Category: Uncategorized

Masterpiece: The Roast, well done.

Masterpiece is a movie that shouldn’t be missed by any of the aspiring scriptwriters out there.If you doubt your skills and fear that you are not good enough to make it big in the malayalam film industry, this is the one film that you should be watching. I respect Udayakrishna. In a film that has Mammootty as the leading man, when a viewer finds relief in a character portrayed by Santosh Pandit, you know its no mean acheivement for a wrtier. Again, I have nothing but respect for Udayakrishna. The mark of a great movie is when the viewer is haunted by the images he has watched on screen well after the end credits have rolled, a Masterpiece indeed. The greatest mystery in this whodunnit which is also a campus movie and a socio-political thriller at the same time, is the title of the movie itself, while a layman like me would be tempted to think that its a direct reference to the many “mass” scenes which make up the movie, I doubt that’s the case here in fact and this just might end up one of the greatest cinematic mysteries of our times, right up there with the spinning top’s fate in Inception, no less. Hey, did I mention that I respect Udayakrishna?

If youre of the dated opinion that Sarvakalashala, Sukhamo Devi and even Sangham truly reflected the campuses and students of their times and films like Cheppu and Mazhayethum Munpe portayed the most memorable roles of the Big Ms, in their turns as college professors, your tastes and sensibilities as a viewer need an obvious update and Masterpiece is exactly what the doctor ordered. Ajay Vasudev has portrayed a college campus that reeks with reality to an extent that the stench remains with you, long after you have left the hall. I am compelled, to respect Ajay Vasudev too.

Now, there are detractors who feel that two of the greatest “mass” scenes of Mamooty in the past decade or so are the police station scene from Ranjith’s Kaiyoppu and that silent walk of disappointment and rejection from Martin Prakkatt’s debut, Best Actor. These are scenes which any other actor of our times could pull off with ease and why would an actor of Mammooty’s calibre waste his precious talent with such roles when he can bounce baddies off the ground and kick them around for most of his screen time in a gem like Masterpiece. Goes without saying that i respect Mammooty.

