MASTHISHKA MARANAM

Synopsis: A grieving father had to depend on VR game to overcome the pain of his loss. soon, that lands him to more trouble. Can he get out of it?

The biggest positive of this movie is the smart and genuine world building. This movie is set around 2050 where AI rules the roost. We get to see protagonist talking to AI housekeeper. Police jeep and drones fly over the city. AI actors are more than human actors. We even hear of case of a robot getting mistreated. The list goes on after a second watch. This doesn’t stop with just creative ideas. Krishand takes us to a crazy trip to this dystopian era and makes sure to connect upcoming incidents cleverly to weave a unique and witty tale. That’s what Gaganachari failed to do. Apart from dark humour, Krishand takes satirical approach to criticize media sensationalism, how actress remain just as mere objects for consumption, and much more. Krishand used extreme close up shots to capture the intensity of the experience of the characters using VR device.

Technical fineness is what mad the movie turn out to a difference experience. Kudos to the complete team (Sound design, costume design, make up etc..) for making this movie a visual spectacle. Usage of Trivandrum slang was nice too. Songs were decent too, especially the ones created by housekeeper AI was really funny.

Rajisha Vijayan puts up one of her career best performance as the mysterious Frida soman. Her unpredictable behaviour, ability to decieve people around her and the final showdown were brilliant. Suresh krishna was really hillarious as Charlie. Divya prabha had to switch between genuine emotions and over-the-top expressions. She did it nicely. Jagadish was convincing as GDP officer, especially during interrogation scenes. Niranj was decent as Bimal.

Coming to the drawbacks, there are repeated sequences where pivotal characters experience the VR memory game. We know what they are gonna experience. So, that could have been trimmed. As Krishand packs the movie with humour throughout, movie lacks the emotional quotient. When Bimal talks about his loss, we don’t feel the pain of the character.

Masthishka maranam is one of its kind of experience if you are ready to accept the weirdness of the narration and jump into something unique. Watch it just for Krishand’s craft.

Watch link: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/82774428

Homebound

Chandan Kumar and Shoaib Ali are 2 friends who struggle to make their living better. In the process, covid hit them and turns their lives down. Homebound is all about how they tackle the testing times.

Neeraj Ghyawan takes the viewers to the rural world of the 2 pivotal characters and slowly makes the viewers understand them. He uses dialogues really well to highlight the intensity of various situations. For instance: ‘Reaching the exam hall itself is a task’ highlights the concern of unemployment. In another scene, Chandan’s sister says to him something like, ‘We never had a choice what to do. But you atleast have’. These create the required strong impact on the viewers. As the movie progresses, we get to see the light banter, rift and tight hugs between them. One of the them literally carries the other and gives the required support to the families. A long shot of them standing, cut to a different context is just brilliant subtle filmmaking.

What’s even more evident is the less vocal portrayal of caste discrimination. Be it Chandan getting humilated by an officer, Shoaib’s colleagues mocking him or chandan’s mother shouting in agony. There are various takeaway moments that stay with the viewers.

Neeraj made sure to eliminate overdrama, especially in scenes related to death. Special mention to the minimal usage of score. Cuts were pretty decent to make sure narration never skips more to romantic angle and stays within the limit.

It’s really tough to believe that the villian of Mardani 2 played the role of Chandan. Vishal jatwa carried the internal turmoil of Chandan really well. Ishan khatter excellently portrayed the building frustration in Shoaib. The way he desperately tried to be with Chandan towards the end will surely emote you for sure. Also, he managed to share a cool camaraderie with Chandan. Jhanvi kapoor gets limited scope and she puts up notable performance, especially when she conveys her values to Chandan. The moment Chandan’s mother burst out her supressed emotions over the years, shows the impact of the performance of Shalini Vatsa.

Homebound is a deeply moving friendship drama uplifted by raw and intense narration of casteism woven in a tale of survival.

Watch it on Netflix

REWIND 2024: 5 UNDERRATED MOVIES OF 2024

2024 was a very eventful year for the Indian cinema industry. Unlike the previous years, there were a bunch of movies prioritizing pan-Indian big budget period dramas but most of them got trolled by the viewers in such a way that the makers won’t be thinking much about the sequels (as per the current trend). As usual, when the bigger scale movies lost steam, smaller movies took the spotlight and impressed the viewers. Malayalam cinema had a flourishing start followed by occasional masterclass movies. When Kannada cinema produced some hidden gems, there wasn’t much to say about Marathi movies. Here is my list of 5 most memorable movies to revisit ,before 2024 says ‘adieu’.

