Fast & Furious 6 - Movie Review

 

 Starring

 Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto
Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner
Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs
Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz
Sung Kang as Han Seoul-Oh:
Luke Evans as Owen Shaw:

Directed by     Justin Lin
Produced by  Neal H. Moritz, Vin Diesel, Clayton Townsend
Written by     Chris Morgan
Based on Characters by Gary Scott Thompson
Music by     Lucas Vidal

Cinematography     Stephen F. Windon
Editing by  Christian Wagner, Kelly Matsumoto

Studio  Original Film, One Race Films
Distributed by  Universal Pictures
Release date   May 23, 2013
Running time     130 minutes

Budget     $160 million

 

The film continues from where Fast 5 left off. Hobbs comes to meet Dom, this time not to arrest him but seeking his help in nabbing an international criminal & former Special Forces operative Owen Shaw. Dom who was reluctant at first agrees to the mission when presented with a photo of Letty who was supposedly killed in FF4 [End credits scene in FF5 revealed us that she is alive]. So Dom with his team joins Hobbs in a mission to take down Shaw and know the mystery surrounding Letty and bring he back.

Fast 5 was the best ever movie in the franchise, Fast 6 even though couldn't top that, still is a very much enjoyable fast paced entertainer. Cars, race and high speed chases are the identities of the franchise and the director didn't disappoint us, gave us everything in plenty, but at the cost of logic & sensibility. The Tank scene, initial chase and Jet Plane scene in the climax are the highlights. Kudos to stunt directors and VFX team even though they beat laws of physics many a time.  The script is racy, technical department did a commendable job.

The film offers nothing new. Rock as an antagonist added much to Fast 5 which is missing here. Everything else remains same. Forced humor sadly went overboard & fells flat. Drama scenes seemed bit stretched.

The franchise is moving on like 'SAW' which had 7 parts, each one similar  to one another but with some twist linked to old movies to keep the fan boys interested. Similarly this one also has an end credits scene which ties up the franchise finally to 'Tokyo drift' which was kinda stand alone movie till now. TFTF, 2F2F, FF, FF5, FF6, FFTD, FF7 that's the order in terms of the story line. so FF4-FF6 were prequels to Tokyo Drift. Hope the 7th one will be last one. With that being said the 7th part will be directed by Director of SAW and the film will come out next year in July.And from the credits its sure gonna be awesome and may end up the best one in the franchise and also a possible finale.

Like one character says in the movie - Fast 6 is a Vehicular Warfare !!!

Rating: 3.25/5

Box Office: Smash HIT

Verdict: Leave your brain at home and enjoy this Mass Masala Hollywood Blockbuster  !!!!

NB: Even though Rock might not be a part of the FF7, Jason Statahm fans can rejoice, gear up and very much look forward to its release :wink:

Mumbai Police - Malayalam Movie Review

Mumbai Police - Malayalam Movie Review

Direction : Roshan Andrews

Producer : Nisad Haneefa 

Cast : Prithviraj, Jayasurya , Rahman, Aparna Nair, Hima Davis, Kunchan, Riyaz Khan...

Story, Screen Play : Bobby & Sanjay
Banner : Nisad Haneefa Productions
Co-Producer : Nivas Haneefa & Niyas Haneefa
DOP : C. Diwakar
Music : Gopi Sunder
Production Controller : Aroma Mohan
Art Director : Cyril Kurivila
Action Director : Allan Amin

 Story

Mumbai Police narrates the story of three close friends: City Police Commissioner Faran (Rahman), Mattancherry Assistant Commissioner Aryan John Jacob (Jayasurya) and Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner Antony Moses (Prithviraj). These police officers are a cause of nightmare to the mafia and the underworld of Kochi city. The media calls these fearless and efficient officers Mumbai Police because even though they are in Kochi, they all have some sort of connection with Mumbai. MP is a investigative thriller that also focuses on the life of a Policemen, friendship etc

Mumbai Police is mainly a 'who-dunnit' cop thriller drama. Film begins with Antony revealing the identity of the Killer to some one, but before he could reveal the name of the culprit he gets involved in an accident and suffers temporary memory loss.So Antony has to start everything from the scratch, but this time its not just the identity of the Killer, knowing himself forms an even bigger puzzle.

