Shweta Menon’s erotic film postponed

Post-production work has delayed the release ofRathinirvedam

Fans eagerly awaiting the release of Rathinirvedam, will have to wait a bit longer for the erotic movie to hit the screens. Certain hurdles in post-production have delayed the film’s release by 10 days. The film will now release only on June 10. Rathinirvedam is the remake of the 1978 classic of the same name. It’s a story of sexual awakening; of a young man Pappu who falls for an older woman named Rathi. The original, which had Jayabharati and Krishnachandran in the lead, featured explicitly erotic scenes. Come 2011, and Shweta Menon will reprise the role of Rathi with Sreejith playing the fawning, ever-inquisitive Pappu. Directed by TK Rajeev Kumar, Rathinirvedam is expected to do well at the box-office, considering its EQ (Erotic Quotient that is). The promotional stills are already a hot property online.

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Sonia Agarwal all set for her Malayalam debut

Her role in ‘Vaanam’ has earned her appreciation from the media, the film-folks as well as the public. In her second innings in Kollywood after her much-publicised spat and split with directorSelvaraghavan last year, actress Sonia Aggarwal is doing everything possible to bounce back into the limelight as a heroine.

After ‘Vaanam’, she has signed up two new projects in Tamil titled as ‘Mata Pita Guru’ and ‘Poi Solladi’. The actress, who was introduced in films by Selvaa a few years back, has turned busy for the past few months. She has just started shooting for her debut film in Malayalam in Kochi oppositeMukesh and is happy that she is entering the Malayalam film industry.

A nature lover, Sonia Agarwal says she has loved the State of Kerala for its scenic beauty. “The fact that the monsoon has just set in there has made the place more beautiful and I’m very happy to be shooting there at this very moment. The Unit members and friendly and helpful, which has helped me a lot,” says Sonia Agarwal.

The actress has been rather choosy about the projects she is taking up as she wants to ‘perform’ in the roles that come her way. “Though I have shed quite a few kilos around my waist, I can hardly look glamourous. Being glamourous has never been my forte and I feel a person has to stick to his/her strong points and do what suits his/her persona most,” concludes Sonia Agarwal on a philosophical note.

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Recently there was news about Bhavana being signed for Vijay’s next film ‘Pagalavan’. But the closer sources have claimed it as baseless rumor. The film is directed by Seeman and it was supposed to take off before a year. Unfortunately, Seeman was pushed behind the bars and couldn’t make any further steps with the project. On his release from prison, Vijay was already committed to various projects including ‘Velayudham’ and Shankar’s ‘Nanban’.

Rumors on Vijay’s heroine

MAY 31, 2011 BY THE EDITOR LEAVE A COMMENT

Recently there was news about Bhavana being signed for Vijay’s next film ‘Pagalavan’. But the closer sources have claimed it as baseless rumor. The film is directed by Seeman and it was supposed to take off before a year. Unfortunately, Seeman was pushed behind the bars and couldn’t make any further steps with the project. On his release from prison, Vijay was already committed to various projects including ‘Velayudham’ and Shankar’s ‘Nanban’.

With both the projects proceeding neatly as per plans, the actor has decided to take off with ‘Pagalavan’ after wrapping up with these films.

It was earlier mentioned that Hansika Motwani will be playing his ladylove and now Bhavana is reported of getting into the picture for another heroine’s role.

The sources mention that the discussions are on initial level and it would take few more days to be finalized.

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Swetha menon in Rathinirvedam Remake Malayalam Movie hot Photos Pics

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Mohanlal in Arabiyum Ottakavum P Madhavan Nairum Malayalam Movie Photos Pics

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Sindhu Menon Delivered a Baby Girl!

Beginning as a child actress Sindhu Menon has delivered a baby girl recently. She married Prabhu UK business tycoon in the last year.

Sindhu Menon arranged for a wedding reception at Bowring institute in Bangalore after religious marriage in Thrissur. In Tamil from ‘Eeram’ Sindhu Menon became very famous. She has acted in all south Indian languages and she made debut in Kannada and her well performed role in ‘Huliya’ is unforgettable.

A Mallu girl trainer Bharatanatyam dancer the debut of Sindhu was from ‘Rashmi’ Kannada film when she was studying in Five H English School in Mariyappana Palya in Rajajinagar.

