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Aagadu review

CRITICS

 (2.3 / 5) : Average  

Aagadu does not have the content to keep it on par with Dookudu in the same combination. The biggest plus of the film is Mahesh himself and with some comedy worked out here and there. Finally, though disappointing, Aagadu can be a one time watch and not any more. Given the high budget and record prices quoted, We will have to see where it goes commercially!    

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Madras review

Madras is an Tamil drama movie directed by Pa. Ranjith and produced by Studio Green. The film stars Karthi and Catherine Tresa in the lead roles. The film was produced and co-distributed by Studio Green. Santhosh Narayanan composed the soundtrack album and background score for the film. Editing was handled by Praveen K. L.

Story 

The movie has equal dosage of realism and commercialism blended well to give viewers a unique North Madras experience. 

The wall in the middle of a housing board complex becomes the crux of the story. The feud between two warring parties on who takes control of the wall pretty much forms the one-liner. There is a lot of blood, tears, love, laughter, politics, revenge and deceit weaved into this seemingly simple and engaging story. 

The wall represented as an object of power and authority play a key role in the movie.

Most of the film's shooting was done in localities in and around the north part of the city, namely Kasimedu, a locality in the Royapuram area of north Chennai, Otteri and Perambur. Filming was wrapped up by June 2014.The film is scheduled for release on 26 September 2014. 

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Money Ratnam (2014) malayalam movie review

        

Rating:3/5

Review:

story

Money Ratnam narrates a story that happen in a 24-hour time frame during a journey from Munnar to Marayur. Neil John Samuel ( Fahadh Faasil ) is ashowroom executive in a Kochi based Automobile showroom. Once Neil is returing back to home after the New Year party, fortunately Neel gets a bag of money, with this bag Neil elope to a village in Tamilnadu. Soon, Neil realises that a group of four members with an intention to buy diamonds also arrive at the same spot. The resulting events are plotted in Santhosh Nair’s Money Ratnam.

'I'-| Vikram, Shankar | A.R Rahman ((posters))

'I' - Official Teaser | Aascar Films | V.Ravichandran | Vikram, Shankar | A.R Rahman

Vellimoonga

It has a platform which many flop films had in the past and an unconventional hero heroine equation. Even with these odds Vellimoonga succeeds in becoming a clean entertainer by having creative humor all over the script. Cinematographer Jibu Jacob’s debut directorial venture Vellimoonga is an extremely pleasing look back to conventional Malayalam cinema.

The story is about this 40+ aged politician Mamachan. Situations showed him the value of Kadhar and the cunning Mamachan uses it smartly for his political growth. Marriage was something that didn’t happen to Mamachan due to various reasons. The movie basically focuses on that one phase of Mamachan’s life where he is trying to win in both political and personal game.

The film starts of slowly with the jokes not being totally hilarious. But very soon it attains momentum and starts to offer this clean and humorous story of Mamachan. One good thing about this film is that it’s a story that doesn’t try to preach about being good. Our central protagonist is crooked and so is every other character. There is one hilarious back story to Mamachan’s love track. The presentation of Mamachan’s political play to attain his goal is also impressive. Being too conventional at times was the only negative in my view.

It was nice to see Biju Menon in this vellimoonga character. The character demands his glamour, age and unique comic timing and the actor has done a fabulous job. Aju Varghese was really good in performing the humor. The repartee between these characters will leave you in splits. Sasi Kalnga, Pashaanam Shaji, Tiny Tom, Sunil Sukhada, Lena and Siddique make the performance of the supporting cast impressive. Leading lady Nikki Galrani doesn’t have much to do. Nice little cameo by Asif Ali.

In the making Jibu Jacob has done justice to the script written by Joji Thomas. Script doesn’t have any large scale of cheesy drama and the director has tried to keep it like that. And also the humor is in that sensible level so that it looks less comical. Script offers a lot of fun moments. The romance of Mamachan is a bit odd, but we won’t feel anything icky about it at the end. Nice cinematography. Edits were okay. Good bgm. Music was fine.

Coming with a lighter baggage of expectation, Vellimoonga surprised me a lot. It’s almost like watching a Sathyan Anthikkadu film (kindly look into his recent filmography) without any preach. The rating is 3.5/5 for this fun film. BTW, that “Laa Lee Laa Lee le….” scene was damn funny.

Appothikkiri

After the much applauded debut film ‘Melvilasam’, director Madhav Ramadasan aptly makes the follow through with the finely done ‘Apothikkiri’. With  a very strong social message about the ethical elements of clinical drug tests and victimisation of patients,  the movie excels with its nice handling of the theme and the poignant performances from the cast.