First of all Kudos to Bobby-Sanjay team for thinking out of the box and coming up with an interesting, engrossing and a new kind of cinema - which definitely deserves a new generation tag because of the story and its treatment and not because the cuss words used or overdose of titillating scenes.

Prithviraj has done a very good job, the 2 contrasting phases of Antony has been brilliantly portrayed. The character goes through tons of emotions and changes throughout the film which he has beautifully played out. Rest of the cast were also good.

 The film maintains its pace through out, it keeps you on edge of the seats till the end. Its a mix of Drama and investigation, so don't look for a fast paced thriller.


Camera, editing works were really good, able to capture the mood of the film perfectly without any lag or uneven jumps/cuts. There are no songs in the film, but Gopi Sundar's BG play an important role in the narration, done again wonderfully by GS.

Direction looked brilliant at places but sloppy in others - so totally it was mixed bag. The climax could evoke mixed reactions and may even cause wave of discussions in online forums and social media, but apart from the logical aspect of the 'REASON' in current scenario it was brilliant from the part of the writers to think out of the box .

For those who expect films like CBI series it may end up as disappointment, but for lovers of cinema it is something to watch out for.

Verdict: Good

Rating: 3.25/5

Iron Man 3 : The Big Summer Blockbuster - My Movie Review

Directed by     Shane Black
Produced by     Kevin Feige
Screenplay by     Drew Pearce, Shane Black,

   Starring     

Robert Downey, Jr.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Don Cheadle
Guy Pearce
Rebecca Hall
Stephanie Szostak
James Badge Dale
Jon Favreau
Ben Kingsley

Music by     Brian Tyler
Cinematography     John Toll

Editing by     Jeffrey Ford
Peter S. Elliot

Studio     Marvel Studios, DMG Entertainment
Distributed by     Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, UTV Motion Pictures (India)

Release date(s)     April 26, 2013 (India),     May 3, 2013 (United States)
Running time     130 minutes

Country     United States, China
Language     English
Budget     $200 million

Iron Man 3 (U/A - 2D)  My Movie Review

Big Man In a Suit Of Armour. Take That Away - What Are You? asks CAP in the Billion dollar Blockbuster The Avengers to which Tony Stark aka Iron Man says 'genius billionaire playboy philanthropist' - this answer is what explained in Iron Man 3 by series debutant Dir. Shane Black [Lethal Weapon Series writer]

Iron Man continues from where The Avengers left off [including the Shawarma scene ;-)] . Post the 'New York' incident Tony Stark is suffering from PTSD. Adding to the worries, is a previously unknown terrorist, Mandarin [Ben Kingsley] who brings Tony back to square one, right into the ground from the billion dollar mansion, super cars and tons of money, with nothing but his brain & brawn [& a 10 year old boy] to depend upon. This is where he answers the question that has been baffling him for years, The question that has been long baffling him, does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?

 Iron Man 3 is the best movie in the series. The series is back on track, with a bang after a disappointing Iron Man 2 which was like Tony Stark himself - lots of money wasted with a lazy script which kinda looked like IM1 reboot. Coming after Avengers Shane had a lot to do and prove as IM3 marks the beginning of Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 2 [followed by Thor 2, CAP2 and Avengers 2]. 

We like Super heroes when they are cornered and pushed to the walls - this is exactly what Shane Black did in IM3. Plus there are lots of quirky one liners, which is one of the USP's of the character, which only Tony Stark/RDJr. can pull off. This is the 5th appearance of RDJr., still we cant get enough of this character, that's the stars charisma and performance in a role that changed even his life of drugs, drinks and prison. His contractual obligation is over with IM3 hope he returns in avengers 2 and IM 4, 5 etc - because I personally can't imagine anybody else doing Tony Stark/Iron Man .

