Saturday 29 March 2014

Cuckoo - Tamil movie Review from Kerala


Directed by     Raju Murugan
Music by     Santhosh Narayanan
Cinematography     P. K. Varma
Editing by     Shanmugam Velusamy
Studio     Fox Star Studios, The Next Big Film Productions
Release dates    March 28, 2014
Distributor Fox Star Studios via E4 Entertainment
Country     India
Language     Tamil

Cast

Dinesh as Thamizh
Malavika Nair as Sudhanthirakodi
Aadukalam Murugadoss
Somasundaram
Elango
Nandhini







'Cuckoo' tells the heart warming story of two lovers, Thamizh & Sudhanthirakodi, who are visually challenged. How these two meet, their relationship flourish into friendship and later to love, their romance etc forms the crest of 'Cuckoo'. At an important juncture certain events happen in their lives and they gets separated. Will they reunite, what future has in store for them forms the rest of the story.


We have had films that deals with physically/mentally challenged characters in the past, but 'Cuckoo' is not another entry into those list, as it instead of focusing on the troubles, issues and complaints of blind people, making it a sympathy evoking social drama exercise, it shows the lives of a bunch of people who understand their shortcomings and still lives the life like everybody else, or may be even better. They don't complain or cringe, or blame others for what ever has happened or is happening to them.

'Cuckoo' is a film that evokes multiple emotions, it brims one with happiness, make one cry,  and  boost once self confidence. It tell us what they need is not sympathy but our love and care & If they can make it happen we definitely can and should.

The biggest plus is of 'Cuckoo' is the acting department. Dinesh has done a Very Good job as Tamizh, Malavika Nair too was good. Their chemistry sparkled and makes us care for the characters. But in fact its the 2 who acted as their close friends who spring a surprise with their knock out act. The fact that they didn't opt for a tragic climax, a usual practice in similar themed Tamil films, and decided to end on a positive note is a great sigh of relief.

Rajmurugan's Direction was also good, an impressive debut. The Songs are impressive, but its the background score that steals the thunder. Cinematography by P. K. Varma was top class while editing could have been much better.

But the film is not a perfect one either, in fact its far from it. The film is filled with lots of unnecessary scenes, especially in the first half. The scenes added for comic relief didn't work out, in fact stands out like sore thumb. The film should have been shorted by at least 20 mins, as 163 mins is a bit far stretch for such a film with already slow pace. The scripting is inconsistent as it hooks out interest some time while make you check the time at others. Dialogues could have been better, as the film doesn't provide much that remains even after leaving the cinema halls. The songs even though good (except one) could have used as bit songs or as part of proceedings as it drags the pace of the movie even more. The climax is bit far fetched and the acting goes a tad over the top.

In all 'Cuckoo' is a must watch film, for the honest intentions and the warmth, and positivity it spreads - plus it entertains too, even though a tad longer.

Rating: 3.5/5

Verdict: Good






'Lucky The Racer' (Race Gurram) First Look Posters - Allu Arjun, Shruti Haasan

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us



.
 Click on Images to View in full Size

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us



Friday 28 March 2014

Drishyam - Magnificent 100 Days - Exclusive Report


 So finally the day is here, 100th day since the film that changed Malayalam film industry for good hit the screens. Released on December 19th as a small scale family film for Christmas - New Year season in now, after 3+ months, 100 days, entering the Summer holidays season. As they big things do come in small packages. The difference between Drishyam and all the all time blockbusters of recent times in other languages is that its purely the victory of good old 'Word of Mouth'. It didn't trend on twitter before release, it still has only 50k likes in Facebook, the trailer songs didn't go viral in YouTube, but most importantly it delivered where it had to, at the Box Office, and that too in style. Everything about the movie was low key, not even 1% of extra gimmicks for commercial purpose. Even the director before release its a small simple family thriller. But boy, he did had a trump car under his sleeves.

Drishyam  today celebrates 100 days @ about 50 centers, which is about twice the number of theaters the previous best, Thenkashipattanam, had. But it was before the era of wide releases & Multiplexes, in which Ordinary did 100 in 1/4th or 1/5th the no. of screens. Plus the film is running is 25 odd other theaters including B, C class and late release A class making it a total of 75 theaters. Plus it wil lhit 100 in Chennai & Coimbatore. Its still running in Pune, Oman, Abu Dhabi.

