Director Rojin Thomas’s Malayalam film #Home is an impressive case study. One that tells the story of a slightly dysfunctional family, the film cleverly masquerades as a neglected father’s tale while slyly guilt-tripping his children. In the early 2000s, Sheela-Jayaram starrer Manasinakkare managed a similar feat but the Sathyan Anthikad […]
Read Time : 12 Minutes
‘Malik’ review – An immersive chronicle of survival & rise amid religious polarisation
In a stirring scene in Mahesh Narayanan’s Malik, the leading man Sulaiman alias Ali Ikka (Fahadh Faasil) engages in a quarrel around his father’s burial spot which is now a wasteyard. Badly assaulted by cops, a group of people later dumps him in the very same pile of waste. There […]
Read Time : 4 Minutes
‘Cold Case’ review – Prithviraj-starrer mixes horror and police procedural genres to uneven results
There are bona fide horror films that you watch with a conclusive belief that supernatural entities are real. Then there are police procedurals that unravel a mystery entirely based on science and evidence. In director Tanu Balak’s Cold Case, we witness both scenarios. A single case of a missing woman […]
Read Time : 9 Minutes
‘Aarkkariyam’ review – a mercurial Malayalam drama around a dirty family secret
Nostalgia is a word that contains volumes of drama. It can be twisted to generate gazillion quotes with the finest of metaphors. A favourite would be, “Nostalgia is a beautiful lie dressed up in sepia.” Director Sanu John Varughese’s Aarkkariyam is not necessarily a film that thrives on that emotion. […]
Read Time : 7 Minutes
‘The Great Indian Kitchen’: A Giant Stride Towards Cinema Renaissance in India
“The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach” – Here’s a famous saying that we have been conditioned to believe. Men are supposed to savour all the delicacies in the world. Women are supposed to serve them with love. As compensation, she will make way to his […]
Read Time : 8 Minutes
‘Joji’ review – Dileesh Pothan’s take on Macbeth is a bona fide masterpiece
“Society is a fucker,” declares the title character of Dileesh Pothan’s Joji. If we observe the setup from a distance, society is seldom a direct component in the Panachel family. Here is a film with minimal exposition and no random third party conversations staged at tea shops and rickshaw stands. […]
Read Time : 6 Minutes
‘Varthamanam’ review – Parvathy-starrer is brave in opinions, insipid in execution
The startling side of Sidhartha Siva’s Varthamanam is that for the most part of its runtime, it does not feel like fiction. What the film attempts to portray is a series of stark realities that we see around, watch on television, read in newspapers and follow on social media – […]
Read Time : 10 Minutes
‘Drishyam 2’ review – Entering Georgekutty’s brand new maze of deception
“Cinema. It’s an important link. What is peculiar about movies? Visuals. The impact of visuals on mind is unmatched,” echoed Geetha Prabhakar (Asha Sarath) in a scene that thrilled us to bits in the 2013 Malayalam blockbuster Drishyam. We never predicted a cinema link to pop up even though it […]
Read Time : 9 Minutes
‘C U Soon’ review – Mahesh Narayanan’s film is a modern filmmaking marvel
Director Mahesh Narayanan’s C U Soon was conceived entirely in the COVID19 lockdown period. However, it is not a pandemic story. Set in mid-2019, it is a love story which soon transforms into a bona fide thriller with a strong element of suspense. Unfolding through constant chat messages and video […]
Read Time : 12 Minutes
‘Maniyarayile Ashokan’ review – Simplicity powers this breezy village comedy with endearing characters
The most fascinating side of 2020 Onam release Maniyarayile Ashokan is the ecosystem it is centred in. Imagine a picture of Kerala countryside that you would see in tourism booklets. One such village exists in the film which is Shamsu Zayba’s directorial debut. Named Valayalathadi, the film opens with an […]