raulukmj Reviews

Pranchiyettan and the Saint (2010)

Laugh your way through this feel good movie

[10/10 · 16 September 2018]

I don't know the number of times I have watched this. The story is Ari-Pranchi aka Pranchiyettan who is trying hard to remove his knick name is then crux of the movie. What all he and his friends try to change this is presented in an extremely hilarious way. Innocent has a wonderful role as Mammootys sidekick. With thrissur slang and simplicity of the dialogues, this movie clearly entertains you.

Siddique plays Pranchis arch enemy. Priya Mani is the female lead. Both have good roles in the movie. Jagathi also has a super cameo. It's a laugh riot with a final feel good ending .

Munnariyippu (2014)

A good thriller

[8/10 · 16 September 2018]

This was a good Mammotty movie after long. With exceptional scripting and very toned down acting (ie sans hero touches), Mammotty shows why he is the master.

A journalist follows the life of an in mate Raghavan. Raghavan is in jail for murder, but it's hard to believe a person like him can do that. His ways and thoughts keeps him a class apart from regular criminals. He also enjoys good friendship with police officers. The story takes an interesting turn once he is released from jail.

Without touching on any spoilers, it's sheer pleasure to watch Mammotty sail through this role. Aparna Gopinath has a good role in the movie.

Kayyoppu (2007)

Simplicity turned into a memorable movie

[9/10 · 16 September 2018]

Few people are as skilled as Renjith. Kayyoppu is a true master piece from Renjith. A simple story made so fine and with so much depth, leaves you with a strong connect for Balanchandran (Mammooty).

The story is about Balachandran who is a writer working on a story. The few who have read his drafts excepts the book to become a runaway success. He is having trouble finishing his book when he runs into Mukesh who is running a small time publishing house. Khushboo plays Balanchandrans friend from college who is still in awe of him. Their conversations are really good to listen. In fact the whole language and style of conversation in the movie is what takes the movie to a different level.

Balanchandrans non interest for worldly pleasures or money, wanting to help people in need, etc gives him a classical hero touch. But his struggles as a writer clearly stands out.

With strong acting all around, this movie can be watched over n over again. Film making at its best.

Maradona (2018)

Another Mayanadhi style movie

[7/10 · 13 September 2018]

Maradona is about Tovino who is a gangster on the run for a quotation that went wrong. He and his partner (Tito Wilson) are forced to part ways while on the run. Tovino ends up in Bangalore where he is staying with a distant relative of his. The story shows his background, what got him here and how he breaks out of this.

Chemban Vinod plays a solid role of Martin who is chasing Tovino. Sharanya Nair plays a chirpy girl who Tovino falls for. She shows lot of promise in her role.

What works for the movie is how it is shot and the colourful frames. The movie is never dull. Tovino has acted well and one scene worth remembering is the one where he is making a small kid cry. He has acted well both as a brutal goonda and as a guy changing. Chemban too stood out for me as a reformer gangster but doing this one last job. His frustrations while trying to follow Tovino is shown beautifully.

Watch the movie if you like dramas of this genre. It's surely not a fresh concept but the making is refreshing.

Theevandi (2018)

Theevandi doesn't quite reach its destination

[7/10 · 13 September 2018]

A movie about a smoker trying to break out of his habit as he stands to lose everything he loves. That's the premise of this movie.

Tovino plays the title role. A non stop smoker who whiles away time with his friends is faced with the task of quitting smoking to save the love of his life. The setting is a typical village with some local politics as well as typical characters. Suraj plays Madhuettan who is Devi's (Tovino's love interest) father. He has a good role in the movie which he does well. Samyukta Menon as Devi also does well. While the story starts of well, the ending is abrupt and leaves with lot of questions.

There is some comedy but It's not a laugh riot. Safar is a character who is fun and so is Shwanan. Libash and Suseej are the other main side kicks.

This movie has couple of kissing scenes which is very heartening to see. Mollywood is moving in the right direction.

