Unda

Unda follows a gang from Kerala police travelling to Bastar for election duty.What happens when they head to maoist attack in a situation where bullets are inappropriate and arriving bullets go missing.

After watching trailer,i felt it similar to the brilliant Hindi movie Newton.Newton focussed on educating the importance of election to the local people.Unda starts from newton setup and Khalid rehman adds satire element in their inexperience of handling tough situations.1st half quickly set up the base including casual approach of the officers,Water scarcity and personal issues of the officers.Interval block was unbelievably funny.Rehman reduces satire in 2nd half and inserts the adivasi issue to the major conflict.The emotional scene after fight and the shocking bomb blast beautifully relates the audience to adivasi issue.Kudos to the Khalid for narrating the message visually.

Mani sir is an officer who hasn’t faced challenging cases in his 15 year career. Mammotty as mani sir puts up a splendid show (Watch for the scene where the team captain asks to forgive him).Shine tom ‘shines’ as egoistic officers.Arjun ashokan as cool guy was also good. Prasanth pilai’s bgm created the ambiance well(especially in that pickpocket scene)with northern folk song.Frames were good enough for an unexpected attack at any time.Only negative is that 1 or 2 felt forced.

Mani sir and team are never usual cinematic cops.I could digest the climax mass fight because it was required for survival. In short, Unda is a realistic ode to the restless service of cops.

Rating:3.5/5

Virus

The much Anticipated multi-starrer Virus had reached the screens all over the world.I went to theater last week but that show was cancelled due to technical issues and people around me were shouting ,”vallom nadakkuo?” when the show hasn’t started after half an hr.

Virus starts with a football passionate doctor Abid (Srinath Bhasi) and his personal life,shifts to Kozhikode medical college.When patients with mysterical symptoms common were admitted , doctors and medical experts ensures that it is nipah.They, joining with government officials try to find the origin source (Zakariya played by Sudani director Zakariya Muhammad) and make sure that the spread stops after a point.

Script by Muhsin-Sharfu-Suhas is well-known,researched and topical.It gives hero image to ambulance drivers, temperory mortuary workers, and councillor.Abid brings the relief and panic situations of a doctor effectively well. Medical terms used here(fumigation, intubate, ARDS) aren’t familiar with general audience and thus the makers could have provided its meaning in the narrative. Script writers also make their statement not to politize the issue.The dialogs in a scene where parvathy’s character meets stubborn Unnikrishnan’s (Soubin) mother are simple and so brilliant. Parvathy’s small combo scene with Dileesh pothen’s police character too stay with you. Climax speech is mostly a summary of what we have seen.We need much more for goosebumps moments.

Rima performs magnificently as Sister Akhila especially in scene where she requests the doctors”please incubate me..”Sreenath Bhasi’s Abid showed the relief and panic modes of a doctor well. Indrajith’s performs his character similar to Vattu Jayan in Left Right Left.Others jointly carry the movie without anybody making strong presence.They collect and pass necessary informations. We can relate them but not root for them that much.Some scenes felt stretched. special mention to red and green color gradings towards the end .Sushin’s terrific bgm and Rajeev ravi’s marvelous frames keep you travel with the emotions of the characters.

Though drawbacks prevail,Virus is informative,intense ,tick the right boxes and recreate the history of survival

Rating:3.5/5

Mard ko Dard Nahi Hota Hai

I guess most of you haven’t heard even the title of this movie though it comes from RSVP.Their previous movie Pihu was nothing much better than its trailer.

Here we witness Surya, a special child loving martial arts and want to become a fighter who can hit 100s of opponents(like his Karate man).Why is he special and how this disorder become merit as well as demerit for him and his lover Supri forms the story.

