Guruji Oru Vaakk

Jobless youth were some of the frequent protagonists in 80s Malayalam cinema. Probably because the directors and writers of most of these movies rose from that cadre, before they found their life's calling/work. Guruji Oru Vakku, written by Venu Nagavalli trains the lens on three jobless young men (played by Ratheesh, Nedumudi Venu, Mohanlal) doing some petty thefts and getting by. Before long Nedumudi Venu will be playing Mohanlal's Dad or Thampuraan (small time king/chieftain?) But as of this movie, Nedumudi's generational promotion is still a few years in the future.

The three youngmen are progressing merrily on their aimless adventures when they run into a mentor - Madhu in a guest role. He gives all of them some money to reinvent themselves and fixes a time exactly a year later for a status update.

After that it is all melodrama, lesser said the better. Venu Nagavalli being the writer we can expect at least one death in the family before the movie ends. The writer does not disappoint.

Seema, Manochitra and Sukumari form the female supporting cast in the movie. The famous Fort Kochi locale which we have seen in so many new-gen Malayalam movies first make the appearance as Seema and Sukumari's residence in this movie.

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A review of Prithviraj's and Mohanlal's Lucifer

What is in a name? Mohanlal by any other name would be just as magnificent, then let's call him Lucifer. Lucifer is a sophisticated sobriquet with devilish undertones and would appeal to the masses for its coolness quotient. The man has carried off exemplary titles like Ravanaprabhu, Narasimham, Pulimurugan, Madampi, Paradesi, Nattu Rajavu, Neerali, Peruchazhi, Bhagavan, Villain, Udayon and Odiyan with great success.

It is perfectly alright if we have to introduce an unnecessary character to tie the name Lucifer to the movie's leading man and the story. Indrajith does an excellent job as slightly off-the-rocker journalist though. Collateral damages to the script and credibility are totally irrelevant when you are making super hero movies. I've given up on Murali Gopi scripts after Tiyaan.

Prithviraj, the new director on the block is a man synonymous with style. He has injected himself into the plot as the dashing international assassin with the killer looks of Backstreet Boys, Sayed Masood. He kills it with style and a couple of sentences in Hindi. The story line could have done without this lady-killer, but this is Prithviraj's directorial venture, who would say no if he desires to play a two-bit part? I would not, not to such eye-candy.

All said and done Prithviraj respectfully relinquishes the screen-space to the greatness that is Mohanlal. But not without inducting few other style icons into the boys club - Tovino Thomas as the heir apparent and a suave and smooth villain - Vivek Oberoi. It is a hunk-fest, if you can ignore Mohanlal. Manju Warrier is an important piece in this political drama but as a woman, she is cast in the damsel in distress mold, just like other underlings - their sole purpose is to put themselves in dire situations and patiently wait for Lucifer to rescue them.

As Malayalam cinema's one and only white man savior (post 2000s) Mohanlal aka Lucifer arrives without fail to rescue his helpless sheeple. He is the hero Kerala deserves, but not the one it needs it right now - try telling that to Malayali movie-goers. The flick of the mundu, the underside of his footwear, the jeep, his 360 degree vision, scowling jowls - are all used in the right measure to establish Lucifer's super-hero status. CGI crowds roar as he performs feats of exceptionalism with or without firearms or plucks a dialog out of thin air and delivers centuries old political wisdom to a bewildered opposition.

This is a Prithviraj's play-it-safe movie, I hope it is because it is his first film as a director. He uses all the elements that will keep the box office ringing, including the choice of Mohanlal for the hero. The established brand-recognition of Mohanlal and the assurance of success it gives, is hard to ignore for a newbie director with deep-pocketed producers to back him up.

The way I see it, it is a world-wide trend. As nations get swept up in the conservative wave where power is concentrated in a few people or the top 1%, every movie features exceptional lead characters with super human abilities, touted as the only ones who have the power to change the world. Mohanlal movies of late are all of this genre, only thing that he is missing from his Hollywood counterparts is a latex suit. These movies reinforce in the mind of their audience that community action or collective effort cannot bring about advancement, it can only happen if you have powerful, exceptionally talented individuals on your side. They could be called Satan or Dark Knight, but long as you are in their good books, you are safe.

On another note, I really wish Mohanlal had gone on vanaprastham after his 1999 movie Vanaprastham. IMHO, it is his last good movie. Twenty years of great movies from a great actor, then twenty plus years of mediocre to bad movies from an actor sliding down the acting scale.

