Amar, Akbar, Antony/Anarkali & Pavada

Got to watch 3 malayalam movies during the past three days; - first I could not digest...

The multi-starrer , Malayalam movie; "Amar Akbar Anthony", the debut directorial venture of Nadirshah, ran successfully in India and abroad. The film has Prithviraj, Sukumaran and Jayasurya in the lead roles. Songs and the child artist; Baby Meenakshi as Fathima are excellent - but the main story and message is haunting.

His directorial debut Amar Akbar Anthony, starring Prithviraj, Jayasurya and Indrajith, exactly follows the pattern of the mimicry films of yore.

His leading men are not jobless but doing jobs that are considered lowly.

Amar (Prithviraj) drives battery-operated toy cars and gives joyrides to kids in an upmarket mall. He gives his girlfriend an impression that he is a pilot.

Akbar (Jayasurya) is a lift operator in a posh hospital.

Anthony (Indrajith) is a pizza delivery man.

They live in a slum with their families.

The pivot of the story is that these three youngsters are saving their hard earned money to make a trip to Pattaya and how the difficulties of daily living create hindrances in making their dream trip.

They are also vying for the attention of their neighbour, Jenny, a dancer.

The narrative is punctuated by humour, mainly at the expense of the leading trio, who are presented as dim-witted and slapped by the fairer sex every now and then.

Today, the villains are not the traditional loan sharks or the bank managers; they are the migrant labourers with criminal pasts and paedophiles.

This being a multi-star entertainer, the director successfully maintains a fine balance among the three leading men. Yet, it is Prithviraj who shoulders the weight of the film on his beefed-up biceps.

Jayasurya looks more of a hunchback than a polio-afflicted person, who uses his brace to get even with one of the villains while standing erect as a pole.

Indrajith's Anthony is the butt of the jokes and he does not mind cracking jokes on himself too. It really makes him most likable character of the three.

Namitha Pramod is under-utilised as the leading lady.

Amidst this fun and life, there is another story - which is poking; Their perceptions and beliefs get shattered with an unexpected event and the resulting story forms the plot of the movie.

Police verifies that girls under the age ten are missing from surrounding area and several of their abused dead-body is found in various places. Police suspect a habitual pedophile Bengali who was convicted for similar charges in Bengal and might have relocated with the migrant working community to Cochin, after his release. Identity of this man is confirmed by the trio and they find him. However, before invoking their final vengeance they are intervened by the Police and to their shock are informed that it wasn't the Bengali who killed their Fathima but the colony's beloved Sir (V. K. Sreeraman), he was outed by a victim of his pedophilic abuse. Both the Bengali and the Sir are brutally murdered as a social justice and cleansing of the community by the people of the colony. The police knowing the legal protection that these criminals would have turns a blind-eye condoning to the people's justice.

The movie is story narrated by Faizal - (Asif Ali), in hospital. Faizal was their travel agent for Pattaya tour and the trip for ₹25,000 was a lie for him to get ₹25,000 and it had resulted in his accident that broke his leg as the proverb says "If the dumb is cheated by the miser, the miser gets cheated by God".

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"Anarkali" (Courtesy : http://www.ibtimes.co.in/prithvirajs-anarkali-movie-review-feel-good-romantic-love-story-654822) delivers a simple message: Sincere love stays forever even if there isn't any communication between the individuals; fate will unite them no matter what, if the love is true.

Directorirector Sachy's "Anarkali" narrates the story of young navy officers Shanthanu and Zacharia, played by Prithviraj and Biju Menon. Shanthanu falls in love with Nadira (Priyal Gor), daughter of Rear Admiral Jaffer Imam (Kabir Bedi), and certain incidents change their life.

Years later, Shanthanu arrives at Kavaratti as a diving instructor and Zacharia as a system engineer of the island's light house. "Anarkali" is all about love and friendship.

Coming to the performances, Prithviraj has done a good job as a smart young naval officer and later as a matured individual who trains divers in Kavaratti. However, Biju steals the show with his remarkable comic timing and witty counters. Kudos to Suresh Krishna for speaking in the island's native language, Jeseri.

Unlike other language actresses, Priyal Gor has a good chemistry with Prithviraj as her acting looks natural and impressive.

Kabir Bedi needs a special mention for the role of a strict navy officer, and he looks convincing. Miya as Sherin Mathew, medical superendant of the island, Sudev Nair as navy officer, Arun as Prithviraj's friend, and Samskruthy Shenoy as a native of the island have done their parts well.

Filmmakers Ranji Panicker, Madhupal, Shyamaprasad, Major Ravi and V K Prakash have also appeared in cameos in "Anarkali".

The film's climax is predictable, but thanks to Biju for handling the situation well by creating a laugh riot in theatres.

Vidyasagar's music has synced well with the intense love theme of the film, but Miya's lip-syncing in her intro song wasn't right at some places.

Sujith Vasudev's cinematography should be given full marks as he has captured the beauty of the island in all ways possible. The use of helicam to shoot an aerial view of Lakshadweep makes us fall in love with the place each time.

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Pavada - The movie subtly deals with two very important themes - drinking and sexuality, It flows with the story and hence the denouement feels natural. The lives of two drunkards - Pavada Babu Sir and Pambu Joy are brought into focus. Performances from Prithviraj, Anoop Menon and Nedumudi were outstanding.

The plot in summary is: An alcoholic duo, met at a de-addiction center helps each other to arrange their lives back together with their persistent illness. Pambu Joy's married life is in a muddle due to his alcoholism. Pavada Babu's life is in pieces due to a film he produced, in which Sicily was the heroine, Joy's mother. For financial gain the film was adulterated by Eldho. Eldho intends to re-release the film's 3D extended version. Both Pambu Joy and Pavada Babu fights through their alcoholism to stop the re-release of the film due to the added pain that will cause for Babu and to Joy's mother Sicily.


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Which is your favourate among this three? - All 2015 release Prithviraj movies - The guy is back in form in Malayalam...