Writer-com -Director Vasan Bala has packed this adventure movie with satire and perfect usage of music.Satire mostly is evident in circumstance and expected vs real spoof humour really works.He makes a scene not so well written(Supri’s initial stunt scene) appear engaging to the audience with the scene mixed with a boy listening a song. Antagonist Jimmy’s character as said in the film cliche psycho villain is another spoof version of a usual villain uttering punch dialog to hero.The way the climax stunt is structured (as a fight tournament) and shot of villain falling finally shows that Vasan Bala has neither converted the character to a serious and venomous zone nor degraded to create humour.

Slow motion shots in between stunts and the shot where rain drops fall into hero’s mouth forms the frame beauty. Bgm suits the cool flow but songs doesn’t quite. There was a tendency to stuff too many unwanted dialogs where it just increased the length.(This was similar in case of Gully boy).

Abhimanyu Dasani as Surya was fine as a guy living mostly in a programmed life. Radhika madan too shines as struggling Supri .She says in vain ,”Even 21 yrs old guys earn crores and build apps.” Her scenes with her husband’s mother were quite impressive for the necessary strong setback. Her action sequences were simply brilliant.Special mention to the actors who played their childhood,father and Grandfather characters.

Though predictable, spoof element and thundering action sequences form the USP of the film and makes this enjoyable ride unique .It’s must watch.For strong content audience,this may be above average.For me,this film is good enough for its packing style than layered story.

Rating:3.5/5

Hamid

Hindi movie Hamid starts slowly with Rehmat ali who makes boat for living,Ismat Ali his wife and Hamid ,their son in controversial phase of Kashmir.The story turns another way when father goes missing and Mother becomes frustrated and rough in search of her husband.

Hamid tries in his own way,finding the phone number of Allah and contacting Allah. The scene in which he asks a beggar for money shows Hamid’s innocence and his love towards his father.He borrows few philosophies from his father.The pivotal phone conversations are interesting.

Performance of Hamid’s character is brilliant in certain phase where he realizes to whom he was speaking. Rasiga dugal was equally impressive as the woman with the pain.

Aijaz khan doesn’t too go deeper into Kashmir rivalry.Its portrayed,but in not too loud manner and that’s how it should be.Also the scene where Rehmat goes to carry a body knowing that he will miss his son’s bus, shows his compassion towards mankind.

Editing was good enough.Kashmir was naturally captured well enough. Bgm was apt for the climax emotional scenes.

Negatives:Scene where army men fighting for TV remote wasn’t necessary.Also army men peeing in Azaadi written wall showed the fight for justice well but there too i felt it wasn’t suitable one.

Overall the title character’s Charm carries the journey of finding reality in Kashmir through the lives around him.Good job,Aijaz and Team.This realistic feel-good drama surely deserves more views than regular commercial potboilers tailor-made for regular audience. (Happy to know that this movie was screened at ICFFK this year.)

Rating:3.5/5

Kavaludaari

Kannada movie Kavaludaari starts with a traffic cop Shyam (flawless performance of Rishi) who dreams to move to crime department find bones during road widening project.

1st half is so exciting with plot and flashback sequences establishing in adequate pace and enough surprise factor.For example:The way Scene when Shyam picks the correct case file is portrayed and the initial story is narrated.

Colouring, Editing and art work(Old house,Car etc…) were brilliant. 2nd half ,soon after Ananth nag’s muthanna (equally good as depressed and experienced cop) and Shyam join together for the investigation,pace become slow though the emotional factor works well enough.Twist regarding the reporter felt to be added purposefully to mislead the audience and doesn’t matter much to the proceedings. Climax regains the surprise factor including visually telling why Shyam was so interested in this case.Few loose ends and final villain killing reduced the charm in this otherwise engaging movie. Bgm was minimal and good as it wasn’t too loud.

Overall,Hemanth rao deserves all praise for good writing (though flawed) and his making style of not spoon-feeding and overdoing scenes to the audience.

Rating:3.0/5

Uyare

I started watching Uyare knowing that it is the story of aspiring pilot and the acid attack she faces from her partner.

