Onam Movie Reviews

Onam is not only the festival for Malayalees but also a festival for the film fraternity of the state. 

The Onam releases that were expected to pull in people in large numbers are Peruchazhi, Rajadiraaja, Villaliveeran, Saptamashree Thaskarah and Bhaiyaa Bhaiyaa.  

Peruchazhi: The Mohanlal starrer hit the screens a week before Onam. Touted as a major entertainer, the movie failed miserably in terms of the expectations. The comedy rarely makes the lips curl. Baburaj and Aju Varghese, the aides of Lal were a disappointment. The story lacks content and punch. 

Verdict: watch only for the killer looks of Mohanlal. The die-hard Lalettan fan couldnt fall for the movie. 

Rating: 1.5/5

Raajadiraaja: The movie looks like a myriad adaptation of Baasha where the story falls short by several notches. Mammooty looks awesome with the beard and fares decent with his acting. However Joju George stole the show with his timings and quirkiness. The movie is a strict one time watch but still can make you disappointed. The action was blown out of proportions. The script was flaccid and nothing new to offer. 

Verdict: Mammooty is back with a bang but the bang did not seem loud enough. For the mass loving Mammukka fans

Rating: 2/5

Villaliveeran: From the Janapriyanayakan, this is not what we wanted. Sans a very few comedies from Shajon and Dharmajan, the movie is unbearable in terms of everything. Dileep has lost the flair of acting compared to what we wanted from him. The heroines were just props unwanted. 

Verdict: watch only if the movies on TV bore you. 

Rating: 1/5

Sapthamashree Thaskarah: This is the Onam movie that we were waiting for. This is that movie the one that clearly demarcates  the fine line between good and fine movies. Prithviraj with his subtle acting and Asif Ali with his fervent penchant for ruggedness kept the show going. Everyone did their best in the movie but it was Chemban Vinod who was the star of the show.  With his impeccable irreproducible Thrissur accent, Vinod took the audience to roll. Neeraj Madhav as Narayanankutty took innocence to a different level. 

Verdict: Despite a letdown compared to the debut movie of the director, this is a good watch for the festival season. 

Rating: 3/5

 

All in a day's flight

The tarmac seemed incredously bullish as the overladen, late running flight inched its way lazily on a cloudy and extremely groggy day. The flabs of fat that had accumulated all over me wobbled as the whole plane shuddered in anguish as a reply to woes on the pitiful runway of the Chennai International Airport.

Earlier, the fare wars by all the low cost carriers in the nation had peaked in all the airports running them into paradigms of operational ineffeciency.

The extremely sensous airhostesses were continuing their bored recorded monotone, greeting the tired customers who yearned for a seat rather than that red lipstick clad lip curlings. The wait for over an hour to get into the respective gates had made most of the customers grumpy. Add to the woes were the passengers who pooled up to form illicit lines or jump the queues stating lame reasons like boarding calls, wanna pee etc took the patience into the bidding.

The flight was the perfect fit for what was christened as a low cost carrier. The seats were a slim piece of fabric covering a stingy piece of cushion making your butt cryout over the course of the journey. Cost cutting was evident with the intermittent switching off of the aircon and pay-through-your-nose rates for that bottle of water purchased.

Lucky day it was till reaching the airport, hitching a free ride on Olacabs, thanks to their travel partner MakeMyTrip. I thought my luck was running out when I reached the airport when the jam packed winding queues of people started taking its toll on me, who were eagerly waiting to get to the lounge as early as possible for that dose of caffeine. The driver who picked me up was also in a state of non-alcoholic inebriateness which I assumed to due to being woken up at 3. He was swerving the cab unnecessarily and made me thank Heavens when I reached the airport unscathed.

The engines groaned, chugged and came to life as the metal bird hit the tarmac ready to soar. As the power reached maximum, the 200+ people garnered momentum and pushed off the ground. I could feel the pressure differences crushing and elongating the skull during the ascent. As the craft gained the altitude, the flight reminded me of the bumpy rides in the KSRTC. The petite figurines made way hawking the inedible, hilariously priced food stuff which at the spur of the momemt seemed tempting for the sans-tea-empty tummy, but the experience of experiencing it previously made me stay hungry to stay healthy during the much sought after vacation home.

We began descent after being airborne for less than 30 minutes.It was then, I lifted my eyes and the incessantly prodding fingers off the phone to see the white fluffiness of the vanilla dough up in the sky. The turbulence was making typing a theocldmeh (I actually typed tedious) task. As the descent continued, the lush greenery started appearing with the tinge of monsoons adding vividness to palette. I felt the chugging underneath as the landing gear had opened up the wheel trio.

The pale green was adding hues and the colours were more strong now. We were brushing against the windiness of the coconut trees and touched the soul and soil of the God's own country.

Touchdown Kochi. Now to grab my bags and run!!