Swarnakaduva : My Review

Swarnakaduva is about a man who wishes to become rich by any means. Biju Menon plays Rini Mattumel who is a character with extreme grey shades. The movie has well written characters which could have been fitted in a better screenplay. The story telling is marred with bad cinematography and the direction by Jose Thomas had a huge scope of improvement.
Biju Menon gives a solid performance as always and the rest gives adequate support.  Babu Janardhanan's story is good but the screenplay and direction leaves a lot to be desired. Music by Ratheesh Vega is functional.
There's no loss if you miss this, since the entertainment quotient is low. If you have nothing else to do over the weekend and likes to watch movies, then go for it.
My Rating : 2.5/5

2016 : A significant year for Mollywood

Malayalam film Industry has always been an Integral part of Indian Cinema and has produced some of the finest movies ever. This year has been no different. In fact 2016 has been quite a significant year with some quality movies which released to packed houses and which were received well by the audience.

                   January had one Major release which was Pavada starring Prithviraj which became a hit with a box office collection of 16.3 crores. Fahad Fazil's Monsoon Mangoes, Unni Mukundan's Style bombed at the box office miserably.

                       February saw the successful run of Nivin Pauly at the box office with Action Hero Biju. The movie portrayed the Kerala Police like never before and the movie went on to become a blockbuster. Fahad Fazil delivered a solid performance in Maheshinte Prathikaaram and the movie which went on to become a blockbuster Maheshinte Prathikaaram was well directed by Dileesh Pothen and was one of the best movies of the year. Mammootty and Nayanthara starrer Puthiya Niyamam was declared hit and the movie received good response from viewers thanks to the direction and the casting. Vettah, Rajiv Pillai's last venture was a good watch and a good attempt at a psychological thriller. Aakashavani starring Kavya Madhavan and Vijay Babu was no good while Hello Namasthe was dull.

                            March had Darvinte Parinaamam which was another watchable flick from Prithviraj and Dulquer Salman's Kali which became another Super Hit. Sameer Thahir proves that he can produce magic on screen with a simple story.

                            King Liar and Jacobinte Swargarajyam went on to become the blockbusters of April while Leela was a huge letdown from director Ranjith. The critics praised the movie while audience panned the movie mercilessly.

                         May started off with James and Alice with the fresh pair of Prithviraj and Vedika . The movie received mixed to good response from the audience. Mudhugauv received good response from audience but it did not become a box office success while Happy Wedding was the surprise hit of the month. Aadupuliyattam's success turned out to be a big relief for Jayaram while School bus by Rosshan Andrrews did not do well at the box office. Hallelloya was a good movie which did not get the required attention while Oru Murai Vanthu Paarthaya was another disappointment for Unni Mukundan.

                        June literally had no major releases while Tini Tom's Anyarkku Praveshanamilla was the only movie with known actors. Kasaba had Mamootty in Police avatar and the movie became the first hit of July while Anuraga Karikkinvellam suffered due to bad direction and writing but since June had no movies and Kasaba was not for family audience mostly, family audience found this movie the better of the lot. Karinkunnam Sixes had Manju Warrier as a Volleyball coach and the movie did decent business. Shahjahaanum Pareekuttiyum and Pa..Va failed to bring audience to the cinemahalls while Mammooty's White bombed at the box office.

                         August saw the release of  Jayasurya's Pretham and IDI on the same day out of which Pretham went on to become a box office success. Ann Mariya Kalippilaanu became a Super Hit with Sunny Wayne and Sara Arjun in the lead while Dileep - Kavya starrer Pinneyum bombed. Guppy was a unique movie which did not have a good run at the box office.

                   September was rich with Onam releases all of which became box office successes. Priyadarshan's Mohanlal starrer Oppam broke many records at the box office and the movie was declared a blockbuster. Jeethu Joseph's Oozham starring Prithviraj also minted money at the box office becoming a Super Hit. Dileep's Welcome to Central Jail was declared a hit and Kunchako Boban's Kochava Paulo Ayyappa Coelho also had a good run at the box office. Jude Anthony Joseph's Oru Muthassi Gadha starring Vineeth Sreenivasan was another box office success of September.

