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.

Chota Mumbai

This was the movie that I wanted to see first among all the Vishu releases but invariably it was the movie that I saw finally. The movie is set in Kochi and is a fun-filled comic masala, with good songs and an ensemble cast. Anwar Rasheed has been able to replicate the success of Rajamanickyam.

Mohanlal is Vasco a petty crook with a heart of gold helping his gang of Siddique, Inderjeet, Manikuttan, Jagadhy and others. Bhavana is auto-driver Lata.

I am not going to reveal the plot watch the movie.

Good performances from Sai kumar and Kalabhavan mani.

My rating 3 out of 5.

Vinodayatra and Big B

I found time to see two contrasting movies and enjoyed both of them. Vinodayatra is another feather in director Sathyan Anthikad's cap, although it is no where near to his earlier masterpieces. Dileep plays an irresponsible graduate who is plain lazy to work. How he is moulded by circumstances to become a responsible citizen is the crux of the story.

Big B is a faithful remake of Four Brothers. Slickly shot with good performances by everyone specially Mammooty and Tamil actor Pasupathi. It is a revenge saga.

Detailed reviews will follow, watch both movies.

Cheers folks, waiting for Chota Mumbai to release in Chennai...

Detective-Movie Review

Movie-Detective.Cast-Suresh Gopi, Jagadheesh, V.M.C. Hanifa, Sindhu Menon, Devan, Madhu Warrier and oters.Genre-Investigative Thriller.Direction-Jittu Joseph(Debutante)When Mammootty's "Oru C.B.I. Diary Kurippu," released about fifteen years back, the Malyali audience woke up to a new genre, slow, thriller, without songs, where brain works more than brawn. If the audience remembers Suresh Gopi played the role of an officer assisting Mammootty in that movie.In the late nineties Suresh Gopi delivered a series of hits where he played the role of the tough cop. Now in Detective Suresh Gopi plays a double role of a detective and a politician(both are step-brothers). The politician is accused of killing his wife Sindhu Menon, who looks ravishing as usual.The detective is called to investigate the case. Was the crime commited by the politician, was it suicide, or another person killed the pretty lady?Watch the movie to get the answers.Vincimax's Ratings: ***/5

Vishu Release Update

So the biggies for Vishu are here. Sathyan Anthikad's Dileep starrer "Vinodayata" is going to battle wonder kid Anwar Rasheed's Mohanlal starrer Chota Mumbai.

In my previous post I wrote that Gopika would be Mohanlal's heroine, sorry, it is Bhavana who will be Mohanlal's heroine.

Chota Mumbai has an ensemble starcast-Siddique, Manikuttan, Jagathy, Indrajith and others.
It is supposed to be a laugh riot and is about small time conmen who live a life of joy and fun in Kochi by fooloing tourists.

Vinodayatra, Dileep's hope for regaining his good boy image, is about the laziness of a man, who is a qualified professional, but is allergic to work.

I am waiting for the movie to release in Chennai.

May the best movie win the box-office race.

I have a feeling this will be a bumper Vishu and all movies will do good business.

Vishu Release 2007 Preview

Another year has passed and the Malayali eagerly awaits Vishu 2007. This year has started on a bad note with lots of political unrest, bandhs and strikes, problems with Tamil Nadu over Mullai Periyar and Salem railway board formation. But the biggest threat is from Tamil movies that are eating into the business of movies from God's Own Country.

This Vishu has a number of releases-
Vinodayatra-Starring Dileep and Meera Jasmine-directed by Sathyan Anthikad.
Chota Mumbai-Starring Mohanlal and Gopika-directed by Anwar Rasheed.
Big B-Starring Mammootty.
Black Cat-Starring Suresh Gopi.

Some Kalabhavan Mani movie might also release.

So who will win the battle? My vote goes to Vinodayatra, because Sathyan knows how to lure the family audience and the remaining three are mass masala entertainers. I think Dilep's career will be revived by this movie.

Shivaji

Shivaji post production is going on in full swing. Some of the songs are already available on the internet, don't ask me how, but it is there. The movie has generated a lot of hype and expectations. The combination od Shanker, Superstar, A.R.Rahman and AVM, is too good, I just hope the movie is worth the hype.

Some rumours are afloat that the movie has been postponed to May 16, no confirmation about it. Mamootty and Amitabh Bachchan are supposed to have a cameo in the movie.

The story seems to be a recycled extension of Gentleman-one man cleansing society of its evils, and the struggles he endures to do it.

Let us see what happens...

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.