The story also has an investigative kinda touch to it - ie its not monotonous like most super hero movies. The are many well executed/written scenes like the one with Kid, Flight scene, climax, scenes with Mandarin etc

After Joker (The Dark Knight) we got another equally powerful cinematic villain in the Mandarin played excellently by Sir Ben Kingsley. 

Rebeca Hall gets limited screen time, but Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots gets a meatier role this time, the best outing of the character in fact in the series.

Don Cheadle [War Machine/Iron Patriot] & Guy Pearce did good job as well. 

 The film doesn't look like needed 3d conversion [so don't waste your money and tire your eyes]. There are some things left unanswered. It is a stand alone movie, it doesn't hype Avengers 2 much [may use any one of the scenes later]. Nick Fury who was part of all previous 'Avenger' movies is absent in IM3 [& Thor 2 as well according to reports].

Jos Whedon after watching Iron Man 3, especially the climax, said it will be difficult to top this in Avengers 2, may be a little extravagant comment but still the movie and the climax can stand upto the grandeur & awe set by The Avengers.

For banner/Hulk fans there is a cameo in the  end credit scene [not by the alter ego], which is a comic one, unlike the other IM, Thor, Cap movies had. It doesn't lead to Avengers 2. [May be they are waiting for the film to release in US, to add another end credit scene, on May 3rd, like they did with Avengers adding the Thanos scene]

Final Word: The Best in the series, best follow up to Avengers

Rating : 4/5

Verdict: Too Goooood for Super Hero Geeks and RDJr/Tony Stark fans, Others too will like it for sure

 

Box Office - Blockbuster Worldwide !!!! Hit-Super Hit in India 

Contact Reviewer Through : - https://twitter.com/BreakingViews4u

Red Wine - Exclusive Malayalam Movie Review

Red Wine Exclusive Malayalam Movie Review

 Directed by     Salam Bappu
Produced by     A.S. Gireesh Lal
Screenplay by     Mammen K. Rajan
Story by     Noufal Blathur

 Music by     Bijibal
Cinematography     Manoj Pillai
Editing by     Ranjan Abraham
Studio     Gowri Meenakshi Movies
Distributed by     Reelax Eveents
Release date(s)         March 21, 2013
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Starring

• MOHANLAL
• T.G RAVI
• ASIF ALI
• FAHADH FASIL
• MEGHNA RAJ
• MIA
• SAIJU KURUPPU
• ANOOP CHANDRAN
• SUNIL SUGUTHA
• MARIA JOHN
• ANU SREE
• MEERA NANDAN

 Plot

The movie RED WINE [means "this is my blood"] tells the story of true friendship, love, social commitment and sacrifice.

The story revolves around the lives of three characters Ratheesh Vasudevan (Mohanlal), Anoop (Fahadh Fazil) & Ramesh (Asif Ali). Even though  they come from different circumstances they share some common ideologies which being the reason for their boundedness .The story start off with certain incidents happening in the lives of 2 youngsters and that is when the third character, at certain point makes an entry into their lives and changing its course

Evaluation

Red Wine is designed as a 'who-dunnit' thriller, but the problem is that the anybody with commonsense can easily understand who, why, when and where midway itself.  The first half was decent but the its the below average second half that spoiled the party. We have seen plenty of films like this in the past, Red wine is neither different nor entertaining.

Fahad gets the maximum screen time out of the three heroes and has done a superb job as young comrade from Wayanad. The role of investigating Officer was cake walk for Mohanlal, IMHO the film/role didn't demand a legend like him, but still he tried in his way to make it look refreshing. Asif Ali did a decent job compared to last few outings. The supporting cast was also very good. Heroines didn't get much scope, only Mia got more than a couple scenes.

Salam Bappu, looks like have a lot to learn from his guru Lal Jose before making another attempt into direction. A director like Joshiy could have saved the movie, but Salam couldn't. The genre demanded much better execution. . Music was average, Background was loud and not effective except the signature tune. Camera looked Old school, may be the Director demanded it so.But It looked heavily pixalated in most scenes (don't know if it was the problem with the projection). Story was nothing unique and screenplay/dialogues couldn't do much to lift the film either.

