One more trip to Bangalore

 

One more trip to Bangalore

 This time the trip to Bangalore was made without much preparation. Earlier, when I was the South India Head of Krishi Jagran, the practice was to reach Bangalore in the morning, conduct meetings and return in the evening. Therefore, I can’t say I am familiar with the city. The only different memory is seeing the flower show at Lalbagh with my scientist friend Gopalakrishnan.

Chennai-Bangalore journey was on Jansathabdi. Seats in the middle of the bogie, relatively less passengers, good food made the trip a nice one. Granddaughter Padma thoroughly enjoyed it. We boarded at 5:30 PM and reached Bangalore at 10:30 PM. Stayed at Radisson. The atmosphere, the surroundings and the room paved the way for a good night's sleep. Breakfast was a tasty entertainment. We left there in the afternoon and shifted to Nalapad International. The truth is that even a kid could feel the transition from deluxe to economy. Padmavati did not like the place very much. We checked in and then came out for a walk. We reached Race Course Road, where some agitation was happening.  The police were also seen removing the protesters. A sight that occurs in most capitals of India. We took an auto rickshaw to Cubbon Park.

 

    During the British period, the park was made in   hundred acres of land and named Cubbon park .Now there are three hundred acres of land. Here more than six thousand trees provide fresh air to the city and a peaceful environment for the city dwellers. The park was started in 1870 by Sir John Maid, who was the Commissioner of Mysore. Chief Engineer Major General Richard Sangi developed the park and named it Maid's Park. It later became Cubbon Park. In 1927, the park was renamed as Sri Chamarajendra Park as part of the Silver Jubilee of the reign of King of Mysore Sri Krishna raja Wodeyar. The park is now managed by the Department of Horticulture.

 

  We first went to the Government Museum. It is not a very good museum but like other places there are artifacts like swords and shields, archeological evidences etc. Various paintings including Thanjavur painting could be seen there. Venkatappa Art Gallery is also nearby. We spent about two hours there. By then Asha joined us after the official events. We walked around the beautiful park. Then we ate at the Konark restaurant in the nearby Kanteerava Sports Complex. The less crowded hotel provided a tasty lunch. It was a quiet place there we spent more than an hour. Later we went to Lalbagh. The surroundings of Cubbon Park were beautiful and we began to love the city. But with the trip to Lalbagh, that opinion has changed. The traffic was unbearable. We walked around Lalbagh for some time. Lalbagh Botanical Garden has a history of two hundred years. The glasshouse was established in 1890. That is where the flower show started. This park was started in 1760 by Hyder Ali and completed by Tipu Sultan. The 240-acre park features a lake, over 3,000-year-old rock, and a variety of trees and flowers. It was raining when we reached the glass house. We were forced to stay there for some time. When the rain subsided, we returned to the hotel. We really suffocated with the traffic. After reaching the hotel on Crescent Road, we rested for a while and came out. The city was still busy. Most of the shops are open. It was past nine o'clock. After a purchase at Bhairava Silk Palace, we had dinner at  South Indian Ruchi. South Indian food was over, and hence had a North Indian meal. We have to go to White Field in the morning. We were tired after a hectic day, so we fell asleep quickly.

Aavasavyuham (Habitat ) - Amazing presentation

 

Aavasavyuham (Habitat ) - Amazing presentation

Such a style of presentation has not been seen in Malayalam cinema till date. A beautiful film where every frame could be watched with wonder. The director portrays a man who is a part of nature through the character of Joy. The main theme of the film is the conflict between society and nature and the conflict between man and man. The intelligence of RK Krishnanand, who discovered that science, social issues and human feelings can be combined to make a film so beautifully, is highly appreciated. Here the current state of the Earth's ecosystems and the future problems were discussed across time-zones.

   The story was told keeping the character Joy as the lead . The rarity of the way it was told is beautiful. The mangroves, fishes and amphibians that the Nature losing were highlighted in the movie.   The locations of the movie were  Munnar, Azhikode and Puthuvaipp , the places that were disturbed due to development. The story, the characters and the way of presentation were all a different experience.

 Joy lives in a world where nature is exploited and preyed upon by man and where men preyed each other. He only did favor to others. That's why he eventually became a miraculous animal. Rahul Rajagopal, who played the role of Joy, grabbed attention with his physique and disengagement that suits for the role.

Nileen Sandra who played Lizzy and the other main characters Zhinz Shan, Ajay Ghosh, Sreejith Babu and Sreenath Bab had all given remarkable performances. Vishnu Prabhakar's cinematography  was excellent. Rakesh Cherumadam has done the  editing . Ajmal Hasbulla was  the  music  director. Make up was  done by Arshad Varkala and visual effects by Antony-Jayakrishnan team. The film is available on SonyLiv🙏

Ammu - a film dealing with domestic violence and women's freedom

 

Ammu - A film dealing with domestic violence and women's freedom

 

  Ammu is a Telugu film released on 19 October 2022 on Amazon Prime. Its Malayalam,Tamil  dubbing is also available. Starring Aishwarya Lakshmi and Naveen Chandra in lead roles, the film is written and directed by Charukesh Shekhar. Cinematography by Apurva Saligram, editing by Radha Sridhar and music by Bharat Shankar. Dialogue prepared by Padmavati Malladi. Bobby Simha, Raghu Babu, Sathya, Mala Parvathy and Prem Sagar are the other actors.

