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thepranavbiju
Yet another cinsane engineer!
I Breathe Cinema!
KL 11 | CUSAT '17-21' | Er.
When people ask me if I went to film school, I tell them "no, I went to films."
- Quentin Tarantino
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Theerppu (2022)
Theerppu is yet another mastercraft by Murali Gopy, elegantly made by Rathish Ambat
'Theerppu' is certainly NOT everyone's cup of tea.
On the technical side it is a well-shot, well-packaged unconventional revenge drama with an even more unconventional closure.
Coming to the writing, veteran Murali Gopy is going places with his ability to bring the slightest detail in place and deliver some strong political points only a smooth and flawless eye can even spot. I'm a huge fan of "Kammara Sambhavam" and Mollywood's topgrosser "Lucifer", both written by Murali but phenomenally different in genes and genre. This one is yet another mastercraft from the writer.
Filmmaker Rathish Ambat gets things right once again with the help of an experienced crew.
Watch this one on Disney+Hotstar.
Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey (2022)
Darshana-Basil duo give a hilarious flick with a pertinent topic
JJJJH starring Darshana Rajendran in the lead and directed by Vipin Das is a clever laugh riot that looks like a spiced up and more cinematic version of "The Great Indian Kitchen" and deals with a highly pertinent and disgusting problem in our society. Special mention to the maker for choosing to stand with the protagonist all along instead of whitewashing the toxicity and two-faced behavior of her parents and in-laws. A group of fresh faces give hilarious performances along with the ever-reliable Basil, Asees Nedumangadu, Manju Pillai, Noby and Aju Varghese. DOP Bablu gives some fresh coloring to the outskirts of Kollam. Ankit Menon's music is fine even if the songs are unnecessary.
Must watch!
Innale Vare (2022)
Innale Vare - Director Jis Joy handles the genre well, but the SonyLIV release ends up as a mess due to poor writing of the latter half
Jis Joy has attempted a dark-genre flick for the first time and despite his prowess, can't save the film from being a mess in the end. With his usual hero Asif Ali in the lead, Jis also collaborates freshly with Nimisha Sajayan and Antony Varghese, two of the most promising youth actors in Mollywood. All of the actor performances in the film are commendable but what falters is the screenplay. The film that lacks songs has a thrilling soundtrack by 4Musics and suitable cinematography by Bahul Ramesh. While the first half proved to be an edge-of-the-seat experience, the second half seemed needlessly drawn and makes you wonder how it will end. A surprise (intended) reveal in the climax didn't help either. This is also a film where you find politically incorrect behaviour from all the leads (irrespective of gender) so it is, basically, a fight between "evil and evil" (similar to what the protagonist in Lucifer (2019) labels in a scene).
Streams on SonyLIV. One-time watchable.
Vikram (2022)
VIKRAM - a Loki magic dedicated to the "godfather" of Indian Cinema "Aandavar" Kamal Hassan!
Three cheers to team Vikram!!!
Helmed my Kollywood's present-day "master" of gangster films - Lokesh Kanagaraj - and starring a surprise-filled ensemble cast, 'VIKRAM' surpasses the director's previous flick by multiple notches and proves to be a limitlessly goosebump-giving re-entry for "Aandavar" Kamal Hassan! Other than the superstar, my favourite in the film is definitely the ever-reliable Fahadh Faasil "FaFa" in yet another of his neat performances.
The film interestingly happens in the same universe as Loki's Kaithi (2019) with a handful of characters (plus references) being reprised from the same. Lokesh cleverly incorporates his trademarks - a truck chase, a shot featuring Biryani, a heavy action scene in a factory and a reuse of the Browning machine gun scene featured in 'Kaithi' (a segment featuring the same gun was seen in the recent 'KGF Chapter 2') to top it - into the screenplay that isn't fresh but is thoroughly entertaining. A high-voltage action scene set in the house of "Vikram" would be my takeaway; no one saw that coming!
