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Action Hero Biju (Malayalam- Nivin Pauly- Abrid Shine-The guy who made 1983)

Huge pre-release hype as it was a Nivin Pauly film coming after 7 months and the first release post the all time blockbuster 'Premam'.

Story deals with a police station, a sub inspector Biju and the kind of incidents a policeman has to encounter.

A decent watch, but as deetjohn mentioned above, kind of loses its way in the 2nd half as there is no real story connecting all the happenings. Some incidents are touching and some attempt to convey a message.

Nivin has to shoulder the film completely and does a good job, seems to be an attempt to get out of his romantic/boy next door image but at the same time not getting into a full action/super hero mode. The rest of the cast is mostly new-some of them do well and some of them ham it up. Suraj is there in a cameo that is good. The heroine has absolutely no screen time and I think had only 3 or 4 dialogues.

Definitely not as good as the combo's first file 1983, which of course had the benefit and backing of the cricket nostalgia.


Rating:2.5/5

Big hype in Bangalore looking at the number of shows including 3 in PVR Gold Class.

Action Hero Biju (Malayalam) :: Nivin Pauly teams up again with 1983’s director Abrid Shine; this time they are also the producers of the movie. The film’s caption says ‘A ride with a police officer’ and that gives you an idea on what to expect. This, most probably, is the most realistic police movie that we have seen in malayalam cinema. You don’t get to see the superhero cop who goes around fighting hundred goons and delivering punch dialogues. Instead you get to see an ordinary and sincere sub-inspector. Usually police movies are about one single case or mission which ends with the arrest or killing of the villain but here, they show the real life events that happen in the life of a police officer. He goes on from solving one case to another and that continues. Nivin, who’s said to be doing films in his ‘comfort zone’ has certainly tried something different and I believe he has succeeded to an extend. Dialogue delivery is one point he needs to improve. Major Ravi, Jude Anthany, Rony, Rohini, Meghanathan etc did justice to their roles. Suraj came up with an impeccable performance in his cameo. Heroine looks cute but her acting leaves a lot to be desired. BGM by Ragesh Murugeshan was superb.

After the huge success of Premam it was easy for Nivin to do a superhero kind of role and cement his stardom but he chooses to experiment and I think that should be appreciated. The movie was received with mixed response on the first day, since the audience were just not ready to accept a realistic cop-movie but positive word of mouth have started spreading from 2nd day onwards. I really hope this movie becomes a hit.

My Rating- 7.5/10


Maheshinte Prathikaaram (Malayalam) :: Fahadh Faasil is one of the most talented actors in malayalam but he hasn’t had a notable hit recently. But he seems not to bothered about the commercial success of his movies and continues doing the movies that he believes to be good ones. Finally, here’s one movie which everyone, the actor, critics and audience would enjoy! This is the directorial debut of Aashiq Abu’s associate and actor Dileesh Pothan. Scripted by Syam Pushkaran, the movie is produced by Aashiq Abu. The movie is about an ordinary guy, a small town photographer living in Idukki.
I absolutely loved the movie. This probably is the most entertaining movie I watched recently. Fahad excelled in his role, as always. Soubin Shahir is the one to be noted. With his realistic potrayal of humor, he is a treat to watch. Everyone from Alancier, Jaffer Idukki, Anusree, Aparna to each and every new actors were perfect for their roles. Shyju Khalid’s cinematography was simple and neat. Bijibal’s music took the movie to another level. ‘Idukki’ song was simply awesome.

My Rating-9/10. Must Watch :thumbs up

Saw Action hero Biju today. Disappointed. Movie itself was decent, but Nivin was the weakest link IMO. He is severely handicapped I guess while dishing out Dialogues. All angry scenes were acted so badly that its hard to imagine this is the same guy who did Premam (Not that his acting was great in that either).

Nivin Pauly needs to work heavily on his dialogue delivery.

Action Hero Biju:

A simple realistic police movie as all pointed out. Can get to see the kind of drama happening in stations, silly cases and the life of the police. Really loved the way that they have used ordinary people and their acting was super natural. Suraj came in with a cameo. But really expected a lot from the team.

It's a one time watch.

Rating -3/5

Visaranai - Long time since a movie sucked me in so completely and made me feel for its characters. A must watch and only in theaters. The sound design is remarkable. It was like the police officers were hitting me!!! A terrific, terrific movie which deserves to be a huge hit.

