Malayalam Movies I want the World to Watch!

Mollywood Cinema have their own class and you wont regret after watching them at least the ones that I am going to suggest ! There have been remakes to other languages but still they miss something.
There has been a plethora of cult classics in malayalam movies before the 2000s but I am not focusing on that.
I started loving malayalam movies during 2010s when there was a different wave in film making. There are few of them which I can watch again and again and never get up without a different kind of feeling over powering me , the feeling which comes to you when you know you have watched something really good!
So these are my personal favorites which I want others to watch.


Traffic (2011)

A trend setter in Malayalam. The treatment and pace of the movie was pretty new to Malayali audience. Was really impressed by the screenplay which is said to be inspired from an incident happened in Chennai.The trailer of the Hindi remake has been released.Hope Bollywood goers find this interesting as it doesnt have big names excluding Manoj Bajpayee and Jimmy Shergil.


Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi (2013)
(Blue Skies, Green Waters, Red Earth) 

My all time favorites.The movie is about a teenage guy,along with his friend travels from Kerala to Nagaland to meet his college love, who was not accepted by his parents.But on the way to Nagaland they keep halting, for good amount of time,in several places, which gives them first hand experience of different kinds of people from different circumstances.
A single thought which has truly inspired my heart from the movie:
 “എന്റെ വിധി, എന്റെ തീരുമാനങ്ങള്‍ ആണ്”
  “My destiny is my decisions”   



North 24 Kaatham (2013)

Another Road movie.The story occurs during a strike/bandh day.Three strangers due to circumstances need to travel to from South to North Kerala.The cameraman captures various shades on a harthal day and different modes of transport taken by the characters to reach their destination.The lead Fahadh Faasil also suufers with OCD.


Drishyam (2013)

A gem by director Jeethu Joseph.Most of you might have seen the Hindi remake starring Ajay Devgn.I havent seen the Hindi flick yet, but I am sure its no way near to the acting of Mohanlal.A brilliant innovative plot.The narration of story line was clever and natural which  enables the audience to stick in their seats till the end.


Memories (2013)

Yet another brilliant thriller by Jeethu Joseph.The director has shown his brilliance in plot of serial killing.A suspense thriller, where the lead is an alcoholic police officer who is investigating a psychopathic killer.


Mumbai Police (2013)

A crime thriller movie.ACP Antony Mosses finds the killer of his friend ACP Aryan Jacob and just before revealing it, he meets with an accident, causing him to forget everything. Days later, he is forced to investigate the murder once again.An engaging thriller with the mind-boggling climax.If rumours are correct it is being remade in Hindi with John Abraham playing the lead.


 Manjaadikuru (2008)
Theatre Release : 2012
(Lucky Red Seeds)

A surprise entrant to the list. :P I guess even most of the Malayalis havent watch this movie,reasons being an art movie which are only screened in Film Festivals.Directed by Anjali Menon won many awards in International Film Festivals.A story of homecoming from late 1980s, when a 10-year-old boy arrives at his grandparents home in rural Kerala to attend his grandfather's funeral. Vicky discovers more about himself, his family and culture than he had expected to. The journey is narrated through the memories of an adult Vicky who returns to the same house to recount the experience.



Thattathin Marayathu (2012)
(Behind the Veil)

 A beautiful, simple, muscial love story set against the usual cultural norms which leaves a smile at the end.Vinod an average student from a Hindu household falls in love with Aisha born in a wealthy and influential Muslim family.



Premam  (2015)
(Love)

There was no trailer/teaser released for this movie,  only two video songs and couple of posters.Yet the movie was able to attract cinema lovers.The story tells the matters of the heart of a young guy named George David from his adolescence to his late 20s.Premam is a cinematic brilliance with both music and cinematography, a few nostalgic moments as well.



Usthad Hotel (2012)

The storyline created by Anjali Menon is beautiful.All in all, it is a good family movie, about love ,between a grandfather and a son, between a girl and a guy, between a man and his goal.Doesnt have any thrilling plots or dramatic twists but it is etertaining to watch and at some instances make your eyes moist.



Shutter  (2012)

The story is set in teo days and one night in Calicut.It showcases unexpected incidents bteween three men when they happen to meet a women.A suspense thriller, was also remade in Marathi with the same name starring Sachin Khedekar.

Chappa Kurish (2011)
(Heads or Tails)

 As the name suggests shows two sides of a human being which changes due to unexpected circumstances.The film follows the life of two young people from the two extremes of society.Their lives get entangled with each other when one loosed his phone and lands in front of the other guy.

 
 1983 (2014)

A cricket based film.The story of a man,wanted to be a cricketer  tries to look upon his dreams through his son.It also brings in a lot of nostalgia for those malayalis who were born during the late 80s.But I am not not sure how this aspect would connect to the non-malayalis :




Maheshinte Prathikaram (2016)
(The Revenge of Mahesh)

One of the simplest movies ever seen.Debutant director Dileesh Pothen has portrayed a simple story of photographer in an aestetic but detailed way.Mahesh(Fahadh Faasil), a studio photographer and studio owner gets into a fight and loses. He ends up taking revenge which leads to certain realizations in his life. The scenic beauty of Iduuki is well captured by DOP Shyju Khalid.The Idukki  song beautifully captures the scenery and everyday life of villagers living there.Every single detail has been taken care of by the director, which is not limited to the main characters, but also the ones in the sidelines too. 

