In Light there is Dark, and in Dark there is Light
Movie Review: NERAM [Malayalam]
I think TIME is probably the word I have spoken about most often in this blogsite of mine, how I find it so hard to find it. Well, it was a weekend, a pretty long one. Needed to recuperate from a few moral set backs, and thought I should cap the weekend off with a movie and start afresh.
I have this as my caller tune ever since I came across this video last year. A simple song, a beautiful girl and it talks about love. Well when I saw the trailer to this movie, I decided to go for it.
Sprinkled with humor all along its course, it studies the rule of nature – A bad time is always followed by a good one and vice versa. Nivin being the unfortunate lad in this movie – he tries to relaunch his career and handle the love of his life as things go awry in every possible way for him. The movie builds up with a first person giveaway of the plot and moves into the heart of the movie with a couple of soothing music numbers. The characters etched by Alphonse Putharen from the cop named Tintu to the Monik (Manikunju) leave an indelible mark on you as you set out of the theatre.
With a run time of just about an hour and a half, there is enough amount of humor to keep the show going. The only downside I could pessimistically claim is the use of ‘slo mo’ in the movies lately. I feel maybe this has gone to the high end of the normal limit. Apart from that it is indeed an entertainer for all that it promises to deliver.
Seeing Nazriya on screen for the first time and I have to admit she is pretty good! Cameos from Manoj K Jayan and more important characters by Shammi Thilakan do burn down the screen with their acting prowess.
The choice of characters – and their deliverance is invariably the high of the movie. If this is what Alphonse had in mind to put across, am pretty sure he has got his job done all right!
My rating : 4/5
Thank you Mummy!
What we are now is a reflection of our journey in life right from the first time we become a zygote. The love of a mother is the purest relation to ever be there on earth. We may not value it, argue, have fights, condone, grow out of the cocoon, but at the end of the day we always know we can run anytime home into her arms knowing there is no safer haven in the world than that. I know I would never grow old enough for you 
Thank you Mummy for all that you incessantly do to mould me into what I am. Loads of love!
MOVIE REVIEW: IMMANUEL [Malayalam]
Two new releases – Sound Thoma and Emmanuel. I had a fair inkling what Dileep and Co. would provide, I wondered what the latter would. Why do we go to watch movies? After all, it is all about entertainment. Spend an evening out with friends, family etc, do a bit of shopping, grab a bite and then watch a movie to wind the day out. Well, movies which put out harsh truths in a mellow or ‘out there’ fashion do not entertain all age groups.
Emmanuel (Mammooty), a middle aged family man, the gentle, soft hearted, ‘paavam’ types with whom you can’t find any fault. He loses his job and is forced to go out into the open and compete against the ‘new generation’ people. Lal Jose paints the picture of an Insurance Company on his canvas where Emmanuel gets a job to make ends meet. His interactions in his day to day work hours with people from all walks of life, the attitude of peers, the competitive and ‘quick cash’ minded mentality of the current crop of work force is thrown out into the light for all to see.
Fahadh Fazil cuts the role of the ambitious ‘target’ oriented Branch head manager who is only bothered of making sure he gets a promotion at the end of each of his term. It is a different character from his previous ones and he does fairly well.
As we sit through the movie, we get to see on one hand the good nature of Emmanuel and his ambitions to bring a good living standard to his life. On the other hand, we get a window into the life of an average family man in Kerala who dreams and hopes to achieve them one day.
It does have the odd humor, not much of music and is powerfully drawn by the acting of Mammooty. One’s heart goes out when Sukumari amma comes on screen, R.I.P. Mughda was probably the least impressive especially initially but later on she grew in with her attire and appearances.
There is a strong emphasis on the attitude of the current youth and hence I doubt this movie would attract much attention from them. I prefer to include people of my age group to be lost amongst the previous gen and the current ‘new gen’. To get into that would be another post in itself 
Verdict
It is not exactly a weekend chill out movie. Watch it for Mammootty’s prowess and if you need a reality check
My rating: 3.0/5.0
MOVIE REVIEW: AMEN [MALAYALAM]
This is gonna be a short review since I have got to get to work early tomm morning and it is already encroaching into my sleep hours. I think March is probably already the month with the maximum number of releases in Malayalam in 2013 but somehow I have been occupied with work et al and there was no burning desire to go out of the way and watch a movie. My last movie was Celluloid and that was a different genre in itself. Hearing poor reviews about Red Wine, I decided to skip it and opt for Aamen on the off day we got thanks to Good Friday.
I had already read peer reviews (Courtesy: Sarah )and heard about it on FB and was raring to go for it. I knew it was three hours beforehand. I was prepared. From the first minute though, I have to admit, I was proven wrong.
It is a story revolving around a church, the people involved in the church band and how they try to revive the dying band. For once in recent times, I walked off the theatre knowing Fahad was a part of the movie, the script and the way the script Lijo presented to us was the real star. The contemporaries involved in this movie – Indrajith, Fahad, Swathi primarily along with Kalabhavan Mani et al have all proven track records. Fahad seems to be living characters out lately that it is almost questionable whether he is acting. Indrajith’s variegate performance is something that is becoming his identity. Swathi (is this her first movie in Malayalam?) with her insatiable eyes (emphasized by ? eye liners) keeps you strung up on screen.
The satire is what drives this movie. The comedy has class, it is mixed just in the manner one sprinkles salt and pepper – here and there just enough to add that extra spice to your taste. What leaves an indelible mark in my mind is the aerial shots panning in and out giving a finishing touch to each shot.
The music is nourished by laymanistic lyrics apt to the scenarios. This was indeed the perfect movie to befit the festive weekend.
One of the few things that did irk me was the dubbing for Swathi – it stood out as the movie started but otherwise it was indeed a joy ride. Thanks Lijo for this.
My rating: 4.0/5
Keep bouncing.