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Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbole

Munthirivallikal Thalirkkumbole is a watchable movie starring Kerala's own, 'complete actor' - Mohanlal. For the discerning Malayali film viewer, post 1990s , watchable is a loaded term when it appears in the same sentence as Mohanlal. It is an anomaly, a singularity eliciting an anemic ray of hope that there is still room for improvement for Mohanlal, which he and his fans might not agree.



If Munthirivallikal is watchable despite Mohanlal or because of Mohanlal, depending on which camp you are in, a lot of that credit goes to its script writer M.Sindhuraj and director Jibu Jacob and in part to Anoop Menon. Never been a big Anoop Menon fan, but I loved the way he played the character of a ladies' man in the age of social media and cell phones - Venukuttan.


For me the problem with  Mohanlal movies - the ones after the 90s, is that the entire cast, script writers and directors genuflect before the presence of Mohanlal that they forget why they are there in the first place. It's not Mohanlal's fault that peoples jaws hit the ground in his god like presence. This movie is not free of such fawning over but there is an element of comedy and touches of reality which keep us entertained and hooked.

Mid-life crisis, life's regular crises and cries form the story line of this movie. It addresses the mid-way monotony and boredom of long term relationships.*SPOILER ALERT* In the movie, Mohanlal being the super human he is, succeeds in rekindling life into his vapid marriage with a little help from a red sari. While he is at it he also pulls of a rescue effort, extricating our next generation from teenage love, deemed sub-par compared to the love one might experience with one's life partner chosen through an arranged marriage.


...and thus the movie - Munthirivalllikal Thalirkkumbole (When Grapevines Bloom) ends with Mohnalal quoting Song of Solomon 7:12, a tribute to Padmarajan's masterpiece, Namukku Paarkkaan Munthirithoppukal (Vineyards for us to dwell in) which might have inspired its title and the choice of its main actor.

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Devasuram

As I grow older, I have a newfound respect for I.V.Sasi – a prolific Malayalam movie director. I had dismissed his movies as having too much ‘masala’ (spice), or from a western context, my take was his creations were mostly pulp fiction movies. However, Malayali audience had none of my misgivings and had made many of I.V.Sasi films super hits over the years.

I watched Devasuram recently, an I.V.Sasi movie from 1993 starring Mohanlal and Revathi. Written by Ranjith and based on a real life person (Mullasserry Rajagopal), the protagonist of the movie Mangalassery Neelakantan (played by Mohanlal) has a permanent place in the pantheon of iconic Malayalm movie characters.

This hugely successful film has a melodramatic story tied down in place by its strong willed lead characters – Mohanlal as the feudal scion Neelakantan, Revathy as the danseuse Bhanumathi and Napoleon as the villain Mundakkal Shekharan. The restraint in the script and direction in filming a story that had plenty of opportunities to go overboard is appreciated by my older wiser eyes.

Devasuram created a new re-usable role for Mohanlal, that of an authoritative feudal/local boss-man who leaps down from a jeep in signature sandals and flicks his mundu up with one feet and saves the day knocking the living daylights out of the bad dudes. He reprised this role in his later movies like Aaram Thampuran, Ravanaprabhu (sequel of Devasuram), Narasimham and Naran. From the witty, unemployed, happy go lucky young man or the flamboyant don characters he played in his twenties Devasuram graduated him in to the hard-ass protector and leader roles of his thirties, which he continues playing even now, well past the expiry date.

Interesting things I learnt after Devasuram:

Varikkassery Mana, Ottappalam: Shown as Mangalassery tharavadu in Devasuram became a favorite location for Malayalam movie’s after Devasuram was filmed there

Napolean aka Kumaresan Duraiswamy: The villain is this movie is a multi-faceted personality. He is an actor, an MLA, MP, a minister in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet, an IT company founder and CEO.

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Snehaveedu

I recently saw a clip of Prithviraj’s interview where he said Malayalam’s superstar’s Mohanlal and Mammootty should choose to act in roles that reflect their age. Unlike the majority of Malayali audience and Youtube commenters of that clip I agree one hundred percent with Prithviraj. It surely might have had M&M supporters crying for Prithviraj’s blood but it is a brave statement to make in these perilous age of AMMA, Achchan and other similar career wrecking controversies.

Snehaveedu is kind of like Mohanlal’s answer to Prithviraj.(On a side note I consider Pranchiyettan and the Saint as a movie Mammootty played his age and is one of the best characters he ever emoted on screen.) The veteran actor plays almost his age as an evergreen Gulf returnee bachelor turned entrepreneur agriculturist , Ajayan in a Palakkad village. Simple life, ordinary travails, story-book village/town, neighborly neighbors, good hearted protagonists – all classic features of a Sathyan Anthikkad movie appear without fail in Snehaveedu too.

