Christian Brothers is the most awesomest movie we have ever seen this year. The primary goal of the script writers was not to tax the brain of Malayali viewer and provide VFM (Value for Money). It is filmed in exactly the same house as Twenty-Twenty, with most people of that movie playing exactly the same role. Usually in such movies, the villain is not revealed in the beginning. But here it is revealed in the beginning itself. This helps the brain. It also helps if you have Alzheimer’s.

Various factors add to the coolness of the movie. It has people who wear cooling glass inside the house. Then it uses sophisticated “computer” technology and prints “Tracking Signal” on top of Google Maps when Mohanlal’s henchmen try to track phone calls. It has a song with lyrics “moham kondal innu ethu pennum oru poochaye pole”. It has henchmen standing around the same swimming pool in which Prithviraj and Jayasurya swam in Robinhood discussing life-problems, like should we kill him ourselves or should we get pavanai? It has Babu Antony with a black towel tied around his head (hint: he is a commando).

The awesomeness comes in installments.  Mohanlal plays a Christie, an underworld connected Malayali from Mumbai who has come to help Kerala Police and the Home Minister. If this does not bring goose bumps, we don’t know what will. Also, as we all know anyone who ends up in Mumbai becomes an underworld don. It is called Newton’s fourth law. One day you are simply walking along Juhu Beach and boom, you become a Don. Then police is after you and every unshaven youth calls you “Bhai”. It happened to Mohanlal two decades in Abhimanyu. It happened once again now. You would think he would have learned by now.

The next peak comes with the arrival of Suresh Gopi as goonda. It kind of breaks the rhythm. You are so used to seeing him police uniform, you suddenly feel as if the world has started spinning in the opposite direction. Before we sink into despair, the gooda turns out to be an IPS officer – you know the Mussorie kind. He also has a name like Antony Punnokadan or Joseph Vadakkan or something of that sort. Once he arrives, he confronts Mohanlal and they throw dialogue at each other like those arrows from Ramayana serial. Awesomeness oozes so much that we need some buckets to collect it.

Christie saves the home minister’s daughter (Kavya Madhavan) from the always destined to fail henchmen-rape, but he ends up in jail due to a family mess up. You know son innocent, father does not believe it, some bad apples in family theme. By 90 minutes, the number of people who want to kill or eliminate Christie looks like a Malayali queue in front of the liquor store – Sharath Kumar, Biju Menon, Joseph Vadakkan, Sai Kumar.

Once someone is in jail, there is a Newton’s law which immediately applies.  As Newton wrote in Principia Mathematica, every jailed person shall be presented in court and every opposing force will try to prevent this from happening. This movies too has one such scene where all the alpha males get to show their alpha maleness. Imagine Sharath Kumar, Suresh Gopi, Mohanlal, Babu Antony all with guns. It is 20 minutes of pure testosterone. Then there is also the scene when the son is not invited to his sister’s marriage, but he shows up anyway fooling the entire police force. Finally, guess what, everything was based on a misunderstanding. These silly people.

Then Suresh Gopi gets to dump dialogue let and right. At men, women, ministers, and Salim Kumar. Only children are spared. But once his “Ammachi” calls, he becomes such a docile creature that if you pour some milk in a saucer he will stand on all fours and drunk it and wipe his lips with his tongue. He also blushes when his mom talks of marriage. Maybe it is because he is violating some marriage laws, but it is cho-chweet.

But we are not trashing the movie because it is a pure commercial film and we don’t get it. There is one classic scene where Mohanlal is holding Kavya Madhavan and Co as hostage. She wants to make a phone call to Dileep, but Mohanlal the hostage taker does not allow it. So she rants, saying he does not know what love is. This is a big mistake for if anyone knows what love is it has to be the Mumbai based underworld connected Malayali. Mohanlal switches to flashback and thinks of his love Laxmi Rai in saree drenched by the Kerala monsoon. At the end of this scene, he hands over the phone to Kavya Madhavan. So touching.

