Most campus related movies have a beautiful girl and a handsome boy who are suffering from uncooperative parents,misunderstandings. These kind of movies have a predictive story- boy falls for girl,follows her,girl rejects and then accepts,conflicts which seperate them and later the couple unites.
But Aanandam written and directed by Ganesh Raj comes as a pleasant surprise.
The movie has seven new faces - four men and three women and each of them has a story going on.
Varun by Arun Kurian is an angry young man.He's always serious and a leader which everyone looks upto.Akshay by Thomas Mathew is shy,not sure of himself, lives under the shadow of his elder brother(Nivin Pauly - cameo).Gautham by Roshan Mathew pretends to be a rockstar because his girlfriend might break up if she knew he actually listens to Yesudas.Kuppi by Vishak Nair an extrovert who discovers he has feeling too.
Devooty by Annu Anthony is Gautham's girlfriend who is a tough girl.Dia by Siddhi Mahajankatti (new crush๐) is an open minded person who comes from a troubled family.Darshana by Anarkali Marikar prefers to draw than talk and doesnt opens up to anyone.
All of them study in the same college and go on their first trip together - college industrial visit.There are no major conflicts or any suspense in the movie.The characters are neither one of a kind nor unpredictable but the movie somehow makes us care about them.
In collge romances it is all about who gets the girl and mostly its the dominant boy in the class who everyone looks up withn respect.That is Varun in the movie.But suprisingly not only does Dia rejects him but she chooses the shy Akshay over him.I was expecting that Akshay would fall over a cliff and die because these type guys never win anything in cinema.
As that didnt happen I thought Varun would end his life by run over a bus so Dia could weep over his body and realise that she DID love him.But that didnt happened either. :P
Crazily,Varun accepts Dia's rejection!!! Yup,you read that right.He accepts it and gives up.How often do you see the dominant lead giving up?
Devooty's character reminds me of Kalki Koechin's character in Zindagi na Milegi DObara.
Darshana remains quiet and is in her own world.The movie never explians why she is weird.
Kuppi was annoying in the beginning but later after his little lecture on "racism"(BTW he meant sexism) gained my attention.
The film also focuses on identity issues that young people face at this age.It doesnt get deep into them but the way they deal with them is refreshing.(immature as they be).
On the othere hand Dia is also upset because her parents arer going through a divorce.Her father tells her that he married her mother at 30 while she was just 18 the same age Dia is.He goes on to explain their incompatability and that the divorce wasnt the end of the world.Another male handling a rejection in a mature way!!
The most heartwarming scene for me was when Kuppi breaks down in front of his friends saying he came to the tour only to have a good time with them.Next scene they procced and pose for the 'Dil Chahta Hai" click at the Chapora fort ,an item that is in the bucketlist of all who visit Goa.
Aanandam might not be the best I have seen this year.It doesnt make you think for days later as Sairat did (can't think of any other movie as of now :P ).Its a story determined to be pleasant all through,like a boat ride in a calm river, but for some, even that may not be enough.
Aanandam is a mature film on young love that you dont get to see often.
Trailer with English Subtitles - Aanandam Official Trailer | Malayalam Movie | 4K | 2016
But Aanandam written and directed by Ganesh Raj comes as a pleasant surprise.
The movie has seven new faces - four men and three women and each of them has a story going on.
Varun by Arun Kurian is an angry young man.He's always serious and a leader which everyone looks upto.Akshay by Thomas Mathew is shy,not sure of himself, lives under the shadow of his elder brother(Nivin Pauly - cameo).Gautham by Roshan Mathew pretends to be a rockstar because his girlfriend might break up if she knew he actually listens to Yesudas.Kuppi by Vishak Nair an extrovert who discovers he has feeling too.
Devooty by Annu Anthony is Gautham's girlfriend who is a tough girl.Dia by Siddhi Mahajankatti (new crush๐) is an open minded person who comes from a troubled family.Darshana by Anarkali Marikar prefers to draw than talk and doesnt opens up to anyone.
All of them study in the same college and go on their first trip together - college industrial visit.There are no major conflicts or any suspense in the movie.The characters are neither one of a kind nor unpredictable but the movie somehow makes us care about them.
In collge romances it is all about who gets the girl and mostly its the dominant boy in the class who everyone looks up withn respect.That is Varun in the movie.But suprisingly not only does Dia rejects him but she chooses the shy Akshay over him.I was expecting that Akshay would fall over a cliff and die because these type guys never win anything in cinema.
As that didnt happen I thought Varun would end his life by run over a bus so Dia could weep over his body and realise that she DID love him.But that didnt happened either. :P
Crazily,Varun accepts Dia's rejection!!! Yup,you read that right.He accepts it and gives up.How often do you see the dominant lead giving up?
Devooty's character reminds me of Kalki Koechin's character in Zindagi na Milegi DObara.
Darshana remains quiet and is in her own world.The movie never explians why she is weird.
Kuppi was annoying in the beginning but later after his little lecture on "racism"(BTW he meant sexism) gained my attention.
The film also focuses on identity issues that young people face at this age.It doesnt get deep into them but the way they deal with them is refreshing.(immature as they be).
On the othere hand Dia is also upset because her parents arer going through a divorce.Her father tells her that he married her mother at 30 while she was just 18 the same age Dia is.He goes on to explain their incompatability and that the divorce wasnt the end of the world.Another male handling a rejection in a mature way!!
The most heartwarming scene for me was when Kuppi breaks down in front of his friends saying he came to the tour only to have a good time with them.Next scene they procced and pose for the 'Dil Chahta Hai" click at the Chapora fort ,an item that is in the bucketlist of all who visit Goa.
Aanandam might not be the best I have seen this year.It doesnt make you think for days later as Sairat did (can't think of any other movie as of now :P ).Its a story determined to be pleasant all through,like a boat ride in a calm river, but for some, even that may not be enough.
Aanandam is a mature film on young love that you dont get to see often.
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