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I had been watching a lot of movies in the last two weeks and when i say that, i mean it. Out of the lot, only one movie which i felt like i should watch it again and again is , “Manmadan Ambu”. When Kamal Haasan pair up with Veteran Director K.S Ravikumar, the hype is high, so is the hope. The last time both of them created magic together was with Dasavataram and i don’t think i have to say what vibration it made to Indian Cinema. The best thing i like in Kamal is that, he does classic movies in serious subjects and much before we are out of that hangover, he delivers another 100% Entertainment movie. Manmadan ambu is such an entertainment which would tickle your bones for more than 2 hours.

Before i get into the review, one man whom i should appreciate is Madhavan. Madhavan and Kamal share an awesome rapport together and we have seen it already in Anpe Sivam. In this movie, Madhavan has done a great job. He has succeeded in playing his part of a doubtful lover, unlawful boss and a funny drunkard to the maximum extent. Kudos to Maddy for not making us Moody 🙂

Story starts with a film shooting. Nisha aka Ambu (Trisha) is a top heroine who is on demand. Madanagopal (Madhavan) is a successful industrialist and Ambu’s Fiance. From the first scene itself, director has portrayed that Madan’s family is not much happy in their son marrying a film actress. On top of it, Madhavan is constantly suspicious on Ambu, who mingles freely with her co actor Surya. While returning from the shooting spot, both of them get into a verbal argument, rather a big fight and Ambu who was driving Madan’s new Hummer clashes it with another car. Madan tries to sort out things with her after that narrow escape from car accident, but Ambu was in no mood to satisfy madan’s suspicious mind. It is then she decides to go on a vacation in a cruise ship. What more is needed to pour fuel to Madan’s already suspicious mind?

Ambu Starts her vacation on a cruise which visits several countries and it is then, Madan hires a detective and send in the same cruise to watch an eye on his love. That detective, is our hero Major Mannar (Kamal Haasan). Major Mannar is in urgent need of money to treat his friend who has been diagonissed for cancer. So he takes up this job. After observing Ambu for few days, Major is convinced that Madan is just imagining things and Ambu is truly innocent. So he gives a “Good Conduct Certificate” for Ambu to Madan. And, then when he asks for his payment to treat his friend, Madhan shows his real colors. “Detectives are paid when they find out something. You have not found anything and so there is no need to pay you.” That’s what Madan says to Major. Then, to teach him a lesson and to get the money of his labor, Major starts playing a double game. It is from this point, the movie gets interesting and the laughter wagon starts its journey.

Story and Dialogue of this movie is by Kamal Haasan itself and we can say, it is quite a refreshment. Kamal’s wittier dialogues are surely liked by the audience. Malayalam Actors Kunjan and Manju Pillai plays the role of Mr & Mrs Kunju Kurup who are producers and running behind Ambu to get her dates for their new film. They have done their part really well. During the initial stage of shooting, Both of them had very less number of scenes, and by getting impressed with their skills, Kamal expanded their roles and now they are throughout in the movie right from the first scene till the climax. Trisha, has matured a lot as an actress. After Jessy of VTV, Ambu is yet another powerful character which Trisha has handled with Caution and Care. Now she can be really called as an “Actress” rather than the female who appear just to run behind the hero. Other actors such as Sangeetha, Urvashi,Ramesh Aravind etc too have scored big time. Sangeetha proved that she is good at comedy and has a good timing.

I am no way qualified enough to Judge Kamal’s acting skills as the whole world know about it. But i must say, he once again proved to be the Real “Universal Hero”. The only actor who can break your tear glands by just using his eyes while enacting an emotional scene is Kamal Haasan. Watch out for the couple of emotional scenes in the movie and i am sure, there would be a drop of tear in a corner of your eye, even if you dont want to agree to that.

The flashback sequence is good and the way K.S Ravikumar portrayed it in an all Reverse manner is appreciable. Songs by DSP need a special mention out here. “Neela Vaanam” song, sung by Kamal Haasan is highly addictive just like the “Yaar Yaar Sivam” from Anpe Sivam and this is already topping the chartbuster list. Action sequence is less (as the story doesnt need it) and thankfully no items songs are tweaked in. Cinematography is yet another beauty and the camera has beautifully captured the entire cruise ship and major parts of Venice.

