This is the last time that i write a review for a movie which does not keep up even to the kindergarten standards.
Thavamaayi Thavamirinthu is a (pseudo) movie made by Cheran.
Plot spoilers ahead : don’t worry, there is nothing new here.
Story line
A family- father, mother and 2 sons
Elder son gets married to a lady who is not very appreciative of her husbands family.
Younger son loves a girl and when she is pregnant, elopes with her to chennai.
They have a kid and returns to their house/ family in their native village
His mother passes away-His dad passes away
That’s all !
Really, thats all !
The story portrays in every little detail, all those happens in the family. I would have accepted it if the movie was titled differently and categorized in the documentary section – “An average life of a man from Tamilnadu”
If Cheran *acts* in a movie again, I am going to file a case with the consumer protection counsel on the charges of "failure to deliver the goods/services promised"
A movie necessarily include acting, does it not ?
Cheran portrays a good-for-nothing hero, who does not even know that if his wife is pregnant she will have to be admitted to a hospital after nine months and he will have to take care of the expenses. Instead we see Cheran running around for money to pay the hospital charges- a vain attempt to create a pity feeling from the audience.
Cheren does not know how to act and very conveniently for him (as he is the director too) all the scenes where he has to *act* he is in shade, you know, very dark. So that we don’t know what’s happening there.
Despite of the fact that the father role is handled well, all others give us the feel of *acting*. Which we thought ended with the era of black and white films.
He sold us his first movie Autograph, it was different from the normal movies that we see in Tamil- so we accepted it. But how many times will you feed the same shit life that we all are in, back to us, Mr. Cheran ?
I hear that the movie is doing well in the box office. Nothing to wonder- to a person who is from a small town in Tamilnadu and who moved to the city for a better living- he will be able to relate it very much to his life.
Do not watch, if you have anything better to do.
Malayalam movie reviews, sometimes might include a few Hindi, English or Tamil movies I see.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Thanmatra
Language:Malayalam :: Director:Blessy :: Cast: Mohanlal, Meera Vasudev, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy :: Music: Mohan Sithara :: Lyrics: Kaithapram
Keep your handkerchiefs ready, This is one senti soaked movie.
If you left the theaters with a heavy heart after Kazhcha, this is a tear jerker. The movie is directed by Blessy after his first movie which fetched him quite a few awards and name in the industry. Normally people expect a lot from such a talented director. As far as I know, Kazhcha was not only good in the sense of a movie worth watching, but commercially too it made sense. So the apart from the audience, the producers also expect a lot of from the new star director. That explains why 75% of his new movie, Thanmatra, is inundated with tears.
Different emotions sell a movie- humor(kilukkam, CID moosa) action (commissioner, mafia) love (nammal, aniyathipravu) and of course, sentiments(vasanthiyum lakshmium pinne njanum, thalavattam) so commercially the movie makes sense as no one can walk out of the theater without shedding a few tears. Remember the huge hit, I don't remember the name, murali, madhavi and a few kids ?
About the movie, Blessy has demonstrated his exemplary skills in handling human emotions, in his first movie. Here the into the first few minutes of the movie, you will know how hard its to hold the tears.
WARNING: Plot spoilers ahead !
The story is inspired from Padmarajan's story 'orma'. Ramesh Nair is a middle class clerk in the govt secretariat, with two kids and a loving wife. The biggest dream of Rameshan was to become an IAS officer- which didn't happen and he ended up as a clerk. He plans to make his son an IAS officer fulfilling his dream.. Everything goes fine.. son is great in studies and a rank hope for his school.. happy family scenario .. till when Rameshan suddenly start forgetting small little things in his life. He forgets the pet name of his child hood friend (murapennu), and the lines of the poem which he sang all thru his life. You know, the itching feeling that we always had- you-know-it-but-just-cant-say-it feeling. things get complicated suddenly when rameshan confuses his offices for his house and behaves as if he is in his house oneday[photo] [photo].