NB-1: Expand the movie title to read more

35 CHINNA KATHA KAADU (AHA – TELUGU)

When rush-of-blood kind of violence and big budget period drama reaches the audience more often, it’s tough to find a movie that caters more to the children. If this movie got released on a more popular OTT platform, more people would be talking about this beautifully narrated family drama. With subtle placement of characters, charming family moments and authentic performances, 35 Chinna Katha Kaadu overcomes the predictability and duration issues to an extent. So happy that it got selected to IFFI this year. Click the link to watch

MAIDAAN (PRIME – HINDI)

Maidaan is an inspirational story of an unsung hero who gave exceptional contributions to Indian football against all odds. Compared to the previously released sports biopics in Hindi ,the major factor that stands out in this movie is the way of portrayal of match portions, crucial phases of the protagonist Rahim and the way the director managed to create an immersive experience using raw emotions after the success.This movie demands a big screen watch. It’s disappointing that the number of screens were very less when it got released. (Maybe because of the overflow of sports biographies). Click to watch

KOTTUKAALI ( PRIME – TAMIL)

Kottukkaali is a brilliant road movie narrated mostly from the titular character’s POV, that uses the director’s craft to show a lady’s adamant nature to stick with her decision and fight for her justice. Vinoth Raj’s usage of long static shots and open climax may have mixed opinions from the viewers. Soori’s raw performance and Vinoth’s prowess in capturing the true essence of village without relying much on background score, will fulfil the expectations of viewers who know his range. It’s literally ‘not every one’s cup of tea’ but surely movies of this quality deserve more viewers on the big screen. Click to watch

MEIYAZHAGAN (NETFLIX -TAMIL)

There can be instances where we got to interact with someone who knows us well but we don’t even know their name. This movie will surely be a moving experience for viewers who relate to the core synopsis. Few moments will make you smile and at times emotional. You can’t help but love interacting with Karthi’s character and the placement of ‘Yaaro ivan yaaro’ song. I was very disappointed to watch this movie with a very limited number of viewers. This movie deserves more theatre acceptance, like what Maharaja or Lubber Pandhu got. Click to watch

HADINELENTU/ SEVENTEENERS ( YOUTUBE – KANNADA)

There are few other movies depicting issues regarding teenagers (Including OMG2) , what stands out for this movie is the way incidents unfold and the genuineness of courtroom scenes. This movie shows how a specific incident in college affects the lives of people around the pivotal characters, through various perspectives. Compelling storytelling and mature handling of the subject tempt viewers to wonder why no OTT platforms picked this movie. Catch the full review here.

Laapataa Ladies

Deepak, a newly married guy gets into a trouble when he took off from train by grabbing the hand of another woman with viels, by mistake. Can he reach to his wife?

This story is set around early 2000s when usage of mobile phone isn’t common.Kiran rao starts this movie with a train journey where the incident leading to chaos happens.Kiran gives a clear picture of Deepak’s family, where wife never calls the name of the husband. A character mentions like “when man has a decent name, why call him a ji or o ji”. She also mentions to depend on science and not on faith. On the other hand, we get to see the changed life of Deepak’s wife Phool. She started to enjoy the success of hard-earned money. Though it takes bit of cinematic liberty, police investigation narration in parallel too helps the viewers to stay engaged. Kiran smartly used humour sporadically in the movie. (Political leader speech scene was an unexpected one).

Background score gave an important contribution in maintaining the mood of the movie. Cuts were pretty fine as there weren’t much unnecessarily added sequences while shifting the narration across the pivotal character.
The key 2 names to mention in the list of performances should be the actresses who played roles of Phool and Pushpa. Nitanshi had the naivety of Phool and the way she reacted in the initial portions showed her maturity as an actress. Pratibha was convincing as educated and confident woman with a clear vision. Special mention to the actor who played role of cop. Sparsh srivatsav conveyed the guilt of his character, along with the frustration of people judging his ability because of a mistake.

Laapataa Ladies is a delightful social drama that discusses a thoughtworthy subject with the apt placement of light humour and a strong backdrop. A good example on how to make women centric stories without bashing men. Surely deserved to reach more big screens.

Watch link: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81760391?preventIntent=true

Anveshipin Kandethum

Anveshipin kandethum is a whodunit police procedural thriller set around events in 80s and investigation in 90s. Can our rookie protagonist Anand narayanan solve the cases with limited support from senior officials and villagers?

Darwin Kuraikose gets into crime incident without much intro. There is no scene to show the smartness of the protagonist. Audience get to see his prowess and determination throughout the investigation. Just like some of the whodunit thrillers, writer puts forward few suspects in front of the audience and keeps the viewer guessing till the final twist got revealed. It’s the gripping narration of Darwin Kuraikose that helps the tightly written screenplay to help viewers to keep engaged, despite few hiccups. Placing incident around 80s eliminates the possibility of CCTV and over-reliance on digital evidences.

