Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja narrates a truly fascinating epoch in India’s history. It’s a film that inspires us to be grateful for all those who gave their lives to make our country free. One that instils a sense of pride in viewers minds, for being born in this blessed land! The sincerity that has gone into the making of the film is evident in every frame of this 3 hours 20 minutes classic. No two ways about it; let’s salute all those who have put in their efforts to make it happen.

Director Hariharan and writer M T Vasudevan Nair says about an important episode, which is Pazhassi Raja’s war against the British that happened more than 50 years before the first war of Independence in 1857. Well, it is already known that the history books in general have not been too kind to the Raja by not mentioning much about his patriotism, valour or his role in India’s freedom struggle.

The film begins during the time when the British had ordered to levy heavy taxes from the various kingdoms and Pazhassi Raja (Mammootty), who belonged to the Kottayam Royal family in Thalassery of Malabar region in Kerala, opposed this. After being forced to flee with his Queen Kaitheri Makkom(Kaniha), Lieutenant Edachena Kunkan (Sarathkumar) and Kaitheri Ambu (Suresh Krishna) to the forests, Pazhassi Raja started guerilla warfare against the British from the forests in Wayanad. He had the support of the tribal warriors like Thalackal Chanthu (Manoj K Jayan) and Neeli(Padmapriya).

After some initial successes, Pazhassi’s army soon started facing setbacks as they found the going tough against the guns and modern machinery of the English soldiers. The brave Raja and his faithful gang of warriors were defeated by the army led by the young British sub-collector Thomas Baber, with the help of some traitors like Pazhayamveedan Chanthu(Suman).

Mammootty is grace personified and the perhaps the best thing about him as the mighty Pazhassi Raja is that it is virtually impossible to imagine anyone else in his place. Shorn of any artifice or nervous energy he is real. 20 years after Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha, he still looks majestic and handsome. Without doubt, this is one of the best roles in his illustrious career.

The surprise packet is Sarath Kumar, who looks perfectly fit, heroic and absolutely invincible as Edachena Kunkan. Kaniha looks beautiful even without any make-up or jewellery and has the royal look that is required for her role as Kaitheri Makkom.

As the fierce tribal girl who fights like a cheetah, Padmapriya excels in her role as Neeli. Manoj K Jayan, Suresh Krishna and Suman have all done their job quite convincingly. The rest of the cast, which include the English actors like Linda Arsenio, also delivers an inspiring performance.

Hariharan and MT Vasudevan Nair have proved their brilliance when they team up several times before and once again, they underline their eminence, with a genuine effort. The technical aspects like Ramanath Shetty’s cinematography, Ravi Dewan’s action, Resul Pookkutty’s sound and Sreekar Prasad’s editing have also succeeded in taking to a different level.

Yes, there are aspects which one feels could have been better,like Ilayaraja’s music but the film as a whole is good enough that makes us forget those flaws. Critics might say that the film has taken some cinematic liberties and in fact it does but on the whole it is engaging and entertaining.

Gems like these happen only once in a while and when it does, never give it a miss. Two big thumbs up for this masterpiece of our times!

Banner:    Gokulam Films
Cast:    Mammootty, Sarath Kumar, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu,
Jagathy Sreekumar, Captain Raju, Lalu Alex, Manoj K Jayan,
Biju Menon, Kalabhavan Mani, Suresh Krishna, Subair, Siddique,
Roshan, Manikuttan, Kanika, Padmapriya, Urmila Unni, Valsala Menon, Nikhila
Direction:    Hariharan
Production:    Gokulam Gopalan
Music:    Ilayaraja

The movie has Prithviraj as Venkitesh Aiyer, a brainy physics teacher working in an entrance coaching centre, who is a regular burglar at night in the ATM’s of a particular bank. As the local police fails to nab the culprit, the bank headed by Nandhakumara Menon (Biju Menon) invites private investigator Alexander Felix (Narain) to crack the clueless case. The little “sherlock  holmes” is aided in his job by Roopa (Bhavana), who is also the systems head of the bank. The rest of the movie is on a thickly packaged plot of clues, leads, twists, crosses and double crosses and thrills of a potbolier.

Sachi-Sethu, the scriptwriting duo, is forced to resort to frivolous, predictable sequences to connect with the central events and the big surprise element is missing although this ‘cat and mouse’ game. More over, an average viewer will tell you, that there are more easy ways to catch the regular ATM looter, than to resort to these inane and sophisticated ways put on in the movie. Anyhow it is the director Joshy, who had come up with enough built- ups to make you believe that such events can happen somewhere in an utopian world.

The highlight of the movie is the glossy looks and colorfulness with which it is presented. With many song and dance sequences and funny moments, the movie will not give you much time to ponder over logic, atleast when in the cinema halls. Cinematographer Shaji excels, as usual with his shots while art director Joseph nellickal and even costumer S B Satheeshan parades the screen with many watchables that will keep you engrossed. With a brisk pacing cuts by Renjan Abraham and a bevy of beautiful actresses, it’ may not be difficult to watch as long as you aren’t expecting anything remotely intelligent to transpire. The songs by M Jayachandran, sticks to the mood of the movie. But the BG scores and title tracks by Rajamani proves more advantageous to the movie, than the average songs.

