When I though of single detailed recommendation for this weekend, 3 films came to my mind: Rahul riji nair’s State award winning winning Ottamuri velicham( JIO CINEMA-MALAYALAM) that brutally and subtly depicts domestic violence,Killa(NETFLIX-MARATHI), a delicate light-hearted story of the re-discovery of a boy,Court(MARATHI) makes you ponder on the situations of dalits and freedom denied for artists to express their views in their performances.But Jojo rabbit(ENGLISH) outperformed the other 3 and thus became my recommendation of the week.

Jojo is a German boy who blindly follows Hitler and his anti-jew principles. He got to find that his mother hides a jew girl.He tries to kill her at times but he couldn’t do it.He slowly understands her situation and finds an emotional connect with her.

Script focuses more on how children are getting affected by war.10 year children are asked to carry knife always,given gun and grenades. Imaginative hitler even gives cigarette to the 10-year old jojo.

Director puts forward an imaginative character of Hitler who advises him not to defy from any rules.Director himself portrays the role of Hitler (just look at his expressions) who insists him to decide whether he need to die for his country or die without any trace.In the end,Joe stamps him out of the window and that states that Humanity is more important.

Roman griffin Davis is awesome as jojo and the scenes in which he scares,hugs his hang mother’s body,interact with the girl and friend are a treat to watch. Director exhibits his craft in various scenes especially in a scene where few incidents after grenade scene are shown from Jojo’s perspective.Background score though minimal enough keeps us stay with the film(bgm when jojo cries in a scene makes us too emotional).Special mention for the art work (beautiful house and old cars).This story is shown around 1945 2nd world war and the portrayal of war seemed authentic.

Jojo rabbit offered me a moving  experience I haven’t had before and I think that’s its USP.

I hope my suggestions are getting useful anywhere in my readers .With that note, i am continuing my suggestion chain. For a change, I shift my selection strategy in this list and concentrate more on films in languages other than Malayalam.

1. TUMBBAD (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO-HINDI):This unbelievably unique periodic fantasy tale of greedy men is stunning with brilliant script, terrifying bgm,nice frames, art direction and performance(especially the child actors).Recommended for an experimental watch.
2.  OTTAL (NETFLIX-MALAYALAM): I have read the short story Vanka by Anton Chekhov after watching Ottal.I was surprised how master class Jayaraj is to explore the possibility of a film in this 2 page short story. Kuttappayi, a child and his grandfather lives in village with his friend.Kuttipayi isn’t able to continue his studies. After few years, Kuttappayi writes a letter to his grandfather about his pain on a Christmas Eve day. Try not to miss this authentic beautiful village story.
3. THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND (NETFLIX-ENGLISH & CHEWA): Trywell and his family lives with farming. After flood and famine, they are in trouble. Trywell’s 13 years old son Williams is thrown out of his school as his family can’t afford to pay fees. How William lends his hand to support his family forms the story. Director succeeded in portraying the hardships of the family. The scenes involving chief were hard hitting. William’s scenes with dog were lovely. “We have food for 1 meal/day. Decide when to have it“. William’s father’s dialogues really convey their fight to live.
4. . SECTION 375(AMAZON PRIME VIDEO-HINDI):Section 375 is a bold courtroom drama that revolves around a film director stands accused in a case of raping his costume designer assistant. It turned out to be an out-of-box movie towards the 2nd half and  writer Manish gupta narrates a possibility of misusing law.However, things on paper towards climax could have been made more effective on screen especially the major twist.(felt hurried ).Still this film says us to think from the other side of perspective for any case (even though case can be one sided at a glance) to retain justice.I don’t know how many will accept the climax.
5. KD ENGIRA KARUPPU DURAI (NETFLIX-TAMIL): A charming small movie about the relationship between brave Kutty and solely Karuppu durai (later he names him KD).Madhumita places beautifully designed scenes to make the journey smooth. The scenes where they discuss and finishes all wish list will be truly a treat to watch and it stays with you. KD is just pure joy. Catch it and Watch it.
6. MERKU THODARCHI MALAI (NETFLIX-TAMIL): Vijay Sethupathi’s production and Lenin bharathi’s directional debut is about the Cardamom plantation workers in Theni district (mix of Malayalam and Tamil) and the efforts of a man who wishes to own land. The, happiness of that man after getting the land, life of people climbing the hill and the politics related to the problems of  the working men carries the intensity and ensures a quality watch.
7. HICHKI (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO-HINDI): Hichki is about Naina mathur(Rani mukherjee) with Tourette syndrome choosing a teaching job and the difficulties she undergo in teaching 9F, a class that the school  itself never mind. Will she triumphs in the challenge?.Watch the movie to find out.Director Sidharth malhotra turns a predictable and template plot to an emotional and fresh ride.”There are no bad students, only bad teachers”, says Naina. This is a tribute to all teachers who finds a hope in a hopeless student. This is a must watch for teachers to find new ways of teaching and fully understand a student.
8. OTTAYALPATHA (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO-MALAYALAM): Akhil, a graduate is in search of a way to convince his father of his journey with his girlfriend to Bangalore for job. His father has contradicting nature: He says that his son is trying to kill him by increasing insulin count and at the same time, reminds of beautiful moments with his son from his past. This film is just having 6 characters and is about the conversation between Father and son. Look out for Kaladharan’s (Father) performance in terrace scene and the scene where he recalls his Bangalore days. It’s slow mood film and surely not every one’s cup of tea.                                                   From next week, my suggestion list will be stopped and I’m getting back to single detailed review due to several reasons.My next pick will be Assamese film Aamis(can be downloaded from telegram channels).As Aamis is suggested to be watched without knowing the plot, review will not be updated.      Let’s meet next week.