Prabhu the proud husband of Sindhu Menon is a native of Kunnamkulam village near Thrissur.

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Thriller releasing on November 17

Prithviraj’s B. Unnikrishnan directed action packed entertainerThriller, loosely based on the infamous Paul murder case, will hit theatres on November 17.

Produced by Sabu K. Cherian under the banner of Aanandha Bhairavi, the film has Prithviraj playing the role of DCP Niranjan who investigates the murder mystery. Bangalore based model Katherine Theresa is the heroine.

Music is by Bharani K. Dharan and lyrics by Harinarayanan. Also in the cast are Siddique, Jagathy Sreekumar, Lalu Alex, Sai Kumar, Riaz Khan, Vijaya Raghavan and Biju Pappan.

The satellite rights of Thriller were recently acquired by a yet-to-be-launched TV channel owned by Manorama News for a whopping Rs. 1.45 crores, creating a new record in Prithviraj's career.

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Best Actor Synopsis

Megastar Mammootty has just finished shooting for 'Best Actor' that has been directed by ace fashion photographer Martin Prakkat. 

Mammootty dons the role of Mohan, an upper primary schoolteacher, who has a doting family that comprises of his wife and son. The man who is passionate about acting, hopes to be a real time actor some day. 

Mohan who behaves like an actor is often ridiculed by his colleagues and friends. His wife is the sole supporter in pursuing his acting dreams.

Then a film crew arrives at the village and Mohan makes several attempts to make his dream come true. But how successful does he turn out to be in his attempts? 

Mammootty's heroine in 'Best Actor' is Kannada actress Sruthi Ramakrishnan. Lal, Nedumudi Venu, Salim Kumar, Vinayagan, Suraj Venjaranmoodu, KPAC Lalitha and Sukumari would also play key roles in the film.

The story and screenplay have been jointly penned by Martin Prakkat and Bipin Chandran. The musical score has been composed by Bijibal. The cinematography is by Ajayan Vincent.

The film is being produced by Anto Joseph and Noushad. Mammootty's own production house Playhouse will release 'Best Actor' by October.

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Four Friends Review

Saji Surendran's Four Friends has been clearly inspired by the emotional Hollywood tearjerker The Bucket List, and instead of two friends in the original talks of four friends who go on a final journey before they kick the bucket. 

Jayaram gets to play Roy, the desi version of Jack Nicholson's Edward Cole, a multimillionaire who takes a man (Morgan Freeman) whom he befriended at a cancer care center on a world trip. Krishna Poojappura has substituted Morgan with three characters, Soorya (Kunchacko Boban), Amir (Jayasurya) and Gouri (Meera Jasmine).

The four friends plan a trip to Malaysia in Saji Surendran's film, since the Hollywood film journey that takes the pair along different countries like France, Egypt and finally India must have sounded slightly unrealistic, budget wise. What follows though, is pretty much the same and they age a battle emotions and family ties along with the much dreaded illness.

The Bucket List is a delightful watch, I'm sure many of you would agree. There are quite a few things that make the film dear to the viewer, the major one being that though it deals with a theme that runs the danger of slipping into melodrama, it very seldom does. There are plenty of hilarious moments in the sad film, and thanks to the leading pair's amazing chemistry the film has made it to the favorites list of quite a few.

Four Friends on the other hand has nothing of the emotional power or depth that The Bucket List has. On the contrary, it appears to be a tear wrench of a film that is on the look out for sequences that have a theatrical flavor to them. But the final point is that there are very few of these story strings that would move us and instead take us back to an age and time when films that talked of disease and the inevitable end that lies in wait were received with much interest.

I can very easily pick the only two reasons for you to watch the film. The first one is the very effectively used cameo performance in the film by Kamal Hassan. It is undoubtedly the best part of the film, not on account of Kamal's star power or charisma, but because it presents him as a very down to earth individual who talks to us as to how the mind dictates to the disease. The dialogues that are quite realistic, draws examples from real life, and the results are real good. 