And in the acting side Prithvi makes a cakewalk with his usual manovores in twin avatars, the second with an uniform like jacket and head gear. And sometimes you feel this character to be one in the same mould of that in ‘Puthiya Mukham’, rehashed in the opposite direction. But without the ”heist ” element. Narain is impressive and will gain more fans for his screen presence, though his character is not so convincing. Bhavana and Samvrutha provides that oomph factor and appear pretty all through. Biju Menon as the baddie seems to in a race to announce that he is behind all those wickedry. Jayasuriya and Salimkumar are in less demanding regular roles.

With better performances from the youngsters and a director with a real eye for virtuoso camera work, ‘Robinhood’ is only a dynamite script away from becoming a good hit. Anyhow, the goods are delivered and there are enough elements to keep the minds occupied. If you are on the demand of a high-octane, low mind activity, keep your brains at home, and get rewarded with an easy go of two plus hours in the company of this ‘Robinhood’.

Cast:    Narain, Prithviraj,
Bhavana, Samvrutha,
Biju Menon, Jayasuriya,
Direction:    Joshy

Anand Menon (Sasi Kumar), an astrophysicist who has shifted his base from the US to Kerala, is in a hospital bed with a major kidney ailment. An agent brings a willing donor, Mike Philippose (Mammootty), a villager from Thopramkudy in Idukki. Mike has been nicknamed so due to his irritatingly loud voice and he has an old radio that he carries all the time with him. Menon takes him to his flat and the two starts living inside his plush apartment.

Soon Mike finds it too difficult to adjust with the etiquettes and standards of the residents in the complex. He is not ready to live according to their terms and he becomes a headache for some of them. But after a while they realize his innocence.

An old man living alone while having a legal tussle with his children, a couple who can’t see eye to eye, a gang of bachelors having a merry time, a naughty kid left behind with her grandparents and of course, the temperamental secretary who has only his dog for company, all of them interacts with Mike and learns more about selfless love.

Mammootty gets into an entirely different avatar as a commoner with remarkable ease, in a shirt and mundu. Sasi Kumar looks perfect as the soft spoken, sophisticated scientist who understands some new lessons in life from an ordinary stranger. The rest of the cast, including Jagathy Sreekumar, Janardhanan, Suraj Venjarammood, Salim Kumar and KPAC Lalitha besides others have done their roles, just the way what we expect from them.

One of the main problems about the film is that its makers seem to have some kind of confusion whether to present the film as an offbeat one or as a commercial potboiler. So there are some emotional, touching moments and at the same time, the varieties like paint falling over people, dog creating mayhem and quite a few song n’ dance routines.

The pace gets a tad slow at times and some of the actors, like Gracy Singh for instance, have nothing much to do. It may be far from being perfect and things would have looked even better with a tighter script and more carefully crafted situations. But Loud Speaker still manages to make an impact, with its heart at the right place.

The film has been shot in sync sound and the difference is felt here. The visuals and the music suit the situations, but the golden oldie Alliyambal Kadavil… is used quite effectively, gives a nostalgic mood.

It is perhaps the novelty in its theme and Mammooty’s performance as the jovial and footloose Mike that turn out to be the highlights of the film. Some of the commercial ingredients that have been added to it may at times be found odd, but the sincerity in it should be appreciated.

Movie:Loud Speaker
Director:Jayaraj
Music:Biji Bal
Cast:Mammootty, Sasi Kumar, Gracy Singh

Kaanakanmani revolves around a happy-go-lucky family comprising Roy (Jayaram), Maya (Padmapriya) and their only daughter Anakha (Baby Nivedita). Roy belongs to a pukka Christian family, while Maya is a Brahmin. The film begins with rib-tickling ‘clashes’ between Roy’s father (Vijaya Raghavan) and Maya’s grandmother (Sukumari) in the name of their differences in caste and religion.

After establishing the characters in the first 30 minutes, the story reveals its true nature by slowly exposing the mysterious behaviour of Anakha. During a small function at her residence, the nine year old girl suddenly goes missing. She is finally found on the edge of a flat on the 30th floor, pretending to commit suicide. However, she is saved in time.

The story takes a major turn when Roy decides to go with family for a holiday abroad. But Anakha has a different plan about the tour; she forces her parents to visit their old house in a remote village instead. Giving full support to his daughter’s choice, Roy decides to spend a few days in his old house to satisfy her. But when they reach the old home, supernatural events begin to happen.