Technically, 'Vikram' is easily elevated by Girish Gangadharan's brilliant cinematography. Philomin Raj's cuts are fine, even when the film looks tad too long at 177 minutes. This is the fourth musical by Anirudh Ravichander in three months and his graph touches the sky as he surpasses himself - 'Vikram' gives your ears an extravaganza that is easily top-notch compared to 'Beast', 'KRK' or 'Don'.
'Vikram' is a film where you have to find ample time, book a ticket(s) in a theatre with the best audio and video services and have a great time celebrating. Fans of Ulaganayagan mustn't miss the theatre experience!
John Luther (2022)
John Luther (Malayalam): Jayasurya in one of his recent excellent roles
'John Luther' is an edge-of-the-seat-thriller wherein Jayasurya plays a police officer role after a long hiatus. Director Abhijith Joseph has designed the film well to keep the audience on guessing till the end. Inspector John becomes another of Jayasurya's best performances. He is so magnificent as the partially-deaf sincere cop to the extent where one can't even imagine another actor as John. Deepak Parampol, Sivadas, Aathmiya and the rest of the cast excelled in their roles. The backbone of 'John Luther' is the screenplay with an undying dynamism. Shaan Rahman has composed easily blending background score and suitable songs. Cameraman Roby Varghese Raj crafts beautiful visuals.
For me, the based part of the is flick is Jayasurya.
Puzhu (2022)
Puzhu: Mammootty's first OTT flick is a slow watch.
Biggest strength of this third Megastar Movie in three months is, of course, Mammootty's stellar act as a man torn between his fear and guilty pleasures. The script is, disappointingly slow and a bit unclear. Young Vasudev playing the veretan's son looks neat, while the rest of the cast such as Parvathy, Nedumudi Venu, Appunni, Ramesh amongst others looked fine. The politics that the film upheld is commendable, but despite Theni Eswar's visuals and Jakes Bejoy's suitable scoring, Puzhu ends up as a film that isn't everyone's cup of tea.
12th Man (2022)
12th MAN: a favourable outing for Mohanlal after three long years
The months following a highly-successful Lucifer (2019) have been unfavorable for Mohanlal as just one film of his - the surprise hit Drishyam 2 (2021) - has attained a unanimous positive response within these three years. So the expectations were high in his next outing from the same director - Jeethu Joseph. '12th Man' is scripted by Krishnakumar, who adds multiple layers to the film that resembles the numerous CBI-flicks in mollywood. Released just days after 'CBI 5', '12th Man' is definitely a better product compared to the not-so-praised fifth member in the CBI franchise. The amount of thrills and adrenaline rush that the film gives is beyond explanation! Despite struggling to touch the Jeethu Joseph standards, the film plays well with your brain and the director is successful in delivering yet another brilliant whodunit. It isn't as great as Detective (2007), Memories (2013) or the Drishyam-franchise, still entertains you thoroughly.
Jeethu has retained most of the technicians from Drishyam 2 here. Cinematographer Satheesh Kurup is a winner all the way in this 2 hour 40 minute long journey. He is complemented well by Score-composer Anil Johnson, despite the repetitive nature of the latter's work. V. S. Vinayak has done the editing, which is fine. But one particular part of the editing that held my interest was the constant transitions between the flashback and investigation room - it happens throughout the second half and gets the effect right despite quirky VFX. But, some abrupt cuts possibly made in the last minute looked out of place. The screenplay in fact looks artificial and bores you a bit for the first 35 minutes! Even the acting was so superfluous during this period. But once the film reaches its purpose, everything and everyone picked up momentum and soon it engages a discerning viewer. However, some loopholes stick out at the end even then.
Just like in Drishyam 2, an advertisement for myG is incorporated once again but the biggest disappointment was the absence of Antony Perumbavoor as an actor (which always happens in his productions)! Jokes Apart, the film is a decent outing from Jeethu-Lal combo. One thing it certainly gets right is giving a sensible (and profitable) film for Lalettan in this bad phase of his career.
Streaming on Disney plus Hotstar.