Masala Republic Malayalam Movie Review

Mosayila kuthirameenukal Review

REVIEW : Follow The Cinema Company

Director Visakh G S comes up with Masala Republic, a film that has humour in the backdrop trying to present a satire but without a convincing script and storyline the makers have failed to put forth what they have intended to convey. A wafer thin plot has been given an exaggerated treatment and in the process what is in store for the viewers is a film without completeness.

Occasional funny moments and humorous situations do come and go but in totality those never make the film appealing and interesting.

The film begins well and promise much but sadly nothing happen beyond a stage. The film is focused on Shambhu who has been assigned to head the Anti Gutka Squad (AGS) to track and catch people selling pan masala and related products as a result of the ban imposed by the State Government for these products. Shambhu begins his tasks but the situations become too monotonous after a while to loose interest of the viewers in the proceedings on screen.

The story is presented giving focus to the migration workers coming to earn a living in Kerala from the eastern part of India. Certain things like taking a spoof on the Adhar Cards through Avakash Card, Local politician becoming minister through blackmailing, the Tele channel show to promote Chinese products and a few others have been presented well but as said earlier, in totality the film does not evoke interest beyond a particular point.

On the acting side, Indrajith as Shambhu was very lively but nothing to perform here for an actor of his calibre while Aparna Nair as the TV Reporter has nothing much to do.

Vinayakan as Bengali Babu, P Balachandran as the local politician, Mamukoya, Vinay Fort, Srindha Ashab, Shine Tom Chacko are the notable supporting casts who did their part quite well. Sunny Wayne appeared as Bada Bai, a cameo role while Captain Raju's character was totally out of place.

Coming to the technical side, camera work was ok but it was shaking at many places especially in the beginning. Lip movement and visuals didn't synchronise in couple of scenes in the initial stage. Also in one of the scene where a police officer is hiding behind a big tree, the tree was moving, making it clearly visible that the tree was a car board piece. Minute things like these should have been taken care of.

Songs by Jassie Gift was ok and jelled well with the visuals. The Bengali song shown during the start and end was worth hearing a second time. Again deliberate effort was made to fit songs especially the Shambhu item song and the other song where hero dances with the heroine.

Overall, Masala Republic promised much but does not meet the standards and I am going with a generous 2 / 5.
  
AUTHOR DETAILS :

I am Chandra Mohan, a passionate movie buff. Connect with me through my review page
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Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram Review

Mosayila kuthirameenukal Review
Ringmaster BOX OFFICE

REVIEW : Follow The Cinema Company

The makers of Samsaaram Aarogyathinu Haanikaram have tried out their best to be different with the concept but fails in the attempt with a below average film. A feel good factor was created in the first half but the experimentation

in post intermission session fails to evoke much interest though the attempt is to be lauded.

Directed by Balaji Mohan as a bilingual with simultaneous release in Tamil, SAG had an interesting and novel plot but the script lacked the X factor to make the movie a fully engaging one, the result being a below average film that has some fine moments to entertain the viewers in parts only.

Humour is the backdrop adopted by the scenarist to narrate the story of Aravind (Dulquer), a salesman promoting Dr.Fix It, a brand of glue who aspire to become a Radio Jockey one day as he feel he can utilise his speaking skills to make it big in the industry. He meets Anjana (Nazriya), a doctor who likes to talk less, a character just the opposite of the male protagonist.

The story is set in Thenmala in Idukki district and a curious disease starts spreading in Thenmala. Rest of the plot focus more or less on this particular disease and how the political system of the State and local people of the area react to this situation. At the same time, the romantic side involving the hero and heroine is also touched upon but the prominence is more on the disease.

A totally novel concept has been wasted literally with an uninteresting narrative pattern and weak script. May be the Tamil version might work out with Tamil audiences as they are more receptive to new concepts compared to their Malayali counterparts who are a bit slow to accept too much of experimental stuffs.

Direction by Balaji Mohan is strictly on the average side. May be with a better script he would have been successful in presenting the plot in a much better way.

Acting wise, Dulquer excelled in his role as Aravind the salesman but post intermission session, and especially towards the end a tired look was reflecting from his face. Nazriya though had enough screen presence, acting wise there is not a single scene that could test her.

Among the supporting actors, Maniyanpilla Raju, Arjunan and Chemban Vinod were impressive while Madhubhala who is making a comeback of sorts didn't appear that comfortable.