There is another scene where Mohanlal shows up with a gun during Kavya Madhavan’s engagement ceremony. The number of Malayali actors/sq ft is quite high in the scene and still he manages to get his way. The dialogue that got thrown around in that scene would have killed most people, but the alpha males survive for the climax scene. In the final climax, where everyone is beating up everyone else and furniture is being abused without mercy and bullets are flying around like mosquitoes in a typical evening, you really don’t care if Sharath Kumar is speaking Hebrew. All you want to know is only one thing. Will the three heroes shoot the villain together or will Christie alone shoot him with the two guns in either hand. We won’t tell you what happened. You should pay decent money and watch it yourself.

You may ask, other than classy lines like “Pakistanil kayari Bible vayikkaruthu” is there something worthwhile in this movie. It is a fun movie and it is fast paced. Before you start guessing which previous movie of Sibi K Thomas and Udaykrishna had this scene, the editor moves to the next scene. It repeats again. Then only a person of Joshiey’s calibre could have pulled this ensemble cast movie with sufficient dignity. Think how this movie would have been if Sandhya Mohan or Bhadran had directed this. Or think if Joshi had directed this instead of Joshiey. We also admire the talents of Mohanlal, Dileep and Suresh Gopi for who can make any scene look interesting. Yes, we have seen them do the same thing a zillion times, but still.

What should you do if you think you are talented in doing more than a task at a time? Focus on the one in which you are the best in and try to improve more, else you might end up being mediocre in everything. Doubting why I have turned philosophical all on a sudden? Go and watch ‘Malarvadi Arts Club’ and resume reading this post if you still don’t trust me.

Vineeth Sreenivasan, the 26 year old son of the talented, iconic script writer-director Sreenivasan is some one who is obsessed with lengthening his resume every now and then. After a successful singing ( which is still going strong) career and a passable’stint in acting has turned to scripting and directing movies now. His debut movie ‘Malarvadi Arts Club’ was supposed to be a trend setter(atleast Dileep, Kalyan Jewellers and Radio Mango thought so!) with an all new star cast, fresh songs and an astounding story line. After watching the movie I was pretty convinced that Vineeth is also banking on the ‘rent a dvd,make a movie’ trend which has helped Priyadarshan,Sanjay Gupta et al mint crores back in Bollywood. While Sanjay Gupta and Co might have spend a lot more on English/French/Korean DVDs ,Vineeth sreenivasan has effectively cut a lot of cost by resorting to cheaper DVDs(thanks to Moser Baer and Eros) of desi flicks like Rock On!, Chennai 600628, Goa, and Happy Days.

So we have 5 men who do nothing 24*7 living in an imaginary village some where around Thalassery. They organises hartals and walk in slow motion to kill time. Oh! the movie has to run for two hours atleast, so let me add a it felt as if the comedy track was added with Suraj Venjaramoodu just make sure that movie runs over 2 hours. And Suraj plays, once again the role of comic Goonda.

The gang of 5 are always in short of cash , hence they decide to start a music band to earn money. Santhosh Damodaran is the lead singer who can beat even Kaithapram in Kacheri. But apart from Kumarettan who runs the local tea shop(Nedumudi Venu) no one else knows that they are such great ‘pulis’. So no bookings for the show. Surprise surprise,Santhosh comes on TV reality show. Right from Kumarettan to Goonda Suraj start SMSing for him and he wins. Then comes the really surprising twist in the form of intermission.

Two random female characters were thrown into the mix just for the sake of having female chanracters. So we have an love story in between Purushu and Geethu.They meet during one of their early ganamelas and fall in love. After her brother gets him beaten to pulp, their love ripens and they marry only after a touching dialogue sequence between Purushu and her parents.

Now have a climax which is so different from Rock On and London Dreams since neither Salman, Ajay Devgan nor Farhan Akthar is a part of Junior Sreeni’s Malarvadikoottam and Santhosh Damodar has to sing a Malayalam song here.For a change, we have a couple of hummable songs by Shaan Rehman but that doesn’t seem to be good enough for a movie which banks heavily on it’s music to get itself clicked. Where is the Kashmalan song?