The movie is set on the backdrop of the multispecialty ‘Apothikkiri’ hospitals,run by a few affluent rich men and a leading physician, only with the intent of making money through every possible means. The movie opens with the sequences of Dr. Vijay Nambiar(Suresh Gopi) , a neurologist,brought to the hospital unconscious after he met with a grave road accident. The situation of the doctor remains critical though the management tries by every means to stabilise him with mechanical and medical support. The movie follows an interesting theme of internal fights that the doctor goes through as he is left between the narrow lanes of life and death. Incomes the patients who succumbed to death following the drug abuse, while a few including Zubin(Jayasuriya) who is communicating with the unconscious doctor near his ICU bed, still vouch for the goodness of heart of the physician.

The major highlight of the movie is the power with which it has handles a theme quite rarely addressed in current day Mollywood. The movie packed with exquisitely done sequences with intense emotions has a director with conviction at it’s helm who manages most of its making wisely and effectively.  The audience are made to feel for the helpless victims who are forced to undergo clinical testings. SureshGopi is back with a demanding role that he does with finesse. A character that demands the maturity and intensity of the actor like him, Dr Vijay is safe in his hands. But it is Jaysurya who steals the best from him with his character of an ordinary rubber tapping worker, ailing with the pains of trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve problem affecting the facial nerves. He looks pale and adept for the role and is extremely believable in every scenes. Another sure contender for this year best actor awards, the character works best for the movie holding it firmly without any causalities. He is ably supported by Indrans in another career best role as Zubin’s father and Asif Ali also comes with a powerful performance. Other actors in the fray including Abirami, Meera Nandan, Raghavan and Thampy Antony does well in their roles.

The cinematography by Hari Nair is another highpoint of the film, though the editing by Sreenivas  could have been a little more strict.The BG scores and art direction are effective. The movie is but devoid of any commercial masala fares and don’t expect this to be that usual stuff. It moves at a below ordinary pace completing its screen time of 151 minutes. The dubbing for some lesser known  female artists are not effective, sometimes arousing a feel of clichéd melodrama .

But with plenty of creative stuff uncovered, this multiple layered film has plenty of experimental stuff that is sure to impress the lovers of more serious films. A definite watch for connoisseurs of contentful cinema. Best recommended for lovers of emotional movies with a message. 

  Rating-6.75/10

Velaiyilla Pattathari

We all have a lot of dreams. The most vivid of them all is the dream of growing up and being responsible, and most importantly, go to job. It has always been a childhood fantasy for all of us to go to office like our parents. What if this dream is snatched away from a graduate? Blame it on recession and IT boom, most engineering graduates fall prey to well paying jobs, whether or not it has been their specialisation. But those who stick to their dreams are certainly in for a tough time.

Most youth of today is stuck in this rigmarole of resultant unemployment. No amount of talent stands them out in the rush for money. Though quite a subtle ongoing, this bout of unemployment has been a growing mushroom, killing talent in the process. Velraj debuts right on time, throwing light on this pressing issue, in a movie that's sure to touch all hearts.

Caught in the web of pressure to earn but bereft of opportunities, waiting for an opportunity to prove himself is Raghuvaran (Dhanush), who is in the search for the right job for four years, after completing his bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. While every day existence is an ordeal for Raghu as the non earning member of the family, with even his younger brother Karthik earning handsomely, he has enough reasons to be dejected. Karthik is the apple of his parents' eyes but Raghu has his mother's (Saranya Ponvannan) undying support and faith in his talent.

At this juncture that Raghu develops interest in his newly moved in neighbour, Shalini (Amala Paul). But fate has it again to get him dejected yet again, given Shalini's employed status and her hefty salary. So Raghu is assumed, by default, to be of help at home and do all errands. While he does attend a few interviews, he's cursed with truthfulness and practicality that leaves him with no job at the end of the day. Just as he begins to see light on one front, he loses his sole pillar of support to his short temper. An engineer's dream cannot be tarnished any worse. How Raghu gathers himself up and touches the pinnacle is the story of the humble yet strong 'Vellaiyilla Pattathari'.

The prime quality of a strong person is to have faith in self and not lose hope under any circumstance. This is rather impossible considering chronic unemployment despite talent. But should a person retain strength in even such adverse conditions, despite complete awareness of his stance, he must learn from Dhanush. Hurt yet strong, emotional yet focused, depressed yet sportive, and not blindly optimistic but realistic, Raghu is all emotions that an unemployed, talented youth would be. He has lived the character dealt to him, who knows to differentiate aspiration from dream. Amala is the understanding partner, who balances her love and career, without letting both trespass borders. Her simplicity is what makes her stand out.

