Change Your Image
vishnu_s_prasad
Reviews
Twenty:20 (2008)
super
A retired Supreme Court judge Vishwanathan (Madhu) returns home to Kerala to hear the mortifying news that one of his grandsons Arun (Indrajith) is accused of murdering a classmate in a medical college in Bangalore.
Suresh Gopi plays the investigating officer pitted against the defense counsel Mammootty (who had incidentally qualified to be a lawyer in real life).
The third side of the tale's triangle is provided by feudal scion Themmady (meaning rowdy) Devan Pratapa Varma (Mohanlal).
The events lead to a climax that can be guessed by virtually everyone in the audience.
Mohanlal has the easiest time since he plays the cantankerous character with the same verve depicted by him in similar roles in countless films.
Having seen Mammootty in several movies as a lawyer, the role itself doesn't come as a surprise. But, the twists in the tale do the job more than adequately as the star essays his part with skillful, underplayed aplomb.
Suresh Gopi as the no-nonsense cop (another role from the star's checkered track record) suits him to the hilt, aided by the script's chiselled dialogue that accentuates his presence.
There are enough nerve-racking thrills in the narration as each star tries to outwit the other and the narrative provides the audience enough opportunity to go gaga over their icons.
Joshi had earlier cast Mammootty and Mohanlal in offbeat murder mystery "Number 20 Madras Mail" in 1990 with almost equal opportunities.
The only flaw of "Twenty 20″ is that its characters are stereotyped all the way. But it is also the movie's unique selling point because it is an obvious endeavour to exploit the stars' images.
Camera work by Sukumar is excellent since each matinée idol has been given flattering shots but everything has been put together without offending the other star(s) in the same frame.
Suresh Peters' background score etches the taut screenplay and augments the entertainment.
In a nutshell, the film has no wonders and by itself that seems like wonderful news due to its packaging.
Pandippada (2005)
superb comedy
The hit makers Rafi-Makartin and Dileep come together in 'Pandipada'. The movie is expected to be another comedy like any other Rafi-Mekartin movie. Life was never easy for friends Bhuvanachandran and Bhasi. All the ventures they started were a flop. Every failure leads to the next project. With high hopes they started a Real Estate business with the funds raised from friends and family. No surprise, the Real Estate business had the same fate of their earlier ventures. Bhuvanachandran ran away from his town leaving Bhasi behind. Bhasi did the same too. Bhuvanachandran reached a village named "Karuvelikattil" in Tamil Nadu. Agriculture was main trade there. Soon he met Bhasi as a coincidence. Leaving their troubled past, they decided to do farming and lead a good life. Karuppayya and Pandidurey are the chieftains on the village. Pandidurey has an army of young thugs nick named "Pandippada", a nightmare for the whole village. Bhuvanachandran and Bhasi become the favorites of both Karuppayya and Pandidurey in short time. They please both chiefs in a convincing manner. Trouble starts when Bhuvanachandran met Meena, daughter of Karuppayya. They fall in love. On finding this Pandidurey becomes so upset that his ally has an affair with his enemy's daughter. Karuppayya is furious and feels betrayed that someone he sheltered is having an affair with his daughter. He is set to finish Bhuvanachandran. Bhuvanchandran is so sure that he will be killed whether by Karuppayya or Pandidurey; he decides to run for his life. To his surprise he get some unexpected help. Rafi-Mekartin depicts the interesting and humorous story about the struggle to survive. Dilip is Bhuvanachandran and Bhasi is Harisri Ashokan. Rajan P Dev does Karuppayya's role and Prakash Raj does Pandidurey. Meena is Navya Nair. Cochin Haneefa, Indrans, Salim Kumar, Ambika, Sukumari etc are in the supporting roles. Review Bhuvan, a small time real estate broker, gets conned into buying land in a village in Tamilnadu. He takes money from a loan shark (Hanifa) and comes to the village to realize that the property is the bone of contention between two landlords. Karupuswamy (Rajan P Dev) and Pandidurai (Prakashraj) are the two chieftains at loggerheads. Pandidurai has an army known as Pandipada. Bhuvan manages to win the heart of Karupuswamy and his mother. Karupuswamy's daughter Meena (Navya Nair) falls in love with Bhuvan. At this juncture, Pandidurai who sees Meena falls in love with her. Bhuvan uses this to his advantage by acting as the go-between for the two and finally manages to change the mind of the warring landlords and take possession of the land. Dilip as Bhuvan does his part well and so also the other actors. Prakashraj, the seasoned actor, steals the show with his comedy timing. The major flaw in this fun-filled film is that Pandipada is a rehash of the same director's earlier films. The same situation of a Malayali in alien land or in a non-Malayali house and the hero always being on the run was seen in the two earlier films of the same director duo. In both the earlier films also, the hero was Dilip. Suresh Peters's music sounds very much like Tamil film music. Saloo George's cinematography is above average. The film is at best "old wine in new bottle".
