R Venugopal

Review of Malayalam Movie "Drishyam2: Redemption " Sequels seldom fare well in movie business as the expectations are high on the Original and it's very difficult to sustain interest in subsequent movies. But Drishtam-2 is an exception and has reasons to stand above. When Mohanlal starrer Drishyam (1) was released few years back, it was greeted with overwhelming response, not just in Malayalam, but followed up with equal interest and success in Tamil remake (Kamal Hasan in Papanasam), and with Venkatesh in Telugu and Ajay Devgan in Hindi and Kannada and other languages. It was quite natural to expect the sequel and Director Jeethu Jiseph has done well and succeeded in maintaining tempo in the movie. Kudos! Drishyam (1) ends with acquittal of accused George Kutty(Mohanlal) and his daughter in the murder case of Police IG's spoilt son, while trying to blackmail and rape hero's daughter and his attempt to cover by creating alibi. The body is not found since it is hidden in an unknown place much to the embarrassment of authorities. The sequel starts with the continuation of story: What happened to George Kutty, whether Police succeeded in Solving Solving the murder case, body found or did the culprit escape. The movie begins with events rolling out after six years since the murder took place, with the revival of interest in solving the case by retired IG Geetha (Geetha Sharath), who is in US but comes to Kerala every year on the death anniversary of her son to perform the rites. On the advice of Prohit that the soul will not attain peace unless the body is found and cremated properly, she is planning to extricate the truth. How the events follow is the rest of the story and an unexpected climax awaits. As it is a thriller rest of the story is not discussed and left to viewers to see on the screen. Though the movie starts with a slow pace, it picks up in the second half and races to climax. It's a cat and mouse chase game with IPS Officer (Murali Gopi) and Georgekutty (Mohanlal) playing their tricks. Georgekutty now rich with a Cinema theatre and interest in producing movies for which he employs a senior scriptwriter to dicuss what he has written for a movie (he has even published a few copies of it!) As he is determined to safeguard his family at any cost, he is always one step ahead. While Mohanlal is outstanding as cool and composed Georgekutty, Meena as hero's wife Rani has given very good support with worries of family and future always pressing her, daughters Anu and Anju, Police officials including the neighbours are well chosen and have done their part. Almost same cast in first movie is repeated. The technical aspects are superb with special mention to Cinematography and editing. The only negative aspect of the movie is it is a bit too long, particularly the first part and could have been trimmed so that the duration could have been under two hours to be fast moving thriller mystery. Otherwise it's very good and recommended to watch. It's a feather in the caps of Jeethu Joseph and Mohanlal. Don't miss it. It's available on Amazon Prime. Rating 4*/5.

Rarely we see satires and witty movies on screen, but Kagaz is an exception. This hilarious Hindi movie depicts the travails of an ordinary common man in a village who is declared dead and his sincere and continued fight with the corrupt bureaucratic system to prove that he is Alive forms the main theme of the story. Bharatlal (Pankaj Tripathi) is a simple man who makes his living by playing his band to the marriage parties. When he wants to sell his portion of land to expand his Band business he comes to know the fact that his own brothers and others have connived and already pocketed the proceeds by declaring him dead with the help of land Record keeper. Now he is officially Dead and non-existent which means he is not eligible for anything. He could not take any loan even. Now it is his turn to prove that he is alive and not dead by fighting the corrupt bureaucratic system. In this satire written and directed by Satish Kaushik, Pankaj Tripathi has acted very well to present a "Dead" man's plight to prove his existence by knocking every door of Government departments to issue Alive certificate! He even starts a Dead Men's Party!(finding there are many such cases in his village and other places!) His journey to win the race is told interestingly in a funny way.More details will be a spoiler and leaving it to you to enjoy it yourself. It's by the way Pankaj Tripathi's one man show of his acting prowess and he gas essayed it brilliantly, thanks to the Director. I found this movie enjoyable and you will agree with me. On show at Zee5 OTT platform. Rating ****/5

Crisp and interesting political thriller, enriched by acting of Russel Crowe and Ben Affleck. Congressman Stephen Collin's (Ben Affleck) assistant is murdered and Washington Globe's Journalist Cal McAffrey (Russel Crowe) start investigating the murder along wih Police. They dig his past and as usual politician's life is full of surprises. Interestingly Cal and Stephen were room mates and friends and the reporter has to overcome his feelings to overcome emotions to get the truth. He is assisted by Della Frye ( Rachel McAdams). Good one to watch.

Dreams never die for ambitious men. Here is a beautiful movie on one such man, Maran, ex-IAF pilot who dreams to fly high in life and at at he same time provide the poor air travel with in their reach. Want to see a movie with Songs, foreign location, fights, punch dialogues? Sorry this is not a movie for you. This depicts the struggles of a man in real life who wish to change aviation history. Yes, the story might have been based on real life events of Gopinath who was the first to provide economy air travel (and others) by starting Simplifly-Deccan, but the struggles they encountered to provide the facility under tough airliners competition is not just Simplif(l)y! Surya has done an excellent job in bringing to life the character to steal the show. It is another feather in his cap. Aparna Balamurali as his wife Bommi, who teases, pleases, gives ample support to be with him as a true wife and companion during his struggles. Director Sudha Kongara whose Irudhi Sutru (Final Round) was a hit, has again given a different movie and she needs to be appreciated. Urvashi as Surya's mother, Paresh Rawal as Villainous Paresh Goswamy, the Jas airline owner, Kaali Venkat, Karunaas, Krishna kumar as Che, his friend have done their jobs well. Mohan Babu as Surya's commodore has a pleasant role at the end. Technical values are excellent. G. V. Kumar has provided necessary music suitable for village background. The drawback of this otherwise good film is the length. It could have been trimmed further to bring it under 2 hours. There are many touching scenes like villagers sending money to Maran's account, Surya's desperation to reach the village to see his dying father's face, his initial failures and so on. Watch the movie on Amazon Prime OTT platform and let's encourage good movies!