The second reason is Jayasurya. This is an actor who has been experimenting not merely with looks in one film after the other, but also shows a great dedication to the roles that he gets to play. Of the four friends, there is only one character that you would identify with, and that is Amir. And without doubt, this is courtesy a rollicking performance by Jayasurya who turns out to be the life saver in this film.

Apart from the above mentioned reasons, Four Friends might be a real disappointment. The best thing to do would be to head to the local video store, get a DVD of The Bucket List, and watch the infinitely better done version in the quite confines of your living room. 

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Sadgamaya Review

In Harikumar's Sadgamaya, Navya Nair plays Yamuna, a girl getting all set to be married. She receives a letter from Unni Nedungadi (Jagathy) assistant to Dr. Ravi Verma, who had brought her back to life when a brief bout of insanity had threatened to unsettle her. On Unni's request, she travels to meet her doctor who had promised her that he would write only in the most critical of circumstances.

One is repeatedly reminded of Sibi Malayil's Thaniyavarthanam that sketched the progressive disintegration of a schizophrenic man; a work that bore the remarkable stamp of its writer Lohithadas all over. The intensity that made the former film an exciting, though disturbing watch, can never be detected in Sadgamaya. Lohi himself ventured into the unsure realms of a battered individual's mind years later through Bhoothakkannadi, and gave us another gem. Why Sadgamaya fails to achieve this, is on account of the flimsiness in the narrative, and the several flaws in its script.

The film concerns itself with the disease as it is for the initial one hour. Yamuna repeatedly has hallucinations that starts off with her imagining herself as none less than Desdemona being strangled to death by Othello. She screams and runs along the college corridors and then starts seeing a vulture waiting to devour her.

The three major characters in the film - Yamuna, Ravi Verma and Jyothi - and their interactions with each other are often vaguely drawn, with very little detailing. There is no real blood, feeling and sensations in them, that would make them a part of the viewer's world.

Especially frail is the writing when it comes to the spousal relationship that exists between Ravi and Jyothi (Shwetha Menon). The latter seems more like an adornment which becomes all too evident when the ever-neglected wife who has been complaining forever as to how her husband's official life has been eating into her life as well, suddenly breaks into a seductive song and disappears from the film shortly thereafter. The patient and her doctor share a special association as well, and the doctor who is no ordinary man keeps asking himself as to why the vulture keeps pestering the girl. He delves into her subconscious mind through a hypnotic procedure and discards electroconvulsive therapy and even therapeutic drugs. The reason that he finally arrives at is quite weird, and the treatment procedure is even weirder. 

The last ten minutes of the film undoubtedly make up the best part, and though not exactly anticipated, the climatic twist is not entirely believable as well. Yamuna takes a life changing decision, and it would be probable when you think of the transformation that her doctor has brought about in her life. And yet, the loose ends remain untied. 

The special effects in the film leave plenty to be desired. As much as one realizes that the focus on a film as this is more on the story than on the techniques used to deliver it, the vulture looks like a cut out from an amateur video. With a bit more polish, those scenes could have ended up looking infinitely more well done. 

Navya delivers another decent performance and as the mentally deranged girl is as convincing as she possibly could be. Shwetha has very little to do in this film and Suresh Gopi as much as he tries hard, comes up with a very unconvincing performance that borders on the artificial. Clearly he seems to be on unfamiliar waters and it shows. 

Sadgamaya might very well be an earnest attempt to make a solemn film. But the end product is cloudy, and all the angst associated with mental derangement that it hopes to take on is never eventually tackled. 

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Four Friends - Trailer & Location Videos

Saji Surendran's upcoming Malayalam movie Four Friends is nearing its completion. The director has been successful in getting Universal star Kamal Hassan to play a pivotal role in his new movie '4 friends'.

Saji Surendran has already shot the remix version of classic song 'Yeh Dosti' from Sholay with his four protagonists in the movie played by Kunchacko Boban, Jayasurya, Jayaram and Meera Jasmine. The remix version of the song set by M Jayachandran is said to be another block buster which will be a big selling point of this movie.

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Mohanlal's 'China Town' to start in November

Cochin, Oct.24 (NR): Megastar Mohanlal's new project 'China Town' would commence its shoot in November.

Director Rafi and Mecartin would be scripting another hot shot entertainer for Mohanlal after the super success of their last film together, 'Helo'.