Red Wine ends as an average, predictable thriller

Rating

2.75/5

Verdict

a Thriller that doesn't thrill or excites you - Average

Box Office

Below Average or Flop

Mohanlal's Lokpal - Exclusive Movie Review

Lokpal Malayalam Movie Review

Directed by     Joshiy
Produced by     Ruby Vijayan
S. L. Vimal Kumar
Written by     S. N. Swamy

Starring    
  
    Mohanlal as Nandagopal / Lokpal
    Kavya Madhavan as Geetha
    Meera Nandan as Jain
    Thambi Ramaiah
    Manoj K. Jayan
    Shafna
    Thalaivasal Vijay
    Saikumar
    Krishna Kumar
    T. G. Ravi
    Maniyanpilla Raju
    Sivaji Guruvayoor
    Shammy Thilakan
    Pradeep


Music by     Ratheesh Vegha
Cinematography     Pradeep Nair
Editing by     Syam Sasidharan
Studio     Happy & Ruby Cinemas
Distributed by     Aashirvad Release through Maaxlab
Release date(s)    

    January 31, 2013

Running time     140 min
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Expectation

22 years after blockbuster 'Naduvazhikal the hit trio of Mohanlal-Joshiy-S.N.swami reunites in this film. The last film of Lal-Joshiy combo, Run Babby Run, was also a blockbuster. The different getups have raised expectations of fans sky high. But since the writer S.N.Swami was having a rough patch for the past few years the hype didn't go overboard.

Story

Lokpal is an Family-Crime-Drama-Thriller from Master writer of suspense S.N Swami

 Nandagopal (Mohanlal) who runs a restaurant by day, is also an undercover social activist. He is a on a mission to fight and eliminate corruption from the state. The different methods, get ups, looks that Nandan portrays to get to his aim, his past, tiff with the Police etc forms the rest of the story.

The 2 heroines in the movie, Meera Nandan, plays an investigative Journalist & Kavya Madhavan, plays a Doctor.

Evaluation

Lokpal is yet another half-baked script by S.N.Swami, who is just trying to survive in this industry some way somehow.  For that he used and damaged the reputation of the hit combo of Joshiy and Mohanlal.

The basic plot is inspired from Ramana, Anniyan, 4 the people etc. All these films were huge hits in Kerala too, so while going with such a story line the script should have been that much interesting, entertaining, racy with full of twists and turns. Instead it turns out to be damp squib. I have absolutely no Idea why either of Joshiy or Lal even agreed to do this project (may be because it deals with a current, socially relevant topic, just like Karmayodha). 

First half of the movie was average, while the second half was even worse coz nothing much was happening in the film. In the climax writer added few twists and turns, but it was too late by then.

The film has just one song which is not even worthy of mentioning, the BG/RR also offers nothing unique. Camera was good, especially the overhead HELI shots of Kochi city, were Good and seen in a Mollywood film for the first time I think.

Mohanlal looked uninterested and was sleep walking for most of the parts. His role was horribly written and the 7 getups failed to evoke any kind of response even from the fans (except the TTE getup).

Kavya Madhavan had a cameo length role and even In that short period she managed to get some boos from crowd. Meera Nandan did an okay job eventhough her role too was nothing to boast about.

Joshiy the director had a major role in making Run Babby Run a blockbuster, but here even he too was helpless.

Sai Kumar got a villain role with difference and he did an excellent job. Rest of the cast like T.G.Ravi, Krishna Kumar, Shammi Thilakan, Thambi Ramaiah [Dubbed by Marimayam fame Manikandan Pattambi] was OK.

Being a Mohanlal fan the movie is colossal disappointment.

For others it may be average or below

Rating 2/5

Box Office – Flop

NB: still perplexed by the decision of makers to release the film on a Thursday especially when a public holiday doesn’t fall on the first 2/3 days.

