As good as Mammootty is playing Sundaram, we see this facet of his performance through two lenses: That of Sundaram being an offset to whatever we know about James, and that of Mammootty doing quintessentially Tamil tics, including enacting scenes from old Tamil movies like solo plays, observes Rohit Sathish Nair.
These films, even at their saddest, darkest and grossest, retain their sense of humour, their sense of proportion, which again is something you associate with a Malayali.
Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam is a masterpiece, and like most masterpieces of the cinema, it's a great act of folly, observes Sreehari Nair.
'This film is about this hero of the nation who faced humiliation and damnation.'
'An actor should learn to separate the actor and the character.' 'Me the actor and me the character should never intermingle.'
December 2022 could be the last Christmas for Santha Bakery, a business drawing its lineage from the first Christmas cake baked in Kerala.
'I am not a future guy.' 'I just owe it to my audience here.' 'I never want them to wonder why this guy did this role.' 'Even for my bad films, I want them to think that he was trying at least.'
'You write stories about the world you live in.' 'The day I try to write a film with agendas in mind, I will be a fake.'
'I want the audience to smile when they see my film.'
'Somewhere, I have to be true to myself. At this point in life, I am more interested in human drama.'
Friendships are not merely severed, but built over scuffles. And just about anything can stir things up -- a long-standing feud, a pointless stare, a disrupted moral stance, a fist that ricochets off a face and smacks another face in the near vicinity, observes Sreehari Nair.
A lowdown on what's happening in the Malayalam film industry.
Malayalam actor Sharafudheen talks about the films that defined his career.
'Once Mohanlal's ever-swelling entourage grasped his enormous worth, once it realized that the innate Mohanlal appeal could be profited from, it set about to exploit, to make uproars, to create the Mohanlal brand.' 'And he wasn't meant to be a brand. He was meant to be an artist, a tireless explorer of the unique seas inside him,' asserts Sreehari Nair.
The actor said the film industry has the power to stay independent and wished they had enough courage to do so.
'In this age of OTT, where you are overdosed on content with violence, crime, sex and lust, this love story is refreshing,' notes Divya Nair.
In 2020, Hindi cinema had a tough time staying on par with its southern counterparts.
'Satyajit Ray is most relevant even today.'
The dinner Jill Biden and her husband US President Joe Biden hosted for Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, June 22, at the White House brought together, Indians and Americans from so many firmaments.
The 21 year old Malayalam actor from Kerala gets candid about her love for food, fashion and more.
'In the whole of my career, some ten-twenty characters might have really satisfied me.'
'We will defeat her with the blessings of the people of Amethi, but we will always respect her as an opponent'
'These accusations of my film being a copy only makes our chances at the Academy harder.'
A lowdown on all the goings-on in the Malayalam film industry.
A Nedumudi Venu character was happiest when moving his head to a piece of music with his eyes closed; or, when inventing off of a note that a co-actor had left unfinished; or, when reciting a poem by Kavalam Narayana Panicker where a hymn about nature descends into a musing about cheating, depression and death, feels Sreehari Nair.
Despite its stiffness, in Aarkkariyam, a supernatural glow does shine out of the ordinary.
Prithviraj Sukumaran WILL play Variankunnathu Kunjahammed Haji, a leader of the 1921 Malabar rebellion.
Kuruthi is let down by poor execution -- there are too many loose ends and most of the arguments seemed too forced, like there was an urgent responsibility to balance the blame without taking sides, points out Divya Nair.
'... their love was jinxed.' 'His celluloid path to his partner's heart was seldom smooth; it had to contend with greedy relatives and indecisive sweethearts, who were more ready to sacrifice than woo and wed.'
"Every actor's life is short. It exists only between 'Action' and 'Cut'," Mohanlal once told Subhash K Jha.
'I don't know whether this curse will be lifted or not. It's in the hands of the audience.'
Poor writing sinks this period film which is watchable for Mammooty's gravity defying stunts, says Divya Nair.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite Indian films of 2021.
The social comment in Sanalkumar Sasidharan's Ozhivudivasathe Kali could well make it a success at the box office, feels Paresh C Palicha.
Pellissery's women continue to express the beauty in our common humanity. And often, these women go so far into expressing our hopes, desires, absurdities and follies that they end up acting at variance with the ethical prescriptions of our age. And this, I believe, is precisely why they remain "invisible" to a whole bunch of viewers, says Sreehari Nair.
'You are working with the best of the lot.' 'The best part is that they treat you equally, unlike in India.'
Bhaktajanangalude Sradhakku has Kavya Madhavan and Irshad in the lead.
At the end of the six short stories, Feels Like Ishq is uneven yet watchable, feels Sukanya Verma.
What links The Alchemist and Kochavva Paulo Ayyappa Coelho?
'It's only in the last seven years, I have taken acting seriously.'