Production design team deserve credit for recreating the time period (Mainly Bus, police jeep, houses). Though bit loud initially, Santhosh Narayanan’s score added the required tension for the narration (Especially Bamboo beats). Cuts ensured the adequate pace for the movie and mostly importantly remove unnecessary violence, usually seen in such movies.

Tovino was cool as the cool-headed rookie cop. Sadiq is another notable performer in the ensemble cast. Though others including Kottayam Nazeer, Madhupal and Shammi thilakan did well, there was hardly much screen space for them.

Still I won’t call this movie as must big screen watch because of few reasons. Convenient writing is evident in few scenes (Especially regarding the convict of 1st case). Also, It felt like some of the characters (Mainly Azeez nedumangad and Indrans) were speaking printed language. Baburaj’s character transforming to comic character (Similar to his various other comic characters) after all the build up, felt like misfire.
Verdict: Worth a watch mainly because of realistic and solid narration.

Most underrated movies of 2022

2022 witnessed a lot of quality cinema on OTT and big screen.It includes movies with less expectations making a big impact (For example: Love Today,Jaya jaya jaya jaya he),
big budget movies like PS-1,Karthikeya-2,Kantara etc.. and more. Bringing the most underrated top movies of an year is not an easy task just because
2022 was such a delightful year for a cinephile. Below is the list of top 5 underrated movies of 2022.
Note that I have excluded the movies I reviewed earlier this year.

1. Ela Veezha Poonchira (Soorya Festival- Malayalam): We often use ‘Slow-burning thriller’ to mention thriller movies with slow pace. Ela veezha poonchira
is one much movie set in a hilltop backdrop and follows a cop doing his duty. After the initial setup, the narrative moves to a crime thriller and
keeps the viewer engaged. Special mention to the sound design and performances.I don’t know when it will be available on OTT. Try not to miss it
when it is available.

2. Badhaai Do (Netflix-Hindi): Choosing an important subject for a comedy movie and narrating it without reducing the importance of the subject is not at all an easy task. That’s where
Badhaai Do stands apart. This movie asks the viewer to forget those controversies around bollywood and just enjoy the humour scenes.Most importantly,
Director maintains the perfect balance of Humour and emotional scenes.

3. Kaun Pravin Tambe (Hotstar-Hindi): Though sports drama genre is very common in Hindi, 2022 witnessed many top class movies including Jhund and Toolsidas junior. Kaun praveen Tambe is another addition to the list. The way this movie progresses and inspires the viewer makes this movie a class apart from other
sports dramas released recently. Tha main point is that the protagonist kept trying even after age and family problems affected him.
Ashish Vidyarthi’s memorable performance gives the optimal support to the lead actor.

4. Natchathiram Nagargiradhu (Netflix-Tamil): Normally, Pa Ranjith’s movies gain popularity among the viewers. But this movie got the least(Length may be the reason)and that’s why I added
this movie to my list. This movie starts with Iniyan (Kalidas) and his lover Rene (Dushara Vijayan) working in a Drama troupe. But things around him change
when Kalayarasan’s character is introduced to their play practice. Pa Ranjith succeeded in portraying the transformation of Kalayairasan’s
character very effectively. It’s surely a bold attempt in highlighting the problems of people in different sections of society. Watch out for the
scene depicting honour killing.

5. Matto Ki Saikil (Prime video-Hindi): Ths movie revolves around Matto, a daily wage labourer and his relationship with his cycle. Though this slice-of-life rural drama revolves around these 2,
We see various characters around them (Including Pradhanji who addresses the problems of the villagers, caste system, financial issues and more), this movie revolves around the sorrow and ecstasy of Matto and his family. After the Zee5 original ‘Pareeksha’, Prakash Jha comes up with yet another standout performance as Matto.This movie may not have surprising moments,
may feel a bit lagging or slow for a section of viewers. But try to watch it for the story it tries to narrate and lead performance.(Try to watch subtitled version)

Kadaseela biryani

There are few movies having cliche one liner but seems to be a totally different movie after converting the one liner to a full length movie.Kadaseela biriyani is one such.

Three brothers, Periya Pandit, Ilaya pandi and Chikku pandi are planning to murder a rubber estate owner as revenge for their father’s death. Could they complete it and return back to their home?

If anyone reading the above paragraph asks, ‘What is so fresh in it?. It’s a usual revenge story’, the answer is ‘Just watch the movie’.The way director Nishant narrates the story is the key highlight.