Coming to the technical departments of the movie, Vineeth Shrinivasan has chosen the conventional way of story telling . A lot of unwanted scenes like the one in which one of the lead men falling from height while making preparations for a programme could have been easily avoided. Sukumar’s camera also didn’t surprise us much. As far as the song visuals were concerned, there was nothing extra ordinary there too.The new comers were convincing with the guy who acted as Purushu being the pick of the lot.The character of ‘Kuttu’ is not as funny as it was supposed to be.The girls come and go after a couple of scenes. Some of the scenes were genuinely funny like the one in which Purushu first meets his love. As I mentioned before, Shaan Rehman’s songs were hummable,but it’s just not good enough. But the re recording was good. On the whole,the whole movie ends up as just another average fare which desperately tries to recreate the magic of similar ‘friendship’ movies made in our neighbouring states.

Verdict: Very Average Movie(since it is competing with other blunders like ‘Apoorva Ragam’, otherwise would have given it a below average tag)

Recently Bharadwaj Rangan wrote

I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the near future, multiplexes everywhere take to installing braincheck rooms outside the cinema halls. As we hold out our tickets to the usher, I can see us being asked to deposit our cranial matter for safekeeping through the duration of the movie, so that not a sliver of analytical process will be allowed to impede our enjoyment of the film in question. And it’s tempting to imagine the pandemonium after the screening, outstretched hands of screaming patrons intimidating the pretty girl (oh, as long as we’re dreaming, why the hell not!), pointing her this way and that: No, not that grayish lump. That one, there, next to the one with the smallish occipital lobe. Ah, yes. Be careful. Phew. Thank you very much. Have a nice day.

Johnny Antony movies have always qualified for such service. Then the target audience of his movies like C.I.D. Moosa, Kochi Rajavu, Thuruppugulan and Inspector Garuda are not folks who watch Iranian and French movies, but those who love to see Salim Kumar and Dileep fall into cow dung wearing Spiderman costumes. The industry word for this group is: family audience. Johny is very clear about his path and unapologetic about making such cartoonish movies. Since C.I.D. Moosa and Thuruppugulan were hits and the other two made decent money, all with mediocre scripts, he is the darling of producers.

James Albert made a dream debut as the script writer of Classmates. The murder mystery told in multiple disjoint flashbacks by multiple characters was a new style of story telling in Malayalam and with the superb direction of Lal Jose and support of an ensemble cast, it was the biggest hit of the year. James Albert is not an expert in slap stick like Sibi-Udayan who wrote all Johny Antony movies so far. Thus when James and Johny join hands in this movie which features, we hope that James will pull Johny out of the low I.Q. genre.

The story unfolds in a plush shopping complex and revolves around two youngsters, Roy (Vineeth Sreenivasan), an accountant in a private finance firm, and Sanju (Vinu Mohan), who works in a shop selling home appliances. They come from modest backgrounds but have big dreams. Annie (Bhama), who works in a travel agency, and Meenakshi (Sandhya), the daughter of a banker, are the heroines in the film,” [Balancing act]

Vineeth Srinivasan’s songs have always been chart busters and very popular among the masses, but we have not seen the actor in him. This movie is an opportunity for public to see if he has inherited any of his father’s genes. For the Nivedyam pair, Bhama and Vinu Mohan, this is another great opportunity. Usually Johny’s movies have some popular songs, but this time none of the songs written by Anil Pachooran and tuned by Mejo Joseph fascinated us. Since none of the main actors have crowd pulling capability, the success of the movie depends entirely on the script and direction and we have to see if J&J pull it off.

“Scripts must not be considered as the backseat element to star value”, says the star of 2007, Sreenivasan.

“A good script is a fundamental element contributing to the success of a film. Instead of giving importance to get better scripts, obsession with star value has reduced the significance of the script in a film”, says the actor who has turned producer with his latest film ‘Katha Parayumpol’.[The scripts must take the front seat- Sreenivasan]

Srinivasan once again proved what an excellent script can do with Katha Parayumbol, one of the best Malayalam movies of 2007. He played the lead role and Mammotty did a guest appearance which made a good impact. All the reviewers agree that even though the story is wafer thin, Srinivasan has done a great job in pulling it of.

