Gopalakrishnan K

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Bhaskar, a normal middle class cashier decides to resolve his financial problems through shortcuts. How tough was the path and the how his family reacted to his decisions. Was Bhaskar really lucky? The movie starts with Bhaskar getting caught by a CBI officer. Bhaskar answers his questions through his life story. Bhaskar at times does fourth wall breaking and converses with the audience. Writer cum director takes enough time to construct important phases in Bhaskar's life. Be it rift with his wife's family members during the financial crisis time, their reactions when he started making money, or their approach after he became millionaire. Venky made sure to include wife's reactions as well, especially after noticing the changes in Bhaskar's character. His narration style highlighted the mass moments without glorifying it. For instance: the scene where he reacted to the arrogance of a character. Venky did tough job of explaining details regarding stock market and BR fraud. Climax twist was just lit. Dialogues carried the required punch. For instance: advice given by Bhaskar's father or dialogue showing Bhaskar's attitude after he argued with his superior ("Half of an hr of the day went differently than expected. Can't spend whole life playing over it"). Background score helped the narration to maintain the tension needed in the kind of risky situation, the protagonist got involved. To-and-forth style in editing really elevated the impact of certain scenes to an extent. For instance: Ordering of Bhaskar's superior officer checking his suitcase and the scene accompanying it. This movie is out and out DQ show. He just owned that role in each phase and the transformation of the character. My pick out scene is the one where he argued with his superior. Look out for the way DQ carried the confidence and arrogance of the character. Ramki did decent job as Antony. Sachin Khedkar was really impressive, especially in the later half. I thought like fourth wall breaking scenes were bit over-used. Though the plot point do have relevance, Meenakshi Chaudhry's character had very little relevance in the movie. She should have been used in better way to drive the story. Lucky Bhaskar is a gripping financial thriller, that focusses mainly on how a commoner Bhaskar uses his intelligence to master situations to overcome challenges and most importantly, restricts himself, when needed.

If you are planning to watch the movie, I strongly recommend not to dwell too much to the synopsis. Still, I'm giving a basic idea. Priya (Nazriya) finds something fishy with her neighbor Manuel (Basil) who returns to his home with his mother. She along with her friends sets out to unveil the mystery behind him. Can she pull it off? Movie starts on a feel-good note where MC Jithin brings in old charming Nazriya touch to Priyadarshini's character. There is a small portion portraying how Priyadarshini uses her smartness to solve problem and never-give-up attitude. Writer takes ample time to build on the mystery of Manuel and make it strong enough to increase Priya's doubts. Just when first half ends like nothing much got revealed, second half takes a totally different turns by smartly deceiving the viewers and completely makes up for the initial time. The most impressive thing in the script is that there isn't any standout loophole in the crime execution plan unlike many crime thriller movies. It's just that someone of the precise observing character came out of syllabus for the antagonist. Jithin leaves almost no stone unturned before bringing the story to the end. Background score compliments Jithin's dark comedy style of execution to literally keep the viewers hooked to the narrative. Credits to the production design time for authentically creating the mysterious ambience around a house. Cuts made sure that Priya and her friends' involvement in the incidents and final revelation, including motive never appear to be rushed or incomplete. Nazriya breaks out of her comfort zone and delivers a superb performance as the curious and cunning Priya. But the real show stealer is Basil. He was menacing as the negative shaded character, especially his wicked smile when he speaks to Priya in an instance and later 'thank' her for showing concern towards his mother. It was vastly different from his usual comic relief characters. Sidharth bharathan came in as surprise factor and brought in decent laughter, particularly in a scene when Manuel frustratingly shouts at him. Pooja Mohanraj and Akhila bharghavan were notable with their contributions. One section of viewers may feel like story barely moved forward soon after Priya started doubting the intentions of Manuel. Frame by frame decoding teams may come up with more flaws. But, just keep that aside and catch this neatly written mystery thriller. This will surely one of the best malayalam movies of 2024. MC Jithin is surely a name to look forward to.

