ENTE-A simple &sober film but again inspired(Movie Review By Yoonus Mohyudhin)

As you may have guessed the movie is inspired from Suresh Gopy’s “Janakan”. But keeping that fact aside, the movie is a simple, sober and clean flick which also has a sweet message to give. In other words its a well adapted movie which is not great, but still good for a family evening. “Janakan” sticks to its crime theme throughout but “ENTE” shifts its emphasis from crime to social issues too. Therefore it cannot be called as a complete crime entertainer.   

The film starts slowly and takes too much time to settle down. The director should have come to the main theme of “Achan” much earlier, but instead he introduces this plot just before the interval. The movie could be more enjoyable if the script was based on this single plot with some more social sequences.

The story revolves around a plot in which Provocative, shocking and surprisingly tender amidst an explosion of unbridled emotions, “Ente…”(Mine…) explores the consequences of sex trafficking, testing the vulnerability of trust in human relations. Srinivas(Siddiq) is a wonderful and devoted father to Durga(Anjali Patil), and he provides her the best.  The first half of the movie is all predictable with repeated scenes seen many times before. The novel theme comes too late which is the major drawback of the movie. After “Achan's” entry, it picks up and that makes the second half much better than the first.

Performance wise Sidheeq plays his part convincingly. But Anjali is just there in the film as the leading lady. Though they both look good together in their scenes and songs. The chemistry between Neena & Suresh was quite similar to “Shreedharante Onnam Thirumurivu” and it entertains in some scenes. Lakshmi Menon looks very descent and elegant. In fact no other actor comes to your mind who can play “Achan” dressed in white suits, other than Swidheeq.  It can be said that everyone has acted his part well but the script is too simple to give any one an opportunity to stand out.

 Songs in the second half were not needed at all as they slow down the pace of the movie. Special Effects are also ok and don’t go over the board.   

The direction is very simple and the director keeps shifting between the crime and social track in the second half. It could have been executed in a far better way. The best part of the movie comes in the last 40 minutes where the narration is inspired from M.Nishad kind of cinema. Interestingly it made me remember one old M.Nishad film “Vairam” starring Pashupathi, where he  fights for justice, as he loses his daughter Vairamani (Dhanya Mary Varghese) who is raped and killed (which was also an inspired one).

Another impressive part of the movie is the message it gives in the last minutes. That makes you feel good about what you have in life and teaches you to be contented always with whatever you get from your life & “Achan”.

So, its not a great movie and gets only average marks. But it is a cute, clean, family movie which can be enjoyed in the festive weekends. It lacks the content of becoming a hit or blockbuster. Rating : 2.5 / 5

Arjunan Sakshi(2011)&Meet John Doe(1941)

Ranjit Shankar’s masterpiece “Arjunan Sakshi” is said to be inspired from real life incidents but it also has similarities with the story of “Meet John Doe” (1941).  In any case it is indeed a great mystery thriller with outstanding music and songs featuring Prithviraj Sukumaran & Ann Augastin playing the role of mystery man & journalist. Check out at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_John_Doe

What Women Want(2000)-(Movies To See Before You Die-Romantic)

Included in the Top Box Office Movies, it is the most influential movie in the history of cinema by the master director Josh Goldsmith. The movie has inspired numerous projects in Marathi (Aga Bhai Arecha to start with) as well as in Tollywood (Manmathudu and many more) and is definitely one of the most famous movies all over the world. The story revolves around how After an accident, a chauvenistic executive gains the ability to hear what women are really thinking. Nick, a somewhat chauvinistic advertising exec hot shot, has his life turned haywire when a fluke accident enables him to hear what women think. At first all he wants to do is rid himself of this curse, until a wacky psychologist shows him that this could be used to his advantage!  You may remember scenes from many of your favourite movies while watching this world classic. The movie is more than 2 and a half hours of duration and still you don’t find it lengthy. That is the beauty of its brilliantly written script and competent direction. A true masterpiece from one of the 10 best directors of the america, Josh Goldsmith. You will find this movie in the all time favourite movie list made anywhere in the world at any time. Hence it would be a great loss to miss it.   Directed By Josh Goldsmith Starring : Mel Gibson, Helen Hunt & Others

Pulp Fiction(1994)-(Movies To See Before You Die-Black Comedy)

It is said that in recent times the best black comedy films have been made in America and West Germany. “Badai Ho Badhai” and many other Hindi black comedy movies are also inspired from their American Originals. So, as “Pulp Fiction” was hugely famous and successful in America in 1994.The masterpiece without a message. The movie has some unusual sort of black comedy, since it does not have any dark sequences but stresses more on the eclectic dialogue and ironic mix of humour and violence in the mind. The director brilliantly builds up the mystery leading to the non lenear storyline. And the brilliant part comes when you come to know about the suspense and when the cinematic allusions is reveled. One of the early scenes in "Pulp Fiction" features two hit-men discussing what a Big Mac is called in other countries.  A must watch for black comedy movie lovers and also for the lovers of Classy World Cinema.   Directed By Quentin Tarrantino

CINEMA COMPANY(2012)-A must watch new age classic and it's discouraging similarities with ROCK ON(2008)

‘Buddy movies’ has always been a genre rarely chosen by film-makers in Kerala andCINEMA COMPANY stands tall among the few buddy based movies made in the 85 years of our history of cinema unarguably. The film has been directed with a focused vision without keeping in mind the actors were new comers. And the actors strongly proves his every critic wrong in a powerful performance along with the entire ensemble of well chosen girls and supporting cast. 

