Murali

This is becoming a depressing pattern. 3 deaths in the span of one and half months – 3 stalwarts of malayalam cinema are gone.

Murali, aged 55(incidentally all three film personalities who passed away in last few weeks were in their fifties), an acute dibetic was hospitalised due to chest infection. The end came when he had a massive cardiac arrest at around 8:23 PM on august 6th 2009.

Murali had his film debut with the movie Njattadi, directed by Gopi, which never got released. Later he shot to prominence with notable roles in movies like – Panchagni(first movie to get released), Chidambaram, Meenamasathile Sooryan, Amaram, Aadharam etc. He’s acted in about 120 movies.

Murali was chairman of Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy. He also contested in Lok Sabha elections in 1999.

Notable Awards

Kerala State

• Amaram(1991-Supporting Actor)
• Aadharam(1992 – Best Actor)
• Neythukaran(2002-Best Actor)

National Awards

• Neythukaran(2002-Best Actor)

He will be missed.

Now the third thing: the movie is a tragic love story. No, we are not talking about the producer of the movie, but the story of the movie itself which has been made public. The movie is set in a Holiday Home, which is a place frequented by tourists and lovers. When the character Rahul Krishna (Bala) and Meera Nambiar (Honey George) reach this place something bad happens.

Suresh Gopi plays the investigative officer who comes to a hill station to find the real culprits behind a murder, which rocked the state. Shaji Kailas has made Boot in a different way from his usual style of film making. There is a lot of suspense element in the movie, with a twist in the climax. The film is very important for Gopi and Kailas who are going through a bad phase.[`Boot` on Dec 7 ]

Every time we read the words, Suresh Gopi, Shaji Kailas, different way of film making, we fall of our chair laughing for selling Lux soap in a new cover does not make it new lux soap. If Shaji Kailas wants to see different way of film making, he has to see Vargam and Chocolate back to back or Paradesi and Rock’n'Roll back to back. Changing an IPS officer to a CBI officer is not different film making.

According to Shaji Kailas, he chose the name Boot because it is the right symbol for people who have been oppressed through the ages. It would be the right name for the Shaji Kailas movie since he has been oppressing us with terrible movies for the past decade or so. But then hey who are we to tell Shaji Kailas what to do. If he wants to make another police training video, he should do it. As viewers we will evaluate on its merit or else we will go and watch OSO again.

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

Sathyan’s films follow a template, with a hilarious first half and an emotionally loaded second half. This time is it no different. The subject though is very topical, and the moral is mentioned in one of the reviews – “Anupama once tells Vinod that people should be more concerned about their own lives than bother too much about international issues like the US attacks on Iraq, the tensions in Korea or the long period of Fidel Castro’s rule in Cuba.”

Sify writes

Though the film is a bit slow paced, Vinodayathra is indeed engaging which makes it a watchable movie. On the downside, most of the turnarounds are indeed predictable and that is one price that filmmakers pay when they make feel-good movies for the families.

Sathyan Anthikkad has scripted the film himself and he has done a decent job. On the acting front, it is a cakewalk for Dileep who has done a decent job though we have seen him doing similar roles early in his career. He does succeed in handling the situations in a light way, which is precisely the nature of his character in the film. It may not be her best role, but Meera Jasmine looks fabulous and convincing as usual. The pair does have an on- screen certain chemistry that works well. The supporting cast has done decently what their roles demand, especially Mukesh, but there is not much to do for them other than what they have shown in their earlier films.

S.Kumar has succeeded in making the frames look good and Ilayaraja has come out with some nice tunes too. Sai’s costumes make the actors look good, but we wonder how the characters with limited earnings can they afford such nice outfits? K.Rajagopal’s editing is impressive and Manoj’s art direction is particularly evident during the song sequences, which have been choreographed well by Brinda.

Paresh Palicha writes in Rediff

So, when you watch his new film Vinodayathra you are sure about one thing; that it will be vintage Sathyan Anthikkad. And, when you leave the theatre, you are happy about the overall experience.
The director who is also credited with writing the story integrates many topical issues in the story without consciously making them the centre of our attention. The issue of child labour is tackled here as well as the sex racket, but both from a novel angle.