Sheela’s Ammukutty Amma looks and sounds just like her character, Kochu Thresia from her comeback movie Manasinakkare – another Sathyan Anthikkad vehicle. In fact the core of both the movies is very much the same – a mother son relationship or a relationship along those lines. The picturesque village and affable villagers repeat themselves in both movies, only the element that introduces tension differs slightly in each.

Mohanlal does exhibit caution without going overboard as the village’s favorite bachelor. There are sub stories with Lena, Biju Menon, Innocent, KPAC Lalitha and with Padma Priya who could be nurtured as a love interest at a future date. I am glad the director didn’t let the story develop too much along that path. Debutante Rahul Pillai plays his role well, considering he is acting alongside a stalwart like Mohanlal, the teenager exudes the right amount of vulnerability and rebellion.

Snehaveedu should be a win for Sathyan Anthikkad-Mohanlal team provided the crowds do not get cross at Anthikkad for not letting our 50+ year old super star frolic around the fields with his murapennu half his age.

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Pranayam

Blessy won’t be making 3D any time soon. Like we care, right? Blessy’s style of moving making is one dimensional, his stories absolutely require characters not to have any depth. But then again I can’t go on my spiteful tirade against Blessy  because he at least makes movies, I am just an armchair critic.

From my armchair, actually a couch, Pranayam is one of the better Blessy movies, the credit should go to Mohanlal and Anupam Kher. Two phenomenal actors doing a remarkable job within the set one dimensional framework. Jayaprada has done okay, then again poignant female roles in Malayalam only require expertise in various degrees and categories of crying – sobbing, weeping, sniveling, moaning, bawling, whimpering, screaming, blubbing, wailing – are like the navarasas of acting skills necessary in a Malayalam actress’s repertoire. It also helps if you are a classical dancer or a Kalathilakam. 

I was wondering whether we didn’t have any homegrown actresses who could’ve replaced Jayaprada in this role. Late Srividya and Jayabharathi come to mind. They obviously didn’t make it into Blessy’s mind while he was  doing the casting.

Although shot in color, characerization is typical Blessy – black and white with no greys. In the white corner we have the three main characters – Anupam Kher, Jayaprada and Mohanlal along with Anoop Menon as Anupam Kher’s son and there is the girl who plays Anoop Menon’s daughter. Every other significant character is in the black corner, all of them qualify as outright demons with little or no understanding of human condition besides theirs. 

While the movie tugs at the heartstrings occasionally, all that tugging was precipitated by the cinematic liberty taken by Blessy by creating the characters in black corner who are devoid of any greys. My favorite hippie era poet singer, the sounds of Leonard Cohen haunts this movie, so does Blessy’s personal philosophical injections via Mohanlal’s dialogs. Digital butterflies and birds show up at strategic scenes a la M.Mukandan Velliankalu and dragon flies (ref: The Legend of Khasak.)

Inspite of all this I am immensely glad Blessy is making progress – Kaazcha and Tanmatra were tortures, Calcutta News was forgettable, Palunku was actually watcheable, Bhramaram was okay if you take it as a pyscho-social thriller and now we have Pranayam which compared to his first two movies could be deemed a classic. Worth watching, while you are at it try those 3D glasses to get some depth.

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Christian Brothers

In tough economic times a paisa vasool movie is a blessing for the audience. Paisa vasool is desi way of saying, ‘to get bang for your buck’. Movies that fall into this category give you a chance to see all the major heroes in one place and will be also be a veritable avial showcasing comedy, tragedy, songs, romance, hot babes, cool cars, reunions, breakups, action, reaction and whatever else you could ask for in a 2.5-3 hour package. You purchase a ticket to watch a movie and come out feeling like you’ve watched 5 movies for the price of one. The producer is pleased and the audience satiated and Christian Brothers avial clinches number #1 spot at the box office.

Mohanlal (who else can play a Mumbai underworld don in Malayalam cinema) is the foundation of this movie’s brotherhood. Mohanlal has the copyright of don roles from the early nineties ever since he became the good boy turned goonda in Kireedom and moved to Mumbai in Adhipan and came back to Kerala in His Highness Abdullah. Too bad that Mammootty missed that boat. 

