Christian Brothers Movie Review: Harmless old wine in new bottle

Director Joshiy has been a veteran in the Malayalam film industry who has worked with most of the leading actors in his period. So when AMMA (Association of Malayalam Movie Artistes) and Dileep joined hands to make Twenty: 20,the fund raising film for AMMA, it was Joshiy whom they turned up to for helming the project. Joshiy along with his writersSiby K.Thomas and Udayakrishna came up with the mother of all multistarrers in Malayalam Cinema by incorporating nearly the who’s who of the industry in the film. What was interesting was that the film managed to give enough mileage to almost the entire star cast while retaining the focus on the top billed stars of course.

Twenty: 20 wasn’t a film that brought about any revolution in terms of its story telling or probably even in the technical front. But it delivered what it promised- entertainment catering to the masses who were happy to watch all their stars in one single film. So in 2009 when Christian Brothers was first announced with the same team of Joshiy,Udayakrishna and Sibi.K.Thomas we knew what to expect. There was no doubt that it was not going to be anywhere close to some of the landmark films in Malayalam Cinema. It wasn’t going to be having any outstanding subject or an out of the box treatment or even technical wizardry. So for those who would complain saying that the movie is nowhere in the league of Joshiy’s earlier films ( Nirakootu, New Delhi, No.20 Madras Mail, Naduvaazhikal and many more ) or the landmark films of Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi or Dileep, well then I’d say you went to watch the wrong movie. The star cast comprising of names like Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Sharath Kumar etc certainly looked impressive enough and did create a lot of excitement among the prospective audience. The film was also in the news when the producers association came out with a norm that no Malayalam movie should have a budget of more than 3.5 crores ( keeping the viability in mind ). Sensing that this project was going to be way beyond the 3.5 crs mark the association did not give the clearance initially before finally relaxing the norm for the same.

Ok so am I saying that Christian Brothers is a cracker of a movie? Hang on friends. Let me start by looking at the plot of the movie to begin with. Palamattathu Varghese Mappila (Sai Kumar) is a retired Army Captain and a disciplinarian. He has given up on his two sons, Christy (Mohanlal) and Joji (Dileep). He gets upset with Christy when he hears that Christy has probably joined the underworld in Mumbai while Joji earns his father’s displeasure by opting out of the seminary in Italy and falling in love with Meenakshi ( Kavya Madhavan ), the daughter of the home minister (Devan). When Meenakshi’s father gets to hear of his daughter’s affair he gets her back home but before reaching home itself, she is kidnapped. Considering the high risk involved in getting his daughter back the minister falls back upon Christy to handle the task. What happens from thereon is what the rest of the film is all about.

It is certainly an effort to make a simple story like this work to an extent and for that Joshiy, Sibi K.Thomas and Udayakrishna deserve some credit. In fact at the interval point you are even strangely relaxed watching the film unfold and build up character by character. But strangely what starts on a relatively good note fizzles out in the 2nd half. The film has a parallel plot of land mafia, which is linked; to the main plot and this is an attempt to remain deep-rooted to reality. Sai Kumar is earnest as the father who is strict and is unable to recognize the goodness in his son. Biju Menonand Vijayaraghavan get a lot of screen time but play the standard negative roles. Suresh Gopi as the cop Joseph Vadakkan does his usual job while Dileep in his limited portion is effective. In fact in the 2nd half its only the light moments created in the scenes featuring Sursh Gopi and Dileep that carry some impact. None of the female leads – Kavya Madhavan,Lakshmi Rai, Kaniha or Lakshmi Gopalswamy have anything much to do in the film. Jagathy Sreekumar is good in the cameo enacted by him. Sharath Kumar is just there to provide star power and his presence is just that of an extended cameo.

But pray what was Suraj Venjaramoodu doing in the film?I think its the director’s duty to ensure that he reigns in someone like Suraj otherwise there is ever the chance of him going berserk in the film and only proving a nuisance.Ultimately the movie is a Mohanlal vehicle and the star pulls it off in style. But his introductory shot (breaking the glass and entering the frame) and his characterization as “ Sher-Son” (couldn’t they get anything better than this) were just to please the frontbenchers. While this made me grimace a bit and wonder what other crowd-pleasing tactics were in store, I was relieved to find no unnecessary over the top punch dialogues or item numbers. All of these have been seen in plenty in recent “mass films” in Malayalam and hence the lack of such elements at least gives you the feeling of watching a Malayalam movie and not a Tamil or Telugu styled one. Deepak Dev’s music is of the popular variety but not something that you might remember after a few months though.

All said and done it looks like the producers of the film, A.V.Anoop and Maha Subair who have produced many films together in the past including Paleri Manikyam, were clear with their objective this time- of making an entertainer that would fetch them their moolah. Initial indications suggest that they could be right though. With a release in 300 odd centres Worldwide (a record for Malayalam Cinema) and with word of mouth not being negative, the star power seems to have done the trick once again. But its sad that today’s state of affairs in Malayalam cinema has reached the level where one feels happy when even something better than the majority (of the trash) comes out. So if looked at as an opportunity to come up with something non-traditional or out of the box then the movie of course is a failure but if seen as just an attempt to keep you occupied for nearly 3 hours of its running time, then I’d say it’s a fair attempt. Go watch it for lack of better options and also to look at what could have been a really good entertainer, if the 2nd half also had delivered equally.

