My Name Is Khan

My Rating : 3/5

I am not a big fan of Sharukh Khan and I don't like Karan Johar either, but the stand that Sharukh took during the "My Name is Khan" controversy and the fact that he didn't relent to the demands of Bal Thackrey impressed me and I decided to watch MNIK.
The first scene of the movie, when SRK is brisked by security personnel suspecting him to be a terrorist and the dialogue of SRK "My Name is Khan & I am not a Terrorist" was an impressive start.
But as the movie progresses, melodramas, colourful masala songs, family sentiments - all typical Joharian Traits started comming up and the movie at times drifted to the boredom territory.
As a whole the movie is not that bad as usual Karan Johar movies. Luckily for us he has not written the script.

The Hurt Locker

My Rating : 5/5

One of the most riveting movies that I have watched in recent times. There are numerous movies depicting iraqi war, the plight of iraqi people, insurgency & ethnic conflict in Iraq. But this one is an entirely different war movie. It portrays the life of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. The movie does provide a sense of what it must have been like to experience that harrowing conflict.

When SFC William James joins Bravo Company in Iraq, they have a month or so left in their tour of duty. He's a bomb disposal expert and he is replacing Sgt Matt Thompson, a long-standing member of the team who was recently killed disposing of an improvised explosive device.
When James arrives on the scene, Bravo Company has thirty-nine days left on its current deployment. It will be a long thirty-nine days for Sanborn and Eldridge whose styles do not mesh with their new leader. James is a renegade for who the thrill of the dismantlement seems to be the ultimate goal regardless of the safety of his fellow team members, others on the scene or himself. On the other hand, Sanborn is by the books: he knows his place and duty and trusts others in the army to carry out theirs as well as he. And Eldridge is an insecure soldier who is constantly worried that an error or misjudgment on his part will lead to the death of an innocent civilian or a military colleague.

Thanks twitter..its b'coz of a tweet from Rajeev Masand that I thought of watching this movie.

Ividam Swargam Aanu

My Rating : 1/5

Roshan Andrews was planning 'Casanova' with mohanlal. Due to some problems, the project didn't take off. So they decided to make use of those dates to make a pure commercial 'formula' movie. The movie was titled "Ividam Swargam aanu"

I think the cast was decided by choosing all possible combination of actors which has worked well wiht lal in earlier movies. Like thilakan, kaviyoor ponnamma & Lal, Sreenivasan & Lal, Jagathy & Lal, Shankar & Lal.
James Albert who has written Classmates & Cycle has written the script. (In fact there is no need of a scriptwriter to make movies like this)
Mohan lal runs a 'hypothetical' farm house where he carries out 'textbook' farming (It seems the scriptwriter has watched too many episodes of krishidarsan). There are windmills(that never rotate) to generate electricity for the farm. There are three heroines (Typically mohanlal). There is jagathy, there is shankar, there is sreenivasan. Apart from these, there is nothing.
A villain (Lallu alex) who tries to grab the farm house of the hero for his real estate interests. The fight of the hero against the villain and finally the hero wins the farm house and a consolation price in the form of one of the heroines. Age old cliche.
The only plus point in this movie is Jagathy's performance.
This movie is turning out to be a hit. But it's not surprising as till date all Vinayan movies were boxoffice grossers. Malayalees should be commended for their wonderful taste of movies.

Paa

My Rating : 3/5

Cheeni Kum, the previous movie from Balki was an impressive one. Now when he comes with his second movie with Amitabh Bachhan playing a 12 yr old boy suffering from progeria (a rare medical condition that accelerates the ageing process), the expectations was high.

Auro(Amitabh Bachchan) is an intelligent and witty 12-year-old boy with an extremely rare genetic defect callled progeria. Mentally he is 12 very normal, but physically he looks five times older. In spite of his condition, Auro is a very happy boy. He lives with his mother Vidya (Vidya Balan) who is a gynecologist. Amol Arte (Abhishek Bachchan) is young, progressive and a full-of-ideals politician. He is out to prove to the world that 'politics' is not a bad word. He is a man with a mission. Auro is Amol's son however Vidya conceals this from him. When Auro does learn the truth however, he wishes to go to Delhi with his father. Auro tries to get his mother and father back together but Vidya resists, still hurt by the fact that Amol wanted her to have an abortion when they first found out she was pregnant. Amol realizes his mistake though, and proposes to Vidya, as he is still in love with her. He stays by Auro's side when he finds out that Auro is his son. Auro's health begins to deteriorate as he reaches his 13th birthday, his physical defects catching up. However, he is finally able to reunite his mother and father once again as Vidya gives in to her feelings for Amol and her motherly love for Auro. Auro, succumbing to his disease, dies happy, his last words being "Maa" and "Paa."

