He had partially written a novel, which according to the famous novelist CP (Nedumudi Venu in a cameo), could change the Malayalam literary landscape. On hearing this Shivadasan (Mukesh), a small publisher tags along Balachandran, to convince him to finish the novel. He lives in a lodge, surrounded by his books, in a kind of cocoon.

His interactions with the external world are limited. When asked once why he does not own a cell phone, he retorts, “I have no one to call and no one to call me.” He never talks to others in the lodge, except for the boy-cum-caretaker Babu. He sends money to a Muslim girl about whom he had read in the newspaper. He also has a person who takes care of his land.

This small world changes when he gets a phone call from an  college mate Padma (Khushboo) and  some old memories are triggered. This plus Shivadasan’s prodding results in Balachandran taking up his pen. As the novel progresses, he gets more out of his shell, expresses human emotions explicitly and makes progress on his relationship.

As the movie moves to the climax, with Balachandran selling his land and carrying Rs. 3 lakhs, and going to Calicut with the money and his finished novel, terrorists strike. At this point we were shocked because there was such an impedance mismatch between the story so far and the climax.

This brings up the dilemma. The writer’s block, overcoming the writer’s block, the life of a writer – all those have been done perfectly. Though not novelists, but as people who read a lot and try to write something, these are dilemmas we identify with. So Balachandran’s predicament resonated with us.

The terrorism angle –  we have friends who survived Mumbai blasts and train bombs  – too resonated with us. The problem was with the connection between the two. In fact Ranjith, tries to make the connection – somewhere Shivadasan tells his wife that Balachandran’s novel is a great work of black humor on communalism. But in fact there is nothing in the movie which shows why Balachandran is affected by it – he never mentions any communal incident, he is never seen reading about it or discussing anything communal with anyone. When the policemen make fun of a Balachandran helping a Muslim girl, he seems clueless, unable to understand the situation. When such a person claims to be writing a novel about communal problems, it seems hollow.

Alfonso Cuarón‘s Y tu mamá también , is an example of one movie with multiple layers of narration  - there is a road trip, and there is a commentary on the economic situation in Mexico. To Cuarón‘s credit, he blends them well, right from the beginning. This makes the movie memorable, though some might argue that it is the sex scenes that make the movie memorable. The point we are tying to make is that in such movies you don’t spring up a surprise, like in the climax of a CBI movie. In fact in Kathavaseshan , T K Chandran did a better job in justifying Dileep’s behavior, to the point of making it contrived.

Ratheesh seems to be the only one who has  has seen through this:

Renjith has made the script as a series of patchworks with all good intentions to emphasize his “message” again and again, like some programs in school youth festivals. So, a kind-hearted Hindu helps a poor Muslim, an honest Muslim takes care of the property of a Hindu, and so on. The effort to add a “feel-good” factor related to “Love”, “Bridging between Religions” etc. pops up every now and then in the film. Mammootty tries hard to look truly like a sensitive and introvert writer, and adds a touch of uniqueness in the character, at least externally, by attaching certain mannerisms to Balachandran.

That said, we have to note that Ranjith has not fallen for the 80s standard of art movie making, where if there is a shot of one man walking 1km, the camera is turned on for the entire duration. He has dispensed with that level of pretentiousness and made the movie reasonably well paced.

Still when we see movies like Kaiyoppu, it just fails to connect in a memorable way like the Hindi movie A Wednesday which tackled the issue of terrorism in a brilliant, honest, non-boring way.

(Image via IndiaGlitz)

He uses simple rhythms, very little strings, but a lot of synths. But his songs never overpower you with instrumental voices. He gives due credit to the human voice, but occasionally does wander into the Harris Jayaraj-GV Prakash-other ARR wannabes-realm (e.g. Sudum Nilavu; Thambi). Although he is not originally from Kerala, Vidyasagar has a unique ability to use words well inside melodies (e.g. Pinneyum pinneyum, Yaathrayaay sooryankuram), without either the melody or the words sticking out. He is also an exceptionally talented, well qualified, and intelligent MD. Because of all of what I wrote so far, I was a bit disappointed, but not too surprised, with his latest release Rock’n Roll.