With the news that this movie will be remade in Tamil with Pasupathy playing Srinivasan’s role and Rajnikanth playing Mammotty’s role, there are lot of searches for this movie on this site. We have to see if this movie will be murdered like Chandramukhi or will it be able to retain the same spirit.

Unni Nair writes

Sreenivasan, who has done the script and debutante director M. Mohanan deserve to be appreciated for having come up with a film that touches certain chords in our hearts. A simple story narrated in a simple style. Though there is a lag in the first half, the climax saves it all. The film could have been made a bit crisper, but this flaw could be overlooked considering the director is a debutante.
The film is definitely worth a watch, especially for ordinary, ‘non-intellectual’ kind of people who would like to go and see films without intellectual presumptions and towering expectations. A good, touching film, told in a simple manner.

Movie Buzz says

The writer Sreenivasan and his director Mohanan has skillfully caricatured the characters you meet in a remote village- the moneylender and local ‘blade’ Eapacchan Muthalali (Innocent), Das Kattumantha(Salim Kumar), the boring village bard, guy(Mukesh) who runs the local tutorial college, rival hair stylist(Jagadish) tea shop owner(Mamookoya), self centered local politician who always talks about his connections(Augustine). Sreenivasan has also explored the craze among ordinary people for getting close or seen with a superstar. There is also a message that stars become superstars only because of their script writers who have given them memorable roles. The comedy laced satirical song ‘Vyathyasthanaaya…. tuned by M.Jayachandran is a rocker. P.Sukumaran camera has beautifully etched out the Thodupuzha countryside.

The film with a wafer thin story line works big time due to its climax, which has been worked out very well by Sreenivasan and a riveting performance by Mammootty.

Parashuram writes

The ultimate clincher for this film is its script. Authored by Sreenivasan, it is so layered that every frame has a comment to make about the world and every line of the dialogue on the mores of the society. The craze for celebrities and the problems of leading a principled life are discussed without being preachy or in-your-face.

Mammootty has the dignified presence of a real star and his aura and the mythical persona that surrounds him give a lifelike feel to the character of Ashok Raj.

India Glitz says

The film, skillfully repeats the representative characters, from every layer of the rural villages, (reminiscent of Sathyan films) with which the writer makes a lot of careful observations and clarifications about the phenomenon of super stardom and lives of people living in the lower strata of the society. Mostly represented by local professional actors in these roles, the film also gives an authentic feel with all sorts of storyline surprises and political criticisms in spite of its simple exterior. In the scripts, Sreeni seems to repeat some of his earlier sarcastic attributes like dark skin and heightlessness, but more commendable is that he has easily stretched a wafer thin plot to two hours and ten minutes with out much space for idleness.

Story telling is an art in itself – one that has as its prerequisites three imperative traits; characters with potential, a decisive plot and cautious attention to detail. A good narrator does not use these in isolation; rather he spectacularly weaves them together in a vibrant fabric of creativity and comes up with a mind boggling story in which they are indistinguishable to the rapt audience.

Balan (Sreenivasan) is the local barber at Melukavu, who leads an uneventful and almost passive existence, and except for the occupational haphazards that have been eating into his life, his worries remain minimal. Until Ashok Raj, the reigning superstar, (Mammootty) arrives for a film shoot amidst much aplomb, and the village gets to know of an alleged camaraderie that once existed between these alarmingly dissimilar souls.

Katha Parayumbol is indisputably one of Sreenivasan’s best compositions of late, in that it manages to redeem a few facets of the writer whom we have sorely missed over the years. The writer wages a battle with the actor and comes up trumps; the story that he dares to tell is one that is told with a whole lot of heart, and hence remains absorbing throughout. The benchmarks of the yesteryear Sreeni scripts are for once, discernible yet again; the remarkable simplicity and the witty structuring of affairs, the pleasant laughs on offer and the distinctive illustrations. And they’re conveyed with such conviction that you’ll catch yourself believing every outlandish detail.