The Unabomber Story

എഫ് ബി ഐയുടെ ചരിത്രത്തിലെ ഏറ്റവും നീണ്ടതും ഏറ്റവും ചെലവേറിയതും ആയിരുന്നു യൂണബോംബേറെ തേടിയുള്ള അന്വേഷണം. 17 വർഷമാണ് ഈ മെയിൽ ബോംബേറെ പിടികൂടാൻ എഫ് ബി ഐ എടുത്തത്.യൂണിവേഴ്സിറ്റി & എയർലൈൻ ബോംബർ എന്ന എഫ് ബി ഐ നാമം മീഡിയയിൽ യൂണബോംബെർ (UnA Bomber)ആയി മാറുകയായിരുന്നു.1978 തൊട്ടു 1995 വരെ യൂണബോംബെർ അമേരിക്കൻ ജനതയെ ഭീതിയുടെ മുൾമുനയിൽ നിർത്തി.യൂണബോംബെർ അയച്ച 16 ബോംബുകൾ നിരപരാധികളായ മൂന്ന് പേരുടെ ജീവൻ അപഹരിച്ചു.ഇരുപത്തിമൂന്നു പേരെ പരിക്കേൽപ്പിക്കുകയും ചെയ്‌തു.ഇവരിൽ പലർക്കും അംഗവൈകല്യങ്ങൾ സംഭവിച്ചു .ഇടക്കാലത്തു കാര്യമായ വിദ്യാഭ്യാസം ഇല്ലാത്ത ഒരു എയർലൈൻ മെക്കാനിക്‌ ആണ് യൂണബോംബെർ എന്ന നിഗമനത്തിൽ എഫ് ബി ഐ എത്തിച്ചേർന്നിരുന്നു.യൂണിവേഴ്സിറ്റി പ്രൊഫെസർമാരും എയർലൈൻ ഓഫീസുകളും വിമാനങ്ങളും ആയിരുന്ന യൂണബോംബേറുടെ സ്ഥിരം ലക്ഷ്യങ്ങൾ.ഫോറൻസിക് ലിൻഗ്യൂസ്റ്റിക്സ് എന്ന അന്ന് പൂർണത എത്താത്ത ഒരു അന്വേഷണ ശാഖയാണ് ഒടുവിൽ യൂണബോംബേറുടെ യഥാർഥ പ്രൊഫൈൽ കണ്ടെത്താൻ എഫ് ബി ആയെ സഹായിക്കുന്നത്.അമ്പത് വയസിന് മുകളിൽ പ്രായമുള്ള ശരാശരിയിലും കവിഞ്ഞ ബുദ്ധി ഉള്ള ഒരു പി എച് ഡി ഉള്ള വ്യക്തിയാണ് ബോംബർ എന്ന് എഫ് ബി ഐ ഉറപ്പിക്കുന്നത് യൂണബോംബെർ അയച്ച എഴുത്തുകളും മറ്റും വ്യാകരണത്തിനും ഭാഷക്കും വേണ്ടി പരിശോധിച്ചാണ് .
യൂണബോംബെർ അയച്ച ഇൻഡസ്ട്രിയൽ സൊസൈറ്റി ആൻഡ് ഇറ്റ്സ് ഫ്യൂച്ചർ എന്ന പ്രബന്ധം ആണ് അയാളെ കണ്ടെത്താൻ ഒരു വഴിത്തിരിവ് ആകുന്നത്.
യൂണബോംബെർ മാനിഫെസ്റ്റോ എന്ന പേരിൽ അറിയപ്പെട്ട ഈ പ്രബന്ധത്തിൽ ഉപയോഗിച്ചിരുന്ന വാക്കുകൾ 50 വയസിനു മുകളിൽ ഉള്ള ഒരാളുടെ യൗവ്വനകാലത്തു സമൂഹത്തിൽ പ്രചാരത്തിൽ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന വാക്കുകൾ ആണെന്നും എഴുതിയ രീതി 1970 കു മുന്നേ ഉപയോഗിച്ചിരുന്ന പ്രബന്ധ അവതരണ ശൈലി ആണെന്നും അന്വേഷകർ കണ്ടെത്തി.എഫ് ബി അയ് ഈ മാനിഫെസ്റ്റോ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിക്കാൻ വിമുഖത കാട്ടി ആദ്യം. എഫ് സി എന്ന് ആയിരുന്നു യൂണബോംബെർ തന്റെ കത്തുകൾ ഒപ്പിട്ടിരുന്നത്.ഇത് ഒരാളാണോ അതോ ഒരു ഗ്രൂപ്പാണോ എന്നും സംശയങ്ങൾ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.അന്ന് ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന ഇക്കോ ടെററിസ്റ് ഗ്രൂപ്പുകളുടെ ടാർഗെറ്റുകളുമായി യൂണബോംബേറുടെ ടാർഗെറ്റുകൾക്കു സാമ്യവും.
ഒരു തീവ്രവാദിക്കു വഴങ്ങുന്നതിനു തുല്യമാണ് മാനിഫെസ്റ്റോ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിക്കുന്നത് എന്ന് വിമർശനം ഉയർന്നു.പക്ഷെ യൂണിബോംബേറെ കണ്ടുപിടിക്കാൻ എഫ് ബി എയുടെ മുന്നിൽ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന അവസാന തുറുപ്പ് ചീട്ടായിരുന്നു മാനിഫെസ്റ്റോ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരണം. എഫ് ബി അയ് ഒടുവിൽ ന്യുയോർക് ടയിംസിലും വാഷിംഗ്‌ടൺ പോസ്റ്റിലും ഇത് പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ചു.

