Movie Reviews

She seems vulnerable and helpless in a moment but turns out to be a powerful and courageous woman in the next. 'Lilli' brushes aside the idea that pregnant women, let alone women, are weak and they can't survive in the society's underbelly. Lilli (Samyuktha Menon) is pregnant and due for delivery in two weeks. One night after a broken phone conversation about her husband’s accident, she steps out of her home, only to be abducted by three men. She is trapped, and the men are here with a purpose. They would go to any extent to know the whereabouts of a little girl. For these men, violence is a way of life. The mystery about Lilli’s connection with the money and the girl they are chasing forms the storyline of the movie.  Samyuktha Menon presents a power packed performance in her lead role. She sustains the emotional core of the movie with her beautiful portrayal of the mysterious Lilli. Directed by Prashobh Vijayan, the movie is well crafted, especially the shots ...

If a girl woos a guy, and lies a bit when she does it, should a guy feel bad when he finds out she did that? After all, all is fair in love and war, right? This is the main premise of Ishqueria, directed by debutant filmmaker Prerna Wadhwan. While some may say that it’s okay if she takes the support of her gal pals to get the man of her dreams, Neil Nitin Mukesh’s Raghav thinks otherwise. He gets so hurt by the fact, that he leaves the country for good. But before he leaves, he marries the girl as well. Watch the film to figure how that works out. The best part of the film is the camaraderie between Kuhu (Richa Chadha) and her girlfriends. The loud mouthed Lovely played by Jubi Devasia especially stands out and provides some much needed comic relief in this drama that runs high on emotion. Richa Chadha as the happy go lucky girl who is head over heels in love is convincing. Neil, on the other hand, as the perennially sulking lover boy is not so much. His character is written out ...

“Money is not god, but it’s no less than one” is what the central theme of this movie is. The dialogue is mouthed by Nazuk (Sezal Sharma), a poor girl who is sold to the goon Pathan (Zakir Hussain) by her husband. However, given that all the characters in the film are fighting for a sum of 10 crores in this age of multi-million dollar scams, it is seems to be a weak god, especially when the notes are the red coloured thousand rupee notes of yore. Game Paisa Ladki has a very interesting, bare bone structure when it comes to the story. It could have been a slick one. Over a night, a girl and her ex-lover want to swindle the big boss man of his freshly looted booty. But the acting and the execution kill the story. The leading man Raj (Deepans Garge); a contract killer who resembles a dehydrated Jean Reno from Léon, is the brains behind this heist. His plan? Hide a few microphones in a mafioso’s house and enter in at crucial moments and ruffle things up a bit. He also makes out a lot...

Love in a beautiful emotion often explored in Tollywood, rarely with equally beautiful results. ‘Ee Maya Peremito’ is a film in the disguise of a love story that only wants to set Rahul Vijay up as a hero and not an actor. He gets the slow-motion intro, chugging beer while jumping on a trampoline like the ‘rebel’ his tee-shirt proclaims him to be. He gets ample opportunity to show off his dreamy dance moves for songs that don’t require it and enough dialogues that talk of his height and beauty. But what he gets the most out of the film is the constant reminder of how good a person his character Chandu is, with a fight or two thrown in for good measure. He’s also enabled to be himself by his father Babu Rao (Rajendra Prasad) who loves his son however he is.  Kavya Thapar on the other hand gets close-up shots with her hair constantly billowing in non-existent wind. But other than that, neither she nor her character Sheetal seems to have the power of choice in the film. Her fath...

of camaraderie, love and madness, here’s Nannu Dochukunduvate that gives us another ringside view of the arena stepping into the shoes of a short film actor. She’s a college girl Meghana (Nabha Natesh), who comments on her own videos to generate hype for her mediocre short films, makes her principal ‘like’ her videos on social media, enjoys creating starry tantrums on sets, craves for attention in public and boasts of her follower count online. The director gives some validity to the crazy side in her and doesn’t portray her as a mere jumping jack. We give it a pass too, for she’s only a girl past her teens preferring to see the lighter side to life. This lively character meets a sober, self-absorbed Karthik (Sudheer Babu), a stereotyped software engineer whose life revolves around numbers, targets and not friends. The situation that brings them together borders on absurdity-Karthik needs an escape route from marriage and has to convince his father that he’s in a relationship. Th...

Raja Ranguski begins with a note mentioning that it is a tribute to the late writer Sujatha. And director Dharanidharan gives us a fitting set-up of a whodunit that Sujatha's fictional detectives, Ganesh and Vasanth, would have loved to have a crack at. This is what it involves... Raja (Metro Shirish, who still needs to work on his expressions), a police constable, falls in love with Ranguski (Chandini Tamilarasan, who continues to get underwritten roles), and gets her to accept his love by posing as a stalker over phone. His ploy succeeds, but he gets the shock of his life when he starts getting calls from a mysterious person mimicking his own voice! The caller threatens to take Ranguski's life, and Raja, who goes to her residential colony to protect her, ends up as the prime suspect in the murder of her neighbour, Maria Paulraj (Anupama), an antique collector. With a hard-nosed cop, KK (Jayakumar) hot on his heels, can Raja clear his name and find out who the killer is...