Manchadi Mazha (Singers: Madhu Balakrishnan, Sujata): belongs to the collection of “konjam neram”-style melodies that Vidyasagar has been composing a lot lately. I think this trend started with the “ Ninakkentemanassile” song from Gramaphone. One good thing about this trend is that though many of them sound similar, almost all of them are sublime melodies. Like its very similar precursor (Enthanennu from Goal), the song uses the typical Vidyasagar ingredients—heavy melody, synth sounds, extremely light strings, sporadic chorus and raga.

The two singers Madhu and Sujata have sung their hearts out, and this just shows the importance of quality singing. Listen to the subtle gamakams used in the charanam (e.g. thelivaarnnuni~~lppoo, kadalinte mo~u~nam….). Additionally, I liked the bass patterns, especially the transition during the switch into the first interlude.

Valayonnithaa (Singers: Vijay Yesudas, Geemon, Pradeep Palluruthy, Ranjith): is the jolly-camaraderie-folk song. This reminded me of Vidyaji’s own “Thekku thekku” (Ezhupunnatharakan). The MD has tried to maintain melody in the midst of the informal and often annoying lyrics. Perhaps that’s the goal—to make us feel annoyed. I am sure this would be another one of the chartbusters. The MD has used a lot of percussion as the lead character plays a drummer. Overall, it is a standard-fare item-number.

Chandamaama (Singers: Anita, Rija): This is another buoyant song featuring a new singer. It seems that the song has topped the hit charts. The song has a lot of percussion. The percussion becomes the mainstay especially during the second interlude. The lyrics seemed to be very awkwardly fitted into the rhythms, which is odd for a Vidyasagar melody. From an attention-grabbing perspective, the song might score, but musically, it seemed that the song had vocals as a “third wheel”.

Raavereyaay (Madhu B.): When I first noticed that Vidyasagar is going to score music for this film, this was the kind of music I expected. The dramatic strings/piano beginning is swiftly followed by percussion and synth patterns. The first and second lines (Pallavi) are superbly crafted. Madhu B.’s powerful voice and the bass played very subtly make that part very impactful.

However, suddenly, there is a let down in the emotion (hear the lines-Oru yaathrikaneevazhi—-pooviral thottu…). I guess, I might have missed the point here. But, when the song reverts back to the pallavi (Raavereyaay) I do feel the impact. The first musical interlude is surprisingly bland, not in tune with the passionate nature of the song. The charanam starts with the same passion as the pallavi. Then it again dampens down with a subdued but melodious last part. Sometimes I do feel that the MD was just playing with (a.k.a experimenting) with the music.

Jiruthana (Singers: Ranjith, Tippu): The song did not interest me at first and I used to skip it each time I heard the album. But I was interested in the rhythm (hear Angel Eyes, Raghav). It sounds like a Persian rhythm. I have the same issue with the lyrics specifically in the pallavi and anupallavi as I mentioned in the “Chandamaama” song. However, the charanam (Aakkaraykkaano alle alla) is interesting to hear and lyric flows nicely with the percussion. There is interesting contrast between light pitched sounds and the bass provided by the guitars and percussion.

While some of the songs are moving forward in the hit charts, I feel that this album is a step back for Vidyasagar. Why am I saying that? Listen to “Aazhakkannal”, “Mouname Unnidam” and “Kaatrin Mozhi” (Mozhi). Not only are they melodious, they are deep, and strike your soul. The argument against this premise (that this album is a step backwards) could be that this had a situational requirement that it was about a percussionist. True, but sometimes you do expect a lot from talented MDs.

Reviewers have come up with varied opinions, which is not a good sign for long sustainability of the movie in theatres. Looking at Ranjit’s recent track record, he will have to go back to drawing board or get his brain rewired.

IndiaGlitz, didn’t copy from Movie Mazaa‘s review this time.