Dileep is the other brother and he fields all the comedy balls and Suresh Gopi is the brother(-in-law) who like Mohanlal has a copyright on a certain type of hero -  the police officer who swallowed an English dictionary. (Isn’t it time we awarded a honorary IPS to Suresh Gopi like Lt.Col title conferred to Mohanlal by the Indian Army (122nd Infantry Battalion)?) Sharat Kumar, the manliest of actors from Tamil in the 50-60 age group is imported to be Mohanlal's buddy.An interesting face that flickered by was Vivekandan, the actor who played the teen lead in 1990 movie - Kshanakkathu, as one of Mohanlal's sidekicks.

Saikumar is the father who created these brothers and the entire Christian brotherhood is often challenged by another set of brothers from a different mother, this one led by Biju Menon and fathered by Vijayaraghavan. Mother figures are non existent, no wonder the boys are running wild. Female actors are all damsels in distress waiting to be rescued by the appropriate Christian brother. In fact cars and guns play more important roles than ladies in this movie. This is our very own Guns, Gems(of actors) and Steel, for your daily dose of the aforementioned three items watch this movie in installments.

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Gandhinagar 2nd Street

Old people are notorious for perpetuating a dreamy dewy eyed view of the past – a bygone better age. A golden era when teens listened to mellow music and respected their elders, milk came in glass bottles, mail was delivered by mail man instead of Google and NASA was still capable of putting a man on the moon. Yeah, the good old days!

For Malayalam cinema, old is gold is a truthiness a Malayali cannot deny. Things were really better for Malayalam movie industry back then and don't doubt for a moment that it is my age doing the talking. For if you ask me the same question about Hindi movies I’d say Bollywood never was half as good as it is now, their eighties were trash or travails. 

If one decade has to be chosen to represent the entire Malayalam movie industry, it has to be the period from 1985 to 1995. Or maybe we can restrict it to include, just the late eighties (85 - 90). And if there is one combo you are going to order again and again from that time period – it has to be – Sreenivasan(script writer + actor), Sathyan Anthikkad(director), Mohanlal(actor) combo.  Gandhinagar 2^nd Street is one of the best productions from this team of three at their prime.

Mohanlal living a double life to make ends meet plays one of the most unforgettable roles in Malayalam cinema as Gurkha  Bheem Singh ka beta Ram Singh (..hoom hain hoom..) at a housing colony, Gandhi Nagar in Anywhere-City, Kerala circa 1980s. Like all Sreenivasan scripts of those days, Gandhi Nagar 2^nd street is a brilliant social commentary of the times. Each character however small or big, is a well thought-out, developed and executed. Its simple but succinctly humorous dialogs have stayed on in Malayalis’ shared memories ever since. 

The movie is so powerful (without flexing any visible muscles) that sometimes I wish there was a housing colony called Gandhinagar Second Street, for real. I wish, if we walk down that street we will accidently run into Ram Singh or Nirmala Teacher(Seema) or Maya(Karthika.) We can chat up how they are doing after all these years, who got married to whom and who moved away to where.

If wishes were horses there’d be a sequel, but the first major obstacle would be the man who was the life breath of Gandinagar, Ram Singh aka Mohanlal, the actor. Today’s Mohanlal would be a Godzilla to Gandhinagar’s little Tokyo – uncontainable, alien and ultimately a nightmare.  The second problem will be Harihar Nagar, the other famous housing colony from the world of Malayalam movies which has spawned a few sequels. If Harihar Nagar sequels are any indication to what lies in store for Gandhi nagar(I cannot imagine it being any different), then one Gandhinagar 2^nd Street is enough – let it remain a beautiful memory in our collective consciousness.

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Oru Naal Varum

It felt too good to be true, as if the unbelievable chemistry of Mohanlal and Sreenivasan that once lighted up the screen twenty plus years ago had finally succeeded in making a comeback. Not like the botched up attempt in Udayanaanu Tharam, this was almost like the real second coming.  Then the tape got stuck. Ouch!

In Oru Naal Varum, for a brief span of time, poetically akin to a single wing flap of a humming bird we could catch a glimpse of that old Mohanlal, before the weight of superstardom and wig was added to his persona. Mohanlal – Malayalam’s original bumbling, likeable, mischievous dude-next door. His old pal Sreenivasan was there to keep him company, in another of his self-deprecating, slightly dark roles. Then the story took a turn for the worse and the Superstar emerged. 

After that, the fall was quick, the illusion of a second coming of the legendary pair shattered mercilessly by a weakening plot and a superstar gaining power by the minute. Have you ever felt like rooting for the enemy, wishing corruption had gotten the upper hand and signing a pact with the Devil ? I get that feeling once in a while, especially when watching self-righteous characters, which Mohanlal seems to do in abundance lately, including the one in this movie as vigilance officer Nandakumar.

