Marykkundoru Kunjadu (Malayalam) - Movie Review

The Thrissur trip this time was full of movies, infact to be precise 5 Malayalam movies in 2 days. The final one that I watched was – Marykkundoru Kunjadu (Mary has a Little Lamb) by Shafi starring Dileep, Bhavana and Biju Menon in the lead roles. Though I am not the biggest fan of Dileep I did find the name cute enough to watch.     

The story takes place in a small village settling on a hill in Kerala and has two Mary’s and one little lamb. Ofcourse not a love triangle because one Mary is the Little Lamb/ kunjaad Solomon’s mother and the other is his lover who is Ittichan, a Rich Landlord’s daughter. Mary has been in love with Solomon since childhood but she knows that Solomon can never fight her father and brother’s for her because of his nature. Solomon is an innocent soul who is afraid of literally everything including the school going kids in his village and hence is nicknamed Kunjadu (little lamb). Ittichan (Mary’s father) is very supportive of the love between Mary and Solomon not because he wants to get Mary married to Solomon but because of a past Ittichan and Solomon’s mother Mary share. Ittichan was engaged to Solomon’s mother but she finds out about Ittichan’s infidelity a day before their wedding and in revenge marries Solomon’s father. Ittichan still has a soft spot for Solomon’s mother. He is supportive of his daughter’s and Solomon’s love affair because he wants they love to reach its peak and then get his daughter married to someone else so that Solomon feels the same pain that he felt when he lost Solomon’s mother. In between all this fight for a less beaten body by Solomon a mysterious man lands up at their village and eventually in Solomon’s house and all of them assume him to be Solomon’s elder brother who had run away from home in his teens. Solomon gets an image makeover in the village with this mysterious body builder of a man by his side but his actions remain very ambiguous and start haunting & behaviourally changing Solomon out of fear for his family.

This is another movie that though not endowed with the best of performances manages to scrape through because of the thriller part in the script. Dileep, Bhavana are very conventional in their performances but Biju Menon as the mysterious man has an author-backed role and delivers it to the T. Though the story starts off very conventionally and we expect Dileep to win over his cowardness somehow, the script takes a complete and realistic U-turn with Biju Menon coming in and the mystery unravelling in the climax packs the punch.   

All in all a good entertainer.

iVerdict: Good. One time watch    

Rating: 2.5/ 5

Bodyguard (Malayalam) - Movie Review

At the time that Salman Khan and Kareena Kapoor starrer ‘Bodyguard’ released I was in Kerala and though the film had a release here, I would not really watch it in a theatre as I was nowhere near the cities where it released (was busy exploring rural Kerala.) Twitter told me that the film was doing really well and that it was originally made in Malayalam. So during my visit to Thrissur, when I found a DVD of Bodyguard in Malayalam directed by Siddique starring Dileep and Nayantara I was tempted to give it a go. I wanted to watch the original before the remake unlike what happened with Gajjani or Wanted (I got a chance to watch the Hindi versions first and then the Tamil ones, which were the originals.)

