[Pequod]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Adding to your list of actors with whom Mohanlal had great comic timing - Srinivasan. Who can forget "Daasa..".

That’s a criminal miss on my part . Such natural banter, such self-referential humour.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I totally agree with you on how effortless Mohanlal was in his earlier movies.

I think it is also to do with the way the narratives change along with times. Those simple movies of 90s are no longer made. And for Mohanlal, more than the acting style, I felt the issue was with the movie selection; even worse when many of those were ‘home’ productions (e.g;, Ittimani Made in China). At least in Drishyam 2, the actor Mohanlal came into fore at many instances. If I look at his body of work in recent years, only two notable ones were Lucifer (in 2019) and the first instalment of Drishyam in 2013!

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Love - 3/5
A 90-minute thriller starring Shine Tom Chacko and Rajisha Vijayan about a troubled married life and some strange turn of events narrated with a twist. Man, I loved the way Shine played the role of the moral police in Ishq.

A good one! And what helped was its pace and short duration (90 minutes). I would still rate C U Soon as a better ‘lockdown’ effort

[hemanth.anand]

Drushyam 2 (Malayalam): 4 out of 5
Previously I had watched Drushyam first in it's Kannada remake and then the Hindi. Kannada was good and Hindi was average. So much has been said about Drushyam2 in the last few pages. Here is what I felt...

Trivia - This movie is made in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sinhalese and Chinese! It was the first Indian film to be remade in Chinese!
Drushyam 2 is a nice sequel. It really doesn't feel like an afterthought and feels as though the director/story writer had this in mind while making the first one. The story, for the major part seems to be going on without any sense of direction, but in the end, everything just falls in place so neatly. It's the same feeling you get when you put the last piece of a 1000-piece jig saw puzzle in it's correct place. Ended up watching it twice - once alone and once with my family members when they were watching it.

Over the years, we have seen so many times that Sequels actually harms the good reputation out of the first one. More and more people expect that to happen even before watching a sequel. But this doesn't meet that expectation and that's why people come out really impressed. If we combine both together and watch Drushyam & Drushyam 2 one after the other as a single story, that's when a correct rating can be given I feel . I did that and I give this a 4 out of 5. I also liked the way they left something open in the end for another sequel if they decide to go for it.

What I liked most was that all characters who are part of both the movies are played by the same actors and that natural ageing of those actors has worked so well. This will be a good challenge for other language remakes if and when they do it again.

[srishiva]

Liked Drishyam 2. It was not over the top and genuine. Was my first Malayalam movie (disregarding the ones we watched in college ).

Looking at subtitles was little distracting but inspite of the expectation from the first part, it didnt disappoint. Had watched Kannada one which was also very subdued without any star antics. At the end, it looked like too much talk to complete the puzzle. But felt good watching it with family.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I totally agree with you on how effortless Mohanlal was in his earlier movies. If you ask me, the moment Malayalam cinema also fell into the 'fans' and 'stars' categorisation, actors became larger than life. Effortless acting gave way to forced mannerisms to complete the image. Have you seen a video in which Mohanlal is seen cooking fried fish? Way OTT!

Originally Posted by vb-san

I think it is also to do with the way the narratives change along with times. Those simple movies of 90s are no longer made. And for Mohanlal, more than the acting style, I felt the issue was with the movie selection; even worse when many of those were ‘home’ productions (e.g;, Ittimani Made in China). At least in Drishyam 2, the actor Mohanlal came into fore at many instances. If I look at his body of work in recent years, only two notable ones were Lucifer (in 2019) and the first instalment of Drishyam in 2013!

Although I agree that his famed 'effortlessness' is no longer there, I think we tend to forget he is 60 years old now. Expecting the same effortlessness that he did in the 80's and early 90's, when he was in his 20s and 30s 30+ years later is unfair. More than effortlessness, in my view his strength has been how subtle he is with his mannerisms and how he underplays just to the right level. I think he still does that when he gets a good role- Drishyam is an example, Lucifer was another. Villian in 2017 was another one. Oppam in 2016 was also like that. Of course, it has become rarer over the years. All attempts to duplicate the old 'effortlessness' have been disasters.

[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Although I agree that his famed 'effortlessness' is no longer there, I think we tend to forget he is 60 years old now. Expecting the same effortlessness that he did in the 80's and early 90's, when he was in his 20s and 30s 30+ years later is unfair. More than effortlessness, in my view his strength has been how subtle he is with his mannerisms and how he underplays just to the right level.

Not to forget, Mohanlal of those days was at the pinnacle of his prowess as an actor but was also backed with some stupendous story telling and direction.

