Thursday, December 27, 2012

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 INR60 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.

 

Monday, December 24, 2012

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.


Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Poppins







Directed by V. K. Prakash
Produced by Darshan Ravi
Written by Jayaprakash Kuloor
Based on 18 Natakangal by
Jayaprakash Kuloor
Starring
Music by Ratheesh Vegha
Cinematography
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.


Monday, December 17, 2012

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 INR1.25 crore (US$227,500)


Rating - 0/5

Terrible. Horrible. Unbearable.


The Raid: Redemption









Directed by Gareth Evans
Produced by Ario Sagantoro
Written by Gareth Evans
Starring
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)
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 :)


Friday, December 14, 2012

Matinee




Directed byAneesh Upasana
Written byAnil Narayanan
StarringMaqbool Salmaan
Mythili
Music bySongs:
Ratheesh Vegha
Anand Raj Anand
Background score:
Gopi Sundar
CinematographyPappinu
Editing byNikhil Venu
StudioAOPL Entertainment
Distributed byAOPL Entertainment Release
Release date(s)
  • December 13, 2012
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

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 byAng Lee
Produced byAng Lee
Gil Netter
David Womark
Screenplay byDavid Magee
Based onLife of Pi by
Yann Martel
StarringSuraj Sharma
Irrfan Khan
Tabu
Adil Hussain
Gerard Depardieu
Rafe Spall
Music byMychael Danna
CinematographyClaudio Miranda
Editing byTim Squyres
StudioRhythm & Hues
Fox 2000 Pictures
Distributed by20th Century Fox
IBC Motion Pictures (India)
Release date(s)
  • November 21, 2012
Running time127 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
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 byReema Kagti
Produced byRitesh Sidhwani
Aamir Khan
Farhan Akhtar
Written byFarhan Akhtar (dialogues)
Anurag Kashyap (additional dialogues)
Screenplay byReema Kagti
Zoya Akhtar
Story byReema Kagti
Zoya Akhtar
StarringAamir Khan
Rani Mukerji
Kareena Kapoor
Music byRam Sampath
CinematographyK. U. Mohanan
Editing byAnand Subaya
StudioExcel Entertainment
Aamir Khan Productions
Distributed byReliance Entertainment
Release date(s)
  • 30 November 2012
Running time139 minutes 
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
BudgetINR40 crore (US$7.28 million)[2]
Box officeINR84.82 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.


Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Hide N' Seek




Directed byAnil
Produced bySandhya Rajendran
Written byVikram S Nair
StarringDivya Darshan
Natasha
Mukesh
Shankar
Music byRajamani
CinematographyAnandakuttan
Editing byP.C.Mohanan
StudioKalidasa Kalakendram
Release date(s)
  • December 8, 2012
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Rating - 0.5/5

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


Podaa Podi





Directed byVignesh Shivan
Produced byPadam Kumar
Written byVignesh Shivan
StarringSilambarasan
Varalaxmi Sarathkumar
Music byDharan Kumar
CinematographyDuncan Telford
J. Laxman (India)
R. Rathnavelu (Love Panlaama Venaama)
Editing byAnthony
StudioGemini Film Circuit
Distributed byGemini Film Circuit
Release date(s)
  • November 13, 2012(world premiere)
  • November 16, 2012(United States)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
BudgetINR20 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 byBala
Produced byBala
Written byBala
Narrated byMohanlal
StarringKannada:
Dhruv
Aishwarya Devan
Malayalam:
Bala
Aishwarya Devan
Sandhya
Music byAlphons Joseph
CinematographyMadhu Neelakandan
Release date(s)
  • December 7, 2012
CountryIndia
LanguageKannada
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 byAshish R Mohan
Produced byTwinkle Khanna
Himesh Reshammiya
Sunil Lulla
Story byHimesh Reshammiya
Narrated byParesh Rawal
StarringMithun Chakraborty
Akshay Kumar
Asin Thottumkal
Raj Babbar
Himesh Reshammiya
Mukesh Rishi
Music byHimesh Reshammiya
StudioHR Musik
Hari Om Entertainment Co.
Distributed byEros International
Release date(s)
  • December 7, 2012
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi


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 byShaji Kailas
Produced byJagadeesh Chandran,
Impresario
Written byRajesh Jayaraman
StarringJayaram,
Meera Nandan,
Meghana Raj
Music bySatish Sujit
CinematographyShaji
StudioKichu Films,
Impresario Motion Pictures
Distributed byKichu Films,
KNM Films Release
Release date(s)
  • December 7, 2012
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam



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.