Overall, this movie is yet another festival in this festive season and definitely not to be missed. Watch it if you want to have a real nice time and to have a hearty laugh. This movie is worth the money you spent. Manmadan Ambu can be considered as a laughter festival before Kamal Haasan’s next upcoming historical thriller, “Maruthanayagam”

Rating – 8/10

-G. Sarath Menon

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-ജി. ശരത് മേനോന്‍
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വളരെയേറെ പ്രതിക്ഷകലോടെയാണ് ഞാന്‍ “പോക്കിരി രാജ ” കാണാന്‍ പോയത്. ഭാഗ്യത്തിന് എന്റെ പ്രതിക്ഷകള്‍ തെറ്റിയില്ല. വിചാരിച്ച പോലെ തന്നെ തല്ലിപ്പൊളി പടം. മമ്മുട്ടിയുടെ തുരുപ്പു ഗുലാന്‍, മായ ബസാര്‍, പരുന്ത്, തുടങ്ങിയ “സുപ്പര്‍ ഹിറ്റ് ” ചിത്രങ്ങളുടെ നിരയിലേക്ക് മറ്റൊരെണ്ണം കുടി. ഇപ്പൊ ഈ പടത്തിന്റെ റിവ്യു എഴുതുന്നത് മറ്റൊന്നും കൊണ്ടല്ല, ഇത് വരെ ഈ പടം കാണാന്‍ സാധിക്കാഞ്ഞ ഭാഗ്യവാന്മാര്‍ക്ക് ഒരു മുന്നറിയിപ്പും, കഷ്ടപ്പെട്ട് ഉണ്ടാക്കുന്ന പണം വെറുതെ കളഞ്ഞ എന്നോടു തന്നെയുള്ള ദേഷ്യവും ആണ് കാരണം. മക്കളില്ലാത്ത എനിക്ക് ഇതൊക്കയല്ലേ ഒരാശ്വാസം. അപ്പൊ തുടങ്ങിയേക്കാം.

-ശരത് മേനോന്‍

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A true review of the Tamil movie – GOA.

Click here to read

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.NO PART OF THIS MATERIAL PROTECTED BY THE COPYRIGHT MAY BE REPRODUCED OR UTILIZED IN ANY FORM BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL. USERS ARE FORBIDDEN TO REPRODUCE,REPUBLISH,REDISTRIBUTE, OR FORWARD ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS JOURNAL IN EITHER MACHINE READABLE FORM OR ANY OTHER FORM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR

t was my monthly bike trip to Sulthan Bethery from Mysore and this time my journey was to meet the King, Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja. I had high expectations for this movie as the trio MT-Hariharan-Mammooty had created magic in the past with “Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha”. My expectations were not completly let down and the 7 hours ride for a 3.15 hour movie was not at all a waste.

As Usual, MT has twisted the history in this movie too. MT is known for bending the facts and we love it when he bend the history according to his will and we usually tend to believe what MT Vasudevan Nair told is the truth and not what history says. In Vadakkan Veeragadha, he portrayed Payyampalli Chanthu as a hero who is accused for the crime which he has not done. Viewers sympathized along with Chanthu and even now for any malayalee, If you ask whether chanthu was noble, they would say “Yes”. That’s the power of MT’s pen. Infact Payyampalli Chanthu was a cheat and its he who killed Aromal. The Generous Chanthu was MT’s creation and we believe that is history. Similarly, MT again changed history through “RavanaSeetha” where he said, Seetha was Ravana’s daughter and he kidnapped Seetha due to fatherly affection.

