Those good old Malayalam movies...

‘Kalangiyilla’ “Ambattan’ ‘Akasotto’ ‘Kuttimama njan njetti mama!’ All of these will stir up laughter in all those who have watched the super-hit action fantasy movie Yoddha directed by Sangeeth Sivan. Written by Sasidharan Arattuvazhi, the story is based on the English movie ‘The Golden Child’(1986) starring Eddie Murphy. I once happened to watch this movie and immediately noticed the similarities. This movie, however, has a lot more supernatural elements than Yoddha. And of course there is no Mohanlal and Jagathy! I remember that Yoddha came out at the same time as the Mammootty starrer ‘Pappayude Swantham Appoos’. A Mammooty and Mohanlal showdown during the Onam season! (Wikipedia tells me that the release dates were 3rd September and 4th September 1992, respectively). In school our class was divided into two groups: Mammootty and Mohanlal supporters. You can imagine which group I supported!  Anyways both movies were superhits and will be remembered by Malayalis in their own rights.

 "Vidamaatte? Appo nee ividennu enne ingerundu enkeyum poka vida maatte? " Malayalis who haven't been living under a rock all these years would surely be familiar with this dialogue from the blockbuster psychological thriller movie Manichithrathazhu. What a movie and how easily it developed a cult following! Manichithrathazhu' is one of my all-time favourite Malayalam movies. Yesterday I made my son watch this movie for the first time. I say 'made' because he is not much interested in Malayalam movies. But after some time into the movie, he was truly engrossed. And yes, he watched till the end which is a miracle in itself! That is the magic of this movie! So what is the story about? The story revolves around the strange happenings in the mysterious mansion, Madampalli. When young couple Nakulan (Suresh Gopi) and Ganga (Shobhana) decide to stay at this mansion during their visit to Nakulan's native place, they are met with concerned advice and scary stories

  Whenever I hear of Varavelppu I think of my Uncle who is an NRI. It is his all-time favourite and I believe he has seen this movie atleast a million times! Varavelppu (= welcome) is a heart-rending Malayalam movie which saw the genius of three prominent people in Malayalam cinema- Sathyan Anthikadu who directed the movie excellently well, Srinivasan who penned this story and Mohanlal, who put forward one of his most memorable performances ever. Take a look at what this movie is all about. After seven long years Muralidharan (played by Mohanlal) returns to Kerala, India, his homeland. He is happy since he had been missing home so much. His two brothers and their families are eager to receive him. His sister-in-laws are so adoring that they compete against each other by making special meals and seeing to his every need. Everybody is happy that their dear Murali is home. Or so it seemed. Murali soon finds out their true colours the hard way. When he throws in the bomb that he would not

'നിൻ്റെ അച്ഛനാടാ പറയുന്നത് കത്തി താഴെ ഇടാൻ!'  There won't be many Malayalis who haven't heard this dialogue. While it is used with a humorous touch in trolls and whatnots, this dialogue was part of the most touching scenes in the movie Kireedam. The actors, Mohanlal and Thilakan had clearly given their 100% in this climax scene. Kireedam tells the story of a young man whose dreams are shattered because of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sethumadhavan, affectionately called Sethu, is the eldest darling son of Achuthan Nair, played superbly by Thilakan, a police constable. Achuthan's greatest wish is to make Sethu a Sub Inspector of Police. Sethu, who loves his father very much, tries his best to live upto his expectations and bring his father's dreams to fruition. He is in love with his cousin, and everyone has given their consent for the marriage. So far so good. But then everything turns around as Achuthan is transferred to an obscure village

‘Angane Pavanayi Shavamayi’ Nadodikkattu is the story of Dasan and Vijayan, two simpletons who unknowingly falls into one mess after another in their struggle to become something in their lives. Dasan: (Mohanlal) His catchphrase is ‘I am B.Com. First Class!’ He is so proud of being a graduate that he repeats it whenever there is an opportunity. You might think that he has a great job, but he is a peon in a private company which pays just enough salary to meet daily expenses. Vijayan: (Sreenivasan) He is a very funny guy and more idiotic than Dasan. Dasan takes advantage of him a lot- like making him cook, do household chores and constantly reminding him that he is not a graduate. Vijayan is a peon too. And so everything goes reasonably well until one day they lose their jobs! (Ahem... they beat up the new Managing Director by mistake!!) Cows to the rescue?! No job, no money, no food! Their landlord feels pity for them and gets them a loan from the bank to buy cows. He convinces them th

‘Ithu anayalla, Ithu thengayalla, Ithu ulakkayumalla’ I saw Chithram today and the dialogue between Sreenivasan and Sukumari did not fail to make me laugh. This movie has everything- good story, screenplay, music, comedy and suspense. However the story ends in a tragedy. Even then, everybody considers Chithram as one of the best movies in Malayalam. (I think that Keralites do not mind if a movie has a tragic ending, provided the story is good. Realistic and family oriented movies-that is the formula for success here) Mohanlal’s acting is superb and that lent a special charm to this movie. No wonder it ran successfully in Kerala for MORE THAN A YEAR!! The story unfolds thus:Kalyani (Ranjini) is in love and wants to marry the guy. But when her father who is abroad knows about this, he disagrees and threatens her that he won’t give her a penny if she marries the guy. Kalyani however decides to go ahead, but when her boyfriend realises that she has been disinherited, dumps her. Even when t