Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Beautiful – Malayalam movie – indeed Beautiful …..



I know there are plenty of reviews out there already vouching, endorsing, approving and applauding this Beautiful movie. And this one is no different, couldn't help commenting… yup a movie well done!!
I happened to see the movie last night. We were quite skeptical before going since it was the late night show, and further since the movie had just released and we were unaware of the reviews. Being a weekday, we did not expect a large crowd but to our surprise the theatre did have considerable audience. 

The movie is all about Stephen ( Jayasurya), a paraplegic millionaire or  should rather say a millionaire paraplegic because he doesn’t regard his medical condition to be a disability at all. He looks at life with an undying positive zeal, has a infectious smile on his face and his millionaire eccentricities are beautifully portrayed by Jayasurya. Steps in John ( Anoop Menon), a struggling musician, who aspires to make it big someday through his music, who does all knick knack works to earn money to make his sister a doctor … a very natural portrayal of a commoner , the man next door in our society. John enters Stephen’s world as a companion, singer, friend, aide and much more… Both share a beautiful friendship, which is subtly depicted throughout the movie… Enters a home nurse, Anjali ( Meghna Raj) who comes to take care of Stephen and finds herself the centre of attraction for both the friends….a silent competition to be her aide is also subtly shown. The movie moves on with its twists and tales thereon.

Jayasurya has donned his role amazingly, he is a natural at humor, so he doesn’t need to take any efforts on that. He has managed not to overact the role of a paraplegic since that’s what is normally done when u are depicting such a condition. Anoop Menon, my favorite any day, has put in a wonderful effort as usual, this actor is a sure bet these days. I may be biased , but be it Traffic or Pranayam or Cocktail or Beautiful, he has blended these characters beautifully, and bringing out excellent performances. His natural way of dialogue delivery and acting definitely will take him places soon…Meghna Raj, has done her part well, after all she gets a chance to do some real acting compared to her earlier movies :). Aparna Nair ( Cocktail fame), Jayan, Nandu,Tini Tom, evergreen Thesni Khan form part of the remaining cast, with all of them putting in brilliant efforts.
Anoop Menon has proved his versatility once again by penning the lyrics for the songs in the movie. Mazhaneerthulikkal is a beautiful song, quite a romantic one and of course coupled by Ratheesh Vega music direction and not to forget in Unni Menon’s soulful voice. VK Prakash, a director with a difference ( his Punaradivasam starring Nandita Das & Manoj K Jayan is my all time favorite anyday) has done a great job with the movie. The cinematography is beautiful as well…. :)
What I like about the movie…                
Anoop Menon  :)with his subtle acting, his overwhelming presence definitely a bonus to the movie…brilliant or rather natural acting by the entire cast.A great script and direction, doesn’t give you a moment to feel bored, infact the length of the movie is just right…I love the friendship angle between the guys, doesn’t overdo with any melodrama. And the movie takes certain cracks at the modern morality myths – “ Marriage is the license to have extra marital affairs” , though a taboo subject ,very much prevalent in today’s times.

“Maturity is about losing one’s innocence” is so rightly said… as we mature, we lose our innocence , we become selfish, we become greedy, we turn in ourselves, we care less for others..and at the end of the day , all that matters to us is US.

Kudos to a beautiful team and the entire movie cast & crew for making a good movie. These experiments do give us movie buffs a hope for some intelligent / entertaining genre of new movies.