Indian Movie Review

Radio Jockey

With 'Radio Jockey' Rajasenan makes an attempt to turn new-gen, and starts with a disclaimer that this is the story of a girl that apparently has no resemblance to anyone living or dead. On the way out from the theatre, after the show, however happened to see a poster of the film that features none other than Angelina Jolie herself!! Phew!

So, the film is all about Kanmani Kaarthu (Nimisha Suresh), a radio jockey with 69.3 Super FM radio, who is back in the studio after a break of two years. Reason? The girl was detected with cancer, and having conquered the sickness she is back, and with a bang. Balu (Arjun Nandakumar) is the new RJ that had kept the station running during her absence, and before long, the duo fall in love.

I'm still wondering why Rajasenan has named his latest film 'Radio Jockey'. I do agree that his female protagonist is a radio jockey without doubt, but she is much more than that - in fact, you eventually forget all about her being an RJ. Folks, she is a film actress, a vociferous feminist and a cancer survivor to boot.

Not just that, here is a radio jockey who simply isn't satisfied with playing a song on the radio. She sings songs herself much to the delight of the local fisher woman, the chai waala, the auto rickshaw driver and the psycho fan who suspiciously behaves like a maniac in the making.

Rajasenan had managed to surprise us with unbelievable duds of late, and 'Radio Jockey' adds itself to the list in no time. Fifteen minutes into this mess of a film and you find yourself waiting anxiously for the end credits to start rolling and for the ordeal to end.

There is a mother - daughter thread in the film, with an actress who is young enough to be the heroine's younger sister, cast as her mother instead. The interactions between the mom and daughter turn out to be pretty much weird, and so are the conversational pieces that sound downright awkward.

Kaarthu is unable to make a decision when it comes to Balu, and his proposal. To accept or not is the big question that dangles right in front of her, and luckily she has a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim friend at the radio station. She wastes no time and heads over to the temple, the church and the mosque to make that vital resolution. Believe me, if I were Balu, and if I knew of this non-denominational prayer request, I would catch the next flight to the Amazon jungles and stay safe.

Oh, and then Balu disappears, leaving Kaarthu and us in the lurch. The running time of 112 minutes is the sole support that you have on occasions as these, and you put up a brave front, telling yourself that irrespective of what has happened to Balu, peace will soon be restored again.

There is only one aspect of 'Radio Jockey' that I liked, which happens to be its lead actor. Arjun Nandakumar, is refreshingly good as Balu, and with neither a well written role or worthy dialogues to support him, still manages to hold his own in the film. Nimisha is pretty much okay, while it's Ria Saira who impresses us more with a credible performance.

'Radio Jockey' is the kind of film, when you constantly remind yourself that there is a world that is all bright and sunny outside the cinema hall. It's also the kind of film that courtesy its title makes you keep your car radio switched off on the drive back home.

Aneesh Anwar's 'Zachariyayude Garbhinikal' chronicles the lives of three pregnant women, and of a woman who pretends to be pregnant. Dr. Zacharia (Lal) who runs the Kinder Hospital has apparently so many tales to tell, of women who eagerly and some who not-so-eagerly await the day when they would become a mother.

Anuradha (Sandra Thomas) bears the seed of her lover in her stomach, while her husband Hari (Joy Mathew) lies in bed following an accident, waiting for an imminent demise. Unsure as to whether she should go for an abortion, Anu wonders where life is gonna take her from now on. Jasmine Jennifer (Geetha) is a nun who has walked out of the church after several years of commendable service, and who has decided to have a child of her own. And there is Saira (Sanusha) who turns up at the doctor's doorstep, claiming she is eighteen and insisting that she deliver her child.

Fathima (Rima Kallingal) hails from Kasargod and has built a small nest for herself and her younger brother Ikku in Cochin. She snatches an air pillow from a mannequin and places it on her belly, thereby giving the impression to all and sundry that she is pregnant. Though her predominant aim is to excuse herself from the night duty at the hospital where she works as a nurse, she finds the world smiling at her all on a sudden, seeing that the stork has paid her a visit.

Believe it or not, it is this mock pregnancy that works the best in the film, and Fathima and her brother are the only characters around that seem to have some real blood flowing through their veins. The rest, including the doctor himself either border on the melodramatic, or are too apathetic and perplexed at their own states.

None of these are pregnancies that are normal, when you take a closer look at them. Though it claims to be an ode to motherhood, 'the most purest' (according to the titles) emotion in the world, except for one, none of these mothers have concerns about the baby. They are much more alarmed at how their lives are to be transformed post the arrival of their child.