Well, Lock-down continues, so as my recommendation list. As soon as my recommendation list tends to end, I keep on adding new gems to the list. I think real talent has no value and that’s why we have a list of underrated films. This week, I have 5 films (3 Malayalam,1 Tamil  and 1 Hindi) and 1 web-series in the line-up.

1. PIRAVI (YOUTUBE): In a small village, elderly Chakyar (Premji) awaits his son Raghu’s arrival for the celebration of his daughter’s (Archana) engagement. Chakyar goes to bus stop, waits there but can’t find his son. What happened to him and who are responsible for it? Who tells the truth and who lies?

No more spoilers. Just watch the movie to see the Shaji N Karun magic. Let the film speak for itself than my words.

2.LUNCHBOX(NETFLIX-HINDI):  Fernandez (Irfan khan), living a tiring lonely life gets a delicious lunch after dabbawals accidently exchanged  Tiffin carriers and that incident brings light of hope and happiness to his dark life. Lunchbox is a box of beautiful stories. The story of Fernandez, wife who wants his husband to complement the food she cooks and interacts with Fernades and Fernandez’ assistant (Nawasudin Sidique) who doesn’t worry much about being orphan. While watching, if your mind says ‘Is it possible to repeat the same mistake by a Tiffin carrier service multiple time and reach the same person?’ kick the thought out and watch this light-hearted authentic treat.

3. SAIVAM( HOTSTAR-TAMIL): Kathiresan (Nasser) decides to bring a family get together to do the ritual of slaughtering a rooster to solve family problems.But  his grand-daughter Tamizh selvi(Sara Arjun)had other ideas. Director AL Vijay has added equal amount of humour and emotion to the plot to make the viewer thoroughly engaged. Special mention to GV Prakash kumar’s background score (that aptly sets the film’s mood) and all actors(especially the children). Saivam really has an  innocence as its central character and will be  a stress-buster for the viewer.

4. AKASHATHINTE NIRAM (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO): A burglar (Indrajith), in a bid to rob an old man (Nedumudi Venu), gets stranded on an island. He only finds a boy and a dumb girl as helpers to that old man. They seldom talk to the burglar. They don’t react when he gets angry or shouts at them. He can’t find a way to get out of the island. But the island and the people around him change his life. With soothing visuals, minimal dialogues and background score, Akashithinte niram fits best for a one-time watch.

5. CR NO: 89 (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO): A mechanic, two men travelling in a jeep and a guy whose marriage is fixed Unite in a conflict. 2 men have contrasting characters: One short tempered (actor’s performance not up to the mark) and the other one Cool (He loses his temper only once in this movie), mechanic who doesn’t change his decision to help them and the naive guy getting trapped in between. Director Sudevan tried to establish different characters (without revealing much backdrop) individually and brought an interesting conflict to unite each other. But, the quality of theme needs to be maintained in the sub-plots and the technical side (Slow lengthy scenes) to make it more intriguing. Give it a try. I believe that it won’t be a waste of time.

WEB-SERIES: Among the trending ones like Money heist, Asur, The family man etc… , it is difficult to find an underrated one. Queen is one such available for free.