Drishyam is the first Malayalam film to gross 25, 30, 35 crores from Kerala. The Kerala gross is about 38.50 crore in 100 days with a distributor share of over 16 crores. The Rest Of India gross is estimated to be around 11 crore mark The film also had tremendous run in overseas, especially USA, UK, UAE, where it grossed about 9+ crores. Within a few days the film will become the first Malayalam film to enter the 50crore club (India alone) and 60 crore club (Worldwide). The film which beat the record of 'Twenty 20' being the biggest grosser ever, in just 30 days, is also doing great business in Home Video Pre-Order sales.

The played more than 24, 000 shows in theaters across Kerala, which is 9,000 more than the previous best Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja.Rest of India show count is about 3200 and overseas show count of about 1000-1500. making it close to 29 K shows worldwide. 

So lets take a moment to celebrate the work of Team Drishyam and shower all the accolades on them that we could possibly get.
  
Crew

 Directed by     Jeethu Joseph
Produced by     Antony Perumbavoor
Written by     Jeethu Joseph
Music by     Anil Johnson
Vinu Thomas
Cinematography     Sujith Vaassudev
Editing by     Ayoob Khan
Studio     Aashirvad Cinemas
Distributed by     Aashirvad Release Through Maxlab
Designs Collins Leophil

Cast

Mohanlal as Georgekutty
Meena as Rani George
AnsibaH as san as Anju George
Baby Ester as Anu George
Kalabhavan Shajon as Constable Sahadevan
Siddique as Prabhakar
 Asha Sarath as IG Geetha Prabhakar
Aneesh G Menon as Rajeesh
Roshan Basheer as Varun Prabhakar
Neeraj Madhav as Monichan
Irshad as SI Suresh Babu
Kunchan as Madhavan
Kozhikode Narayanan Nair as Sulaimanikka
BaijuV.K as Soman
P.Sreekumar as Rani's Father
Shobha Mohan as Rani's Mother
Koottickal Jayachandran as Murali
Kalabhavan Rahman as Bus Conductor
Kalabhavan Haneef as Theatre Operator
Antony Perumbavoor as Antony
Balaji
Pradeep Chandran


 Credits also to those uncredited in the Wiki page, the light boys, spot boys, drivers, caterers, make up man etc & also theaters, poster men, security, fans, audience, internet fans etc





Few articles about Drishyam


Drishyam - All Time Blockbuster - Exclusive 27 days Box Office Update

Jeethu Joseph clears the air about Drishyam controversy




Thursday 27 March 2014

Drishyam breaking records in Home Video sales too !








After breaking 99.9% of Box Office records world wide, Drishyam, continues its victory march onto the Home Video Sales. The film has been available for pre-order for more than 3 weeks now and has already broke the existing pre-order records. The number of bookings has been of the roof and the Pre-order count is way way more than films like Pazhassi raja or Urumi or Twenty 20. Since the number of people buying CDs online is less compared to those buy from shops, once they hit the shops, is quite sure to set record for the most sold Malayalam movie in home video ever, thanks to the universal acceptance the movie has. There is also a steep increase in the number of non-Malayali buyers thanks to the glowing reviews and WOM on social medias and other internet platforms.

Usually the producer signs a '100 day (since theatrical release)' contract with the companies, after which they can release the movie on Home Video [or earlier in case of flops] because rarely a movie hits a genuine ton  in theaters. In such cases the date can get shifted to 1/2 weeks based on Producers request. But Drishyam which was supposed to release in March end was first postponed to April end. Now the movie is reaching 100 days tomorrow in about 40 centers, almost double of the previous best [which happened before wide release and multiplex era]. With summer vacation starting from tomorrow, there is chance of more theatrical revenue, so the Home Video release date has been pushed again to May.

Central Home Videos will reelase Drishyam in VCD [Rs.80] , DVD [Rs.130, with English subtitles] & Bluray [Rs.700, with English subtitles] on May 5th, 2014 as per the latest information


Friday 21 March 2014

Need For Speed 3D - Movie Review


 Need For Speed 3D - Movie Review



 Need for Speed has been a popular (racing) game ever since its inception. Myself have played many versions of it with Most Wanted (old one) being the best IMO. Finally, like many other video games, NFS too gets it cinematic version, that hit the theaters in India today, 1 week after its US release.