For that matter it does not really require a Padmarajan story that is furnished at the very end to comprehend how Saira has ended up being pregnant. Its utterly unbelievable that a gynecologist who has delivered hundreds of babies needs to go on a guess game to find out the culprit, when even the most common of viewers can easily sense where that sperm came from.

'Zachariayude Garbhinikal' has Rima Kallingal in top form, and she delivers yet another first-rate performance as Fathima, getting almost everything about the role, including the accent, the vibrancy and the vulnerability right. Asha Sarath looks gorgeous and together with Sanusha who comes up with a very sensitive feat, sees to it that the sentiments in their thread are all transacted safe and sound. Geetha is no naive performer, and grabbing the role with a vengeance, the veteran actress proves beyond doubt that she has still got it in her. Sandra Thomas, I'm sure is a good film producer, though I simply cannot vouch for her histrionic skills.

There is predominantly just one man who is expected to make his presence felt, which is Lal. However, Dr. Zacharia is not earth shattering role, which is why perhaps the audience develops an instant liking towards Aju Varghese, who plays a youngster in love with Fathima. I should also specially mention the young actor who plays Fathima's brother who is a true rockstar! The musical score by Vishnu-Sharath is downright striking, and so is the notable cinematography by Vishnu Naarayan.

Aneesh Anwar's film is intermittently engaging but gets unduly protracted by the greasy emotions that come to play in it. It does win points however, for its earnestness in attempting to tell a tale that is categorically special.

When an intelligent filmmaker (Trivikram) and a superstar (Pawan Kalyan) join hands, one definitely needs to compromise. We can't expect a superstar to compromise, can we? Therefore, Trivikram ends up compromising on his potential and in turn gives us an aspirational film such as "Attarintiki Daaredhi" (AD), which is shallow from the inside, but stylish on the outside. By doing so, Trivikram might add another commercial hit to his credit, but sells himself short.

An ailing grandfather (Boman Irani), two decades after disowning his daughter (Nadhiya) for marrying against his wish, feels guilty for his mistake. He requests his grandson (Pawn Kalyan) to bring her back to make amends.

For the millionth time, we are made to sit through a hackneyed story, yet we cheer for it for the simple reason that it features Pawan Kalyan. The problem with the film is that it strictly caters to the fanboys of Pawan; entertain them as much as possible even by defying logic and creativity.

Gautham Nanda (Pawan Kalyan) travels to Hyderabad, earns a place in his aunt's (Sunanda) house as a driver. There, he uses every opportunity to get closer to his aunt and earn her trust, but it doesn't take her much time to figure out his true identity. Will Gautham succeeds in his endeavour to take his aunt back to his grandfather? This is what we get to see in the rest of the film besides some romance, lots of action and occasional laughs.

When you throw in extra bucks, shoot in exotic locales, make your hero wear stylish clothes and sport an expensive ride, any film will look stylish regardless of whether it features Pawan Kalyan or not. AD is synonymous to that. It's merely ambitious, but its wafer thin story makes its interior appear superficial.

It's easy to say to watch the film with least expectations (one of the most common answers to a superstar film), but with Trivikram (known for writing brilliant films such as "Athadu" and "Manmadhudu") at the helm, there's definitely some level of expectation and when it's not met then you're bound to be disappointed. Unfortunately, Trivikram succumbs to star pressure and churns out a highly disappointing product.

Pawan Kalyan is at his best, suave and comfortable in his role that reeks of panache, but he constantly tries to please his mass following with superstar acts. We get see more of his comic as well as emotional side as he attempts to tug at our hearts with some melodrama towards the end. Nadhiya turns in a decent performance, but her role isn't much different from her last release "Mirchi". Boman Irani is miscast in a role that could have been ideally played by any Telugu artist. His role limited to a wheel chair and tragedy.

The screenplay is wobbly and Trivikram has no clue why he has cast two heroines. Pranitha is merely used to divert Pawan Kalyan's attention towards Samantha, who is impressive in her role. Brahmanandam, who is mostly used as a trump card in big-budget flicks, is brought in too late and by then I had lost interest in the film. Scenes featuring him are a laugh riot, but it's seriously late by then. Rao Ramesh gives a very refined performance and it's good to see him evolving with every film.

The music and cinematography is passable, but the film's biggest letdown was its running time. At nearly three hours, AD makes you cringe in your seats, especially with the emotional punch it delivers in the climax.

