Category: Entertainment

The Hollywood-phobia

I don’t understand what it is with our intellectuals that they hate Hollywood so much so that they cook up some ridiculous claims when they talk about something. I read an interview with film editor Beena Paul that was published in the last week’s Mathrubhumi weekly. The interviewer says this in his question –

“The biggest cultural invasion in the world is from America. Hollywood movies in particular try to portray the past tortures (especially the persecution of Jews) in the markets and film festivals these days. After 9/11, they have created a logic that says ‘not just the Muslims but we also were persecuted ‘. Movies like “Usama” and “Passion of the Christ” are examples to this.”

After cunningly weaving this highly (pseudo) intellectual question, he goes on to ask, “have you noticed such global political tactics gaining ground in our film festivals?”

Either this fellow, I remember his name is Sreekumar, has not seen many Hollywood movies or he is just weaving some intellectual conspiracy. One thing that is beautiful about America is that there are so many people in it’s society and intellectual/academic circles who would openly voice against any injustices of their Government in the public. People like Sean Penn or Michael Moore and some others were vocal against war in the off-reel world. So while most of our academicians and intellectuals would observe a criminal silence on sensitive issues most of the times, for a couple of awards that their political friends might fetch them, the Hollywood never hesitated to voice themselves even in the larger events like Oscars or Grammys. Against their own president or government and it’s strategies, knowing that the whole world is watching them. If it was our film industry, our patriotism would have drooled out first.

Secondly, there have been many movies from Hollywood that does not victimize themselves but take sides of the side-liners. The quick ones I can remember are Rendition (which was based on the Islamophobia post 9/11), Green Zone (which Michael Moore called the most honest film about Iraq) and not to mention a number of movies which had  been made on Vietnam war (many of them are now classics). I also heard of the recent movies like Redacted which are also based on the Iraq war.

So I have one suggestion for such kings of their small dens like Sreekumar. Try to watch some Hollywood movies before you start criticizing them. And try to learn something about producing movies that would be artistically and technically perfect (Learn from Enthiran that just spending some crores won’t fetch you quality of work). Just blabbering something and making up conspiracy theories won’t help.

Manju Pole Oru Swapnam: Song video

Back in 2008, I had an interesting music project to work on. Those of you who follow my blog would have read about it. The opportunity was to compose and sung for a Malayalam telefilm project but the song was never officially released. This is a UK Malayalee production and was entirely shot in the UK. You can read more about it in this blog post. Now the song video is complete and it will soon appear in the Malayalam TV channels. So here is an exclusive online release of the song. Do check it out and let your honest comments pour in. 🙂 Thanks much!

Song video credits:

Lyrics: James Bright
Composed and sung by: Joseph Thomas
Camera: Chris Stevens
Editor: Prem & Xian
Director: Jayaram Sthanumalayan

Music credits:

Orchestration: Ajit Gopalakrishnan
Rhythm Programming: Bharath Venkatesan
Mixing: Nandu Mahadevan

(My thanks to Dr James Bright and Jayaram for making this happen!)

“The Juniors”

Got the link to this shortfilm through an email from someone I don’t know. I don’t have any details, but this is a brilliant work. I could see glimpses of a Quentin Tarantino style in this movie and the guys who did this really deserve a thumbs up! Watch it.

Mazhanrutham

Singer Pradip Somasundaran has ventured into music direction with the album titled “Mazhanrutham”. The songs for this album where penned by movie director Sohan Lal (he also did the video for the title song). Singers include actor Manoj K Jayan, Pradip Somasundaran, Gayatri, Shahbaz Aman, Franco and Bhavyalakshmi. Here is the music video of the song “Mazhayil nin mizhikal” featuring Manoj K Jayan and Maithili (Paleri Manikyam fame).

Linkaholic

Beat of India is a website that popularizes the traditional folk music of India. They cover a vast variety of regions in India. A wonderful effort indeed.

—————-

Here is an inspiring story of a laborer boy passing the entrance exam for IIT. Don’t know how the elitists of the institution would treat him, but let us hope for the best and cheer for him.

—————-

And a spot-on ad for the new season of Kaun Banega Crorepathi. 🙂

Shankar’s “Enthiran”: You better watch “Matrix Reloaded”

This is what film makers who cast Rajni fail to understand. Rajni is a ‘son of the soil’ and he does his best in such roles (remember Padayappa or Muthu?). I loved Basha and it is after watching it that I made sure not to miss any Rajni movie. Sivaji was perhaps the maximum he could do but when you stretch him far you get “Enthiran“. A boring, exhaustive, three hours long film with graphics and songs fit in here and there. Luckily, I had the company of Hiran, or else I would have bored myself to death.