However, respecting the quality movie made by Mamas on a difficult subject (as far as Malayalam movies are concerned), here I would sadly like to add that despite being a worth watching gem, “Cinema Company” also remains a highly inspired film from the Bollywood movie “Rock On” (2008).  And ironically the Hindi flick is  all about the life of a rock band played by Arjun Rampal,Farhan Akthar,Luke Kenny&Purab Kohli, taking some sequences from"The Happy Life" (2007) too.

Now it is said that the Malayalam version is based on the life of Mamas himself, who struggles a lot to be a director, which might be true in the real sense. But the truth remains that its entire style of film-making, the writing and many sequences in the film heavily resemble the Hindi Flicks without any doubt.

To make you believe surprisingly, here are the similarities.
1. If “Cinema Company” is based on the life of “Mamas”, then “Rock On” was based on director of the movie Abhishek Kapoor.

2. In “Cinema Company” its film band brought together form different districtss of Kerala. The guys are those talented ones who have lost hope of making it in the field.
And in “Rock On” its the music band team wherein the boys are College going talented youngsters who are called from different colleges of various universities of India.

3. In both the movies the Producer is somehow blamed and could not see the film releas when he was active and is now considered a looser.

4. The introduction scene by Basil is also there in the same context in "Dil Chahtha Hain".

 

Check out :http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0292490/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl 

5. The first scene where the Basil meets the Actors in their office for his selection as a Director is quite similar to the same scene in “Rock On”.

6. The most astonishing is the “motivational sequence” where Basil insists the actors to say that they are doing a film and not for their own states. This is also there in “Rock On” where Arjun Rampal punishes his team till the boys say “I play for the music.” Quite Amusing! 7. Both films have bands fighting with each other on state & status differences. 8. The main band in both the movies is the main friend, and in both the screenplays he/she has some problems at home in his/her personal life. Chekout the plot of “Rock On” at : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230165/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl Summing up the comparison, no Doubt, “Cinema Company” is a brave, well made, entertaining and motivational Malayalam movie not often made. But the real disappointment can be felt when the actual credits are not given, for all the borrowed and inspired content straight taken from the Hindi Flicks. Still, I would like to congratulate Mamas, on agreeing to experiment with this kind of off-beat venture as that is what we expect from the big director of his stature. In fact, he should now come forward and experiment more with some new exciting plots never filmed before in Malayalam Cinema.

Crash(2004)-(Movies To See Before You Die-Crime)

Some movies shake you up and disturb you to a great extent with their strong and heavy content. Crash is one of those rare movies which is strictly not for children and people with weak hearts. The movie is bold & cruel with two strong assets. One is it’s narration which goes backward with time. That means you see the events happening backward in time like from 3pm night to 6pm of the last evening.

And second is its hard hitting, brutal and shockingly executed shot of a sexual assault in the subway. You will be amazed to think that how the scene was shot and moreover how the actors enacted it. Truly a spectacular, cinematic extravaganza and a movie of its own kind. Though it is said to be a drama but it can easily be categorized as a thriller movie too due to its haunting impact. See it if you want to get a shock of your life. Don’t see it with your family and children. Infact the DVD should have this warning on it. It’s one of those rare movies having a draining effect on the viewer. It is exhaustive must watch for all students of cinema.

Directed By Paul Haggis

Starring : Sandra Bullock & Don Cheadle

Mad Dad-An experiment on a borrowed thesis(Movie Review By Yoonus Mohyudhin)

P.N.V Associates comes with another experimental movie . But this time the experiment has been done on a borrowed thesis. The film is a loosly inspired from a American movie “Father Of The Bride”  (1950) which was then remade  in 1991.

The story – no there is no story but it’s a collection of anecdotes about the relation between a father and a daughter. Its how the girl is rudely shaken and ill treated by her father and then he keeps on trying to cope up with this strange relationship. The director couldn’t catch the right spirit of the movie with no particular scene worth talking about.

Laal underplays his role but as he doesnt get any support from the script department therefore fails to impress his fans. He gets very few funny scenes to satisfy the viewer. On the other hand Nazriya Nazim acts pricy and pretends to be the top most actress. She is surely the most sought after actress in one sense but strangley her enigma failed to bring in the crowd this time.

The promos were innovatively planned with good tag lines but the movie is another example of good promotion but bad content. Seeing some recent flicks its time the makers should concentrate more on the movie and its ingredients rather than on its promotional tactics. No doubt, good promotion is a must but you should not fool the audiences with wrong and misleading promos. Rating : 1 / 5