Dileep, Jayaram and Suraj Venjarammoodu would also share the screen with Mohanlal in 'China Town'. Deepika Sha would be Lal's heroine in the film. Kavya Madhavan and Roma would also be seen in prominent roles.

The film would be shot on locations at Pondicherry, Goa, Pollachi and Cochin.

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Electra Cast and Crew

Cast: Nayantara, Manisha Koirala, Prakash Raj, Dino Morea, Biju Menon, P Sreekumar
Director: Shayamaprasad
Producer: Vindhyan
Banner: Radhika Entertainments
Music: Ouseppachan
Cinematography: Sanu John Varghese
Editing: Vinod Sukumaran
Screenplay: Shayamaprasad
Dialogue: Shayamaprasad
Story/Writer: Shayamaprasad
Costume: Sakhi Thomas

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Christian Brothers Cast and Crew

Cast: Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Sarath Kumar, Kavya Madhavan, Kaniha, Lakshmi Gopalaswamy, Lakshmi Rai, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Babu Antony
Director: Joshey
Producer: A. V. Anoop , Maha Subair
Banner: AVA Productions, Varnachitra
Music: Deepak Dev
Editing: Ranjan Abraham
Story/Writer: Sibi K Thomas, Udaya Krishna

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Best Actor Synopsis

Megastar Mammootty has just finished shooting for 'Best Actor' that has been directed by ace fashion photographer Martin Prakkat. 

Mammootty dons the role of Mohan, an upper primary schoolteacher, who has a doting family that comprises of his wife and son. The man who is passionate about acting, hopes to be a real time actor some day. 

Mohan who behaves like an actor is often ridiculed by his colleagues and friends. His wife is the sole supporter in pursuing his acting dreams.

Then a film crew arrives at the village and Mohan makes several attempts to make his dream come true. But how successful does he turn out to be in his attempts? 

Mammootty's heroine in 'Best Actor' is Kannada actress Sruthi Ramakrishnan. Lal, Nedumudi Venu, Salim Kumar, Vinayagan, Suraj Venjaranmoodu, KPAC Lalitha and Sukumari would also play key roles in the film.

The story and screenplay have been jointly penned by Martin Prakkat and Bipin Chandran. The musical score has been composed by Bijibal. The cinematography is by Ajayan Vincent.

The film is being produced by Anto Joseph and Noushad. Mammootty's own production house Playhouse will release 'Best Actor' by October.

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Karyasthan Synopsis

'Karyasthan' has been directed by debutante director Thomson. Dileep and Salim Kumar play the overseers of two affluent families that have been loggerheads with each other for a long time.

It doesn't help much that the overseers happen to be born rivals as well.

Dileep plays Krishnanunni who joins Puthezhathu Tharavadu as the Karyasthan and Salim Kumar plays Kalidasan who joins the Kizhakkedathu Tharavadu. Madu and G K Pillai play the Karanavars of these Tharavadus respectively.

The film has been scripted by Siby K Thomas and Udaykrishna who had recently scripted the blockbuster Pokkiriraja.

Akhila makes her debut as heroine through the film. Vandana plays another female lead. The cast also has such names as Suraj Venjarammoodu, Jagathy, Siddique, Biju Menon, Janardhanan, Suresh Krishna, Ganesh, Baburaj, Sadique, Manoj, Harisree Asokan, Snathosh, Rimi Tomy, Biju Naryanan, Afsal, Jyotsna, Beena Antony, Archana, Nisha, Usha, Sheeja, Yadhukrishnan, Kaviraj, Rajiv Rangan and Krishnaprasad.

A song that was picturised on Dileep matching steps with several television stars is expected to be one of the highlights of the film.

Ann Media has produced Karyasthan that is expected to be a rollicking comedy entertainer.

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Traffic Synopsis

Remember Rajesh Pillai? He was the director who had earlier created 'Hridayathil Sookshikkaan' a few years back. His debut film failed to create any waves at the box office, and yet the director is back with a vengeance with his new film 'Traffic'.

Th film throws together several characters and incidents on a 16th of September. This is the day when superstar Sidharth Shankar (Rahman) is about to have his latest film release. 

