Re: Malayalam films / music thread - മലയാള സിനിമ / സംഗീതം...

[plum]

Oh you must app_engine. At the earliest. This is probably the pinnacle of even that excellent period in Kerala.

[V_S]

Plum,
Again a superb write-up! You are making me more and more embarrassed as I am missing so many malayalam movies like this. Will definitely try to watch these films soon.

[plum]

Thanks for the recommendations. Will try watching them. I always face these issues while attempting to watch malayalam films:

1. Lack of subtitles

2. Since its widely believed that malayalam is fairly close to thamizh and one does not need subtitles, if I decide to watch without them I lose some key moments becuase of me not understanding the dialogues

3. Even with subtitles, they speak SO freaking fast. Before I read the subtitle, the next dialogue starts coming. And since I spend so much time looking at the bottom of the screen I lose certain acting nuances, symbolism etc.

Delikat possisson for me.

Saw this just now Nerd. Actually, you are right. I had the same problem. But I kind of coped by watching the same movie multiple times. Manichitrathazhu maasam oru dhadavai poduvaan ovvoru muRaiyum pAppEn. My wife used to go mad.

apdi pArththu pArththu pArththu langaugela pidi kitti.

You are probably the same age now as when I started getting interested in mallu movies(I mean, not THOSE mallu movies. I know you are past THAT age ). Start now, and you'll not regret it at all 7-8 years down the line...

[plum]

Actually, one more thing worked out in my favour. I didnt have access to these classics until I signed up for d2h a month earlier. Before that I used to watch the prime-time Asianet and Surya channel movies. A lot of them crappy like recent blockbusters like Christian brothers, China Town etc, and several Dileep crap-fest comedies and a few Sathyan Anthikkad ones. THat kind of got me acquainted with the basic grammar and sollAdals so when I actually started watching the classics last month, I was very comfortable.

Maybe, you should also desist from watching the classics until you get a comfort level with the language..that way, you can truly enjoy them.

[plum]

Ranjith's Nandhanam
What's with Malayalam film makers and young maids falling in love with the master of the house or some equivalent. This knot has led to many a delightful movie, not the least Neelathamara(1980) and its equally-delightful remake in the 2000s by Lal Jose; and the Monisha-powered Nakshathangal.

One of the most redeeming features of basic Malayalam film idioms is that by nature, they tend to avoid larger-than-life.(Ok, dont throw the Thandavams, narasimhams on me.). In characters, in situations, in dialogues and in the dilemmas that the characters face, and how they are resolved.

So, you have a class-difference that is the basic knot of this movie. A maid falling for a master, and he reciprocating. So, the heartless society stands in-between, right? Right. The scheming relatives of the fellow try to hound her out of the house, right? Right. They find a suitable alternative within the clan, right? Right. And they propose to hastily marry the boy off to the proper bride, right? Right.

Right, so how does Ranjith differentiate himself from run-of-the-mill exponents, which means pretty much everyone if it were any other industry than the Kerala film industry?

This is where Ranjith throws a delightful twist(of which, later), bringing in a literal deus-ex-machina, and while a twist usually kills a movie(recent example: Kahaani) from being watched with the same awe a second time, Ranjith has woven it in so cleverly that even in my 3rd viewing, I went through the same palpitations for the lead pair, the same anxiety on their behalf, and marvelled at the deus-ex-machina's playful and naughty interventions, instead of pooh-poohing it now that I know it is a deus-ex-machina.

Nandhanam, brilliantly woven with Ravindran's evocative, if slightly standalone, music and songs, is a tale of a innocent, young girl, who loses her parents and is saddled with a sister who needs a surgery. One of her ardent wishes is to visit the Guruvayur Temple(Guruvayur Ambalam, as she evokes in Ravindran's melting Mouliyil Mayil Peeli ), and worship her favourite deity, the naughty Krishna, who has played with many a gopika's heart in his time.

It is not as a heart-throb that this Gopika worships Krishna, though. He is her friend, her confidant, established in delightful, unobtrusive passages of screenplay, throughout the movie.

The film treats this eccentric piece of whimsy of screenplay in a delightfully off-hand way, and convinces us to believe in the fantasy narrative, through sheer power of its earnestness.