6. QUEEN (MX PLAYER-TAMIL/TELUGU/HINDI): follows the life of Sakthi seshadri, a school topper turned actress through an interview session. This web series consist of 11 seasons: Initial seasons narrate the school days of Sakthi, shows us how brilliant she was. The scene that shattered her dreams (her mother insists her to act in films) and the way Anikha performs really conveys the emotions of the character .Another beautiful sub-plot is the scenes with her friend Pinky. Soon, Shakthi turns to an established actress and her meeting with a politician cum actor GMR changed her life. GVM‘s making really is a big positive for this web series. Each episode is around 40-50 minutes but it won’t be boring for sure.

I hope I can bring you another set of even more quality recommendations next week.

Short films are a greater choice of interest for majority audience due to the free availability, running time and quality it provides compared to feature films. It’s also disappointing that Rubbish short films are getting millions of views and beautiful short films aren’t getting the deserving views and support. Here is a list of 5 remarkable Malayalam short films available on YouTube for free.

1. VELI: is an interpretation of a group of Children’s rehearsal of Ramayana drama. Veli mainly revolves around Ravanan. The Drama director’s mother humiliates the caste of the boy who plays Ravanan and questions the racism (Steel glass and the other glass).This short’s climax (Special mention to the Ravana’s eye extreme close shots) is the Director Vineeth Vasudevan answer for the kind of attitude.
2. MAZHACHILLUKAL: What is the role of an umbrella between a Father and a Son relationship? Mazhachillukal will give you the answer. This short is about a boy Abhi losing his Spider man umbrellas quite often that his father isn’t able to afford to buy every time. What he does to resolve forms the story. This short gives you the nostalgia of village life and very relatable incidents (may drive you back to your past).Special mention to the emotional touch that the climax offers,
3. INTERROGATION: Totally different from the above mentioned shorts, Interrogation is social satire with inner meaning.4 brothers are questioned for the killing of their Father: Guneshan(main Culprit),Prasanth(not interested to cooperate with the investigation team),Adersh(who says that ‘njan ayalde makanalle, enne thavid koduth medichathanu) and Dineshan(main witness whose words enough to punish Guneshan).The interrogation goes interestingly and alternatively.The song that Guneshan and his advocate sings forms the message of this short.
4. COLORFUL HANDS: Edited ,produced and directed by Advait Jayasurya,The colorful Hands tells the story of efforts of 4 friends to clean their locality when 1 of them got affected by Malaria. Art work is commendable (so as the frames) and background gives the motivation to act. This short film delivers its message without preachy.
5. GRACE VILLA: Mathews, a buyer (Rajesh Hebbar) meets the owner of a Villa(Mala Parvathy) via a broker(Kochupreman).With 3 familiar faces in the list, Director Binoy raveendran follows a non-linear pattern to narrate a revenge story and climax offers an unexpected twist and thrilling experience(credits to the bgm too). Director has given yellowish shade of the scenes in most scenes.

SPECIAL MENTION-OTHER LANGUAGES: If time lets you, try the given shorts too. It won’t disappoint you.

6. VIDHAI (TAMIL): A 12^TH State topper opting to study agriculture. It may sound strange to a society expecting her to choose Engineer or Doctor. It’s easy when you are a state topper. This short film questions the attitude of majority that courses like Agriculture are for the students with average or below average learning capability. But, Director Stays to focus more on using Tiktok mania and start a go green challenge (also criticize Bottle cap challenge).That’ the only problem with this short.
7. REACH (ENGLISH): This short is based on mental health awareness. It is the story of an IT employee with not so good background. She is all alone and isn’t able to concentrate on her work. This short focuses on anxiety, fear and depression. Her cry towards the end is heart-wrenching.

As OTT platforms are one of the most dependable way to watch cinemas today, Take a look at the most underrated films to watch to stay engaged. The list include 4 Malayalam films, 4 Tamil films and 2 other language films that I believe deserve much better number of audience.