Tobey Marshall, an Ex-Racer, is running his fathers garage now with his friends. His garage team decides to get into street racing to make some quick bucks. That's when they meet Dino Brewster, the main antagonist, who wants his mustang to be 'modified' by Toby, in return for a percentage of the cars selling price. Julia, a car fanatic, decides to buy the car for premium price if Tobey can clock 230mph which he does. Dino comes with a new offer, to race his premium imported cars, which on winning will earn him 75% instead of 25. During the race Tobey's partner Little pete gets killed by Dino who flees the scene & Tobey gets arrested instead. Years later, out on parole, Tobey sets out to avenge his partners death. What happens next forms the rest of the story.

There is everything in the film for the fans of the game, racing fans, and those who are looking forward to a thrill ride. But the biggest obstacle will be the 6 'Fast & Furious' movies that have released before. Even though the film can match upto the 1st 3 in FF franchise, the last 3, which will be fresh in peoples mind, have pushed the limits so far, which the film doesn't reach. But the film has some cool TM NFS moments which people will love. There is more drama and acting display in this than FF series. Besides it comes in 3D [which infact doesn't make much of an impact].

Current heart throb, Breaking Bad's Jessie Pinkman, Aaron Paul plays Toby in NFS. There are typical Pinkman moments in the film too, especially in emotional scenes. He has done a great job which could take him to even greater heights. Dominic Cooper was good as the villain. Rest of the cast were okay.

Screenplay could have been tighter as it drags here and there in its 2hr+ run time. Cinematography & Editing were excellent. BG score was good.

Even though it lacks the punch than Fast & Furious [4, 5 6] movies gave us, NFS still is a good watch, especially for adventure-race-car-speed junkies.

Rating 3/5

Verdict Good

Last Word - Wear Your Seat Belts !!!





Mammootty's Gangster makes a grand debut smashing records !!



The film which has been awaited by one and all is slowly getting unveiled, piece by piece, thanks to the master publicist, Director Aashiq Abu. In order to capitalize on the craze and expectations surrounding the movie, Aashiq took special care not to divulge anything till he wanted people to know it. Every detail associated with the movie was released as an event, with much fan fare. And it is working wonders, People are talking about it, its creating waves in social media, fans are excited about more than Mammootty's new theatrical release 'Praise The Lord'.

The film's Facebook page got 35,00o likes within 24 hours of the page going public, the most for a Malayalam movie page. The tally now stand at 61,054 likes [with 65,555 talking about this NOW].
The posters even though got mixed response where equally liked and shared by everyone, spreading it all over the cyber space, making even other language buffs take notice. Then the trailer was launched yesterday (20/03/2014) @ 7pm and within 24 hours it has crossed 2.2 lakh, smashing the previous record by a huge margin. 'One By Two' trailer which released last week got about 1.05 lakh views in 24 hours & the 10 sec Mr. Fraud teaser got 90,000 views in a day.

Now with the film making all kinds of noise before release, hope it can beat the record for the biggest opening by a Malayalam movie, set by Casanovva 2 years ago.

Gangster will hit the screens on April 12th as a big Vishu/Summer release.

Ragini MMS 2 - Kerala Release Paper Ad with theater list


Ragini MMS 2 - Kerala Release Paper Ad with theater list


Thursday 20 March 2014

Praise the Lord - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Reenu Mathews


 Praise the Lord - Malayalam Movie Review - Mammootty, Reenu Mathews

Crew

 Direction: Shibu Gangadharan 
Produced by Milan Jaleel
Based on Paul Zacharia's 'Praise The Lord'
Screenplay, Dialogues T.P Devarajan
Banner Galaxy Films
Music Shaan Rahman
Background Score Bijibal
 Lyrics: Rafeeq Ahmed  
Cinematography: Pradeep Nair  
Editing: Sreekanth  
Art Direction: Sujith Raghav
Costume Design: Sameera Sanish

Cast

Mammootty - Joy
Reenu Mathews - Ancy
Akanksha Puri - Annie
Ahmed Sidhique - Samkutty
Mukesh
Kalabhavan Shajon
Suresh Krishna
Indrans
Joy Mathew
Kailash




'Praise the Lord' is the cinematic adaptation of Paul Zacharia's novel 'Praise The Lord'.

