When talking about the current remake trend in the industry, the actor said that while remaking old classics, care should be taken to retain the original flavor. He also added that he is acting in the remake of old classic ‘Kadalikka Neramillai’. He further says, “When Tamil films get dubbed into Malayalam, it runs successfully but the same cannot be said for Malayalam films. But the recently released Kuselan was better in Tamil than in the original Malayalam Katha Parayumbol and the credit should go to the entire team.”

And here’s how Mohanlal reacted:

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal has opined that Kuselan’s failure is due to Rajini’s guest appearance. According to the actor, Kuselan did not do well because Rajini has developed an image and people refused to accept him if that is not satisfied. Mohanlal said that he Amitabh Bachchan, Chiranjeevi, Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth have all etched out an image and that is the reason people refuse to accept them if they try to experiment.

That Shows why one guys is still a superstar and other was a superstar!

A slick, youthful entertainer(produced by Aamir Khan) that once again proves the adage that ’screenplay is everything’ by taking a familiar story of friends-turned-lovers and packaging it as a fun and fresh film. The construction of the screenplay as conversations among friends bookending flashback segments works fantastically by making chronological jumps seem less abrupt, allowing for minor narratives that serve as good breaks and announcing the intermission in a very clever way.

Sasi Kumar, the director of Subramaniyapuram

As the director, to what do you attribute the real success of the film?

First and foremost, the story, which was real — viewers want to see realistic and novel ideas and not only masala films. I think filmgoers are fed up with the routine masala stuff.

When did you realise that there was a change in the taste of the Tamil audience?

No change has taken place in the taste of the audience. They always encouraged good films and they look forward to watching realistic films. What do you attribute the success of Sethu, Pitamagan, Veyil, Kadhal, Paruthiveeran to? Audience yearn for such films but we don’t give it to them.

IndiaGlitz comments:

Veruthe Oru Bharya’ is the unassuming title for a movie, narrated with intensity and integrity, from the very beginning to the end. It is one of the best films of recent times, dealing with domestic marriage discords resulting from mismatched characters of two people who stick to their incompatible agendas. It may hit too close to home for some; others might not key in on the psychology, but find it as a digestible fun-filled drama with light hearted moments.

The movie will definitely introspect at least some men who finds a glimpse of them on screen. Presenting Jayaram in a solid workable character, ‘Veruthe Oru Bharya’ accomplishes to bring out the emotional chaos created by broken marital relationships on the victims and their children, somehow sidestepping all the related cliches.

Sify.com says:

It is a well written and tightly paced script of Gireesh who has been able to weave a family saga that is quite convincing. But on the downside the characters often behave in rather strange ways and make it tough for the audience to relate to them. Sugunan has been presented as a selfish hypocrite and his behavior often irritates the viewers. Bindu’s woes are understandable, but even the audience feel like she is over reacting at times. The impact of certain incidents concerning his daughter, on Sugunan, is hard to digest.

However Jayaram is back with a bang in his role as Sugunan. It is vintage Jayaram, and he scores heavily as the role suits his comedy image. Gopika, without any make up, is also quite convincing in her role as Bindu. But she looks evidently younger than what the role actually required. Nivedita shines as their daughter and Suraj Venjarammoodu’s comedy track is a laugh riot.

NowRunning.com reviews:

It’s not everyday that you come across a film as this with a whole lot of sunny optimism pouring in from all corners. Even as there is a terrible breakdown midway through, you know for sure that things are bound to end up right. Perhaps there are a few instances in the film that really require a leap of faith and yet I found myself playing along. As much as I resent those sugared tales where the tumbled house of cards builds back on its own, I could take the film for what it is - light, cheery and amusing.

Veruthe Oru Bharya is a surprisingly strong showcase for its stars. Gopika is a revelation; there’s an irrefutable magic about her, and in this most complex of her movie roles, it comes through with a unique poignancy. She fully inhabits the vulnerability of the downtrodden wife without ever overriding the central conflict. Jayaram is as endearing as well. He finally gets to play his age and even make fun of himself, and discarding the strange carelessness that had made his recent enterprises so unbearable, goes about his job with a precision that’s marvelous. There’s also Niveda, who comes up with a shearing performance as the daughter who’s truly shattered by the tragedy that befalls her family.

Rediff.com does not share other reviewers enthusiasm:

Gireesh Kumar’s script does not ever leave the preachy tone. Besides marital harmony, the film also preaches about the misuse of cell phones and internet by teenagers.

Sugunan is uncouth and primitive in his manners and beliefs. But Jayaram induces his own charm with sprinkling of mirth into his performance. We rarely feel distaste towards the character thanks to him. Gopika as Bindu is shown mature beyond her age. It is the performance of the lead pair that keeps our eyes glued to this preachy film.

