[Rajeevraj]

Saudi Vellaka- Sony Liv-Malayalam

Had got some rave reviews during the theater release. The kind of film that is common in Malayalam cinema now and gets country wide appreciation. Slow moving, strong on emotions, slice of life types with a thin storyline and good performances. While I like these movies, have felt we have got an overdose of such films over the last 2-3 years.

This falls into this category and ticks all the above boxes. It is a good movie with a 85 year old as the central character which itself deserves a pat on the back for the makers. A small incident which then goes on to talk about the slowness and inefficiencies of the judicial system.

Way too long at 2 hrs 20 min for this kind of film. Would have been much better if 30 min was cut off.

Rating:2.5/5

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Saudi Vellaka- Sony Liv-Malayalam

Way too long at 2 hrs 20 min for this kind of film. Would have been much better if 30 min was cut off.

Rating:2.5/5

True. It was a good effort but way too long for that subject. Also, felt like they tried to copy some recent successful court dramas and the background music was so similar to Kumbalangi Nights.

BTW, recognise the judge who comes in the second half? Same guy who played as "Loather" in Manu uncle . A good friend of mine.

[SuperGirl_Dad]

Gatta Kusthi - Tamil - (4/5)

Trailer link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7ckcJZkwH8

Fun watch movie type. The subtle message for female empowerment was nice. Fight scenes were typical but exaggerated. But overall a nice watch with family.

[balenoed_]

Malikappuram (M) - Theatre - 4.5/5

Oh this movie, what a nice one. Had no expectation before going as I just wanted to catch up some Malayalam movie and this was the only one that was running. It didn't let down.

A feel good movie after a while. I may have to say that, it is only Unni Mukundan who is the only actor suitable for this particular role and he has been aptly casted. Wonderful performance by the title character kid and she is going to make it big in her future. First time seeing Saiju Kurup and Unni M performing so well and taking an entire movie on their shoulders.

Nicely crafted emotional movie with some fine BGMs.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

BTW, recognise the judge who comes in the second half? Same guy who played as "Loather" in Manu uncle . A good friend of mine.

Nice. Please convey wishes to him. Did a nice job. And who can forget Lothar from Manu Uncle.

Gold- Malayalam -Prime

Very confused about this film. If it had come without any hype with some lessor known actors, it would have been actually an ok OTT watch. But such a star cast, all the hype about Alphonse Puthren doing a film after 7 years I think totally killed whatever possibilities it had. It had to be a totally amazing film to have met expectations. Looks like 7 years kind of made Puthren outdated considering the exceptional films we have seen in the last 5-6 years.

The cast and the roles they had makes you weep. Especially Nayantara - she was actually very good in the 10 min screen time she had. Then Roshan, Sharafu, Vinay Fort, Soubin, Lalu Alex, Shammi Thilakan. All stars who can lead films stuck with insignificant roles. Cannot blame them as they would have thought Puthren had something magical in mind.

[thanixravindran]

Thunivu - Tamil - Theatre - 1/5

Initially, it resembles Mankaatha but drags. Second half is horrible with message delivery and everything is shot including the audience. Only for those online fighting fans, stay away.

[naveen.raju]

OT and no offence anyone but this pretty much sums the review of Varisu and Thunivu. But I will anyways watch Thunivu when it's out on OTT.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2VvQKDxId8

Source - YouTube

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Gold- Malayalam -Prime

Very confused about this film. If it had come without any hype with some lessor known actors, it would have been actually an ok OTT watch. But such a star cast, all the hype about Alphonse Puthren doing a film after 7 years I think totally killed whatever possibilities it had. It had to be a totally amazing film to have met expectations. Looks like 7 years kind of made Puthren outdated considering the exceptional films we have seen in the last 5-6 years.

Gold in my opinion was a watchable OTT movie. The template was more of Neram, which was fresh 10 years back, but in the current times, the chaos at times looked forced / caricature-ish. Still did not feel as a cringe-fest like Monster.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

The cast and the roles they had makes you weep. Especially Nayantara - she was actually very good in the 10 min screen time she had. Then Roshan, Sharafu, Vinay Fort, Soubin, Lalu Alex, Shammi Thilakan. All stars who can lead films stuck with insignificant roles. Cannot blame them as they would have thought Puthren had something magical in mind.

I don’t have any issues with the known names and the significance of their respective roles. It’s an acting assignment and they all did justice to their respective parts (the leading man probably was the only exception). Lalu Alex and Shammi Thilakan were on a roll, Premkumar nailed that one scene he had, and Baburaj, Jagadeesh, Sharafudin, Chemban Vinod, Vinay Fort, Roshan, all of them did well with their miniscule parts. Nayantara had more acting time in this movie compared to some other movies where she had lengthy roles (e.g., Annaatthe, Godfather etc.).

[benbsb29]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Gold- Malayalam -Prime

Very confused about this film. If it had come without any hype with some lessor known actors, it would have been actually an ok OTT watch. But such a star cast, all the hype about Alphonse Puthren doing a film after 7 years I think totally killed whatever possibilities it had. It had to be a totally amazing film to have met expectations. Looks like 7 years kind of made Puthren outdated considering the exceptional films we have seen in the last 5-6 years.