Likewise, in Pazhassi Raja movie too, MT had made lot of changes and iam sure the new generation would believe what they see on screen. To Start with, History says, Pazhassi Raja was a short and dark man. He was bit fat and was loved by many for his bravery. Here Mammooty is not Short and dark but we cannot imagine anyone except him to portray Pazhassiraja. So this can be ignored. MT Says, Kaitheri Maakam had an abortion and later no where its mentioned that she became pregnant later. With the song “Kunnathe konnakum” I dont really know where hariharan meant to say maakam was concieved again. But in reality she had a daughter. Later Kaitheri Maakam had committed suicide by hanging herself on a mango tree. 2 days back there was an article in Mathrubhumi about Kaitheri Mathu, grand grand daughter of Kaitheri maakam where she showed the personal belongings of maakam. According to it, Pazhassi Raja was not killed by British but he too had committed suicide by swallowing a diamond ring. But MT gave the character a heroic touch at the climax and thats what we wanted to see. There are lot of instances in the movie where MT deliberatly twisted the truth and has written his own epic. But whatever it is, we always love to read what he writes and always gets astonished by his innovative thinking.

Lets take a charcter by character analysis. We will start of with

Sarath Kumar as Edachena Kunkan
Sarath Kumar has rocked big time in this movie. He has done a brilliant job as the army chief of pazhassi.Tamil industry has not yet exploited this man’s talent and its for the first time Sarath Kumar got a chance to reveal his “Acting” skills. He looks stunning, masculine and truly suiting the role as the Army chief. No other actor could have portrayed Edachena Kunkan better than him.

Right from his intro scene, till the end, Sarath’s screen presence gives you thrills. The scene just before the interval was mindblowing. Edachena Kunkan Reaches Pazhaveedan’s(Suman)house to tell that the bond between British and Pazhassi Keralavarma stands cancelled. Then he delivers a dialogue to pazhaveedan,

” One day we would see face to face. That days is not so far” and kicks the chair nearby.

It really gave me goosebumps and i wanted to see the scenen agian and again. Another thing to be mentioned, a man of late 50’s has still maintained his body well.Remember Sarath Kumar was the only actor back in 90’s who had a well maintained physique in Tamil industry. During the fight scene with pazhaveedan, he delivers a dialogue with a raised dagger. Just check out his biceps and the flames that sparkle in his eyes.
When he says,

“Ithu thalaykal chanthuvinte maladaivangalk Edachena kunkante Kuruthi” (This is Edachena Kunkan’s offering to the God’s for Thalaykal Chanthu)

That was one hell out of a scene and the entire theatre was filled with claps. His dialogue deliver is awesome and you can see the pain, Revenge, Hatred, everything in his eyes.Altogether, Sarath Kumar has done an excellent job as Edachena Kunkan

Manoj K Jayan as Thalaykal Chanthu

Another Plus point. There are 3 actors who are my all time favourites.Who can do any role with ease. Be it comedy, Character role or villain role, those 3 people would “Live” as the character within whack of a second. They are Manoj K Jayan, Siddique and Rajan P Dev. Thalaykal Chanthu is one of the powerful character of Manoj in the recent past, after the Digambaran in Ananthabhadram (Watch it, if you havent). When Manoj is on screen, viewers feel relaxed. Audience would have a confidence that Thalaykal chanthu would take care of British troops and nothing to worry. His expressions, Body language, Dialogues everything were perfect to be the tribal chief. His final scene in the movie is one of the beautifully portrayed shots. The Way manoj usues Bow and Arrow, also during the fight before getting caught, was truly amazing. Three cheers to Manoj K Jayan for living above expectations

Padmapriya as Neeli

Padmapriya as Neeli, Thalaykal Chanthu’s lover is a powerful character. Padmapriya has not done anything kind of this role before in her career. She has played her part well and the hardwork and effort taken was seen on screen. She along with Thalaykal chanthu lead the tribal troop for guerilla war against the british. They fought the british behind the cover of woods and dense forest. Neeli’s fight sequences are worth a mention and a thumbs up for her

Suresh Krishna as Kaitheri Ambu

Now this was one miscast in the movie. I really dont know why Hariharan casted this dummy piece, Suresh Krishna. I believe if Siddique was casted instead of Suresh, the character would have been much powerful and would have gained a lot of cheer from the audience. Eventhough Ambu has a huge importance in the story the weak casting made it go un noticed. But Suresh has done whatever was told to him. So we can give a grade of “Met expectations” and nothing more. As usual, there was no power to his dialogues and sucked big time during the emotional dialogue delivery towards the climax. Thos who have already seen this movie, just imagine the role with Siddique, instead of Suresh and you could feel what a great miss it was from Hariharan