Kadaseela biriyani starts with the voice over of Vijay Sethupathi. Soon, we got to see their planning and their grit and determination to complete the revenge. They give vulgar names to their targets and reach the house of the main villain.

Nishant’s storytelling somewhere reminds the style of Lijo Jose pellisery. For instance: top angle shot of the house to denote the mystery, chase sequences and foul languages to show the rawness of the characters.

Another important positive is the way of defining the characters. Be it the elder brothers, who take initiative of the mission , Chikku pandi, mostly shown as not interested in the mission and dream of a simple better life or cops, who had to bear the burden of ‘Karia’. Karia is the only character without enough clarity. Though shown as a psychopath, some of his actions aren’t explained enough.

Another important positive is the situation based humour and its placement. Some are LOL moments (For instance: Lemon soda scene). Vijay Sethupathi’s cameo appearance as Kadavul also seemed interesting.

Background score wasn’t too loud and follow a folk style at times. Background and visuals provided the required ambience of the forest. Though length never went above required (1 hr 45 min), cuts could have been better so that few scenes could have provided much more impact (For instance: conversation scenes of the 3 main characters in the forest).

I don’t know much about the names of the actors. Actor who did the role of ‘Karia’ was menacing and he portrayed the uncertainty in the behavior of the character really well. Special mention to the elder brothers and Chikku pandi.

Kadaseela biryani is the product when a very passionate director chooses a simple revenge saga and makes it an engaging survival drama, with well written subplots. There are flaws for sure, but I believe Nishant is talented enough to deliver even better in his next outing. Ingredients are familiar enough but the flavor is a different one.( Not everyone’s cup of tea).

Watch link: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81488264?preventIntent=true

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

Ahaan

Ahaan starts by showing the habits of titular character Ahaan having down syndrome and Ozy (having OCD) both living in the same flat.
Ahaan is having active nature. He is happy go person. He interacts well with everyone. Ozy is just opposite. He is introvert. Cleanliness comes first to him. That character makes his wife restless. Ahaan is all about the changes that occur to both characters when they come to know each other.

Writer clearly shows the contrast of the 2 characters in a similar situation. For instance: When both meet in a roadside child, ozy hesitates to confront him. Moreover ,he applies sanitizer to his hand .On the other hand, Ahaan just buys flowers from the child as he understands that the child need money.

Director succeeds in portraying the transformation happening in both characters. Ahaan’s transformation to the strong desire to be independent and Ozy’s change to a simple uncomplicated person felt so organic. Ozy’s transformation had a lot of enjoyable humor added to it.

Crisp cuts ensured that even reactions from the characters convey the situation better than dialogues. Background score was minimal and soothing enough to keep the audience along with the journey of the characters. Frames were beautiful enough to capture the emotions of the characters.

Few scenes reminded me of recent Neestream original ‘Thirike’.

Arif Zakaria’s performance is a key reason due to which humour scenes with the consulting doctor worked out well. Abuli mamaji portrayed the innocence of titular character with delight.
Ahaan is an endearing and charming feel-good drama that will retain your smile after watching.

Verdict: Underrated drama

Where to watch: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81438083?preventIntent=true

Mandela

How far can a group or party try to convince a voter to vote for their candidate? Mandela travels through the life of a Barber (Yogi babu) who turns from Zero to hero in few days but gets trapped in a confused situation.
People call him different names. Discrimination based on caste and his job is evident in initial scenes. Initially,writer Madonne Ashwin invests time in establishing the character.

His ‘open’ saloon, the tools that he uses and the place where he sleeps sums up his position in the society. Ashwin throws a rare trouble to the north and south groups in the village. Ashwin succeeded in creating ample satire moments to make audience laugh and think. Without going to mock everything in politics, Ashwin opt to find humour in the desperation of the 2 groups to ensure their vote.

Yogi babu really steals the show as the protagonist. From the suppressed to the bold voter, he makes the transition believable and brings out his career-best performance. Sheela gets a well written character. Her performance in the scenes where she disagree with Mandela in few occasions felt very authentic.

Companion boy’s performance was also fine.After ‘Oru kidayin karunai mannu’, George maryan gives a memorable performance especially in the auction scenes.

The only drawback I felt was that the practical possibility of key incidents is very less.But that never affected my watch experience.

Debutant Madonne Ashwin deserve praise for highlighting the importance of voting without pages of preachy dialogues.Just go for it without a second thought.
Verdict: Must watch

Where to watch: https://www.netflix.com/in/title/81272107?trkid=13747225&s=a&t=twt&preventIntent=true