Samuthirakani plays Raghu's father, and he is the typical parent who wants to see the better for his son. He discriminates, scolds and chides his elder son, but loves him all the same. And there could not be a mother more supportive than Saranya's role. She perfectly understands her sons and supports them both equally and justly but with the kind of support each would need. She forms the anchor of the family of men otherwise. Though Vivek appears only in the second half of the film, his mere presence rocks. The combination of Dhanush and Vivek makes for classic comedy, which is sure to hurt your stomach in laughter.

When a cinematographer takes to direction, there is bound to be a set of prejudice and a little amount of doubt in his prowess. But Velraj breaks all stereotypes in delivering a healthy entertainer with a complete story and picture perfect experience. Any unemployment story could have been essayed. But keeping in mind the National Award winning protagonist, the story has been scripted with perfection that it has the right amount of heroics but not artificial heroism. Flow of the story is realistic. Every character portrayed in the right light that befits their role. Though the story is predictable at certain places, the dialogues take the cue in gluing you to the seat, entertaining through and through. Despite being a cinematographer himself, Velraj has left it to Arunbabu who is spell binding in his angles and light. The visual experience of the film literally takes you into the film, rendering you living the experience real time.

Since February, our music players have been ablaze with VIP songs and tones. And here comes the real treat to the ears. While songs kept you engaged, the background score moves you in each phase of the story. Anirudh is an artiste who will always stay close to your heart. Active choreography is observed only in one song, but it rocks the cinema nonetheless. Editing by Rajesh is on the dot, bringing out the best of sportive sequences. Dialogues are a major plus in the movie. Instead of resorting to mainstream bashing and beating up, the story has intellectual wars, confronted with composure and struck back with powerful and creative use of words. With all the rivalry brewing up and steaming hot, the defeat could have done with a delicious power packed fight scene, instead of mere acceptance of naivety. However, this is not a deterrent in a movie which is innovatively handled at every step.

A National Awardee on his famed silver jubilee release is already too much heat to handle. And when it involves a youthful crew aimed at perfection and proven to be young achievers, and the story itself is on the greatest difficulty that today's youth faces, should we say more? 'Vellaiyilla Pattathari' is a film for entertainment seekers of all ages, and a masala that aptly explains the predicament of the unemployed. With this, Velraj leaves behind a message that staying focused never fails.

Rating: 3.5/5 - As the movie says, "dedicated to all engineers"

Thirumanam Ennum Nikkah

Love is beyond the borders of religion, caste and race; all that matters in love is sincerity. And when it is comes to dedicating the rest of your life to someone, how far would one go? There have been a number of portrayals of inter-caste and inter-religion love stories, but it is not often that they throw light on the religious practices perse and show it in the right light. Coming from debutante Aneesh, here is story of love on a different outlook.

In a rush to find a reserved seat in a train, Jai  comes to be called Abu Bakkar. This is the journey where he meets Aayisha (Nazriya) and feels the spark in him that she is the one for him. He seconds his thoughts with his genuinely caring actions for the safety of Aayisha. Noticing him taking care of her, this one journey becomes enough for Aayisha to fall for Abu in return. By back home Jai is Vijayaraghava Chaari and Nazriya is Vishnu Priya, both staunch Vaishnavite Brahmins, and not Muslims. Though it is difficult for both, at first, to come to terms with a person of another religion - with entirely different practices and habits - as a life partner, the two learn to respect the differences eventually, though not revealing the true identity of their respective religions, and hence their names. How the rest of their lives take shape because of this simple lie of cover up, and the confusion that it eventually leads to, is what the holy wedding affair is about.

Jai comes across as a thorough professional and so does Nazriya. The two have synced in well with both the religions that they have carried off. Dialogues have been penned complementing the two different religions, keeping in mind the regular practices and rituals as followed in each. Special mention to Nazriya for having spoken the typical TamBrahm slang, and dubbed for her own self. While the first half is predominantly about Brahminism, the second half elaborates on the rituals of Islam, dubbed in Nasser's voice. The film strikes a healthy balance between both the religions, throwing equal light on both. Though Mayilsamy and Pandiarajan appear for brief moments only, they entertain in their classic style.

Loganathan's camera speaks for itself, especially in 'Kannukkul Pothi' song. Ghibran's music has topped the list for weeks with this album, and the movie is but a revisit to those glorious days, reviving the addiction to these songs. Although music is not remarkably omnipresent, its subtility is felt and enjoyed throughout the more. Though the story is new and fresh, screenplay renders poor translation of the concept. For a seemingly confusing predicament, the movie on the whole makes it seem as though it is too much a do about nothing.

