A second thing we want to focus in detail is freshness of script. See, we don’t mind seeing yet another entertainer like the guy in front of us in the Beverages shop. What we want is some creativity. For example, the story line for Urumi or Gadamma looks fresh. We don’t want to see is another Pokiri Raja which is a collection of all cliches in Malayalam and Tamil cinemas executed as poorly as possible. Pokiri Raja may have made a ton of money, but we really don’t care.

So when you leave comments or review a movie for us, please focus on these aspects. Unless we start a zero tolerance towards cliched scripts, we won’t get better scripts.

Now, if we write posts only based on these aspects, we might have only a couple of posts. So the regular programming (Review Roundup, Score Card, Moronic comments by actors, antics of AMMA, Thilakan, Vinayan) will be there.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

Finding an appropriate name for a movie is by no means an easy task. It has to be catchy, meaningful, should have relevance to the theme of the movie and should be announced sufficiently early. (Announcing a title early has its advantages – people speculating over the content of the movie and thereby a lot of hype is generated.) In many of the cases, the title has to go through a number of iterations before everyone is satisfied with the outcome.

However, of late, there seems to be a dearth of names. One need not look back far to see movies of the same name being released in two different languages and at the same time.

Pachakuthira – the Dileep movie, was his Vishu release and featured him in a double role, one of it being that of a mentally challenged person. At the same time, Kollywood saw the release of a Parthipan-Namitha starrer of the same name. While the former was an out-and-out family movie, the same cannot be said of the latter – not surprising as Namitha is the glamour queen of Kollywood and has a phobea for clothes.

Now another instance of a possible name-confusion has come out. Dileep is at one end once-again – the other end is a certain Hindi super-star by name of Shah Rukh Khan.The title in question is “Don”.

Shah Rukh’s “Don“, directed by Farhan Akthar is a remake of the old Bachchan-Zeenat Amman classic of the same name- famous for its songs such as “Khaike Pan Benaras wallah“. The original had Bachchan play an underworld Don. “Don” would be Shah Rukh’s Deepavli Release.

Shaji Kailas’s “Don” is also an underworld story featuring the “Jana-priya-Nayagan” aka Dileep as the Don. Meera Jasmine plays his pair. The movie is also Dileep’s Onam release.

Now Onam and Deepavali are not very far apart. And with two movies sharing theatre space roughly at the same time, will the poor (but intelligent) malayali audience left confused yet again?

The image quality was much better and the details more vivid. Film Critic Roger Ebert saw the movie in both formats and does the comparison.

But I knew the film had been shot on digital video, and that George Lucas believed that it should preferably be seen, not on film, but projected digitally. Sunday I was able to see the digital version, and Lucas is right: “Star Wars: Episode II–Attack of the Clones” is sharper, crisper, brighter and punchier on digital than on film.

On digital, the images were bright and clear. The difference was dramatic: more detail, more depth, more clarity…It’s to be expected that “Episode II” would look better on digital, because it was entirely filmed on digital. Therefore, the digitally projected version is generation one, and the film version is one generation further from the source.

Moonnamathoral, directed by V. K. Prakash has the distinction of being India’s first digital movie. Main advantage of digital movies are that, expensive film rolls and post processing expenses could be done away. Movie would be transmitted to computers in movie theatres, hence the movie could be released in a larger number of theatres. It’s roughly estimated that about Rupees 30 lakhs could be saved in production costs.

VK Prakash is directing the film for Fairy Queen Productions. “The film is based on the concept of fear. It revolves mostly around an investigation,” he said.

Trissur-based Emil and Eric Digital Pvt Limited is the technical consultant for the project. The entire film is going to be shot on a HD camera.

If the format becomes popular, then film production costs will come down drastically. [India’s first digital film getting ready]

True to it’s name it’s Moonamathoral (3 rd person) is considered as hero. Earlier Indrajith and Biju Menon were considered as heroes and they backed out due to time constraints and the director has settled on Jayaram, who had no issues about managing his time.

Once upon a time Malayalam cinema embraced technological advances like 6-track stereophonic sound (Padayottam) and 3-D (My dear Kuttichathan). We hope V.K.Prakash’s movie gets released and viewers are able to see the difference.

Moonamathoral is a special movie as it is the first digitial movie to be filmed in India. If no other actor is available, then the director can use digital techniques in the creation of animated actors like those in Finding Nemo or Who Framed Roger Rabbit. That way he doesn’t have to spend all the producer’s money in making long distance calls to these scarce actors.

(In the photograph, from left to right Mr.Sameer Hamza(director Magicreel), Mr.Mathew Francis(GM Joy alukkas), Mr.P.Sukumar (Cameraman), Mr.Kamal (Director) during the launch of Joy Alukkas Star search)

Usually it’s Kalathilakams, mimicry artistes, failed assistant directors or kin of film people who becomes actors and actresses. Who was the last newcomer who impressed you? Still thinking?

Now an attempt is now on to fill the void in Malayalam film industry. This unique talent hunt by Magic Reel, Joy Alukkas, and Director Kamal is to find two actors (age 18 to 27) and an actress (age 16 to 23) who would act in Kamal’s next movie, Miss India.Each of these people involved have an established reputation. Magic Reel is a production boutique, head quartered in Dubai Media City and has done commendable work in the Middle East from event and celebrity management, TV Commercials and production work for organizations like Sony Max, Zee TV and the rest.Joy Alukkas is a global player with its roots in Trichur and is always in the fore front in giving Kerala its rightful aura and presence in the world.