Enter the Doctor, and the normal dialogue " this is a typical type of <put a strange disease name here> " No, that is not what he says exactly. Ramesh's disease is diagnosed as Alzheimer's. destroying his grey cells day by day. As Ramesh explains to his son, before he is affected by it- "forgetting everything that you learned from this universe and going back to 'brahmam' with the clean slate as you came into this universe."
we have seen this happen in "Unnikale oru katha parayam", "kalipattam", and many other movies. But, that is a huge BUT, Blessy has handled it with elan. You just cant resist giving him a standing ovation for the way he handled the delicate subject. An art that he must have mastered from his Guru Padmarajan- which people like Vinayan will never understand even if he takes 9 more life's.
The story shifts to Ramesh's village, while he remains helpless and his son goes ahead to chase his fathers dream. There are a few things which I didnt like though- one is the abundance of tear jerker scenes and the other is the reference of rameshan appearing in his sons dream and giving him clues about the final interview questions for IAS. Clearly snatching the credit from the son charector's determination and strong will power to fight all odds and win an IAS seat. An attempt to give credit to the Hero for his sons success. Yes, Ramesh is a major factor in his sons success, but do you have to make it soo evident ? And I thought in Blessy's movies the theme is the superstar.
On the acting front, Mohanlal has again proved what he can do best- getting the sympathy of people- be in the form of a next door boy( TP Balagopalan MA) or the innocent victim of circumstances (Bharatham, Thalavattam). A few movies back I thought Mohanlal was a overly fat creature which rested under the water and came out with his spiked up moustache and chanted rhythmic rhetoric to the villains before knocking them down.(ranjith movies, Naran) But he has taken great efforts in this film, right from the helplessness, pain and innocence in his face to his mannerisms- the way he holds his fingers- and the whole transformation scenes. ( remember the transformations scenes of Devasuram ?) I wouldn't wonder if he gets a National award for his controlled performance. This is a guy who can make you cry easily.
Lekha, portrayed by Meera Vasudevan, haunts you with her tear filled big eyes, hurting you somewhere. Great performance by her, particularly when she learns her husband mistakes her as his childhood sweetheart. In Rameshan's Fathers role, Iam unable to comment on a person who is a university of acting all by himself. just the name- Nedumudi Venu.
The new comers, The son of Rameshan, Manu ( I don't know his real name), requires special mention for his great Debut. He enacts with ease the role of a responsible but helpless son. Jagathy had proved himself to be a matured actor far ahead from a comedian- but I dunno why people start laughing when they see him even in serious role. Obviously not his fault, though.
The Camera, needn't do wonders unless, its a mystical-scientific movie. In this movie too, the camera is unobtrusive, making you a part of the family. The music by Mohan Sithara is okay, but, nothing to write home about.
This movie is not going to get off your mind the second you leave the theater to a 100 distractions of the daily life. The helpless people in this movie are going to haunt you for a while.
A great movie to watch, but don't forget to take your handkerchiefs.
UPDATE:
Thanmatra's bags 5 state awards
Best Feature Film: Thanmatra
Best Director: Blessey
Best Screenplay:Blessey
Best Actor award: Mohanlal
Special Jury Award: Arjun Lal, who played Mohanlal's son
Great going, guys ! and many more to come !
Keep your handkerchiefs ready, This is one senti soaked movie.
If you left the theaters with a heavy heart after Kazhcha, this is a tear jerker. The movie is directed by Blessy after his first movie which fetched him quite a few awards and name in the industry. Normally people expect a lot from such a talented director. As far as I know, Kazhcha was not only good in the sense of a movie worth watching, but commercially too it made sense. So the apart from the audience, the producers also expect a lot of from the new star director. That explains why 75% of his new movie, Thanmatra, is inundated with tears.
Different emotions sell a movie- humor(kilukkam, CID moosa) action (commissioner, mafia) love (nammal, aniyathipravu) and of course, sentiments(vasanthiyum lakshmium pinne njanum, thalavattam) so commercially the movie makes sense as no one can walk out of the theater without shedding a few tears. Remember the huge hit, I don't remember the name, murali, madhavi and a few kids ?
About the movie, Blessy has demonstrated his exemplary skills in handling human emotions, in his first movie. Here the into the first few minutes of the movie, you will know how hard its to hold the tears.