While choreography is worth appreciation, stunt choreography is not as satisfactory as the dance and music are. The second half of the movie is more involving than the first and details out the interesting Islam procedures in detail. However, no sentimental feelings of either of the religions has been hurt, cornered or discriminated in a topic as delicate as this. No matter in which sense the film motivates,  it is sure to make heads turn for the interesting topic chosen. Credits to Aneesh for choosing to come out bold with a story like this.

Rating: 1.5/5 - Could have carried more masala   

Anjaan

After loads and loads of promotion, hype and hoopla Raju Bhai is here in the town and goes of Bang Bang Bang through the movie with Lingusamy’s masala topped storyline. Commercial cinema in India is something that pulls any level of audience for its entertainment content, and post Run Lingusamy is one of the directors who mastered the art. Anjaan slashes the director’s signature all over the movie with an array of the star cast spearheaded by Suriya. Let’s take a close look on what the movie is all about.

The Story & Direction:  20 years before the action and revenge were two sides of a coin, something which the crowd enjoyed. Lingusamy’s Anjaan falls 20 years short, barring the style quotient, cinematography and music. A handicapped brother who comes to town with a determination to find his brother, only to find out that the brother is one of the powerful dons in Mumbai. The director stresses on the key element of Anjaan the friendship of “Raju – Chandru”, aka Suriya – Vidyut. With this as the base, he capitalizes on the other elements of love, action and revenge.

Cinematography:  Santhosh Sivan’s clinical cinematography! Through the rugged streets to some color topped song sequences this movie is a lesson for budding cinematographers. The bird catching its prey, the action sequences show’s how much attention to detail is given, hats off!

Music:  The next bang is for our Yuvan, who delivers a BGM that revives the dull screenplay. The experimentation has paved out well with sirens and distant echoes dances to the situation. Two of the songs dwell well in the

Cast: Suriya shoulders the movie quite efficiently amidst the lengthy cast. The thing about Suriya is that, give him any character and he quietly mushes into the character professionally. The title does justice to Suriya’s vicious looks and he stuns in every aspect.  Vidyut’s inclusion comes as a surprise and as usual, he is suave and should send whistles from his female fans. Samantha’s gorgeous looks and a dose of glamour should definitely go down well. The Rest of the cast appears alien, Manoj as villain has the menacing looks, but appears stereotypical.

Stunts & Costume: The costume selection deserves special mention, starting from Suriya, Samantha, Vidyut to Manoj they all look cool and apt. The stereotyped mafia/don is someone who we see in Armani toned attire, a puff of cigar and is surrounded by a henchman. However, he breaks free as a casual dude, thanks to the work behind the lens. Another plus is the stunt choreography by Stunt Silva ravishes what requires for an action movie with loads of fights structured well. The pre interval fight sequence is one good example of how things should be done.

Screenplay & Dialogue: The Holy Grail of Anjaan is around Raju and Chandru’s friendship, something that requires heavy alteration. A movie that predominantly lingers on Revenge needs kick, pain and reasoning.  Anjaan has all these elements, however, the screenplay lacks the punch in delivering them. The overwhelming mass factor has blinded the makers in showing the adhesive bond between the friends which is the key element. Lip Sync, lack of Kollywood actors makes the dialogue delivery look artificial and appear haywire.

Letdowns : In the age of variety its amusing to see the kind of henchmen clad in suits, kidnapping the heroine to a  broken brickland, repetitive dialogues, monotonous threats, stereotypical villains, abrupt song placements and why Soori? Why Bramanandam?, and finally the length. Looking back at the film, Lingusamy has a lot in store to take back as his homework, for the movie fails to impress you as a whole.

To sum up,  Anjaan would be in the list of movies that could have been etched better. Barring a few twists and turns, does entertain Suriya fans to an extent and leaves out the rest.

Verditct : A commercial entertainer might not go beyond Suriya's fan base!

Stars : 2.50

Sigaram Thodu

Looking at Vikram Prabhu’s trend of movies, the producers might want to call him as a safe bet and with Sigaram Thodu, the grandson of the legendary actor looks to take that reputation home. Putting on the Khaki has always been the dream of any actor, and Vikram Prabhu has the privilege of doing justice to the prestigious linen. Gaurav has scripted a story around the life of a retired cop and the burning desire of a parent to fulfill their ambition through their kids, and when the roads cross what happens?

The Movie

A Police ceremony; where the cops are felicitated for exhibiting their exemplary piece of bravery on the grounds, there is a cop who has lost a leg, and then comes a woman with her child; receives the medal of honor on behalf of her husband who lost his life in an encounter. The little tear that she sheds evokes Goosebumps and makes you salute the next cop you would see. Director Gaurav stresses the role of a retired policeman essayed by Sathyaraj who wants his son to fulfill his lost ambitions.