The title role in ‘Bodyguard’ is that of Jaikrishnan who has an obsessive angle to his personality - his adoration for any person takes obsessive leaps always and ends up in him moving in and around that person like a bodyguard. The plot starts with Jaikrishnan developing adoration for a Business Tycoon, Ashokan, and becoming his bodyguard turns into Jaikrishnan’s life ambition. He somehow manages to get a reference letter from a person whose request Ashokan cannot refuse. Though Ashokan has no requirement of a bodyguard, Jaikrishnan manages to become a bodyguard in the Ashokan’s house after some heroic attempts. But though he wanted to become Ashokan’s bodyguard, he is made his daughter, Ammu’s, bodyguard and out of adoration for Ashokan, Jaikrishnan agrees. Jaikrishnan follows Ammu and her friend Sethulakshmi everywhere they go – college, classroom, canteen, loo, just about everywhere – in typical Bodyguard attire: safari suits, aviators et al. The girls grow tried of this embarrassing scenario and to divert Jaikrishnan’s attention Ammu starts calling him as a ‘fake lover’ from her number, which is a Private Number. Their scheme of diverting his attention works as Jaikrishnan starts falling in love with this mysterious girl and is constantly looking to find her. What started as a joke turns serious as Ammu falls for Jaikrishnan, realising the good heart in him through the phone conversations they have been having as - the fake lover and the bodyguard. Finally as the fake lover Ammu tells Jaikrishnan that they should elope the day their college closes but Ashokan comes to know of their plan. Asokan comes to know that Jaikrishnan is running away with Ammu; while Jaikrishnan knows that he is running away with ‘fake lover’. This whole story is a flashback read by Jaikrishnan’s son in a diary left to him by his mother Sethulakshmi. The climax is the present day situation where widower Jaikrishnan and his son visit an ailing Ashokan and find Ammu still unmarried at her house.

This movie by far, amongst the recent Malayalam films that I watched, barring Salt & Pepper, had the most interesting storyline. Though there was an angle from Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, the climax is what worked for me. Performances were strictly ok. Dileep could have infused much more life into the character. I am definitely watching the Hindi one, can clearly see Salman Khan rocking the character of Jaikrishnan as Lovely Singh. Tightly edited, well directed, compact entertainer though performances could have spiced the script up more.

Hope bollywood had spiced up things more and if I get a chance want to watch the Tamil remake Kaavalan starring Vijay too. Would be an interesting case study  - same story, same director, different actors and the outcomes!!

iVerdict: Good

Rating: 3.5/ 5           

Christian Brothers (Malayalam) - Movie Review

The stellar superstar cast of the movie was one reason why I really wanted to watch this movie. Christian Brothers – brings together Mohan Lal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Sharath Kumar and Kavya Madhavan together along with other character actors. A multi starrer, big budget film but disappointing watch.

The story revolves around a rich, retired Army officer - Palamattathu Varghese Mappala and his family. Mappala has two sons and two daughters – Christy, Jogy, Jessy and Stella. While Christy is a police informer in Mumbai, Jogy is sent to Italy to study for becoming a father, Jessy is married to a guy in Mumbai and Stella is at home with her father. Things take a dramatic twist when Jogy drops out of his course because he has fallen in love with Meenakshi and Jessy dies under suspicious circumstances. Christy is framed for his sister’s death by his brother-in-law and old Mappala believes the son-in-law over the son. There is a land mafia and his sons ready to do anything and killing the world over for a land which is bestowed to the local church and the papers of which lie in the safe in Mappala’s house. Meenakshi, who is also Kerala Home Minister’s daughter, is sent back home to Kerala from Italy because her relationship with Jogy has come to light and is kidnapped from the airport. The home minister asks for Christy’s help so he comes to Kochi. Jogy also comes back from Italy because Meenakshi is in Kochi. Christy finds out that the kidnapper is his brother-in-law. So the battle shifts from Mumbai to Kochi. Christy rescues Meenakshi but his brother-in-law is killed and Christy is framed with murder. Christy’s friend from Mumbai rescues him from police custody. Meanwhile an honest but bully police officer is Incharge of Christy’s case and he is also married to Stella. Meanwhile, Christy will not leave Kochi without finding his brother-in-law’s murderer and clearing his name.  

Christian Brothers is a case of two many cooks. The story line has too many layers and the unraveling is in a complicated manner. In the end the audience is left with a feeling that it was a complicated, very complicated story. The performances by all the actors in their individual capacities are really good but the film as a whole should have been better edited. The film completely relies on its star power and masala entertainment. The script should have been better worked on.

Christian Brothers does not work for me owing to its script and editing. I was felt with a feeling – when will this end!! Disappointed Joshiy.

iVerdict: Avoidable.

Rating: 1.5/ 5