March 2012

22 Female Kottayam...!!

Posted by Vipi at 22:06 | 0 comments

When I saw this video for the first time on my friend's facebook wall, it was a real surprise.Even though he has written "Expect the unexpected", i didn't expect this at all...!!

Then a quick google search revealed that this is a new 'marketing technique' from the '22 female Kottayam' team! Then I saw two more promo videos. Since I knew it's a movie promo,both didn't effect me as the first one.I came to know that this promo video is now the seventh most viewed video in the country!.Big achievement.

The director Ashique Abu and his crew should be appreciated for this 'something different' promo work.After the 'Salt n pepper' posters,it seems like Malayalam 'new generation' film makers are trying to make their movies different as much as they can.

Ordinary-My thought

Posted by Vipi at 23:01 | 0 comments

'Ordinary' entertains us well in the first half and makes us thinking about the same old style of movie making in the second half. It also follows the ancient theory of suspense thriller..Gavi ,KSRTC bus,Biju Menon and Kunchacko Boban and also the technical side shine well in the venture.Ordinary lost somewhere on the road to extra ordinary.

mavie title : Ordinary
Director :Sugeeth
Langaue :Malayalam
Cast : Kunchacko Boban ,Biju Menon,Asif Ali,Shritha,Ann Augustine.

"Iravikkuttan Pilla' is an aspiring political party worker who always had a dream of the day of his swear as a minister..But his dream became shattered when he got an 'unwanted' job as conductor in Kerala State Transport Corporation.His job as a conductor thus starts in a KSRTC bus from Pathanamthitta to Gavi,a village in Kerala border.Suku driver,the man with an interesting Palakkadan accent was his first colleague.After some initial problems of a first timer, he starts to enjoy the conductor job.The regular passengers,people residing in Gavi, become his friends.Gavi gifts Iravi(short for Iravikkuttan Pilla) a girl.Kalyani, a beautiful confident girl who works in the town.It was an almost 'love at first sight' for Iravi.But Kalyani starts loving him back only after his interferences in some issues to save her.

Unlike Suku driver,Iravi is a first timer in Gavi.He fell in love with Gavi and its people.Venu master,the 'retired school master turned panchayat president', his daughter, post woman of Gavi, Bhadran, the rough all-in-all of Gavi, Anna,and many others.The bus,driver and his conductor ride smoothly through the beauty and mist of Gavi.Things got change when Iravi and Suku accidentally killed a man during a late night return.When a bag,they got from the accident site told the identity of the man,it was a big shock for Iravi and Suku.The bus then take a deviation from comedy route and goes through a suspense drama.

'Ordinary' movie poster (Image courtesy :Google Images)

'Ordinary',the debut film of director Sugeeth , starts well as a promising movie with the backdrops of a KSRTC bus and Gavi,a beautiful place which is actually not yet explored by Kerala tourism department.With some good and fresh comedies, it keeps up the expectation in the first half.But the second half had nothing much to offer.We have seen similar situations in many movies.When we come to the 'serious' part, like many other movies in the past,we lose some characters,who entertained us well in the first half.The songs are not up to the mark.The love song could have been used well.It actually turns as a tourism ad for Gavi.Though we saw a man killed by the heroes,we are pretty sure that they didn't kill him(experience man!!).Then who? We the,viewers get some suspects.Suspect any one you want,but never suspect the one who has more 'close-ups' on the screen (again it's a matter of experience.Haven't you watched those CBI movies?).Go for the movie and try if you get him/her right!

Kunchacko Boban performs well as a hero.He is not a six-pack conductor,yet he is not shy to talk against the goondas.With his pleasant screen presence and acting style,Kunchacko Boban fits well as Iravikkuttan Pilla.

Biju Menon as Suku driver is a real entertainer.It was nice to see that he sticks with the Palakkadan accent through out the movie.I never had to wonder "where did he lost his accent?" even in a single scene.

Asif Ali, got a character role again that was supposed to be shining after interval time.He plays the role of Bhadran,a rough guy from Gavi. Gavi residents need him for cleaning the temple place and repairing the short circuit in the church.Got the character? But I'm still in a confusion, was he a perfect fit for that role?

The new comer,Shritha,who plays the love interest of Iravi,looks good.

Ann Augustine,played the role of Gavi postwoman.She is a miscast in my opinion.I liked here in her first movie,but definitely not in this one.There are hardly any expressions on her face even in crucial scenes!

All others did a good job.Lalu Alex plays Venu master with his usual flair.Jishnu as Jose master makes it an entry to character roles.Baburaj as the drunkard, uses the hangover of his recent comedy roles well to entertain us. Salim Kumar,as the KSRTC mechanic appears in two scenes, but not disappointing.Dharmajan,as a close companion of Iravi, has something yet to learn.