Originally published in PFC- http://passionforcinema.com/christian-brothers-movie-review-harmless-old-wine-in-new-bottle/

‘Passenger’- A tale of trains, scams and the common man

Right from the days when I was a kid, I used to enjoy traveling by train. Whether it were the long distance journeys usually in the summer vacation or the suburban train traveling in a Mumbai or Chennai, I would always look forward to it. Over years I have gone on to notice how Indian Railways seems to have become a home away from home for a lot many people who travel by trains regularly to work. Whether you talk about the electric trains in the metro cities like Western/Central/Harbor lines of Mumbai or the Guindy-Tambaram route in Chennai, or the underground Metro rail in Kolkata and Delhi or even in places like Kerala where people travel from a Palakkad to Coimbatore (T.N) or from far off places like Thrissur and adjoining districts to Cochin/Ernakulam, this phenomena is witnessed on a daily basis. The exceptions must only be in case of Sundays and holidays. Of course in Kerala with strikes and hartals being quite common one must see a lot more exceptions to this aspect.

For all these people traveling to work, the journey by train becomes an extension of their life. They even know the train timings by heart and would have their own acquaintances/friends whom they meet on the train every day. Speaking of this reminds me of Naseeruddin Shah in A Wednesday, mourning the death of a young man, a fellow train traveler who dies in a bomb blast. When you get into a routine of seeing somebody so regularly on the train everyday, you tend to identify him/her as someone familiar to you & look forward to meeting him/her again and again.

Why am I rambling on and on about trains and train travelers? Well basically because this post is my reflections over a recent Malayalam movie that I saw- ‘Passenger’. It’s a movie that’s certainly better than some of the mediocre stuff that we have got used to seeing from Malayalam cinema these days and it makes me in its own ways also relive my days of having traveled by the suburban trains in Chennai and Mumbai. The movie is not just about train journey, it’s also about the common man and the role that he can play in today’s chaotic society. So in a way that reminded me of A Wednesday, but the comparison is slightly superficial because there are a lot of differences between the common man in both these films.

Ranjith Shankar (a former I.T professional) makes a debut as a writer-director with Passenger. The movie is a definitely more than a decent debut for Ranjith as it’s certainly not a run of the mill subject and that needs to be appreciated. When the opening credits start I was astonished to find a big thanks to the ‘fans of Dileep’ and I certainly expected this to be a way of just addressing star tantrums, but thankfully as the movie progressed, I realized the actual reason for the credit and couldn’t but afford to smile when I realized the same. I will come to that later.
Passenger is a movie that basically chronicles the events that take place in the lives of a few individuals whose paths cross due to nothing but quirk of fate. Sathyanathan(Sreenivasan) is the common man of the story and he works for a Pharmaceutical firm in Ernakulam and travels everyday to work (and back) from his house in a village near Chalakudy by train. On the train he usually encounters a constant set of people with whom he spends time by playing cards and chit chatting. This is how life goes on for him on a regular basis. That Sathyanathan has a social activist streak is evident as he is seen running signature campaigns for cleaner toilets on trains, asking for streamlining the halts on train routes etc.

On the other hand you have a young educated couple who are equally social minded. The husband Adv.Nandan Menon ( Dileep ) and his wife TV journalist Anuradha Menon(Mamta Mohan Das ) by way of work have locked horns with the Home Minister(Jagathy Sreekumar ) in connection with a case pertaining to sand mining in a coastal area. One fine day Sathyanathan pesters his boss to grant him leave for the next day as he being the local temple festival’s organizer wants to be there for the same. Reluctantly his boss grants the leave when Sathyanathan volunteers to work overtime for that day.

Having worked overtime Sathyanathan has to skip his regular train and take up another train at a later time. At the same time Nandan Menon is on the same train traveling to Guruvayoor (his wife Anuradha is part of a press team covering the minister’s press meet in Kottayam). A disturbing series of events unfold and the rest of the movie is all about what happens in the course of the next 24 hours or so. The lives of all the main characters in the story get intertwined. As far as the concept goes it’s not earth shaking but certainly better than the run of the mill stuff seen regularly these days.

In terms of casting again I think Ranjith Shankar has got it fairly right. Who better than Sreenivasan to play the common man? And kudos to Dileep for having accepted a role which is more of a second fiddle ( this is why I guess the thanks was mentioned for his fans- maybe for seeking their support ) and for a change it’s good to see Mamta in a non glamorous role. Though it’s become routine to see politicians as villains in Malayalam cinema, but still it’s refreshing to see the extremely talented Jagathy Sreekumar essaying the role over here.

The movie has managed to get a lot of nuances correct as seen in Kerala on a daily basis. For example in spite of attractions like T.V and cinema you still have a lot of people craving for the temple festivals, in most Malayalee homes you would find an elderly person typically watching an ‘Idea Star Singer’ or ‘Devi Mahatmyam’ on Asianet in the primetime slots on T.V leaving the others at home with no choice if you do not have a second T.V at home. The ending of the movie again is something that leaves you with a smile. And at a running time of just less than 2 hours, the length of the movie is just about right surprisingly.

But all said and done the movie still is not a path-breaker and is nowhere close to being called a great movie. There are a lot of loopholes in the script and sometimes you even question the validity of some events in the movie. But all said and done considering that it’s the first effort of Ranjith Shankar as writer-director and for having tried something different, the effort needs to be highlighted. I only hope that Ranjith and the other film makers only look to go beyond Passenger and come up with even better movies rather than stagnating over here. Malayalam cinema needs a revival, a revival that’s long overdue. Till that happens I have to keep re-visiting some of the good films of the 80’s and 90’s or keep hoping with every ‘Passenger’ that things are about to improve.

P.S- Originally published in PFC.Check it out here- http://passionforcinema.com/passenger-a-tale-of-trains-scams-and-the-common-man/