[subraiyr]

Hi all

Did anyone watch Aruvi ? I think it is by far the best movie i have seen since the beginning of the year. The actors are debutants and provide a scathing personification of their characters. The direction is brilliant going back and forth and the director stops at times to let you create a perception and then moves forward to break the perception. I will be chastised to reveal the plot and therefore i will not. Great movie and definitely a must watch to begin the year.

Rated 4/5 for sure

[JohnyBoy]

Originally Posted by subraiyr

Hi all

Did anyone watch Aruvi ? I think it is by far the best movie i have seen since the beginning of the year. The actors are debutants and provide a scathing personification of their characters. The direction is brilliant going back and forth and the director stops at times to let you create a perception and then moves forward to break the perception. I will be chastised to reveal the plot and therefore i will not. Great movie and definitely a must watch to begin the year.

Rated 4/5 for sure

Agree. Good movie. Liked it except for the first 10 min and last 10 min. Those were boring and dragging.
4/5 is correct rating.

[Rajeevraj]

Aadhi-Malayalam-Pranav Mohanlal-Jeethu Joseph: The hugely hyped launch vehicle of Mohanlal's son directed by Jeethu Joseph. Typical Jeethu Joseph movie. Starts as a slow family drama and suddenly switches gears to a thriller mode. Pranav as Aadhi is a wannabe music director. Goes to Bangalore to sing in a posh club frequented by cine artists. Something goes wrong there and then he is on the run trying to prove his innocence while the bad guys and police all try to trap him.

Pranav is apparently very skilled in Parkour (in real life)

Parkour is a training discipline using movement that developed from military obstacle course training. Practitioners aim to get from one point to another in a complex environment, without assistive equipment and in the fastest and most efficient way possible. Parkour includes running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping, rolling, quadrupedal movement, and other movements as deemed most suitable for the situation. Parkour's development from military training gives it some aspects of a non-combative martial art.

The director has smartly kept this as the central theme and fashioned the movie around it. While the story is nothing great and has a good number of loop holes, the action sequences based on Parkour and Pranav's skill at executing make it quite interesting. Quite fast paced and terminates with a good climax sequence. Not the kind of action movie which you usually see in Malayalam (or maybe even in other languages).

Pranav has that boyish understated look that works for the character. No attempt made to make him a super hero and no romance track. although meant to be a star vehicle, good scope to perform for all the cast-Especially Sharafudeen and Anusree.

The movie starts with Pranav singing an iconic song from Mohanlal's first movie and the man himself makes a cameo appearance. Almost like the makers were worried and wanted to use some of Mohanlal's star power to pull in crowds. Was not really required.

Rating: 3.5/5

Edit: I had never heard of parkour and pretty sure that will be the case with a lot of people. Won't be surprised if this takes off in a big way among the younger generation.

[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Pranav is apparently very skilled in Parkour (in real life)

This is the general opinion on the movie - Film is just ok, Pranav's acting is just normal but his action sequence is something to watch.

I had quite enjoyed watching these stunts (Parkour) in few English movies and was even featured in a Top Gear challenge with James May. Yes, these guys were totally extreme.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nm5wQvAuaVE

Will definitely make an impact here from now on (Luckily Rajnikanth has been doing it ).

Anyhow, I shall be catching up with this movie later this week. And here's the making of the action sequence. Loved his dedication.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbA7ehOXgmo

Source - YouTube

[Latheesh]

Yes, story is average. His acting is average and role does not demand any great acting. His action sequences are excellent. "Gypsy Women" song in the movie is written and sung by him.

[shashanka]

Any Bengali channel watchers here? I've been watching Zee Bangla (mostly - together with a light sprinkling of other Bengali channels) for a while and have found it to be a revelation of sorts.

A good number of the soaps & reality shows seem to have caught up with & surpassed their Bollywood counterparts (a purely subjective view, I must admit!).
And today, as a retired senior citizen, I find that the evenings (or at least portions of them) pass very pleasantly with "Andarmahal", "Dadagiri"(with Sourav Ganguly), "Rangiye Diye Jao" and a couple of others. And it also provides animated material for dinner table chit-chat!

