, the hero would finally break free with the blessings of a benevolent politician, usually the Chief minister, and vanquish all the baddies. Fast editing, agile camera work and quick pace are the trademarks of Shaji Kailas movies. Baba Kalyani is no different from Shaji’s usual movies, except for 2 crucial differences. One Mohanlal replaces Suresh Gopi and two the theme deals with Islamic terrorism.

The ATU (Anti-Terrorism Unit) headed by Baba Kalyani (Mohanlal) gets into action, when they investigate an email tip about a VVIP assassination plot in Trivandrum. This gives us a chance to see the members of the team in action, all decked in gadgets, with belts like that of Bob the Builder which has a flash light and conducting investigations in day time. Baba Kalyani updates his boss every second on the status (I am walking, I am talking) on his blue tooth headset in a highly irritating way. While following the assassination plot, they discover some RDX, ammonium nitrate and fuel oil in a dilapidated lodge. Learning that the people who had stayed in the lodge had gone to Kochi, Baba Kalyani makes a statement that Kochi is getting hot. He also makes a claim that terrorists would create trouble on Dec 6th, just by staring at a calendar.

Since the movie is written by S N Swami we did not expect a brilliant script, but he slowly started testing our patience. Baba Kalyani and team transfer to Kochi and start investigating the prominent figures. We would have given another 30 mins and the movie could have ended. Swami had other ideas. He wanted to give a useless role to National Award Winning actor Murali.

Murali makes an appearance as Arackal Asokan, a politician who has some history with Baba Kalyani. There’s nothing special about the way Murali acted in this minuscule role, nor was the role special enough to warrant an actor like Murali. Baba Kalyani was in love with his daughter Madhumita (Mamta Mohandas) and their relation fell apart over a misunderstanding. But then hey, they patch up everything and who would have guessed that?

Large scale proliferation of fake currency notes points fingers to Iza Mohammed Haji (Sai Kumar). Zahir Ahmed(Indrajith) is Haji’s son-in-law who is a college lecturer. Haji runs some charitable organisations, which the investigating officers think is a front for his illegal activities. Since Sai Kumar is Malayalam’s Uber villain, the viewer is left in no doubt that Haji is behind the terrorist plot. As the plot unravels, it becomes clear that the Haji is just a decoy. All this means only one thing. More time has to be wasted in an irrelevant sub-plot.

Baba Kalyani looking for a house to stay in Kochi ends up in Meenakshi Amma’s(Kaviyoor Ponnamma) house. Meenakshi Amma reminds Baba Kalyani of his mother and biggest marketing gimmick of recent times ensues – the song Kai Niraye. Meenakshi Amma has no relevance to the story or the movie and actually affects the pace of the movie.

As the magic date December 6 nears, the investigating team gets a vital breakthrough and scene shifts to Palani. Without getting into details and revealing the climax, the ‘complicated tactical approach’ promised by Mohanlal turns out to be coming down from the roof hanging on ropes wearing Spiderman 3 getups. Everyone shoots everyone else and all ends peacefully.

The movie had enough material about 45 minutes, but writer S N Swami decided to make it an aviyal by adding various unrelated incidents. As Shah Rukh Khan mentioned, our movies have to be a variety show and the hero must display all emotions in all movies. The slick editing and fast pace tries to conceal the lack of logic in the script, but then too leniency in that department finally catches up. At the end you end up wondering, if the plan was to bomb Palani, then what were the Kochi based terrorists doing in Trivandrum?

Mohanlal is one of the saving graces of the movie. He portrays the role of intelligent police officer with ease. Mamta and blue tooth headset vie for viewers attention and headset wins, by the virtue of Mohanlal’s attention to it. Jagathi, SaiKumar and Indrajith did decent jobs. Innocent appears in a minuscule role, so does Siddique with a lean look and a new wig.

Remember the time when Doordarshan used to cover cricket matches with one camera? When the batsmen hit the ball, the cameraman would scan the field looking for the ball like as if it were held by a drunken monkey. The camera movement is similar in this movie. We would have complained more about the camera man, if not for the background score by Rajamani.