If we have any grouse against this film, it is about the characterisation. For example, the character Anupama played by Meera Jasmine is heavily inspired from Kastooriman, where she played a gutsy lady facing all odds with a smile. Though her performance is flawless, we feel it is repetitive.

As for the ensemble supporting cast consisting of Innocent, Nedumudi Venu, Mamookoya, Murali and KPAC Lalitha, only Murali’s role as a police constable recuperating from a wound suffered during a communal riot seems to have some meat. Innocent is his usual self as the watchman of a dam. His weakness for the drink was seen many times including in a few Sathyan Anthikkad films also. Nedumudi Venu as the retired IG writing his service memoirs is a miscast in the comic role, to put it mildly.

Vinodayathra belongs to Mukesh and Dileep. It is their vibes that hold the film together in the first half. Dileep follows his trademark style and Mukesh is very good as the concerned elder who has to bear the brunt of his brother-in-law’s silly doings. The film is worth watching for the chemistry between these two actors.

Unni Nair writes in IndiaGlitz

The main highlight of the film is that the director is able to convey what he wants to convey in a simple and straight forward manner. Characterization too is a highlight as far as the movie is concerned. There may seem to be some exaggeration in the portrayal of the idealist Shaji Raghavan, but Mukesh who does the role performs rather convincingly, making the exaggeration less obvious.
Cinematography by S. Kumar is first-rate. The songs penned by Vayalar Sharath Chandra Varma and set to tune by Illayaraja have come out really well and have also been shot well. Vinodayaathra like any other Satyan Anthikkad film, stands out as it sensitively presents slices from real life through really down-to-earth characters.

As per the reviews, the movies seems to be of good quality. Looks like Vaasthavam is a movie in which has good direction, story/screen play and performances – a rare occurence in Malayalam.

Sify.com says:

The Pritviraj-Padmakumar team has given us something to cheer. After Ammakilikoodu and Vargam, they have come out with Vaasthavam, a gutsy and realistic film, like its title. It is brilliantly executed film on the rampant corruption, power struggle and hypocrisy in corridors of the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.Pritviraj as Balan Adiga has given a knockout performance and his transformation from an ordinary guy from Kasaragod to the shrewd manipulator of Kerala politics, turns out to be the scene stealer. Babu Janadharnan’s screenplay has justified the characters vaulting ambitions and naked power play to remain the king maker till the end. Though the character has shades of grey, our sympathies go out to him as Padmakumar has etched it out beautifully.

Indiaglitz comments:

Once again, it’s time to rejoice for a scriptwriter and director who has relentlessly followed their insights and neither added a scene or shot to make their film feel more commercial or artistic. Yes, in Vaasthavam, director Padmakumar together with Babu Janardhanan has weaved a story of interlocking destines and the film holds you riveted till it lasts. And after several hiccups, Prithviraj once again has come of age with Vaasthavam in which he plays a corrupt, emotionless pragmatic secretariat staff who rises to the corridors of power with his practicality. The film is worth a watch in the theatres, thanks to an engaging directorial style of Padmakumar who believes in simple and straightforward way of story telling in this heavily loaded film.

 

The film is a welcome change in the placid superstar driven Malayalam film industry. It packs in quite a lot in terms of “a message for the masses” using the non-patented formulae successfully. Top line performance by principle actors, authentic locations, moodily lit interiors, good dialogues and spurts of emotional scenes are the major highlights of this action drama. The film is a blizzard of events of life in the capital secretariat which cumulatively leave an impact of a glossy documentary on the bureaucracy driven system.

Nowrunning.com summarises:

Director M. Padmakumar and writer Babu Janardhanan have done a really good job. The subject is well-chosen and the treatment is up to the mark.

