Vishnu' s Space

  This rousing saga about the iconic leader Marighella follows the template of gangster-flicks. Seu Jorge starring Marighella traces the life of late Brazilian communist leader, politician and guerilla fighter Carlos Marighella. The film begins with an exhilarating train heist scene. Marighella, the title character makes his entry then, for which the whole theatre roars with applause. This happens very rarely in my state of Kerala where the majority of the audience do not cheer when they are not familiar with the actor who played the character or have any idea about the storyline. This hints at how well-made the scene is. Similarly throughout the film, it succeeds in playing to the gallery with the aid of great acting and captivating dialogues.  Click here to watch the trailer of Marighella   Based on the book Marighella The Guerrilla fighter that Lighted the World, the movie has a runtime that exceeds two and a half hours. This usually become tedious for view...

A breathtaking depiction of an unfortunate real tale in the glorious history of cinema. This animation spectacle explores the making of the 1933 documentary ‘Las Hurdes’ by Luis Buñuel, the legendary Mexican filmmaker who is often cited as the father of cinematic surrealism. After falling out with fellow creator Dali, Buñuel faces a crisis when no one shows their willingness to fund for his next solo project. A newfound interest for ethnography causes him to take up the idea of making a documentary about Las Hurdes region, one of Spain’s poorest states. What follows forms the rest of the story.    Click here to watch the trailer   Outstanding finesse in the animation generously contributes to the efficient storytelling. Though the makers could have opted for advanced technology like CGI, here the pattern of art  reminds of the 90's animated classics. It perfectly suits the timeline and the essence of the story. The internal conflicts of Bunuel right ...

A powerhouse performance from Marcelia Cartaxo makes ‘Pacarette’ an instant classic. The Allen Deberton-directed Pacarette explores the conflict of understanding one’s relevance in a world that changes its taste and perceptions with time. Pacarette is a ballet dancer. Now old and past her prime, but sadly unaware of it. She desperately wants to enjoy the importance like in her heyday. The tale of Pacarette unfolds as she plans to perform on her town’s 200th anniversary party and redeem her glory. Still fit like a 20-year-old, the unending love towards dancing makes her vain and act crazy all the time.    Click here to watch the trailer of Paccarette The film’s biggest attraction is Marcelia Cartaxo as Pacarette. Her act never goes overboard even when the character is eccentric for the most part. As the film progresses, the character faces a slump which demands the actor to underplay varying emotions as well. With a trim figure and perfect makeup, Cartaxo pl...

I tied a rag to my head for a shadeless cap and started saying “Savari Giri Giri” to Amma right after reaching back home from watching Ravanaprabhu . My first theatre experience initiated my obsession over the greatest actor in the history of Malayalam movies, Sri Mohanlal.  As a child, my main hobby was to stay at home and binge on cartoons. When Binoy, my youngest Maman landed a job in Trivandrum, he shifted to our home for a year. He brought a VCR and a bunch of film video cassettes with him. Each of them were Mohanlal starring blockbusters. Ads of Narasimham were frequently published in newspapers during the time. So out of curiosity, I sat down with Binoy when he played the tape of Narasimham. Coming day onwards, Narasimham replaced all my favourite cartoons. I repeatedly watched it for days together. Ustaad and Aaraam Thampuran also became my favourites.    All the heroes I had seen till then maintained a trimmed physique. But this stout man wa...

Me and Amma used to regularly take part in the yearly festival held at Amma' s family temple, Bhajanamadom Sree Ardhanareeswara Kshetram. This was also an occasion of our annual family get together. Interestingly, the utsavam mostly takes place in December during the Christmas vacation. So, all my dear cousins would be there. Thiruvathira of Malayalam calendar marks the beginning date of the festival which lasts for ten days, usually up until New Year' s eve. Kodiyettam, the grandiose flag hoisting function kicks off the events in the presence of the whole neighbourhood. Special poojas such as kalasa pooja, sivasakthi pooja and laksharchana will be performed from the day onwards. Afternoon meal is also offered at the temple each day. There will be various entertainment programmes organised by the devotees in the evening. The debut performances of many native budding artists also happen in this stage. It is known as Arangettam. Indian classical dance and music are the...

When I was seven or so, the title ‘Carrie’ drew my interest. It was on the slot for 11 pm in the list of films that was to be telecasted on HBO. When I asked Appa about the film, he told me it is based on a book of the same name written by the master of horror writers, Stephen King. It was the first time I heard the name and I was fascinated. Years later, when I had to choose a topic for my college project, my guide lecturer turned down my idea of analysing a film’ s script. She encouraged me to go with analysing a post-1950 work of fiction. This made me think of choosing a book which was later adapted into a successful film, so that I can at least do something close to a film script analysis while working within the teacher’ s discretion. I skimmed through the list of the best book-to-film adaptations and found ‘ The Green Mile ’, an Oscar nominated film with Tom Hanks in the lead.  ‘ The Green Mile ’ was originally written as a serialized novel by Stephen King. It was lat...

Rajini films were always celebrated for the star’s trademark antics and unmatchable charisma. Anyway, since Lingaa bombed at the box office despite being helmed by Rajini’ s favourite director K.S Ravikumar, the darling of the masses has been trying to reinvent his image by collaborating with young talented directors. Kabali and Kaala featured Rajini playing characters of his age after a long time. Both directed by Pa. Ranjith, were met with underwhelming responses from critics and audiences alike. His next film was Shankar’ s 2.0, the sequel to tamil cinema’s biggest blockbuster ‘Enthiran’. Even though it was a  moderate commercial success upon release and gathered favourable reviews, thalaivar fans still didn’t get their fill. So when Karthik Subbaraj, a self proclaimed Rajinikanth fanatic himself, announced ‘Petta’ with Rajini in the lead, expectations skyrocketed. Before release, the fan boy director had said several times that Petta would be a proper Thalaivar film. After ...