പോസ്റ്റിൽ മാനിഫെസ്റ്റോ വായിച്ച ലിൻഡ കസിൻസ്കിക് തന്റെ ഭർത്സാഹോദരനായ ടെഡ് കസിൻസ്കിയുടെ ഭാഷയും വിശ്വാസങ്ങളുമായി സാമ്യം തോന്നുന്നു.അവർ ഭർത്താവായ ഡേവിഡിനെ മാനിഫെസ്റോ കാണിയ്ക്കുന്നു.ആദ്യം ആശയകുഴപ്പത്തിലായ ഡേവിഡ്‌ ഒടുവിൽ എഫ് ബി ഐയെ വിവരം അറിയിക്കുന്നു .പതിനാറാമത്തെ വയസിൽ ഹാർവാഡ് യൂണിവേഴ്സിറ്റിയിൽ കേറിപറ്റിയ ഒരു പ്രതിഭ ആയിരുന്നു റ്റെഡ് കസിൻസ്കി.ഹാർവാർഡിൽ നിന്നും ബിരുദം നേടിയ ശേഷം മിഷിഗൻ യൂണിവേഴ്സിറ്റിയിൽ നിന്ന് 1967ഇൽ ഗണിതശാസ്ത്രത്തിൽ പി എച് ഡി എടുത്തു കസിൻസ്കി .
യൂണിവേഴ്സിറ്റി ഓഫ് കാലിഫോർണിയ ബെർക്കിലീയിൽ പ്രൊഫെസ്സർ ആയ കസിൻസ്കി 1969ഇൽ ജോലി ഉപേക്ഷിച്ചു കാട്ടിൽ താൻ തന്നെ പണി കഴിപ്പിച്ച ഒരു ക്യാബിനിലേക്കു മാറുന്നു.വെള്ളവും വൈദ്യുതിയും ഇല്ലാത്ത ഈ ക്യാബിനിൽ പുറം ലോകവുമായി യാതൊരു ബന്ധവും ഇല്ലാത്ത ഒരു ജീവിതമാണ് കസിൻസ്കി നയിക്കാൻ ശ്രെമിച്ചതു.ഏഴ് വർഷം ഇങ്ങനെ ജീവിച്ച കസിൻസ്കി ബോംബിങ് തുടങ്ങുന്നത് തന്റെ ക്യാബിനു ചുറ്റുമുള്ള വനം റിയൽ എസ്റ്റേറ്റ് കമ്പനികൾ നശിപ്പിച്ചപ്പോഴാണ്.
സാങ്കേതികതയും വ്യവസായവത്കരണവും ആയിരുന്നു കസിൻസ്കിയുടെ ശത്രുക്കൾ.അതിന്റെ വ്യക്താക്കളായി കസിൻസ്കി കണ്ടതും ആക്രമിച്ചതും നിരപരാധികളായ മനുഷ്യരെ ആയിരുന്നു.എട്ടു ജീവപര്യന്തവുമായി ഫ്ലോറിഡയിൽ ഒരു മാക്സിമം സെക്യൂരിറ്റി ജയിലിൽ കഴിയുന്ന കസിൻസ്കി ആശയങ്ങൾ മനുഷ്യനെ കൊണ്ട് ചെയ്യിപ്പിക്കുന്ന കൊടും ക്രൂരതകളുടെ ഒരു പ്രതീകമാണ്.പാഴായിപോയ ഒരു ജന്മം.കസിൻസ്കിയുടെ വീക്ഷണങ്ങൾ ശെരി ആയിരുന്നുവെങ്കിലും അത് ലോകത്തെ അറിയിക്കാൻ അയാൾ കണ്ടെത്തിയ മാർഗം മാപ്പർഹിക്കാത്തതാണ്.യൂണബോംബെർ മാനിഫെസ്റ്റോയിലെ ആര്ട്ടിഫിഷ്യൽ ഇന്റലിജൻസിനെ കുറിച്ചുളള ഭാഗം ആണ്‌ ഇത്‌.അന്നു അയാൾ മുന്നോട്ട് വെച്ച ആശങ്കകൾ ഒരു ഇന്ന് നമ്മൾ ചർച്ച ചെയുന്നത് ആണെന്ന് മനസില്ലാമനസോടെ നമുക്ക് സമ്മതിക്കേണ്ടി വന്നേക്കാം.

 

 

Dark S01 | Netflix :Review

A German show debuted on Netflix the other day.Not that i have a problem with the spoken language when it comes to binge watching, Narcos had more than a fair sprinkling of Spanish.But this one turned out be something else entirely.Imagine watching Nolan’s Interstellar in a language that you do not speak or understand, while you were drunk, with subtitles, thats the closest i can get to explaining my experience as a viewer, the fact that the show dealt with the same mind bending theme as Interstellar notwithstanding.Both are about bending of time, but its your mind that gets bent ultimately by the time you figure out the story.

For those of us who feel that Stranger Things Season One was the best Sci-Fi drama to hit Netflix but have been disappointed by Stranger Things Season 2, Dark just might be the right button to hit, literally. While Dark doesn’t have any of the nostalgic charm of Stranger Things and is in fact a grim tale with a bunch of disturbed characters, you still end up caring for the most of them and their fates, but you might want to keep a pad and a pencil at arms length too, not the easiest of plots to keep track of exactly.I am not exaggerating, trust me on this one.

