~!Malluwood~! Reviews added pg 5 - Page 4

Renjith had been the most happening writer-director of Mollywood for a couple of years, with his last attempts like 'Palery Manickyam' and 'Kerala Cafe' earning grand reviews and accolades from every sphere of filmdom. The director is for the season returning with an even more powerful but simple movie, 'Prachiyettan and the Saint', a satire on the contemporary Kerala society and its hankering for status and recognition.

Teaming up with Mammootty, who once again displays his finesse in judging and selecting roles of content, the movie remains as one of the best in recent times in terms of the characterisation of the protagonist and the use of fine narrative techniques. Basically the movie is the story of Chirammal Eanashu Francis, a self made affluent rice merchant, who is always insecure about his societal status due to his low education and nickname 'Aripraanchy' that followed him throughout his life.

He makes a number of blunders in his life to see whether his large earned money can get him the status that he yearns for, thus erasing his branded nickname. Following his trusted aides including Vasu Menon, Bahuleyan, Subrahmani, Uthuppu and Co, he makes attempts on this by buying a 'Padmashree' for himself, starting a jewellery shop, contesting the elections for the president-ship of an aristocratic club, and even sponsoring every local events where he can show off his splendour.

It is after a lot of failed attempts on making it big that he meets Padmashree, an interior designer and Poly, a 15 year old, who makes a valuable turns in his life.

It is not just the story lines that holds our interest in 'Pranchiyettan' but the way it unleashes on screen. Told in flashbacks as narrated to the Saint Francis of Assisi (Jesse Fox Allen), the plot succeeds majorly with funny dialogues that pack in loads of quality humour and observations. The Thrissur slang that is employed throughout adds a certain likeability to the movie, though certain episodes of Pranchy's life are told in such detail that it tends to appear trivial and drags a little.

Mammootty convincingly display his histrionic skills in natural comic situations of the movie, never resorting to any elements of slapstick tracks that he had been to recently. The middle aged character who likes to take his every failure with a tinge of humour is also backed with one of the most positive on screen writing by Renjith, whose dialogues are simply awesome.

Among the supporting cast, Innocent is back to his vintage best portraying Vasu Menon. Priyamani as Padmashree and Kushboo as Omana, Pranchy's childhood sweetheart also are convincing, while Master Ganapathy as Poly also is in a memorable role. Ouseppachan in BG scores and Venu in camera also give apt support to Renjith in bringing out a memorable movie, which may equal his bests.

'Pranchiyettan and the Saint' is definitely prescribed for everyone who likes fresher themes and initiatives in Mollywood.

Lal Jose is known for his soft narratives technique, always based on characters in isolated villages. He weaves movies around picturesque locations, enmeshed with soft humour, melodrama and fun. All these feel good factors are once again in the rule in his latest 'Elsamma Enna Annakutty' which may satisfy family audiences for this festival season.

The movie tells the story of Elsamma, the most popular young girl of the ninth ward of a sleepy, high range village, centered around Balanpillai city. Forced to take up the job of newspaper boy of the village following the death of his father Pookkula Varkey, she also works as a local reporter of the most popular daily. She is like a foster daughter to Kunnel Pappan (Nedumudi Venu), who is deserted by his only son residing in the city. Elsamma has three younger sisters studying for various courses, but she is more like a strict father to them always leading them away from troubles. Soon dubbed more as a 'boy'', in the way she approach things, all the other characters of the village like ward member Remanan, hooch dealer Karipalli Soman, the hotel owner Balanpillai, and many others are wound around the episodes of Elsamma's spirit and hard work.

Elsamma's best friend in the village is Palunni, (Kunchakko Boban) the local milkman. Though he loves Elsamma, he doesn't have the courage to tell her about his emotions. The movie takes a turn as the grandson of Pappen, Eby (Indrajith) and his sister arrives into the village to stay with Pappan, after the untimely death of their mother. The arrival of three mischievous friends of Aby from the city with some dangerous intentions, also pose new threats to Elsamma and her family.

The simple movie instantly strikes a chord with the audience from the very humble unpretentious start establishing the village characters .It have some interesting sequences with remarkable simplicity , surprisingly funny dialogues in witty structuring of affairs and good performances. But the problem is that after easily landing into a base track, it hardly takes strides to move on. The film stagnates in the middle part without any intriguing big twists, making the entire proceedings thereafter, pretty predictable.

Ann Augustine makes a decent debuts playing Elsamma. The characterization certainly demanded someone in the league of a Manju Warrier, which Ann couldn't reach up to and hence certain sequences are not wholly believable. But as a debutante she plays safe, not becoming a problem in the proceedings. Kunchakko Boban has the best role in his comeback playing Palunni, who is a sincere uneducated villager. He seems to have improved many folds in his comic timings and manoeuvres. But Indrajith steals the show with his immaculate timing as a ill-mannered city guy who is also a road side romeo of all sorts. He looks much younger with his new looks. Jagathy Sreekumar once again scores big time as Remanan, making it another unforgettable role in is career. Suraj as a marriage broker appears in every adjacent sequences to add to the fun. All the others in the cast are very apt to the characters.

