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

Mammootty's Face 2 Face - Exclusive Movie Review

Face to Face
Directed by     V. M. Vinu
Produced by     M. K. Nassar
Screenplay by     Manoj Payyannoor
Starring     Mammootty
Roma Asrani
Ragini Dwivedi
Music by     Alphonse Joseph
Cinematography     Ajayan Vincent
Editing by     Samjith
Distributed by     Googline Productions
Release date(s)    

    November 30, 2012

Country     India
Language     Malayalam

Expectations

ZERO - yup had no expectations from the movie after a series of flops that Molywood's Mega Star gave us, but decided to watch it FDFS since it belong to Crime/Thriller genre, one of my Favourite.

Story

Story is about Balachandran (Mammootty) an angry cop who is always fights with people and constantly in suspension. One day a kingpin politician's sun is brutally murdered and crucified. Eventhough under suspension Balan starts his own investigation. Whether he nabs the culprit forms the rest of the story.


The first half was very interesting with plenty of one liners and moving entertainingly at a leisurely pace. Mammootty was in his elements and after a log time seems intrested in te proceedings with his uber cool suspended-cop act. But all hell broke loose in the second half. It is hard to beleive that the same guy wrote the 2nd half. Once again, after JOV, after a promising beginning everything gets ruined in the 2nd half.

If the 2nd half was better the film would have had better prospects at the box office.But now that's highly unlikely.

The supporting cast of Mamookoya, Mani, Siddique, the 4  teenage debutants where good. Heroine Ragini Divedi is a disappointment even in the 2/3 scenes she got

Dialogues were surprisingly good, there are many to please fans.

Songs were Bad. Direction was average, Editing was OK, keeping the run length under 2hr 10mins. BG was avg too.

Not disappointing, because there was no expectations, an average film for normal viewers, Fans can watch it for ikka's perfomance in the first half.

Rating 2.5/5

Box Office Flop


Final Word: So Close Yet SO Far !!!

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

Run Baby Run - Exclusive Gallery, Stills, Posters - *ing Mohanlal, Amala Paul