But certainly the film can be passed off as yet another also-ran film. The light hearted plot has seemingly endless stream of gags and stressful jokes that pad the movie up and down and sometimes, slightly take away from the parts that work. Post interval, the film gets quite emotional and heavy. It’s here that the film tends to drag a bit. If you dig silly stuff, they’re here, but they’re an unworthy compliment to a flick that was meant to be carefully shot fun ride, which at least offers a difference in story lines.

The story is largely believable but goes ridiculous in many places like a world-famous percussion artist running after many, to get a song tuned and the introduction scene of Syedapet Giri, which we had seen umpteen times before. We can very well anticipate the ending, we know what’s going to happen even before it does. And even when it does, Renjith, with his huge experience in scripting, still could have made it better. But, most likely, you will pardon the director for these disregards because this is an entertaining film and is slickly constructed with a hip soundtrack by Vidyasagar and good art direction by Sunil.

tvmtalkies says:

Good:
1. Add Chandrolsavam to Hallo, add a few more jokes and a few tit-bits here and there, drain out any storyline that would have crept in – You Rock n’ Roll. And the movie entertains full two and a half hours.

2. Mohanlal plays Mohanlal, rather than playing a disaster like AliBhai. His liberal values and monologues, classic dialogues, jokes. Some of us can watch Mohanlal for hours, when he is at his easy going self, like in the first half of Chandrolsavam. Rock n Roll provides Mohanlal VSOP.

Sify.com’s review says:

The film affirms the fact that the superstar driven Malayalam movies of today have hardly any script. It is just rehashing the same old stories, the stars larger-than-life image and clich?d situations over and over again. All the talented lead players cannot prop up the dilapidated screen play and maintain a balance in the face of over-the-top direction.

Mohanlal looks tired and ridiculous in outfits and a get-up that do not suit him and hams to the hilt! Lakshmi Rai looks beautiful, but finds it difficult to emote. It’s sad to see an ensemble cast of some of the finest actors in Malayalam- Jagathy, Mukesh, Manoj.K.Jayan, Siddique, Rahman, Asokhan, Sooraj and Lal reduced to nothingness. There is no real catchy tune from Vidyasagar in a film based on music industry, except the number O Mama Chandra mama

Thatsmalayalam was brutal in it’s analysis.

And Rediff.com’s review had some analysis for a change.

The director seems to be at a loss to create a story around these characters. So, he weaves a lame love story around Chandramouli. But we are told in the beginning that this fellow does not believe in love. He argues that there is only the physical need in man and woman, and that is misinterpreted as love (doesn’t this remind us of Prof Nathan of Ore Kadal?).

So, it becomes a big deal when he feels infatuated by the new singer Daya Sreenivasan (Lekshmi Rai) whose song he has given beats to. He employs techniques of a college student to win her over, which looks utterly stupid (a lesser word won’t do) considering that he can philosophise on happy matrimony to his friend Isaac and his wife. And, above all he has had experiences with women all around the world.

Performance-wise Mohanlal tries very hard to rise above the script, which is in tatters, but beyond a point, he fails amuse us. Whether it is the philosophical hyperbole or downright buffoonery; there is sincerity in his effort.

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.

One of the most elaborate scenes in [tag]Meesha Madhavan[/tag] is when the local money lender Bhageerathan Pilla ([tag]Jagathi Sreekumar[/tag]) and his daughter Rugmini ([tag]Kavya Madhavan[/tag]) set a trap to catch the Chekku village thief Madhavan ([tag]Dileep[/tag]). Folklore says that if Madhavan twirls his moustache at someone, he will steal from that person’s house. Knowing this they setup a cartoon film based trap consisting of ropes, pulleys, marbles and powder. On that night they not alone. Joining Pillechan is his trusted friend, middle aged man with a neck problem and the Chekku youth wing secretary Thrivikraman ([tag]Cochin Haneefa[/tag]). Joining Madhavan is his friend Sugunan played by Harisri Asokan and the advocate Mukundanunny who is chasing him (played by [tag]Salim Kumar[/tag]). Another person who wanders into this milieu is Lineman Lonappan (Machan Varghese) whom Madhavan had bribed to disconnect the power supply to Pillechan’s house.