On the other hand is Vikram prabhu the dutiful son who nowhere has the idea to enter the Police station and looks himself as a bank manager in future. Well, this forms one part of the story, and Gaurav shells out the looming issue of ATM loots that became quite common recently, and then he spins another tale where the bubbly Monal plays Vikram’s beau who detests Police and has no intention of marrying a cop. This sums up the first half, that with some of Sathish’s one liners, a few touching father-son sentiments and romance. The second half forms the crux; with the aspiration of every individual taking its toll, and emotions, fights, twists take the front seat.

Whats good

There has been a number of movies on Father-Son bond, the emotional toil they both need to go through, Sigaram Thodu is one such movie which banks on powerful performances from the lead cast. Sathyraj is an enigma to watch, his body language, and jumps to the situation and steals the main act from the hero. The little expectations of a father sweeps you off the feet, thanks to Gaurav’s smart and emotional screenplay.
Vikram Prabhu matures with every movie and in Sigram Thodu there is a lot of scope for the actor to emote, he has improved his sluggish body language which lagged in his previous movies and brings the majestic feel of a policeman. That said there is enough scope for the actor to improve his comic sense. Sathish is his usual self, the friend you want to have with sly cupid ideas, one liner and what not. The rest of the cast do justice to their roles with Monal looking clean and sweet in looks and acting wise. Imman’s BGM is sensuous and has an emotional connect to the movie, apart from Taku Taku, the other songs are more enjoyable with the visuals than the tune itself.
The ATM robbery, behind the scenes where the planning and execution of the card fraud is quite new in terms of cinematic experience, hats off to the director.

Whats bad

As always, a director trying to make a sentimental movie falls in trap for the length, screenplay and romance. Starting off well, the romance segment appears quite too long for comfort with the first half itself looks never ending.

Why, how and what?

• The major crime of this movie is around ATM card fraud; surprisingly the pressure from the banks to dig the scam is not shown convincingly.
• The biggest crooks of the town, most wanted; their escape scene is too lethargic to be shrugged off.
• As and again, song placement comes as a major hiccup.

That said; a commercial entertainer that should go down well in A, B and C classes!

Verdict : Value for money!

Rating : 3 / 5

Bhaiya Bhaiya

Benny P Nayarambalam is one scriptwriter who has a particular ability to tell stories mixed with quality humour. He has managed to make many films with simple stories to greater hits, mainly due to soaking them in lighter vein. His one latest attempt for this Onam is ‘Bhaiya Bhaiya’ directed by Johny Antony. A movie which tells a relatively fresh story in the backdrop of migrant workers, the movie has plenty of ordinary jokes planted in a relatively fresher narratives.

The movie is told as a monologue by Babumon (kunchakko Boban), who is currently travelling to Bengal with the dead body of a migrant worker. In the driver seat of the ambulance is Babulal Chatterji(Biju Menon) affectionately called ‘Bhaiya’ by Babumon. Since the arrival of Babulal to their home at the age of ten, both of them has grown together just as brothers, taking intense care of each other. Also travelling  with them is Angel(Nisha Agarwal), who is eloping from her house to get married to her childhood friend Babumon. Another Tamil migrant worker Shanthi(Vinuthalal) has alighted  the vehicle so that she can save her money for travelling to her home town near Salem. Adding to them is Soman, a construction worker from Kerala who is taking it as a chance to see Bengal. How they happens to be together in this eventful journey forms the rest of the story.

Though the basic tale by Benny P Nayarambalam is not that elaborate, it has elements that could have worked pretty well. Added to that the return of comedy artists like Suraj Venjaramoodu and  Salimkumar. But apart from the wits that makes you laugh at intervals, the movie doesn’t offer much to carry home. It seems to have been directed in a lighter mode, not taking anything seriously enough. So the Maoists’ in the tale to the ‘planned filmy fights’ in the climax doesn’t make sense and the necessary impact. Had it been treated more wisely, the movie could have got scenes like those in the league of ‘RamjiRao speaking’.The coincidences galore in the climax also doesn’t work well for the movie.

The actors in the fray has not much to do, though Biju Menon impresses with his one liners and carry on his fine chemistry with Kunchakko Boban who is another cakewalk role. Suraj manages to crack some wits but Salim kumar appear totally lacklustre.  Vinutha lal as Shanthi and Nisha agarwal as Angel does their parts as per demand, though they have nothing too demanding to do. Vijayaraghavan and Shammi Thilakan are in their usual roles while Sudheer impresses as the goonda leader.

In the technical sides Vinod Illampilly’s shots are fine and adds to the quality of the  movie while Ranjan Abraham has also evenly paced the narratives. The three songs by Vidyasagar are good of which the first couple are sure to take a place in the hit charts.