For, this is Cindrella-in-Guruvayoor, as this girl ends up in Guruvayoor as maid in a typical tharavadu with a powerful, if humane, matriarch, and soothes her loneliness with her lively presence and companionship. The relationship is barely one-sided though, with the maid having full freedom and respect of the household. The other, elder maids resent her but Balamani, for that is the name of our heroine, always has a way to protect herself, and ably deflects their barbs with smiling retorts, without ever crossing the line.

In a trite storyline, which involves the young boy of the household inevitably falling for this charming maid, the family proposing and establishing a different bride for him, and twists and turns leading to the pair uniting in the end, what makes the difference is what I mentioned earlier - there are no explosive confrontations and class-conflicts - when the family confronts the issue, the machinations mostly happen in a low-key fashion, and though a lot of the knot-openers looking like contrived, the way they are arrived at is in thorougly satisfying manner controlled with superb direction by Ranjith as he fashions and utilises characters brilliantly for this purpose.

So, you have Siddique, an ex-suitor of Prithivraj's mother, Revathy, who couldnt unite because of familial opposition during their time, and now a friend of the family(and the beauty is in how the family doesnt make a big deal of it, nor the director does it showily). He is very much there during the wedding preparations, and stands as a rock behind Revathy as she finally decides to let her son follow his heart.

The matriarch, played with elan by veteran Kaviyoor Ponnamma, is a firm decision-maker, however she has to carefully deal with her revolting clan, and she doesn't do this with histrionics or machinations, but with low-key enunciations of her choice, making it clear to the clan that she will put her grandson's wishes first.

The family itself is not the all-powerful entity that can scheme at will, and do a TV-serial type job on Balamani. They try their best, but cannot confront openly.

Ranjith even uses Jagathy's character created for comic relief, as one of the twists to prevent the said wedding of Prithivraj with the family-approved girl.

Another character that plays a similar role is Innocent's uncle of Balamani, who has adopted her, but is under pressure financially, so asks her to stay with this family as maid to pay for her sister's surgery. He is not the evil-minded uncle you'll typically get in a similar situation in some Tamil films, nor is he a benevolent good samaritan going through the fire for his niece. He is a flesh-and-blood realist, who, knowing that he has to get his niece employed as maid to fulfil his obligations, does it firmly, but at the same time, looks for a family that will treat her with dignity. He is afraid of what will happen if Balamani's love for Prithviraj is known, and is not exactly encouraging it but when push comes to the shove, is not above a few machinations to make it happen.

The elder servants, while resenting and bickering with Balamani, also eventually root for her Cindrella character, but without ever going through a patented Vikraman moment of realisation. It just happens naturally.

All this leads to one delightful movie, which, even though I have revealed key plot points here, will still stun you, trust me.

A feisty Navya Nair, in her first meaty role, helps Ranjith establish this slightly fantastic scenario with her effervescence and sheer confidence.

The film belongs to her despite excellent support from a host of artistes including a debut-making Prithviraj, Revathy, Kaviyoor Ponnamma as the matriarch, and Aravind Akash in a lovely cameo as the deus-ex-machina.

And all this, without even talking about Ravindran maash's evocative songs, of which Mouliyil Mayil Peeli and Karmugil varnandE chundil will stand testimony to his divine inspiration for ever.

It is not a great movie, or an all-time wonderful one or a movie that will make your own top 100 in your lifetime. But it is a delightful watch, and is a powerful testimony to the intelligence of film-makers in Kerala, even in the 2000s when the well had dried up even in Kerala.

[plum]

There is not much to write on today's movie. It happened thus:

Mohanlal decided to start a production house. Being confused at that stage of his career, having developed two personalities within himself, one which catered to the masses and another which indulged himself in his taste for art, he called for a middle-of-the-road director, Sibi Malayil for discussion