Mullathazhathe Joy, a farmer, has been leading a peaceful, happy life with his wife Annie and their 2 kids. In to their lives one day enter an eloped couple, Samkutty & Annie. Even though Joy welcomed them wholeheartedly to their house, the couple slowly begins to affect his peaceful life and relationship with Annie. What happens to the two couples, how everything gets sorted forms the rest of the story.

Praise The Lord is a decent family entertainer sans any double meaning jokes or dialogues. The writer have tried his maximum to do justice to the novel, but the novel was not a typical movie material, which translated into the big screen adaptation as well. The first half where the basic plot is set up is fairly entertaining, even though its a bit on the slower side. The scenes between Joy-Annie & Joy Ancy where light hearted and executed well. In the later half the mood turns serious and it drags. Adding to the woes is the rushed and weak climax.

Mammootty is the best when comes to 'achayan' oles, which he proved once again. He is the lifeline of PTL. Looked more engetic, involved and interested in the procedding unlike his many previous attempts. Reenu Mathews was good as Ancy. Akanksha Puri looked glamorous and did okay job. Ahmed was okay. Rest of the cast also did what they where supposed to do neatly.

Shibu Gangadharan has an average outing in his directorial debut, someone like Lal Jose could have done wonders here. The scripting was also uneven, but did deliver a decent entertainer from the non-film friendly source material. Dialogues were good. Shaan Rahman disappointed in the songs department, but Bijibal was good with the Background score. Cinematography was good. Editing could have been better, it drags even with a run time of 130 mins.

So in all 'Praise The Lord' is a decent family entertainer, nothing unique or special, but still watchable, largely thanks to Mammukka. Due to exam season, T20 World Cup, election fever summer releases will be hitting screens only from April 2nd week, so a safe run is guaranteed till then. Rest depends on Word of Mouth.

Rating 2.75/5

Verdict: Above Average



Wednesday 19 March 2014

PePsI Indian Premier League 2014 - Complete Schedule



PEPSI Indian Premier League 2014 -  Schedule


First phase of the  IPL 2014 season matches will be played in the UAE from April 16-30, where 20 matches will be played in 3 stadiums: Sheikh Zayed Stadium- Abu Dhabi, Sharjah CA Stadium, Dubai International Cricket Stadium. The Opening match will be between Mumbai Indians & Kolkatta Knight Riders in Abu Dhabi (8 pm IST/6:30pm local.

1st Phase Schedule

Note: The schedule for the remaining 40 matches will be announced in due course.






Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Ragini MMS 2 - Indian & British Censor Reports - Exclusive


Ragini MMS 2 - Indian & British Censor Report - Exclusive



Ragini MMS 2 is an upcoming Bollywood horror-thriller 3D film directed by Bhushan Patel and co-produced by Ekta Kapoor and Shobha Kapoor under Balaji Motion Pictures and ALT Entertainment, It is the sequel to the 2011 found footage horror hit Ragini MMS. Film stars adult movie star Sunny Leone in the lead role.

Film has been censored by both Indian (CBFC) & British (BBFC) censor boards. Here are the experts from the censor board report.

Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) - India

Film has been rated 'A' - Adults Only, with no cuts.

The run lengths is 1hour 59minutes and 4 seconds

1     Added a disclaimer that all the characters in this film are fictitious and imaginary.Resemblance to any person living or dead is purely  coincidental and unintentional, there is no intent to hurt the sentiments of any real persons named in the film.   
2     Added a disclaimer that the film does not promote, propagate or encourage superstition and is a work of fiction.   
3     Added a disclaimer that the film does not encourage any illegal action of girl kissing.   
4     Deleted the bare breast partly visible in the bath tub in the beginning. (Replaced with blurred shot   
5     Blurred the partly visible breast in the shower. (Replaced with blurred shot)   
6     Reduced to flash the visuals of girls kissing.   
7     Muted the word 'Hand" from the dialogue "apna hand sabse grand".

British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) - United Kingdom

This work was passed uncut.
Approved Running time 119m 13s
BBFC Insight - strong horror, sex, strong language
Rated '15' -  Suitable only for 15 years and over

Threat
    There are some scenes of supernatural horror, including sight of characters whose eyes have been gouged out, sight of dead girls, a woman stabbing herself in the throat, and an exorcism.

