Movie Review: Chanthupottu

Chandupottu is a simple tale. It’s about a boy who grows up in a small fishing village in the company of girls. He’s more at ease with girls than boys. After an incident involving him and another kid, his dad (played by Lal) ends up jail for murder. Radha (krishnan) is brought up by his mother and grand mother and grows up as a joke in the society. He teaches folk dance for living and keeps the company of girls all the time.

He’s particularly close with Malu (played by Gopika). Kumaran, a local loan shark too has an eye on her. Incidentally Kumaran is the son of the person whom Radha’s father had murdered. After the jail sentence Radha’s father returns and is horrified seeing his son’s state.

Radha and Malu get closer and with help from rain god, take their friendship to next level. Kumaran itching for revenge of his father death plots with Malu’s father (Rajan P Dev as astrologer) and blame the genderless Radha for the disappearance of fish from the sea. They beat up Radha and dump his body in the sea. Freddie (Biju Menon) rescues him and takes him to Goa, where he and his sister Rosie (Bhavana) help Radha. We don’t want to reveal more.

RIP Kalamandalam Hyderali

Kathakali, the dance form which originated in Kerala tells stories from the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana and usually the performances are done by Hindus.

So imagine the oddity when a Muslim decides to perform Kathakali and the social and religious objections it would have raised. Kathakali is usually performed in temples and this meant that the Muslim would not be able to enter the stage.

Kalamandalam Hyderali became the first Muslim Kathakali artiste, overcame all those restrictions and tauts from fundamentalists in both religions and became an icon in the field.

In central Kerala, the outer wall of a shrine was demolished and a stage constructed in such a manner that Hyderali could sing from `outside’ the temple.Hyderali was blessed with a voice that could tackle anything in Kathakali music. With equal felicity, he sang romantic verses, lullabies, devotional lyrics and fast-paced battle songs. His voice conjured up the romance of Nala and Damayanti as effectively as it did the vileness of Kali or the fierceness of Duryodhana and Ravana. His voice weaved magic into passages such as `Vijane Batha,’ `Mariman Kanni’ and `Ajitha Hare.’

His solo rendering of the lyrics of `Nalacharitham IV’ at a performance in Kottayam was so appealing that veteran Kalamandalam Krishnan Nair told him, “In future, I don’t want you to be supported by another singer when you sing these lines.” [Kathakali's progressive singer]

He died in car accident in Thrissur on Jan 5, 2006.

Bus Conductor : Review roundup

Bus Conductor put brakes to Mammootty’s dream run at the box office. The reviews and the reports suggest that this movie does not do anything great for the actor as well as the producer. After reading the reviews we feel that as a new year resolution Mammootty should promise himself that he will stay from ‘Ettan’ (Big brother) roles.

Paresh C. Palicha Writes

It is disappointing to see Mammootty doing the jig. Sure, he looks dashing in khakhi (not the police uniform), stubble and a spunky hairstyle. But a bit more focus on the character would have enhanced the Mammootty magic.

Mammootty tries to carry the film on his sturdy shoulders. But his character is pulled in different directions – one moment he has to be a distressed bus owner, the next an action hero and then a good-hearted family man. The other characters are dwarfed in his presence.[Review : Bus Conductor]

Movie Review: Pulival Kalyanam

Cast: Jayasurya, Kavya Madhavan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Lal, Salim Kumar , Harisri Ashokan
Music : Berni Ignatius Director: Shafi

When Jayasurya goes to borrow some money from the financier Manavalan (Salim Kumar), he (Salim Kumar) is seen wearing an Eastman color dress, dark glasses and talking as if he is in a drama. He points his thumb at Jayasurya and asks him what that is. Jayasoorya replies, “Thumb”. “No”, says Salim Kumar, “It is Abdullah”. Then he shakes his thumb and asks what that is. He himself says, “Sheikh Abdullah”. Now you get an idea for the quality of jokes in this comedy film which has almost every comedy actor in Malayalam film industry.

The story is about Jayasurya who as a child is adopted by Lal as his brother. Lal and family run a fireworks business and it was to expand this business that Jayasurya went to borrow money. In a bank, his cell phone gets swapped with Kavya Madhavan, who is the daughter of a rich businessman (Lalu Alex). They both start getting each other’s calls and start falling in love after many comic scenes. By then it is only the interval. So some complications are added and how they get resolved is the story.

Tanmatra: Review Roundup

We had reported earlier that Mohanlal’s new film Tanmatra directed by Blessy is not doing that well. But most reviewers seem to agree that Mohanlal has given a wonderful performance.

Paresh C. Palicha writes

“Tanmatra” can also be credited with the rediscovery of actor Mohanlal, not just because his performance is sans any star aura but because the poignant naturalness has returned in full. The character may have some resemblance with his role in Fazil’s “Life Is Beautiful” a few years ago, but here it is more restrained and underplayed.

Adolescent actor Arjun is the other performer who captivates you. The debutant does not seem to be a novice and has the capacity to hold his own against the stalwart. Meera Vasudev passes muster, but her character deserved sharper etching. Nedumudi Venu seems to be repeating his father act of “Baletten”['Tanmatra' is for connoisseurs]

Priyadarshan and Bollywood

Here’s Priyadarshan’s Modus Operandi in Bollywood – Make a movie in Malayalam, then later remake it in Hindi. Sometimes he remakes succesful Malayalam movies directed by other directors. Now Priyadarshan says he would retire in 2 years time from commercial cinema.Is that because by then he would have remade all his malayalam movies to Hindi? But then there are succesful movies made by other directors. And Priyadarshan making non-commercial meaningful movies? That’s a topic for another day.

Let’s take a look at some of the Hindi movies Priyadarshan – the most inspired director – has directed and their source:

Movie Name	Original Malayalam	Original Director
Muskurahat	Kilukkam	Priyadarshan
Gardish	Kireedom	Sibi Malayil
Virasat	Thevar Magan	Bharathan
Saat Rang Ke Sapne	Thenmavin Kombathu	Priyadarshan
Doli Saja Ke Rakhna	Aniyathi Pravu	Fazil
Hera Pheri	Ramji Rao Speaking	Siddique-Lal
Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Mera Ghar	Sanmanassullavarku..	Satyan Anthikkad
Hungama	Poochakkoru Mookkuthi	Priyadarshan
Hulchul	Godfather	Siddique-Lal
Garam Masala	Boeing Boeing	Priyadarshan
Kyon Ki	Thalavattom	Priyadarshan
Chupke Chupke(2006)	Punjabi House	Rafi-Mecartin

We see that 100% of the movies Priyadarshan directed in Hindi are remakes, that’s a unique(or dubious) distinction.

The question we have in our mind: Is Priyadarshan doing Malayalam movie industry a favour by remaking it’s successful movies to hindi with a wider audience Or is Priyadarshan taking advantage of his leverage within Bollywood and remaking movies of other directors who does not have exposure or clout in Bollywood?

2005 – Heroines.

From today, Vellithira is moving to a permanent home. With this change comes a name change too. The new site is

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