Narasimham (2000)

High on action and dialogues

[8/10 · 8 September 2018]

Induchoodan is memorable character who introduced "Po mone dinesha" to malayalis. Playing the central character Mohanlal does another mass role fighting for his father against Manapali family headed by NF Varghese. This was a time when Mohan Lal was on a roll with such mass characters and movies used to run for 300+ days in theatre. Kanaka and Aishwarya are the female leads.

An electric high voltage festival of dialogues and action. Always gets your spirits high as you watch this!

Devasuram (1993)

Unforgettable Thriller

[10/10 · 7 September 2018]

The movie is about enmity between Mangalassery Neelakanthan and Mundackal Shekharan. Mohanlal plays the character of Mangalassery Neelakanthan who is a rich brash guy who has no respect for rules or law. He and his good for nothing friends spend their time drinking and fighting. But certain incidents force Neelakanthan to revisit his ways and become a good person. Revathy plays a powerful role in the movie.

The movie shows the versatility of the actor Mohan Lal as a brutal feudal lord initially and then later becoming more human. With some wonderful songs and memorable dialogues, this is an all time best in Malayalam cinema.

Nadodikkattu (1987)

Dasan & Vijayan. Period

[10/10 · 6 September 2018]

Who can forget the famous duo Dasan & Vijayan. Never has a movie launched 2 iconic characters whose relevance continues 2 decades into movie release. Neither can we forget the professional killer Pavanayi or Gafoor ka dost. There are classic movies, epic movies and then Nadodikkattu.

A simple story about 2 guys trying to make a living leading upto them becoming detectives is the theme of the movie. Mohanlal & Sreenivasan play the Dasan & Vijayan duo. They try a variety of business/jobs only to fail each & every time. They then escape to Chennai thinking they are going to Dubai. There begins their adventure with drug cartels, professional killers and police.

Mammukkoya and Captain Raju essay the unforgettable Gafoor and Pavanayi characters. These characters too continue to live in everyday lives of Malayalis. The movie takes a humorous approach to everything - education, drug cartels, malayalis going to dubai, etc.

The number of times one can watch this movie is countless. It is simply a laugh riot right from the beginning to the end. If there is a must watch comedy movie for Malayalis, it is this one!

Drishyam (2013)

A masterpiece

[10/10 · 6 September 2018]

Drishyam from Jeethu Joseph came out with average expectations, but the movie delivered something beyond what everyone expected. Anchored by Mohanlal as Georgekutty the story is about a father fighting for his family for a situation gone wrong.

The beauty of this movie lies in the details and thinking done behind each & every scene. I would compare the thinking to a series like "Death Note" where both logic is given prime importance. Mohanlal essays his role brilliantly. Asha Sharat and Shajon have given amazing performances. The 2 children have also played their part very well. Weaving all the intricacies of the story into a simple village requires true mastery over script and that is on display here.

The climax is one of the best in Malayalam. Special kudos to that.

Toilet: A Love Story (2017)

Great intentions down the plug hole

[4/10 · 6 September 2018]

It was a movie with great intentions. All in line with the govt agenda of sanitation. I went to the movie hall expecting to see and know, not just how bad it could be for those without basic facilities, but also how a commoner tries and eventually succeeds to convince his family, neighbours and society about its sheer importance. What I went home with was.... a pandering to the govt agencies being all for it (an exhausted sigh here ... too much govt love here) and people ruining it all for the country The premise was set well. A toilet-user marries a non-toilet owner. Husband wants to make it right, people are tough to fight which eventually he does. The first half was super story line, fast paced, engaging. Sadly, just as the politics around it all began taking centre stage, the narration slowed and became something completely different. It seemed an episode of satyamev jayte being shown in a theatre. The first half was about toilets. The second half clearly about bureaucracy and babudom. I wish we someday got a Bollywood social movie that doesn't have the quintessential long , mind-altering , one eye tearing speeches which poke the viewer too much to feel what they want us to.

Kali (II) (2016)

Decent watch

[7/10 · 6 September 2018]

Kali was again a high hope release coming from DQ and Samir Thahir. Kali is a movie about an incident in the life of a short tempered young guy who gets into trouble due to his anger issues.