If you are in the mindset to watch a fun movie without giving any big thinking or asking for logic, ‘Bhaiya Bhaiya ‘ has some that may fill your time. Evenly paced and filled with comedies, this light hearted film entertains in parts. Had it been directed with a little more care, ‘Bhaiya Bhaya’ could have worked relatively well. As of now it may not be a painful onetime watch.

Rating - 6/10    

Rajadhi Raja

Coming after Rajamanikyam, and Pokkiriraja is another film in the same vein in the title ‘Rajadhiraja’. Presented by debutante Ajai Vasudev, the movie but starts off in a different manner than these prototypes but graduate soon into the similar lines of mass thrillers. Clearly meant to satisfy the fans of Mammootty, the fast-paced flick but goes for over the top action and easy twists and climax to spoil the plot.
 
The movie follows Aiyappan(Jojo), a fraudster who is moving on to a village in the border, to the place of his brother-in-law Sekharankutty,(Mammootty) who works as the manager of a petroleum pump in the highway and also runs a restaurant nearby. Sekharankutty is a decent gentleman who weights his family comprising of wife Radha(Rai Lekshmy) and his only daughter Sreedurga, much more than anything else. He is very particular not to get involved in any skirmishes that happen outside his family. But as an impulsive Aiyappan steps into the restaurant, he also starts to make newer problems to Sekharankutty in an everyday basis. With police and conman at his doorsteps everyday, Sekharankutty is forced to take a new avatar to protect his dear ones from impending danger.
 
A formulaic clichéd film from scriptwriters Uday Krissna- Sibi K Thomas, ‘Rajadhiraja’ inspired from films like ‘Ustad’ and ‘Basha’ is filled with plenty of mass elements, slow motions and star tantrums to satisfy the fans of its lead star. The former half of the movie which takes a different buildup of the lead character is impressive. The flashback scenes are also told with flair with Mammoottty looking younger and stylish in different looks. But the problem with the movie is it’s unrealistic action scenes ,whose lack of believability largely affects the effectiveness of the other  part of the narratives which are canned better. A few years back,(particularly at the time of Pokkiriraja)  Mammootty could have earned applauses with this kind of action with henchman thrown all around and bouncing back to distances, but of late we don’t know whether there will be many takers for  these predictable ‘Telugu’ style action.  Add to that the poor dialogues and punch lines doesn’t work well for the movie. 
 
Ajai Vasudev ably proves that he is a close disciple of director Joshy and Vysakh, sticking to their styles of pacy making , though he is offered not so promising scripts . With plenty of helicam and aerial shots, the movie has a chic look but could have fared better if the entire action scenes and climax was shot more realistically. In the acting side Jojo effectively holds the movie all across with his dumb act and cracks some fine wits .Mammootty is back to his previous action avatars, though he is not having any easy walk through across action stuffs .A couple of sentimental scenes are also handled wisely by the senior star. Nelson as a restaurant staff manages to create a few fine laughter's while Rai Lekshmy , Joy Mathew and Siddhique are clad in their regular roles.
 
In the technical side, Cinematographer Shaji repeats his ‘Pokkiriraja’ style of shot- making, while Mahesh Narayanan’s fine cuts evenly pace the move which is currently at 148 minutes. The three songs in the narratives are rhythmic, though they are pictured in an average manner and the last one comes up in an unwanted time. Gopi Sundar’s BG scores are over the top, but the title music is thrilling.
 
In the final analysis, ‘Rajadhiraja’ doesn’t offer any freshness in narratives. But it can be a fine for an one-time watch, if you are not in theatres with any big expectations.

Rating -6/10    

Villali Veeran

Coming after his recent hits like 'Sringaravelan' and ‘Nadodimannan’ is another 'Villaliveeran' from Janapriyanayakan Dileep. A movie that take inspiration from every Dileep movies of the recent past, ‘Villaliveeran’ but fails to excite even fans of Dileep mostly due to a non-cohesive script and average direction.

'Villaliveeran' features Dileep as Siddharthan or Siddhu who lives running a vegetable shop and also as a money lender. A young man who gives you a feel that he is a happy go lucky lad, Siddhu is taking every chances to make some money to manage with the lives of  a few more families who depend on him. When in financial turmoil, he even comes up as a scandalous ‘paid’ groom taking false identities of non-existing rich men, for a marriage bureau run by Damodharji(Nedumudi Venu), which can pay him a 25000 rupees per visit. He thus get in touch with Narmadha, an ad ad maker whom he has met in some frivolous situations earlier, which had made her misinterpret him as a thief and a goonda. Narmadha’s father but develops high opinion for Siddhu, believing in all snobberies about him to be an immensely rich guy who but follows Lord Buddha’s principles of simplicity. He immediately fix him as his future son-in law and tries to announce it in a public function, where the truth about  Siddhu is revealed. With a weighty past of business rivalry, which resulted in  his father thrown behind bars, Siddhu is actually now in need of much as even his life is in stake.