A man lying on the road in the middle of the night is critically injured by a bullet shot. He is drenched in a pool of blood. Bystanders look at him and even sympathise, but nobody cares to give him medical attention. This is how Mysskin mocks at the society we live in the opening scene of his film "Onayum Aatukuttiyum" (OA), which revolves around a gangster trying to redeem his wrongdoings.

A final year medical student (Chandru) attends to a man on the brink of death. Chandru takes him to a hospital in the middle of the night, but is denied admittance because he has been shot and the case calls for police inquiry. Chandru takes to him to the nearest police station to file a complaint, but since the inspector is on patrol, he is asked to wait.

Knowing that waiting at the police station might not help the injured man, who needs immediate medical attention, Chandru brings him home. He performs a minor surgery and removes the bullet and saves his life. The next morning, officers from the crime branch take Chandru into custody for performing a surgery on a most wanted criminal and help him flee.

The man who was saved by Chandru is a most wanted paid killer named Wolf, who has so far murdered 14 individuals, including a blind teenage kid. To clear his name from police records, Chandru is forced to help the police nab Wolf. In essence, he should kill Wolf when he will come to thank him for saving his life. But the plan of police turns topsy-turvy when Wolf takes Chandru hostage and what ensues is an edge-of-the-seat manhunt through one night.

OA arrives sans fanfare, but it sweeps you off your feet with an engrossing narrative, told mostly through one night. For all those who have been tired of watching mindless Tamil comedies in the last few months, OA is a welcome change. With OA, Mysskin returns strongly to doing what he is always regarded a master at. OA is also a perfect follow up to his disastrous last release "Mugamoodi".

The film is a thriller and the tension in it is accentuated with the help of Illayaraja's background score. The film doesn't feature a hero, but the real hero is the composer's score that fills up most of the silence in the narrative with absolute brilliance.

Music is the film's biggest strength because it successfully replaces words and serves as a strong narrative in some crucial scenes. The pain of some of the characters is wonderfully rendered through the score that also captures the tension of the film with a breathtaking orchestra-backed composition.

Mysskin plays Wolf whose intention we don't understand until the climax. It is not easy to direct as well as act, but with precision and conviction, Mysskin makes it all look easy. He takes a dig at the police department throughout and it isn't easy to welcome his criticism, but with the levity that he presents it, you tend to give in with a smile. He also shines as an actor in his role. Mysskin's passion for martial arts continues in OA too, as he performs an excellent hand combat towards the end. His supporting cast is far better than several lead actors of the Tamil film industry.

Besides music, darkness is also one of the important characters in the film. Cinematographer Balaji Ranga uses darkness to build the mood of the film. His frames of Chennai through the night are brilliant to watch on screen.

Sri, who plays Chandra, impresses with his energetic performance. His transformation from a lamb-like character to a powerful one towards the end is exceptionally well performed. Mysskin has extracted the best out of him and it is evident on screen.

OA is a cut above Mysskin's previous works. He crushes all cinematic cliches with this effort and manages to gives us a film we deserve.

Bensin (Baiju Johnson) is a Muslim youth from Mattancherry. He is ready to do anything. Roshen is his close friend. He is from Gujarat.

Bensin is working at his uncle's handicraft shop. Roshen is ready to do any job. Both of them are hard working but they spend their daily earnings each night by drinking. Thus, along with Bensin's uncle, they celebrate their life fully.

It is at this time a beautiful girl Sunaina (Parvathy Omanakkuttan) enters their life. She is a reporter from London Times. She has reached there to write an article about Mattancherry. She spends a day at Bensin and his friend's place. The eventful moments that follow is plotted in 'K Q'.

'K Q' is the debut directorial venture of actor Baiju Johnson. Reena Baiju produces the movie under the banner of John Felix Entertainments.

Cast:
Aishwarya, Rajesh, Dharma Tej, Ramesh Pandit, Bullet Prakash, Raju Talikote

Direction:
Ravi Kadur

Cast:
Rajeev Khandelwal, Lekha Washington, Saurabh Shukla, Prashant Narayanan, Vijay Raaz, Vijay Maurya, Amit Sial, Raj Singh Arora

Direction:
John Owen

Indian Movie Review

Radio Jockey

Zachariyayude Garbhinikal

Attharintiki Daaredhi

Onnayum Aattukuttiyum

KQ

Jungle Jackie

Peter Gaya Kaam Se

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