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Reviews
Vanaprastham (1999)
a beautiful (yet depressing) movie
A very good movie, that rarely occurs in Indian cinema. A striking aspect about the movie is its cinematography. All the colors associated with the dance form KATHAKALI were shown in their true form, giving that real, authentic look to the movie. Hats off to Santhosh Sivan and Renato Berta.
The story is about a Kathakali performer(this is a dance form, where performers enact a play or story from mythology), who is the illegitimate son of a higher caste brahmin. From birth, he is refused his right as a son to his father(although the father secretly prides his son who is a rising Kathakali performer). He has a discontented family life(with an unhappy wife), parallel to his rising Kathakali career. In the midst of all this he happens to meet Subhadra during one of his performances, who is enamored by the character that Kunhikuttan plays, Arjuna, and not Kunhikuttan. An affair ensues, and Subhadra gives birth to Kunhikuttan's son. But now that the magic of his performance is over and Subhadra gets to see the real, exhausted Kunhikuttan, and not the character that he played, Arjuna, she disavows him and refuses him to see his own son. Kunhikuttan was refused his right as a son, now he is refused his right as a father. What ensues is best watched, with all the agony the protagonist feels in him, depicted so powerfully, yet subtly by the performer who reverts from hero characters to negative ones...
One very important part that made this movie memorable was the stellar performances given by everyone in the movie. Mohanlal as Kunhikuttan has performed so well(and shown his CALIBRE), that i wonder, why hasn't he got the respect that is due to him? He is one of the best performers i have ever seen in cinema, although his talent has rarely been tapped. A terrible waste... Suhasini as Subhadra is also a treat to watch(as expected). All other actors in the movie have contributed in their own respect to make this movie WORK.
And last but not the least. The director has performed so well, that you don't feel his presence in the film at all. Shaji N. Karun has given us a very good movie.
P.S. I would have given it a 10 had it not been depressing.
Kireedam (1989)
a movie that should not be missed
things to look out in this movie
- A good storyline with an exceptionally good script. Nothing in the movie is irrelevant to the story i.e. there is no masala added to disgust honest movie watchers.
- Exceptionally good direction. Sibi malayil can be rated one of the most talented directors in the present day Indian film industry.
- The theme song, which gave m.g.sreekumar that years national award for the best singer.The song was meant to be the lament of a person whose life is wrecked completely for no fault of his, and m.g. has done it nicely that you can feel the protagonist crying through the song. - Last, but not the least(i would say the icing on the cake), the superb cast of the film. Mohanlal and Thilakan have acted out their best that we can feel their emotional turmoils. Both of them share a splendid on screen chemistry as father and son. This film is one proof to show that Mohanlal and Thilakan can be rated one of the best actors in India as well as in the world.
- The climax scene where the son(Mohanlal) having stabbed and killed the rowdy, is unrelenting to cooperate with the police, and the father(Thilakan), himself a police constable scolding and begging the son to cooperate and surrender himself.
Mohanlal displays a mixture of emotions- anger, despair, sadness... It is difficult to pinpoint which emotion it is.
one of the best movies i have ever watched. recommended for serious viewing.
Udayananu Tharam (2005)
Mohanlal,Sreenivaasan's and Roshan Andrew's movie
One of the best movies of Mohanlal I have seen recently after Aaram Thampuran. Mohanlal plays the role of Udayabhaanu,a struggling assistant director trying to make it big in the cine world. Sreenivaasan plays the role of Rajappan aka Saroj Kumar,a superstar, who made it to the top by cheating Udayabhaanu. The story is about how Udayabhaanu makes Saroj Kumar act in his film, that too unknowingly. The climax is a novelty in Malayalam movie history.
Mohanlal enacts the role of Udayabhaanu splendidly and maturely, without overdoing it. He is able to bring about the frustrations of a person who is not able to fulfill his dreams. Sreenivaasan brings in the humour in the film, enacting the role of a superstar which he becomes by stealing the script of his friend. Jagathy also has done a neat job in the film.
What could have been an ordinary film has been made special by a débutante director Roshan Andrews. The script is also a strong point of the film,created by Sreenivaasan himself. This is an entertainer in all sense.