KammattiPaadam (2016)

A story of how poor Dalits in old-time Kochi were driven out of their homes by the builders who transformed it into the megacity as it is today, filled with high-rise residential complexes and other modern structures.The movie spans for about 30 years, starting from the childhood to their adulthood of two friends and ending as a revenge thriller.Though Dulquer Salmaan is the lead in the film but the movie is all about the memorable performace of Ganga and Balanchettan played by Vinayakan and Manikandan respectively.Kudos to the director Rajeev Ravi for making such an attempt.

Charlie (2015)

One of the best movies to show someone who doesn't know Malayalam.Tessa (Parvathy Menon)wants to go go away from daily chaos of life and she lands in a hotel room,where she finds a poster where ishe is enchanted  by Charlie played by Dulquer Salmaan.The poster is incomplete and she finds people potrayed in the poster to enquire about Charlie.Each person share their own experiences with Charlie.Tessa discovers herself and Charlie throughh the stories narrated.Dulquer,Nedumudi Venu,Aparna Gopinath and soubin Shahir have done their job with pure excellence but Paravathy Menon mesmerizes the audience with her expressions and acting skills.Half of the movie's charm is due to amazing camera work by Jomon T John.

Vinod (Nivin Pauly), an average student from a modest Hindu household falls in love with a beautiful girl named Aisha (Isha Talwar), hailing from a wealthy and influential Muslim family

Read more at: http://www.sify.com/movies/thattathin-marayathu-review-malayalam-pcma0Jfgdcjcf.html

three strangers due to circumstances have to travel from South to North Kerala on a bandh day forms the crux of this road movie.

Read more at: http://www.sify.com/movies/north-24-kaatham-review-malayalam-pcmbaCbeiadgb.html

Harsh on Bhogle

The title of this post is taken from a recent meme created by Amul.See image


  I always feel that everyone watches cricket for two reasons - the action that goes on the field and the commentary that simplifies the action and expresses the game beautifully. And at this, Harsha Bhogle was undoubtedly the best. Just the way he expressed the action that went on in the field made cricket look so much more beautiful. His use of language, perfectly timed one liners, and a bit of classical humor, are all that which define commentary in its true essence. And it is not only me, but a collective feeling. Go into any social media platform, and you'll find posts about him. He is loved all over the country. Except by some top officials in the BCCI, who seem to have lost their brains. Firing such a commentator would have a further impact on the already tainted image of this tournament. 
      And the reason BCCI not include him in the commentary of IPL  would make them look even more stupid. Mr Amitabh Bachhan tweeted saying that a certain Indian Commentator must focus more on Indian players than on the other players. But I find that Mr Bachhan was wrong in tweeting so. He wants commentary that focuses only on the Indian Players. But does Mr Bachhan not realize that, that match(es) that he was referring to was an international broadcast, and having an india-centric commentary on an international broadcast would simply be unfair to the viewers from the rest of the world. Also he had an heated arguement with the Nagpur Cricket Association, were the reason of his termination from the commentary in IPL 2016.
     Sad,I hope he comes back soon.

   Would Like to share some of the best comments made by Harsha Bhogle.

 

 

 

 

 

What a way to welcome Sachin when he was coming in to bat in a Test match! 

Dhoni was whacking one shot after another until Sachin got on strike and caressed a delivery towards covers.

 

On the last delivery that Rahul Dravid faced (batting for Rajasthan Royals in the CLT20).

 About Ashwin’s running between the wickets. 

 

When Naseer Hussain tried to take a dig at India not playing at the FIFA World Cup...

And it turns out he's quick-witted even when he's not commentating at a cricket match.

 










Find out more here : Harsha Bhogle Quotes

Tu Madrasi Hai Na ?

The question Are you a Madrasi has pissed me a lot !

Madras don’t even exist.There is no language known as Madrasi .We speak “Malayalam and we would love to be called as “Malayali” and not Mallu.

Well there are lot of misconceptions like this which I would like to pen down.

Middle East is your Second home na?

People wrongly assuming that we are spread out all over the world because we're greedy for money. Fact is, there are way too many educated people in the state that Kerala just cannot afford to give all of us jobs that suit our caliber. And this forces Malayalis to move elsewhere in search of suitable jobs. We have the Midas touch anyway ;)

'But you aren't dark!'

Not all Malayali’s are dark.I just didn’t liked the way South Indians were potrayed in the movie Chennai Express.The actors used the slang the worst possible way they could. "When you direct a Hindi film that is going to be there in the mind of zillions of people watching it. Never unknowingly insult a whole community, Mr.Rohit Shetty".<<<Source>>>

Hot Mallu Aunty
  
Malayalam cinema isn't only about soft porn.It sucks when they are'nt even Malayalis in the first place. Pleaseeee! Our cinema industry churns out some of the best movies every year.World can see their remakes but their true beauty is missing even then.  There are south indian movies which challenges the laws of physics but those films does not belong to mollywood. Our film industry does not promote such gravity defying action scenes.Mollywood is one of the finest film industry of India. I'd say that the Malayalam film industry has probably the most sensible scripts in the whole of India, perhaps seconded by Bengali or Marathi.