 

Top 10 Mollywood (Malayalam) Hits of 2012

Based on what ever information available here are the top hits from Mollywood in the year 2012

1. Mayamohini - All time Blockbuster

With a distributor share close to 9 crores its not only the biggest hit of the year, but also the 2nd biggest hit of all time

2. Run Babby Run - Blockbuster

This Mohanlal starrer had the biggest ever collections for a Malayalam film from markets outside Kerala. It has got distributor share close to 7crores according to various sources.

3. Ordinary - Blockbuster

The first genuine Box Office hit of the year, with no superstars, a debutant director Ordinary really rocked Kerala BOx Office. It started of slowly and caught on like wild fire. Distributor share close to 6.5-7 crores

4. Thattathin Marayathu - Blockbuster

 

Super hit songs and strong youth appeal made, Mollywood's 1st Rom-Com in years, an instant smash hit with unconfirmed reports claiming a distributor share of close to 6 crores

5. My Boss - Blockbuster

With this Dileep becomes the only actor to have 2 Blockbusters this year. Un-Official remake of 'The Proposal' is still running to packed houses in selected theaters across Kerala. From sources close to the producer the film has got distributor share of 5cr+ till now.

6. Ustad Hotel - Super Hit

Super hit music, direction, perfomances made this film of relatively new comers a super hit. Got a distributor share of about 5crore


7. Spirit - Super Hit

This could easily be the biggest non-commercial hit of the year, the film also enjoyed superb run outside Kerala as well. The film contrary to expectations took an outstanding opening considering the genre and publicity. The film also makes Dir.Ranjith's 2nd biggest hit ever.


8. Mallu Singh - Hit

Despite average initial reviews the film held on nicely and attained a hit status. Distributor share around 4cr

9. Grandmaster - Hit

Mohanlal's 1st hit of the year also marked the entry of UTV into Mollywood. The film enjoyed better run outside run than in Kerala. Distributor share 3.74-4 crore

10. Diamond Necklace - Hit

Undoubtedly the best movie of 2012, alo features in the top 10 hit list.


Overall it has been a great year for Malayalam Cinema, release count per calendar year crossing 100 [about 130 in total] and among with 30 odd films recovering investments. Small films getting accepted, Social media is being used more to promote movies are positive signs.



Well there goes the top 10 Malayalam Box office hits of 2012 according to what ever information I had.

Please comment your suggestions, corrections below

NB: Haven't considered Christmas releases as it takes time to get an actual picture of their Box Office performances.

Khiladi 786 - Exclusive Movie Review

KHILADI 786 : Exclusive Movie Review 

Story & Music by Himesh Reshamiyya

Directed by Ashish R Mohan

Produced by Twinkle Khanna / Himesh Reshamiyya / Sunil Lulla

Creative Producer Rakesh Upadhyay

Starring Akshay Kumar , Asin , Mithun Chakraborthy, Himesh Reshamiyya 

Khiladi 786 - Movie Review by Sree Prasad Nair

Theater - Abu Dhabi National Cinemas, UAE

06/12/2012 - 10.30 pm

Occupancy - 100% (Sold out) 

2012 is an eventful-emotional year for Superstar Akshay Kumar personally and professionally. The actor had 3 BlockBusters in the form of Housefull2 (117cr), Rowdy Rathore (136cr) & OhMyGod (85cr) & became a proud father to a baby girl. But produced an epic disaster with his 100th movie Joker & lost his father-in-law Superstar Rajesh Khanna. 

Khiladi786 is the fifth Akshay Kumar movie in 2012. Khiladi 786 is touted as the biggest franchise of Indian Cinema & the return of Akshay Kumar in a KHILADI title film after 12years. Its been 23years of Akshay Kumar in Indian Film Industry, all thanks to his first hit film on 1992, KHILADI! And Khiladi786 is the 8th Khiladi film of the famous series. Khiladi films are always famous for actions.