The problem with the movie is its scripts by Dinesh Pallath that hardly offers anything fresh apart from a few mockeries like the mock drills by state police, which comes in decisive moments of the hero’s life. The movie is filled with characters that lacks life with nothing much to do. The story lines goes unending with a poor second half which introduce a lot of fresher clichéd characters   and unexpected twists, which but hardly excite and add up to your confusions.

Dileep is in his usual role and mannerisms, trying to make comedies in every unwanted situations. His sidekicks Sugunan played by Kalabhavan Shajon is also poorly etched while Sidhique, Mydhili and Seetha manages well with their roles. Namitha Pramod once again excites with her screen presence and free flowing acting styles. The director who comes from mini screen couldn’t rightly handle the scale of a Dileep movie and many of its melodramatic moments just reminds of the television soaps. Sudheesh Shankar’s average direction is supplemented  by the cameraman Anil Nair and editor Jaishankar. Now at two hours and 43 minutes, the movie makes you look at your watch many a times and appear too lengthy. The songs by S A Rajkumar are rhythmic and in Telugu style , but comes up in every unwanted situations. The songs visualisations are also in regular mode .

Coming after the recent ‘Avatharram’ which didn’t make much good for Dileep camp, ‘Vilaali Veeran’ with its present content is sure to follow suit without making no big fortunes for its producer R B Chowdhary. Recommended only for Dileep fans and family audiences, who doesn’t mind seeing once again a regular typical Dileep stuff.

Rating-5.5/10

RAJA NATWARLAL

Mithilesh Kumar Srivastav a.k.a Natwarlal is by far one of the most interesting personalities that has probably lived in India. A person who could sell of the Taj Mahal and the Parliament could have not been an ordinary guy!

While not making a biopic, Kunal Deshmukh pays his own tribute to the legend of con Natwarlal and also Victor Lustig, the man who sold the Eifel Tower! He names his lead characters, played by Emraan Hashmi and Paresh Rawal, after these two real life conmen.

Whether the film is as interesting as these con-icons is another matter altogether. 

In its element Raja Natwarlal is a revenge drama. A conman and his pal steal Rs 80 lakh from a big fish. The pal gets bumped off and the conman decides to avenge. Raja (Emraan Hashmi) lands up in a small town in Himachal Pradesh seeking help from the legendary conman Yogi (Paresh Rawal) who used to operate under the name of 'Victor Singh Khan' before he settled into a retired lifestyle. Together they plot to cripple the big fish Vardha Yadav (Kay Kay) in a typical cheese and mousetrap ploy. They will sell a non-existent cricket team to a cricket fanatic!

The premise is promising and is everything that could be a decent 'masala' entertainer. And yet Raja Natwarlal falls short. With a screenplay that limps, the film is not half as smart as the makers probably intended it to be. It also sorely misses the humour that usually lights up a con film.

The film fails to surprise and delivers exactly what the audience may be expecting to happen. Even the last minute 'big surprise' fails to amuse.

Even bigger a problem is the romantic angle between Emraan Hashmi and Humaina Mallik. The actress fails to impress. Worse, the music on which their love story is suppose to evolve is disastrous. The fable of Emraan Hashmi movies always having fantastic music seems to be dying. Heck, I watched this film at a single screen and did not find people whistle the way they do during romantic scenes in other Emraan Hashmi films! Tragic lack of chemistry!


The highlights of Raja Natwarlal does not happen to be the plan but the performances. It is always a delight watching actors like Paresh Rawal and Kay Kay. The later specifically has hardly got any good roles on the longest time. Mohammad Zeesha Ayyub is wasted! Emraan Hashmi, with his usual cockiness, is good as usual.

Raja Natwarlal could have been a shorter film had it not wasted as much time of the non-happening romance. Probably focusing more on adding finesse to the heist could have taken this film notches higher. This one is just not cool enough a con-film, after you have watched films like Special 26 in the recent past. An attempt to create a 'naya India ka naya Natwarlal' had to be smarter, else it is just demeaning the original icon!

 (2.5 / 5) : Above Average

MARDANNI

Rani Mukerji used expletives in No One Killed Jessica too. But the ones that she uses in Mardaani are of an another level altogether. This is the first time she has played a character like Shivani Shivaji Roy, and I don't remember any other actress playing a similar character in quite some time. Now, that's about all that is 'new' in Mardaani. In all honesty, this Pradeep Sarkar film has nothing in its storyline that you may have not seen earlier. And I am not talking about its distinct inspiration from Taken. 

