Dabangg 2

Directed by	Arbaaz Khan
Produced by	Arbaaz Khan Malaika Arora Khan
Written by	Dilip Shukla
Starring	Salman Khan Sonakshi Sinha Prakash Raj Arbaaz Khan Vinod Khanna
Music by	Sajid-Wajid
Cinematography	Aseem Mishra
Studio	Arbaaz Khan Productions
Distributed by	Arbaaz Khan Productions
Release date(s)	December 21, 2012
Running time	120 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	60 crore (US$10.92 million)

Rating - 2/5

Nothing new. If you've seen Dabangg, you've seen this as well.

Da Thadiya

Directed by	Aashiq Abu
Produced by	Anto Joseph
Written by	Syam Pushkaran Dileesh Nair Abhilash S Kumar
Starring	Sekhar Menon Sreenath Bhasi Ann Augustine Nivin Pauly Arundathi Nag Maniyanpilla Raju Edavela Babu
Music by	Bijibal
Cinematography	Shyju Kahlid
Release date(s)	December 21, 2012 [1]
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 3.5/5

A complete entertainer. Simply superb songs. Fine performances from Shekar Menon, Sreenath Bhasi and Nivin Pauly. Packed with the right amount of humor, drama and fun.

Saw it twice and enjoyed it both times. Clearly the winner for this Xmas releases.

Thank you Aashiq Abu.

 

I Love Me

Directed by	B. Unnikrishnan
Produced by	Vyshakh Rajan
Written by	Sethu
Starring	Asif Ali Unni Mukundan Isha Talwar Anoop Menon
Music by	Deepak Dev
Cinematography	Satheesh Kurup
Editing by	K. M. Shameer
Distributed by	Vyshaka Cinema
Release date(s)	December 21, 2012
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 1/5

All style and no plot at all. Weak script and a complete attempt by Asif Ali to be over cool and stylish. Guess the movie would have been better off without him.

Unni Mukundan and Anoop Menon are passable. Isha Talwar better stay behind the "Thattu" because she was just horrible to look at here.

 

Bavuttiyude Namathil

Directed by	G. S. Vijayan
Produced by	Ranjith
Written by	Ranjith
Starring	Mammootty Kavya Madhavan Shankar Ramakrishnan Kaniha Rima Kallingal Vineeth
Distributed by	Capitol Theatres
Release date(s)	December 21, 2012
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 2/5

Starts of really well and till the interval keeps you entertained. Post which we have a similar story of Vesham, Bus Conductor were Mammukka keeps the family secret intact to avoid a disaster. But that inturn proved the movie to be a disaster.

A complete let down during the second half.

 

Karmayodha

Directed by	Major Ravi
Produced by	Haneef Mohammed Major Ravi
Written by	Major Ravi
Starring	Mohanlal Murali Sharma Saikumar Aishwarya Devan Asha Sarath
Music by	MG Sreekumar Background Score : Jeffrey Jonathan
Cinematography	Pradeep Nair
Editing by	Donmax
Studio	Red Rose Creations MR Productions
Distributed by	Red Rose Release
Release date(s)	December 20, 2012 (2012-12-20) (Dubai, Premier show) December 21, 2012 (2012-12-21) (worldwide)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	5crores

Rating - 2/5

Lalettan at his usual best. A different story. Major Ravi needs to improve on his directing bit however. No catchy songs or humor in the movie.

Its Lalettan all the way. Mad Maddy rocks.

Poppins

Directed by	V. K. Prakash
Produced by	Darshan Ravi
Written by	Jayaprakash Kuloor
Based on	18 Natakangal by Jayaprakash Kuloor
Starring	Kunchacko Boban Indrajth Nithya Menen Meghana Raj Padmapriya Jayasurya Parvathy_Nair Siddique Ann Augustine Shankar Ramakrishnan Mythili
Music by	Ratheesh Vegha
Cinematography	Jomon T. John Arun James Pradeesh M. Varma
Editing by	Mahesh Narayan
Studio	Dimac Creations
Distributed by	Central Pictures
Release date(s)	November 30, 2012
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 1/5

Made absolutely no sense and was a complete waste of time.