Khiladi786 stars Akshay Kumar, Asin, Himesh Reshamiyya, Raj Babbar, Mukesh Rishi & Johny Lever. Director is debutant Ashish R Mohan, earlier worked as the assistant director of Rohit Shetty. Khiladi786

is a joint production of Akshay Kumar & HimeshReshamiyya and the creative producer of the movie is Rakesh Upadhyay. 

Story

Mithun Chakraborthy is a Mumbai don who is in search for a decent groom for his one and only sister Asin. Himesh Reshamiyya is a struggling wedding planner and unable to organize a single wedding. Akshay Kumar is from a Punjab family & desperate to get married, but not getting any bride due to his multicolour (multi-national) family background. And how Himesh manages to get Akshay and Asin married despite Asin being in love with In&Out-Prisoner Rahul Singh is the story of Khiladi786.

Positives Of The Film 

Akshay Kumar does a fantastic job. The actor continued his terrific form from Rowdy Rathore in Khiladi786 too. His comic timings and expressions are unmatchable and fit in the Bahattar Singh character very well. His dhamakedar entry with ‘Khiladi Is Back’ one-liner is a visual treat. Climax is a treat for Akshay Kumar fans with a BIG SURPRISE!!! Asin is looking gorgeous and acted well, in a limited role. Himesh Reshamiyya is SURPRISINGLY good in the film and got a meaty role. Not surprised since he is the story writer/producer/musicdirector of the film. Mithun Chakraborthy got a good role but had the shades of his own role in Housefull2. Raj Babbar, Sanjai Mishra & Mukesh Rishi are good in their roles. Manoj Joshi & Johny Lever are strictly ok in their small roles ditto are Akshay Kumar’s multi-national family. 

Another plus point of the film is the superhit music from Himesh Reshamiyya. Every single track is a chartbuster and picturized well in every 15/20mins of the movie. Be it Lonely, Long Drive, Saari Saari Raat, Balma & Hookah Bar at the end credits. Action scenes are well executed, even though some are over the top. Witty one-liners, punching Punjabi dialogues are sure to be appreciated by the audience. Director Ashish R Mohan made a good debut with Khiladi786. 

Let’s talk about the negatives of the film first :

Though Khiladi786 delivers as expected, the story of Himesh is meatless. Khiladi 786 is a total mash-up of Welcome, Namastey London & Singh Is Kinng. Some forced scenes are lacking fun & bit louds at times. Heart-broken Innocent Punjabi Groom Akshay Kumar, we have seen him in Namastey London, Welcome & in Singh Is Kinng too. And few over the top action scenes are bit hard to digest, yet passable considering masala as its genre. And Asin’s wedding followed by a stunt are getting repetitive in each of her film’s climax, be it Ready, Housefull2 & in Khiladi786. Mushtaq Khan and Bharti Singh suddenly becoming news reporters at the wedding stage is questionable ? 

Besides these flaws, Khiladi786 works big time for what it is targeted for, to entertain audience. On the whole Khiladi786 is a paisa vasool Akshay Kumar starrer which is surely turning out to be his 3rd 100cr/ 4th blockbuster (if not Superhit) for Akshay Kumar and fifth for Asin.

At the B.O the film is sure to have an extra ordinary opening especially in single screens & will be good in multiplexes. Since the budget of movie is 45cr, expecting the same for the weekend with an opening numbers between 12-15cr! A two open weeks till Dabangg2 (on Dec21st) is bountiful for the makers.

VERDICT – Fourth Akshay Kumar BlockBuster of 2012 ! 

Rating – 3.5/5 (3 for the film and .5 for Himesh’s Surprise Acting)

A definite blockbuster among the masses, and is sure to enter the popular 100cr Club!!! 