What follows for the next 15 minutes is various encounters in various parts of the house. Pillechan’s hot water tub is substituted with a bucket of burning coals. The advocate falls into a cow dug pit and walks like a zombie scaring everyone. Madhavan walks into the trap and is caught in a fishing net. No, that’s still not the entire cast of this movie. Not seen in this scene are constable Achyuthan Namboothiri (Oduvil), who is pally with Madhavan, Prabha ([tag]Jyothirmayi[/tag]) who is Namboorthiri’s daughter, and Eepan Papachi ([tag]Indrajith[/tag]), the new inspector in town.

Though he is a thief, Madhavan is loved by one and all. His father had borrowed money from the money lender Pillechan and so he has to make payments based on Pillechan’s demands. This gets them into fights quite often and they try to one up each other. Madhavan, since he spends his time roaming in the dark, finds that Pillechan has an affair with the wife of a soldier and uses this information to black mail him. This cat and mouse game goes on for a while when Rugmini enters the fray.

So there are more games between Madhavan and Rugmini as she wants to support her father. In such movies, it is imperative that the hero and heroine be childhood friends and that requirement is depicted through flash backs. Soon Pillechan finds an ally in the newly arrived arrogant inspector Eeapen Papachi. One casualty of the game played by Rugmini, Pillechan and Papachi is the marriage of Madhavan’s sister and then Rugmini makes a U turn and falls in love with Madhavan. But then the idol from the temple is stolen and the suspect is Madhavan since he was seen there last night. If Madhavan did not do it, then who did it? (No points for guessing the answer.)

This movie was a big hit in the year it was released for a good reason – it is an excellent entertainer with very lovable characters, funny scenes and a smooth screen play. Like any other [tag]Ranjan Pramod[/tag] script, it just flows from the beginning with one event after another establishing the relationships and introducing the characters, like how we saw again in Naran.

The film does not break new ground in terms of comedy but the way in which these characters interact provides all the entertainment required. There are scenes like Pillechan taking a knife to cut down Madhavan and the whole village joins him in the procession with Thrivikraman calling everyone to come and watch the fun. When Pillechan steps into the barber shop where Madhavan is hiding, he finds that Madhavan is sitting along with the Military husband of the lady with whom Pillechan has an affair. Pillechan pleads with his eyes and Madhavan makes fun of him in front of everyone.

Besides such Tom & Jerry scenes, there is romance, misunderstanding, jealousy, compassion, drama and every possible human emotion, all captured in a realistic way. There is even one beautiful sensual scene when Madhavan enters Pillechan’s house to steal Rugmini’s aranjanam. The movie stands out in terms of performance of all the actors – Dileep, Kavya, Jagathi, Haneefa, Harisri, Oduvil, all perform their parts without over acting. While all these people are all established actors, one person who impressed us was Indrajith as the menacing Papachi. Even Salim Kumar as the advocate who goes around saying, “I may not have the looks, but I am an advocate”, was tolerable.

If you observe the successful comedy movies in Malayalam like Nadodikaatu, Sanmanasullavarku Samadhanam and Ramji Rao Speaking, you will find that they all have an under current of poverty. It this this poverty that drives the protagonists to do all those crazy things which is comical to us and makes them human. In this film too there is an explanation for Madhavan’s necessity to be a thief and such behavior silently rationalized.

[tag]Vidyasagar[/tag] gave some excellent foot tapping numbers for this movie, the most famous being Chingamasam which bought Jyothirmayi to attention. All the songs have excellent choreography by Prasannan. Each frame of the song is captivating, both due to the costumes, the contrast of the costumes with the background and also due to the framing of the beautiful locales and one has to commend the excellent work done by S. Kumar.

This film catapulted the careers of director [tag]Lal Jose[/tag], Dileep, Kavya and Ranjan Pramod. This is an excellent movie and is highly recommended.