Cinematography was well handled with each frame having a colourful and vibrant feel while editing department could have done a bit more work in trimming the film from the current duration of 143 minutes.

On the whole, SAG with least expectations might be a one time watchable affair for some and for others it will be a disappointing one and I belong to the second category. My rating is 2 / 5.

  
AUTHOR DETAILS :

I am Chandra Mohan, a passionate movie buff. Connect with me through my review page
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5 Biggest Disappointments of 2013

                    We are listing down the biggest disappointments in the year 2013 which includes the deaths of eminent personalities from Malayalam cinema industry, flops of last year, biggest let downs etc

1) Deaths of our greatest artists and technicians

               Some of the actors and actresses who passed away include our beloved Sukumari Chechi, Actor Augustine, Ottapalam Pappan, Joseph Chacko and Hakim Rawther. Veteran Filmmaker K Sukumaran died due to illness in the month of June. Our lose in the field of music include two legendary music directors V Dakshinamoorthy and Raghavan Master. The renowned Hindustani musician Sarathchandra Marathe and playback singer Usha Ravi also passed away this year. 


2) Flops from Mohanlal paired with popular directors 

      Drishyam is the only hit of Mohanlal this year, but Drishyam is one of the best movies of this year. Mohanlal had a bad run throughout this year until the release of Drishyam thus bringing him back to the race. But the flops of Mohanlal when paired with Joshiy, Priyadarshan and Siddeque was one of the biggest setbacks to the cinema lovers this year. Lokpal which saw the successful combo Mohanlal-Joshiy back again but ended up as a disaster. Ladies and gentleman was much hyped as it was a long awaited rejoining of Mohanlal and director Siddeque. Priyadarshan also gave big blow when he made a sequel to Manichithrathazhu as Geethanjali which he should have never done.


3) Multi Starrers
       Multi Starrer films are not new to the Malayalam film industry. But last year, most of the multi starrer movies including Kammath and Kammath, Red Wine and D Company disappointed all of us. Kammath and Kammath which brought Dileep and Mammootty together, though was a huge commercial success but didn't entertain as expected. Red Wine starring Mohanlal, Fahadh faasil and Asif Ali was expected to be a top notch investigative thriller. D Company which had almost all the best young talents of Malayalam industry also became a flop.

4) Flops from eminent directors and writers

      When some established directors and writers comes up with disastrous movies, it is really difficult to get on. Ranjith, whom we consider to be one of the best in the industry right now, came up with a totally lazy attempt Kadal Kadannoru Mathukutty. Another popular director VK Prakash had three flops in a row this year including Natholi Cheriya Meenalla, Thank You and Silence. VKP cannot excuse from the bad direction in case of Thank You, though the latter two were better in that terms. Anoop Menon who is known for his skillful script writing, but was surprised with the movie Hotel California. Next is Pattam Pole, it was rumored that Azhagappan was working on the script for about two and a half year but the movie had nothing new to offer. 

5) Unfortunate Hits and Flops

    Some movies like Shutter, Artist, Kunjananthante Kada are destined to fare poorly in the box office as money mayn't be the prime motive behind these movies. But there are many unfortunate hits and flops in our industry caused due to several factors. Unfortunate Hits include almost every Dileep starrer including Sringaravelan, Sound Thoma etc as they don't deserve it. Wondering what would be the situation if CID Moosa, Parakkum Thalika etc gets released now. Unfortunate Flops include 5 Sundarikal, Left Right Left. The bold contents in Left Right Left has backfired and severely affected the movie.

Must have Android Apps in your Smartphone

 From millions of apps available in the google play store these are our editor's picks eliminating similar apps coming under same category and all. You can suggest your best choices and even replacements for the following apps. Stay tuned for more posts in our TECH tab.

