Dear Dileesh Pothan,
I enjoyed Maheshinte Prathikaram. Everyone else in the movie theater also seemed to enjoy it. They clapped when the film ended.
I liked the film's plot. A lovable and devote loser called Mahesh lives with his senile father. He goes through a bad patch in his life when he is beaten up in public, ditched by his girlfriend and criticized for being bad at his job (as a photographer). Mahesh seeks a revival in his life. He refuses to wear sandals until he takes revenge on the person who beat him up in public. It reminded me of Warren Oates vow of silence after his chicken is killed in a cockfight in Monte Hellman's Cockfighter.
The film works as a character study with the upwardly mobile Christian community of Idukki as a background.
Fahadh Fazil as Mahesh turns in a very respectable performance as usual. I hope he finally scores a hit with this one. Soubin Shahir had some of the best dialogs in the film. He really stole the show as Fahad's sidekick. Aparna Balamurali as the feisty and flirtatious young Christian girl is the perfect foil for the sober and humble Mahesh. Alancier Lay and Jaffer Idukki were decent without being spectacular. The actor who played Jimson had great body language, he brought back memories of Salim Ghose the villain in Bharathan's Thazhvaram.
Dileesh, I would not have made the film the way you did. You did have some good ideas. But Mahesh's desperate attempts at regaining his confidence and masculinity could have been more interesting. But you seemed to be intent on making a feel good film without lingering for too long in the dark side. Why does every new Malaylam film have to eventually turn into a feel good film?
Anyway I am glad that people like yourself are making films about some of the interesting people living in Kerala's villages and small towns. While the films made by some of you new generation filmmakers are not masterpieces, they are a lot better than the superhero films of Mammooty/Lalettan/Sureshgopi or the mediocre slapstick films of Jayram and Dileep.
I also noticed that you and writer Sham Pushkaran adhered to the the "New-gen directors manifesto" containing the golden rules for New-gen filmmakers:
1) Your film must contain one or more references to Lalettan or Mammukka or some film of theirs.
2) Your film must contain a few scenes where the characters consume alcohol.
3) Your film must have a few scenes related to food - usually meen/fish curry or some obscure "appam" eaten by the people of that area and not known to people living in other parts of Kerala.
4) Your film must portray extreme religiosity (like carrying a wooden cross to the top of Malayatoor Mala) as exotica.
5) The hero must live in an extremely run down and dirty house with a dirty kitchen. You may use lighting or clever cinematography to take attention away the basic squalor of the house/kitchen. This would help in strengthening your ghetto credentials.
I look forward to your next film.
Best Regards,
Pimpin.
(7/10)
I enjoyed Maheshinte Prathikaram. Everyone else in the movie theater also seemed to enjoy it. They clapped when the film ended.
I liked the film's plot. A lovable and devote loser called Mahesh lives with his senile father. He goes through a bad patch in his life when he is beaten up in public, ditched by his girlfriend and criticized for being bad at his job (as a photographer). Mahesh seeks a revival in his life. He refuses to wear sandals until he takes revenge on the person who beat him up in public. It reminded me of Warren Oates vow of silence after his chicken is killed in a cockfight in Monte Hellman's Cockfighter.
The film works as a character study with the upwardly mobile Christian community of Idukki as a background.
Fahadh Fazil as Mahesh turns in a very respectable performance as usual. I hope he finally scores a hit with this one. Soubin Shahir had some of the best dialogs in the film. He really stole the show as Fahad's sidekick. Aparna Balamurali as the feisty and flirtatious young Christian girl is the perfect foil for the sober and humble Mahesh. Alancier Lay and Jaffer Idukki were decent without being spectacular. The actor who played Jimson had great body language, he brought back memories of Salim Ghose the villain in Bharathan's Thazhvaram.
Dileesh, I would not have made the film the way you did. You did have some good ideas. But Mahesh's desperate attempts at regaining his confidence and masculinity could have been more interesting. But you seemed to be intent on making a feel good film without lingering for too long in the dark side. Why does every new Malaylam film have to eventually turn into a feel good film?
Anyway I am glad that people like yourself are making films about some of the interesting people living in Kerala's villages and small towns. While the films made by some of you new generation filmmakers are not masterpieces, they are a lot better than the superhero films of Mammooty/Lalettan/Sureshgopi or the mediocre slapstick films of Jayram and Dileep.
I also noticed that you and writer Sham Pushkaran adhered to the the "New-gen directors manifesto" containing the golden rules for New-gen filmmakers:
1) Your film must contain one or more references to Lalettan or Mammukka or some film of theirs.
2) Your film must contain a few scenes where the characters consume alcohol.
3) Your film must have a few scenes related to food - usually meen/fish curry or some obscure "appam" eaten by the people of that area and not known to people living in other parts of Kerala.
4) Your film must portray extreme religiosity (like carrying a wooden cross to the top of Malayatoor Mala) as exotica.
5) The hero must live in an extremely run down and dirty house with a dirty kitchen. You may use lighting or clever cinematography to take attention away the basic squalor of the house/kitchen. This would help in strengthening your ghetto credentials.
I look forward to your next film.
Best Regards,
Pimpin.
(7/10)