The cast and the roles they had makes you weep. Especially Nayantara - she was actually very good in the 10 min screen time she had. Then Roshan, Sharafu, Vinay Fort, Soubin, Lalu Alex, Shammi Thilakan. All stars who can lead films stuck with insignificant roles. Cannot blame them as they would have thought Puthren had something magical in mind.

I agree with this. I have absolutely no idea why they needed to include all these actors, and not to forget a storyline that is so poor, it's a shame.

A one-time watch on OTT and even there, i ended up bored and distracted.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by benbsb29

I agree with this. I have absolutely no idea why they needed to include all these actors, and not to forget a storyline that is so poor, it's a shame.

I guess it was more like Puthren's friends and family outing, at the producer’s expense. But he went a step ahead (forgot to mention in the previous post). Wonder what was that extended dance sequence of his wife and group, with Soubin walking around in between.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by vb-san

I guess it was more like Puthren's friends and family outing, at the producer’s expense. But he went a step ahead (forgot to mention in the previous post). Wonder what was that extended dance sequence of his wife and group, with Soubin walking around in between.

That is his wife? I was wondering why have a random dance sequence with no connect.

Safe to say that Puthren has lost some friends after this

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

pretty much sums the review of Varisu and Thunivu

You seem to have high expectations from Vijay and Ajith movies. Here's an old Lollu Sabha based on Pokiri, pretty much summarizes how formulaic Vijay movies are. Nothing's changed before or after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEaDocO2TK8

Ajith's worth watching if he does negative roles like Valee or Mangatha. Otherwise is a stereotype. Thunivu is a ripoff going by the story a colleague told me. So you can expect a deja vu from a famous movie from late 2000s.

[poloman]

Malayalam audiences are not matured enough for or satirical or spoofy comedies like Gold. I really liked the movie. There was a similar movie by Lijo P some time back called "Double Barrel" starring Prithviraj. This was also panned by Critics, but I found that really good.

There is no scope for logic in such movies. These can contain ridiculous, farcical situations and demand viewing with a light heart. I think in Gold the director knew exactly what he was doing, but that was not what the audience expected.

As an example, there is lot criticism on the behavior of Prathviraj's mother character in the movie. I think she was fully aware what her son was doing, but despite magnitude of that, she was shown to be least bothered and focusing on her repetitive daily routine of cooking and getting joy out of feeding others. The director was just showing a well established characteristic trait of such aged women.

[Rajeevraj]

Mukundan Unni Associates-Hotstar- Vineet Srinivasan

A very different type of movie. Starts with a statement that " Most humans are grey, only some of them are .. Black ". Vineet Srinivasan in a very grey character and remains so till the end. No realisation or turning a new leaf. unapologetically self centered. This makes it unique. plays the role of an advocate who has never been able to succeed and decides he will succeed at any cost. Shades of roles Srinivasan used to do.

Vineet does very well, continuing to justify himself through a voice over that runs throughout. Debatable ending though, with a small hint of a second part.

Rating - 3.5/5

[Asish_VK]

Been on a movie watching spree this weekend

Mukundan Unni Associates (Malayalam) - Disney Hotstar - 5/5



Wow, what a movie. A dark comedy executed very well.
As shown in the title card, people are not just grey, some are just black!
No namesake glorification/justification of hero's (villian?!) evil actions was refreshing to see.

Main positives are :
Acting - Vineeth sreenivasan, we know he's a good siger, excellent director and average actor. But this movie shows he's a brilliant actor and dubbing artist too. He was carrying the role exceptionally well through his acting and the voiceovers. Very well supported by both female leads and Sudhi koppa.
Story & Screenplay - Very well thought out and executed. Very tight editing too. Never felt any lag anywhere.
Dark humour - worked very well. Movie felt dark and light at the same time.
BGM - Just perfect for the movie. Never was overpowering but complemented the overall mood very well.
Cinematography & editing : Liked how the aspect ratio changes as movie progresses, signifying the growth of the hero. Nice animations too.

Must watch.


Gatta Kusthi (Tamil) - Netflix : 2.5/5



Comedy action movie starring Vishnu Vishal and Aiswarya Lakshmi in lead

Started very well with some good comedy and action scenes. Had high hopes till the half time, after which the movie tapers down. Aiswarya did a good job as a wrestler. Would've been better if the movie was developed around her charector more.

One time watchable


Gold (Malayalam) - Amazon Prime 1/5




What to say! I heard all the negative reviews, but still went ahead an watched it. Would like to know what Alphons Putran was smoking while making this thing.
I'm still wondering how he convinced Nayantara to be part of this movie !
Same goes with Soubin, Siju Wilson, Sharaffudeen and the list goes on and on. This must be the movie with most number of cameos without any purpose.
Illogical story, charectors, comedy which didn't work, editing which resembles wedding videos of 90's. The list is endless.


Avoid.


Pattathu Arasan (Tamil) - Netflix 0/5



Absolute Cringe Fest. Family - sports drama which will cringe you to death throughout. Same old family story in same old family bottle with some kabaddi thrown in.
Someone should tell Atharva that looking grumpy is not "Mass"

Avoid!