This Reviewer can be contacted on Twitter : @i_spn : https://twitter.com/i_spn

Movie Review – TALAASH : The Answer Lies Within

Directed by Reema Kagti

Story/Screenplay by Reema Kagti / Zoya Akhtar

Produced by Aamir Khan / Ritesh Sidhwani / Farhan Akhtar

Starring : Aamir Khan, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor & Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Review by Sree Prasad Nair

Theater - Abu Dhabi National Cinemas, UAE

29/11/2012 – 8.00 pm

Occupancy - 100% (EXPECTED) 

An Aamir Khan film comes once in 2-3 years. And when it comes, it will be a special treat for all the movie lovers. His last few movies released, even though long back are great examples. Be it Lagaan / Dil Chahta Hai (2001), Rang De Basanti (2006), Taare Zameen Par (2007) & Unbreakable trendsetting blockbuster 3Idiots (2009) Aamir Khan films are exceptional. And his new film Talaash is coming after a long time.

Talaash is directed by Reema Kagti, who debuted as a director with Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd in 2007. And the story-screenplay of Talaash is a combined work from Reema Kagti & Zoya Akthar. Talaash also stars Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Raj Kumar Yadav & Shernaz Patel.

Talaash is the story of Inspector Surjan Singh Shekhawat played by Aamir Khan and his search for the murderer of a film star in the movie. And this search turns into a life altering chase for him when he is forced to reel under the repercussions of a unsatisfying marriage with his wife played by Rani Mukerji and come face to face with his suppressed grief. Being on his investigational quest and fighting it out with personal struggle, he meets a prostitute played Kareena Kapoor who further adds shades of mystery to the puzzle.

Positives of the film 

Aamir Khan’s acting is top class. His screen presence as a honest cop is phenomenal ditto as the grief-struck father. Rani Mukerji is brilliant in a small role and really convincing as a no-makeup simple unsatisfied wife. Kareena Kapoor does not have much scenes in the first half, but her character is the turning point of the film, especially in the climax. She is charming and very convincing as a prostitute. But the real surprise and the standout performance of the film for me is Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Personally 2012 has been a sensational year for him. PaanSinghTomar,Kahaani, GangsofWasseypur 1&2, Chittagong & now Talaash. A great actor to watch our for!!! RaginiMMs fame Raj Kumar Yadav as AamirKhan’s assistant is confident too.

Another plus point of the film is its music. Ram Sampath’s music is impressive. Jee Le Zaraa is already a chartbuster and the scenes picturised in the same is really soulful and emotional. Cinematography by Mohanan is also good. 

Now Negatives of the film

For me, Talaash is not an ideal film for Aamir Khan after 3Idiots. Many people are going to disappoint with this new Aamir Khan movie. The script is strictly ok but many flaws with a slow pace. Also few scenes in the film are hard to digest and especially the suspense at the climax. Can’t Digest!!!

On The Whole Talaash is a Strictly Average movie(rarely happens with Aamir Khan movies) after a long time. And its targeted for limited audience. Film’s business at Multiplex will be phenomenal especially the weekend. Since its advance booking is great, may cross Rowdy Rathore’s non-holiday record of 15-16crs. But real test will be from Monday onwards as the reports are surely going to be mixed! Don’t think much takers in Single Screens for Talaash & also the chance of a long run (mostly Aamir Movies) is ruled out as two Giant movies are coming in the form of Khiladi786 next week & most anticipated of the year Dabangg2 on Dec21st. 

Verdict : Strictly Average 

P.S : If you are a diehard fan of thriller-suspense, Go and enjoy the movie till climax! If you are looking for entertainment, Talaash is not your cup of Tea! 

Rating – 3/5 (2 for the film & extra 1 for Aamir & Siddiqui’s acting) 

Review by Sree Prasad Nair (http://www.twitter.com/i_spn)

Dulquer Salman's Theevram - Exclusive FDFS Movie Review

Theevram

Directed by	Roopesh Peethambaran
Produced by	V. C. Ismayil
Written by	Roopesh Peethambaran
Starring	Dulquer Salmaan Shikha Nair Sreenivasan Riya Saira
Music by	Roby Abraham
Cinematography	Hari Nair
Editing by	Kapil Gopalakrishnan
Studio	VCI Movies
Distributed by	LJ Films
Release date(s)	November 16, 2012
Country	India

Expectations

Nothing much was going for the movie as far as I am concerned, except the fact that it stars Dulquer Salmaan and the curiosity that whether he will score hat-trick hits.