Devayani and Sameera Reddy are odd choices for the film’s two female roles. It was good to see Devayani after a long while, though who ever did the dubbing made it sound as if I had heard this female a zillion times in a zillion Malayalam movies. Why, Sameera Reddy, I have no clue, we will have to ask Maniyan Pillai Raju, the producer. The kids in this move are normal, it was refreshing to see a change after the hyper-active 'smart' kids infesting present day Malluwood. 

The lesson learned again today, if it is too good to be true, it is not true.

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Alexander the Great

Alexander, the original Greek version must have belonged to the prestigious royal lineage of Mediterranean Varmas because his Malayali namesake definitely does. Varma, a surname attributed to the ruling Kshatriya clan(back in the days when royals were still in fashion) in Cochin and Travancore is  a favorite class of Malayalam film makers. Anyone with the name Varma is attributed the extremes of everything - money, power, greed, beauty, intelligence, good nature, evil. You say it Varmas have it.

Alexander Varma is the out-of-wedlock son of a major Varma in a major Varma family, who is now spreading their wealth all over Middle East, as if the sheikhs haven't gotten it right. Mohanlal, not to be left behind Shah Rukh Khan(My Name is Khan), Hrithik Roshan(Koi Mil Gaya), Anil Kapoor(Yuvvraj) and Dustin Hoffman(Rainman, which is supposedly the inspiration for this movie, looks like even inspiration is affected by recession, nothing much can be seen) takes on the role of an autistic genius. His acting reminds me of early 80s kids' dubbing in Malayalam movies where you know the words spoken by the kid on screen is actually mouthed by someone middle-aged who think they are doing a pretty good job of impersonating a child's voice, when in reality they sucked, big time. If only they had let the kids use their original voices.

There is Sudha Chandran, surprised to see her here, did Ekta Kapoor let her go? Then there is Bala, Jagadeesh, Nedumudi Venu providing the necessary moral support for the autistic genius and also a host of others like Siddique, Ganesan etc who are waiting for the genius to bite the dust, as if that'll ever happen. But I've to appreciate the film-maker for showing restraint in one thing - not conjuring up a nubile 19 year old heroine for our wig-clad hero. Bravo! Keep it up.

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Mr.Brahmachari

It is 2003 and Mohanlal is middle aged and is a Brahmachari. You wish! Well, this is about Thulasidas movie Mr.Brahmachari, where Mohanlal plays the Hanuman worshipping main character in an effort to make a come-back with more down to earth roles. Ananthan Thampi alias Mr.Brahmachari does get the short end of the stick many a time, but it is hard to exorcise the ghost of a super star completely and therefore Lal doesn't make a full touch-down as an ordinary man. Yet movie does have some funny moments at the expense of Mohanlal. Nedumudi Venu, Kaviyoor Ponnamma(if there is a mother role required in a Mohanlal film, only Kaviyoor Ponnamma has the physical stature to be Lal's mom and is chosen by default), K.R.Vijaya, Meena, Jagathi, Jagdish, Prem Kumar and Vijaya Kumar make up the supporting cast.

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Twenty Twenty

This movie is a buffet lunch for Malayali - all the various dishes for the price of one dinner. Although how much of a dish each Malluwood actor is, is a question of debate. You get to see M & Ms , Dileep, Suresh Gopi, Mukesh - all in one movie. Of course there are female actors included for the sake of inclusion - like Bhavana, Kavya Madhavan, Gopika and a bone in the form of an item number thrown to the Generation Y of Malayalam cinema viz Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Kunchako Bobban and Nayantara. There, that took care of them, most of the movie belong to the mighty M & Ms - Mohanlal and Mammootty, the Generation A or B or something which has not exited Malayalam cinema even when they have completed half a century on the screen of life.

A mega hit in Kerala, all the actors play the part they are now assigned to in Malayalam cinema, not the one assigned to by the script, not that the script was very different. It was written with the signature elements of each actor and their place in Malayalam filmdom. In that way you can say the actors were not really acting, just living their real life roles in film industry.

20-20 was produced as fund raiser for AMMA by Dileep and directed by Joshi.Mohanlal is Devaraja Pratapa Varma, a character he should by now play in his sleep after doing a slew of such roles in the nineties and noughties. Mammootty is the astute lawyer with a conscience and a sister, Bhavana. Siddique and Sai Kumar are their devious villian selves, again playable in their sleep. There is the usual coterie of comedy characters composing of Kalpana, Salim Kumar, Innocent etc.Suresh Gopi gets to do his cop act, peppered with his usual cache of English swear words. Dileep's natural comic sense is the only thing I could tolerate in the movie.Again, if the box office is any indication the average Malayali movie-goer is at the other end of the spectrum compared to me.