For a plot that progressed in the most complicated yet flawless of ways, i must say i was a bit disappointed by the ending of this Season, which could only be justified by an impending Season Two announcement .The stage has been set brilliantly, a climax thats worthy is what the creators owe us as viewers now.Nothing less will do.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy0b9e40tK8

Richie: Review, of sorts.

Ulidavaru Kandanthe was a film that was deeply rooted in the culture and life in the coastal belt of Karnataka, in the vicinity of Udupi.From the painted tigers to Yakshagana to tales of Madhvacharya and sunken treasures, the Rakshit Shetty film had all the makings of a cult classic.Shetty himself has gone on record that he had Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction on his mind when he was writing the film, the glowing,mysterious content of the bag in Ulidavaru is an obvious reference apart from the non linear narrative and names of characters.Shetty delivered an inimitable performance as the central character too.So when Nivin Pauly announced a remake of UK he had a task cut out for him and was a bold decision too I’d say considering the fact that he chose to make the film in Tamil.Listening to him speak on air the day before the release i had the impression that he had no illusions whatsoever that he could beat or match Rakshit Shetty’s work.The Richie bashers are barking up the wrong tree too early, i have to say.

Nivin Pauly’s Richie is a diluted version of Rakshit Shetty’s UK but not a bad one at that as some of the opinions doing rounds online would have you believe.Though the teasers and trailers might have sent out wrong messages to a wider audience, those who had watched UK must have had their apprehensions early on about the kind of expectations they would generate amongst Nivin’s audience and this could be one reason why some of the viewers who went in looking for an out and out actioner ended up disappointed.If Pulp Fiction were to be released in theaters in our part of the world, how many of us would actually hail it and obsess over the tiny details that make it a film worthy of its cult status, except for the connoisseurs?In fact Ulidavaru Kandante was more of a critical success than a commercial one and found a following amongst film lovers beyond the barriers of boundaries and language.

Comparisons to the original apart, Richie as a standalone work of art is indeed noteworthy in terms of making and performances but then again the comparisons are inevitable and is something Nivin and crew would’ve to just live with.I’d go so far as to say that the Raghu bit here in Richie felt more realistic than the one in UIidavaru.UK, true to its Pulp Fiction roots offers no explanations for the incidents that unfold on screen and leaves it to the audience to figure it out for themselves unlike Richie which chooses to make it easier on the audience to follow the narrative and the fate of the characters.Nivin Pauly admitted beforehand that he had a tough time dubbing in Tamil and he has a done a pretty decent job here,considering.Diction and delivery is something he would want to work on, in the long run.Sraddha Srinath is in her elements here too. To compare Natraj Subramaniam to Kishore is as unfair as comparing Nivin Pauly with Rakshit Shetty but that’s not saying he’s not up to the task, just putting things in perspective here, for the benefit of the detractors.Democracy unfortunately is reduced to comic relief here.Richie might not be for you if you’re looking for a Nivin Pauly vehicle with all the ingredients of a regular Tamil action movie, but that’s not what the makers have intended here either.Uprooting UK from coastal Karnataka and bringing it over to Tuticorin is no mean task and Nivin Pauly and team I must say have been fairly successful at that.
#ആമാണ്ടാപേപയല്ലേ #richie

Padmarajan’s Interpretation of Dreams.

Sigmund Freud interpreted dreams and even wrote a pioneering book on the topic. Had he been around the time when Padmarajan was breaking path in Malayalam Cinema, he would have ended up a fan of the filmmaker just for the way in which he depicted dream sequences in his films.Almost three decades back, at a time when the term CGI was still unheard of in Indian Cinema, Padmarajan used some basic visuals and music to create a surreal experience for his viewers that resonated with the nightmares and dreams they must have had at some point in their lives.