Uyare really takes off when an innocent pallavi inside a flight asks air-hostess,”Cockpit onnu kaanan pattuo”.Then Bobby-Sanjay establishes Pallavi and Govind individually .In a scene, Pallavi explains her father about her boarding life and attachment to Govind. That scene contained life and enough depth for the audience to connect to.Script also conveys why Govind is so rough & tough (about parenting) and the motive behind the acid attack.

In another scene where Govind’s father asks Pallavi’s father to withdraw the case,Pallavi does nothing,but sit in front of him which is far effective than words.Dialogs are sharp .For example:Pallavi at a point says ,”Sathruvairunnengil polum pirake povillairnu”. Bgm adds the emotional layer to the narration especially Nee mukilo song.Special applause to Mahesh Narayanan’s crisp edits and make up team for making Uyare,a real experience.Nothing special about cinematography,Good,That’s it.

Parvathy,obviously gives a measured and impactful performance.In scenes where she finds change in her face and reluctance to show it to others,she emotes well without making the scene too melodramic. Asif ali puts up a compelling show as Govind. Tovino’s Vishal Rajashekharan is more of a light-hearted change to the life of Pallavi. Anarkali,Siddique,Prem prakash support well to the proceedings.

Uyare doesn’t contain twists or turns,but really touches you with the hurdles that Pallavi Ravindran overcomes and justifies the behaviour of characters connected to Pallavi. Don’t miss this one.

Rating:4.0/5

Badla

Badla, the official remake of ‘The invisible guest’ narrate the story of Naina(Tapsee pannu), trapped by an anonymous person seeks the help of a lawyer Badla gupta(Amitabh bachchan) and reveals the incidents leading to it.

Badla’s story mostly runs through the conversations of Naina and Badal. Both characters keeps 1 or the other mysterious facts hidden from each other.Gupta asks 1 question after other to find the true incident and the ‘true’ villain with his smartness.Some answers may be her ‘test’ to check whether she hires the apt lawyer or not.Same is the case of him.However,this doesn’t confuse the audience.Credits to the smart writing and crisp edits(1 hr 45 min).

Dialogs are sharp .In the opening scene, when Gupta meets Naina at her house,”I was expecting you a little later” Naina says it all without conveying directly. Sujoy Ghosh uses Mahabharatha references nicely,along with layered narration and keeps us hooked to the seat till the end when the twist reveal. Bgm, though not used much fits the bill. Rich English-countryside visuals captured by Avik Mukhopadyay blends well with the narrative.

Tapsee plays a bold convict character who argues that she doesn’t do any crime but had committed few mistakes. Bachchan puts up a stellar show as cunning lawyer.His smile was exceptional towards the end.Both meaty Performances keeps us guessing and intrigued through the unpredictable journey .Amrita singh performs the vital role of the mother of a missing son quite well.The only possible drawback is that Some may feel that the story was not progressing much in between before the twist reveals.

Overall, Badla is a stunning whodunit thriller where mind game of characters without guilt or mercy works quite nicely,Try not to miss it.

Rating: 4/5

Athiran

It revolves around a lonely British mansion in a forest owned by Benjamin(Atul kulkarni).Psychatrist MK Nair (Fahad) visits the asylum.What he witnesses and really who is MK Nair forms the story.

I have heard that the plot is reminiscent to Shutter Island.I haven’t watch it so a comparison is not possithe trble for me.1st half builds the tension and keeps the thrilling factor up.But the key twist element becomes predictable soon after the entry of Renji Panicker’s character in the flashback part.2nd half continues with Atul kulkarni’s villainism and then the crucial suspense breaks with the entry of Prakash Raj’s character.

Fahad performs well as the doctor trying to reveal the truth behind the bad reputation of the asylum. Sai pallavi puts up a really controlled performance as Nithya in kalary fight scenes and the autistic mannerisms in body language (toes,face movement).Atul kulkarni do fits the bill.I think his English usage was bit more for a ’70 film. Surabhi,Leona (as Nun),Sudev nair too perform their roles well but their characters weren’t written well to flow with the story.