Crazy Gopalan (2008)
is OK
Kattila Gopalan is a notorious name in a little village named Oonjaalaadi. Though nobody has seen Gopalan, people hold him in dread as he is a thief who always manages to steal whatever he wants, without ever getting caught or even being seen by anyone. His identity remains a mystery.
Then one day Harishchandran, a carpenter happens to see Gopalan for the first time. He is thus forced to flee the little village and seeks refuge in the city. There he meets Lakshmanan, another thief who has an ailing mother to look after. They form a team and start thieving, Lakshmanan to treat his mother and Gopalan with an aim to buy back his ancestral house which he has lost in his childhood. And then a girl named Diana and her brother Babu John, a rich banker, come into the lives of Gopalan and Lakshmanan. Life changes drastically for the duo.
Dileep is his usual self as Gopalan, though he shines more in the comic sequences than in others. Salim Kumar as Lakshmanan is good. The rest of the cast, like Harisri Ashokan as Harishchandran, Manoj K. Jayan as Babu John and Biju Menon as the commissioner of police are OK, though none of them gets to do anything outstanding. The heroine Radha Varma as Diana doesn't impress much. Jagathy Sreekumar too is his usual self.
Nothing much to jot about the songs. The technical aspects are in keeping with the mood of the film. The main flaw as far as Crazy Gopalan is concerned is that it loses its appeal when Dileep's character, that of Gopalan starts playing the usual film hero, inf the baddies and engaging in all kinds of heroics. If the character had been presented in a comic vein on the main, it would have been much more enjoyable. The director Dipu, who has also penned the script, has to take the blame for this. There are many sequences that could have been executed much more deftly, but as such the film requires more of polish.
Makante Achan (2009)
good
Makante Achchan takes us into the world of Viswanathan, who is a very ordinary man, a government employee. His world comprises of his wife Hema, his son Manu and daughter Meena. Though he loves both his children equally well, it is on his son that he pins all his hopes. While Viswanathan is an honest and thrifty kind of person, Manu is rather lavish and is hardly bothered about his father's ambitions for him. He takes life in an easy-going manner while Viswanathan wants Manu to gain a good education, work hard and earn a job. The difference in attitudes leads to personality clashes. This, and how it is resolved, form the plot of Makante Achchan.
Njan Gandharvan (1991)
Malayalam Fantasy
Njan Gandharvan(I, The Celestial Lover) -Malayalam 1991
Last of padmarajan's movie.This is a beautiful fantasy story, filled with magical moments. Many movies were inspired by wim Wender's "Wings of Desire", like City of angels etc.Padmarajan takes a leaf out of Wings of Desire and spins the story around our mythology and legends for this movie.Unlike the other movies where the angels are philosophical and dull, the gandharvan in this movie is a lively character. Padmarajan enriches the scenes of gandharvan with his imagination. When ever he appears there is a feast for your senses. Beautiful visuals, good background music, nice dialogues/songs and the characters talk about how there is a good smell of Palla flower when ever he appears.
Cast and Credit: Nitish Bharadwaj .... Gandharvan Suparna .... Bhama M.G. Soman .... Gopalakrishnan Nair Ganesh Kumar .... Pradeep Philomina .... Bhama's Grandmother Vinduja Menon .... Bhama's Sister Thezni Khan .... Bhama's Friend Sulakshana .... Bhama's Mother I.V.Sasi .... Bhama's Father
DuckTales: Master of the Djinni (1987)
good
Scrooge McDuck and Huei, Dewey and Louei go to Sahara desert to find Aladdin's lamp with Flintheart Glomgold following them. The ducks find the lamp's vault but Scrooge and Glomgold rubbing it in the same time. The Ginni out and because he can't know who rubbing the lamp first, he decide do a race between Scrooge and Glomgold. By Scrooge's suggestion, the Ginni decide live in Manor McDuck during the race. Once that the Ginni and the nephews gone to the mansion, Scrooge fight Glomgolds tramps (like the villain try kid him with a rocks avalanche). Scrooge decide win the race to Glomgold leave his nephews without a dime.