                        October 2016 will be remembered for Vyshak's Mohanlal starrer Pulimurugan which is now the highest grossing Malayalam movie with a collection of approx 150 crores. Pulimurugan broke all existing records starting from Day 1 collection and is still running in theatres. Pulimurugan had a terrific response from the audience in its first week of release and this reflected in its excellent collections at the box office. Mammooty's Thoppil Joppan had a decent run but was overshadowed by Pulimurugan's dream run at the box office. Aanandham and Kavi Udheshichathu also had a good run at the box office out of which the former became an instant hit.

                     November had a flying start with Bijumenon's Swarna Kaduva grossing 2.1 crores on its opening day and having a decent run at the box office followed by Kattapanayile Hrithik Roshan which became Nadirshah's Second consecutive success as a director. Meera Jasmine's 10 Kalpanakal flopped at the box office.

                   December had many releases lined up, all of which got postponed due to distributor share issues. Oremugham which got released is having a decent run at the box office. 

Mohanlal had a great year with 3 blockbusters in a row, one of which was Janatha Garage with Junior NTR. The next year holds promise with Mohanlal's Munthirivallikal Thalirkumbol, Dulquer's Jomonte Suvisheshangal and Mammooty's The Great Father lined up for a January Release.

Dangal : My Review

Pros :
A dedicated actor like Aamir Khan whose brand name is a synonym for quality cinema.
Powerful performances from Zaira Wasim, Suhani Bhatnagar, Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra.
An Incredible True Story. Exquisite Direction from Nitesh Tiwari.
Good Cinematography and Functional Background Music.
The Pace of the movie.
Literally Every Aspect you can think of !!

            Dangal has hit the screens on Dec 23 to a terrific response. Undoubtedly the best movie of 2016, the movie is based on a true story which happened in Haryana. The story of Mahavir Singh Phogat and his Daughters is creating history on screens. Aamir Khan has 4 distinct looks in the movie which he nailed with perfection and his performance as Mahavir Singh Phogat is the finest in his career. He has just increased the value and trust of his brand Aamir Khan Productions by producing this movie and playing Mahavir Singh Phogat with finesse. The Director Nitesh Tiwari has done a marvelous job by giving the movie an excellent pace and also making each scene, a treat to watch. 

Sakshi Tanwar enacts her small role well while all other actors including the narrator has done a commendable job. The story telling is just terrific and the cinematography by Sethu Sriram is brilliant as each frame is beautiful. Pritam's music is functional and blends with the mood of the movie. Christmas has always been a treat for bollywood moviegoers over the years due to Aamir Khan and this year is no exception. 

Dangal is a must watch film and let's hope the coming year has more good movies like dangal in store for us.

My Rating : 5/5

2016 : The Analysis of Bollywood

                        It's that time of the year when we analyze how the year has been to us. It is the same for the case of movies and this year we are in for some big disappointment. Lets take a look :

                       2016 started off on a high note with Akshay Kumar's Airlift giving us high hopes for the rest of the year and entered the 100 crore club with ease. The year saw a series of sex comedies like Mastizaade,Kya Kool Hain Hum 3 and Great Grand Masti. Kya Kool Hain Hum had a 3rd installment which was buffoonery on silver screen while Mastizaade was the better of the lot thanks to Sunny Leone. Great Grand Masti just had a great skin show from Urvashi Rautela with 3 guys going crazy for her.

                         Saala Khadoos did well in its Tamil version but did not do well in Bollywood but it definitely falls under the good movies of 2016. Sanam Teri Kasam was too melodramatic but the acting from both the leads and the fresh pairing made it look good even the movie collected only 9 crores. Ghayal Once Again did above average business at the box office.

                        The year saw many movies like Direct Ishq, Love Games, Lovesshudda, Ishq forever etc which went unnoticed. Aligarh had a powerful subject and Hansal Mehta's direction makes it intriguing. Rocky Handsome had some quality action scenes while Jai Gangaajal was just routine stuff with Priyanka Chopra in Cop Avatar. 

                     Kapoor and Sons was one of the best movies of the year with its theme of Dysfunctional Family working well with audience topped up with some Powerful Performances. SRK's Fan had a terrific trailer and the movie had one of his career best performance as well. Bollywood was in for a shock when Fan collected only 85 crore and flopped at the box office. Nil Battey Sannata was a film with a soul and the movie falls under the feel good movies category of Bollywood.