Ghibran’s bgm was quite effective to create the required mystery though was loud at times. Anu moothedathu captures both beautiful and eerie forest and mansion.Vivek smartly uses the mirror image shots and make the narrative as engaging as it can (crisp edits too).Special mention to art work to effectively utilize the properties inside the asylum.Songs are just passable and make no impact to the narrative other than catchy visuals.

Athiran towards the end needs backtracking for clarification and that’s where Vivek packs his story with his craft. Vivek is a promising director & may do a masterpiece film someday. Athiran will be appealing and won’t disappoint you for sure though minor flaws prevail.

Rating: 3.5/5

To Let

To let is a deeply moving portrayal social drama relatable to most of us.A couple- 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, vandi nammodath, veedu mattum en nammodath illai?”(It’s already in the trailer).

When the house owner(typical) insist them to vacate the house (she bends her head in front of owner)and hangs ‘to let’ board in front,they start looking for a house but ends up not getting any due to caste,profession and high rent.They too had to wait for hours and undergo various problems.

Cheziyan Ra narrates the ‘condition’ of the house through a tiny bird,closet and ‘condition’ of the family through the shot of a nearby house girl dominated over the boy.In another instance,door opens multiple times that shows the entry of people in response to the ‘to let board’ and end credits start rolling when they close the door.Director makes use of frames effectively in a shot when sunlight penetrates through the window and long shot of Chaplin reference .Also,you won’t feel the voidity of bgm or songs as it makes situations more natural.Editing was fine for 1hr 37 min though lags a bit and overall you can sense slow pace mood.

Sheela as the restrained House-wife Amudha gives an earnest performance throughout.Santhosh as aspirant filmmaker Elango too fits the bill. Dharun’s (boy) scenes brings you nuance of smile with his innocence and at times make you think about the director’s craft.

After accolades in film festivals,To Let has reached the General audience platform.Try to encourage these types of films where visuals narrates the tale more than words.

Rating:4.0/5

The Final call-Season 1

What will happen if a pilot plans to reach his flight to a danger destination,that too alone?What will happen if he doesn’t hear any negotiations and puts condition not to arrest him on landing?The Final call Season 1 establishes the past of the psycho pilot(Arjun Rampal) and other passengers in the flight. Through the characters,this Zee5 web series talks about regret,death and life.

1st episode deals with the introduction of characters: astrologer Krishnamurthy(Neeraj Kabi),businessman Sidharth (Jaaved Jaaferi) with different way of thoughts,an artist mostly shown with his pictures than his words and the cunning and calm ATS officer Kiran Mirza (Dangal fame Sakshi Tanwar).All characters are given convincing flashback-a tragic one for the pilot ,a short one for the Businessman& a nostalgic one for astrologer with a nice conversation segment with his son.Paula mcglynn’s character gets an introduction through her boyfriend and the chat with the guy near her seat in the flight.

Initial scenes succeeded in creating the tension on how the protagonist and staffs around him react to the unexpected situation inside the cockpit. Bgm and frames support the narration to maintain the emotion and thrill.At the beginning of the last episode, the negotiation part felt a bit stretched and less exciting that wasn’t required .Also the drinking competition involving Sakshi’s character was a misfit.

Neeraj performed well as the astrologer mostly with a smile. Sakshi puts up a compelling show as the smart officer whose smartness is evident in few scenes. Last ,but not at all the least,Arjun enacts the depressed Captain Karan sachdev though wasn’t that good in emotional scenes.His scenes with a boy was sweet.

Vijay Lalwani has given a plausible effort in bringing out a different web series with enough homework. As, the ambiguity around the characters is not resolved completely and the season ends on an eerie atmosphere,the wait for S02 is on!

Rating:3.5/5