The scripts by Sindhuraj is better than his last outing with Lal Jose in 'Mulla'. He had interspersed a lot of social commentary including concerns for environment, though some of the melodramatic sequences are overdone .Attempts to stick to vintage Lal Jose style are more than evident in scripting as well as in shot patterns. In the technical side, Vijay Ulaganagath must be applauded for his awesome visuals of the high ranges and its eye-catching greenery.

The low point of the movie is certainly the music side with none of the songs reaching up to the level of usual Lal Jose euphonies. Rajamani is sure to have missed a big chance to make a comeback to the list of front line music directors. His second song for the movie, 'Thozhi', is indeed the only big drag in the former half.

The movie puts forward the fundamental message of love and family, in a brilliantly elevating good natured settings. All in all, 'Elsamma Enna Aankutty' will be surely applauded by all Lal Jose regulars of Mollywood. A kind of film that should work instantly with the ladies. Recommended.

Though the movie didn't find many takers when it was presented in theatres, the interest in 'Kutty Shrank', the latest movie from Shaji N Karun has rocketed skywards with the movie garnering the much coveted National award for the best film of 2009.

The movie is all about the life of a nomadic sailor told in an unconventional format as versions and perspectives of three women, who passed through his life at different junctures. A classy stuff, it is no surprise that the National award jury couldn't shut their eyes to the world class experiences that it provided.

'Kutty Shrank' has already been screened at various film festivals all over the world. In October 2009, the film was screened at Pusan International Film Festival and at the Mumbai film festival. Montreal World Film Festival screened the movie in September 2009 while in November 2009 it was screened at the International Film Festival.

This is the first film where Mammootty has worked with Shaji N Karun, who started his career as a cinematographer. Later, Shaji turned director with the film Piravi in 1988, which went on to win the esteemed Camra d'Or — Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes film festival

The story of 'Kutty Shrank' starts off with an end, with the real end of the title character; as the finding of an unidentified body of a middle aged man washed ashore. As the police keep the body in a temporary building for identification, three women who claim to have been associated with the man at some point, comes up to answer the questions of the inspectors about the deceased. Interestingly 'Kutty Shrank' (Mammootty), as the sailor is called by everyone, appears as one man who behaves in a strikingly different manner in each of the cases.

Revamma (Padmapriya), a sanyasi is the first lady who identify Kutty Shrank. The Shrank was the closest aid of her father, the most powerful and cruel ruler of her region, who had even killed her mother. When Revamma went to Sri Lanka to study medicine, she was lead into Buddhist faith by a sanyasi named Prasanna and Revamma is now back to her homeland after 16 years with him, and is all set to join Buddhism. But the Moopan couldn't adjust to the developments in her only daughter and orders his accomplice Shrank to chop him into pieces and throw him into the sea.

In the second episode Penmena (Kamalini Mukherjee) arrives at the police station to identify Shrank's body kept there. Penmena was earlier attracted to Shrank when he was actively involved with a Chavittunatakam troupe, led by Loniasan (Suresh Krishna), her brother. Later when she was selected to play the female lead in the dance drama, Shrank as the lead actor of the drama ignored her romantic advances, most of the times.

In the final episode is Kali (Meena Kumari), a mute woman, who actually steals Shrank's heart with her selfless love and dedication. Once when Shrank was bitten by a snake, it was Kali (who was regarded with contempt and feared by all as an ill Omen), who sat by his side with her magic medicines bringing him back to life. Kali was pregnant with Shrank's child by the time when she came to identify him. It is Nalini (Wahida), the heir of the nearby landlord who sketches the thinking of this voiceless soul.

A multi layered, complex film in all counts, the movie just over two hours and fifteen minutes has plenty of genuine moments. The three stories are linked pretty well without any pretentious techniques, but with an authentic feel all over. The director is under control most of the times, with the mystery that pervading the life of Kutty Shrank as he moves on with his quest for truth and identity.

The technical side of the movie is really appreciable with Anjali Shukla, providing some best visuals of Kerala throughout, while Srekar Prasad had been to some crisp editing. The songs and music by Issac Thomas Kottukapilly also suits the mood of the film.

In the cast lines, Mammootty as usual comes up with an impressive performance and shows different styles of acting in differently etched out phases of the complex character. The movie depends and succeeds much on Mammootty's skills to pull it off, with mannerisms and dialogue delivery. The three heroines have done their roles in an impressive way. Suresh Krishna and the actor who played Jaoppen are some of the other highlights of the movie. 'Kutty Shrank' is definitely a must watch for serious cinema buffs, no two ways about that. With the recent accolades and awards pouring in, the movie remain as one of the best form the world famous director.