Hallo

Finally got to see "Hallo" yesterday, albeit on thiruttu dvd. It is still running to packed houses in Kochi, but we Chennaites are "children of a lesser god." Ever since they demolished Anand theatre life has never been the same, lots of memories, sigh! Those were the days man.

Back to the review.
The movie stars Mohanlal as a drunken lawyer Sivaraman, Parvathy Melton, looks pretty, and dances well, might find success in Malluwood after her disastrous outing in Kollywood. It also has the regular list like Siddique, Jagathy, Jagatheesh, Janardhanan, and others. The basic plot of the story is lifted from the Kim Basinger movie "Cellular."

Parvathy is the heiress to a huge fortune and is kidnapped by goons hired by some of her relatives. She makes a frantic call and reaches Mohanlal. He comes and rescues her and takes her to his house, where he drinks all the while in memory of his dead lover-Samvritha. Things happen, there are kidnappings, murders, and fights galore.

Then Mohanlal marries Parvathi Melton and settles at her house and tries to unravel the mystery. The directorial duo of Rafi-Mecartin know the pulse of the masses and have given a 100% entertainer. The songs could have been better and the climax is contrived and reminiscent of the C.B.I. movies.

Worth watching for Mohanlal's drunken act and Parvathi's eyes and dance.

My rating ***/5.

Cinema and Suicide

Shoba, Fatafat Jayalakshmi, Silk Smitha, Pratyusha, Monal, Divya Bharathi, Nafisa Joseph, Vaishnavi(TV host).... the list goes on. All these are actresses who committed suicide. They were young beautiful and earning a decent salary. So, what prompted them to take the extreme step. In the case of Shoba, Balu Mahendra donned the hat of the villain and a sour relationship led to the death of the actress whom I consider to be the greatest that Tamil cinema has ever seen. The small number of films that she acted are cherished by all lovers of Tamil cinema. SIlk Smitha's death under suspicious circumstances, is one case that was covered up. I find it hard to believe that a woman who had the entire industry eating out of her hand would take up her own life. She started with a semi-porn film called Layanam, which was directed by Thulaseedas, who later made some simple Malayalam comedies and made quite some money. A Telugu by birth Smitha, acted in all the Southern languages, was the real "Item Bomb" after Helen. She carried herself with grace and was a good dancer. Who killed her? No clue. In recent years the Monal suicide created a lot of furore. Monal was the sister of former queen bee of Tamil cinema Simran. Monal had acted in Badri and a couple of other movies. She was emotionally linked to the brother of a leading dance choreographer. Family interference and fear prompted her to hang herself to death. She was beautiful in an Oriental sort of a way, I do not know why, but she reminded me of Japanese women. Divya Bharathi's death is shrouded in mystery. If she would not have died, our "jhatke vali" Rambha(also titled "Queen of Thighs") by an overzealous generation of cinema-goers would never have made a name for herself. Today Rambha is out of business and relegated to playing second fiddle to Kala Bhavan Mani and dancing in skimpy costumes. Remember Rambha has acted with all the stars in Tamil cinema. Mani is a great actor, but Mani having Rambha as his heroine, well perhaps better than Captain dancing with Malavika. Nafisa Joseph, beauty queen, VJ, socialite... died because of a failed relationship. Her fiancee was already married and she took her own life in a fit of disappointment. The last year saw many TV artistes committing suicide. Notably Vaishnavi a cherubic girl, full of life and joy who hosted a variety of programmes on Sun TV. Her death came as a big shock and heralded the death of a couple of more artistes. In many cases it is parental pressure to earn more and more. Then it is the need to "oblige" every Tom, Dick and Harry, from producer to director, to hero to villain, to local politician to remain in circulation, that takes its toll on these young actresses. It is not confirmed but both Khushboo and Roja had attempted suicide. In Khushboo's case she found solace in Sundar C. who has given her a new lease of life and she is a happy woman now. In Hollywood Marilyn Monroe, was the example of Plain Jane to Queen of Hearts. Her turbulent relationships and suspicious death are fodder for many movies. Till date no one can say for sure "who killed her?" We have cases of young actresses fighting against their parents and trying to lead independent lives. Remember Bhanupriya, in recent years Meera Jasmine has faced a lot of problems for her parents, but she has taken all problems in her stride and is a successful actress appeasing both the arthouse critics and the commercial pundits alike. The last couple of weeks had news of aspiring starlet Preethi Sharma going against her parents and staying in Bombay. So what is the solution? There is no direct answer to this question. The actresses need to plan their lives and keep personal life away from professional life. Parents should not pressurise their daughters to earn more and more. Till then Suicide is a disturbing aspect that will keep raising its ugly head from time to time.

Pongal Report Card

Aalwar or is it Aazhwar-Flop, thalai waiting for Kireedom.
Pokiri-Superhit-But it is total crap and Vadivelu should be kicked for doing such rubbish on screen(Do you remember his comments on the director of Uyir)
Thamirabharani-This is a decent movie with a good story, script and acting, but the Pokiri effect has hampered its collections. My favourite for this Pongal.

Awaiting Patchai Kili Muthucharam and Unnalae Unnalae.

By the way Pori is OK, nothing great but you can watch it once.

Cheers.

Classics Revisited

Gems of Indian Cinema.

Indian cinema, has its share of classics ranging from Ray's Pather Panchali to Adoor Gopalakrishnan's Nizhalkuthu. Starting from today I will be reviewing such movies which may have been failures at the box-office but represent the theme of sensible cinema.

I will start the series with my all time favourite movie-Chemmeen(Prawns). It is based on a novel written by Thakazhi Sivasankaran Pillai. The movie became the first South-Indian movie to win the President's Gold Medal for the best movie of 1965.

Cast-Sathyan, Madhu, Sheela, Kottarakara.
Direction-Ramu Kariat.
Screenplay-S.L. Puram Sadanandam.
Music-Salil Chowdhury.
Editing-Hrishikesh Mukherjee.
Cinematography-Marcus Bartley.

The movie's music was an unprecedented hit, and the song-"Maanasa Maine Varu..," is considered to be the most popular Malayalam movie song of all time. The stunning cinematography captured the various moods of the sea and the triangular love story of Madhu, Sheela and Sathyan.

The story has its roots in a legend that the fishing community believes in, a fisherman's safe return depends on the fidelity of his wife. The story shows how a breach of trust leads to misunderstanding and sorrow. Kottarakara promises to sell his catch of fish to Madhu on credit and Madhu helps him in buying a boat. Kottarakara nets in a big catch of fish, and lured by greed, he ditches his pact with Madhu and sells his catch for ready cash to other traders. Sheela, Kottarakara's daughter falls in love with Madhu, but her father forcibly marries her off to Sathyan a fisherman from another village.

What happens to Madhu and Sheela? Does Sathyan sacrifice his wife for her true love? Is Kottarakara punished for his sins? Watch the movie to get answers for all your questions.

My Rating-4/5.