Yakshi – Faithfully Yours

Directed by	Abhiram Suresh Unnithan
Produced by	Madhusoodhanan Mavelikkara
Written by	Abhiram Suresh Unnithan
Based on	Aithihyamala by Kottarathil Sankunni
Starring	Avanthika Parvathi Nair Ved Faizal Shivakumar Akhil Devan Manoj Madhu Likhiya Jamal
Music by	Aravind Chandrasekhar
Cinematography	Jemin Jom Ayyaneth
Editing by	Sobhin K. Soman
Studio	Sea Shell Movies
Distributed by	Mulakupaadam Films
Release date(s)	14 December 2012 (Kerala)
Running time	110 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	1.25 crore (US$227,500)

Rating - 0/5

Terrible. Horrible. Unbearable.

The Raid: Redemption

• Official website
• Official Forum
• Official FanHub

Directed by	Gareth Evans
Produced by	Ario Sagantoro
Written by	Gareth Evans
Starring	Iko Uwais Joe Taslim Donny Alamsyah Yayan Ruhian Pierre Gruno Tegar Setrya Ray Sahetapy
Music by	Fajar Yuskemal Aria Prayogi (Celluloid Nightmares release) Mike Shinoda Joseph Trapanese (Sony Pictures Classics release)
Cinematography	Matt Flannery
Editing by	Gareth Evans
Studio	PT. Merantau Films XYZ Films
Distributed by	Celluloid Nightmares (Worldwide) Sony Pictures Classics Stage 6 Films (North America)
Release date(s)	8 September 2011 (TIFF) 20 January 2012 (Sundance) 23 March 2012 (United States & Indonesia)
Running time	101 minutes
Country	Indonesia
Language	Indonesian
Budget	$1.8 million
Box office	$4,105,123 (US)

Rating - 1/5

Quite boring and not much to see here. 

Neethaane En Ponvasantham

Directed by	Gautham Menon
Produced by	Reshma Ghatala Venkat Somasundaram Elred Kumar Jayaram Gautham Menon
Written by	Reshma Ghatala Gautham Menon
Screenplay by	Reshma Ghatala Gautham Menon
Story by	Reshma Ghatala
Starring	Jiiva Samantha
Music by	Ilaiyaraaja
Cinematography	M. S. Prabhu Om Prakash
Editing by	Anthony
Studio	Photon Kathaas RS Infotainment
Release date(s)	14 December 2012
Running time	155 minutes
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	10 crore

Rating - 2/5

Nothing new to offer here. On similar lines of Gautham Vasudev Menon's earlier flick Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. The 2 points go just for Samantha Ruth Prabhu :)

Matinee

Directed by	Aneesh Upasana
Written by	Anil Narayanan
Starring	Maqbool Salmaan Mythili
Music by	Songs: Ratheesh Vegha Anand Raj Anand Background score: Gopi Sundar
Cinematography	Pappinu
Editing by	Nikhil Venu
Studio	AOPL Entertainment
Distributed by	AOPL Entertainment Release
Release date(s)	December 13, 2012
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 3.5/5

Another movie gone in with no expectations and thinking t would be on the same lines of "Heroine". However, completely different and a surprise to the general movie theme based movies.

Pretty impressive acting by Mythili and Maqbool Salman.

Definitely a winner, though it wont last much in our state due to no star value.

Life of Pi

Official Website

Directed by	Ang Lee
Produced by	Ang Lee Gil Netter David Womark
Screenplay by	David Magee
Based on	Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Starring	Suraj Sharma Irrfan Khan Tabu Adil Hussain Gerard Depardieu Rafe Spall
Music by	Mychael Danna
Cinematography	Claudio Miranda
Editing by	Tim Squyres
Studio	Rhythm & Hues Fox 2000 Pictures
Distributed by	20th Century Fox IBC Motion Pictures (India)
Release date(s)	November 21, 2012
Running time	127 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$120 million
Box office	$166,596,000

Rating - 4/5

I went for this movie with no expectations and no idea of what it was about. I had seen the trailer once and was not too much impressed by the same.

However, what I saw was a wonder and an interesting, fabulous story directed by Ang Lee. Now I got to get the book and read it.

I was even surprised to see all the shows were packed and HOUSEFULL. Not seen that for a very long time.

A must watch and a complete paisa vasool.

Talaash

Directed by	Reema Kagti
Produced by	Ritesh Sidhwani Aamir Khan Farhan Akhtar
Written by	Farhan Akhtar (dialogues) Anurag Kashyap (additional dialogues)
Screenplay by	Reema Kagti Zoya Akhtar
Story by	Reema Kagti Zoya Akhtar
Starring	Aamir Khan Rani Mukerji Kareena Kapoor
Music by	Ram Sampath
Cinematography	K. U. Mohanan
Editing by	Anand Subaya
Studio	Excel Entertainment Aamir Khan Productions
Distributed by	Reliance Entertainment
Release date(s)	30 November 2012
Running time	139 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	40 crore (US$7.28 million)[2]
Box office	84.82 crore (US$15.44 million) (2 weeks domestic nett)

Rating - 4/5

2 days and 3 good movies, one of which is this. 2 weks and the movie has crossed the 100 cr mark, something which SRK couldn't achieve with his JTHJ.