Our breakfast Is Idli and Dosa

Hell No. We might have idli and dosa added in our breakfast list but we have a lengthy breakfast menu other than that.

"Happy Pongal"

It's a festival celebrated by Tamilians and not people in Kerala.Though in some parts of Kerala its is celebrated. :P

"Ayyo Rama" "Enna Rascala" "Vaango Pongo" blah blah blah...

We never converse in malayalam like this.

Dude I want to visit Karela/Kerela

Let me spell it out once and for all- K..E..R..A..L..A. 

Will update if I remember more :)

The Love Letter

       All characters and events depicted in the story are entirely fictitious. Any similarity to actual events or persons, is purely coincidental. :P

 The advancement in Communication has really shrunk this world. Nowadays,

if you have special feelings for a girl, there are thousand ways to let her know, so easy, you can just call to her personal mobile. Or just message her on WhatsApp, or Facebook.      

    This story happens at the early of 2000s.Vineeth ,was in love with his classmate Kalyani. He didn't have any idea how to express his love towards her. Days, and months passed by, when he would just watch her and adore her beauty.

    So one day he decided to write her a love letter. He got back from school, listened to some romantic songs. just to get into that wonderful mood.In his mind, he pictured her, as a beautiful princess, dancing around, gracefully, as words came floating in the air that lit up the atmosphere. So, he decorated a piece of paper with all that and thus finished his very first love letter.

The next day, he had to give her the letter but didn’t have the courage to do that. So, he decided to hand it over to her best friend Nithya and ask her to tell her that Vineeth gave it to her. Vineeth was a little late to school, so didn't see her in the morning. Got to class, told his close friends about this. Everyone really liked it. And one of them agreed to accompany him in the short break to her class.

    So, they waited for the short break, which was after two periods, two hours. Just when the bell rang, the maths teacher hadn't finished teaching. He hated it when that happened. As soon as she left, he and his buddy Shaam ran two blocks from their class, to her class, and he saw her, chatting with her best friend. He froze for a while, he didn't knew what to do. Shaam took the letter from him, and he walked to her, and handed her the letter, said something, that's all Vineeth saw, before he hid himself behind the wall. The next time he tried to take a peek, Shaam was running towards him, and said, Come let’s go!"

They got back in classroom, just before the next teacher got in, and then began, the wait.He had to wait 3 hours, for the lunch break, to see what the outcome was. That time period, was just unbearable. But he also realized, that it was in these time period that he has loved her most.Many questions came into this mind would she say yes? would she say no? or should he just carry on loving her without letting her know? Would she hate him for this? Will he be able to live with that? and because of all that, he wanted this feeling to last as long as it could.

    But the bell rang, eventually, for the lunch break. He was so tensed and excited. he was just sitting there, looking down at the desk, while his friend was outside, eagerly waiting to see if anyone's coming.

"Hey, they're coming man!!" called out his friend, and he got into his bench, took out a book, pretending to read it. Vineeth got up and went out to the door, and they were standing right there, and he was right in front of her, his sweet princess, and her best friend. It was really awkward, He didn't know what to do, he wasn't prepared to do anything at all, he just stood there, with no expression.

   Nithya friend seemed angry, and Kalyani looked a little worried. He had nothing to say, he was just prepared to listen to whatever they had to say, to which he would simply reply with an "OK".

"Where is your friend?? Where is he hiding??" asked her friend,Nithya.

That wasn't really what he was expecting, and he said, "I'm sorry, It was me who asked him to... " but they weren’t listening to him, she was searching for Shaam, and saw him hiding his face behind his textbook. She went to him, which left Vineeth and his heart-throb standing next to each other. He had dreamed of this moment, although in different circumstances. He was a little shy to look at her, fearing whether she'd be angry with him, for what he did, but he noticed that she was eager to have his attention. They both looked at each other. She smiled at him.And right the, her friend came rushing, grabbed his sweetheart's hand and left.He was left wondering why she didnt say a single word to him, in spite of being angry.He was just looking at her, to see if she would look back which she did.

    All this, put him in a really good mood,he slowly walked towards his friend's desk and told him, “Dude,she smiled at me!" But he noticed that Shaam had the expression of that of a person who just stepped on a crap. He asked him, what the matter was. That is when he told Vineeth, that he gave Vineeth’s letter to Kalyani, telling her that it was his(Shaam) letter that he wrote it for her friend Pooja. He had been bothering her for quite a while and she was really angry with him. She didn't believe that he wrote such a wonderful letter. She threatened him that if he didn't tell her who wrote this letter, she would tell it to her brother. So he lied again, he said that he asked Vineeth to write a beautiful love letter without telling the reason so that he could give it to her.

    Vineeth was speechless. He didn't knew what to do.He was let down by the acts of his friend.Though he was happy that Kalyani admired his letter and that was all he wanted.And that was it. The End of a Beginning.