Sex

    There is sight of a man apparently masturbating, underneath bedding, as he watches a porn film. There is also sight of a woman licking a man's bare torso and riding on top of him in a sexual manner. There is a scene in which a woman fakes an orgasm on a film set.

Language

    There are nine uses of strong language ('f**k') as well as various uses of milder bad language (eg 'bloody', 'saala', 'bitch', 'bullshit').












Saturday 15 March 2014

Wednesday 12 March 2014

Fahadh Faasil's '1 By Two' breaks Mr.Fraud's Record !!


1 by Two trailer sets new record clocking 1 lakh views in 1 day, beats the 'most views in 24 hours' record [For Malayalam Films] of the 10 second teaser of Mohanlal starrer Mr. Fraud [~ 90k views]. The trailer is also the 7th most watched video in the past 24 hours in YouTube India. The trailer has also get positive reviews generally.

Coming from Arun Kumar Aravind who gave us Cocktail, Ee Adutha Kalathu, Left Right Left One By Two is one of the most expected movies of 2014. The movie over shot its budget, shooting days, release date is finally making to theaters on March 21st.

A Universal Cinema Production

Edited & Directed by Arun Kumar Aravind
Produced by Rakesh Bahuleyan
Distribution: Thameens Release
Story: Jeyamohan
Director of Photography: Jomon Thomas
Art Director: Prathap R.
Music & BG Score: Gopi Sunder
Audiography: Harikumar N.
Sound Design: Arun S. Mani - Vishnu P.C.
Action Director: Jolly Bastian
Costumes: S.B. Satheesh
Make-up: Rahim Kodungallur
Publicity Designs: Thought Station
Trailer Edit: Prejish Prakash

Cast: Fahadh Faasil, Murali Gopy, Honey Rose, Abhinaya, Master Eric, Shyamaprasad, Sruthi Ramakrishnan, Azhagar Perumal, Ashvin Matthew, Fathima Babu, Balaji, Allanseyer

"When the Mind sings, You face the Music."


Trailer & Teaser

) )

KICK - After Aamir, its Salman Khan's turn to do robbery !!



Playing a robber Aamir Khan looted worldwide and Dhoom 3 is sitting top of Bollywood Box Office record books with considerable lead. Now its Salman Khan's turn to play a robber in his latest flick 'Kick'. Kick is the remake of Telugu blockbuster with the same name. Salman Khan plays a guy who will not do anything in his life unless it gives him a 'Kick'. There is also a vigilante/robber kinda face to the character too which will be the suspense part of the film.

Kick marks the directorial debut of Producer 'Sajid Nadiadwala' and is scripted by Writer Chetan Bhagat, who also makes his debut as full time movie writer. Other cast includes Jacqueline Fernandez, Nawazudin Ziddiqui, Randeep Hooda etc. Salman will be back to his lucky EID slot as the film will hit the screens on July 27th, 2014.

Kick Shooting Stills

Sunday 9 March 2014

Thattathin Marayathu Telugu Remake - Exclusive Details



Blockbuster Malayalam hit of 2012 'Thattathin Marayathu' gets a Telugu remake. The film will be directed by Sasikiran, daughter of famous Telugu actor MS Narayana. New face Dileep and Parul will play the lead role made memorable by Nivin Pauly & Isha Talwar in the original. Shaan Rahman who composed music for the original will be working in the remake as well. As per Music Director's update recording of the songs of Thattathin Marayathu Telugu is almost over. Hemachandra, Chaitra and Rakendu Mouli along with singing  also wrote the lyrics for the songs. Sachin Warrier and Remya Nambeesan will be singing "Muddu muddu" which is the Telugu version of hit track 'Muthuchuppi'.Filming will begin shortly and the film will hit the screens soon.


'Thattathin Marayathu' was a Rom-Com which told the love story of a Hindu/Nair Boy and a Muslim Girl.

Friday 7 March 2014

Nimirnthu Nil - Kerala Release Paper AD with Theater list - Jayam Ravi, Amala Paul

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us  

Nimirnthu Nil - Kerala Release Paper AD with Theater list - Jayam Ravi, Amala Paul

  Kochi area via SriSaravana Films Release

 Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Malabar area via Sree Mookambika Movies Release



Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Trivandrum area via Remya Movies Release



Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us