Mohanlal: Sibi, I want you to direct the first movie for my production house
Malayil: Great. Honoured. So, what do you want to make? Shall I call Lohi for a script?
Mohanlal: Wait, wait. I want to make a safe movie.
Malayil: Oh!
Lal: I want an adi-poli, pucca mass story which will click with masses
SM: Well, shouldn't you be calling Joshi, then?
Lal: Ah! There's the dilemma. I also want to indulge in my taste for music.
SM: Really?
Lal: Right, so, Ravindran maash has composed these songs, and I want this particular piece to be played the concluding frame of the movie
SM: Which one?
Lal: This one:
Anandam AnanthAnandam JagadAnandham Sangeetham
SM: Oh! And you want a regular masala movie?
Lal: Yes

***Sibi comes back next day, having heard the songs***
SM: Are you sure you don't want to do a quickie with Joshi now and then take these songs up for a new movie with me? I can take this to Lohi and see what he can come up with.
Lal: No, angENayirunnengil, I would have called Joshi, wouldn't I? You want to take a stab or I call up Priyadarshan
SM: Oh! No, Kerala doesn't deserve these songs in a Priyan movie. Let me do my best. I have a friend in TN, KS Ravikumar, who has a friend called Ramesh Kanna who is good at concocting stories from anything.

***Malayil goes off to consult with the friends, and thus emerged the story of His Highness Abdullah. Apparently, KSR suggested an aptly placed rape scene, but thankfully, Malayil knew better than that****

Thus was made the story of a long lost inmate of a huge, reputed tharavadu(palace), hired as a hired assassin to kill the very head of the palace, and who, having arrived at the place as an impostor, realizes his roots, and changes his heart, emerging as the saviour of the said head of the palace.

Yeah, I know, AADHAVAN , you cry out, triumphantly. Full marks for guessing, but zero marks for visualising the movie as Malayil did, which ends up in an enjoyable fare for 2.5 hrs, doing nothing but setting up situations for the fabulous songs before wrapping up the 3rd act in haste, when the whole knot I mentioned above happens. The movie even has a character grandiosely proclaiming "Now starts the 3rd act". They might as well have said "Wait don't go away, we are just going to give you an actual story now".

Sibi Malayil, in top form, takes this simple masala tale, and executes it brilliantly to justify the concluding frame ending with the phrase from the epic Devasabathalam.

I might as well list the songs - phenomenal as they are - and finish this piece:
1. Thoobadi Masha Allah kahe abdullah - where KJY takes the cue from the second word of the pallavi, and mashes up Urdu beyond recognition, but still seduces you into enjoying the song
2. Naadha Roopini - MG Sreekumar's 15 minutes of fame, which won him the national award, has the genius Raveendran mash finding a way to utilize his voice to its best effect
3. Devasabathalam - the masterpiece which pits a hindustani and carnatic musician against each other and comes with a tour de force of a piece that thoroughly satisfies either fans
4. Pramadhavanam Vendum - The song that made a generation of Tamil(admittedly, elite, snobbish, urban ones) fall in love with movies and music from Kerala. The song gives me goosebumps every time, every minute
5. Gopika Vasantham - my personal favourite, where KJY and more importantly, with the help of the sole female presence in the album, KSC, creates a dripping. romantic piece from a traditional tune and instruments. I am damned if I don't sigh heavily for every second of chechi's :
nooru jenmam nOnbu nOrthoru
thiruvAdhirayANeee Radhaa

- as though my own soul searches for the (what, I don't know) that it has been searching for 100s of births. If you aren't acquainted with Raveendran master, the genius, you couldn't choose a better song to get acquainted with him. Go on, Youtube will oblige. DON'T. HOLD. BACK. YOUTUBE. IT. NOW. LIKE, NOW.


HIS HIGHNESS ABDULLAH - the best musical masala ever made in Indian filmdom.

And this eternal truth:
Anandam Ananthanandham Jagadanandam Sangeetham

[plum]

I deliberately cut out this piece from my post, as it is just a personal rant:

Basically, aNNi was out of place in the Mallu set-up. Plus, with heavy dancing involved, the role called for Shobana, although not a hugely demanding role by itself, it was hugely demanding for our Gauthami aNNi, and she is one of the sore notes for me. Nevertheless, you don't ask for much from a masala movie, especially when Lal-Malayil ably pack it with their musical sensibility, and don't let us care about anything else.

[app_engine]

WOW, HHA!

gOpikA vasantham here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyNKij0r_RY

[app_engine]

Watched Bharatham...classic!