Anakha shows obvious symptoms of being affected by a supernatural entity (a ghost) and threatens her parents with her magic, revealing a flashback story in which Roy and Maya aborted their first child during their early years to avoid financial instability. Roy and Maya slowly realize that their aborted child is the “ghost” behind Anakha’s strange behaviour and ultimately wants to avenge Roy and Maya by killing their sweet Anakha. How Roy and Maya manage to save their child from their “invisible child” forms the rest of the film. Kaanakanmani is a never-told, heartbreaking story of invisible children, being aborted from millions of wombs at hospital tables every day.

Of course, it is a challenging task to make a film dealing with the feelings and thoughts of an intangible character like “invisible child” (aborted child). The potential danger is that in the wake of attempting a story in favour of the unborn victims, the film can become either preachy or boring. Thanks to director Akku Akbar’s skill in blending the elements of horror in the narration, Kaanakanmani has turned out to be a semi-horror thriller, which has a heart in its depth. Horror is one of the plus points of the film.

Performance wise, Kaanakanmani stands on the bedrock of baby Nivedita’s brilliant preformance as Anakha. The amazing thing is that the nine year old Nivedita could understand and emote the feelings of a child, never-born! Nivedita is the heart-stealer of the entire show. Jayaram and Padmapriya as Nivedita’s parents have done justice to their respective roles. Vijaya Raghavan and Sukumari deserve special mention for evoking some funny moments by depicting the roles of proud grandparents.

Kaanakanmani’s full credit goes to cinematographer Shaji for making the show interesting and thrilling through his amazing camera work. Shyam Dharman’s songs, especially ‘Muthe muthe’ and ‘Penpuvo ponne anpuvo’ are excellent. Having mentioned the strengths, Kaanakanmani does have its weaknesses. The story is predicable and any viewer can easily guess what’s going to happen next! However, predictability is not a major weak point, since Kaanakanmani is all about the impact of a reality. All in all, Akku Akbar’s Kaanakanmani is a strong warning against abortion and is a voice of the voiceless!

Producer      Moser Baer Entertainment
Director     Akku Akbar
Cast     Jayaram, Padma Priya, Baby Nivedita,
Sukumari, Vijaya Raghavan, Nedumudi Venu, Soraj Venjaramudu and others
Camera     Shaji
Music     Shyam Dharman
Distributor     Play House

The movie doesn’t have that multi layered story, but is a simple tale about Antony Simon, a laid back officer in the crime Branch, who is more interested in spending time with his son, watching cricket on television. He is often a ridicule for his easy going attitude, even for his wife Annie who is much worried about Antony’s languorous attitudes, which even fetch him a suspension. But for his son Adi, Antony is the super hero officer, who is into any dashing thrills and commotion at any given moment. He projects it to his friends and expects his daddy to fulfill his aspirations. One night after a movie, they happen to save the international cricketer Srikanth from the attack of a gang of goons thereby igniting further troubles. But the father – son duo are ultimately forced to prove themselves at a point, when everything is going beyond their control into a terribly wrong path.

The movie’s screenplay by the director himself seems (inspired from films like ”Breakup”) and the dialogues by Bipinchandran are quite average. There are big loopholes in the scripts through which even a train can pass. And the proceedings and encounters in the second half lacks the needed thrill and kill, expected of the movie that starts so well. But these shortcomings are made better by the excellent star cast and good takings.

Weaved around Mammootty, one of the very bankable actor of South India, it is hard to loose meat from a character that may seem less in integrity. He keeps it believable, though the character struggles from inane family woes, and writer’s block. He makes his effortless ways through light humor and simpler dialogues, and offer some best moments in the few scenes that demands emoting. The Mollywood debutant Richa Pallod (of Shajahan fame) looks exceptionally beautiful and makes a good pair with stylishly adorned Mammootty though the lip-sync is often unnatural. Master Dhananjay as Aadi is likable and mesmerizing without any heavy dialogues and overacting. He makes significant appeal althrough the movie.

The highlights of the movie is definitely the technical sides, with cinematographer Samir Thahir (after his much acclaimed debut in ‘Big B’) creating another splendour with rich  interiors. His camera sets the tone, pans the landscapes in a beautiful way with properly graded tones against contrasting scenescapes. The art director Suresh Kollam has have worked his heart out with a theme based colour schemes and set designs. His ensemble works are a treat to watch giving rich and elegant looks to the movie. Another techie to be mentioned is editor V Sajan, who has also done the best of the cuts to make it a decent movie. Musician Biji Bal has came up with a couple of good tracks including the title track, “Daddy, super Daddy” which is also at the top of hit chart and children’s lips.

Stylish from the word go, the movie has turned up as a refreshingly lighter and different attempt by the debutante director, when compared with the regular sentimental family movies. Have a look at it, at least for its technical brilliance and different narrative patterns.

Banner:    Ananya films
Cast:    Mammootty, Richa Pallod, Bijumenon,
Ashish Vidyarthy, Vijayaraghavan, Raadhika, Saikumar
Direction:    Aashiq Abu
Production:    Alwin Antony