[rbp]

Watched Vikrant Rona yesterday on Zee5. What a huge let down, felt like a rehash of Rangitaranga, Watching it in Dolby Atmos and the stunning visuals were the saving grace. The bgm mixing was top notch, if you have a proper HT with Dolby Atmos setup, you will love it.

Rating - 3/5.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by naveen.raju

Priyan Ottathilanu - Malayalam
Rating - 4/5 (Manorama Max)

What a lovely movie. One of the best light hearted movies I have seen recently. Think it received favorable reviews but did not do very well in the theaters. Totally agree with your rating. Sharafudeen is a really good and versatile actor. Quite under-rated. He can do dumb as well as understated comedy(Premam and many others), be a classy villian(Anjaam Pathira), be a nasty villian (Varathan) and now does a great job as a commoner.

Sundari Gardens- Sony Liv-Aparna Balamurali and Neeraj Madhav: Pretty decent one. Again a mostly conflict free slice of life story. A bit slow, but good performances by Aparna Balamurali and Neeraj Madhav with some comedy from Midhun Manuel Thomas. Good OTT watch.

Rating: 3/5

[whitewing]

Jadugaar -hindi
Streaming on nextflix
rating 4/5

A feel good movie with a simple plot revolving around an aspiring Jadugar and how he realizes the meaning of true love. There is a certain charm to this movie, a worthwhile watch with family.
Excellent acting by the cast - includes Javed Jaffery, Jitendra Kumar and Manoj Joshi

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by rbp

Watched Vikrant Rona yesterday on Zee5. What a huge let down, felt like a rehash of Rangitaranga, Watching it in Dolby Atmos and the stunning visuals were the saving grace. The bgm mixing was top notch, if you have a proper HT with Dolby Atmos setup, you will love it.

Rating - 3/5.

Totally agree with the review but my rating would be 2/5. I particularly like the climax though. Surprising to see cop smoking some expensive cigars.

[chaitanyakrish]

Ponniyin Selvan album is very good. Looking forward for the movie.

This song from the album is classic and vintage.

The music can take us back at least 50 years in time.

Alaikadal (From "Ponniyin Selvan Part-1") - YouTube

[Rajeevraj]

Recently released Malayalam films continue to hit OTT

Nna thaan case kodu- Kunchacko Boban-Hotstar: This was a huge success in the theater released and kind of lives up to the hype. Story is simple, a ordinary guy with a past history of thieving decides to take on the system after he gets accused in a theft case. Kunchacko is fantastic and the rest of the cast-who are mostly folks from the area and are not known actors, also do very well. Would have been definitely better as a theater watch as you need to pay close attention to the dialogs and also the dialect is not easy to understand. Still a good fun watch

Rating 3.5/5

Paappan: Suresh Gopi, Neeta Pillai-Zee5: This also had a good run in theaters. Directed by Joshiy, had thought it was a run of the mill thriller to bring back the old Suresh Gopi, but was pleasantly surprised. Firstly Suresh Gopi is not trying to become the Suresh Gopi of the 90's- He is much toned down, calm and collected, but still retains that intensity that made him a super star. Secondly, although he is the hero and finally has to come in and save the day, his role is almost a secondary character to ACP Vincy Abraham- who is also his semi-estranged daughter , played very well by Neeta Pillai(The heroine from Poomaram and the very underrated Kungfu Master-Wonder why she does not do more movies) .

It is not a very intelligent whodunit or procedural, but Joshiy is well known as a director who can make a fast paced film with many characters. So, a lot of red herrings, the twists keep coming and the film picks up towards the climax. I quite enjoyed it.

Rating: 3.5/5

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Nna thaan case kodu- Kunchacko Boban-Hotstar: This was a huge success in the theater released and kind of lives up to the hype. Story is simple, a ordinary guy with a past history of thieving decides to take on the system after he gets accused in a theft case. Kunchacko is fantastic and the rest of the cast-who are mostly folks from the area and are not known actors, also do very well. Would have been definitely better as a theater watch as you need to pay close attention to the dialogs and also the dialect is not easy to understand. Still a good fun watch

Absolutely loved this one! Not even one newcomer slipped up and the director’s penchant for over-the-top wackiness was evident in many scenes, but he and the crew pulled it off so well. I was expecting Kunchacko to get caught out on local slang, but he didn’t and gelled so well with the rest of the cast. I have seen some movies where they start off with the local slang and then halfway through they get into their own way of talking (for e.g., Dileep-Innocent starrer Pappi Appacha). If I have to nitpick, I was wondering why the female lead alone spoke Tamil when her dad had dialogues in local slang (Malayalam).