It is as if Shaji Kailas told Rajamani that there should not even be a single moment of silence in the movie. Due to this his background score is played constantly, like a lottery ticket sellers tape, for every action Mohanlal makes on the screen. When his jeep comes in the horizon, the BG score starts, when he steps out of the jeep, it plays again, when he sneezes, it plays again. Some one has to tie Rajamani on a chair, play this music for 24 hours, like what the US Marines did to Manuel Noriega and make him feel how irritating it is.

Shaji Kailas movies are indistinguishable from each other from their presentation style or narration and this one too looks like yet another Suresh Gopi movie. We wish experienced directors like him pay more attention to the script, fix the loop holes and make it tight without adding unrelated events and characters.

Photo courtesy: Sify.com

In Chotta Mumbai there were two questions for which we were seeking answers.

1. Is Anwar Rasheed a one act pony?
2. Does Mohanlal look like Bhavana’s Daddy?

According to the reviews the answer to (1) and (2) is No. Anwar Rasheed seems to have created an excellent “entertainer”, a word much abused by Johnny Antony and Mohanlal looks youthful in this fun movie. As in the case of Rajamanickyam, Anwar Rasheed has proved that he’s excellent in characterisations, which has saved his movies despite having story lines which look as weak as Indrans.

IndiaGlitz writes

Despite in wafer thin plot which is a letdown is definitely, the film manages to grip your heart with its no melodramatic content and rave performances from the lead.

Mohanlal as Thalai looks stunning and makes another believable and honest performance with great comic timing on screen. This is definitely one of the roles that is tailor made for him and will make his fans happy. And other competent performances also come from Jagathy, Siddhique and Manikkuttan.

And the one who stands out is Bijukutaan who utilizes this chance after Pothenvava to the fullest. Bhavana appears talkative, as ‘Parakum Latha’. Kalabhavan Mani as the villain, Vijayakumari (actor Mukesh’s mother) as the villain’s mentally ill mom.

Chotta Mumbai thrives definitely on comedy that comes naturally from such a cast of good timers. And the technical side is the best, with mesmerizing camera of Azagappan, which keeps pace with the film
On the whole, Chotta mumbai is a well made film, which proves that Anwar is definitely not a one film wonder. He skillfully executes the film from one of the weakest scripts by Benny P Nayarambalam, And with Lal in another gem of a performance, the director too can sit back and enjoy the film’s run at the box office.

Sify writes

Conviction can bring any formula to life, as proved by Anwar Rasheed in Chotta Mumbai. It is a mass formula movie made like a Bollywood late Manmohan Desai or closer home a typical Kollywood Rajnikanth or Vijay extravaganza. The cardinal rule of the game is not to look for logic or reason, just sit back, relax and enjoy.Take a chill pill, and enjoy the amazing screen presence of Mohanlal, the one man entertainment troupe. Ranging through a wide field of comedy, action and son-father sentiments, the star shines in this outrageous masala dosa of an entertainer that will surely appeal to a broad spectrum of his fans.

The story is wafer thin and depends more on Anwar’s presentation and Mohanlal’s mass image, to work with the viewers.
The camera of Azagappan, keeps pace with the film, thanks to Donmax’s fast cuts. There are four songs in the film tuned by new guy Rahul Raj, including a re-mix of the old favourite Chetti Kulangara….There is no real catchy number, the music could have been better especially the background score. The script of Benny P.Nayarambalam has full of local Fort Kochi slang’s.

What makes the film tick is Mohanlal’s at the heart of this mad, mad, mad world with his impeccable sense of comic timing. Clearly he is at home playing this type of character- for him it is the equivalent of an old pair of Hawai slippers. If laughter is the best medicine then Anwar Rasheed has earned his stripes yet again.

Paresh Palicha writes an incoherent review in Rediff sans analysis

After the stupendous success of Rajamanikyam, Anwar Rasheed is back with his new film Chotta Mumbai — not a classy affair, but surely an entertaining one. And, the credit goes to screenplay and dialogue writer Benny P Nayarambalam for fleshing out the characters of this thin concept of a bunch of happy-go-lucky guys staying at Fort Kochi.

 Photo courtesy sify.com