A Triple Movie Treat

Saw three Malayalam movies over the weekend:


Ividam Swargam Aaanu

The Mohanlal starrer was slow to pick up its pace. Directed by Roshan Andrews, the movie is about a farmer's fight against the land mafia.

Innocent, Thilakan, Srinivasan, Jagathy and all the usual stars were there.

With three heroines, Laksmi Gopalaswamy (bank manager), Priyanka (TV reporter) and Lakshmi Rai (lawyer), Lalettan has a tough choice to make.

Lalu Alex as the scheming land-grabber - Aluva Chandy does a splendid job.

The last thirty minutes remind one of Khosla ka Ghosla.

Good movie to be enjoyed with the whole family.

Nayakan

No not the Kamal starrer. This movie surprisingly went unnoticed. Stylishly shot with an awesome performance by Indrajith and Thilakan, this is a revenge saga with a difference.

Indrajith is a Kathakali dancer. Thilakan plays Vincent Karanavar, an old don kind of person, a protector of a small community of people living in an old part of Kochi.

Indrajith's father and sister are killed by Siddique a magician who became a rich political kingmaker. He is beaten by Siddique's goons and left to die.

Thilakan rescues him and plans a revenge saga.

The movie unfolds at a quick pace and some great shots of Malaysia and a twist in the climax increase the suspense.


Kerala Cafe

This collection of ten short movies produced by Ranjit uniting ten of the most popular directors in Malayalam cinema is a great effort.

This movie will be reviewed in a separate post.

Dr. Pashupati

This was one funny movie. Starring-Innocent, Parvathi, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathi, Jagadeesh, Kalpana and a whole other bunch of actors.

The movie is about a small village that does not have veterinary doctors. A village board president played by Venu is given an ultimatum to find a doctor or lose his post.

A drama-actor and a small-time thief played by Innocent is hired to play the role of the veterinary doctor - Dr. Pashupati. The confusion, chaos and mayhem that is unleashed in the village forms the crux of the story.

Parvathi who is in love with her uncle's son played by Riza Bawa is forced to marry Innocent. Does the marriage take place? Is Innocent caught?

Watch the movie to find answers.

The biggest surprise for me was that action-specialist Shaji Kailash had directed the movie.

Murali Leaves Us

Talented actor Murali passed away this morning in Kerala. He was 55. An actor par excellence, a lawyer by profession whose first love was theatre. Murali had the depth and power to reign supreme in Malayalam cinema. There are many rumours that Mammooty tried to sabotage Murali's career as a hero. Such accusations are common in all the various "woods" when character actors give the so-called heroes a run for their money.

Murali has played the cold-blooded villain, the friend, father, honest police inspector and countless other roles. His performance in Pulijanmam won him an award. He had won accolades for many other movies too. Of late he appeared in some Tamil movies too. He also appeared in the Deccan Air ad of a small town villager who ends up travelling in an aeroplane.

On par with Thilakan for his powerful dialogue delivery and magnetic gaze-Malayalam cinema has lost another good actor.

Twenty:20

I saw Twenty:20 on Sunday.
I enjoyed the movie. It has something for everybody. Mohanlal, Mammooty, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Jayaram, and Indrajith get major screen time.

Almost all important artistes of Malayalam cinema figure in the movie.
The movie directed by Joshiy is produced by Dileep and his company Grand Productions.
A string of flops and now Dileep is as happy as the Cheshire Cat laughing all the way to the bank.

The movie is essentially a suspense and revenge drama. Indrajith is accused of murder in a Bangalore Medical College. Mammooty as the dashing lawyer Rameshan Nambiar saves him and secures his release.

Indrajith is found murdered while returning from a party and Mohanlal is arrested for the crime. Sukumari and Kavya plead with Mammootty to save Mohanlal. Mammooty visits Mohanlal in jail and after some inquiries argues on his behalf. All circumstantial evidence is found to be misleading and Mohanlal is found not guilty.

The movie moves in to top gear from this point. Watch out for the scene where Lalettan transforms from a meek and simple vegetable dealer to the powerful Deva Devan. The way he folds the mundu and wears the glasses. The theatre erupted with claps and whistles.

Mohanlal says that he was indeed the killer and will kill two more people. Slowly the pieces fall into picture Dileep was Mohanlal's brother who was killed by Indrajith. Dileep and Bhavana were in love and Bhavana testifies against Indrajith in court.

The confrontation scenes between Lalettan and Mammooka are top-notch and Suresh Gopi does a super job as Inspector Anthony Punnakadan. Mammooty locks Mohanlal in his flat daring him to escape. Mohanlal breaks the windows and jumps into the swimming pool from the top floor. The young brigade of Prithvi, Jayasurya, and Kunchako are reduced to item-boys.

There are a couple of songs in the movie. One a Dileep and Bhavana duet in Mauritius and another a sizzler by Nayanthara who looks fabulous. In a later twist it is revealed that Bhavana is Mammooty's sister.

The customary climax fight is there and the movie ends with justice being done and the villains Shami Thilakan, Manoj K. Jayan, and Siddique being killed.

Full paisa vasool go watch it.