@rgumental @dvisor

( Mallu specific post.. others excuse  please :)  )           There are some four / five  malayalam movies that I recommend to many non-mallus.. And 'Thaniyavarthanam'   is one among them... And that script is perhaps the best work of Lohithadas , who passed away couple of days ago.. The societal pressures forcing a normal man to lunacy is a masterclass...   The combination of Sibi Malayil & Lohithadas has given some of the best movies to us.. Another notable one among that being 'Kireedom', the national award winning movie.           I would perhaps place him at the same pedestal as the late Padmarajan..  However, both styles were essentially contrasting though..      As many news articles say, "Lohithadas ini oru orma"   

           Whatever be your opinion of this much entertaining movie, today is a great day for India.. Just two Oscars till yesterday -- One life time award for that maestro, Satyajit Ray &  some costume related award for Bhanu Athaiya  in Gandhi , Slumdog gave us quite a lot today ...Rahman, Russel , Freida ...  and  as the jewel in the crown - Oscar for the best movie..             What makes this movie special ? Its entertaining , fast paced, at times emotional,  often dramatic...but these attributes are found in quite a lot of movies...  To me, the speciality is that it captures the feelings and imaginations of all Indians..   Its a movie for the masses..Forget any cinematic imperfections..forget over dramatization, this is just something that quite a lot of people could relate to...could identify themselves with .. Cinema is for the audience.. And thats where Slumdog scores :)            As the music streams out of my itunes player, I can feel the emotions of many....And the mu...

Given my penchant for historical movies, I couldnt miss Jodha-Akbar for too long..Finally saw that last weekend @ INOX . I'm not going to write a big review about that..There are plenty of funny reviews available on net like this one :-) .. The movie is actually pretty average...like a semi-documentary.. The songs were good..especially I liked the 'Khwaja mere Kwaja...' one very much..And yeah, Aiswarya Rai still looks too good in some sequences :-) ..The camera work in battle sequences left a lot to be desired..Nothing much exceptional there..The last fight was a badly imitated one from Troy ( Hector - Achilles ) .. An interesting thing which caught my attention in this movie is how the prince/princess type people get privacy.. Usually they'll be surrounded by many servants ..and when the possibility of romance comes, they just have to shout "Ekaant" .. Thats an interesting way :-) ---------------------------------- This is movie which has raked up m...

One of my friends pointed me to these you-tube links of an old Malayalam movie - Devasuram . One of my all-time favorites in Malayalam.. This rekindled lot of memories...I regard the lead character of this movie, Mangalassery Neelakantan played by Mohan Lal as perhaps the most masculine characterization in a malayalam movie ever.. Unlike the superhuman / super-action hero based movies which came after this, Neelakantan / Neelan is a typical character having his own vices ( perhaps a lot of them ) .. And it is these vices & mistakes in his life that adds more than a human touch to the story line.. There is a subtle distinction between masculineness and unrealistic superheros ..And perhaps this is best illustrated by Neelan & Karthikeyan ( the role played by Lal in the sequel to this movie - Ravanaprabhu ) ... Karthikeyan in Ravanaprabhu is portrayed as an invincible super action hero.. But Neelakantan in Devasuram is essentially human.. Yet reckless, brave & intense .. ...

( New addition to the post - The scenes from GURU which were edited and removed ..Link :- http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/36051/guru-like-youve-never-seen-before.html ) Saw the latest 'Abhiwarya' flick - Guru - on saturday.. Really enjoyed it.. I'm not a great fan of AB - junior, but the way he has performed in this movie is just magnificent.. Its better than his role -- the la' Michael Corleone -- in Sarkar ... The sheer enthusiasm and energy that Abhishek brings to the role of Gurukant Desai ( Guru Bhai ) is too good.. Even at 33 , Aishwarya dances in a charming way. In the movie, Aish is left stranded at a railway station by her boyfriend who backs out of eloping at the final moment -- I wonder,if any guy would do that to Aishwarya :) . Ok, enough about that.. Coming back to the movie.. Yes, it is based on DhiruBhai Ambani's life no matter what they say with that standard disclaimer notice -- "...

Rating -- Just above average Daniel Craig -- Not as suave as Brosnan..But certainly good.. Plot -- Good, but by the end it goes into a typical Bollywood style .. Style quotient -- Not upto the mark.. Dialogues -- Classic.. Perhaps the best since Moore and Sean Connery.. Bond Gal -- mmm, should have been more exciting..But neverthless, was OK.. Direction -- Could have been better.. No match for the action sequences in "Tomorrow Never" dies or "Golden Eye". New urge -- I want to learn playing Bridge... With that, may be I would have been able to enjoy those better.. Locations -- Good .. The Montenegran splendour is a perfect backdrop to gambling . Overall view -- Perhaps the first Bond movie in which Bond puts his papers and get emotionally attached to a girl. But neverthless it was better in one more aspect that it didnt displa...

After Gangajal, another stellar performance from this class actor.. This movie really makes fun of law and order situation in Bihar.. Mafia dons running their crime syndicate from jail, the cunning politician cum kidnapping mastermind - Tabrez Alam - played by the mercurial Nana Patekar.. Really this flick is worth watching.. At times you wonder whether politician really stoop into such levels. Maybe, Prakash Jha ( he campaigned against Laloo in the recent Bihar elections ) has exaggerated a bit.. Or maybe these things do exist.. Either way, the movie portrays the degradation of the system in Bihar... Traders dont feel anything while paying ransom, beurocrats and politicians practicing bribes and corruption as their birthright , police colluding with the goons to orchester the kidnapping industry, and the people who want to be honest simply not able to do that due to prevailing circumstances... the movie captures all these images perfectly. .One dialog -- "Aaj ki zamaane me G...

Saw two movies in TV.... Pretty old ones. First one was Mani Ratnam's classic - Bombay ... This is a movie that every Indian must see. .Wonderful camerawork coupled by a touching storyline..The roots of communal divide existing in India...I really wonder if people are really this much sensitive to this kind of propaganda...Just by hearing somebody did something somewhere,they take arms and massacre their friends in the name of community. If education has not been able to remove this kind of a mindset, the it is utterly useless...Unless India improves in this sector, these kinds of incidents are bound to happen at one point or other... Part of the blame goes to the beurocratic setup/constitution ..When you take a child for admission in a school , religion is one of the mandatory fields...The divide starts there... Although I'm a Hindu, if ever there is an option to put your caste/religion as 'Independent' ,i would love to go with that... Religion is an individual's ...