The technical sides including the title graphics and cinematography score well.Director Sugeeth looks promising, if he can jump out of this old style movie making with some sad songs,temple songs etc.

Ultimate thought: Go without any extra ordinary expectations,you won't be disappointed.

Malayalam Media- the first 15

Posted by Vipi at 22:30 | 0 comments

Me and the media

I've seen the line 'Kerala has the highest media exposure in the country' in many web sites.Though Kerala is

considered as one of the 'big' states in the country,it's not that much 'big'.So the fact that Kerala,inspite

of being a 'small' state(as I read,it has only length,no breadth),has half a dozen of news channels is not

ignorable.

Here is what I feel about those Kerala channels.Not in any order,just how they appear in my remote control.The

'top 15' list goes here

Channel No:1 -Network Channel-Heard it before? Don't worry.It's our local channel.It's the channel which inform us the festival dates in the local temples.Most of the times, they show you some video songs with
advertisements scrolling at the bottom of the screen.Advertisements means that of textile shops,computer
institutions etc.I know there are so many network channels along Kerala.

No:2 - Asianet -Asianet is the 'senior most' private channel in Kerala.It is famous than any other Malayalam
channel in Kerala.Was owned by a Malayali, now with Rupert Murdoch. In eariler days it has some meaning ful programs.But gone are the days.In my openion, it's one of the most boring channels in Malayalam.After 6'O clock, get ready to watch the tear jerkers(they call it serials).Most of them are confusing like 'Who is really my father?' type stories.The rest deals with the gods.And there is a 'scripted' reality show,which is supposed to be hunting the best singer in Kerala. You will not be eliminated if your father,mother and sisters can dance with you in the stage.I don't like their 'bluish' color tone.

No :3- Kairali TV- referred as the 'party channel' in so many Malayalam movies.It is a well known fact that the Communist Party in Kerala owns the channel.So the news programs don't have that much demand in public(or at least to me) as most of them think it's biased.But apart from the political news, in my opinion Kairali TV has some noticable programms.They had tried their luck on serials,reality shows but failed.They have a pleasing colour tone.

No:4 - Surya TV- A Malayalam channel from the Sun TV group.Filled with serials,movies,star interviews.They don't have a news channel in Malayalam. So Surya TV also air a half-an-hour news program.Since Asianet,Kairali and Surya are the only Malayalam channels that a Malayali can get through their local cable services out side Kerala, their 'small news program' is said to be having a considerable fan following in those places.

No:5- NDTV - Out of topic.But it's my fifth channel.If Amithab Bachchan got the national award for best actor, it's a 'breaking news' and if it is grabbed by a Salim Kumar or Dhanush, it is just a news.They force Sri.Sovy Vidyadharan to run along Kerala. I watch this channel because I want to learn English.

No: 6 -Reporter TV - New born channel, being lead by Nikesh Kumar. The channel news debates falls somewhere between intelligent debates and melodrama.I love their 'cut-copy' program.Have the strength of Nikesh and Venu(a good singer).

No: 7 -Indiavision -Got fame with the 'ice cream' case.I always wondered why Malayalam channels don't have a sincere movie critic programs something like Rajeev Masand's 'Now showing' in IBN. Now indiavision recently 'updated' their movie based program 'box office' in which they tell us what is this week's 'good' movie/'bad' movie!

No :8- Asianet Plus - Entertainment channel from Asianet.Do they know Asianet is no nore considered as an entertainment channel? May be an extra one! They telecast those movies which were already telecasted in Asianet in an Onam week five years ago and they fill it with some so called 'comedy programs'.

No :9 -Manorama News - The channel from Manorama family Which in my openion, the most professional news channel in Malayalam. What i like in Manorama News is that, most of their program names are in Malayalam language unlike most of the other Malayalam news channels which always tend to some English title for their programs.Like most Keralite, I also believe Manorama is an anti-communist.

No:10- People TV- (or the Kairali-People)This 'channel for the people,channel by the people and channel of the people ' is brother of Kairali TV specialized in news programs.If the day was a 'communist day', switch to People TV in night and it's intersting how they make Congress spokepersons like 'bababababa'!

No:11 -Kiran TV-The live entertainment channel by Sun group.They telecast so many Malayalam songs,some Tamil songs and one Malayalam movie.Plays a role in making Tamil films popular in Kerala .Kiran TV telecast some Tamil films also in Tamil without dubbing.into Malayalam.Thanks!

No : 12 -Amrita TV - A mix of entertainment and news- Their 'top 5' news always include 'where was Amma today? in US or Canada?' news. Their graphics is something which should be appreciated.They have their junk of reality shows.Even attempted an 'actuality show'!!

No : 13 - Jeevan TV- Like Amrita, it's also a mix of news and entertainment.They have two Malayalam movies in stock and they always repeat it.M S Banesh's (was in Kairali) 'Citizen journelist' is a different one.

