Jun 8, 2015

Movie Review: Premam

If ever a movie could hold us spellbound to our seats right from the time the "writing on the wall" appears to the cry of a newborn long after the screen has darkened after the rolling credits, it is this, it is this, it is this...


This movie first caught my attention with the wonderful piece of Malayalam calligraphy that is its name. And when the screen equivalent landed on to the stigma of a hibiscus flower and sat there gently fluttering its wings, DH burst into spontaneous applause. Right from that moment, the movie had us entranced. 

The story in a nutshell: George Davidson (Nivin Pauly) is an ordinary young man with a couple of staunch friends who support him through his chequered love life.

Wait, is THAT the story - is that all? Yep it is! Nothing to tax your imagination or make you stretch the organ of believing, nothing that will make you exercise your deductive faculties....

Gosh, but what a rollicking ride it is! Right from the moment we watch the hero pen his first love letter in which misspellings and inappropriate similes abound,  there is not a boring moment in the whole movie. Is there anything new in the story? No. But the treatment is a whole different cup of tea. Add about 7 musical tracks that blend into the story so well that they make an organic whole, you have a winner all the way through.

I have to mention the performances of the three newcomers who make their mark on the movie - they play the characters of bubbly and cute Mary (Anupama Parameswaran),  heartbreakingly lovely Malar (Sai Pallavi) and mischievous but mature Celine (Madonna Sebastian). Although all three are good, I must say Malar really stole my heart with her chameleon-like changes and laughter-filled eyes. 

I could go on and on about this movie - from the lovely song-lyrics (all penned by Shabareesh Varma who also is a major character in the movie AND sings a couple of songs too - talk about multi-talented), the plethora of new acting talent who all made us remain in our seats just to know their names, the never-ending humor that makes the most soppy of love scenes hilarious, the screamingly funny and not-funny cameo of the director....

We reached home after the unusually long movie (at least for a Malayalam one) at 10:30 pm and stayed discussing the movie, going over all the points that we enjoyed and speculated about Nivin Pauly's career etc. till 2 am! If there is anything I could find fault with, it would be the frequent boozing and smoking scenes as well as some indistinct dialogue that made me yearn for subtitles once in a while. But that would be nitpicking...

I still haven't touched all the points that I liked - like that shot of a fire-ant who peeks over a moss-covered stone wall as eager for a glimpse of Mary as all her suitors... well the list will go on. 

So if you don't mind being entertained by a well-made movie that will have you rolling in your seats as well as tug at your heartstrings, you can do no better than to get a ticket for Premam (bit tough to get - online is the only sure bet). If nothing else, it will help you get over the condition over hedonistic adaptation - you know, getting so used to one's good fortune that one forgets to appreciate it... (Thanks to The Myths of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky)!

Final verdict: Rush!!!

Jun 3, 2015

Blessed Peace....

Hush, wait for it... Can you hear it now? Ignore the swish of the fan and the muted buzz of the washing machine... there, can you hear it? The absolute silence, the all-pervading peace that envelopes Karthi. Aaaah, it does me so much good that for the past 2 days I have been reveling in it kind of like a kitten that throws itself on its back on a sunny patch and wriggles in glee.

No more tramping of dirty feet that cross the living room floor into the kitchen in search of water and snacks at all times of the day (at one time I counted a round dozen boys in our home - friends, neighbors, city cousins of neighbors, ) ...

No more thwacks of the cricket ball against the front windows which invariably found its way there despite my edict that it was a wicket if the ball ever found its way into the front porch...

No more suddenly coming upon kids on the terrace and balcony trying to coax the ball from the coconut tree (which had hidden its prize within one of the innumerable pockets expressly designed to be ball catchers) and almost falling off ...

No more feet trampling my front border of plants, for if the ball went over to the next yard, all team members must gape over the wall and call instructions out to the retrievers (3 little jasmines were martyred in these noble attempts)...

No more being called to settle disputes about toys or arbitrate on the laws of chess at all times of the day...

No more just sitting down to some creative endeavor only to have to get up again to scold, console, patch up or feed...

No more having to deny multiple requests of, "We are done playing, may we watch TV?" sprang upon one at the most inopportune or distracted moments - I wonder what a 24x7 state of constant high alert does to one?

No more guilt-tripping for acceding to the above request out of sheer desperation occasionally...

No more going about the day's chores with one ear attuned to any lull in the noise that could presage anything from a sulking playmate to a medical emergency...

No more worrying about how to contain 6 or more balls of energy inside the house when it's raining.

No more having to posture with hands on hip and yelling at youngsters to come in from the rain and saying, "No, baseball caps are not adequate rain protection."

In short, no more constant Adulting, at least no more ... till next March!!!

Written in the peace and serenity that only a stay-at-home-mum of two boys can know at the beginning of a school year...

So... how was your summer?

3 Movie Reviews in 1: Nanpakal..., Romancham, and Pranaya Vilasam

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