Completely agreed with you. What a movie!!

Thoroughly enjoyed and that 'true event' was just awesome.


Rajesh.

Maheshinte Pratikaaram-Malayalam-Fahad Fazil

As mentioned in earlier posts a neat simple movie. After reading the reviews and reports, my expectations were very high, maybe because of that, did not feel it was a 'wow' movie. But a good watch nevertheless. All actors led by Fahad did an excellent job.

Rating 3.5/5

Small Spoiler Alert below:

This movie reminded me of Srinivasan's 80's classic 'Ponmutta idunna Tharavu'. A small village/town, A hero who runs a 'standard' family shop-A goldsmith in that one, a studio here. A bunch of side actors who do a great job and rally behind the hero. A failed romance where the girl leaves the hero when a better prospect come up-There a 'Gulf' Proposal, Here a 'Canada' Proposal. An event which connects the hero and the 2nd heroine through their profession-Gold and Photography. And then of course the 'Revenge' which kind of takes a different path.

Maheshinte Prathikaaram

Agree to others. A simple but brilliant movie. I did have high expectations after hearing the reviews. All the lead characters played brilliantly especially Fahad, Soubin, Alancier Lay. The songs were pretty ok but the Idukki song was awesome. The only thing that disappointed me was the abrupt ending and the simple cinematography (although it was good, it wasnt special). Expected beautiful frames since the location was Idukki.

Rating - 4.5/5

Verdict - Must Watch

Puthiya Niyamam

The whole movie centers around Nayanthara who acted pretty well. Mammootty did his part well although it wasnt something to write about. The BG and music was below par especially when it came from Gopi Sundar. The only thing to write about is the climax (which really wasnt super suspense but something that kept us alive) and Nayanthara's acting. Otherwise, the movie was a drag, especially the first half and I could see couple of guys walking out of the theater.

Rating - 2/5
Verdict - DVD watch, definitely not a theater outing

Anyone watched Vettah? The director Rajesh Pillai passed away yesterday! Loved his previous movies - Traffic and Mili.

Coincidence. :) just booked tickets today evening show.

Was shocked to hear about his passing away. Thought first it was a rumor.

Vettah:

A psychological thriller with a good and potential story but the movie was bit of a drag. The music was pretty ok and the BGM was really good but gets irritating as it plays the same thing throughout the movie. Kunchacko boban was pretty good and portrayed his character really well. Nothing special about others (Manju Warrier and Indrajith). It had the story and could have made a thriller.

Rating - 3/5
OT - Was good to see most of the crowd applauding at the end as this was his last movie.

Watched 4 movies , all in theatres this time.

Here goes the reviews. Will also give a brief review of my experience of the various theatres as all four were at different venues. Was the first time at two of them and a third one I was visting after a couple of decades. All the tickets were booked at the respective venues either on the day of the movie or the previous day

Maheshinte Pratikaaram

Watched the 11 AM show at Cinemax - Oberon Mall- Kochi.Considering how popular this movie was , got the best seats (the premium seats) in the hall for 200 Rs which for a Sunday morning was a great deal. My first time at Cinemax and definitely a good alternative to PVR at Lulu. Food prices inside the theatre are exhorbitant though. The hall is equally well maintained like the one at PVR Lulu although the later has 10 screens compared to the 4 at Cinemax. And one small thing I really liked is if you are booking at the theatre both the start as well as end times are mentioned at the counter which may be a minor thing but of great help if you have other commitments as well - in particular a bus or train to catch after the movie.
As for the movie nothing more to add than those already mentioned by others. A simple realistic picture, beautifully crafted. So very natural. Reminded me of Om Shanti Oshana the 2014 hit ,as both were equally realistic.

Two Countries.

Well some may disagree but I felt this one was way too over rated. Tried and tested Dileep antics. Some how I found the earlier effort of Dileep and Mamta Mohandas , the 2012 movie "My Boss" a much more entertaining and cleaner one. The success of that movie owed as much to Kalabhavan Shajon on a side role as much as the lead pair. And while the topic of an alcoholic wife my be fine the frequency with which it has been portrayed makes it appear like (despite the statutory warnings) the move was financed by the liquor industry which of course may not be the case. Watchable - but the same tried and tested formula can get boring afer a while .