• Shazam - Find the title of songs being played
• WhatsApp - One of the most popular app in India for texting and voice sms
• Lookout - Security & Virus Scan
• Zomato - Zomato Restaurant Finder app gives information about restaurants from all over the places near you
• Calorie Counter - Best calorie counter - Food Database - Diet tool
• SoundHound - a rival to shazam. Best music finder
• Angry Birds Seasons - The best among angry birds games based on holidays
• Fruit Slice - Similar to the popular fruit ninja
• Instagram - Best photo sharing app and photo editor
• Flipboard - Best android magazine
• Stumble Upon / Pinterest - Official android app of these amazing websites
• IMDb / Flixster - Official android app of these amazing movie websites
• PicShop / Photo Art / Pixlr Express / Retro Camera - Amazing photo editors
• PocketBand Pro - Turn songs and tracks into sequence of loops, mixing synths, drums, samplers, audio recordings, analog modulators and arpeggiators
• Mind Tools - Build different types of management, business and personal productivity skills in your spare time
• Google Drive - store all your files in one place, so you can access them from anywhere and share them with others- a rival to dropbox
• Kingsoft Office - User-friendly & nice UI interface with rich editing features - Support 23 kinds of files, including DOC/DOCX/TXT/XLS/XLSX/PPT/PPTX/PDF
• Pocket - Time’s Best Android Apps of 2013 - Allows you to bookmark almost everything on web
• SketchBook Pro - professional-grade paint and drawing application
• RemoteDroid - Turns your phone  into a wireless trackpad and mouse
• Evernote - mobile notepad that  synchronizes with desktop and browser software - take a photo, record a voice memo or jot down a note
• Slacker - great personalized radio service
• Fxcamera - creates beautiful effects for your camera  
• World Newspapers - Get news from all around the world
• Hacker News Reader - News about technology
• Facebook app - one of the best innovative app
• Lightning Launcher - A very flexible launcher in Google play
• Tasker - does almost every task
• I Can't Wake Up - Prevents snoozing and going back to sleep by forcing you to play a memory game, identify national capitals, type in random character strings 
• SpeedBoost - Frees your memory
• Wapedia: A Wikipedia reader
• MX Player - Supports almost all video types
• TubeMate - download videos from youtube - goto tubemate.net/‎
• MP3dit - Music Tag Editor
• Beautiful Widgets/HD Widgets - for widget for your phone
• Cricbuzz - for instant cricket scores
• FotMob - for instant football scores
• Android Lost - Remotely control your Android phone
• My Backup Pro - back up almost everything like system data, apps, music, photos, videos    
• WordWeb - best offline dictionary
• flatro - android icon packs
• AppGratis - Tells which paid app is free today
• Easy Downloader Pro - Download manager for your android

 

Priyamani - The down to earth star

       Few actresses who make it big in Tamil cinema are able to blend in with the kind of subtle acting style that is the norm of Malayalam film. One honorable exception is the dusky beauty Priyamani, who brings such an earthy effervescence, if one can call at that, or a touch of sizzle to each of her roles. As she reaches the mid-off of her career, every industry whether it is Malayalam, Tamil or Telugu, seems to think her as their own.
       Though she has her origins in Kerala - born as Priya Vasudev Mani Iyer in Palakkad - Priyamani had her education in Bangalore.
It maybe her attitude to life that helps her keep both her feet planted firmly on the ground in the glamour-driven career she has chosen for herself. It is again this sense of equanimity that has governed her approach to work too; pacing out her career and picking and choosing roles. For instance, if one thought after reaching cinematic peak with a National award for her performance in "Paruthiveeran" (2007), she would be in consolidation mode to be a reigning star and go on a role-signing spree, that was not the case at all.
       Even though her role as a pan-chewing Madurai girl, "Muthazhagi" drew critical acclaim and picked up a clutch of awards such as the Tamil Nadu State Award, a South Filmfare Award and and another award at the Osian's Cinefan Festival Asian and Arab Cinema, Priyamani never seemed to be possessed by an urge to put her career on full-throttle.
       Perhaps she would have just accepted that she had got her due in "Paruthiveeran" that she was denied for what was another critically acclaimed performance in Balu Mahendra's "Adhu oru Kaana Kaalam" (2005) though the film itself was a damp squib at the box office. That was a year after her low-key debut in Bharathiraja's "Kangal Kaidhu Sei" (2004).
       Priyamani has also switched her glamorous side in few blockbuster movies such as "Drona" (Telugu) and not shied away from doing few bold scenes in some of her films, including the upcoming Sharukh Khan starrer "Chennai Express". She also did an off beat horror flick featuring conjoined twins in "Charulatha" (Tamil).
       The other stand outs in her filmography includes outings in Mani Ratnam's bilingual "Raavan" and the first of two part trilingual Ram Gopal Varma's "Rakth Charithra".
         In Malayalam, Priyamani debuted in Satyam (2004) opposite Prithviraj, an actor with whom she would again share screen years later in "Ninaithale Inikkum", the Tamil Remake of "Classmates". Neither of these outings with Prithviraj was too successful at the box office.
       In "Thirakkatha" (2008), Priyamani pulled off the role of Malaivika, who had a spectrum of emotions with ease. The story revolved around the ups and downs in the life of a film actress which was  pretty heavy too. This role fetched her the Filmfare awards for the South's best actress.
       Her best efforts yet in Malayalam came in "Pranjiyettan and the Saint" where she provided the ideal foil for a deglamourized Mammootty playing Chirmmal Enashu Francis alias Pranjiyettan, a Thrissur-slang-spouting race merchant while she excelled as Padmashree, his love interest.