(The only thing that didn't go very well with me was the dubbing voice for Lakshmi...why why? Didn't she know Malayalam? She acted there decades back - "the shirt girl" - when they possibly didn't use dubbing artists...

[plum]

Valtsalyam

Meladathu Raghavan Nair could have been a feminist's nightmare.

Well, because he is a old-fashioned farmer with his own idea of what women are in this world for  - mostly, his idea of a woman's function in the family revolves around the kitchen, cattleshed, and well of course, in the case of his wife, bedroom(though of course, this is not a movie which will lay emphasis on the last part, obviously)

Because of his ideas about education of women either - he believes a woman is a family's honour and the fear of unseemly company of opposite sex is enough to stop the education of women in the family, for him. Not to mention a maniac thrashing of the said female member of the family, when caught flirting with a college mate.

Certainly  because of his idea of avoiding a family conflict - his usual method when his extra-ordinarily pliant wife so much as expresses mild rebuke of her brother-in-law's lack of commitment to the family ideal, is to plant his big wrist across her face with force.

Well, indeed, they could certainly hate him for all this, and indeed, in a contemporary movie and media-discussions, he'd probably not receive a good profile. But he still wouldn't be their nightmare.

The reason he wouldn't a nightmare is because, for all these shortcomings from that point of view, this man, Raghavan Nair, is irresistibly attractive with his all-encompassing Valtsalyam for his family, and the fierce instinct with which he rushes to their protection every single time , despite several betrayals of trust and affection.

And this is made even more inevitable by the fact that he is played fascinatingly by Mammootty at peak form, Raghavan was a force of nature, a fact which only reached me in a mild whiff then.

In 1994, I just knew that Malayalam was a language, and just about had a faint recognition of the names, Mammootty and Mohanlal.  At college, there were the inevitable Malayalee girls, and one of them, a fairly sturdy specimen of modern thinking, had mentioned Valtsalyam in passing. It was being screened in the Open Air Theatre, a week after a movie named "aasai" (Tamil) was aired, and in passing, to my query as to what this movie was about, she said, "..ah, well, it's just like...ahm..hmm... Aasai, you know, ...sort of affection, similar to the last movie we saw." It was clear she was holding it up as some sort of classic, from the look of her face, but this wasn't borne out by her articulation. Looking back now after having watched the movie, that look on her face was "MammokkA a.k.a Raghavan Nair! Ah! I wish my father were like him, I wish so was my brother, and I wish so is my husband".

She probably didn't have the time or patience(or, incentive ;-) ) to explain. For, Valtsalyam is as far away from Aasai as can be. As a movie, it could be from Venus while Aasai is from Mars. I'll never forgive you, girl, because you delayed my experience of Valtsalyam by 18 years, with that shoddy description.

(To be Contd)

[plum]

Before I continue on the movie, a small, important digression. I need Murali Srinivas for this but in his absence, I'll have to try on my own.

Mr Groucho070, it is high time you caught up with the movies in your mother-tongue from 80s and 90s. Really. And, it is high-time you paid attention to this man, Mammokka as his fans call them affectionately; Ikka, as some of them like @dirhit(Directhit a.k.a Anoop) call even more affectionately.

We have discussed this many times before- but let me reiterate. I am well and truly convinced he is the true heir to our Nadigar Thilagam, on pure acting stakes.

And this movie could be a primer for you to recognise the fact. Note, I said recognise, not realise. There is no realisation involved. You watch, you simply recognise that as a fact.

This is a sturdy man who wears his heart in his sleeves, a wronged man several times over, betrayed by fate, disappointed by brother and sister, and rather bruisingly tested by destiny. But he weathers it all. To the last, he remains defiant, looking optimistically to build his life all over again at around the age we are now, starting afresh from where he did in his youth, and probably reached this age hoping to settle down and enjoy the fruits of his labour.

In this journey, you catch him, mostly, in a furious mood. Something or the other is in place to spoil his happiness, however fleeting. Not in a 6-t-60 Rajinikanth way, but in a Padkikkatha Methai way. People are always questioning him, and he manages to react as much with blind rage, as with equal amounts of, well. Valtsalyam, to the aggressors, his close kin.

