Lucifer - A Masterclass on How to make a Masala Film that works very well

Lucifer - A Masterclass on How to make a Masala Film that works very well 

Director - Prithviraj Sukumaran

Producer - Antony Perumbavoor

Writer - Murali Gopy

Cinematographer - Sujith Vasudev

Editing - Samjith Mohammad

Music - Deepak Dev

Starring - Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Indrajith Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Kalabhavan Shahjohn, Vivek Oberoi, Tovino Thomas, Saniya Iyappan, Fazil, Sachin Khedekar, etc

One-Liner - When Ruling CM P.K Ramdas dies, there is a battle at stake over who will succeed him in the next political term. Stephen Nedumpally, a mysterious stranger, comes in to save Kerala Politics.

Review:

Blood, Brotherhood, and Betrayal. This was the tagline of Aashiravad Cinemas' next project, Lucifer, written by Murali Gopy and directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and featuring Mohanlal. The story with a political background was more than just a regular masala fare, but it also brought out the political undercurrents in Kerala. The script was neatly written, and the dialogues have been well placed in each goosebumps worthy moment. The cinematography complemented and captured the political background beautifully. The music by Deepak Dev has a beautiful amalgamation of epic orchestration and Trance beats with Mallu Style Music. The stunts by Stunt Silva looked so fresh. For a star like Prithviraj to make his entry into direction, I would say, He really cooked something of a political masala thriller. There was no humor inserted in the film. 

Performance-wise, Mohanlal scores like a Boss when he steps onto the screen as Stephen Nedumpally aka Khureshi Ab'ram. Prithviraj strikes a sudden punch at Zayed Masood. Vivek Oberoi exudes style and sadism as the villain. Sachin Khedekar's role of P.K Ramdas is the catalyst behind the story's progress.  Manju Warrier delivered a powerful performance as Priyadarshini Ramdas, a conflicted mother. Tovino delivered a rock-solid role as Jathin Ramdas, who goes from a American educated guy to becoming a politician. Kalabhavan Shahjohn delivered a superlative performance as Aloshy, a double agent. All the others performed really well.

Dialogues: There are some dialogues that have a lot of recall value.

Yudham Nanmai, ThinmThammil Allalla, Thinmai Thinmai Thammil Aanu. VeliyaThinmaiyumm Cheriya Thinmaiyum.

Naan Thalai illa da. Thalai edukkaravan Da.

Nee Chuguthande vedam vaaichu nu vicharichu undo?

Ore Oru Rajavu

Abram, Khureshi Ab'ram

Bas ek ishaara, Bhaijaan. Bas Ek, Intezaar Rahega. Khuda Hafiz.

IMO; A Masterclass on Rewriting Masala Cinema.

Bottomline: Honestly, I am waiting to witness the story of Khureshi Abram come to the screens with its sequel,  Empuraan, tomorrow.

Why have today's love stories become problematic?

Why have today's love stories become problematic?

With the release of Love Today in 2022, I came to see that the film was technically acclaimed for its use of visual comedy, but one thing I found to be messed up was the way the love story between Pradeep and Nikitha had been treated. It was described as if Pradeep is revealed to be misogynistic character who doubts everything about the girls and tries to claim that he has done nothing wrong. The love stories of today have started to become problematic as the romantic heroes are described to be toxic characters while the heroines are long suffering under the toxicism that men have. Movies like Arjun Reddy, Animal and Kabir Singh are known to describe the heroes' flaws while in reality they encourage such people to become more masculine which is to just make girlfriends bear their brunt of their choices. 

Speaking of which, the old school love stories are described to be better as the heroes are known to be gentlemen and their courteous behaviors with girlfriends are amazing. The ideas of love stories centered with coffee dates and even walks in beaches and parks were always better at that time. Speaking of which Once More by Vignesh Srikanth is hitting the screens very soon. I can't wait to see the old school love story come back to life.

Vikram Vedha - An Adaptation from a folktale series that never disappointed

Vikram Vedha - An Adaptation from a folktale series that never disappointed

Directors: Pushkar - Gayathri

Writers: Pushkar- Gayathri, K. Manikandan

Music: Sam CS

Producers: YNot Studios and Trident Arts

Cast: Madhavan, Vijay Sethupathi, Shraddha Srinath, Kathir, Hareesh Peradi, Varalakshmi Sarathkumar, Prem Kumar, Achyuth Kumar, Vivek Prassana and Others

Storyline: Vikram Vedha focuses on a cat and mouse chase between a police officer and a criminal who tells him the stories that mark a change in his binary thought of good and evil.

Review: Adapting a Sanskrit Epic like Baital Pachisi into a film was never an easy job. It was already adapted in Hindi way back in 1950s keeping in time with the traditions. This time a husband-and-wife duo of filmmakers set out to attain the impossibility. Marrying the essence of the folktales with a contemporary crime setup in the screenplay was indeed the best choice they made. 

Sam CS's music set the stage on fire with the theme "Karuppu Vellai" dominating the story and characters. Vijay Sethupathi breathed life into the character Vedha and the dialogue "Oru Kadhai Sollata" gave us goosebumps like anything. Maddy's performance as Vikram was amazingly well done. The rest of the cast did so well. The flashback scenes that were shaped from the stories were brilliantly executed. The script presented the morally ambiguous characters that made us learn that circumstances make them who they are. 

Bottomline: Pushkar- Gayathri adapted the folktale into a contemporary scenario and this time they hit a bull's Eye target.

IMO: This film taught me that not all is black or white and that we need to keep an eye on the grey shades that all of us tend to have.