No : 14 - Asianet News -News channel from Asianet.In this channel, almost every news readers can sing.Their entertainment news lady anchor needs a lot more improvement.I watch their news if Vinu is in full form.

No : 15- Kannur Vision - The 'district channel' of Kannur. Local and some Kerala news.

These are the first 15 in remote control.Though I can tune them to any position, i didn't do that.Expecting
some more news channels like that one from Mathrubhumi..Other channels that should be mentioned here.

No: 16 - We TV -Kairali's youth channel filled with some 'yo yo' programs.
No : 17 - Doordarshan Malayalam- The name is itself worth than thousand words!
No : 18 - CNN IBN- Being "India's most awarded news channel", they have done a great job for us Indians by giving a live telecast of that British prince's marriage.What a great job!!
No :19-Mazhavil Manorama-From the Manorama family,emerging as a tough competitor for Asianet!
No:20- Victers - Educational channel exclusively for students from Kerala government!.
No : 20- I know Jaihind TV is somewhere here.

Outsiders and Malayalam films

Posted by Vipi at 22:00 | 0 comments

Have you seen a Malayalam movie?

"The Malayalam cinema is a South Indian film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam cinema has pioneered various technical, thematic and production techniques among films in India. The industry is one of the largest producers of Parallel Cinema in India."-That's what wikipedia says about Malayalam cinema.

The industry WAS one of the producers of Parallel cinema in India.Malayalam films were deeply rooted in Kerala's culture.That could be a reason why most of the film lovers outside the state stepped back from them.Here is a classifications of some film lovers oust side Kerala or Non-Malayalees based on their 'attitude' towards Malayalam cinema.Purely based on my reading experiences on internet.

class 1- Malayalam? what kind of a stuff is that?

class 2-All they know is some b-rated Malayalam movies(they call mallu movies) and some b-rated actresses acted in them(both Malayalees and non-Malayalees).So they have a theory of their own-"Malayalam film industry is a porn film industry".

class 3-People in this class know that there is a film industry in Kerala and it produced some 'award winning' movies without no entertainment values.They are 'slooooow' and we may get bored easily if we are going to watch them.

class 4-The class 4 people came to know the existence of 'Malayalam films' only when they read most of the

Priyadarsan's super hit bollywood movies are remakes of Malayalam super hit films released in 80s.

Now this class 4 can be divided into two sub classes.

class 4.1-Since all of the Malayalam remakes were introduced to other languages with unwanted songs/fights making them a typical masala movie,some people think the 'so called Malayalam classics' are masala movies.

class 4.2-Those people who enjoyed this remakes made with masala doses, have an opinion that Malayalam movies are good!!Oh...I didn't knew that!!After watching the original version, some would say 'that villager here in dhoti could have danced in some foreign locales' and some say 'this is better than the remakes!!'

Following is about some serious movie maniacs

class 5- These people know Malayalam was(or is) a quality film industry with three great talents- MohanLal,Mammootty and Adoor Gopalakrishnan.The only Malayalam film they have seen would be 'Vanaprastham'.

class 6-These are fans of mainstream commercial and yet quality movies.They like to watch all good movies in all languages.In Malayalam they first watched 'Bharatham',a Mohanlal movies,in which he got a national award for best actor.After seeing his stunning performance, they decided to watch some other Malayalam movies like 'Kireedom'(MohanLal got a special jury mention) and 'His highness Abdulla'.Then they thought I should watch recents movies of MohanLal and after watching one or two recently released movies of MohanLal(most of them are craps!),they decided Malayalam movies do not produce quality movies anymore.They stopped watching movies in Malayalam!!

Bharatham-poster

class 7-Some people go beyond MohanLal. They watch Mammootty films.They know who was Lohithadas,Shaji N Karun etc.They have seen both 'Bharatham' and 'Thaniyavarthanam'.They summarize Malayalam movies are 'realistic'.But they still don't know Gopi , Murali,Nedumudi Venu , Jagathy Sreekumar or Sreenivasan.

Scene from Thaniyavarthanam-Mammootty,Saritha

class 8- People of this class know some Sathyan anthikkad movies,some Priyadarsan Movies and of caurse some Siby malayil movies.

Scene from Vadakkunokkiyanthram-Sreenivasan,Parvathy

Vaishali movie poster

Utharam-movie poster

They never heard of those Jayaram-Mukesh movies or Murali-Venu-Gopi movies.They didn't get a chance to a movie scripted by M T Vasudevan nair.They didn't see Vaishali or Thazhvaram. I'm very disappointed that most of these people who likes good cinema from India/Kerala haven't heard the dialog "don't talk about Poland"...

Note:I don't know the classic movies in other Indian languages or those from Hollywood.

All pics from the Internet.