The shoot of the film is almost over but for the climax. The trouble is that the superstar’s due to their inflated egos are playing a one-man-upmanship game between them. When Mammootty has dates, Mohanlal is unavailable and when both are ready for the shoot Suresh Gopi does not report for the shoot! [Star Egos delay T:20 ]

Ever since the AMMA-MACTA ego issue was resolved, time has come for egos within AMMA to fight it out. The dormant egos are out and are battling it out like political party members. There are various theories to explain this latest tussle. Madampi-Parunthu fight, who gets to dance with Nayantara, inclusion of Prithviraj so on and so forth. This could result in the movie never getting completed or in the split of AMMA into two organizations: AM and MA.

Besides this positive effect, there is one more

This tug of war has been going on for the last three months making producer Dileep (he is producing it on behalf of AMMA) go crazy. Dileep has sworn that he will start his next film only after he completes T:20, which is dragging on like a test match! [Star Egos delay T:20 ]

This means that Dileep might never act in a movie again, which would make lot of viewers happy. Vinayan and Thulasidas might be dancing with glee. Finally if nothing works out, Dileep can fire Joshi as director and invite Vinayan to direct the rest of the movie with Dummies or Dupes. That, is what we would call poetic justice.

“Today, serious cinema is far ahead of serious film criticism.” This remark, taken from an essay written in 1982 by the Indian film critic Chidananda Das Gupta, seems even more true today than it must have been then. Most film reviews in the Indian press offer little more than plot summaries and a few desultory remarks of praise or condemnation. Their original perceptions, if any, are limited to telling the reader which foreign film the movie being discussed has been copied from, and their language is often stilted and ugly. They are published because of the enormous enthusiasm and appetite of Indian viewers for cinema, but they very rarely enhance the experience of a movie for a viewer, which might be thought of as the first prerequisite of good criticism. [On Chidananda Das Gupta’s Seeing Is Believing]

If you read most of the reviews we feature here at vc, you will agree with the above conclusions. Most reviews are written in haste with the aim of getting to the press as early as possible. Most of these reviews don’t enhance our understanding of the movie in any way.

One reason is that most people who write reviews are not qualified to write them. They are average movie goers with average thoughts. They are not trained in cinema to write deep opinion pieces. Besides this they are not well read to connect the movie to the society and to compare and contrast. And sometimes the reviews could be confused as promotional articles.
That said, when we get movies like Annan Thampi, Inspector Garud, Bharat Chandran IPS, and Alibhai, why do we need educated reviews?

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?

Panathinu meethe Parinthu parukkumo illayo ennu enikku ariyathilla. Athellam Parinthinte sowkariyam pole. Pakshe ente ee thalaikku meethe oru Parinthum parakkila. Paranaal.. chiraku arinju kalayum njaan.-[Madambi attacks Parinthu! ]

That was a line from Madambi and so we were all eager to see which movie had a worse story. Considering that Madambi was a rehash of various other movies, it was indeed tough to produce something worse than that. But M Padmakumar, whose pet theme is evil men attaining redemption, has managed to make a lackluster movie.

NowRunning.com says

Parunthu is a film that refuses to move beyond its kick-off point. Adamantly stuck to where it set off, it makes little progression and even lesser transition. There are a few trials to your patience as well, and there is no handsome reward at the end either.
The most laudable feature of Parunthu is that it doesn’t succumb to pave the way for a star warfare, which was eagerly anticipated by all and sundry, especially after its predecessor Madambi took an open dig at the film. As the credits roll, Parunthu has Purushothaman piercingly proclaiming that he would rather compete with himself, thereby pulling down the curtains on an imminent celebrity combat.

In Padma Kumar’s Parunthu, the regal bird is uncharacteristically passive. There is simply no ferocity in its eyes nor does it whoosh about with a lethal clinch. All it does is soar senselessly all around with neither a prey nor a perch in sight.

Sify writes

The trouble with the film is that in commercial cinema you have to show the hero with negative shades turning over a new leaf for the better to justify his early villainy. Here Parinthu in the first half is completely black, with no redeeming features.

But in the second half, writer T.A Razzak and director Padmakumar makes the character have a change of heart, and in the last scene he becomes too sentimental. Purushothaman tells Azeez in the climax fight- Nammal randuperum villain mara. Villain jayakuna charithrame illa….

The makers’ justification for turning a rock hard guy with no emotions suddenly into a emotional wreck is the film’s major flaw. The climax is jerky and loses the razor sharpness required of an action entertainer.

Paresh Palicha, for a change, makes some observations

That said, we do see a couple of directorial flourishes in a couple of scenes like Parunthu devouring chicken legs in the beginning while watching a news story about a family suicide (his victims as a result of his threats of eviction if they fail to repay the loan) all the while justifying his actions.

In the second half the same dining area is enveloped in darkness (after a change of heart), the food is untouched as a way of expressing his of guilt that money is the be all and end all in life.

Post Script: We never thought we’d see Mammootty and Mohanlal communicating to each other a la  Rajni-Jayalalitha style. Now that Parunthu didn’t take the bait we are eagerly waiting to see how this will play out. Is it the beginning of a new phase of rivalry or  beginning of the end of the rivalry?