WARNING: Plot spoilers ahead !
The story is inspired from Padmarajan's story 'orma'. Ramesh Nair is a middle class clerk in the govt secretariat, with two kids and a loving wife. The biggest dream of Rameshan was to become an IAS officer- which didn't happen and he ended up as a clerk. He plans to make his son an IAS officer fulfilling his dream.. Everything goes fine.. son is great in studies and a rank hope for his school.. happy family scenario .. till when Rameshan suddenly start forgetting small little things in his life. He forgets the pet name of his child hood friend (murapennu), and the lines of the poem which he sang all thru his life. You know, the itching feeling that we always had- you-know-it-but-just-cant-say-it feeling. things get complicated suddenly when rameshan confuses his offices for his house and behaves as if he is in his house oneday[photo] [photo].
Enter the Doctor, and the normal dialogue " this is a typical type of <put a strange disease name here> " No, that is not what he says exactly. Ramesh's disease is diagnosed as Alzheimer's. destroying his grey cells day by day. As Ramesh explains to his son, before he is affected by it- "forgetting everything that you learned from this universe and going back to 'brahmam' with the clean slate as you came into this universe."
we have seen this happen in "Unnikale oru katha parayam", "kalipattam", and many other movies. But, that is a huge BUT, Blessy has handled it with elan. You just cant resist giving him a standing ovation for the way he handled the delicate subject. An art that he must have mastered from his Guru Padmarajan- which people like Vinayan will never understand even if he takes 9 more life's.
The story shifts to Ramesh's village, while he remains helpless and his son goes ahead to chase his fathers dream. There are a few things which I didnt like though- one is the abundance of tear jerker scenes and the other is the reference of rameshan appearing in his sons dream and giving him clues about the final interview questions for IAS. Clearly snatching the credit from the son charector's determination and strong will power to fight all odds and win an IAS seat. An attempt to give credit to the Hero for his sons success. Yes, Ramesh is a major factor in his sons success, but do you have to make it soo evident ? And I thought in Blessy's movies the theme is the superstar.
On the acting front, Mohanlal has again proved what he can do best- getting the sympathy of people- be in the form of a next door boy( TP Balagopalan MA) or the innocent victim of circumstances (Bharatham, Thalavattam). A few movies back I thought Mohanlal was a overly fat creature which rested under the water and came out with his spiked up moustache and chanted rhythmic rhetoric to the villains before knocking them down.(ranjith movies, Naran) But he has taken great efforts in this film, right from the helplessness, pain and innocence in his face to his mannerisms- the way he holds his fingers- and the whole transformation scenes. ( remember the transformations scenes of Devasuram ?) I wouldn't wonder if he gets a National award for his controlled performance. This is a guy who can make you cry easily.
Lekha, portrayed by Meera Vasudevan, haunts you with her tear filled big eyes, hurting you somewhere. Great performance by her, particularly when she learns her husband mistakes her as his childhood sweetheart. In Rameshan's Fathers role, Iam unable to comment on a person who is a university of acting all by himself. just the name- Nedumudi Venu.
The new comers, The son of Rameshan, Manu ( I don't know his real name), requires special mention for his great Debut. He enacts with ease the role of a responsible but helpless son. Jagathy had proved himself to be a matured actor far ahead from a comedian- but I dunno why people start laughing when they see him even in serious role. Obviously not his fault, though.
The Camera, needn't do wonders unless, its a mystical-scientific movie. In this movie too, the camera is unobtrusive, making you a part of the family. The music by Mohan Sithara is okay, but, nothing to write home about.
This movie is not going to get off your mind the second you leave the theater to a 100 distractions of the daily life. The helpless people in this movie are going to haunt you for a while.
A great movie to watch, but don't forget to take your handkerchiefs.
UPDATE:
Thanmatra's bags 5 state awards
Best Feature Film: Thanmatra
Best Director: Blessey
Best Screenplay:Blessey
Best Actor award: Mohanlal
Special Jury Award: Arjun Lal, who played Mohanlal's son
Great going, guys ! and many more to come !
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