Aadujeevitham

Najeeb and his friend reached Saudi, in search of a job only to get stranded in the middle of a desert. How the gulf life changed his life?. Experience the movie to know it panned out.

I’m not the best person to compare Novel with the movie. In the cinematic point of view, Benyamin and Blessy did a great job in portraying Najeeb’s love towards his wife and his efforts to get out of the jail. To and fro narration of Najeeb’s misery and his past helped the viewers to root with Najeeb. Blessy succeeded in portraying the life around Najeeb. Language becomes a huge barrier for him.The only companion Najeeb gets is a Hindi speaking character who even forgot his name and time. Soon, Blessy takes us through the efforts of the characters to find a drop of water and then get to a vehicle. There are moments where Najeeb shows affection towards the animals such that he becomes hesitant to leave the desert.

First name to mention in the entire team is Pritviraj. This movie deserve watch for his performance. Special mention for the way his speaking style and gestures change. His groans will surely hurt you. Another standout moment is the way he thanked the Arabi who saved him. Gokul as Hakkim was fine too, except for few overdramatic expressions. Credits to the actor who did role of cruel Arab.

Makeup team had done a fabulous job overall. It’s hard to recognize Pritvi after a point of time. Sound department and cinematographer made the hurdles in this movie look authentic. For instance: Sand dust, Vulture attacking portions. Though background score was bit loud in the beginning, ARR elevates pivotal scenes post interval. Periyone is the pick of the songs.

Coming to the shortcomings, Benyamin invested more than required time to portray the characters’ desperation for water. Melodrama in certain scenes could have been avoided. We never get to see Najib’s family trying to contact him. Also, some of the Arabic dialogues never had subtitles.

Aadujeevitham may be a missed opportunity to create an absolute masterclass tale of the struggles of multiple lives. Still, it’s a captivating survival drama with standout lead performance and the team’s genuine efforts to make this movie a reality. If possible, catch it from the big screen.

Mimi

I saw many reviews referring that Mimi is disappointing, rarely feels believable, wastes the talent of actors and many more. But, after watching Mimi, I would disagree with this degrading kind of reviews. Same happened to a Tamil webseries ‘November Story’ as well. Both aren’t flawless but not worthless. While November story is a slow burning crime thriller, Mimi is a predictable emotional drama.

Mimi revolves around the titular character Mimi who aspires to become an actress. Her life changes upside down when she takes an important decision for it. Film narrates about the consequences of the decision.

Though Mimi is remake, it never gives the feel of watching a remake.In the opening scene ,we are introduced to an American couple John and Summer, who are searching for healthy girl for surrogacy. Execution focuses more on humourous side and gives a light-hearted feel to the scenes. Scene where Mimi reveals an important decision to her parents is a great example of blending humour to a serious situation.

Writer and director Laxman Uthrekar succeeded to explore the possibilities of humour in the situation, create an emotional connect with the key characters and convey the intended message. Though Mimi is the central character, director considers to portay the perspective of Summer.

Kriti sanon managed to add authenticity to the struggle of Mimi. Look out for her performance in scenes with the American couple. Bhanu is just a cakewalk for Pankaj tripathi for the caliber that he possesses. The ease in his performance is a key reason that many humour scenes worked.

Dialogues too were notable. For instance: Bhanu says in a situation,”I’m driver. Whatever problem I faced, it’s my responsibility to drop my passengers to their destination”. It conveys the mindset of the character. Background score adapted aptly to the mood swings of the movie. Songs were placed well enough as suitable to the situation.

Mimi isn’t without drawbacks. The particular statement she says regarding aborting the child is contrary to that in Sara’s movie. Writer could have added a better justification for that.

Mimi is an engaging sentimental drama that portrayed the emotional conflicts of the main characters without being too verbal or melodrama.

Verdict: Worth a watch

Netflix watch link: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81267360?preventIntent=true

Sarvam Thaala Mayam

STM is structurally similar to SivaKarthikeyan’s Kanaa with the protagonist focusing on a specific interest and how he achieves his goal within limitations and hardships.But what makes this one laudable is that Rajiv menon wants to convey something beyond the predictable climax win of the protagonist.

Peter Johnson(GV Prakash kumar) ,a thalapathy fan is the son of mridangam maker Johnson(Kumaravel).He develops intense interest in Carnatic music when he meets a popular mridangam maestro Vembu iyer (Nedumudi venu).Rest of the film tells about the caste oppression in Carnatic music and how Peter learns Mridangam.

1st half covers the commercial factor with Peter Beatu song and peter meets a malayali nurse Sarah(Aparna Balamurali).She motivates him to learn mridanga from Vembu Iyer.Initally Iyer’s disciple Mani(Vineeth-normal villain who drives the story) becomes the obstacle for his dream. Rajiv menon then conveys the impact of reality shows on Carnatic music and finishes with the idea to break the template of Carnatic music.

STM is ARR’s best work in recent times.Ding dong ,Maya maya,Varalama and mridangam beats (especially climax)offer sweet experience to ears .Ravi yadav’s frames are beautiful when peter travels to find the diversity in music.Special mention to dialogs.

GV enjoys himself in portraying the underdog character. The scene where he reacts when his father tries to sell the Mridangam that he made for himself talks best about his passion. Nedumudi Venu steals the show with a magnificent performance portraying the selfish & traditional Vembu iyer. Kumaravel,Vineeth and DD supported well. Aparna’s character seemed almost out of sync to the plot though performed well.

Recommended for Genuine music lovers.

Rating:3.5/5