If you are unhappy with the lack of women-centric themes in Malayalam cinema, here’s a reprieve. This movie belongs to Kavya Madhavan, who has brilliantly delivered the role portraying the hardships of a Malayalee maid in a Sheikh’s house in Saudi Arabia.

Kamal pointed out that in the Ernakulam theater where his film is running, people in large numbers come and start hooting when the titles appear! This “hoot brigade” continues to hoot throughout the film as though they were paid money by certain people to run down the film! The needle of suspicion of those behind the “hoot brigade”, according to industry veterans is the superstar’s fan clubs. Kamal in his press conference hinted that these fans associations were targeting his films. He also said they were the bane of the industry and has damaged the edifice of Malayalam cinema.[Kamal lashes out at superstar fan clubs! ]

Thus, very proudly we can say that the common Malayalee has created a new profession which does not exist in any other state. Like mercenaries, we go theaters, hoot on behalf on rich superstars and get satisfaction out of it. Then we blog about the lack of alternatives. In the animal world, wolves, foxes and dogs do it, but just for fun.

That said, Minnaminikootam is not Classmates to attract a huge audience. Maybe people are hooting because the movie is terrible. Most of our reviewers agreed that the movie is boring, cliched and is disconnected. Maybe it is the pain of those people which found an outlet through hoots.

So we end with more questions than we started!

• When a non superstar movie releases, which superstar’s fan go and hoot? Mammootty’s or Mohanlal’s? Who among the two feels insecure.
  
• Or is it  Dileep who has not had a hit since Manmohan Singh Govt. took office.
  
• Like MACTA will AMMA too split – to AMMA and Randanamma?
  
• Have Superstars have outsourced this to a rent-a-crowd business?
  
• Pritviraj is not there in Minnaminikootam, still why are they hooting?
  
• Who are they afraid of?  Jayasurya ? Or is it Meera they are after?

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!

It’s a common misconception that if new comers are acting in a movie the cost of the movie will be low. Even if the newcomer is hero , the other actors in the movie, would not reduce their salary. Film price could not be lowered. Rental rates for the camera could not be lowered. Hotel rooms cost could not be lowered. So every other cost other than newcomers salary is fixed and could not be bought down. On the other hand if we have Mohanlal or Mammootty or Suresh Gopi or Dileep as hero, they would have to be given a big amount as salary. But if these persons are lead actors then we can negotiate good amounts as foreign distribution, satellite, TV and many other rights, which will recover the cost we have paid these actors. Where as if it’s a new comer I would not even get 5 lakh rupees as rights. That’s the reason why producers hesitate to have newcomers as leads. And since newcomers don’t have initials, the movie won’t stay much in the theatres.[Interview : Manian Pillai Raju - Part II]

Every once in a while director Kamal makes a movie with new comers and they become popular. Nammal which had Siddharth, Jishnu, Renuka Menon and Bhavana was a big success while Goal which had Ranjith Menon, Aksha Pardesi and Muktha George did not do that well. Roshan Andrews’ second movie Notebook starring Roma, Sreedevi, Parvathi and Sooraj did very well, even though we did not think very high about it.

With Cycle becoming a hit, it gives us the new actor Vineeth Srinivasan and adds market value to Bhama and Vinu Mohan. We are excited about the movie’s success since we need fresh faces to deal with such stories. Since these actors are youngsters they cannot do the roles of the orphan-turned-Hindustani-classical-expert-cum-good-hearted-goonda or English-speaking-ACP. If public starts encouraging new actors, some of our superstars can stop making bad movies just to meet the quota.

But even if the movie becomes a hit, it does not ensure a steady career for all the stars. Among the Nammal cast only Bhavana became big and from the Notebook cast it was Roma. The cast of Goal went missing with Muktha George remaining as an occasional blip in the radar. We don’t know how many stars of Cycle will be pedaling same time next year, but even if one or two become bankable stars, it is good for the story tellers and listeners.

After Karutha Pakshigal, Goal is Kamal’s offering for the masses. But if the reviews were to be beleived, the ball misses the goal post. Music, locales and promising new talents seems to be the highlights of this movie.

Sify.com reviews:

Kamal’s Goal falls a few yards behind the post because it has all the essence of a brat pack film with all gloss but is unable to score the winning goal due to lack of a strong and innovative script . Added to that why introduce the Mukesh character, just for some fake sentiments? Too much graphics also act as a speed breaker to the flow of the film.

