Dear Friend - Not Everyone's cup of Tea

 

Classmates, Notebook, Friends, Mumbai Police, NPCB etc. Malayalam cinema has seen different types of friendship movies and Dear Friend is just another experience.

 

 

The film is directed by actor Vineeth Kumar and scripted by Sharafu, Suhas and Thanmatra actor Arjun Lal(what a comeback, hope he stays) who also plays an important role in the movie.Shaiju Khalid's impossible frames which didnt seem to be a Malayalam movie, and Justin Varghese's background music that went with the story remained excellent.

The film introduces us to a group of 6 friends living in Bangalore who are very close to each other and spend most of their evenings together. The guys of the group work out their ways to find a proper investment for their start-up idea. One fine day, a member of the gang goes missing which leaves the remaining 5 friends in confusion and tension.  

It has an interesting storyline about friendship presented with a mystery. The first half gives a feel good experience, where the second half will take you through a personal emotion which most of us have experienced.

Tovino Thomas showcases an impressive performance playing Vinod who could be part of one's life as a friend who touches their souls and become an unforgettable human.The character Vinod will definitely be in the top 5 roles of his career.

 

Everyone did their job pretty well. Basil Joseph was a comic relief, Darshana Rajendran was impressive(as usual), Arjun Radhakrishnan's performance as Shyam seemed very convincing.

 I must say Cinema rarely portrays the grey side of friendship and Dear Friend definitely succeeded in doing that. Its slow (and thats the beauty of it), its not a nail biting even though the team tried a few a thriller effects here and there.

Friendships might fade away as we grow older with time and we'll be okay without them. There is no cheating or intentional cut off because we all get busy living and we change. But here in the film, Vinod ain't a person like that. He is a mysterious conman who just wants a temporary shelter for the time being. But from his POV, he says that he hasnt hurt anyone or cheated anyone for money. Instead he was there with them when they needed them the most, gluing them together, touching their souls and spreading happiness.The climax that didn't take us anywhere will be remembered and regretted.And that is what excited me as it broke all stereotypes.A special thanks for ending the movie without making it a cliche, giving the audience a space to think.You cannot show reality more realistically. Because reality is neither good nor bad.. its neither black nor white..Thats Life!!!

If you enjoy movies that leave you stuck for a while after the end credits roll, movies that make you read between the lines, solve some puzzles on your own and don't spoon feed every single thing to you. Movies that do not give you the ending that you expect and if you are ready to take that then do miss this one.

 

Dear Friend is an interesting take on friendship which unfortunately might not find a lot of takers since it's a rather unorthodox film. But its team deserves kudos for creating a movie that feels very real and is not designed to feed its audience with feel-good stuff!!!

 

 

Also Read:

Malayalam Movies I want the World to Watch! 

 

 

Ezra Movie Review

 *** SPOILER FREE WITH SPOILER WARNING***

For a movie review some kind of reference of the movie is inevitable,hence, this review might contain some kind of spoilers,so please excuse reading if you want to watch the movie afresh..

Ezra is a Malayalam movie starring Prithviraj Sukhumaran,Priya Anand,Tovino Thomas,Sudev Nair directed by debutant Jay K.

Ezra is a horror movie which follows the basic structure of this genre(horror), reason for the possession, a spooky house, flashback about the ghost and exorcism etc.The back drop of the movie about the Jewish things was s a good thought out and it was researched very well.

Hours after the movie release people started posting the climax in social media.That really annoyed me more than when I came to know about John Snow in GoT.Sigh! I some kind of lost interest to watch the movie but was still curious to know how the film leads to that sort of climax.

Few Strong points about the movie whch I liked...

Cinematography by Sujith Vaassudev was top notch.He has taken amazing shots and framing, the aerial shorts has grabbed the beauty of kochi and color tone was nice which captured the scary moment very well.The flash back portion of1940 period was well shot.

BGM is another important aspect for an horror movie.Sushin Shyam(a huge fan) has played some interesting tones which makes you seated at edge of your seats.

Casting was perfect and Acting as well.Prithviraj acted well but apart from the climax scenes he did not have much of opportunities for it so was with Priya Anand.Tovino Thomas as the A.C.P did not have a meaty role butv makes his presence felt.But the person who stands out in the movie according to me is  Sujith Shanker(Maheshinte Prathikaaram Fame ) as Rabbi Marques, he acted exceptionally well.Sudev Nair as Abraham Ezra,also had a small part but was really apt for thatrole.Love his acting since Not Fit(Hindi) a web series written and directed by himself,do watch it.

And coming to the some points which I didnt like... 

The film would have been the same even if they had excluded the indecent scenes.

I really think the maid character was misfit one.Maybe it was included just to create confusion and some scary moments.

I expected a lot more after the seeing the trailer. It lacks serious scary occasions in the second half but the one related to dog was really good.

And to conclude,

Ezra is a film which  is going through a different atmosphere never seen before in Malayalam films. The director Jay proved his talent in his very first film.With in the budget constraints of the Malayalam movie this movie maintains the quality and it has the standards of a well made world class horror flick!
DONT MISS IT!!!

Trailer with English Subtitles: Ezra Malayalam Movie Trailer