At McDuck's mansion, the Ginni began like of the luxuries of the Scrooge's house (as he can eat burgers, swim in the pool and watch TV). He like so much that he decide send Scrooge and Glomgold to back in time, to he can live free forever. Because the two billionaires don't know about the time voyage, they continue running when they find a palace. The Sultan, thinking that they are spies of Hemir decide give the ducks to crocodiles. But Schewebazade, the Sultan's young wife, save them and they escape from the palace. The guards following them and Glomgold go for his count. Meanwhile, the nephews and Webby, that witnessed the evil act of the Ginni, close it in the lamp and leave only the leave when he agrees to bring Scrooge to the future.
At this moment, Scrooge and Glomgold back to the present-day. Unfortunately, Glomgold find an explores and make over win the race. Obviously, Scrooge can make over come to Duckburg only to discovery that Glomgold win the race. Glomgold's first wish is send Scrooge to a desert island. Glomgold use involuntary his second wish to go to the desert island with Scrooge (he said "How I can wish see Scrooge's face when he comes there"!). At the island, Glomgold wish that the lamp never found on the first place. This do everything to back in time when the ducks opens the vault en-trace. The explosion made the lamp fall and despite the ducks can back to Duckburg a live, the lamp stays on the vault as never found.
Kadha Parayumbol... (2007)
10 of 10
Synopsis: The story is set in a small village Melukavu in Kerala. A barber Balan (Sreenivasan) is poor with his wife Sredevi (Meena) and three children. He is not able to cope with modernization with a new air condition beauty salon / parlour opened by Sarasan (Jagadish) set up opposite his shop. He does not get license or a loan for the salon. He is in debt and ridiculed by everyone in the village. Life is tough for him ? he does not have money to pay children's school fee, nor knows how he is going to have his next meal for his family. There enters a Malayalam superstar Ashok Raj (Mammotty), who is going to come to the village for a ten day shoot.
The whole village is excited in preparing their superstar's arrival. Slowly a word spreads that Balan and Ashok Raj are childhood friends. Balan, who was a laughing stock, becomes the center of attention. Everyone goes out of their way to help Balan in every way, so that they can get a favor when Ashok Raj arrives to the village. Balan is under pressure from everyone to part a favor of Ashok Raj. When Ashok Raj arrives, Balan tries his best to approach Ashok Raj ? but his honesty and status of barber, does not allow him to go pass through the police security. When the village people know that Balan is not able to help them for a favor, they start taking their support to Balan back, abusing him of cheating them. Balan depressed and sad is back to his old self.
Ashok Raj gives a ceremonial speech at a school function where he talks about today's life, modernization, the state of good people etc. opening eyes of everyone to the sad truth of peoples behavior. In the end, Ashok Raj goes to meet Balan at his house, and Balan becomes an overnight hero in the eyes of his village people.
Annan Thambi (2008)
Good entertainer
Cast:
Mammootty, Gopika, Lakshmi Rai, Siddique, Janardhanan, Hairsri Ashokan, Suraaj Venjaramoodu, Salim Kumar, Rajan.P.Dev, Cochin Haneefa, Kunjan, Manianpillai Raju, Bijukuttan, Kiran Raj, Anil Murali, Master Monu, Master Sonu, KPAC Lalitha, Urmila Unni, Remadevi, Shivanibhai, Kulapully Leela, etc.
Director: Anwar Rasheed
Producer: Shahul Hameed Marikkar ,Anto Joseph
Synopsis:
After the highly successful Raajamaanickam and then Chotta Mumbai (which too was a hit), director Anwar Rasheed gets ready with his third film, Annan Thambi. The film, scripted by popular scenarist Benny P. Nayarambalam, tells the story of two brothers Appu and Achchu, the sons of Ravunni, a ballet artist. While Appu is noisy and talkative, Achchu is forced to remain silent as he is born dumb. These differences between them has resulted in hostility brewing between them and hence their father has to separate them in earlier years itself, bringing them up in two different places.
Appu grows up in Pollachi, and is always ready to clench his fists and fight as and when required. He and his gang of friends are always in the middle of one boisterous activity or other. Achchu is with his father in Palakkad, as the main artist in his father's ballet troupe. He is a do-Good, always ready to help people out. The two brothers grow up as enemies, but their friends and all those around them want to see them united as loving brothers.