Ki & Ka was an experimental movie from R.Balki but the movie had an unconventional storyline which worked and gave Kareena Kapoor,  a good comeback. Baaghi had some solid action scenes and was a runaway hit. Azhar recieved good response from the audience and was declared hit. Traffic went unnoticed even though the movie had a compelling storyline. 1920 London was another attempt at linking the 20th century horror stories with bollywood cliches. Do Lafzon ki Kahaani looked promising but was dull at the box office. Te3n was a good attempt from Richard Das Gupta at a thriller. Udta Punjab which created news way before its release had a good run at the box office collecting 60 cr approx. Raman Raghav and Junooniyat did not mint much money either.
July saw Sultan breaking all box office records of the year and becoming the highest grosser of 2016. Madaari was another well made movie from nishikant kamat featuring a powerful performance from Irrfan Khan. Dishoom was an action comedy and did above average business.Housefull 3 which had a stellar cast tickled the funny bone and went on to become a hit, this time directed by Sajid-Farhad. 

August had Akshay Kumar continuing his successful run at the box office with Rustom. Mohenjodaro was a huge disappointment from Ashutosh Gowarikar and bombed at the box office. Happy bhaag jayegi turned out to be a success with positive word of mouth. A Flying jatt managed to mint money due to the acrobatic Tiger shroff alone. Pink was an example of how a movie can be successful with its content and powerful performances. 

September started off with Akira in which we saw Sonakshi Sinha kicking some Ass,  but the movie did not get the required attention. Baar Baar Dekho flopped at the box office with bad reviews mostly. Parched was a different movie based on social evils and Banjo was Ritiesh in mass avatar. M.S.Dhoni - The Untold Story was the much awaited biopic from Neeraj Pandey with some good songs and it went on to become another money minting movie.

October was dull with no big movies setting the screens on fire until Ae Dil Hai Mushkil did it literally at Malegaon in Maharashtra. The movie was typical Karan Johar stuff with emotion and drama all over,  but the movie had the required entertainment quotient with functional songs. Shivaay was an unconventional  action thriller from Ajay Devgn who also helmed it and it turned out to be a visually stunning movie. 

November of 2016 will be remembered for Dear Zindagi which was a feel good venture from Gauri Shinde with SRK making a comeback and Alia Bhatt delivering a solid performance. Force 2 had some quality action sequences and minted 59 crores approx. Rock On 2 fell prey to Demonitization and Tum Bin 2 went unnoticed. 

December had a great start with Kahaani 2 which was an engaging cinema after the riveting "Kahaani"  from Sujoy Ghosh. Befikre had Ranveer and Vaani kissing each other and giving dares. It collected 56 crores until now which is low considering the fact it is an Aditya Chopra movie. Dangal has released to rave reviews and the critics are showering the movie with praises. After all it is an Aamir Khan movie after 2 long years. 

The year has given bollywood some good movies while a lot of them went unnoticed. 118 movies released out of which some turned out to be successful while only a few won our hearts. Bollywood needs to be more careful in making movies that will suit the taste of audience. Good movies do release and only the star studded ones get the required attention while the others are appreciated only on social media after the release of their DVDs since they don't get enough screens and also due to the star value factor. 

Let's hope 2017 is a great year for Bollywood.

- Rohit Ravi 

Money Monster : My Review

Money Monster is a thriller drama which tells the story of a devastated shareholder who seeks justice. George Clooney and Jack O' Connell play the central characters while Julia Roberts plays a supporting role in the movie. The movie is directed by Jodie Foster and she has done a good job with the script which is different but average. Performances from the lead cast makes the movie a good watch.
Jack O' Connell delivers a solid performance as Kyle Budwell. The theme of the movie is good and thus it makes the movie distinct. Money Monster is a good watch thanks to the lead cast and the theme.
My Rating : 3/5

Kahaani 2 :Durga Rani Singh - My Review

PROs :
Sujoy Ghosh's Direction
Vidya Balan's performance
Good Story
CONs :
Predictability of script towards end

Kahaani was something special from Sujoy Ghost and with Kahaani 2, he gets better.
Kahaani 2 : Durga Rani Singh is an intense movie that is backed up by a stellar performance from Vidya Balan and excellent direction from Sujoy Ghosh. The story by Sujoy Ghosh and Suresh Nair discusses a highly sensitive issue which forms the crux of the story. The movie engages the audience completely even though the plot becomes predictable towards the climax. The Screenplay is good but the predictability does not work well for the movie. The bgm is functional and sets the mood for the film.
Kahaani 2 is a good watch and definitely, bollywood will look forward to more movies from Sujoy Ghosh. Watch this for Vidya Balan and for the superb direction.

My Rating : 4/5