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Sagar Alias Jackie

Eighties was the golden era of Malayalam cinema for me. It was a time when I was old enough to watch movies and coincidentally it was also the time they produced good movies in Malayalam. After being through the nineties and noughties I can vouch for that. Many movies that came out during the time was subjected to mutilation by sequels later on because the first one was so successful. This is a point of note when you consider that unlike in Hollywood making sequels is not an oft-engaged past time in regional Indian movies.

Sagar alias Jacky, one of Malayalam super star Mohanlal's latest outings owes its existence to an eighties Malayalam movie, Irupathaam Noottandu. Sagar alias Jacky was the name of Mohanlal's higly successful role in that movie and now we have a movie cashing on that character.

It is another of Mohanlal's "boot-series" of movies. This is my personal classification for Mohanlal movies in which the superstar's boots (usually heavy workman type) boots make an appearance before the hero himself appears on screen. But this is is one of the better ones. It is a slickly made film, comparable to new Hindi movies in its technical brilliance - fast editing, cutting edge cinematography, costume and art direction sets it apart from the run-of-the-mill boot series crap.Story, no surprises there, it is the usual gangsta image Mohanlal portrays these days with painless ease.

Shobana, Nedumudi Venu, Manoj K.Jayan and a host of other actors play important roles in this Amal Neerad film. If this film stands out in the crowd, the credit goes to the director, Mr.Neerad.

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Innathe Chinthavishayam

'Thought of the Day' - English translation of the movie title inspires just one thought, Mohanlal and now Sathyan Anthikad as well should stop acting and making movies respectively. The duo has run out of magic of the movies like Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam, T.P.Balagopalan M.A, Nadodikkattu and Pattana Pravesham.

We have reached a stage where even veteran film-makers like Anthikkad cannot take the super-hero out of Mohanlal. Under the guise of a small-time small business owner(a garment exporter) is the good samaritan super-hero Mohanlal - who has all the time, resources, assistants, lecture-power and endless good will in the world to bring peace between three sets of warring couples. Predictable, old over-used story, dialogs and actors inhabit Innathe Chinthavishayam. If you are brave enough to waste your time in the company of 'post-2000s' Mohanlal, then this movie is all yours.

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Akashagopuram

We often talk about putting together a gag gift-bag for one of our friends, the practical joker extraordinaires that we are ;-) So far, we have found two items. The criterion to be included in the gift bag is, 1)the item should look sophisticated and cool from the outside 2)once consumed it should make the 'consumer' gag but the consumer will have to consume it anyway for the fear of looking uncool.

The two items we have found worthy of inclusion are - a type of Chinese wafers, that looks like sweet innocent childhood sugar dream personified but tastes like dead decayed fish and Limburger cheese. (Trivia: In 2006 a study showing that the malaria mosquito (Anopheles gambiae) is attracted equally to the smell of Limburger cheese and to the smell of human feet[2]. This discovery earned Nobel Prize in Biology.)

Last week we found item #3 to be included in the gag bag - a DVD of Akashagopuram. Based on Ibsen's 'Master Builder', Akashagopuram has Mohanlal as a successful architect practicing in England. It is supposed to be a movie for the intellectuals, which rules out the possibility that I would be able to derive any enjoyment from it.

There are many directors who are not willing to adapt to the changes brought forth by the passage of time. K.P.Kumaran, the maker of this movie seems to be one such person. I mean, who wears Prada and Gucci and still talks in the flowery prose employed by 18th century playwrights? Mohanlal acts every bit like the super star he is, floating above the ordinary masses. The casting is fine, but the script is way out of touch with reality. Had it been a period piece, the ornate dialog would have been justifiable, but this is set in present day England with a set of characters who fit the landscape perfectly except when they open their mouths.

I don't know whether producers don't read the script before investing money in a film. Maybe just the mention of Mohanlal's name made them gladly empty their coffers to produce this waste of a movie.

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Kattathe Kilikoodu

In eighties, Malayalam movie magazine, Nana used to serialize scripts of movies for their readers. Kattathe Kilikoodu was one among them.

