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Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum Movie Review
Every once in a while, there comes a Malayalam film that makes waves like nobody's business. If Maheshinte Prathikaram and Kammattipaadam, according to many, shared that honour last year, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum could very well stand a chance this time around. And guess what? It also marks the angelic collaboration between the directors of the aforementioned films, Dileesh Pothan and Rajeev Ravi, as director and cinematographer, respectively.
Dileesh's organic direction teams up with Rajeev's unembellished camerawork, resulting in a quietly profound cinematic experience. By patiently establishing the landscape, the culture and the people, the brains behind the scenes pull us into their fictitious narrative like pros. Editor Kiran Das also joins this creative process with a knack for holding important shots and regulating the pace scene by scene. Add Bijibal Maniyil's score littered with retro tunes and we get a film that layers itself with disparate moods and tones.
Fahadh Faasil and Suraj Venjaramoodu pit against each other as two financially disturbed individuals with apparently the same name- Prasad. They choose to go in opposite paths to change their fortunes. Of course, their paths are crossed very early in the film as Fahadh's Prasad steals the other Prasad's wedding necklace from his wife, Sreeja(Nimisha Sajayan). What follows is a procedural comedy of sorts, often making fun of the 'powerful versus powerless' phenomenon. Here, both Prasads (and Sreeja) sit at the receiving end of power, as the police force takes them for pawns many a time.
The satire grows from the characters' authentic reactions to their predicaments. Dileesh's compulsion for naturalism seeps through the conversations, the look and feel of each character and setting and the events that unfold, which are as grounded as they get. Rajeev's camera reciprocates the same with a fly-on-the-wall vantage point for most of the images, to keep the viewers at ease amid all the hullabaloo.
Fahadh and Suraj have minimal verbal communication between themselves and yet maintain astonishing chemistry. The same goes for Suraj and his on-screen wife, Nimisha. Her debut is as good as any from a seasoned performer and flaunts her natural flair as a screen actor. Meanwhile, Suraj's dramatic turns of late, including the one here, are hinting at a renaissance for the immensely skilled comedic actor's career.
Alencier Ley Lopez is another instrumental part of Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, playing a veteran policeman, Chandran. He single-handedly represents the duality of cops to be broad-hearted civil servants while regularly dealing with crime and its ramifications. This is where Dileesh's clever direction comes into play. He is not gratuitously mocking the police force but humanizing them so they remain where they belong- in the grey area. The actors who play the cops read the director's imagination well enough to realize such a dichotomy.
The burlesque plot is not flawless. It sometimes meanders a little too much to drag the film. However, an unaltered reflection of things we see and not view, hear and not listen to, read and not register, makes Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum an intensely engaging watch from a modern auteur in the making.
Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum
Review 3 out of 5 (Good)
ORU CINEMAAKKARAN MALAYALAM MOVIE REVIEW
After a hiatus, director Leo Thaddeus is back with the story of a young assistant director, who longs to do an independent film. "Oru Cinemakkaran" highlights his attempts to realise his dream as well as struggles to make both ends meet. But it appears to be a mediocre attempt as the execution calls for more intensity.
A slipshod screenplay by the filmmaker attains hues of new life only in the latter half. Born to a priest, Alby Mathew (Vineeth Sreenivasan) marries Sara (Rejisha Vijayan) against the wish of his parents. They live in a flat after their parents alienated them. Their neighbours Nayana (Anusree) and Sudhi (Vijay Babu) are very close to them. But certain circumstances in his life impel Alby to do something unusual, as far as he's considered.
A rapid shift to the suspense mode creates interesting moments in the film. Leo strives hard to reduce the mismatch between the events and the revelation in the climax. But certain questions remain to be answered even after the puzzle was solved.
The woes of the aspiring filmmaker take a back seat when he lands himself in a new trouble knowingly. Now Leo gives a thriller mood to the action. Here the pace of the movie outclasses the sluggish screenplay in the first half.
Vineeth's pale face reverberates his anxiety about his future at the crucial juncture of the movie. He judders when he realises his fate. The depth of his guilty conscience gives him restless days. Meanwhile, Rejisha's bubbly and modern character has little room for performance. Sara has shades of Rejisha's award-winning character Elizabeth in "Anuraga Karikkin Vellam".
Sudheer Surendran captures the nook and corner of urban life. He has been aptly supported by Editor Ranjan Abraham..
Review 2 out of 5 (Average)
Thursday, 22 June 2017
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