 

Ammu is a film that approaches women psychologically. The film can be viewed just as  reading a feel good  short story. It tells about the problems in a husband-wife relationship and how she finds a solution to it. Ammu is a film worth watching

From Kesu to Eesho- a relief to Nadirsha

 

 From Kesu to Eesho – A relief to Nadirsha

Director Nadirsha’s Amar Akbar Antony ,Kattappanayilae  Hrithik Roshan and Meranam Shaji  were the films that got the attention of the audience. But the movie Keshu Eee veedintae  Nathan, starring Dileep at the lead, was a film that disappointed   the audience. Therefore, even if  Eesho  is not an impressive movie, it is a relief for the director. Nadir Shah has taken utmost care to improve the script he has got. The screenplay written by Suneesh Varanad has been prepared in such a way as to remind the story of the Walayar girls. At the beginning of the film, depicts a child and her mother commit suicide after the child was being tortured by a teacher. Audience couldn’t get opportunity to see her father as he was in the Gulf countries. The case illustrates well the sad state of our police and legal system which protect those with money and power.

The story then revolves around an ATM counter. Ramachandran Pillai, who works as a security there, is a key witness in a major POCSO case. The prime accused engages a hired goon to kill Ramachandran Pillai, who is to testify the next day. The criminal arranges his jail mate to operate the scheme. The script tries its best to maintain the suspense of the story, but the screenplay is such that the audience understands who Eesho, played by Jayasuriya is. Finally, the film takes a happy ending. While the truth remains that the current system is inadequate in dealing with criminals, it is unbelievable that the system fails to catch the person who kills the defendants one by one.

Most of the films that we see present this kind of incredulity. Jayasurya has done the work assigned to him beautifully. I don't think Jaffer Idukki has had such a remarkable film before. A girl named Akshara Kishore and  the teacher  played by Yadu Krishna are the characters that stand out in my mind. Others didn't have much to play for. Namitha Pramod, Suresh Krishna, Johny Antony, Manikandan, Srikanth Murali, Rajith Kumar are other lead actors. Arun Narayan is the producer. Cinematography is notably handled by Roby Varghese Raj. Editing was done by Shameer Mohammed and music by Rahul Raj. The film is available on SONY Liv.

Theerppu ( Verdict) - Yet another revenge story

 

 Theerppu (Verdict) - Yet another revenge story

Kunjali  Maraikar is a heroic character in the history we have studied. It was the nobles of the day who threw Kunjali, who was upright, brave and eloquent, into the hands of the Portuguese. Here, Basheer Marakkar, who did not know how to read and write,  saw all the community members as his own family members, was cheated t by a  Nair, Menon and Potti. Saddened Marakkar  ended  his life. The family is shattered. Son Abdullah Marakkar  left the place and no body knew where he was. A heavy drinker, he lives only to pay back. Murali Gopi has crafted a perfect revenge story. Here the revenge is confined to Ramkumar Nair, the son of the big cheater  Nair.

The film really revolves around Ramkumar Nair. Ramkumar is a big fraud like Johnson Mavunkal. The role suits Vijay Babu very well. Isha Talwar plays Maithili, his share trader. Saiju Kurup gave a good performance as the scared and complex potti. Hanna Raji Koshi's acting as his wife is also good. Potti, who is financially broke, arrives at Ramkumar's beach resort for a business deal. Abdullah is seen by chance. At a time when it seems that his wife will reach Ramkumar's hands, he conveys the information about Ramkumar's presence to Abdullah. When he reaches the resort, the story changes completely. The film has a different ending where the hero takes revenge by drawing death.

Abdullah is a role that Prithviraj could do without much effort. Murali Gopi's “Kammara Sambhavam” was a well written script. Ratheesh Ampattu, who directed it, has directed this movie, providing justice to the script. The resort and the museum set up within it all add up beauty to the film. Cinematography by Sunil KS and editing by Deepu S. Joseph are excellent. Gopi Sundar's music rarely misses the beat. Starring Indrajith, Siddhik, Sreelakshmi, Srikanth Murali, Mamukoya, Sussanne Burnett, Lookman, Shaju Sridhar and others, the film is now available on Disney Hotstar

Oru thekkan thallu case - Life of a local thug and his enemies

 

Oru Thekkan Thallu Case (A southern  beat  case)

 Generally every village has a superhero. A thug, someone who others fear. Most of the time these people would be of bad character. But the lighthouse watcher of Anchuteng ,Amminipillai was a different man. He did justice to his wife and was also considerate of other women. That was why he objected the meeting of neighborhood  girl Vasanthi and Podian  at night and spread that love affair among the public. That's how Podian's ego was shattered. With the help of his friends Kunjipaki, Prabhakuttan, Kunjukunju  and Lopez, he ambushed Amminipillai and fatally injured him. Amminipillai came  back stronger after treatment and beat  them one by one in front of the public. He planned  to beat the fugitive Podian before his marriage with Vasanti. A variety of problems, many really trivial but big things in village life, arise one after the other in Amminipillai's life. But his wife Rugmini made  up for everything and ended  the story auspicious.

The  movie was directed by debutant N. Sreejith, written by Rajesh Pinnadan based on G.R.Indu Gopan's story  Amminipilla Vettu case. What made the film enjoyable was that it was set in a village in the early 1990s, brought  many actors who were not familiar to the audience, and told the story in an interesting way. The film was produced by Mukesh R Mehta and CV Sarathy and was not a big challenge for cinematographer Madhu Neelakandan, who had done cinematography for Annayum Rasoolum, Churuli and Kammattipadam.  The film was edited by Manoj Kannoth. The background music  was composed by Justin Varghese, who composed the music for Tanneer Mathan Dinamal, Joji and Ajagajantharam. Anwar Ali composed the lyrics. Biju Menon, Padmapriya, Nimisha Sajayan and Roshan Mathew in the lead roles, Arun Shankaran, Reju Shivdas, Akhil Kavalayur and Aswat Lal had given remarkable performances in the film. The film is available on Netflix.