The film is about Shivani, brave officer from Mumbai Crime Branch. At work she leads from the front and commands respect among colleagues and off work she has a family that includes a husband and a niece. Things change for Shivani when she takes up the case of a missing girl - Pyari - who she treats like a daughter. On trail of kidnappers, Shivani moves from Mumbai to Delhi and not only unearths a massive human trafficking chain but a political nexus.

Delhi and the politico-underworld nexus has been dealt with in many films. Quite a few in this year itself! Mardaani does not do anything extraordinary to stand out, expect having a female police officer as the protagonist. The problem is that Sarkar, director of women-centric dramas such as Parineeta and Laga Chunari Mein Daag, is more accustomed to integrating romance into his story than grit. As he ventures into unknown territory there are multiple things that do not work for his film.

The screenplay moves fast during the first half and also makes an impact. Scenes of kidnapping and exploitation of girls startle. The problems with the screenplay start in the second half when the film becomes more about the heroics of this female inspector than logical progression. Subtlety goes for a toss as Rani turns into Singham. Thankfully with a less jarring background score!

Among things that works is humour, which adds to Rani's character. She cusses, kicks and screams apart from cracking superb one-liners.

Unfortunately, despite some great lines the dialogue writing is rather inconsistent. At times it stays real, at times goes over the board!

As an actress Rani finds challenge and delivers. She exudes the personality she plays. Tahir Bhasin gets a dream character. He plays an English-speaking crook who addresses the protagonist as 'Ma'am' and comes across as menacing. He makes an impact and is scary. Jishnu Sengupta is terribly wasted.

The action is real but heroism looks staged. Lack of realistic grit would probably be a reason why Mardaani never comes across as convincing enough, despite Rani's performance. Mardaani is not half as hard hitting as you would have expected from a film dealing with the subject that Mardaani does. So much in the sphere has been explored in Hindi films and so much more could yet be explored.

Having said that, irrespective of all it's cliches Mardaani serves well towards Rani's career graph. A definite watch if you are a Rani fan, Mardaani is just an above average revenge-action cop flick.

 (2.5 / 5) : Above Average  

ENTERTAINMENT

Salman Khan had very rightly pointed out in his episode of Koffee WIth Karan. Akshay Kumar is probably the only actor in his generation who has shown as much growth. From being labeled as merely an action star to being a convincing part of various genres, he is one actor who indeed has staked rights to his stardom. So much that he is easily the outright choice for a film like Entertainment.

Now that's where the catch is. While Akshay is a delight in his comic avatar, he is getting too old for the characters that he is offered. Despite his perfect expressions and timing, at no point does Akshay quite look like the age he plays, age showing on his face and neckline. Probably this should be sign enough for younger actors to try emulate Akshay. 

Having said that, Entertainment is one of the rare comedies that actually stand for its name.

It is not easy to write comedies. What often seems funny on paper ends up flat on screen. Which is why movies which actually make you laugh throughout are pretty rare. While Entertainment would not make you laugh throughout, it will certainly entertain you enough.

Originally titled Oh My Dog, this one is centered around a dog and humanity. Akshay plays a guy who finds that his actual father is a billionaire. However even before he reaches his father's house to claim his property, the rich man passes away leaving all his fortune to his beloved dog. From there on the film is all about the property. To make things funnier two of the rich man's second cousins are also in fray. And in the tussle the dog leaves them all a better people.

The story has a heart. But more importantly the story is told in a way that impresses the heart.

First time directors Sajid-Farhad have written many of Rohit Shetty's comedies that have done wonderfully at the box office. Comedies like All The Best, Golmaal 3, Ready, Chasme Buddoor are some examples of their work. Needless to say, the two have saved quite an amusing film for their directorial debut.

While the screenplay is average, keeping it simple - in lines with the average Indian movie-goer's expectation - the film plays primarily on dialogues and characters. The humour is not derived from the lead but from the coterie. Actors like Krushna and Johnny Lever excelling in their usual comic spaces. Especial Krushna, considering he gets the most hilarious part - one where he general speech is never complete without attaching names of actors or films. The rest of the characters have their own quirks. So Akshay can't help but compare everyone to something else, Tamannah talks only on melodramatic rythms. Tamannah, Sonu Sood and Prakash Raj play their parts.

Entertainment also very subtle pays a spoofy tribute to many a bollywood film - from Sholay to Karan Arjun. For the filmy Indian this is quite funny.

Sajid-Farhad are also clever enough not to introduce too many songs into the screenplay. Two of the songs are finishes in the opening and end credits, with the film seeing just a couple of songs - a relief.

If you are not looking for much of intelligence, this is one film that should tickle your funny bone enough. A family watch.

 (3 / 5) : Good