 Story

The story is about  Harsha Vardhan's (Dulquer) revenge on somebody, due to some reasons. The first half is taking place in present where the revenge happens. The second half is in flash back mode where What, Why When are answered. Maya (Shikha Nair) plays his Wife/Girl Friend. S.I. Alexander, (Sreenivasan)is investigating officer and Vinay fort (Ramachandran) is his assistant. 22FK fame Riya Saira plays the GFs role of Harsha's friend (Don't know his name)

Evaluation

We have seen many revenge stories in the past like Thaazhvaram, Bhramaram nand many recent movies in Tamil. This one belongs to the similar genre. The story is not exciting or surprising. But the presentation and writing (some what) saves the movies, well supported by some good perfomances.

Dulquer is slowly raising his bar, which is evident from his choice of movies and performances. He has done a very good job, especially in the court scene which is one of my favourite scene in the movie. (There is a small teaser of him doing 'stylized' action as well in the film for his fans)

Sreenivasan as cop was good, eventhough many of his TM antics are getting repetitive and failed to evoke much response from the crowd. Viay Fort was very good. Riya saira and the guy who played her friend too was good. Heroine was OK, a known actress could have helped the movie a lot as viewers need to sympathise for the hero for his revenge (and the movie) to be accepted by the audience. here even though Dulquer tried his level best to bridge the gap.

Roopesh Peethambaran's presentation of the story is very good. I Think we got a new promising director in him, writing need to be a bit sharper i think. Camera, BG, Editing were good. One song & one bit song in the movie both of which gels with the movie.

The blue/black dark tint shade given to the movie in DI could be a problem (it was for me) especially in poor screens. In the dark hall, it was bit difficult to watch the movie (2nd half is normal color though). People were asking for torch and to keep the hall lights turned on :-).

Overall its one time watch movie, sans any commercial elements, liked it more than 2nd show though.

Rating: 2.75/5

Not Must watch, but not a disappoinment either

Box Office: should be a above average grosser, Hit if budget is low

My Boss - Exclusive Movie Review

Directed by     Jeethu Joseph
Produced by     East Coast Vijayan
Written by     Jeethu Joseph

Starring

     

Dileep
Mamta Mohandas

Music by     Sejo John
M. Jayachandran

Cinematography     Anil Nair
Editing by     V. Saajan
Studio     East Coast
Distributed by     East Coast Release
Manjunatha & Kas
Release date(s)    

    November 10, 2012
Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Expectations

Was not so excited till the Trailers and Song Videos were out. But all those videos gave a ray of hope, a decent family entertainer after a long time from Dileep with a meaty role for Mamta too.

Story

Fisrt things first,  the story is inspired from Hollywood film The Proposal (2008). Manu (Dileep) eventhough from a rich family wants to make his own living and settle in the US. priya (Mamta) is his Boss who is very arrogant and takes the life out of employees working under her.

Priya owns an Australian citizenship and her working visa in India is about to expire which the Govt refuses  to give an extension. So she seeks te help of Manu to sort things out. what hapens when these two extreme ideoligies clash and what fate has in store for them is the rest of the story.


Its an out an out Dileep-tainer. everything that his fans, mainly ladies and kids, expect from his films are there in plenty. Mamta did a good job as the arrogant, rude,strict Boss. Kalabhavan Shajon was super rocking, eventhough his role is confined to just the first half, ts definitely his career best role/perfomance.
Saikumar who acted as Dileep's father also did a good job so as the other supporting cast.

The direction and scripting was good. Camera and editing was neat. Music was OK.

Could have made the movie a bit shorter, at 2.40hr it feels bit dragged out in  the end.


Over all a decent, clean, perfect family-romantic-comedy entertainer that you can watch with entire family

Verdict: Good

3.25/5

Box Office: Super Hit