In those days, under the strict pseudo-Communist regime of my father, who had modeled it after Chinese Communists during the Cultural Revolution we as a family abstained from going to theaters to watch movies. Even the ownership of a tape-recorder was considered blasphemous. But we did watch movies, thanks to numerous film societies spawned by VSSC. The movies showed by these film societies fell into two main categories. One set which we call independent movies these days and another comprising of mainstream movies which had aged a minimum of 2-3 years after their commercial release. So to catch a piping hot Kattathe Kilikoodu in theaters soon after its release was near impossible. I opted for the next best thing - read its script in Nana.

What interested the eight year old film aficionado in me was the presence of children - the movie had four children. It centered around a family of an English professor(Gopi), his wife(Sreevidya) and their four children and a gu(e)st of wind that blows in to their family as a young female collegian(Revathy.)

Kattathe Kilikoodu is Revathy's first Malayalam film. It is hard to believe this movie, directed by Bharathan was a commercially successful movie in the eighties. It is a film of great quality, We don't make movies like this in Malayalam anymore. The casting is superb and all the actors had delivered unbelievably impressive performances.

Sreevidya's acting brings me down on bended knees. I cannot imagine that in real life, Sreevidya had a very short marital life than ended in divorce and no kids. She presents herself as the embodiment of a perfect mother, wife and home-maker. Gopi, Mohanlal, Revathy and KPAC Lalitha - all has left their indelible marks of acting on this film. Another incredible movie from Malayalam cinema's golden era.

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Photographer

It is hard to make a realistic film with Mohanlal these days. His superstardom is the stumbling block, especially when it is the younger film-makers who is directing him. That is what happened to Ranjan Pramod. He is not a Shaji N.Karun to make a Vanaprastham. I am not comparing the talents of two directors, but the age and the experience which prevents Shaji N.Karun go weak-kneed infront of the star power of Mohanlal is absent in the younger, first time director. Under such conditions, what results is a fiasco like Photographer.

Mohanlal is a freelance photographer, Dijo John, whose photos have made it to the pages of big name magazines like National Geographic. He married a Brahmin girl against his family's wishes and has a son. Like many of the recent movies which has cashed in on the plight of Adivasis, this movie makes use of the infamous Muthanga Incident of Feb 2003, where Kerala police and the Adivasis of Muthanga(Wayanad Dist., Kerala) clashed in a bloody battle. In the film the Dijo John happens to be in the adivasi village on the fateful day and ends up saving his tribal guide, a little boy named Tami. Tami's father is shot down by police bullets right infront of their eyes and there is no news about his little sister.

This personal link leads Dijo to get involved in the volatile issue which had taken on immense political proportions by then. So far so good. The problem I have with Mohanlal films these days is, no matter what the social standing of the character played by Mohanlal, the rest of the cast act in a way that conveys utmost reverence to him. The final nail on the coffin is driven in by the director himself who gives long, weighty dialogs tailored for Mohanlal - the super star, but is no way justifiable to the character he portrays. This is not exactly his flaw, but it ruins the film. Photographer is just one in a long series of movies with this fatal flaw, but I am sure it is not going to be the last one.

Dijo John, the photographer has loud conversations with God himself. The God of Malluwood 'hotlining' to the God of the Universe. The Central Govt. has its own designs on Dijo and doesn't like him playing God to an adivasi kid and secretly takes him into custody and he disappears from the scene for a while. As if the thousands of movie-goers across the state of Kerala cannot languish in a Mohanlal-less void for any length of time during a Lal movie, the director springs a twin for Mohanlal - Joe John, a planter, writer and a totally uncalled for character. Except that through this double role of Joe John, Mohanlal gets a chance to live unleash his star power, which was kind of restrained in his former character, Dijo. Stunts, cheesy jokes, a beautiful maiden in the wings, exaggerated acting are all part of the Joe John package.

There are a lot of half-baked parts - Biju Menon, the Forest Minister, Ganeshan(ex-transport minister of Kerala) who plays an investigating officer, Manoj K.Jayan as an evil incarnate police officer who disappears without trace from the script in the second half and what was the role of Saranya Bhagyaraj(daughter of Malayalam heroine of yesteryear Purnima Jayaram and Tamil actor-director Bhagyaraj)? It felt as if the director lost the sense of direction midway through the movie and ended up wandering in circles in the forest, like the character of Dijo does in the second half. The redeeming aspect of the movie is the camera which lets the audience take in the beauty of Wayanad's forests and the script when Mohanlal was not mouthing the lines.

Despite all this I'd consider Photographer one of the better Mohanlal movies to hit the screens in the recent past, because of its toned down version of the actor. Probably that was why it didn't sit well with the Kerala audience who have placed Lal on a pantheon with their other personal Gods and ended up being a mega-flop.

