Tag Archives: Priyadarshan

67th National Film Awards (for films from 2019): List of Winners

The 67th National Film Awards were announced earlier today in New Delhi. This was after a long delay of a year or so due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The awards are for films from the year of 2019. The announcement event was organised by the Directorate of Film Festivals, which comes under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.Continue reading “67th National Film Awards (for films from 2019): List of Winners”

Mohanlal: From Narendran to Kunjali Marakkar IV, a Journey to be Admired

With all of us being confined to our homes for nearly 2 months or so, all thanks to the Covid-19 outbreak, we have seen our lives getting altered in ways that we had never anticipated and looked forward to. I have been someone who generally preferred the experience of watching movies in cinemas, not getting lured by the abundant content (films, web-series and much more) available on the numerous OTT/digital platforms that we have access to. Every few months I would ponder over trying to embrace the OTT platforms, but kept delaying the inevitable, only for this lockdown to finally bring in the transition in my case. So thus, I have been getting my daily fix of entertainment at home in the last couple of months, watching film after film, series after series. And in this process, I also watched Ranjith’s Drama (2018), a rare Mohanlal film in recent times that I had missed watching in a theatre.Continue reading “Mohanlal: From Narendran to Kunjali Marakkar IV, a Journey to be Admired”

The Best of Malayalam Cinema in 2016: A Perspective

2016 has turned out to be a slightly low key year for Malayalam Cinema overall, with strangely a decrease in the output, both in terms of quantity and quality. Talking of the number of releases there has been a sharp decline in terms of both straight as well as dubbed releases. From 153 releases overall last year (140 straight and 13 dubbed), 2016 saw the release count drop to 122 overall (118 straight releases and 4 dubbed films). And sadly the culmination of the year has ended on a really sad note for the industry, a pity considering the kind of promising films which were lined up for release in the Christmas-New Year festive season.  What started off as a tussle between the producers and distributors/exhibitors over revenue sharing and was expected to get resolved well before the Christmas weekend has extended into a huge deadlock of sorts. As a result all the major festival releases continue to wait for a release and will now in all certainty turn out to be the first few releases of 2017.Continue reading “The Best of Malayalam Cinema in 2016: A Perspective”

Sila Samayangalil: Trailer

sila-samayangalil-posterPriyadarshan who has just recently met with a huge commercial success in the form of his Malayalam film Oppam is now ready with his Tamil film, Sila Samayangalil (sometimes). Incidentally this marks his return to Tamil cinema after the well received Kanchivaram (2008) and also seems to be in the same space and unlike most of his films which are commercial entertainers. Produced by Prabhu Deva, Isari Ganesh and Alagappan, the film has music by Ilaiyaraaja while Sameer Thahir is the DOP and Beena Paul is the editor. Sila Samayangalil features Prakash Raj, Ashok Selvan, Shriya Reddy, M.S.Bhaskar, Nassar etc and is scheduled to play during the ongoing JIO MAMI 2016 film festival.Continue reading “Sila Samayangalil: Trailer”

Jio MAMI with Star to host the World Premiere of Vikramaditya Motwane’s TRAPPED

Among several firsts, the Jio MAMI 18th Mumbai Film Festival with Star announces a new category titled ‘Spotlight’. Spotlight is a carefully crafted segment of films that recognises Indian cinema’s historical trajectories, celebrates its creative impulses and explores its futures. The section kicks off with the world premiere of Vikramaditya Motwane’s ‘Trapped’. Continue reading “Jio MAMI with Star to host the World Premiere of Vikramaditya Motwane’s TRAPPED”

Oppam Movie Review: Priyadarshan and Mohanalal reassure us…to an Extent

It is a little surprising and also comforting to see a new Malayalam film begin with a scene involving veteran actors like Innocent and Kaviyoor Ponnamma. The introduction to the film begins with a family gathering in the ancestral home and we get to realize that the protagonist who is visually impaired is seen to be the near perfect son of the family, ever sacrificing for his siblings. And if you are wondering if this is going to be the tone for the rest of the film, then let me assure you that there is more to the film than just this aspect. As the protagonist prepares to return back to the city, he goes on to talk to someone on the way and just for a brief moment there is a mention of Kalaripayattu. And wait, there’s more to follow, he goes on to follow that with a semi classical rendition while on the ferry ride back to the city.Continue reading “Oppam Movie Review: Priyadarshan and Mohanalal reassure us…to an Extent”

The Dasan and Vijayan Trilogy: A Swashbuckling Trilogy in the True Sense

We all love to watch a film which scores very well with its comedy where the lead actors themselves are funny, especially when they are naturally good at it right? So wouldn’t we watch yet another movie featuring the same lead actors, playing the same characters, literally taking off from where they left in the earlier film? And what if this film works as well and spawns a 3rd film (now leading to a franchise by itself) which goes on to work as well with the audience and critics? Now there have been film franchises worldwide and India has been no exception to the same. But generally when a sequel itself finds it difficult to repeat the glory of the 1st film is it not wonderful to see 3 films emerging successfully as part of a trilogy of sorts and still remembered with affection, nearly 25 years after the release of the 3rd film? Yes I am referring to the 3 films which are now fondly referred to as part of the Dasan and Vijayan trilogy, Nadodikattu (1987), Pattanapravesham (1988) and Akkare Akkare Akkare (1990).Continue reading “The Dasan and Vijayan Trilogy: A Swashbuckling Trilogy in the True Sense”

Go..Go..Go…Govinda

860384634-Govinda1_6Swarg was the first ever movie with which I took notice of Govinda’s acting skills, though the film was nothing more than a typical family drama. But over the years, this talented actor became an indispensable part of the movies for me as I grew.Continue reading “Go..Go..Go…Govinda”

The Best of Malayalam Cinema in 2013: A Perspective

Ramzan Malayalam ReleasesCompared to 2012 which was a landmark year of sorts for Malayalam Cinema 2013 was a little uneven year of sorts. But 2013 is a unique year for Malayalam Cinema where in terms of quantity of output Malayalam saw the maximum number of straight releases as compared to any other Indian language (apparently 158 straight releases and 12 dubbed releases with Tamil being a close second with 149 straight releases).  In terms of films which were clear trendsetters maybe the number of exceptional films weren’t too many, but keeping in mind that 2013 wasn’t an exceptionally special year for Indian Cinema per se, the output of Malayalam Cinema was still quite impressive. Sure the industry had its fair share of disappointments but then they do not outweigh the things which worked positively. Before I go on to talk about the films which made a difference in the year, let’s first look at some of the significant developments and aspects that were observed over the year.Continue reading “The Best of Malayalam Cinema in 2013: A Perspective”