Performance by Prithviraj as Balachandran is excellent. Kavya Madhavan as Sumithra, Samvritha as Surabhi and Sindhu Menon as Vimala Thankachi do their respective roles well. However, it’s Jagathy Sreekumar who scores best as Unnithan. Murali as the minister Pattom Raveendran and Salim Kumar as Thrippan Namboothiri have also done justice to their roles.

The others in the cast are also OK, except perhaps Rajmohan Unnithan, who has to learn that acting is a lot different from delivering political speeches. Cinematography by Manoj Pillai, Art Direction by Saloo K. George and Editing by L. Bhoominathan are in sync with the theme.

Velu writes:

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. Or so it seems, as Vasthavam takes off with a whimper, with liberal doses of a tirade against all possible iniquities, that supposedly chomp up the little remnants left of what was once a civilization. The one man army that literally marches forward finds himself at the crossroads a bit later, with quite a few decisions to make. The ones that would make or mar his life.

Padmakumar’s first two attempts at filmmaking, drew mixed responses from the audience, though neither proved to be box-office hits. This time around he joins hands with script writer Babu Janardhan, and comes up with Vasthavam, with Prithviraj donning the lead role as Balachandran Adiga, a no-nonsense, non-political Brahmin from Kasaragod, who lands up in the capital city, as he has earned himself a job in the Secretariat. On the way to Trivandrum and a plush life, he has forsaken quite a lot, including his childhood sweetheart Sumitra (Kavya Madhavan). He gets betrothed instead to the docile Surabhi (Samvrutha Sunil), and beds none other than the shrewd Vimla (Sindhu Menon) as he moves ahead with sturdy strides, up the long winding ladder of poltics and power. He loses all three and almost his life in the deal, even as he realizes the earth moving away beneath his feet. Entangled in an array of events that get weary after a while, the plot loses track and ends up being just another chronicle of a warfare against corruption, sleaze, dishonesty and deceit.

Rediff.com says

Malayalam film, Vaasthavam, is about the games played in the corridors of power. Director M Padmakumar, who recently made the unusual police drama Vargam, gives us another grand vision. Vargam gave Prithviraj a landmark movie, and so expectations were quite high. Balachandran Adiga (Prithviraj) faces a lot of family responsibility. His father has lost everything due to socialist leanings and his four sisters are yet to be married. For the betterment of his family, he has to marry Surabhi (Samvrutha) to clinch a job in the State Secretariat. But his heart is with his childhood love, Sumitra (Kavya Madhavan

After Ammakkilikkoodu and Vargam , Padmakumar and Prithviraj have joined hands together again.

Raghavan Master, a scion of a high Namboothiri family and an ardent communist considered his party more than his family or any other relations. He, in the course of increasing his party’s holds and preaching party ideals sold away much of his ancestral property and all that is left now is the ancestral home, devoid of the fame and fortune it once had. Balachanbran Adiga is his only son who has the burden of looking after his family and his four nubile daughter’s. His father’s irresponsible behaviors led to hate politicians and politics. He knows the difficulties involved in bringing the family back from the brink of nothingness and in marrying off his sisters and for that he adopts a very pragmatic approach to life.

 

Balachandran’s eldest sister Shobha does some tailoring and manges a low earning with which the family is kept out of hunger. Not withstanding the family chaos Balachandran’s younger sister Shubha walks out with Adivasi leader Sreedharan, causing irreparable damage to the family reputation. Following this incident his mother dies, and he is forced to forget his murappennu and childhood playmate Sumitra and is compelled to marry Surabhi a girl from a rich family, to tackle the serious economic adversities that his family faces. Sumithra who forces Balachandran to risk their dreams for the sake of his family finally marries a cruel and corrupt police officer. [Vaasthavam - unusual growth of a pragmatist]

The movie also has Kavya Madhavan as the heroine and she is very good in emotional roles. Besides this, movies with Prithviraj and Kavya like Ananthabhadram and Classmates have done well in the box office. The music of the movie is by Alex Paul and currently he is riding a wave with foot tapping numbers in Classmates and Pothen Vava.