Mr. Kamal, has an iconic standing in the film industry. He has directed over 35 films. All these films have been hugely appreciated and his perception and treatment is realistic yet unique.

Miss India will be scripted by Kalavoor Ravikumar, and have lyrics by Vyalar Sharath Chandra Varma set to the tune of Mohan Sithara and produced by Kaladharan, Girija Vallabhan and Thobias.Ms. India is a woman centric theme, where the female lead has a powerful portrayal and the actress who will play the part will get an opportunity to become a name to reckon in Malayalam film industry.

Contest Details

The online form can be dowloaded now from www.magicreelonline.com. The entry fee is INR 1000 or USD 20 and registration is open till June 2006(This audition would be telecast live on one of the leading satellite channels, and all the participants would be given a certificate of participation). The website has more information about the details of the contest and the venues where the audition will be held.

The event organizer, director, camera man and script writer will constitute the panel of judges. Criteria for selection will be based on the acting ability, looks and general attitude of the participant.

If you or anyone you know has the acting bug, then this would be a good opportunity to strike it big.

Note: varnachitram.com is the media partner for this talent search.

He follows what seems to be the classic rule book on how to become a successful Hollywood screenwriter. He swears by screenwriting guru Robert McKee, eschews writing original scripts, and worships at the altar of the three-act structure.

“The screenplays I write are formally very predictable,” Goldsman says. “They’re essentially the one-page version of a clothing dummy. They have two legs, a middle, two arms and a head. I can dress them up pretty on a good day, but the structure is simple, and I like that.”

Of course, these screenwriting dictums work only if you have talent both for words and people. [Akiva Goldsman: Decoding Da Vinci]

Other writers talk about the secrets behind the writing.

“Ruthlessness,” said the novelist Diane Johnson, who has written screenplays herself, including that of Stanley Kubrick’s adaptation of Stephen King’s novel “The Shining.” “In a movie, you’re working with 120 scenes, so the first thing is to throw out half of the novel. Novelists who follow their screen versions too closely are in for a lot of agony.”

That’s the most difficult part,” said Ms. Johnson, whose best-selling novel “Le Divorce,” written in the first person, was later adapted to the screen. “As a writer, you have the power to render the subjective experience of the character — and that, in fact, is what’s interesting. But since cinema is an objective medium, it’s very hard to capture this. Very often you don’t get it at all.” [Mystery of the 'Da Vinci Code' Film: Will we love it?]

We hope these lessons will come handy when we make our first movie, in which no Malayali actor or actress will act, because we have made fun of all of them.

The sequel to Kilukkam titled Kilukkam Kilukilukkam was released recently. One reviewer wrote

But Kilukkam Kilukilukkam is almost a farce with mindless burlesque and silly caricaturing.In the event, the abiding feeling that you come out with is one of disappointment and also disgrace. The gaggle of comedians —- Jagathy, Innocent, Cochin Haneefa, Harisree Ashokan, Salim Kumar and the frontline actors — try their best. But the script doesn’t allow them to rise above the entrenched mediocrity. The script is to blame for that. And to see Mohanlal reduced to a caricature of himself is sad.

This movie became a big hit. The biggest audience was children below the age of 10, who liked the antics of the characters. A while back another film CID Moosa was released which was an insult to human intelligence. This movie was a super hit and many mothers have told us that their children are repeat audience for that movie.

When we were kids we used to run around the house, throw stones at mango trees of neighbours and read magazines like Poompatta or Balarama. We had to do all this because TV was not there. The only humorous programme those days were Kandathum Kettathum and Kauthuka Varthakal on radio.

We used to be wonderstuck by Kapeesh’s antics, Mayavi’s tricks and Shikari Shambu’s stupidity. In terms of movies, there were not many children’s movies we can remember. There was a movie called Ammuvinte Aatinkutti, which was mandatory viewing in our school. Then came My Dear Kuttichathan, which really fired up our imagination both due to the story and the 3-D special effects. Manu Uncle was probably the last movie made for children.

Movies made for children should be entertaining and should not contain violence, bad language, sexuality and should have a moral. They should not be very sentimental and be inspiring. Children’s movies can take them to fantasy world’s which tickle their imagination. Though the most popular children’s movies are animated ones, there can be live action films as well.

While India does not have Snow White or Toy Story or Nemo or Monster’s Inc, there are many stories in our mythology which can be animated. Sahara had an animated movie on Hanuman and inspired by the success of it, they are now planning another animated movie. Animated movies require lot of capital and effort and it is not something which the Malayalam movie industry can make.

One thing which our industry can make is live action movies along the lines of Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew or Alfred Hitchcock and the three investigators. We can also follow the examples of E.T, Baby’s Day Out, Home Alone, Love Bug, Dennis the Menace, and Shrek.

For film makers if they can made a lovable character like Herbie in Love Bug or Dennis or Shrek, they can make a series of movies with them and will have a fan following. The movie should have good songs along the lines of Lion King or Tarzan which were enjoyed by adults as well. Children’s movies are not expensive to make and will work well within the cash strapped Malayalam film industry.

Even though the Government gives incentives to film makers to produce children’s movies, there are no takers. So kids are forced to watch the circus of Salim Kumar and Cochin Haneefa which does not inspire them nor teach them any morals.