[vibbs]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Not in minority at all. If fact I think a majority have this opinion. Which is why most of his movies are actually box office failures if you look only at the numbers. I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never get the hype around LJP movies.



Rating: 2/5

In the same boat. Not really a fan of his movies or his style of movie making, but I liked this better than many of his other movies because I feel Mammooty's acting in this one makes all the difference.

The camera is good and I liked how sounds of the village has been used as background. But apart from that I really did not get the point of it. I mean I know film makers like to leave movies open ended for audience to interpret but sometimes it just comes across as pretentious to me.

Anyways decent one time watch only because of Mammooty and the camera work.

[benbsb29]

Iratta - Malayalam (Netflix)

If i had to sum it up - It's different. A rather non-conventional ending that may not be to everyone's taste. Joju was excellent, well aided by the folks playing the role of the other police officers.

Somehow it felt rather convenient in the end, on how the clues dropped in.

Nicely done, but not quite there for me.

Rating : 3/5

[dragonfire]

Alone - Horrible movie. And Mohanlal was terrible. I don't know who is reading the scripts for him.

Iratta - It's a decent watch and not that great as some reviews suggest. if you take out the explosive climax, the movie is pretty pedestrian. The storytelling is rather inconsistent. The climax shocks, but provides an aftertaste that troubles you for quite some time.

Thankam - From the get go, I was hooked to this one. This is the kind of tone I like in my movies - neither mainstream nor art house. Not pretentious either - which is my main gripe with some LJP movies. The climax was rather underwhelming, but I wasn't expecting anything dramatic - which would have actually killed the movie as a whole.

If I have to rate, I'd give a 1 to Alone, a 3 to Iratta and a 4.5 to Thankam.

[poised2drive]

Balagam (Telugu)

Genre : Family Dramedy

A rare gem of a movie coming from a small budget .

The story is focussed on the immediate aftermath events of a "Death in the family" in a rural setup where the family itself has so many cracks, some visible and some not. And how those differences transform through the post death rituals and how it impacts the whole family is the main story.

Directed by a famous comedian "Jabardath" Venu as his debut venture with all newcomers or low profile actors apart from Priyadarshi & the director himself, the movie does not lack steam anywhere and has perfect pace from the beginning trying to establish the major characters where everyone played their role beautifully.

Though the whole movie revolves around death, the director cleverly intertwines all the minor details of individual peculiarities in the scenes which deliver funny moments lighting up the theme.

****/5 and lovers of small cinema must watch.

PS : The whole movie is in Telangana dialect of Telugu and hence has many cultural elements innate to the script and hence non-native speakers might not totally relate to the script.

[vb-saan]

Christopher – Malayalam (Amazon Prime) – 0.5/5
Another dud from the B. Unnikrishan – Uday Krishna universe. Filled with usual cliché scenes and English-peppered dialogues (the latter is a specialty of the director). And cringe gets into a new level with the number of rape scenes depicted throughout the movie. Like Uday Krishna’s earlier scripts (Aarattu, Monster), here also there are references of political correctness to mask his political incorrectness. Luckily there is no cute undercover agent Mohanlal here, and Mammootty tried his best to keep the movie alive (0.5 rating for that aspect alone).

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I will never get the hype around LJP movies.

Originally Posted by vibbs

In the same boat. Not really a fan of his movies or his style of movie making, but I liked this better than many of his other movies because I feel Mammooty's acting in this one makes all the difference.

Same here. Couldn’t stand Angamali Dairies, and quit the much-acclaimed Jallikettu after first 15 minutes or so. Surprisingly, I found Churuli more watchable than his previous outings, and Nanpakal was the most palatable of the lot.

Originally Posted by benbsb29

Iratta - Malayalam (Netflix)
A rather non-conventional ending that may not be to everyone's taste. Joju was excellent, well aided by the folks playing the role of the other police officers.

Non-conventional yes, but I did not really feel that it was shocking/haunting and so on – it was just different. And there was another movie (a classic) which had a similar kind of ending – not spelling out here to avoid spoilers

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

I have resigned myself to the fact that I will never get the hype around LJP movies.

Originally Posted by vb-san

Same here. Couldn’t stand Angamali Dairies, and quit the much-acclaimed Jallikettu after first 15 minutes or so. Surprisingly, I found Churuli more watchable than his previous outings, and Nanpakal was the most palatable of the lot.

Yes it is true to some extent, but in between he has given gems like Amen & Ee.Ma.Yau.

Also on a side note who can forget his reprisal of a don in Padayottam

[jkrishnakj]

I loved Iratta. 3.5/5

Thankam : - I was enjoying the movie till it ended in the fashion it did. Too many questions that I have, but I can't ask because it will be giving away the climax. It was a bit bizarre ending. And for that, its 3/5

[vibbs]

Iratta

I felt it was a very well made movie with brilliant acting from Joju Joseph and rest of the cast. The story telling was not linear, but did not feel forced. The ending was shocking and disturbing for me which is my biggest grouse with the movie.

Not to take anything away, but I like to leave a movie with happy thoughts. This one disturbed by sleep yesterday after watching it at night.