Swati Reddy - coy, courageous

       Frankly, I missed seeing "Subramaniapuram", a film that was hailed as a landmark not just for the Tamil industry but a wake-up call for south Indian cinema overall - the kind of siren call that Malayalam films of the 1980s regularly sounded, but in those days no one listened. But, this column is not about that film, but one of its actors who has left an indelible impression on our minds.
       Among the secondary material I gathered about "Subramaniapuram" was that it was ground-breaking for a Tamil industry used to watching superstar-driven themes. There was also much discussion about the violence portrayed in the film that focused on caste conflicts in Madurai.
  But, for all those who, like me, missed seeing "Subraimaniapuram", it is unlikely that we would savouring that delectable song "Kangal Irandal" scored by James Vasanthan for that film. This song was my first experience of Swati Reddy!
    

      Even as one immersed in the Reetigowlai ragam, which drives the song, one couldn't help wondering who this petite girl with pretty eyes and coy smile was.
       Swati made wait almost five years to arrive at a more considered opinion about her skills. That was when she was cast as an upper cast Christian girl Shoshanna in Lijo Pellissery's "Amen". Such was the credibility and sense of exuberance she lent to the character "Shoshanna" that will probably rule our consciousness for years to come.
       Only a true talent like Swati could, in spite of being an outsider to Kerala's culture, or for that fact, to the intricacies of mid-Travancore Christians, absorb and convey the quintessence of her role as Shoshanna. And, that she held her ground opposite the phenomenal actor Fahad Fazil is indeed a litmus test of her screen presence and acting skills.
       In "Amen" - that also featured a wonderful performance by Indrajith as an iconoclastic pastor - Swati gave us enduring images of a strong-willed Christian girl who will shatter glassware or even a hired goon's head with a saucepan to stand up for her love.
       Swati began her film career as a voice artist, even rendering a couple of songs to projects like "Unbeleivable" (2011). She was the dubbed voice of Illeana D'cruz in the 2008 film "Jaisa".
       Before she came to be tagged "Swati of Subramaniapuram" fame, she was referred to as "Colours" Swati because of her association with an eponymous programme on Maa Telugu television.
       Wikipedia says, that Swati was born in Vladivostok, former Soviet Union. A Russian doctor would name her "Svetelana" (beautiful baby) before her Mother named her "Swati". Her father, an Indian Navy officer, was serving there, later, the family moved to Vishakhapatnam. 

One By Two Malayalam Movie Review

Mosayila kuthirameenukal Review

Arun Kumar Aravind and Murali Gopi reunite after the hugely popular work Left Right Left and this time they have ropped in Fahadh Fazil to their team along with the script of Jeyamohan. 1 By Two, the latest from this team presents a psychological thriller but sorry to say the presentation lacked any clarity.
The result is a confusing film that tried to much to show. Running to two and a half hours, 1 By Two tries too hard to present a confusing storyline and fails miserably in all departments except for the background score of Gopi Sundar and camera works of Jomon Thomas.
The story revolves around an investment by Crime Branch CI Yousuf Marikkar about an accident that happen and the resulting complications relating to the case. I am not going too much into the story as that would spoil whatever thrill you are going to get from the film if you have plans to watch it.
Direction was good in the first half but towards the end it seems as if Arun Kumar Aravind just left things to happen without any presence from him. Can't complain much as he is helpless here with this confusing script that has many questions left that needs to be answered. The first half is watchable though the proceedings are slow paced but it is the post intermission session that goes endlessly without any direction.
On the acting side, much of the screen presence is given to Murli Gopi who acted his part well but felt as if he was overacting especially towards the end and more particular in the climax sequences. For Fahadh, this is the first cop role in his career but sadly he does not have anything to show here with the character being a half baked one.
Honey Rose was ok and was bold in her portrayal of Dr.Prema but who impressed the most among the actors was quite surprisingly director Shyamaprasad as the psychiatrist.
On the technical side as mentioned earlier, camera work and background score stood out in an otherwise dull film.
In summary, 1 By Two is a disappointing film that promised much especially from the looks of the trailer and the team that was behind this venture. I can't give more than 2.25 / 5, a below average fare from a talented team.
AUTHOR DETAILS :
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Ringmaster Malayalam Movie Review