Sreenivasan as Balan is apt; yet another extension of his self-hypnotic persona that is fitfully funny in his usual way. He makes the simplest off the cuff lines burst into life, and we find ourselves laughing at observations that might, in the hands of a lesser actor, land with a thud. Mammootty gets to play Santa Claus this Christmas, and wades in fabulously with a climactic surprise. He is bright and blustery and is a revelation, a supreme sweet froth of poise, bravura and unstoppable confidence.

The cultural slice that Sreeni puts up on a salver deserves all the consideration that an impeccable delicacy demands. Beneath the flimsy decorative toppings lie the sturdy pieces of analogies that are playfully arranged along the margins of a society under scrutiny. Every guffaw that it offers is invariably coupled with a moment of introspection, the result of which is as astounding as it is totally fulfilling. Sreeni does something different with Katha Parayumbol; he sets the story as his focal point, the human drama, and the passion of it all. Rather than attempt a colossal sociopolitical declaration based on a notion that does not require to be further examined, he watchfully links his inventive images with a potent exploration of human life and the vital desire to be remembered. The story does succumb to an over dosage of dramatics in the end, but not in a repellent manner. I find the outlook of it all, and the fundamental message of love and family, to be brilliantly elevating, for this is a thoroughly enjoyable, good-natured movie.

Katha Parayumbol is beautiful in the way it looks, but more importantly, it’s beautiful in the way it resonates. It’s a rewarding unique film that is well worth the time it claims for its earnestness and inspirational candor that is vividly brought to life. And above everything else it abundantly displays the calm urgency of a story that so badly wants to be told.

(Crossposted at MovieMazaa)

In our preview, we wrote that Rafi-Mecartin and Rajasenan have just one trick up their sleeves and they repeat it again and again. According to the reviewers, this time it is no different. It is the same comedy routine repeated ad infinitum. One of our regulars, Jibs, had noted that if Dileep did not change his tactics, he might go the Jayaram way and that is exactly what Rediff’s reviewer too had to say.

Unni Nair writes

< The plot seems good and interesting coming as it does from Rajasenan, but post-interval things seem to go out of control and even seem to be boring at places. Dileep is OK as Manu, but there is nothing outstanding about his performance or character. Vimala as Priya is passable, but at places she seems to be rather uncomfortable with the role. Samvritha as Leena is good while new girl Shruthi doesn't impress much as Bhama
The film moves at a brisk pace in the first half especially as the emphasis is mostly on verbal comedy, but post interval the pace slows down and some of the scenes seem to lack freshness and appeal. The songs though in tune with the theme and mood, are ordinary and won’t stay in our memories for long. Nambiathiri’s camerawork is good and so is Raja Mohamed’s editing. The film is an average comic entertainer, and not a terribly bad one at that. But judging by the response inside the theatres on day one, it is to be seen whether the film does good business or not.

Moviebuzz writes

Rafi and Mecartin loves the Priyadarsan type of comedies where bus load of characters, some of them with mistaken identities, others with their own comic agenda meet in the climax and its total bedlam. Once more the “mad, mad, mad world formula” has been beaten to death. There is no original bone in the story or narration, everybody does their comic act and provide their quota of laughs and disappears.
Dileep, Haneefa, Sooraj, Salim Kumar, Bheeman Reghu (comic villain), Riza Bava, Asokhan, Malika Sukumaran (a new addition to the laugh brigade) does their roles competently and proves again that they have terrific comedy timing, while the girls Vimala, Samvrutha and Sruthilakshmi looks good.

Paresh Palicha, for a change has some analysis

The screenplay has everything that you can imagine in the slapstick films of a bygone era. There are impersonations, mistaken identities and what have you.

The first half works with ‘a laugh a minute’ situations. But this gets too much in the second half. It would have worked if the gung-ho spirit was maintained throughout the duration of the film. Somehow we get a feeling that the writer(s)-director team were clueless about how to get out of the quagmire they found themselves in.

Dileep seems to be control in the beginning as the role of Manu is tailor made for him. But this does not last long as the film proceeds. Known as a poor man’s Mohanlal when he started doing roles like this, the actor, of late seems to have lost some sheen in executing them. He had better rediscover himself soon or his career will go Jayaram’s way.

(Image via NowRunning.com)