A very good watch however if you can handle difficult themes.

Ennalum Nteliya

This one started of ordinary but got instantly elevated the moment Lena and Siddique join. Wow, what a performance from Lena, I have never noticed her the way I did in this movie. However they got a bit preachy in the end. So all in all, ordinary start, good middle and poor ending.

A one time watch though for Siddique and Lena.

Mahaveeryar

Started off well and while I understand the movie intended to be a satire, I felt the courtroom scenes in the second half were too long drawn out and unimpressive. It is a fantasy story so no point looking for logic. However a decent watch but nothing great.

[Pequod]

Iratta - I get that a section of viewers might find the ending quite traumatic, for lack of a better word. But for someone who has watched a certain movie from the birthplace of Hyundai , this is kind of palatable.

As for the movie itself, the supporting characters are not as well fleshed out as the central ones and the flashback sequences were kind of ham-fisted. That gut wrenching climax and the impeccable Joju George make it a good one time watch though.

[skumare]

Originally Posted by poised2drive

Balagam (Telugu)
The story is focussed on the immediate aftermath events of a "Death in the family" in a rural setup where the family itself has so many cracks, some visible and some not. And how those differences transform through the post death rituals and how it impacts the whole family is the main story.

I plan to watch this soon, read good reviews of the movie. To compare and contrast, one can watch Ee.Ma.Yau which has a simialr story line.

[dailydriver]

Since most of activist/realist/ducutainment movies in Kannada aren't really box office successes, the mainstream media and the average film buff do not sing praises of them, even when they are good.

Only when they get recognised/awarded at the national and international stage do we deem it fit to shine some light on and throw in a good word about those movies.

I had, earlier in this thread, mentioned a movie called Harivu. The director of that one and a few others, namely Nathicharami and Act 1978, Manohara Somashekara Reddy, popularly known as Mansore is a craftsman par excellence. He posits and handles societal conflicts in such a nuanced yet in the face manner that one is left pondering about the scenes and characters long after presentation is over.

His latest creation is an interestingly titled movie 19.20.21.

Based on a true story that shook the conscience of the people as it went unfolding day after day in Karnataka, the movie dissects the society ruthlessly and brings out the ghosts of mistrust and injustice hidden deep underneath. Even having followed the actual story in real life - in real time, the movie kept me on tenterhooks till the end.

Well thought out dialogues, effective screenplay and no-nonsense acting elevate the movie a few steps up.

Since this is not a masala, popular or a populist offering, I am skeptical if this would appeal to the majority, but those who found Jai Bhim effective may kindly drop in at a neighbourhood theatre and watch 19.20.21.

I can assure you that you will come back a shaken but a better individual.

[Geo_Ipe]

Christopher - Malayalam, Prime

Mixed reactions after watching the movie. Mammootty has done well in recent years picking ageing/senior characters which he has been able to execute well. Screenplay was just about ok. Mammooty's single handed implementation of justice for women has been overdone for sure. However, the movie was worth one watch, supporting cast has done a good job as well.

Special mention for the beautiful Pajero SFX in black Mammooty was driving!!

Rating - 3.5/5

[Rajeevraj]

Christy-Malayalam-Prime

A movie with the theme of a young guy falling for a much older woman. Such movies have to be executed and acted very well for it to work. Unfortunately does not happen here. Matthew Thomas and Malavika Mohan play the lead roles and both seem to be in a dazed, staring mode pretty much throughout. The dialogs are slow and mostly weird. Some scenes in the middle section show the potential of what it could have been, but then completely goes off track again with an elongated, unbelievable airport sequence.

Rating: 1.5/5

Run Baby Run: Balaji and Aishwarya Rajesh-Tamil-Hotstar

RJ Balaji trying out a serious role in a crime thriller. Fairly ok one for most parts, the final act and revelation gives a sense of deja vu. Balaji struggles to maintain a serious face given that he is known for easy comedy.

Rating: 2.5/5

[mobike008]

Iratta- Malayalam Move on Netflix

I discovered Malayalam content a couple of years ago and some of their movies never fails to surprise me with the type of content they come up with.

They focus on normal looking people, normal environments, showcasing the beauty of Kerala, story telling, superb acting by almost everyone. It's nothing but, sheer brillance and I have become a fan of this language movies.

Iratta is another such a gem of a movie. Complex story line with such intricate emotions rolled into it all displayed via. a murder investigation keeps you hooked till the end and also might bring a tear or two to your eyes.

Joju George acted so well and I was sometimes confused who was Pramod and Vinod (then I realized that one guy has a slight whiter mustache and a rowdy swag).

Climax was indeed traumatic but, I have stopped getting shocked as world has changed a lot since we all grew up. Nothing shocks me anymore.

A must watch. !!

4/5

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Joju George acted so well and I was sometimes confused who was Pramod and Vinod (then I realized that one guy has a slight whiter mustache and a rowdy swag).

Very true, I got confused as well. There's a logic behind that as well. This dude drinks/smokes a lot while the other quit many years back. So kind of makes him look older. Read this somewhere.