After the demise of their Shrank/ Captain Stallin, 6 men travel together across a sea for work in boat. Meanwhile, they opens about their past and the conversation lead to a huge fight. What happens when 7th man gets involved in it? The movie is mostly set inside the boat. When the location is restricted, the main challenge for the writer and director is not to make the viewers feel the limitation. Writer could find success in that to an extent through the conversations. Special mention to the technical team for taking up the challenge and completing it successfully. Jijo antony takes time to take viewers to the world of the characters. He never uses flashback scenes to let audience know who is Shrank and what happened to him. We get to know the neccesary details through the conversations between the key characters. In parallel, there is a subplot related to Shine Tom's character Ambrose and Prasanth Alexander's character Srank Rayyan, built subtlety. Though there was enough scope to focus on the weather and other challenges related to their travel, Jijo opted to focus on the change in waves in the minds of the characters. Both Shine Tom Chacko and Sunny wayne complemented each other in their performance to maintain the mystery created. Jayapalan was fine as Dinkan, veteran in the gang. Scenes when he opens about his past add value to the narrative. What denies this movie from becoming must watch movie is the amount of unwanted cuss words. I understand that it's a way to portray the raw nature of the characters. Still, it could have been reduced. Also, generally 94 minutes may not feel like long. But atleast some scenes in the beginning doesn't add much to the narrative. Adithattu is an appreciative attempt to unveil mystery behind a demise and narrate a short revenge story with an unusual pattern of narration.

Movie starts with wedding of protagonist Sidharth with Radha, a more of talkative and expressive nature person. Then, story moves back and forth between different time periods to narrate why Sidharth showed no interest in the relationship. Special mention to the makeup for helping viewers understand the time period. In addition to the 2 romantic stories,the story narrated by taxi driver was beautifully executed. Though plot isn't fresh, grandeur visuals, soothing score and innovative narration uplifts this pleasant romantic drama. Director deserve credit for utilizing music really well, especially the protagonist's childhood portions. Though we know what will happen after Anahita fulfills her dream around the 90s ad, we feel for the character, mainly because the chemistry and the conversations between the characters worked out really well. Pick of the performers is Ankita as Anahita, especially in the scenes where she had to hide her emotions during conversations with Sidharth. Though Angry side of Sidharth was more like Arjun reddy vibe, Vihan leaves an impactful performance in conveying the efforts of the character to establish himself professionally and later, find out the right approach to troubleshoot the root cause of Anahita's struggle. Mayuri Natarajan was fine as Radha. Her character had less scope to perform, compared to the other female lead. 160 minutes is bit too much for this movie. Cuts at times felt like breaking the flow of the narration. For instance: A tense cricket match, quickly followed by a totally different contextual scene. Viewers who just reads subtitles may find it difficult to follow the poetic tone in the conversation portions.

Laughing Budha starts as a light-hearted entertainer with protagonist's family interactions and his communication with the culprits. Then, director Bharath takes viewers to the celebration mood and the happiness around the team. Credits to background score for conveying the vibe to the audience. Soon, interval credit rolls on as Bharath places a mystery element to the narration. Post interval, writer builds well around the mystery element and smartly blends humour in the process of bringing out the truth from a specific character. But towards the end, things get bit confusing. Climax twist could have been executed in better way. In the climax, movie gets back to the square one i.e relevant message regarding the fitness of cops. Writer deserve credit for highlighting other key issues that cops had to handle, including an officer working after retirement and the pressure burdened over them by the higher officials. (Rightly mentioned as thankless profession). The key standout performer was the protagonist. He subtly portrays the dutiful and remorseful Govardhan. Special mention to the actor who enacted the role of crooked minded Thief.

Plot is reminiscent of a subplot in the VM Vinu directed movie 'Balettan'. Bharathan nair, veteran in the family reveals to his elder son Sasi (Saiju kurup), about his unknown past thinking that his days are counted. But he unexpectedly overcomes health issues and had to face questions from his family. Director Krishnadas and writer know that the plot isn't fresh enough and can attract family audience if presented in melodramatic route. Full credits to the background score and writer for utilizing situational humour and portraying the regret and emotions of Bharathan (Sai Kumar). We get to see more from the past of Sreeja Ravi's character through the conversation with Bharathan's family members. Not every characters communicate with her and her son. Twins slowly create bonding with each other. Also, Sneha's character and later Kalaranjini's character communicates with them. Writer smartly merged temple committee subplot to the narrative. Though Sai Kumar's subtle reactions created the neccesary humour, emotional scenes highlights his seasoned performance. For instance: key revelation scene or the scene where Bharathan advices his grandchildren. Sasi is another version of Balettan and Saiju kurup conveyed the conflicts of the character without moving to the melodramatic tone. Climax felt like typical predictable one. I expected better emotional conversation scenes between Bharathan and Kalaranjini's character. Her character deserved it.