This was another first time venue for me. Carnival Cinemas at the KSRTC complex at Angamaly. Reached at 1.10 PM for a 1.30 PM movie and found one ticket counter (out of three) manned and most people ahead seemed to be taking tickets for the 3 PM show of Maheshinete Pratikaaram. Got the tickets at 1.25 finally.

But while first impressions may be the best impressions in many cases, this small thing turned out for me to be the only bad impression of Carnival. Just 3 screens but very well maintained. A real patriotic touch was the screening of Jana Gana Mana video before the movie started and everyone stood up. Really felt proud to be an Indian. Professional staff, very reasonably priced F and B outlets and more importantly enough time in the break for everyone to make their purchases without fear of missing the start of the second half. And yes just opposite to the booking counter a new Vegetarian restaurant "Rasam" has started. Not sure whether part of the same group. Prices were a steal, good service and since they gave a feedback form, filled it and was surprised to find the manager calling me back the next day to try to understand better what I had written. At 120 Rs for a third (from the rear) row seat , the movie pricing was very competitive as well.

However I noticed a rather distrubing trend in both these movies. It may have been too minor for most people to notice but there was aa "humorous" reference in both movies about the anti smoking news reel which is now mandatorily screened before each movie. It may be a convenient and easy way to get a "quick laugh" but making fun of an issue which deals with one of the biggest causes of cancer is not something which personally I find anything to laugh at esepcially when these movies are screened for an audience which have a large number of young kids. I know quite a few doctors and other activists who have devoted their entire lives trying to get these screenings mandatory and it is rather surprising that such distrubing characterisations , however trivial it may seem is being allowed in such movies.

Action Hero Biju

Liked it better than Premam . A very fair portrayal of the police although I felt the movie was a bit too long and somewhat dragging at the end. Considering the movie had a "heroine" , may be the director could have given a little more role for her to do in the movie.

Watched the movie at Sree Padmanabha, Trivandrum. a venue which I was visting afte more than 20 years. Yes the theatre has been refurbished, seats are good, projection is much better. But that is just about it .

Had to wait in the road outside the gtes till 30 minutes before the show started. which considering it was until 11 AM in the hot sultry city bus stand area of Trivandrum was not a rejuvenating experience by any means . After that you rush in with about 100 others to find that you got into the wrong queue. The two queues ( for first class and balcony) are separated by a railing which made me understand painfully the benefits of "slimness", the space between the wall and the railing being so narrow. And ofcourse they started issuing the tickets a mere 15 minutes before the show started and while there was a pedestal fan it was clearly for the benefit for the gentlemen issuing the tickets and not for the money paying public. A further sauna bath was the unrequested result. And the tickets had no seat numbers. Balcony tickets cost 100 Rs.Asked the gentleman at the hall entrance who informed it is "open seating" except for those which had a "reserved" board. The cafteria was average the wash rooms horrible and overall it made my 120 Rs movie watching experience at Carnival appear like I was dining at the Taj Mahal hotel in Colaba. In short suggest avoid this theatre at all costs . The government run Kalabhavan theatre at Vazhuthacaud is far better for the same price.

Akashvani

One of the newest releases. My opinion is summed up in one word- "Rubbish"!. Please do not waste your time. Not even worth a DVD watch. Slept through the second half- the excellent air conditioning at the venue helped . Watched the movie at PVR in Lulu Mall, Kochi. As good as ever . They have really maintained the movie hall. Interestingly I wanted to catch this same movie at Aries Multipex (SL Theatre complex) at Trivandrum the previous day, but at 10.15 for a 11 AM Monday morning show they were unsure whether the movie would be screened at all since according tie the staff there were no online bookings made althought it was released just three days prior.

Me too watched vettah today. Pretty much same opinion as Naveen mentioned. A decent watch but if you think back, lot of plot loopholes. Kunjakko was the best of the lot and manju warrier since her comeback for the first time not the primary focus throughout the movie. Also looking very fit and trim.

Watched at the new PVR in VR Mall ( right next to Phoenix market city). 8 screens including 4 gold class and an imax. Good theatre.

This is small, but definitely very useful. More movie theaters must do it.

Last December, I had to pick-up a cousin and her kids who were watching a late night movie at Oberon. When I checked online, I was surprised to find the closing time for the show on Google for this movie theater. Since movies these days can sometimes be only 2 hours long and others last for more than 3 hours, it came in very handy to reach there just in time rather than loitering around the empty shops at the mall.

BTW, Thanks for your descriptive reviews.