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What is the address of love?

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Did Malayalam cinema writing peak and breakthrough new highs with this one? I am nearly two and half years behind in watching this movie since its release in February 2023. Of late I had been getting upset with the fact that most of the Malayalam films have become marketing and advertising vehicles for alcohol with one exception being Janamaithri . I have been quite concerned with the way alcoholism has been normalised in the movies. I thought this movie was boring and wanted to switch off but the only reason I stayed on was the strong recommendation from my friend Rajesh. And I was about to switch this film off when in the first twenty minutes or so, it was just about drinking, smoking and pedestrian stuff when the first unexpected twist in the tale happens and it catches you off guard and then makes you wonder how is the story going to proceed from here with more than an hour of the movie still left. In that part of the movie, the little cat’s two scenes and its expression truly capt...
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Don't watch this movie till...

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Am Ah This is no ordinary movie to watch. You need a certain kind of heart to watch it. A heart that can and cannot bear pain. Watch it when you are ready to expand the definition of entertainment and the purpose of cinema. Watch it only when you are sick and finally tired of the formulaic, insipid, uninspiring and stupid, big budget latka jhatka movies that come out from most of the film industries that make us dumb and dumber. What a movie!!! Finally I could weep tears of joy after quite some time. Thank you so much to the writer, director and Gopi Sundar who put together the background music. And thank you so much Dileesh Pothan for whatever would have prompted/ inspired you to act in this movie. While you will not agree to my request but it’s good to see you more in roles like these than the mix of villainous roles you keep playing. And what a scene it was between you and Jaffer Iduki - that scene outside the police station just as he says good bye to you. Hats off to the simple st...
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Shakespeare may be happy!!

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In the beginning I wondered if it was a theme similar to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. The character of the sub inspector also makes you remember Sherlock Holmes. But soon the non-linear, “mindless” and sometimes “boring” looking screenplay made me leave that station behind till the last one hour of the movie was left when the first of the plot reveals happened. But as the movie began chugging into its destination and I saw the final shot of the burning toddy shop popularly known as Pravinkood Shapp, I began wondering if even the famous and celebrated playwright William Shakespeare who gave the world Othello could have conjured such a story and screenplay as this one. It’s amazing to see how the focus of who is the hero/ protagonist of the film changes as the movie progresses. Hats off to Soubin Shahir’s final smile scene. I so wish to describe that smile and compare it with so many other famous smiles but for the people who haven’t seen the movie yet, I will just lea...
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The rationale that I never knew!!!

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For Malayalis all over the world, the 1989 movie Kireedam is an iconic one and for me especially, it holds a special place because of the kind of relationship I have always had with my father and also because the father's face-cut, looks, pose and mannerisms in the film are exactly like my father's. It's a complete film from every angle with nothing more to be added or redone even after 35 years of the movie's release. Each time I watch the climax, I have choked in my throat and had wet eyes and today I have a better understanding of it thanks to the YouTube short video I watched in the morning - https://youtube.com/shorts/F7mrSpIGDy4?si=Ug_ubPLPgS148fY3 In this interaction with another well known Malayalam director Kamal, watch the genius of an explanation of the iconic climax scene explained by no less than the very actor who enacted it - the legendary late Shri Thilak Raj, famously known as Thilakan. The rationale behind what seems to be a simple repetition of the sa...
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That day in 1993

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Originally written on  October 01, 2021 I have had many enduring love affairs in my life. They are of nature, stories, books, deep meaningful conversations, food, travel, silent retreats, movies, music and trains. And what if the last three come together in one movie? There is at least one other movie that combines all these but today I want to talk about one of them. My love affair with movies started almost 40 years ago when I must have been 6 or 7 years old. And guess which movie did I see first? Of course, Pather Panchali. It had to be. For me, it was meant to be. I still remember those grainy black and white images that I saw in a neighbour's house. Then about 28 years ago I saw a movie that captivated me to no end. It must have been in the months of May/ June/ July or August of 1993 when I saw Andha Naal (That Day) starring Sivaji Ganesan. I was completely enthralled and the grip still remains intact. I hadn't heard of the Rashomon effect till a few years ago but it was t...
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Mirror to the devil inside us

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Spadikam: Mirror. I am sure that the producer-writer-director team of one of Mohanlal’s cult action-drama hit films from the early 1990s were not aware of the pioneering work being done at the same time in the US by Dr. Donald Clifton and his team of scientists. Nor were Dr. Clifton and team aware of this movie. Nevertheless, being a double buff of movies and strengths psychology I can say that it’s a must rewatch movie for all Malayalam and Mohanlal movie fans to understand the significance of the key principles of Strengths psychology. Even though the movie had a bitter sweet ending to the father-son cum teacher-student relationship still; true to the meaning of the film title, it’s a continuing reflection on the way we as parents and teachers have messed up children’s lives and the grave consequences thereof. Even though the great actor Shri Thilakan who immortalised Chacko Master, is no more but I see that Chacko Master’s spirit lives on in many parents that I see around me leading...
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