Originally Posted by famousshoes

Thanks guys hope you were able to watch the film with the family, i was the cinematographer on this one.

Great work! The location was more like a character in the movie and your subtle camerawork really lifted the whole ambiance, especially in the courtroom space. The whole family loved the movie. Even my daughter (who relies on subtitles) enjoyed the show and was laughing at all right places

[VNair]

Finally watched Seetha Ramam. Generally this is not kind of movie which I like, but somewhat liked this one. Wouldn't say it is a much watch, but can give it a try. Would rate it personally 3/5. - Amazon Prime

Also watched Sundari Gardens, its a good watch, but a problem I personally felt is lot of songs. Almost a song every 5 mins, even though it is used in background. My personal rating would be 3/5. SonyLIV

[famousshoes]

Originally Posted by vb-san

If I have to nitpick, I was wondering why the female lead alone spoke Tamil when her dad had dialogues in local slang (Malayalam).

The back story on that is that they were a nomadic family who made their living by selling their wares at small temple and church festivals. Her mother who was Tamil is no longer alive and they have now settled in this small village.

Originally Posted by vb-san

work! The location was more like a character in the movie and your subtle camerawork really lifted the whole ambiance, especially in the courtroom space. The whole family loved the movie. Even my daughter (who relies on subtitles) enjoyed the show and was laughing at all right places

Thank you for your appreciation and the kind words
Glad the family enjoyed it as well.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by famousshoes

Thank you for your appreciation and the kind words
Glad the family enjoyed it as well.

A special mention for the cinematography for the 'Devadoother paadi' song. Really captured the feel of the festival in a short interval and (probably not using the right words here) the cuts between the singers,.the stage, the bus in between, the MLA and his people and above all the fantastic capture of Kuchacko Boban's moves in the large crowd. I keep rewatching it.

[rajivr1612]

Nna Than Case Kodu on Hotstar.

Ok as a one time watch. Boban surely didn't have to stress much considering his capabilities.

I am not a big fan of this type of "hyper realistic" movies. It's similar to somebody following my daily life with a camera. Also this "unsteady camera" business gets on my nerves.

Same was the case with Thingalazhcha Nischayam. I somehow completed it, but my wife couldn't sit through more than 30mins into the movie. She was complaining what was the hullabaloo all about.

[yedukrishnan199]

I personally felt the movie "Nna Than Case Kodu" was a humorous take on the present situation of roads in Kerala, with the never-ending corruption and acts by parties on full display in the movie.

I am not in favour of any political parties or political agenda but the movie is a great watch and has the Box office collection to show for it too.

[StarrySky]

Thallumaala on Netflix: The whole movie is a string of fist fights as the name suggests, with some songs and dialogue in between. But at some level, it works.

The visuals are certainly very colourful. The stunt sequences are executed well. There's not much comedy, but some dialogues bring some laughter. The movie follows non-linear narration, and it works for this movie. I was sceptical and didn't expect much, but it managed to entertain. But it's not everyone's cup of tea.

On the downside, the story of this two and a half hour movie could be narrated in two minutes, so don't look for much of a story. The movie is generally fast-paced, but a couple of songs look out of place and slow the movie down. The movie could have been trimmed.

The hero's claim to fame is basically a fight that goes viral on social media and nothing substantial. The movie also refers to this in a scene. This also sums up the movie.

My teenage daughter found the movie fun and wouldn't mind watching it again. On the other hand, although I enjoyed the movie while it lasted, I can't stand a second watch.

[dragonfire]

Originally Posted by rajivr1612

Nna Than Case Kodu on Hotstar.

Ok as a one time watch. Boban surely didn't have to stress much considering his capabilities.

I am not a big fan of this type of "hyper realistic" movies. It's similar to somebody following my daily life with a camera. Also this "unsteady camera" business gets on my nerves.

Same was the case with Thingalazhcha Nischayam. I somehow completed it, but my wife couldn't sit through more than 30mins into the movie. She was complaining what was the hullabaloo all about.

Both the movies are set in Kasargod, and the language and slang is quite different from the rest of the state and is a bit hard to follow. I myself had a hard time understanding and had to rely on the subtitles at times. For somebody who does not know malayalam it would be infinitely difficult to understand the play with the words, which is the thing that makes the whole affair interesting. Add to that, if you are not in touch with the current political and social landscape of Kerala, you might feel out of place.

Its not a Pushpa or a KGF or an RRR that is made for a larger audience pool. These are niche movies shot on a shoestring budget, Its natural that such movies have a selective fan base - and thankfully that base is sizeable enough in Kerala to warrant such movies being produced.

[rajivr1612]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

For somebody who does not know malayalam...

Missed to mention in my post that both me and wife are mallus from TCR.