This is a mashup of scenes from two of his movies, where the characters have nightmares after some truly traumatic experiences.The first is from Moonampakkam where Thilakan plays a grandfather who is mourning the loss of his grandson who has drowned in the sea and is waiting for the body to be recovered.Padmarajan creates an atmosphere thats almost palpable to the viewer with some haunting images which are right out of a dream that you yourself had on one of those bad nights in bed.The most striking image is that of the actor walking down the desolated beach and being startled by a coconut tree that has bent out of shape.Its a visual that you would immediately relate with for some inexplicable reason.
Padmarajan did this again in his film Innale, about a woman who is recovering from an accident and is suffering from retrograde amnesia.Shobhana plays the character here and she has a nightmare on the hospital bed and which reflects her predicament.This sequence would rank behind the one from Moonampakkam to me because its more direct in terms of the visual analogy but it is no less haunting in terms of effect.Padmarjan has used music to great effect in both of these scenes too.
To me these scenes are awe inspiring because this is exactly how a dream or a nightmare would look like in real life .Yes, the images you see have a meaning and a reason always as Freud has sweared by all his life.The only time i have seen a filmmaker come close to beating this is when Nokan took on dreams in Inception.
The detailing and thought that have gone into these scenes are what sets Padmarajan apart as a filmmaker who had a direct line not just to the hearts but to the minds of his audience too.

 

Maps, Voyages, Names.

ഷാർജ ഇന്റർനാഷണൽ ബുക്ക് ഫെയറിൽ ഒരു പാരീസ് ലൈബ്രറിയുടെ സ്റ്റോളിൽ പ്രദർശനത്തിന് വെച്ചിരുന്ന ഒരു അപൂർവ ഭൂപട പുസ്തകത്തിലെ (original edition) ഇന്ത്യയും കേരളവും.d’Apres de Mannevillette എന്ന ഫ്രഞ്ച് മാപ്പ് വിദഗ്ദൻ (cartographer) ഫ്രഞ്ച് ഈസ്റ്റ് ഇന്ത്യ കമ്പനിക് വേണ്ടി നിരവധി കടൽ യാത്രകൾ നടത്തി സമാഹരിച്ചു 1745ഇൽ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച “Le Neptune Oriental” എന്ന ഈ ഭൂപടപുസ്തകത്തിൽ (hydrographic atlas) ഇരുപത്തിയഞ്ചു മാപ്പുകൾ ഉണ്ട്. ഫ്രഞ്ച് ഈസ്റ്റ് ഇന്ത്യ കമ്പനിയുടെ കപ്പിത്താന്മാർ കപ്പലോട്ടത്തിനു പിന്നീട് ഇത് ഉപയോഗിച്ചു.

കൊച്ചിക്കും കൊല്ലത്തിനും ഇടക്ക് കണ്ട പോർക്ക (Porca) ആണ്‌ ആലപ്പുഴയ്ക്ക് കണ്ട പരാമർശം.പോർക്ക ഇന്നത്തെ പുറക്കാട്.പുറക്കാട് ഒരു തുറമുഖം ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നു.ഡച്ച് ഈസ്റ്റ് ഇന്ത്യ കമ്പനിക്കു അവിടെ ഒരു ഫാക്ടറിയും.പോർക്കയിൽ നിന്ന് കയറ്റി അയച്ച സുഗന്ധദ്രവ്യങ്ങളുടെ കണക്കുകൾ ഈസ്റ്റ് ഇന്ത്യ കമ്പനിയുടെ രേഖകളിൽ കാണാം. പുറക്കാട് പള്ളിയിലെ കുരിശു കടൽ ക്ഷോഭത്തിൽ നിന്ന് രക്ഷപെട്ടതിനു നന്ദി സൂചകമായി ഡച്ചുകാർ നാട്ടിയതാണ് എന്ന് പറയപ്പെടുന്നു.

 

Thor : Ragnarok – The Review.

Thor goes to battle with Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song in the background not once but twice in this latest piece of the Marvel Cinematic Universe up for grabs and just those scenes are your money’s worth, in fact every scene of this movie is, and how often do you get to say that about a movie these days?I am not familiar with the work of Taika Waititi and i must say i regret that already.For a movie that’s just a wee bit over two hours in running time, to keep the fun factor intact without losing charm throughout is no mean feat, its a superhuman feat in fact and when i tell you that the likes of Matt Damon and Sam Neil do cameos here, you know I’m not pulling a fast one on you.