His commitment to his large family - with his widowed mother, 2 sisters, 2 children and a wife, and the last, his well-meaning but self-absorbed brother, who is on his own trip to his salvation, not caring to step even mildly out of his way to preserve the family unity that his brother had fiercely protected for years - is a given.

But he is not a one-dimensional, all-sacrificing paragon of virtue. He has built his family fortunes from scratch, toiling all by himself, making infertile land tractable, juggling along finances to sponsor his brother's education, sister's wedding, and often, providing for her family as well thanks to an inevitable wayward husband. He is proud of himself, and has no time for the fair-weather relatives, who return to rebuild relations after his brother makes it as a lawyer. When charged of ahangaaram, he proudly owns up to it, pointing that he was left with a broken tharavadu, a few cents of infertile land, and a non-functioning shop by his late father, and it was he who, with the help of a kindred associate of his father - who stayed on to be a part of the family as a benevolent, hard-working associate of his - turned around the fortunes. He asks, rightly, why wouldn't he be ahangaari about it.

His views on women, we discussed earlier, and while it may be inevitable to look at it from a feminist point of view, and hash-tag it as #fail, he is not really a cultural guardian. He views things from the prism of his family, and the togetherness of it, and these views and attitude come without any malice, and in fact, originate from his valtsalyam for his family and its women, in the first place.


Alright, I am digressing from the digression, which is Mammotty's skills.

Watch this for blind rage, as he reacts blindly to a classmate's solicitation of his sister's company. Fury rightaway, he doesnt forget to snap off a branch for the purpose, the sister gets a royal thrashing, his own children in the neighbourhood have a glimpse of the wildness in the father, and at the root of all this is his, well, valtasalyam for her!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJQOHtHGgNg&list=PLC97CDE68A465A07E#t=7m41s

And then watch how he, suitably self-chastised, insecurely extracts a promise from his daughter that she still loves him(he accidentally gives her a snap on the side when he is busy thrashing his sister), and that when she grows up, she will not disappoint achcchan by doing things he doesn't like! Well played, Sir!.

There's some excellent writing in all this - which is not a surprise, considering it is the excellent Lohithadas wielding the pen - and while the film firmly remains a melodrama from start to finish, Lohi shows why this need not necessarily descend into a hit-or-miss purely depending on the competence of the actors. While Mamootty is brilliant to the order of Sivaji Ganeshan, the script manages to rise above the usual cliches it presents in terms of characters and situations, and stands out for extraordinary grasp from real life, in staging, performance and the behaviour of the characters.

Then, see this, as he tries, unsuccesfully, to convince his brother to marry his childhood-sweetheart, daughter of their benefactor, who everyone assumes will marry him.
He starts with confident assertion of his authority, assuming that his brother will fall in line, and as the brother meets it with advocately resistance, offering cold logic, he slowly moves from disbelief at this happening, to anger, to (this time impotent) assertion of his refusal to accept his brother's resistance. He quotes duty, dharma, and even as he realises that his brother is his own man, he still believes in his own authority, and tries to bulldoze his way through, not out of manipulative spirit but out of sheer conviction. Marvellous!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS87IHCMrrs&list=PLC97CDE68A465A07E

[plum]

I should have added to grouch: who does that remind you of?

[groucho070]

Who does that remind me of? Mammootty himself, he has his own brand of acting. But NT's heir, NT doesn't need a heir, his legacy is strong enough as an institution. I prefer Lalettan to Mammootty, but both are awesome in their own way. As mentioned, Kamal is a different animal altogether, he resides in a different galaxy. There was a man who should have picked up the torch from NT, but he took a different direction. Sigh.

[V_S]

I am lagging behind in this thread, so much to read. Will come back.

Meanwhile watched Puthiya TheergangaL this weekend, average one. If not for ILaiyaraaja, I wouldn't have watched this one. Some great musical score, will share it soon.
Nedumudi Venu wasted. Namitha Pramod is cute and acted well. That's about it.

[rajkumarc]

A truly invaluable thread, especially for me who started paying attention recently to Malayalam cinema, of course with IR being the driving force. Thanks a lot Plum and App for writing in detail about the movies. I have to watch Unaroo (for IR & Mani) and Valtsalyam (for Mammooty) right away.

