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Watched Malayalam movie vellimoonga. A very nice watch. End to end entertainer with plenty of good moments. Typically comedy/light movies start of well and then loses its way halfway through with typically lots of sentiments or action thrown in. This was refreshingly different. Remained light end to end. Biju Menon looks trim and had done an excellent job. His best performance in a comedy role IMO. Good performance from everyone in the cast ( except the heroine who looked good but probably had the least number of scenes). No violence no vulgarity and no below the belt jokes to create a laugh.

Last week's Tamil release "Madras" was actually quite good. A very predictable plot, but the movie is well made and almost all actors except the lead Karthi are pretty much unknown and that adds to the realistically set story in North madras. Recent movies like Madras and "jigerthnanda" are the flavour of the season!

I recently saw the Marathi movie Rege.
Dark and noir , its about a kid (MBBS student, university topper) from a family of doctors who falls into the wrong company, and gets pulled into the underworld whorl. The direction is slick, the story telling is non linear and very gripping, there is never a dull moment, yet nothing over the top which is so typical of such movies.
What makes it extra real is the prominent portrayal of real life encounter specialists, Pradeep Sharma (Mahesh Manjrekar) and Sachin Vaze (Pushkar Shrotri).
I would say this film is an absolute must watch, and its available with subtitles as well.
My rating : 4.5/5

Homely Meals (Malayalam) is an engaging entertainer. A good attempt by Vipin Atlee n team. Loved it.
My Rating- 7.5/10

Ithihasa (Malayalam) , I guess, is the 1st Indian movie which tells the story of body swap. Shine Tom Chacko was good as a small time thief. Anushree steals the show with her power packed performance. Her transformation from a shy village girl to a rough and tough guy was brilliant. Deepak Dev's backgroung score was good. Overall, its a watchable entertainer.

My Rating- 7/10

Would like to recommend the Marathi movie "Dr. Prakash Baba Amte" which is based on Padmashree Prakash Baba Amte's social work carried out in Hemalkasa which is a small village in Maharashtra. Nana Patekar & Sonali Kulkarni are playing the characters of Mr. Prakash Amte & Mandakini Amte respectively. Nice movie.

Rating : 4.5 / 5

Kaththi (Tamil) is an emotional film with a socially relevant theme and has enough commercial elements to satisfy the fans of the hero. This is one of the best performances of Vijay as an 'actor'. Samantha looks cute and just serves as an eye candy as in every hero oriented mass films. Neil Nithin Mukesh was impressive with his stylish looks and delivered his tamil lines very well. Anirudh's music takes the movie to another level. Cinematography was eye catching. Action scenes, especially the coin fight, were well choreographed.
Overall, Kaththi is a well made entertainer with a good social message.

My Rating- 7/10

Well personally among the Malayalam movies, I liked Om Shaanti Oshaana a lot. If you are watching with young kids, ABCD (American Born Confused Desi) is a good one . My son had a great time really enjoying it . Bangalore Days ofcourse was again well made and a family entertainer allthough if you are looking at serious movies, the earlier award winnng movie of the same director Anjali Menon's "Manjadikuru" is defnitely worth a watch . This is a 2009 movie but commercially released only in 2012.

"How Old are you" ,Manju Warrier's comeback film in my opinion is vastly over rated and over hyped but then I am sure a lot of people here may disagree. And fnally one of the best I have watched recently was "Ayalum Njanum Thammil" starring Prithviraj. However do not waste time on yet another movie of his "London Bridge" which in my opinion takes mediocrity to new heights.

I second this, watched this last night and nice movie to watch, bit of comedy but keeps you glued to your seat:thumbs up

My Rating- 8/10

Regards,
Sajan

Totally agree with both your views here. I watched "Ayalum Njanum Thammil" at a theatre in Kerala without much idea of what the movie is about and went in with an open mind. Must say i loved it. The foot-tapping yet memorable numbers, along with the lush locales made for good viewing, not discounting anything from the cast and their performance itself!

"London Bridge" was horrible, and if not for the Ferrari and the Range Rover shown at regular intervals, i wouldn't even have bothered watchign beyond a point. :D Prithviraj wore red pants in that movie.. inspired by Sallu?

Watched two movies back to back yesterday. Kathi (Tamil) and Happy New Year (Hindi).

Kathi (Tamil)- 2/5.

One point for the relevant social message given towards the climax. Another point for an innovative stunt scene where the hero (Vijay) uses darkness to his advantage by switching the lights on and off between hits.

But other than that- it is just another Vijay film. Samantha was used as a prop and made to look rather stupid most of the time. Some comedy scenes were good but nothing to write home about. Oddly, many a time the scenes reminded me of Santhanam comedy and I kept thinking that he could have done it better.

Go with minimal expectations if you are not fond of the usual Vijay film format. However, the social cause that's portrayed in the film is relevant for all and makes the last 30 mins of the film a one-time must watch.

Folks,

In Trivandrum for a week. Please suggest any recent good Malayalam movies that are released on DVD. Last one I bought was Monkey Pen. Also, any movie worth watching running in theaters this week?

EDIT:
Possible options I'm considering for DVDs:
Munnariyippu
Bangalore Days
God's Own Country
Njan Steve Lopez

Any feedback on any of these?

My reviews of recently watched movies:

Monkey Pen - 4/5
Ring Master - 2.5/5
Mr. Fraud - 2/5

Varsham (Mammooty-Ranjith Shankar) is releasing tomorrow. Should be a good watch based on Ranjith Shankar's past history (Passenger, Arjunan Sakshi, Punyalan Agarbatthis). Another release is a Fahad Fazil one.

Out of your list, Gods Own Country and Bangalore Days are worthwhile buys. Munnariyippu is an art film, you may love it or hate it depending on taste. Better to stay away from Steven Lopez.

1983, Om Shanti Oshana are decent buys if you have not watched yet.

Thanks. Ended up purchasing Bangalore Days, Oru Indian Pranayakatha, Om Shanthi Oshana, Munnariyippu and North 24 Kaatham yesterday. Couldn't find 1983 anywhere.

Here are the ones I watched so far :)

Oru Indian Pranayakatha: 3.5/5
- One of the better movies from Anthikkad in recent times. Excellent script and memorable performance from Fahad - he really lived that role. Would probably have given it a 4 if Amala Paul's dialogue delivery wasn't so artificial and annoying.

Munariyippu: 3/5
- Kayyoppu style. Not recommended for someone who just wants to unwind with a movie but should be an okay watch for the more serious crowd.

Ormayundo Ee Mugham (Malayalam) is a simple, light hearted rom-com. Good performances by Vineeth, Namitha, Aju and Soumya. Shan Rahman's songs were above average n bgm was good. Cinematography helped in making the simple story line look beautiful on screen. Director Anvar Sadik makes a decent debut. Worth a watch.

My Rating- 7/10.