Smorgasbord Fantasia

Trance , produced and directed by Anwar Rasheed , the by-word for 'cool' in Malayalam cinema, had a lot riding on it. Anwar was directing after eight long years. (Ustad Hotel was his last outing in 2012, a landmark movie that won a National Award) and this was also touted to be Fahadh Faasil 's greatest movie of his entire career. In a career studded with magnum-opus roles, this was indeed a tall claim and so we waited, with bated breath to see how Trance was going to turn out. Trance, as the word perhaps denotes, is a visual psychedelic rollercoaster that fucks with your mind and poses uncomfortable questions to our society, done up in signature uber-cool slick stylish frames. But one that ultimately fails to impress, falling prey to a convoluted messy second half, fraught with inconsistencies, overstaying its fabulous set-up and premise carefully stitched up in the taut, brilliant first half of the movie. Trance is about drugs. Covertly about the psychotropic on...

Malayalam film industry is a touch above the rest of Indian cinema when it comes to making original stories of the soil, come alive in myriad colors. It's a bold statement but when watching movies like Kumbalangi Nights by Fahadh & Friends , this claim clearly doesn't seem outlandish and I am convinced this is the right direction, we should be moving in. This movie is a fascinating portrayal of the cracks and fissures spider-webbing through the thin patina of a sleepy backwater tourist haven. Kumbalangi Nights rips through the concepts of dysfunctional families and even the toxic masculinity that has been the focus on many a malayalam movies for long. Aided by a fabulous, perceptive script[ written by Shyam Pushkaran ] debutant director Madhu C Narayanan brings to life, the lesser aspects of the idyllic life on a fishing hamlet, going beyond the happy facade presented to the tourist. Delving deep into the uninspired and almost wasted lives of a family of brothers. S...

I am on a Malayalam movie watching spree – given the resurgence in the quality of movies being churned out in the last few years, each begging for rewards and recognition at global levels. I am really happy about this state of affairs. The glut of this sudden talent, in terms of the fresh and original ideas translated to scripts and screenplays brought to life by the technical brilliance of the set of directors like Amal, Abu Ashiq, Anwar Rasheed, Anjali Menon etc, all that is just the tip of the ice-berg. But it’s a sign of times to come and I know, that dam has burst. Does Varathan belong to that unique set of movies? I am frankly confused after having watched it. So Varathan is touted to be a thriller, from the stables of Amal Neerad known for his technically brilliant movies like Iyobinte Pusthakam, Big B among others. Now thankfully, before I had decided to watch Varathan, I didn’t really have much clue as to what the movie-subject was and that possibly was a reaso...