Add to: | Technorati | Digg | del.icio.us | Yahoo | BlinkList | Spurl | reddit | Furl |

When the movie starts, Dileep has a serious face. He is pensive, does not talk much, does not laugh or make others laugh. In fact, he does not even smile, when Harisri Asokan does his monkey act in front of him. No, we are not degrading Asokan, by calling him a monkey, but in one scene in the movie, he actually acts like a monkey, scratching his face, jumping up and down and making faces. Still Dileep does not laugh. He cannot laugh because he is Surya Narayana Varma, who has been in jail for five years for murder and people released from jail and who have murderers chasing him do not smile.

Surya Narayana Varma a.k.a Unni had murdered Prakashan, who was supposed to marry Ashwathy (Kavya Madhavan), his love. Ashwathy, whose parents died was bought up by her uncle (Vijayaraghavan), who has an eye on her property. He wanted her to marry his relative so that the property would remain in the family, but she wanted to marry Unni. While Unni and Ashwathy try to elope, Prakashan and gang chase them and in the fight, Unni stabs Prakshan.

Knowing that Vijayaraghavan would seek revenge on Unni, his parents whisk him to Chennai on the hope that Vijayaraghavan and gang would not know how to reach Chennai. In Chennai he joins the Law College and encounters Meenakshi (Rambha). They get off to a wrong start. Unni also gets into the bad book of her brother played by Riaz Khan who appears in extremely tight fitting t-shirt and holding his breath. One incident leads to another and Unni beats Riaz Khan. Then one incident leads to another and Meenakshi wants to marry Unni. Next aliens land and kidnap both of them. Just kidding.

Knowing that his parents have fixed his marriage to Meenakshi without his consent, Unni decides to tell the story of his life to Meenakshi. Thus we learn about his past when he did not walk with a serious face and about his romance with Ashwathy, his tiff with his father which leads to him being an auto driver and then various activities with Harisri Asokan, which are best left unsaid. Since the flashback is over, Vijayaraghavan and co decide to let Unni know that Ashwathy is still alive. Will Unni marry her? What will happen to Meenakshi? Why are you asking all these stupid questions?.

This would be an exciting movie to watch if you have not seen Baasha or for that matter any other movie. In Baasha, Rajnikanth is an auto driver with a past. In this movie Dileep is a college student with a past as an auto driver. The main pillars of the movie are a simple revenge story and a silly triangular love affair. How many times have we seen this. There is nothing new about the ch aracters played by Dileep and Kavya Madhavan. In fact left alone, they both can act in this movie without any direction from past experience. But this movie has a director – Johnny Antony, of C.I.D.Moosa fame.

Dileep and Comedy are like Gonghura Pickle to Andhra food. This movie has its dose of comedy and some of the dialogues (Uday Krishna – Sibi.K.Thomas) are really funny. Then the movie has Harisri Asokan also. In one scene in the cafeteria in the college, Harisri is seen serving food to students in complete cricket gear. His explanation is that there are constant fights in the campus and the cricket costume is to protect him. A fight soon stars and Harisri gets hit. He falls through a window onto Indrans, who falls into a sack full of flour. Indrans with his face full of flour then slowly rises up, making faces. Such scenes are there all throughout the movie.

Then there is Jagathi Sreekumar, who is Unni’s grandfather. He is trained in martial arts and has an old car which does not run. In most scenes, he is seen rushing into various scenes with his car loaded at the back of a lorry. That’s all what he does in the movie. Among the villains, Vijayaraghavan acts terrible. His voice is not suited for shouting and that is what he does all the time, making it more hilarious than menacing. Kavya Madhavan looks plump and beautiful and does her part very well. Rambha does not have anything worthwhile to do in this movie other than appearing in two songs in the kind of dresses that Kavya would never wear.

The music is by our favorite, Vidyasagar, but all the songs are forgettable, except for Munthiripadam, which was the relatively better one. The song was sung by Udit Narayan, and thus we are not sure if it was really a Malayalam song. Usually Dileep movies fall into this category called “Entertainers” meaning that the story is irrelevant. The story of this movie is as predictable any Bollywood movie and has no twists or turns that we have not seen before. And if you are still wondering what exactly is ‘Kochi Rajavu’, it’s the name of Dileep’s autorickshaw in the movie. This is a movie worth watching once for time pass.