DQ plays the lead role and Sai Pallavi is his wife. Due to an outburst by DQ, Sai Pallavi leaves home and the story is what happens after that. Soubin, Vinayakan and Chemban are the other stars in the movie. Vinayakan and Chemban have decent roles and have excelled. Chemban as a truck driver is intimidating.

Another impressive factor about the movie is the background music. It's a big factor in creating the mood for the film. The lead actors have done justice to their roles. I found it entertaining overall, but lacking nuances in the story.

Oru Pazhaya Bomb Kadha (2018)

Hareesh at his best

[8/10 · 6 September 2018]

The name of the movie plus the star cast made it sound like a half baked movie. But coming from Shafi and having Hareesh Kanaran made me go to theatre.

A simple story of a differently abled guy and his side kick is the theme. The hero(Bibin George) works as a mechanic and has a disease ridden father and sister to take care. Hareesh is his best friend who likes to drink a 90ml shot everyday. Like in many Malayalam movies, the hero falls in love with a girl. The story then revolves around how he breaks ice with girl while facing his other problems.

Shajon plays the role of a brutal police officer and does it well. Bibin George has done a decent job as a hero, but the movie clearly shows his drawbacks. Hareesh makes the movie watchable with his wonderfully timed comedy. He has a long role in this one and clearly does well. Prayaga Martins role is rather small and insignificant. Indrans as father of hero plays a nice cameo. Vishnu Unnikrishnan also has a small role to play.

A good watch and a sleeper hit.

I (2015)

Good actors, but flawed story line

[7/10 · 6 September 2018]

Vikram movies come with a lot of expectation. Watching this day 1 theatres I was hoping for a superb thriller. For all the good work done by Vikram in acting, the script left me hoping for a lot more.

The story of a local body builder turning to a super model and eventually being victim of jealousy. This leads to him losing out on his career and then it's his turn to take revenge. That's the crux of the story.

Vikram has delivered lot of effort and looks amazing. Amy Jackson looks killer. The sets and sequences have been shot amazing well and has richness all across. As a movie coming from a Shankar the glamour part was intact, but the story line could have definitely better. Second half felt very predictable and dull.

Lucia (I) (2013)

Couldn't have blown away my mind in a better way

[9/10 · 6 September 2018]

Well Lucia was the first Kannada movie I watched after hearing lot of rave reviews. Incidentally it is a crowd sourced movie.

The concept used in the movie is of lucid dreaming. The story line is a complex one where they 2 stories of the same character at the same time - one in color and other black n white. What sets this movie unique is how it was shot. Brilliant set of scenes. As the story unravels and hits you, one feels a wow factor. That's what kept me hooked to this movie.

The actors in the movie have done a great job - despite being fringe actors. Kudos to the director for the concept and thinking.

Athadu (2005)

Mahesh Babu in style

[10/10 · 6 September 2018]

This is a an early hit of mahesh babu in a plot that is original. Not getting into plot details, the story follows mahesh into a setting where he takes another persons identity to escape from a situation but in the process gets involved in local problems. Prakash raj and Trisha play great supporting roles. Good songs and comedy adds to the story.

This movie and Pokkiri sort of setup mahesh babu as a superstar in Telugu industry.

Kuttanpillayude Sivarathri (2018)

A very different movie experience

[8/10 · 25 May 2018]

Now when the initial posters and trailers came out for this movie I was expecting another mindless comedy movie. But finally after reading initial reviews I was really excited to watch this.

A differently themed movie in an otherwise mass/popular movie market. It talks about the life of Kuttanpilla - a typical policeman who is leading a simple life with his wife. It is sivarathri (Hindu festival) time and his children and other relatives are coming down to celebrate. A series of events which follows is the story.

While this is the main story there is a nice side story as well. The narration of the story is interesting. The intertwined stories have come out well and keeps the attention of the audience.

Its got classical elements of a typical kerala family - usual drama + some mild comedy. Kudos to Suraj for playing the title role. His evolution as an actor is simply commendable. The supporting actors are good too - Srinda, Biju Sopanam, Suraj's wife.

Do watch this one for a an offbeat movie experience.