Manzil 1979

A Basu Chatterjee film starring Amitabh Bachhan and Moushimi Chaterjee.
Basuda is known for light movies sans formula or masala, almost attaining a cult status of his own. Like the light showers of a glorious evening, something you may not acknowledge but still lovely. Think Basuda and you will say Amol Palekar and Utpal Dutt, actors you cannot help loving. You may not be mad fans of them but you will not bypass their movies without a warm smile. Mostly a nostalgic one.

Nevertheless, Manzil in my opinion, wasn't as brilliant as Chameli (1986) ,Shaukeen (1982) and my favourite Baton Baton Mein (1979). Probably because Amitabh Bachhan wasn't used to his potential. I felt Bachhan's acting wasn't deep as the character of a jobless, despairing yet aspiring entrepreneur. The romance seemed casual. The story and the message of the movie - why entrepreneurship needs more encouragement (then and now) - are all well shown, still the movie was a tad less Basuish. My only favourite was and is the evergreen song ' Rimjim gire sawaan...'

Maybe I missed Ramprasad Dashrath Prasad Sharma.

Athirathram 1984

The blockbuster of 1984,directed by I.V.Sasi which is claimed as one of the best crime thriller of it times.

Starring Mammootty, Mammootty and Mammootty.

No typo there. That's all the movie is about. So much panache and style by the dude that you will forget Mohanlal is in it.

Yeah we want to see more ;)

Though a super hit in that era, I'm sure we have better storylines in crime genre in Malayalam cinema now. Events and situation are just jumbled up in the movie together as if the 2 hrs just had to finish.

Nevertheless a nice watch if you don't mind the script. Great styling for the dude and lot of 007 type cinematography.

Adwaytham 1992

A Malayalam political thriller starring Mohanlal ,Revathy and Jayaram and directed by Priyadarshan.

I felt the 2006 film Vaasthavam had very similar beats. Nevertheless ,Mohanlal and Prithviraj,respectively have done a fantastic job of portraying human nature when exposed to political storms.

Mohanlal's character is one of friendly,caring person but gets embroiled in local politics. The story is about memories of a love affair gone bad, a broken home and amidst all this his only bright hope being his friend, played by Jayaram and his own ambitions,lay hidden,unknown to him.

All the lead stars do a great job and makes for a dramatic movie experience. Watch it to know the ever - rolling wheel of Kerala politics and the pieces of everyday life it loops in.

Nayam Vyakthamakkunnu 1991

Nayam Vyakthamakkunnu (English: Making Your Point Clear) is a Malayalam political family movie. Yes it is exactly as it sounds and also not. It is a family movie about a family of 3 and their resonances due to politics in the middle. 

Mammootty is the aspiring,active and busy political member of the local party which has all elements of a typical one. His wife is played by Shanti Krishna, the wife who slowly shows the effects of such a husband on her and on her son. The trials and tribulations in the presence of politics that a normal family goes through are shown in a non-preaching,witty way enjoyable enough as a movie.

Most of Balachandra Menon's movies are about family life and this is no less. Touching performances by the lead pair make it a movie you can add to your collection. Also the usual favourites of classic Malayalam cinema are there - Sankaradi, A.C Zainuddin,Jagadish and Karamana Janardhan Nair.

Nanma Niranjavan Sreenivasan 1990

Trust Jairam to take you to Kerala and then get you in the swing of localness. He is like the grandma who tells you stories with warm chocolate milk and cookies. That was an American metaphor but you get the picture right?

Jairam is the quintessential malayali. Almost all his movies are about the common Keralite guy who has common problems under coconut trees. He does such a fanstastic job of it that I can tribute a whole new genre of Malayalam movies about him.

Nanma Niranjavan Sreeivasan is a movie about a simple guy who is interested in local theatre and hanging out with his friends. A police job application changes the story towards a differnt village, new acquaintances ,romance and suspense. All mixed but not thrown about like some meaningless masala bag.