 When he decided to make a sequel to Saamy, 2003 film with Vikram, director Hari must have really been in a conundrum. He had already turned his other cop film, Singam (2010), with Suriya, into a franchise that narrates a new case handled by the protagonist, Duraisingam, with every new film. Saamy did end with the line 'Saamiyin vettai thodarum', implying that the hero would continue his hunt for criminals. But how does he turn Saamy, his first major hit, into a franchise without making it feel like a repetition of what he has been doing with Singam.  And the director decides to do this by doing away with the character! Yes, he kills Aarusaamy (Vikram), the fearless cop who believed in justice than the law, and continues the hunt with another Saamy, Ram Saamy (Vikram), his son. And he makes comparisons between the two characters almost pointless by giving them exactly the same characteristics. "IAS moola IPS vela," remarks Ram in a scene, but trust us, the only...

 It is a common notion that a man’s life becomes miserable after marriage. So has Royichan’s, according to him. He is neck deep in debt and unemployed, and he believes that neither his mom nor his wife can understand him. As he struggles to find solutions for his financial crisis, we see many male characters empathising with him in Soumya Sadhanandan’s debut directorial. Are wives unbearable like how they think? Mangalyam Thanthunanena has the answer. Mollywood has seen many films that narrate the side effects of marriage. Mangalyam Thanthunanena serves an old wine in a new bottle and reminds one of Mohanlal’s Midhunam and Jayaram’s Veendum Chila Veetukaryangal.  The film opens with the wedding of Roy (Kunchacko Boban) and Clara (Nimisha Sajayan) and quickly switches to their life after three months. There are fights between the husband and wife and between the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Amidst all these, Roy is grappling to find monetary help to pay his debts...

  Faha dh Faasil's made a habit of making his fans wait for his films. It's been almost nine months since his last release Carbon. One thing that fans can be assured of though is that he never repeats himself and for Varathan as well the actor has taken on a completely new avatar for his character that goes through varying emotions, but with a stoic calm in the first half only to unleash a storm later. The movies starts off in Dubai with Abin (Fahadh), who is let go from his job. He alone with wife Priya (Aishwarya) who has a miscarriage decides to shift to the latter's estate in Kerala for a few months till they figure things out.  However, the moment they land in the village, their presence is resented by the residents --- truly making them the outsiders. From lecherous stares and moral policing glares to malevolent intentions and bullying, the couple have to confront several real world troubles as they reside in their house. All of which seem new to the city-bred...

  Biju Menon once again raises the bar. The actor, who has managed to be a timeless star, has again brought out a quirky yet interesting movie. It is a gangster comedy that is both breezy and funny. As Chenkal Raghu makes his entry on a bike, clad in a lungi and an olive green shirt, backed by a thumping background score, most of the audience go ‘wow’. Raghu (Biju Menon) is a local goon whom men and women of all ages adore. The Thiruvananthapuram native’s adventurous gangster stories are popular lore across Kerala. But the chronic bachelor is a mama’s boy who never utters a word against her.  Pinku (Basil Joseph) is in hospital after he was thrashed by a guy whose phone is with him. Pinku wants his friends to take revenge on him. His big brothers, Senen (Dileesh Pothen), Sreekuttan (Saiju Kurup) and Sudhi Koppa (Renju), give him their word that they would catch the man and make him apologise to him. When they find out that the man they are looking for is from Kasaragod, ...

India is an idea, worth dying for – it’s not just a line from the film but also the patriotic notion that keeps the soldiers of JP Dutta’s Paltan marching on. Film’s narrative begins soon after the Indo-Sino war of 1962. Interestingly, that war is referred to as skirmish between both sides, but what follows are more squabbles. This time to save Sikkim from the Chinese army who is treacherously inching toward the Indian side. Director JP Dutta puts together a team of dapper young and experienced actors to portray real characters from this important yet much lesser known slice of history. Arjun Rampal as Lt Col. Rai Singh and Sonu Sood as Major Bishen Singh respectively lead the pack not only as top ranking officers but also in performances. Among the younger lot, Harshvardhan Rane stands out as a passionate soldier while Gurmeet Singh Choudhary goes overboard, especially with an accent that oscillates between Jatt Haryanvi and Rajasthani. Luv Sinha as the amiable Attar Singh giv...

This is a  r etelling of the classic tale of Laila and Majnu set in contemporary Kashmir. It’s not the first time that this classic tale of two star crossed lovers is being translated into celluloid. In the age of rom coms, debutant director Sajid Ali has ensured there are plenty of reasons, even for the new generation to watch this tale. What starts off as puppy love between Laila and Qais quickly builds up into something beyond the control of the two. The tragic fact that they are not destined to be together, keeps looming in the background and there is a sense of foreboding even in the happy scenes. Imtiaz Ali’s layered writing captures that feeling of doomed love well, while also tapping into the mystique of the tale. The freshness that the lead pair brings to the film and their characters, adds to the movie watching experience. They share a certain raw passion on screen which is one of the key requisites for a story that throbs with passion and romance. The actors make i...