Traffic constable Sudevan (Sreenivasan) is least aware of the star release that day and instead hopes to join duty after being suspended for from service for a while.

Raihaan (Vineeth Sreenivasan) has his hopes all perked up as it is a new beginning for him when he would finally join a TV channel as a reporter.
Dr Abel (Kunchacko Boban), is looking forward to his first wedding anniversary.

'Traffic' has so many other characters coming into its narrative as well and would also have such actors as Asif Ali playing Rajiv, Anoop Menon playing Nassar, Sandhya as Aditi, Reena Basheer playing Sudevan's wife, Roma as Miriam, Remya Nambeesan as Shwetha, Dhanusree Ghosh as Vygya and Jose Prakash as Vetri.

The film has been scripted by Bobby Sanjay team. The musical score has been composed by Mejo Joseph
and Sejo John, cinematography by Shyju Khalid, editing by Mahesh Narayanan and the film would be distributed by Magic Frames.

The film has been shot on locations at Ernakulam, Palakkad, Nelliyambathi, Kuttikanam and Coimbatore. The film would reach the theatres as a Christmas release.

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Cocktail Review

Arun Kumar's directorial debut Cocktail is a scene-by-scene adaptation of Butterfly on a Wheel; a Canadian thriller directed by Mike Barker in 2007. The makers of Cocktail have obviously been a bit too stirred by the Pierce Brosnan starrer, and hence do not attempt to make too many diversions from the chill points that the original screenplay had.

It's another ordinary day in the life of Ravi Abraham (Anoop Menon), successful architect and his wife Parvathy (Samvrutha), until their daughter is kidnapped and a stranger Venkatesh (Jayasurya) threatens to topple everything that they hold dear to. In the course of the next several hours, the couple is assigned a series of daunting tasks which would ruin their very existence.

As much as it remains visibly inspired, Cocktail deserves an applause for the kind of theme that it deals with. There have been lots of inspired films in the past as well, but it should be remembered that almost all of them played safe and dwelled on topics that were on risk-free territory. Extra marital relationships for the average Malayali film maker is still something unheard of, and the new-age Malayali film viewer exposed to cinema from all across the world must certainly find this weird. For a change, Cocktail makes no attempts to throw a veil over what it tells. Which is really, really good.

That said and done, we need to admit that creativity that comes to play in this film is restricted to its technical brilliance. The writing remains as faithfully close to the Canadian film as possible, with several of the dialogues being literally translated. The story situations too show no variations, and for someone who has seen the Barker film, no surprises are held in store. Almost all the sequences from the original, unfurl one after the other on screen.

There are just two instances when the film moves away from the original and of the two the first one arrives in the form of a hooker Elsa (Kani) with whom Venkatesh persuades Ravi to strike a deal with. This scene is a holler thanks to a superb performance by Kani who is amply supported by Dinesh who plays Pranchi, another customer vying for Elsa's attention along with Ravi. 

The other one that looks like an appendage at the end and that serves more as an epilogue is a downer, and puts up a very pertinent question as to why even in a tale as this, the guilty woman ends up persecuted while her male counterpart goes scot-free and carries on with his life as if nothing much happened. 

Jayasurya steals the show in the film, and in a very restrained manner builds up the desired intensity in his feat that impresses. Samvrutha grabs the best role of her career as yet and chews into it with a vengeance. The results are simply splendid. Anoop Menon brings in that much needed believability into his role through yet another knock-out act. Pradeep Nair's frames that are remarkably well crafted and Ratheesh Vega's lilting background score deserve a special mention.

The final word then has to be that for those of you who haven't seen the original Butterfly taking on the wheel, Cocktail can be an engaging watch. For, it's a suspenseful thriller that does have its fine moments.

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Chekavar Can Do Much Better

After the first ten minutes of the movie, I had a good mind to walk out. The difficulty in finding my way in the darkness and the fact that a review was expected, kept me back. However, as the minutes passed, the movie rose from a really bad one to a below-average one.

There may be a lot of definitions on what good direction should be, but I can say it should not have been the way 'Chekavar' was done. I can see glimpses of what could have been a good film, had the script been treated better.