I would say there are very few mainstream actors who could match or outdo what he did in those movies. It was not about acting, but more about living the role. All good things end and in his case it ended when Mohanlal the actor was replaced by Mohanlal the star.

Every now and then though, we are treated to glimpses of his past through movies such as Drishyam.

[mobike008]

Drishyam 2, Malyalam Version (Amazon Prime)
Though I haven't seen the first part in Malyalam but, this was a great watch and keeps you on the edge of the seat till the end. It's pretty long at 2.5 hours and could have been snipped by 20-30 minutes as it starts slow and picks up pace

Only hitch is the language as the dialogues are fast paced and you need to keep an eye out on the subtitles to follow the story

Mohanlal showed why he is a superstar as his acting is top notch and keeps the movie together single handedly. We can expect the Ajay Devgn starrer in Hindi anytime later this year

4/5

[poised2drive]

So many reviews for Drishyam 2 .

Let me offer a review for another latest Telugu Movie .

Naandhi

*ing Naresh, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Harish Uthaman..
Genre - Courtroom Drama
Courtroom Dramas were never a strong suite of Telugu Films and I hoped this movie might change my opinion, but unfortunately it didn't. The intent and the original content of the maker are admirably appealing and the theme - Abuse of the Indian Legal System by the Influential and Victimization of a hapless Common Man , who loses everything in spite of being an innocent- is a powerful storyline that can connect to the majority of the audience. But like many a movie, the writer didn't do the proper groundwork related to the Legal-Judical systems and Procedures of the court were made a mockery , despite many gripping court room dramas of late in the Indian cinema.

But what it lacked in screenplay, makes up for in the Music and compelling performances by all the actors. Regardless of the inaccuracies and inconsistencies narrative, Naandi is a must watch for the untouched elements it attempts to portray and is a brave attempt.

I reckon, watching so many riveting courtroom dramas & Crime Thrillers made me expect more from this movie and I realised I would have enjoyed the movie more if I dampened those expectations.

[hemanth.anand]

The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam)

What a brilliant movie! Shows the primitive mindset and customs still in practice in our country. The highlight of the movie is the exceptional Foley work. With minimal dialogues, the "everyday sounds" has such a huge impact on the viewer. Actors Nimisha, Suraj and everyone else has done stupendous jobs of their roles. One movie which hits you hard...harder if you're a man. The last 2 seconds where we hear a clap gave me goosebumps on my skin and a big lump in my throat. If I was watching this in a movie hall instead of holding my phone and watching in it, I would've surely clapped along.

I'd rate it 5 out of 5

[naveen.raju]

Saajan Bakery Since 1962 - Malayalam

Don't even bother watching it. Not worth the time. Ganesh Kumar was the only interesting character in the whole film. I did feel in many occasions, the movie diverts to one topic, stops abruptly and then focus on another situation with no relevant purpose. IMDB and Google rating says it all.

[jkrishnakj]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam)

What a brilliant movie! . If I was watching this in a movie hall instead of holding my phone and watching in it, I would've surely clapped along.

I'd rate it 5 out of 5

Which OTT can we catch this one please? I am not able to locate this on Prime/Netflix/Hotstar/Zee/Sun

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by jkrishnakj

Which OTT can we catch this one please? I am not able to locate this on Prime/Netflix/Hotstar/Zee/Sun

Here's a post that refers to the OTT platform where it is available. This one is on my wishlist too and I plan to watch this over this weekend.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

The Great Indian Kitchen (Malayalam) - Neestream

Signed up to the Neestream streaming service on a 4 day premium plan to watch this, based on the trailers as well as word of mouth reviews. The movie surely did not disappoint.

[binand]

[Love - Malayalam, Netflix]

A man - seemingly an unemployed idler and drunkard - ends up killing his own wife during a violent domestic fight. While he tries to figure out what to do next, some of his friends turn up, each with his own domestic issues. But nothing is as it seems in this short movie (about 1.5 hours), and I had to ponder over it for almost a day to feel I have figured it out totally.

Some people I checked with said the middle third or so of the movie - conversational, meandering - was boring. But after figuring out the ending and re-watching those scenes, it all totally made sense. Anything more would involve spoilers.

Enjoyed it, especially in the second watch. But YMMV.

[KPR]

Watched Mehandi Circus a tamil film. What a movie it is ! 4.5 out of 5. Shweta Tripati and newcomer Madhampatty Rangaraj were too good as lead actors. Such an engrossing love movie. Special mention about actor's friend who has done the role to perfection.

[Ithaca]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

Let me offer a review for another latest Telugu Movie .
Naandhi
Genre - Courtroom Drama

Thank you very much for your review. The movie has dropped today on AHA OTT. I will watch it this evening before the T20 game.