Arulmozhi (Aravind swami) travels back to his hometown because of compulsion from his cousin sister. He meets a stranger and soon find out more about his joyful past and ultimately himself. Movie starts with a flashback of the sour past of Arulmozhi's life. Prem kumar focuses more on Arul's attachment with his sister Bhuvana and the house. Soon, Prem gets into family emotions in the conversation scenes with the family members. We get to see Arul's father breaking into tears over a phone conversation. After introducing Karthi's character, Prem builds on the character's temptation to create bond with the world around him. When Arul too joins him to spend a night, he slowly gets into a major conflict. Prem, along with Govind Vasantha's nostalgic magical score takes viewers to a cherishing experience. . The best thing about narration is the sudden shift from joy mode to sadness done organically. Humor sporadically added works well too. For instance: scenes where both characters travel together. Karthi's performance initially felt like overdoing but as the movie progresses, viewers could experience the vibe of the character courtesy his adorable and joyous act. Aravind swami shines in moments when reacts to the conflicts and the phone conversation towards the end. Yaaro song is something that you will take out of the cinema hall, for sure. CGI was fine too (Especially Jallikattu portions). Length is the biggest factor pulling this movie down a bit. There is a long scene where Karthi's character narrates about a war. That scene adds nothing to the narrative. Meiyazhagan is a beautiful depiction of finding and relishing one's lost broken memories. It's an experience worth visit rather than knowing the story.

Meena (Anna Ben) travels with her parents and her so called fiancee's relatives to get treatment for her eccentric behavior. Is she really possessed?.Will the problems get resolved? PS Vinothraj proved his worth in his debut movie Koozhangal. Though Kottukkali is also a road movie, the hurdles the main characters face makes it an immersive experience. Be it the Bull controlled by a small girl, puberty ceremony of a girl sponsored by her maternal uncle, health issues of the family members and the rooster. Each of these does make sense. Above all, quarrel happening between Pandi and others really shows their actual character. In addition to the family members, Vinothraj focuses on the other companions, their alcohol drinking and conversations. With no background score and sound design complementing the narration, Vinoth captures the true essence of the village and the people, especially their supernatural belief and problems within the family. Vinoth uses mirror reflection scene to portray the injury in Meena's face and thus convey the intensity of her trauma. Anna Ben had very little expressions in this movie and she was the standout performer of the lot. For instance: Her minute smile looking at a child, humming a song or stare when her mother says like "She need strength to withstand the beating". Soori puts up raw performance as Pandi, especially in the action portions (Not the usual masala action) and the climax. Coming to the drawbacks, climax could have been conveyed in more satisfying way without keeping it open. Just like in Koozhangal, there are few random unnecessary shots adding to the length of the movie. Though it wasn't a problem for me, Long single shot portions of characters walking to a far distance may not work for some section of viewers. Kottukkali is a brilliant road movie narrated mostly from titular character's POV, that uses director's craft to show a lady's Adamant nature to stick with her decision.

Nunakuzhi explores how Aby, a company MD gets linked to a chain of incidents leading to chaos. Did he manages to escape from it?. The most important factor in a multi linked story is the way individual stories shape up and gets connected to each other. That's where the first credit goes to writer Krishnakumar. There is MD Vava alias Aby where the linking begins. Also, there is Grace Antony's character who gets unintentionally involved in another incident. The way Krishnakumar connects subplots and creates chaos is just hilarious. Some initial scenes gave Vaalvi kind of vibe. Though it gets predictable at times, Jeethu Joseph makes sure that the chaos never gets to a tiring or irritating mode. Special mention to the dialogues. For instance in a scene, Siddique's character replies to Aby like 'Police kar idichal nee ithinekkal vrithikku karayum'. The situation where the comic one-liners were delivered makes it easy to work out. Cuts were nice enough to maintain the flow of the pivotal incidents and conversations. Background score carries the energy of the total movie and maintains the curiosity factor of where is this leading to. Title song was placed aptly but the other song wasn't that needed for the movie. Though Basil scores well with his unique mannerisms and comic timing, best performer in the cast list should be Baiju Santhosh. The way he reacts to stories in hospital conversation portions is just superb.('Kolamass' as per one of his dialogue). Siddiqui too shines with his dialogue delivery and quick reactions. Manoj K jayan and Binu Pappu were notable too. Though very minimal, humour at times felt bit forced. I felt like bridge conversation portions were stretched bit too much. I think the way Jeethu portrayed alchohol drinking in this movie could have been better. These aren't at all reasons to stay away from the movie. Just go to the big screen and watch this Paisa vasool slapstick crime comedy entertainer. It will make you stay away from your sorrows for a couple of hours and offers few laugh-out-loud moments. Towards the end, Jeethu gives an indication of a sequel, which is much like a ritual in today's movies. Surely waiting for that, if it happens.