This vanilla-coated story telling however has its moments. All the newcomers play their parts well. Rajith Menon stands out for a newcomer with his natural and spontaneous act, while Mukta George steals your heart, and Aksha looks beautiful. Rahman does a neat job as the coach, while the guy who did Felix role is riveting as the villain.

Vidyasagar’s music and Kamal’s picturisation are the high points in the film, especially the duet picturised in Phuket islands. P.Sukumar’s camera feasts on the rich locales, and his multi camera set up to film the football matches adds grandeour.

Nowrunning.com says:

Director Kamal has once again shown that he can handle any subject with ease. If you approach Goal with a cynical mind, you may tend to categorize the film as boring and say that there is nothing new in it at all. To a certain extend that’s true. The film moves along very predictable lines, but the director has seen to it that it is presented in such a way that it keeps you glued to the seat till the end. Of course there are certain scenes that elicit a yawn and even some amount of booing. But still, the film is a good commercial venture.
The director, cinematographer and art-director have done all that is possible to make the film colourful, loud and lively so that it appeals to the young generation. Apart from some of the lagging scenes, the main drawback of the film is the storyline, which is an oft-repeated one moving along predictable lines. Still Kamal and team deserve to be appreciated for having come up with a colourful entertainer that jells well with the holiday mood.

Rediff.com comments:

We get to see influences of films like Iqbal and many others in this film, which tries to pack too much in a single venture. Romantic angle notwithstanding, we have misunderstandings galore and an attempt at comedy in the form of Salim Kumar, a non-teaching staff in love with the librarian, who is a nun.

However, Goal is worth watching for the performances of the newcomers. Renjith Menon gives life to the character of Sam while Muktha adds some lighter moments to the bleak proceedings. Aksha provides some eye candy and nothing else. However, is worth watching for the performances of the newcomers. Renjith Menon gives life to the character of Sam while Muktha adds some lighter moments to the bleak proceedings. Aksha provides some eye candy and nothing else.

Photo courtesy: sify.com

Two noticeable films recently were Notebook, which told the story of adolescence in a school setting and Speedtrack told the story of the Self Sacrificing Brother (TM), refreshingly, with the backdrop of sports. Director Kamal, has decided to mash both and come up with a movie set in a school backdrop with sports as the theme.

Goal is basically a love story mixed with the game of football set against the beautiful sylvan surroundings of famous Good Shepherd International school in Ooty, which is the directors favourite location. Says Kamal: “Goal is an entertainer that upholds the spirit of fun, love and sportsman spirit”.

Rahman plays an important role in the film as a football coach and the role of his wife is done by Jenny. Dolly Bindra a Mumbai comedy artist who has done over 50 Hindi films plays a strict teacher in the film who has a funny husband, the suited and booted Salim Kumar! [Kamal’s `Goal` gets ready! ]

The movie also introduces a new hero, Ranjith Menon and a heroine, Akshaya. Mukta aka Bhanu gets to act in her second Malayalam movie. Out of the new faces he introduced in Nammal, Bhavana alone went to have a successful career while the rest just vanished, like Muslim League MP’s in Malappuram after the last general elections.

Niram and Nammal are testimony to the fact that Kamal is a master of teenage candy flicks. His campus movies are entertaining, sentimental and totally predictable. The script of the movie was written by Kalavoor Ravikumar(He was the scenarist for Kamal’s Nammal as well). His movies have excellent songs and for this film, Vayalar Sharatchandra Varma and Vidyasagar are joining hands for the first time. On the whole this sounds like a well packaged movie.

After tickling our laughing bones with such entertainers like Pachakuthira and Thuruppu Gulan, both Mammotty and Kamal have regained sanity. They have decided to make cinema and that too serious ones with a topping of melancholy.
  

Rediff Says:

Karutha Pakshikal showcases the life in slums with these characters but it moves between starkness and sentimentalism that seems to manipulate the audience in a way. But where the film wins us over is the characterisation of the protagonist Murugan, Kamal puts so much life into this man that we can overlook any other shortcoming there may be.

Mammootty devours the opportunity to perform with relish. He embodies Murugan in such a way that he takes us with him through the emotions that he has to experience. He shows a kind of vulnerability to accept everything life offers without having the ability to react; a sort of compromise with fate. What is missing in his character is rage or anguish. Perhaps he cannot afford to have these emotions. This makes Murugan similar to Madhavan, the character Mammootty portrayed in Blessy’s Kazcha.

IndiaGlitz reviews: