Apoorva Raagam - Is on a different terrain

Cast: Nishan, Asif Ali, Rithu, Nithya Menon

Direction: Sibi Malayil

Music: Vidyasagar

The movie has Roopesh (Nishan) and Tommy (Asif Ali) as college mates and best friends who are always found together in the campus. When Roopesh develops an interest towards Nancy (Nithya), Tommy finds ways to unite them through very innovative ways. And when they realise that Nancy's millionaire dad wouldn't allow them to live together, Tommy with the help of their friends gets them married before a registrar. We are in no position to narrate any further as it will be a spoilsport for all those who are getting ready to meet these youngsters at theatres.

Bottom Line

===========

Apoorva Raagam - Is on a different terrain

The narrative of the film takes a different course from the ordinary and is structured as a campus love story in the former half and a thriller in the later. It may not be the most interesting film produced in the recent times, but it does hold your attention intermittently. Together with the fresh writers, Sibi spins a tale that's good in parts.

Malarvadi Arts Club - The celebration of friendship

Banner: Grand Productions

Cast: Dileep, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy Sreekumar, Suraj Venjaramood, Salim Kumar, Kottayam Nazeer, Revathy, Geethu

Direction: Vineeth

Production: Dileep

Music: Shaan Rehman

Over the years, the films on friendship has done quite well in Hindi and Tamil, which were equally lapped by Kerala audience. Going by these precedences is Vineeth Sreenivasan in his debut flick, who has woven a well made movie with sequences that much of generation can connect with in their life .Yes, that seems to be the catch line of 'Malarvadi Arts Club',- films with which people can identify always work. And for that, Vineeth has carefully done his homework and brought in five youngsters as his protagonists who all come from average families, in the movies.

His protagonists Prakash, (Nivin Pauly), Kuttu (Aju Varghese), Purushu (Bhagath Manuel), Santhosh (Shravan) and Praveen (Harikrishnan) come from a small village named Manassery in the north of Kerala. After completing their studies, they are now getting ready to face the ups and downs in their life with their unshakable bond of friendship. Pampered and mended by Kumarettan (Nedumudi Venu), who also runs a hotel in Manassery, the five known by the name 'Malarvadi Boys' after their club, consider him more like a father than their senior friend.

The first half of the movie is dedicated to all the adventurous life of the five some, taking up fights for the local cadre party and making trips to Mahi for tax-free boozing, while also making some serious digs on the societal life all around. And there comes all those events like harthals and reality shows. As Santhosh's family suddenly lands up into financial ruins following a court case, the friends convince him to try a chance in a realty show. The camaraderie between the friends suddenly goes out, as Santhosh is selected as the winner of a popular show and his parents intervene, playing fowl in their friendship.

Bottom Line

===========

Malarvadi Arts Club - The celebration of friendship

‘Malarvadi Arts Club’ also works because you can relate to the characters, you can relate to the moods, their egos, the highs and the lows. The movie is dedicated to all those thick friends, who have different outlook of life, but respect each other for what they are. Yes, ‘Malarvadi’ remains so far as one of the strongly recommended films of the year, for its sincerity and for the portrayal of sensitive relationships.

Nallavan - Is Medicore

Banner: Bethestha Productions

Cast: Jayasurya, Mythili, Saikumar, Shammi Thilakan, Suraj, Salimkumar, Maniyanpilla Raju, Sudheesh, Bijukuttan, Jayan, Vanitha Krishnachandran, Sona Nair, Prakash Paul, Kollam Ajith, Nash, Baby Jaisy, Baby Aparna, Master Siril

Direction: Aji John

Production: S. Murugan, Anil Mathew

Music: Mohan Sithara

The movie has Jayasuriya as a simpleton Kocherukkan and ‘Manickyam’ Mythili as Malli, two youngsters who were abandoned in their childhood in two neighboring rich households, to grow up together and fall in love with each other. They have an intense, easy going relationship where they impulsively land up into any decisions at short notice, like eloping from the village on an uneventful night, when Malli is offered as wife to Chidu (Suraj Venjaramoodu). But their very first attempt to run away is blocked by a cunning policeman Murugeshan (Siddhique). Kochurukkan somehow manages to escape from his eyes by bruising him fatally. This starts the cat and mouse game between the cop and the village lad, which destroys the latter's dreams and lands him behind bars in situations that appear one after another.

Bottom Line

===========

Nallavan - Is Medicore

‘Nallavan’ is surely a missed opportunity to do something far more interesting than to tell a story of potential, surprisingly flat. Had the scripts been sharper as the folks acting in it and the effort taken on it, the movie could have offered much more than Jayasuriya in four getups.

Oru Naal Varum - Good Entertainer; but clumsy direction

Cast: Mohanlal, Srinivasan, Sameera Reddy, Nedumudi Venu, Siddiq, Lalu Alex, Suraj Venjarammoodu, Kunjan, Kottayam Nazir, Devayani, Nazriya and Esther

Producer: Maniyan Pillai Raju

Director: T.K.Rajeev Kumar

Music Director: M G Sreekumar

'Oru Naal Varum' tells the story of Kulappully Sukumaran (Mohanlal) who is staying alone in a flat with his daughter. He has come to the city so that he could provide his daughter with a good education.

Sukumaran has been staying away from his wife Meera (Sameera Reddy) for a while now. Meera happens to be an IT professional.

Sick and tired of living in a rented flat, Sukumaran decides to build a house of his own. But he soon realizes that things aren't as easy as they seem to be.

The person who remains like a stumbling block in Sukumaran's dreams is the Town Planning Officer (Sreenivasan).

Bottom Line

===========

Oru Naal Varum - Good Entertainer; but clumsy direction

There are flashes of Ividam Swargamanu here and there in the film, but none of the intensity that made the former film a worthy watch. This has to be one of the weakest scripts that have emerged out of Sreeni's pen, and to say that it's a major disappointment would be an understatement.

Canvas - painted all wrong

Cast: Kalabhavan Mani,Kannan,Althara

Director: Shaji-Rajasekharan

Kalabhavan Mani plays Manaf Hussain, a painter - cum - dramatist who is busy directing his new play. Assisting him is the super talented Ramu (Kannan) who even painfully acts out every scene to the actors. And there is none other than the busy star of Bollywood, Madhuri (Vidya) who has found inspiration in their play, and who has agreed to be a part of it.

The story that Manaf decides to adapt for the stage is that of Yayathi's, the celebrated king of the Lunar dynasty who falls in love with both Devayani and Sharmishta. A major part of the film is spent discussing the relevance of the story and how it could serve as a metaphor for the modern times.

Bottom Line

===========

Canvas - painted all wrong

In Canvas, each scene drags on for what seems infinity without any purpose. The trouble is that it underscores the obvious too often, while the narrative remains as skimpy as ever.