There are many positivies abt this movie- Amitabh, his make up, music, picturisation etc. Though this movie was not much appreciated by critics, I loved this one.

3 Idiots

My Rating : 4/5

3 Idiots was supposed to be a celluloid version of five point someone. I liked the book so much so that I completed reading the book in a few hours (pretty high speed in my standards) on my return trip in train from SHAR to Tvm.
The movie directed by Munnabhai fame Rajkumar Hirani with Aamir khan doing the lead role was more than enough for any movie buff to rush to the theatre.
The movie was awesome, though it is not a one to one recreation of five point someone, it was good (or may be better) than five point someone.
Life is all about listening to your heart and chasing your dreams. That's the essence of 3 IDIOTS

Two friends [R. Madhavan and Sharman Joshi] embark on a quest for a lost buddy. As they make their way through the perilous landscape [Shimla, Manali, Ladakh], another journey begins: their inner journey through memory lane and the story of their friend - the irrepressible free-thinker Rancho [Aamir Khan], who, in his unique way, touched and changed their lives.

It's a story of their hostel days that swings between Rancho's romance with the spirited Pia [Kareena Kapoor] and his clash with and oppressive mentor, Viru Sahastrabudhhe [Boman Irani]. And then one day, suddenly, Rancho vanishes...

Who was he? Where did he come from? Why did he leave? The friend who influenced and inspired them to think creatively and independently, even as the conformist world called them three idiots. Where is the original idiot now?

The format of the movie is very similar to the munnabhai movies except for the background of the story but it is quiet impressive.

De dana dan

My Rating : 0/5

I don't understand why directors like priyadarsan have to make movies like this. Its true that he is good at making Slap stick comedies, but there is a limit for everything. This is the most boring movie of priyadarsan that i have watched in recent times.
After watching kancheevaram, no body can question the capability of priyan, but movies like this can do much harm to his credibility.
Its a mixture (Avial) of comic scenes from various malayalam films (from vettom to mannar mathai speaking). I felt like watching some comedy programme in TV channels where they continue to show comedy scenes from various malayalam films.
The only thing that is positive about this movie is the climax scene. Though it is a boring climax, the technique behind creating flood inside a hotel is impressive (though it reminds us of scenes from titanic)
Its high time that priyadarsan stop making films like this. I spoiled my christmas watching this bull shit.

Palery Manikyam

My Rating : 4/5

"Whom do you think is the most intelligent director in Malayalam Film Industry till date?"Today Vaisakh asked me this question

I didn't have any doubt in answering this question and the answer is "Renjith". Especially since watching Paleri Manikyam Yesterday.
It doesn't mean that I don't appreciate directors like bharathan, padmarajan, priyadarsan etc. Bharathan has an uncanny skill of making great movies but he fails in writing skills and its the vice versa with padmarajan. There is no doub that padmarajan's movies are great, but when you look back, its the stories of those movies that are dominating than the movie.
But when it comes to renjith, he is as good as making movies as is in writing movies. And paleri mankiyam is no exception. But I sincerely wish that he don't atempt movies like prajapathi anymore.
This story first came as a novel in Madhrubhumi Weekly. I read the first two parts, after that my laziness stopped me from reading any further. After watching this movie I feel that I missed a good novel. Or is it the making of the film that make us feel that the story is good.
Really intelligent film making. It is not just an investigation story, it depicts the life of the people of kerala in the late 40's. The narration style was also remarkable.
It tells the story of a private detective, who returns to his birthplace to solve a murder mystery that occurred on the same night he was born.
Dectective Haridas (Mammootty) takes up a case just to satisfy his curiosity, not to find or punish the culprit, as all the suspects in the case are dead. His purpose, which seems vague in the beginning, achieves clarity only halfway through the story.
Mammootty gives some neat performances in his different roles. Mammotty's Ahamad Haji is one of the most perfect role that he has done in years.
Ranjith has delivered a fine film with a minor hiccup in the climax (not that it was bad, just that it didnt come up to the standard set by the whole movie).