A splendid movie with the right amount of suspense, thrills and drama. Need not say more for an Aamir Khan movie.

Must watch.

Hide N' Seek

Directed by	Anil
Produced by	Sandhya Rajendran
Written by	Vikram S Nair
Starring	Divya Darshan Natasha Mukesh Shankar
Music by	Rajamani
Cinematography	Anandakuttan
Editing by	P.C.Mohanan
Studio	Kalidasa Kalakendram
Release date(s)	December 8, 2012
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 0.5/5

Predictable, seen-it-all, Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

Podaa Podi

Directed by	Vignesh Shivan
Produced by	Padam Kumar
Written by	Vignesh Shivan
Starring	Silambarasan Varalaxmi Sarathkumar
Music by	Dharan Kumar
Cinematography	Duncan Telford J. Laxman (India) R. Rathnavelu (Love Panlaama Venaama)
Editing by	Anthony
Studio	Gemini Film Circuit
Distributed by	Gemini Film Circuit
Release date(s)	November 13, 2012(world premiere) November 16, 2012(United States)
Country	India
Language	Tamil
Budget	20 crore (US$3.64 million)

Rating - 1/5

The other Diwali release in Tamil along with Thupakki.

A clear case of script gone wrong, Below average songs. and nothing worth remembering even for a laugh.

The Hit List

Directed by	Bala
Produced by	Bala
Written by	Bala
Narrated by	Mohanlal
Starring	Kannada: Dhruv Aishwarya Devan Malayalam: Bala Aishwarya Devan Sandhya
Music by	Alphons Joseph
Cinematography	Madhu Neelakandan
Release date(s)	December 7, 2012
Country	India
Language	Kannada Malayalam

Rating - 1/5

What started well ended really boring and disappointing. The movie has a huge cast of Bala, Samuthirakani, Narain, Unni Mukundan, Riyaz Khan, Tini Tom, Sasi Kallinga, Suresh Krishna, Kiran Raj, Thalaivasal Vijay, Krishna, Riza Bava, Kathal Sandhya etc.

Except for Bala, Riyaz Khan all the others are just guest appearances.

By 40 minutes into the movie we know exactly what the plot is and then its just a drag from there. A complete disappointment for Bala's first directorial venture.

Khiladi 786

Directed by	Ashish R Mohan
Produced by	Twinkle Khanna Himesh Reshammiya Sunil Lulla
Story by	Himesh Reshammiya
Narrated by	Paresh Rawal
Starring	Mithun Chakraborty Akshay Kumar Asin Thottumkal Raj Babbar Himesh Reshammiya Mukesh Rishi
Music by	Himesh Reshammiya
Studio	HR Musik Hari Om Entertainment Co.
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date(s)	December 7, 2012
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Rating - 1/5

What he gained in Rowdy Rathore, he lost it here. Bad songs, horrible script, pathetic acting by the cast, exaggerated action and the biggest minus "Himesh Reshammiya". The story and music was by Himesh Reshammiya which was equally unbearable as his acting.

The only point goes for AK. Even Tees Maar Khan was a better movie than this.

Madirasi

Directed by	Shaji Kailas
Produced by	Jagadeesh Chandran, Impresario
Written by	Rajesh Jayaraman
Starring	Jayaram, Meera Nandan, Meghana Raj
Music by	Satish Sujit
Cinematography	Shaji
Studio	Kichu Films, Impresario Motion Pictures
Distributed by	Kichu Films, KNM Films Release
Release date(s)	December 7, 2012
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Rating - 1/5

After Jayarams last movie Manthrikan, I should have clearly avoided this one. But being a Shaji Kailas flick I couldn't resist it completely. After all Kilukampetty and Dr. Pasupathy were good movies.

However, Shaji Kailas also has been going down with his movies from Time in 2007 onwards. His last worth watching movie was in 2006 with Baba Kalyani.

Anyhow looks like Shaji Kailas has seriously lost it and for quite some time Jayaram has not got back what he lost quite some time ago.

And the result of 2 people in such a state is Madirasi.

And if you ask me whats the 1 point for? Its clearly for Tini Tom, who was the saving grace of the movie.