[naveen.raju]

Hey Jude

A watchable movie but the second half is a bit boring. Siddique was brilliant in the first half and Vijay Menon acted pretty well. Felt Nivin was a bit artificial and sometimes you find his acting a bit irritating. Also his English delivery doesn't suit an Anglo Indian.

No Shyamprasad magic in this and would recommend a DVD watch.

Rating - 3/5

[treadmark]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Need to watch Carbon. Any movie that has Fahad is worth watching just for his acting. Such a fine performer.

Amazing performance by Fahad, to me he is growing / learning as an actor and this will be evident from his recent films. If you had felt he had become a better actor in Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum then Carbon is the next step.

Originally Posted by ecenandu

Mayanadhi - Just loved the film. There is honesty in the portrayal of love between Mathan(Tovino) and Aparna(Aishwarya). I made eight relatives to go and watch the movie and all of them enjoyed it. It is worth a watch, you won't be disappointed.
3.5/5

Even me, but the other way round, my cousin called and asked me to watch the movie and in fact she had called all my cousins and made to watch this. It is too good to be missed for the portrayal.

Cheers!

[deetjohn]

Of the new lot, I am really keen on watching Carbon.

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

I had quite enjoyed watching these stunts (Parkour) in few English movies .....

Casino Royale! That opening chase was simply brilliant. And it helps that Parkour co-inventor too was in that sequence.

[deetjohn]

Saw Captain - the malayalam movie and it turned out to be a huge disappointment. Instead of celebrating the life of V P Sathyan and football, it was really a collection of many sad moments - the movie dwelled on it just too much. The good sporting moments were rushed/ too short and those felt hollow as well. Not sure how it got a good rating in bookmyshow and all.

[naveen.raju]

Poomaram

The much awaited movie turned out to be mediocre.Not the usual movie from Abrid, as this is all about the arts, music, youth festival. In fact, it's A to Z of youth festival. A bit long and could have easily trimmed the movie. Kalidas could have done better. He's just got one expression and in the next shot he will be singing . It's not the same kid who acted really well some 10-15 years back.

People who have experienced the youth festival back in school days will enjoy the movie (I was one) but for others, it will be a drag and moreover they have deleted "kadavathoru thoni" song .

Rating - 2.5/5

[vdi]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Poomaram

Kalidas could have done better. He's just got one expression and in the next shot he will be singing . It's not the same kid who acted really well some 10-15 years back.

[/b]

The girl who acted as chairperson done an awesome job.

[deetjohn]

Saw Sudani from Nigeria and I loved it!

Usually when you watch a good movie, there will be some scenes where one will think that some aspects could be a bit different or better. Well! Nothing was out of place on this one. Its brilliant!

A must watch!

[shashanka]

Saw "Hemlock Society" (Bengali, 2012) - an interesting & current theme, with euthanasia making headlines recently. The plot revolves around a man who runs a school called "Hemlock Society" which teaches aspirants how to successfully commit suicide. He develops a bond with one of its students, Meghna (Koel), a depressed and dejected woman, and what follows is an unforgettable and life-changing journey for both.

[vb-saan]

Poomaram
After a long time got to watch a Malayalam movie in a theatre, and very happy that it was this movie! Despite of mixed reviews I went for this because of the director's previous two efforts, and personally I loved it. I have not experienced the university youth festival scene in Kerala, but the movie literally placed me in there for a couple of hours.

Any negatives - the opening scene was a bit like reading dialogues from a book.
Rating: 4/5

Amy
For many years I had stayed away from movies directed by Kamal, largely due to his pseudo youth themes and movies with shallow characters. I did not have much hope on the movie, especially after reading all those negative reviews, but it was indeed a pleasant surprise. The attention to detail and the balancing he has done without being too diplomatic is praiseworthy. Almost everyone acted brilliant, and Manju Warrier was just amazing - happy that Vidya Balan chose to opt out of the movie; quite sure that she wouldn't have done justice to the character.
Rating: 4/5

And this song from Poomaram is my new favourite!

http://youtu.be/4XQOBQQgApg