I recently watched Moonam Pakkam and it was a fully rewarding experience - amazing & completely realistic portrayal by Thilakan and unforgettable score & songs by IR. A kind request to Plum - Please write your views about Moonam Pakkam whenever you get a chance.

[V_S]

plum,
At-last watched Baratham. Fantastic! Immediately after watching it, re-read your post on it. Every word you had written is worth of gold. Very true. A memorable film I watched in a long long time. Lalettan rose to abnormal heights and what a writing, screenplay, direction and performance, even that kid one during the ending. That's why many rate Lohithadas higher than his contemporaries.

[plum]

V_S - glad to know that my incoherent rambling on Bharatham helped you experience the classic. Seriously, this man Lohitadas leaves me stunned. He has a very simple worldview but what paintings he sketches with that!

Yesterday, saw the little known "Valayam" by Lohi-Sibi combo. It has several repeating Lohi staples - an accidental death leaving the protagonist to face the victim with a mix of guilt and eventual attraction, real flesh and blood characters living their lives in front of our eyes, every event eliciting a very believable response from each character, perpetrator of a accident eventually compensating the victim with his affection, an asAn-student relationship that showcases vAtsalyam, a prostitute whose other side is showcased without trying to make her dramatically golden-hearted and many more - yet he pieces together such interesting events from their lives that is never short of engaging.

And the actors - what blessed acting talent they possess. From the unbelievably brilliant Oduvil Unnikrishnan to ever-reliable(but never receiving his due share of praise, given the insignificance of the characters he plays) Mammukoya to a solid Murali, Manoj K Jayan, even Tamil Cinema sexy chechi staple Suvarna Matthews in her younger days gives a typically solid Mallu cinema performance.

And the beauty is this probably wouldnt even make the top-5 of Lohi-Sibi. Truly blessed, the 90s Mallu folks were.
idhellAm marubadiyum ulaguthala endha film industrylaiyum sAththiyamE illai!

Kamal-ji - fuck your tamil brethren; hollywood bollywood wherever you want you go but do make a few films in Malayalam with that talented bunch of actors. You owe it!

[plum]

rajkumarc - haven't seen Moonam Pakkam yet. I spout off like an expert on Malayalam movies of that era but actually I have seen very less. Only now catching up slowly. Even CBI diary kuRippu nEthu dhAn pAtthEnnA pAthukkunga

[rajkumarc]

No problem Plum, hope you get to watch Moonam Pakkam soon .

[app_engine]

I've not been updating the S# of Malayalam movie selections

Here is the list of movies that have had great recommendations so far in this thread :

(Note : 1. Numbering is in the serial order of posting and not any indicator otherwise
2. Names of one main actor & the director are given within brackets)


1 thoovAnaththumbikaL (Mohanlal,Padmarajan)
2 dasharatham (Mohanlal,Sibi Malayil)
3 ente upAsanA (Mammootty,Bharathan)
4 chithram (Mohanlal,Priyadharshan)
5 nAdOdikkARRu (Mohanlal,Sathyan Anthikkad)
6 panchAgni (Mohanlal,Hariharan)
7 yavanika (Gopi,K G George)
8 panchavadippAlam (Gopi,K G George)
9 maRRorALu (Mammootty,K G George)
10 kireedam (Mohanlal,Sibi Malayil)
11 oru vadakkan veeragAtha (Mammootty,Hariharan)
12 soorya gAyathri (Mohanlal,Anil)
13 kaNmadam (Mohanlal,Lohitadas)
14 moonnAm pakkam (Thilakan,Padmarajan)
15 veLLAnakaLude nAdu (Mohanlal,Priyadharshan)
16 niRakkoottu (Mammootty,Joshi)
17 new delhi (Mammootty,Joshi)
18 oru CBI diary kuRippu (Mammootty,Madhu)
19 vaishAli (Nedumudi Venu,Bharathan)
20 onnu mudhal poojyam vare (Mohanlal,Reghunath Paleri)
21 oru yAthrA mozhi (Mohanlal,Pratap Pothen)
22 uNaroo (Mohanlal,Maniratnam)
23 kilukkam (Mohanlal,Priyadharshan)
24 mukundhEttA, sumithra viLikkunnu (Mohanlal,Priyadharshan)
25 varavELppu (Mohanlal,Sathyan Anthikkad)
26 mazhavilkkAvadi (Jayaram,Sathyan Anthikkad)
27 ee puzhayum kadannu (Dileep,Kamal)
28 maNichithraththAzh (Mohanlal,Fazil)
29 Bharatham (Mohanlal,Sibi Malayil)
30 nandhanam (Navya Nair,Ranjith)
31 his highness abdullA (Mohanlal,Sibi Malayil)
32 vAtsalyam (Mammootty,Cochin Haneefa)
33 valayam (Manoj K Jayan,Sibi Malayil)