Story and screenplay is by Babu Janardhanan. His previous works like Thachiledathu Chundan, Varnapakittu and Chathurangam didn’t exactly set the screen on fire.

Prithvi is leading the young brigade,and in Vargam he has proved to be capable of shouldering a movie and is the hero of biggest blockbuster in the history of Malayalam cinema. If Vasthavam delivers and becomes a commercial hit, then naturally he would move to the next level in the food chain.

Padmakumar is considered as one of the most promising directors in Malayalam. He has proved his strengths in Vargam and has demonstrated in the past that he can make can make intense, tight movies with good characterization. In this movie he has assembled some of the best talent possible and if this works out he would become one of the bankable directors in Malayalam.

Recently, facing charges of sexual harassment, Public Works Minister, P J Jospeh quit the Communist ministry. The allegation that he misbehaved with a woman on a Kingfisher flight from Chennai to Kochi was investigated by police and found to be true. Thus P J Joseph joined the long line of ministers like Neelalohithadas Nadar and Kunjalikutti to quit public office after facing sexual harassment charges.

Ministers are representatives of people and when they misbehave like this, can the public be far behind? The case which rocked Kerala was the Suryanelli case in which a 16 year old girl was sexually abused by forty people in that many days. Then there is the Vithura case in which a minor girl was was raped by more than 40 persons for several days together after she was lured by a woman in her neighborhood. Ice-cream parlor and mobile prostitution ring have become regular features in our highly literate state.

How did the movie industry react to all these? If you look at the blockbuster movies of the past year you may get an impression that Malayalam movies create mainly escapist fare. One more movie in which Suresh Gopi plays a cop or another one in which Dileep and Kavya dance in New Zealand, or the M&M’s acting as do-gooders will be at the top of your memory. The troubling atmosphere in Kerala has been dealt with realism by various film makers, but since they did not star any superstars, they did not get noticed.>

Sheelabati, directed by R.Sharath and starring Kavya Madhavan and Sunil covers various issues. On a visit to Kerala from Bengal, Sheelabati (Kavya) notices the exploitation of both the land and the people. The movie covers issues like the shortage of water, the troubles of farmers and the sexual abuse of girls. The movie was filmed like a documentary, appeared confused and failed to make any impact on us.

Imagine someone knocks your head with a coconut every five minutes and says, “Look, girls are being abused”. This is the technique which T.V.Chandran used in his film Kathavaseshan starring Dileep as Gopinatha Menon, who commits suicide unable to bear the society. This movie also failed to impress us due to its contrived script and unbelievable characters.Compared to the above two, Kanne Madanguka had a straightforward narration. There was no artificiality or scenes of someone walking along the road for five minutes which is typical of movies trying to act serious. The movie traced the transformation of a poor but brilliant school student, Karunya (Navya Nair), from a rank holder to a prostitute. In the movie, Karunya leaves the house to work in Gulf and is later found in Nagercoil in a jail. What actually happens to her is never shown and there lay the brilliance of the movie.

While Kanne Madanguka ended with the arrest of Karunya, Achanurangatha Veedu depicted what happens to the victims and their families after that. Salim Kumar played the role of a Govt. Employee with three daughters. One of them, again like Karunya, who is good in studies does not come home one day. Later she is caught in a prostitution ring and comes back home. Politicians, Media, Courts and Police does not make life easy for this middle class family and their helplessness is captured brilliantly by Lal Jose in this movie written by Babu Janardhanan.

We liked some of the movies and did not like some. But Dileep, Radhakrishnan Nagavally, K G Prasannan and Reji Kuthazhath, the producers of the four movies have our respect for talking about these issues. We also admire Kavya Madhavan, Navya Nair, Dileep, Jyothirmayi, Sunil, Murali, Samvritha and Salim Kumar, who are well known commercial actors for acting in such low budget but important movies. It gives us hope that good realistic cinema is not dead in Malayalam.

varnachitram reviews: Seelabathi, Kathavaseshan, Kanne Madanguka, Achanurangatha Veedu