1. MANJADIKKURU: Anjali Menon’s debut film is a beautifully woven nostalgic drama that deals with the tale of a family gathering for a funeral.Manjadikkuru is as soothing as its background score and innocent as the cousins. I don’t know where it is available. Just try to get it from somewhere and watch.
2. TD DASAN STD 6B (MANORAMAMAX):Mohan Raghavan’s debut film really changed my perspective towards cinema.TD Dasan had a lot of heart in it and it made me think to watch cinemas out of Commercial template. Dasan is the tale of Father-Son exchanged through letters and that too from Dasan to a stranger. Here too the portrayals of the innocence of the central characters give a heart-warming feel.
3. KAIYOPPU(HOTSTAR):Ranjith’s best till date movie Kaiyoppu is a hard-hitting portrayal of how the unnatural  demise of a writer Balachandran affects the lives of his friend Padma, a book publisher and a father waiting for money for her daughter’s operation .Kaiyoppu highlights the loss of lives In Bomb blast and its consequences through the characters.
4. MELVILASAM (SUNNXT/YOUTUBE):Madhav Ramdas’ debut movie Melvilasam is much more than a Court room drama. Soorya Krishnamoorthy’s drama turned movie talks about Racism and Patriarchy. The way Ramdas unveil the clean image of a Character (Krishnakumar’s amazing performance as Captain BD Kapoor) is just awesome.
5. VISARANAI (NETFLIX/YOUTUBE):Vetrimaaran’s best till date clearly shows how Tamil immigrant workers are treated by Hyderabad police. Visaranai isn’t an easy watch as the scenes involving Policemen attacking the central characters are brutal and the uncompromising climax shows that what they will get in the end will be injustice.
6. TO LET (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO): To let narrates the story of a couple in search of a rental House- House wife stuck between humiliation of house owner and finding a dream home, An aspirant writer dreaming of his 1st film venture and their child, a nice painter who asks his father “TV nammodath, vehicle nammodath, veedu mattum en nammodath illai?”.To let becomes a relatable and deeply moving experience with subtle visual storytelling.
7. SILA SAMAYANGALIL (NETFLIX): Sila samayangalil underlines the fact that the difference between a real news and fake news can be the difference between life and death. Priyadarshan slowly establishes the characters from different backdrops reaching a clinic to receive their HIV test results. They slowly start to share their life stories in their waiting time. Sila samayangalil and Kanchivaram really shows the masterclass of Priyadarshan.
8. OTHTHA SERUPPU SIZE 7(NETFLIX): Parthipan’s 1 man-army’s guts to script, produce and direct a single on-screen actor (that too himself) movie solely can be said as the reason to watch this movie. Masilamani, a man with lot of scar opens his mind in front of a bunch of police officers and a psychologist. How he finds bail for the murders he did sums up the story. Parthipan’s mesmerizing performance maintains the intensity of the scenes where he explains certain incidents and Special mention to the brilliant sound design that the viewer can picturise the events without being visual.

9. NEWTON (AMAZON PRIME VIDEO): Newton is basically a social satire drama that narrates the story of Newton Kumar, a government employee sent to politically sensitive area for Election Duty. He understands that most people don’t know much about the election and their votes are going to be misused. The best part of this film lies in the way He educates the public about the importance of Election and brings them to vote.
10. VILLAGE ROCKSTARS (NETFLIX): Village Rockstars follows a girl Dhunu form a music band with her boyfriends and her efforts to collect money to buy a Guitar .Rima das’ beautiful and grounded narration of simple incidents in a village with minimal dialogues make it sweet and special.

When Covid-19 creates havoc all around the world, we all are stuck at home and searching for ways to kill time.How about a movie, beyond time pass? Watch National Award winning movie Baaram on ‘Simply South’.

Baaram tells the Story of a watchman Karuppusamy who meets with an accident and becomes bed-ridden. Baaram discusses  the scope of Thalaikoothal, a ritual followed in certain villages in Tamil Nadu.

Writer Priya Krishnasamy clearly sets the platform by introducing her characters: Karuppasamy’s nephew Veera (whom Karuppusamy loves the most and who initiates protest for his death), Senthil and his wife.Director Priya executes mercy killing kind of  scenes in raw and gritty manner,that too without using bgm(I think that’s the reason this film is rated A). Priya  draws our  attention to the issue and make us ask ‘how can this be treated commonly’.Priya aptly handles vital scenes without slipping into a documentary feel (For instance the scene where Villagers explain the ways of killing and commits that I too had done it) and ends the movie aptly.( without giving an unreal positive end).

Bgm though initially felt similar to soap-opera template made a convincing mark in the 2nd half.Except  a few untrained ones,Actors did their job  nicely( Pick out names are Sugumar shanmugham as Veera and Su Pa Muthukumar as cruel son Senthil).With 91 minutes, Cuts were fine.The film maintains a slow pace and it may not be acceptable for a certain type of audience( who doesn’t like art-house films).

Baaram is a bold and an important film that not only addresses Thalaikkuthal, but also says how the society reacts to the traditional practice. A must watch for the theme and the way, it is narrated.