[app_engine]

Continuing the list, #34 thALa vattam

A few days back, my current boss mentioned 'one flew over the cuckoo's nest' in a meeting and went on to talk about it for a few minutes. Well, my mind started thinking about thALa vattam immediately and what a nice movie it was. I think it got remade in Thamizh with Prabhu in the lead (manasukkuL maththAppu?)

Directed by : Priyadharshan

Actors : Mohanlal, Lizzy (later became w/o director), Karthika (acted as mother of "neenga nallavarA kettavarA" child in nAyagan ), Nedumudi Venu

Music : Reghu Kumar (I wrongly assumed Jerry Amaldev all these days, stand corrected). 'ponveeNe en uLLil' is one of my all-time-fav MF songs, the KSC version)

Age rating : PG (most portions suitable for children but the main theme could be disturbing)

Movie rating : Must watch!

[plum]

Change Valayam to Sibi, Lohi App. Unlike in Tamil, ScriptWriter is God there. Infact, Bharatham shud also have Lohi so should Valsalyam. HHA is also by Lohi it seems but thats not much of a script

Meanwhile, I have not written about quite a few movies I have seen. Will write soon

Excellent:
- Sandhesham(Thilakan, Sreenivasan, Jayaram, Sathyan Anthikkad)
- Oru CBI Diary Kurippu(Mammotty, Jagathi Sreekumar, K Madhu, SN Swamy)
- Usthad Hotel(Thilakan, Fahad Fazil, Nithya Menon, Anwar Rasheed) (2012)
- Diamond Necklace(Fahad Fazil, Samvrutha Sunil, Lakshmipriya, Lal Jose) (2012)

Good:
- ArayannagaLudE Veedu(Lohitadas, Mammootty)
- Vinodayatra (Sathyan Anthikkad, Meera Jasmine, Ilaiyaraja, Dileep, Mukesh)
- Thanmatra( Mohanlal, Blessy)
Ok:

- Kochu Kochu SanthoshangaL(Jayaram, Sathyan Anthikkad, Ilaiyaraja)
- Mazhayethum Munbe(Mammotty, Shobana, Director Kamal, Ravindran Maash)
- Rasathanthram(Sathyan Anthikkad, Ilaiyaraja, Mohanlal, Meera Jasmine)
- AchanuRangAdha Veedu(Salim Kumar, Mukta George a.k.a Bhanu, heroine of Thamirabharani, Lal Jose) , Topical in context of recent delhi rape, overcooked with sentiment like thulaabaram but well performed.

Bad:

- Innathe Chintha Vishayam (Sathyan Anthikkad, Ilaiyaraja, Mohanlal, Meera Jasmine). All 4 of them I like still...
- nEraRiyAn CBI (Mammotty, Jagathi, Madhu K, SN Swamy)

[plum]

app - the only saving aspects of Ee Puzhaum Kadannu are Johnson maash and Manju Warrier, you have put Dileep and Kamal for it

[V_S]

- Thanmatra( Mohanlal, Blessy)

I didn't like this film, mainly because of the subject. Despite Mohanlal's terrific performance, it is the most depressing movie I have ever seen. That 2-3 hours went like a hell and the after impact was so much. From that time, I have decided to keep away from Blessy's movies.

[plum]

Yeah V_S Blessy is sort of a Padmarajan wannabe without the same literary flourish.

I pushed Thanmatra to Good solely because of Lalettan and an atypical role for Jagathi Sreekumar(whose character Blessy kills to milk more sentiment :banghead:)

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