I feel for DC here though, right when they’re about to try and salvage some pride with their version of the fiercely competitive space that comic book alternate reality universe is , Marvel goes ahead again and beats them to it at the box office.I know I’m being unfair and mean when i say this but Zack Snyder, even if he’s being helped out by Joss Whedon himself this time around,is going to have a hard time going up against Thor and Co.This is one race where the hare is beating the tortoise hands down, I’ve a feeling .Superman and Batman just might end up sweating a bit more than they would like trying to unseat Thor and Hulk at the box office in the weeks to come.And when was the last time Batman or Superman cracked a joke on screen, yeah now you know what i am talking about.This Marvel movie is significant also because it doesn’t rely on the abundantly talented Robert Downey Jr. in the wisecracks department.But a Tony Stark reference is not entirely without either.

If the tales of the Gods in Asgard have confused and put you off in the past, don’t let that cloud your judgment this time around.This movie is nothing like any of the other Marvel movies you’ve watched.Remember how genuinely refreshing the first Iron Man movie was, if you do, thats how good this movie is.It might remind you of Guardians of Galaxies but thats only because its as much fun and you have as many ships flying around battling each other furiously.Cate Blanchett gets to play a Queen again, albeit a mean one and you realize why Shekar Kapoor cast in the first place, the lady’s got class, loads of it.Chris Hemworth and Mark Ruffalo are the men of the hour here with ample support from Tom Hiddleston and Tessa Thompson who i must say, has been a revelation, at least to me.Anthony Hopkins has to be the only actor on the planet who could sleepwalk through the role of Odin, Thor’s father and the King of Asgard.Idris Elba returns here again and is the only Asgardian who doesn’t have a funny bone in his body.Jeff Goldblum plays a quirky baddie here and Benedict Cumberbatch reprises his role as Doctor Strange in another cameo.Thor Ragnarok restored my dwindling faith in the superhero genre and the credit i must say belongs to Waititi entirely.Got a nice ring to it too, can’t stop repeating that name in my head for some reason, Taika Waititi…

Villain: The Review.

An ensemble of familiar tropes and then some more.That was Villain for me.B.Unnikrishnan, to whom the mantle of the master of suspense in the Malayalam film industry has passed on from the likes of K.Madhu and Shaji Kailas for lack of a better contender has always tried to show a sophisticated ,suave Mohanlal in his movies.Mohanlal has looked his best in recent times in B.Unnikrishnan movies but there’s always something missing in those films that leaves you dissatisfied as a viewer at the end of the day, they’re like a Venkatesh Prasad spell so to speak, there’s the run up, there’s intent, there’s attitude but lacks the most important deliverable, pace and ultimately gets hit down the park in utter disdain.

Here too B.Unnikrishnan loads his movie with attitude and an urbanity which is totally detached from the reality of our social and political infrastructure in an attempt to emulate the refined cop movies from Hollywood that we have grown up to, over the years.To be fair, the movie tries earnestly to hang on to its tagline, which is basically about the shades of grey in every one of us.Except for Manju Warrier’s , every other significant character in the movie has a twist to their persona which unravels as the movie progresses and in a way justifies the makers claim that there’s a villain in every hero and vice versa.But the movie chooses to deal with this theme superficially and if B.Unnikrishnan was inspired here by Nolan’s Dark Knight and Vishal’s role is intended as a loose take on Legder’s Joker, he misses the mark here by a mile.Getting his actors to break into dialogues that would be more at home in Hollywood than in a Malayalam film doesn’t necessarily make the film suave if thats the intention.And B.Unnikrishnan needs to get over his fascination with crony digital interfaces which again look like an unimaginative rethinking of the gesture interfaces from the Iron Man movies.He had a field day with those in Mr.Fraud, just for the record.Do away with those spinning progress bars and the beeps in the cyber cell please, 2.0 is to hit the screens soon too by the way.The director tells us he’s as up to date as any of us as a viewer of the thriller movies and shows from abroad when he throws in the term “black site” randomly during an interrogation scene.

Emotional thriller,is the phrase thats been doing rounds ever since this movie was released and if you ask me i honestly do not know what that is, psychological thrillers i know but emotional, that’s new to me.If those are movies where the sequences cut rapidly from forced melodrama and action back to back then maybe this is indeed the genre that the Villain belongs to.Yes,Mohanlal emotes the hell out of himself in a most restrained performance of his in recent times here but please do not invent a new genre just because you feel obliged to justify ever outing of his.Now, that the phrase has been coined, the only Malayalam movie that fits the label that comes to my mind is Kouravar from yesteryear.But thats another time, another era, another film entirely.To me this movie would rank behind Grandmaster and Mr.Fraud amongst Unnikrishnan’s works with Mohanlal.