Image Courtesy: Filmydum.com

The first few scenes are dedicated to introduce each character with a disturbingly loud background music, with the predictable opening lines and pan-body shots that end in a close-up of the face. There is the obvious haste to show it has everything the audience want - a family element, comedy, romance, music, villain.

However, once the initial fuss dies down, there are some scenes that come as a relief, which were surprisingly close to everyday-life, sparing the superhero stuff. Indrajith seems the best asset of the movie and he fits into the character perfectly. The role of policeman, which he has done in a few movies, turns out to be a little different in this film. The portrayal of the real-life cop who does not get to single-handedly throw 40 men away with bare hands or crack smart-liners to senior officers and politicians is a welcome change.

Image Courtesy: Filmydum.com

Sarayu who plays Indrajith’s sister has a very important role since the movie is essentially based on that favourite theme of Malayalam Cinema - brother-sister-love. No extraordinary performance from the new face who uses the voice of a familiar dubbing artist. Samvrutha plays Indrajith’s love interest. Despite her good looks and acting skills, and the fact that she could dub for herself, it is sad that this young lady finds few roles of prominence. In this film too, she exists for the sake of existing, in the background, in a song, in saying a few lines.

Kalabhavan Mani plays a bad guy who turned good. However he has a villain brother to support - played by Sreejith Ravi.

The storyline of the movie is not so bad, and the presentation of characters are up to the mark. However, the way it was taken, leaves a lot to hope for. Hope first-time director Sajeevan comes up with better stuff in future.

Rating: 4/10.

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Oridathoru Postman (2010) Malayalam Movie Review - Kunchacko Boban-Meera Nandan

The movie 'Orudathoru Postman' is an old wine in a still older bottle. With this movie, director Shaji Aseez intended to deliver a social message to the youth of Kerala, which has unfortunately left the addressee completely untouched and gave the words “clichéd filmmaking” a whole new meaning. The movie with its overgrown predictability and tardy pace is potent enough to put even a chronic insomniac into deep slumber.

The plot revolves around the character of Raghunandanan (Kunchako Bobban) and his father Gangadharan (Innocent), who also happens to be the village postman and a lazy one at that.

Image Courtesy: Filmydum.com

Raghunandanan who happens to be the quintessential perfect man in the village makes amends for his father’s mistakes, besides doing all possible part time jobs and preparing for his much coveted PSC exam. Their life takes a turn with the arrival of Yaseen Mubarak (Sarathkumar) who is a wildlife photographer and also a social activist. When Yaseen comes under the police scanner for being a terrorist, it is up to Raghu to team up with Yaseen and help him prove his innocence.

The story scripted by K Gireesh Kumar is a database of clichés, where you can spot virtually every possible permutation starting from the 'Naseerian' era. Picture these - a rustic village; father-son bonhomie, where father is a heart patient, but hides it from his son; son is the most eligible 'unemployed bachelor' in the village but has a perfectly understanding girlfriend. In comes a photographer-cum-social activist-cum-environmentalist-cum-foster father to a ‘dying orphan girl’,
who is falsely accused of being a terrorist because he is a Muslim. Finally a goofy cop and some local goons are thrown in to heighten the sense of familiarity which plagues the entire script.

Image Courtesy: Filmydum.com

In a movie bursting with stereotypes and cardboard caricatures, the actors seemed to be completely helpless and act out characters reminiscent of their own earlier movies. Innocent replays a 'Manassinakkarae', Kunchako Bobban a 'Jalothsavam', Meera Nandan a 'Mulla' and Sarathkumar…well he repeats the same old “misunderstood good guy” as he does in all of his Tamil movies. Kalabhavan Mani who plays a police inspector and Salim Kumar as a lottery maniac seemed like zombies - death marching through their scenes. The star of the show is none other than Suraaj who seems to have excelled himself in cracking the most vulgar and voyeuristic jokes involving almost every private part of the human body. One wonders how he does this with so much gusto!

The movie is an absolute mess interrupted with songs that would give you nightmares. Director Shaji Aseez needs to deliver better stuff if he means to be in business. Casting a Tamil superstar who has no interest in Malayalam movies other than his own political ambitions will never contribute towards the success of a movie. As for the potential viewers, watch this movie if you are celebrating your divorce, dismissal or even a death in the family.

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