Kanika as Kaitheri Maakam

She looked quite good as Maakam, eventhough there were nothing much to offer from her side. One scene where Kanika outstanded is where she helps Pazhassi to escape from the British troops. Kanika was apt for the role and did a decent work

Last but not least, Mammooty as Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja

Mammooty looks stunning here both in the first half and in the second half. During the second half, with the beard and all, he looked exactly same like Chanthu and we feel, Time has not affected this man. The scene were he go alone to the British regiment to take revenge, is beautifully shot and i just jumped out of the chair clapping when he shoot the british man from the horse.

However, I feel Mammooty’s talent for stunt scenes were not properly exploited. There were just 3 fight scenes for mammoty through out the movie, where as Manoj K jayan and SArath Kumar has more than 6 fight sequences. Most of the time he was shown just as a one who sit back in the gallery and enjoy the match. His Army and his mighty warriors fight the british through out the movie to save their king, to protect him and the King was no where to be seen when his mighty warriors needed his help.
His dialogue delivery is at its best and there is one scene which would generate a small drop of tear on the corner of your eye.

When Pazhassi sets out to fight the british alone at the climax, his nephew cries for him. Then Pazhassi would say,

“Dont cry for me. Shed your tears for this unfortunate country!!!”

That was one of the best emotional scenes in the movie and MT’s powerpacked script does make us ponder for a while. Altogether, Mammooty has a huge comeback after the 6 consecutive flops and he can be relaxed. He looks elogent in the King’s Attire and motivates not only his army but also the Audience with the powerful dialogue delivery.

Now the Minus points are,

Like Anil mentioned, String works were totally poor and doesnt even worth a mention. People were flying as if they were the ancestors of spiderman and superman. String Work – Total Disaster

Pazhassi Raja’s Intro scene. They had been moulding the scene well for his intro but spoiled at the end. I agree, Mammooty was not hyped, but when the movie is about Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, atleast a background score during his entry would have been better. Pazhassi Raja’s intro was just like any other no name character in the movie.

Jagadeesh was absolutely Un necessary.

Less fight sequence for Pazhassi Raja

There are few mistakes or negatives here and there but while taking the movie as a whole, it can be accommodated. Jagathy Sreekumar, Thilakan and the Foreign actors have done their job more than expected. Cinematography was at its best and deserve an applause. Ramachandra babu has again proved himself. There are plenty of scenes where you would sit with your mouth wide open by seeing the beauty of the shot. Many shots just appeared like a beautifully written poem.

Altogether, This movie is worth a watch and Gokulam Gopalan can relax. This would transform into a super hit for 2 reasons.

1)A historical movie after a decade
2)The combination of MT – Hariharan – Mammooty

What is the Talk of Town now? Whats the whole world is talking about? Be it Media, Newspapers, Tv, InfyBlogs, BB, your friends circle, everybody is talking about one and only one thing. – A V A T A R

I had been to bangalore for the weekend and saw this Ever hyped picture. Avatar is named as the “Movie of the millennium” and the top ranker in imdb list. Even the critics are all praise to this movie. Each one is praising cameroon to the sky. But would you kill me if i say AVATAR is the hollywood version of an old Malayalam Movie?

Yes. Avatar is the hollywood version of an old malayalam movie. A Mohanlal starrer, Siddique-Lal directed, movie called VIETNAM COLONY!!!

Now wipe out the “What the Fa” expression from your face and lend me your ears.

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[Written on : 4th January,2010]

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.NO PART OF THE MATERIAL PROTECTED BY THIS COPYRIGHT MAY BE REPRODUCED OR UTILIZED IN ANY FORM BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR MECHANICAL. USERS ARE FORBIDDEN TO REPRODUCE,REPUBLISH,REDISTRIBUTE, OR FORWARD ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS JOURNAL IN EITHER MACHINE READABLE FORM OR ANY OTHER FORM WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE AUTHOR