The Foreigner : The Review

When Martin Campbell who helmed the debut movies of the two Bonds of our generation -well okay relax millennial- my generation, teamed up with one of those Bond actors and the “pint sized dynamo” from Hong Kong, I knew I wouldn’t be in for a disappointment.Though its an unlikely combination of talents and one thats even more unlikely to happen again, the timing of the release of this film based on a novel over two decades old, one has to say couldn’t have been more coincidental with the theme it dealt with, considering the mindless violence that was unleashed on unsuspecting, innocent people purportedly by a crazed individual a few days apart.The Las Vegas shooting reminded us that terror doesn’t have a religion or a cause to drive its rage.A deranged mind is all it takes, all the time.
The true intent of terror is the fear that it creates in the mind of the individual who leaves his home and steps out into the streets.In these times of crowd sourced mass violence you can’t but help worry about the safety of your loved ones every time they are out in a public place.This fear and helplessness is the central theme that the makers have explored in The Foreigner.Jackie Chan plays an ex-special forces man who takes on the system in ways he knows best when he seeks the answers behind a bombing that kills his daughter.Pierce Brosnan is at the wrong end of Jackie’s fist as the militant turned politician, who reminds you of the faces you have seen on the news couple of decades back in the wake of the IRA ceasefire which involved the Sinn Fein and the British government apart from other organizations in the region.

Jackie Chan gets to emote apart from doing what he does best, kicking ass that is.Brosnan is at home in his role as the politically driven ex-IRA man.The movie is as much about politics as its about action and it feeds on the latent anger in the viewer who sees himself in the actions of Jackie Chan’s character.Martin Campbell has made a film that might find more acceptance in the east not just because it has one of the biggest stars from Asia rather because of the unsavory past of homegrown terror and violence in one of the leading nations of the West, it reminds the audiences there of

Solo: The Review.

Solo.Another experimental film by Bejoy Nambiar.Any of us who’s ever been inside a chemistry lab knows that the thing with experiments is that they tend to go wrong, even the most meticulously planned ones.Bejoy Nambiar has chosen to tread an unconventional path right from his debut film, Shaitan.I must admit i liked even the flawed Wazir in bits and pieces but mostly for the sheer presence of Big B.When Nambiar here joins hands with Dulquer Salman expectations were to skyrocket obviously.Here too you’re divided as a viewer between the actor you like and a director who doesn’t live up to his reputation.And it takes a special kind of buff to choose Solo over The Foreigner and the Blade Runner sequel.So I guess disappointment and delight were always looming on the horizon hand in hand and you had no other choice but to trust Nambiar to usher the right sentiment in.

Solo is an anthology of four shorts which are supposedly based on the four elements water, wind, fire and earth.Though I’m yet to figure out how the characters and the stories are linked to the elements, i think i have managed to figure out the title.Solo, i believe is about four stories where the protagonist ends up alone in life, hence Solo, unless I missed another cue.Nambiar starts off with what to me was weakest of the stories and what must have been the toughest of characters to tackle for DQ.He ends the anthology with something which is the most entertaining and the most senseless of the four stories, entertaining because that’s when the audience came back to life after being in suspended animation since the intro of Shekar with his dreadlock-ish hair. Again im confused here because I’m not sure if the laughs were intended or not.I can live with artistic licenses and cinematic liberties but when an army cadet barges into an army wedding where the groom is a police officer to challenge him for a fist fight just to check if he’s man enough for his ex girlfriend and you see the father of the bride cheering his son-in-law to be, you get this feeling that there are alternate realities in this world that you’re still not aware of.

DQ must have had a great learning experience as an actor doing four different roles and he does deliver an earnest performance in each of them.If you ask me to pick a favorite it would be Siva because its the most subtle yet intense turn by Dulquer.One gets a feeling that he’s the only one who has really gained from this movie as an actor though it might not do that star in him much good, Solo indeed i guess.
Bejoy Nambiar tried to hit out of the park but the ball misses his guru Mani Rathnam’s yard and lands in a lot which was just vacated by Ram Gopal Varma.Relax, thats just me exaggerating