Indian Rupee (Malayalam) - Movie Review

An often-told story about a young man wanting to make quick bucks but a refreshingly new film that is what Indian Rupee is! Written and directed by Ranjith and starring Prithviraj, Thilakan in lead roles the film boasts of superlative performances and a moral message to the society and the youth today at large.

The film speaks about a very average young man of our generation who does not represent the FB-ing, iPhone-ing youth but the other part of our generation - a youth that is in the mad race to quick money irrespective of the path taken. The film takes us through the life of a young man – Jayaprakash aka JP who is a small time real estate dealer in Kozhikode (Calicut).  JP and his friend CH work with a senior real estate dealer Rayeen and dream of breaking away as independent entities as soon as they land on a big land deal that will earn them a big commission. Amongst all this Achuthan Menon, an old lawyer comes into acquaintance with JP to sell off a land that Menon owns. Though the deal never comes through, Menon stays back to become a part of JP and CH’s life after helping JP out of a major crisis. JP along with CH and Menon goes through some major events, enters some major risks and nearly goes to jail eventually paying for the folly of adopting not-so-honest modes to earn money.

The high point of Indian Rupee is the performances by Prithviraj and Thilakan. This can possibly be called one of Prithvi’s best performance and Thilikan is subtle and powerful in his role as Menon. The low point of the film is its script. Nothing new or original about the story though the way it is narrated and presented has its freshness but it is a story that has found its way to us earlier also in some way or the other. Rima does not has much to do, she is a heroine for the sake of a heroine. Her role is akin to the one Asin had in Bollywood flick London Dreams – eye candy. The film basically belongs to Prithviraj in terms of role as well as performance though wish he would have got the Calicut slang a bit better. That would have been the knockout punch missing in the film.

Overall Indian Rupee is a must watch for its performances and subject.

iVerdict: Good. Must watch.

Rating: 4  

Makeup Man (Malayalam) - Movie Review

Genuine guy. Debts galore. Confusing situations. Flow with confusions. Big Mess. All is well climax!! A few hundred films with a similar story line and ‘Makeup Man’ directed by Shafi starring Jayaram and Sheela in leading roles is no different.

Balu is an educated young man, presently under huge debts because of a failed attempt at business. The film opens with Balu trying to get into his ‘own’ house like a burglar, a neighbour witnessing this and Balu ending up in the police station where we come to know that he comes into his house in that manner to avoid creditors. To add to the situation Soorya, who is in love with Balu elopes from her house just before her wedding to be with him. Without money for even one meal Balu now has to fend for two people! He turns to his only friend Kichu, who is a film production manager. Kichu helps them get married with a lot of junior artists from films as witnesses and later on helps them spend a night at a hotel by adjusting them into a room assigned for the heroine of the film. The room was vacant for the time being as the director had fired the heroine that morning and it was on Kichu to find another new face as the heroine of the film. Confusions soon follow and Soorya ends up being cast as the heroine of the film. Owing to financial crunches Soorya and Balu have no other choice but to agree to this and to stay close to Soorya, Balu becomes her personal makeup man. What starts as a one-film thing later becomes a chain as Soorya starts getting offers for better projects and she too becomes interested in acting as a profession. Insecurities flow from Balu’s end as he expects her to be his wife but that ofcourse cannot be publically declared. He does make an effort on publicising it but fails as no proofs stand solid and Soorya denies it completely. What follows are efforts of reconciliation by Balu and Soorya and the drama that follows to a happy climax.

Makeup Man has a very conventional story and a very conventional climax too. There is nothing new that a viewer will take home with after the movie. The performances were good but Sheela can do a bit with some expressions also on her face. Overall Makeup Man did not work for me.

Kunchako Boban and Prithviraj Sukumaran were good in their guest roles playing themselves. The saving graces.

iVerdict: Average. One time watch may be.

Rating: 2/5