Who killed the famous Cellist Anthony ? Ghost or any human being? This is the question posed to the audience by the movie "Silence" (Nishabdham). Not to be confused with Martin Scorsese's Classic of 2016, this Telugu-Tamil bilingual is a new release on OTT platform. A famous cello exponent is tragically crucified in a haunted house when he visits the house with his hearing and speech challenged wife Sakshi, an Artist, to retrieve a famous painting. This thriller unfolds the events leading to it and you get a beautifully photographed movie, set in Seattle, USA. Madhavan as the Cello player is in a different role and Anushka Shetty as Sakshi give stellar performances. Anjali as Maha gives reentry as the investigating officer, Michael Madsen as Anjali's superior Richard and Shalini Pandey as Sonali support the cast. I don't want to discuss the storyline further as it will be a spoiler. Technical aspects are very good with slick direction by Hemant Madhukar. He keeps the suspense alive and that's the credit to his direction. Don't bother about reviews, just sit calmly and watch. You will like it. Some scenes may remind you old movies, but you can't help it. It's common nowadays as movies are pouring in dozens. Availble on Amazon Prime. Rating 3.5* out of 5.

Wronged hero comes out of prison and chases to kill the police officers responsible is the one line story. Unfortunately there is nothing special about its treatment, ways or ingenuity. Brilliant photography , locations in Goa and Mauritius and a song Ghar Chalen steal the show. Also the lead actors Anil Kapoor (they have given him a lower sized Police uniform, he is not able to button it!) Aditya Kapur, Kunal Khemu have done justice to their roles while Disha Pattani sizzles in glamour. Most of the time is spent in party, dance and free to live scenes Technical aspects are good but it proves that a weak, beaten track story cannot lift the film beyond a certain level.

I enjoyed the movie with my 4 year old granddaughter who grew up with Dora, the Explorer and the entire family. We lived the adventure with her and a what a fun it is to be to be back to the Child days. Thanks for an enjoyable fare. Loved it!

Rajni shows why he is number One and Super Star by returning with Darbar movie once again. No question, it is out and out his movie. What a brisk movement, swift and fast action like lightning, dialogue delivery, same style, all enhanced. No sign of ageing,  younger than youngest! Watch his eyes , don't they convey a hundred messages? Though the story is of beaten track of police hunting down criminals, Murugadas should be congratulated for presenting a fast action movie and a crisp screenplay. The opening scene is very swift and takes the audience through rocket and continues in scenes leading to release of Dy. CMs daughter from kidnappers. The tempo is maintained till interval, though it sags in later half. The story deals with traffickers of drug and woman in Mumbai city and how a newly posted commissioner deals and contains it, of course in his own style! Hero in khaki uniform is not new to Tamil movies, but when Rajni does it in style, it is class and majestic! Forget about a Commissioner coming with beard, unkempt hair and unbuttoned shirt, but watch him fly and kick the enemies. Nobody does it better than Rajni! Whistle flies in theatres and the environment is electric. Just join and enjoy. In acting Nivetha Thomas comes next, as his daughter and proves her acting talent. The villains are adequate. Somebody should tell what Nayanthara is doing in this movie except to make a fairsex presence and to create sympathy for Rajni in the second half. Yogi Babu comes as sidekick to Rajni and brings some laugh in places. The team accompanying Commissioner is well chosen with understanding and fling into action at a wink. The technical quality is excellent (what else you would expect when its Lyca and Rajni!), beautiful cinematography coming first (Santhish Sivan), slick Editing (Sreekar Prasad), Sound recording, action scenes and so on. The climax could have been better for a movie like this.Sunil Shetty can forget this movie. Though he is painted as main Villain, neither his appearance nor his plans add any interest or strength to the movie. A weak villain.How Murugadas missed this point? But he excels in dialogues and direction which raises the movie standards. Anirudh's Music has nothing to offer much and it is certainly a disappointment. Normally songs in Rajni's movies would be a treat. In brief, it is not just a movie for Rajni fans alone, but a Pongal feast (Sarkarai Pongal!) for all. Go, see and celebrate Pongalwith a Rajni treat!

A nail biting, edge of seat thriller, this movie may be a remake of 1969 film of same title but still maintains the tempo and interest. This whodunit double murder revolves around a writer, his wife who gets murdered making her husband on the run, an amorous housewife, her lover and a police detective who is bent upon to solve the murder in three days. The interesting part of this fast paced movie is the story is entirely recounted from the views of the suspects similar to Akira Kurosawa 's famous Roshomon movie and the detective is to arrive at the murderer from the evidence available and statements of suspects. Siddhartha Malhotra (writer in the movie) and Akshaye Khanna as calm and composed detective have done wonderfully while Sonakshi Sinha has given the support. The director needs to be complimented for his crisp direction though there are some potholes here and there. Interesting movie to watch.