I’d say you should go watch “Matrix Reloaded” again than spending your time and money for Shankar’s “Enthiran“. It is not only because “Enthiran” copies some of the cloning ideas or the road chase scenes from Matrix, but the makers of Matrix made a convincing movie out of a very fictitious story. This is what Shankar & co has to understand. Paying up huge sums of money to some big-wig Hollywood animation studio can only get you some amazing graphics but never a convincing script. You need talent to do that.

Director Shankar has played a bit of Congress party in the Common Wealth Games for this film. Almost all the people you see in the movie are fair and beautiful except for some who faces a fire tragedy. The hospitals, research centers are all huge and beautiful buildings like you see in the Hollywood movies. Still you would know it happens in India. 😉

Rajni, the supernatural, is so boring in so many scenes. There is no punch line, not even his trademark gestures but some weird actions of the villain Rajni. I enjoyed the train fight scene though. About the director, I wonder how people call Shankar a perfectionist. The scenes where the animation is plugged into outdoor scenes are far less convincing because the animation bumps out from the scenes. Or look at the tiny things. Like the lab where it is written “Restricted Area”. A red tape kind of thing that you have seen in many old movies to read “ICU”, “No Entry” etc. It is so amateurish for an otherwise gaudy set. It is small things like this that make all the difference in “convinving” people.

The songs are boring but the visuals are stunning. The first song sequence in the desert is the most beautiful of it all. But when the songs keep coming in and out, you get bored. A R Rahman’s score is not captivating too.

The movie is not without it’s positives. It starts well and you would blindly believe the robot story in the beginning before it started falling off. The animations are perfect and though it copies many Hollywood movies that we are familiar with, it also has some nice animation towards the climax scene (the snake, the giant robot – all made up of robots etc). The climax scene of the robot dismantling himself was good. The editing of the song sequences is good. Aishwarya Rai does her job well too – of looking beautiful. The most believable character of the movie is neither the hero Rajni, nor the villain Rajni. It is Dr. Bora, played by Danny Denzongpa. He was amazing and we realize how artificial and made-up the other characters are when he comes on screen.

To conclude, I want Rajni of Baasha back. Or Rajni of Padayappa. These folks have now made him a robot that  painfully tries to move us but terribly fails at it.

Go, Keshava!

Here is an amazing child prodigy on Tabla. I just learned from Hiran that he had performed for the inaugural ceremony of the Common Wealth Games in Delhi. What really caught my attention and what really made me smile and appreciate is how much he enjoys playing music. Look how happy he is!!

Review: Elsamma Enna Aankutty

I thought I should spare this for the last line, but I gotta tell you this now. Lal Jose does a Sathyan Anthikkad with his latest movie “Elsamma Enna Aankutty”. You have seen the story of this movie in many Sathyan Anthikkad movies where Sathyan Anthikkad would usually jam so many issues into one pack and gives it to audience. You have seen it all before. The eldest child taking care of the entire family by even giving up on her own studies (in which she had been doing well), the lone parents with children living abroad, the city folks coming to the village and taking advantage of the young girls there, environmental issues, anti-liquor campaign and so on.

Elsamma is supposed to be, as the title says, “Elsamma, the boy”. But it is not Elsamma who makes her seem being stubborn, but the characters around her. Ann Augustine (who played the title role) has to thank her experienced co-actors for that. And I think it is not her problem that she couldn’t fully convince us of Elsamma’s character. For a first timer, she did really well (she has the most beautiful smile I have seen in Malayalam cinema recently as well). So I think it is upon the director who chose to cast a new comer for such a big role.

Almost all the actors have done their job well in this movie. Kunchako Boban as Unni and Indrajith as Eby have done total justice to their roles. One good thing I felt about the movie is that Jagathy Sreekumar seems to have come back to his old spirits. He did the humor exceptionally well and with much ease like in the old days. And another thing that you have to thank for is that Suraj Venjaramoodu is not puke-prompting as he is in other movies of the recent times.

There is one song that has the signature Lal Jose touches to the song sequence, but even there there was a terrible tribal costume with lousy make up which would make you puke right up there in the theater. The cinematography is good and it captures the beauty of a hill side village. What lacks in this movie however is a good script. One of the box office bombs of Lal Jose happened when he teamed up with Sindhuraj (for Mulla) and here you have it again. Not that this one is a boxoffice bomb, but it packs the popular elements of the successful movies and feeds us again. But you will keep seated to the end because of the scenic beauty of the village and the wonderful performances of this movie’s supporting stars.