Ringmaster BOX OFFICE

When you analyze the recent track record of Dileep's last few films, they were money spinners at the box office but they received generally negative feedback from critics. Films like Nadodimannan and Sringaaravelan did good business at the box office but were panned by critics & reviewers and that includes me as well. Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal was also a dud but that was a movie in a different genre other than comedy.
So naturally I pegged my expectation level to the very minimum before entering the cinema hall. May be that's why I could enjoy Ring Master, the new film of Dileep directed by Raafi. Humour and comedy is once again the backdrop of this Dileep-Raafi film but the way of presenting the humour does not go overboard or does not go to a level that irritate the viewers. For family audiences and for all being for a festive treat Ringmaster is definitely worth a watch.
Scripted by the director himself, Ring Master has Dileep enacting the role of Prince, a dog trainer and the film narrates the bonding between Prince and Diana (a dog).
The direction is old school comedy but loud and non-veg comedies are very limited to make a decent watch for everyone. The backdrop of a dog story and the bondage between man and the loving animal is a change from the recent trend of stories we see.
On the acting side, Diana the canine super star in the film hogs the limelight along with the other dogs Tobey and Lissy.
Dileep as usual it’s a safe role for him that he does well these days while Keerthi was also ok in her portrayal of the blind girl. Honey Rose has nothing much to perform while Shajon, Aju Varghese and Suraj handled the comic department with ease along with Dileep. Vijayaraghavan, Pakru and Ranjini forming rest of the supporting cast.
Music by Gopi Sundar is on the positive side with the animated song Dogs Own Country that has dogs making the dancing steps being a visual treat.
On the whole, this logic less popcorn entertainer is good for a watch if you don't give too much prominence to the story side. My rating is again a 3 / 5.

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2 States Hindi Movie Review

Another of Chetan Bagat's novel gets a cinematic adaptation and this time its the 2009 bestseller 2 States : The Story of My Marriage (partly based on writer's actual life). Chetan's previous movie adaptation was Kai Po Chei based on The 3 mistakes of my life was widely appreciated by all class of audiences.
Now to the current movie in discussion, directed by Abhishek Varman and produced by Karan Johar, 2 States is a rom-com drama that dwell upon relationships of two cross - border youths and how their relationship gets a beating when their families from different culture get into the act .Here is a movie that in my view deserves a second watch, such is the way the film has been presented to give a perfect movie viewing experience for the viewers without compromising on anything.
Krish (Arjun Kapoor), a Punjabi boy and Ananya ( Alia Bhatt), a Tamil girl meet at the IIM Ahmedabad campus and romance blossom between the two but they find the going tough and challenging to take their relationship forward once they finish their studies and get placement as the families coming from different culture find it extremely difficult and act as a thorn in their relationship.
This is the basic premise of the film as the story develop from here and whether you have read the book or not, Two States the movie is a highly engaging stuff that stands out with simple narrative style to give the movie a deserving watch. The movie is not that refreshing in the sense that the regular doses of Bollywood dramas and melodramas are part of the proceedings but at no stage it takes a toll on the viewers. A lively first half and a dramatic but watchable second half, that's in summary.
On the acting front, Arjun and Alia have smartly played their part as the Punjabi Munda and Tamil girl while Amritha Singh, Revathy, Ronit Roy and Shiv Subramanniam enact their respective characters (parents of Krish and Ananya) with perfection to give an easy route to the film for its success.
Songs by Shankar Ehsaan Loy definitely helped its course on its way in lifting the energy level of the film. Also the costume designers deserves a word of good for giving a colourful feel to the film.
On the whole, this feel good entertainer won't disappoint you. So go ahead and book your tickets. Then sit back, relax and enjoy the cross border romance of Krish and Ananya. I am going with 4 / 5 on the rating side.

AUTHOR DETAILS :
I am Chandra Mohan, a passionate movie buff. Connect with me through my review page
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