Excellent movies are those which can depict the same old formula but bring its own freshness by aspects like dialogue, cinematography and giving ample oppurtunity for other characters to flourish. In doing so, the viewer gets an idea about what the movie is saying indirectly and maybe more. In particular this movie does so by the ever brilliant Oduvil and Mukesh. Urvashi as usual is her best as the girl who battles her pretty eyes.

Watch it for naadan feel, old theatre life and some comfort time.

Director - Viji Thampi

Kallanum Policum

The art of storytelling is rare. Its easy to bring twists and plots in a basic story and keep people glued. But to create the basic story itself is something which only comes from a focus to keep things simple.

Movies are no less. I love movies and can sit and watch one or two everyday,depending on how many dishes dry in the sink ;) I love old movies specially and the reason I do is coz they had a lot of original thought process in their cinematography, plot and storytelling. Malayalam movies have set a benchmark in brilliance and have been coped by other Indian film industries (sadly without known credit). And amongst the pillars which hold Malayalam film industry ,I want to mention Mukesh.

Though Kerala is synonymous with Lal and Mamootty, there have been less precious but gems nevertheless such as Mukesh. Having mostly acted in movies which capture quick interest without concentrating on one-man-show gimmicks or cheap thrills, he has a foundation of himself.

Of his scores of movies, I love Kallanum Policum which I surprisingly missed inspite of Asianet Movies' ever running movie reruns. An engaging story,simply told without dramatic set ups or bends and still surprises at times. Or maybe its so well told that it surprises?

Mukesh's trademark confused-harrased look, KPAC Laitha and Innocent's banter, the wonderful bunch of side actors with their small but talented roles and the setting of Kerala greenery ( I'll call it as bonus ) all make it a movie you can watch on a monsoon day.

Ustad Hotel - ordering a biriyani now!

Movies on food are not new. But Malayalam cinema making movies on food is like finally going to confession a day before Easter admitting that we have serious gastronomic fetishes. After Salt and Pepper,its Ustad Hotel which is tickling the food hormones and almost making one reach Zomato pages.

Before we talk about the current foodirectors (see what I did there? ;) ) ,lets not forget probably the first movie which celebrated eating pleasures guilt free Mr.Butler. Remember a young, thin I-dont-have-an-upper-lip Dileep with his Japanese cooker-cum-utensil to attract his heroine in the lift. I rememebr that scene coz that vegetable pulao made my mouth water!  For many days after that,I've had dreams of being stuck in the lift with a hot pulao-and not a hot guy.

  

                                           Dileep doing a demo of ccoking to the auntys of the flat. Humming the Gopalakrishan song are you ? :)

So we are serious about food? yes! and we are serious about films on food? oh yea! And with the not-so-serious youthful dapperness of Dulquer,the deer eyes of not-so-shy Nithya and ofcourse we need the patronage of someone -Thilakan (for mallu parents), we have Ustad Hotel. A movie about the journey of 3 people - Faizi ( Dulquer), Shahana (Nithya) and Thialakan - where they find themselves through relationships, food and through each other.

The movie has a very Bohemian approach to it. If you take a bunch of Malayalam movies, most is about relationships, the seriousness surrounding duty and the bipolar world of good vs bad. UH takes a detour but only slightly. No its not a rebel so you dont shrug it off as a 'youth' movie nor does it goes on a preaching class to brand it as art movie. It is as real as you take it. The reality of fleldging,small but reputed restaurants that we have seen in our sleepy naadan towns during our annual vacations to hometowns is a reality but to restore them is probably not so easy. UH takes up that real to reel.

I'm sure I dont need to review it coz every Mallu worth his biriyani would have seen it. I resaw (really Treez,is that a word?) it yday and thought if I love it I should share/post/publish/show off it before the next foovie ( I'm a genious!) comes out :)

I'm still very curious about what goes in the sulaimani tea.

Good job Anwar Rasheed - Director

I've decided to credit directors from now on coz woh nahi to taare zamin par. :) #geddit