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Sreekrishnaparunth : Movie Review

Long time back, sometime in the prehistory when I was in primary (elementary) school I was a voracious reader of, now comes the important part, "Ma" magazines in Malayalam. 'Ma' magazines were weeklies that published serialized equivalents of Mills and Boons type novels and had huge readership across Kerala. I quit this juicy reading habit three of four years in to it when I got bored of similar stories in different guises. 

Sreekrishnaparunth(or Kite - the bird) was a serialized novel, if I am right, which used to come in Manorajyam, one of the leading Malayalam weeklies at the time. It was quite an enthralling read because it had scandal, voodoo, sex, gore and all the other masala wrapped up in a seemingly historical plot.

Mohanlal, plays the main role of the magician/healer in the film along with other actors. The story takes place in a Kerala Namboothiri tharavad (Brahmin household), the patriarchs of the family are magicians / healers / shamans. Mohanlal, plays the lead role of Kumaran, the next head of the family but at present a local Casanova of sorts. 

Sreekrishnaparunth a.k.a the Kite is the family deity which protects the family and the master shaman from evil powers, thus the title of the movie. The movie starts off with a disjointed narrative without much character development, stories and people cropping up as it unfolds. It seems like it has been lifted straight off the novel and made in to a film sans a coherent script. For me it felt like reading a comic book with human characters come to life.

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Thazhvaram

Thazhvaram, directed by Bharathan and penned by M.T.Vasudevan Nair is perhaps the first real Western in Malayalam cinema. Highly remniscent of Sergio Leone masterpieces like The Good The Bad and The Ugly and For a Few Dollars More, the wild west in Kerala is the 'thazhvaram' or the valley. The high-ranges or the Western Ghat region of Kerala and the valleys thereof have always attracted the adventurous and the pioneers. Symbolically these places are the closest Kerala has to the unchartered frontier that was the old West in America.

Mohanlal is Bharathan's protagonist, so often portrayed by Clint Eastwood in Leone's movies. The terse talking lone ranger seeking revenge is wrapped in a signature Indian poncho in case of Eastwood, here Mohanlal sports a black wool shawl striped with red which is infact worn by farmers in the region.

The film opens with a long shot of the lone human figure, slowly advancing against the magnanimity of the landscape(or whatever magnanimity you can wrestle out of a Kerala landscape.) A wailing, haunting instrumental typical of Westerns plays in the background.

There are four main characters in the movie, they are pretty much all the people that feature in it, there are not many distractions. It is beautifully shot and never wavers from its course. Salim Ghouse, a Hindi TV serial actor, remember Bharat in Doordarshan's campus drug drama of the late eighties - Subah, is the guy who plays the villian in this film. Shammi Thilakan has dubbed for him here. Sumalatha and Shankradi makes the rest of the caste along with the villian and the hero.

The final scenes are also very Leone-sque with the fight taking place in a large open space with vultures watching over. And then the lone ranger leaves once the fight is over, end of story. A very good movie by Malayalam standards.

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Malayalam : Uyarangalil

The current quality of Malayalam film is so deplorable that old I.V.Sasi movies look like classics now. Or it could be that I.V.Sasi is an underrated director, atleast he was in my view. It changed considerably after I watched Avalude Ravukal, supposedly semi-porn, but with Sherif's script and I.V.Sasi's direction I found it to be classic, earthy and real.


Nedumudi Venu and Rehman in Uyarangalil


Uyarangalil, has Malayalam super hero Mohanlal in an anti-hero role, a choice not often made by up and coming actors as he was in 1984 when this movie came out. Rehman, the then teenage heart throb also has an important side role. The two Bollywood wannabes who failed to make it in Hindi films and took resort in Malayalam, Swapna and Kajal Kiron also feature in the movie. I wonder where these actresses are and how they look like these days. There is so little information about these actresses, infact Kajal Kiron is not even mentioned having acted in a single Malayalam movie in her IMDb page, though she has acted in quite a few of them in the early eighties.

Kajal Kiran and Mohanlal in Uyarangalil

Coming back to the movie Uyarangalil, story and screen play is by M.T.Vasudevan Nair, one of the gifted writers in Malayalam literary arena. A supposedly masala movie of the 80s, it has good dialogues and unpretentious and taut story and direction. Although this definitely was not a path breaking movie of any sort, just an ordinary run of the mill stuff in those days, it seems so polished and precise when compared to the movies dished out by Malayalam movie industry these days.

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