Morning: I read a review of Nirnayakam in a number1English daily,
haphazardly written and summed up that it was playing to the gallery, with an
unflattering headline.
Evening: Nevertheless we go for the movie.The cinema is full house.
After the movie: I am shocked and aghast that anyone can do such shoddy work and damn any movie, without assessing it in parts and in totality.
The movie: It is perhaps the best that V K Prakash has ever made, and a Godsend of a role for Asif Ali, who till now has given quite mediocre results in the department of histrionics. The Bobby-Sanjay duo perhaps has written for their father, Prem Prakash the role of a lifetime. Acted he did and how!
Every day we curse the traffic woes, no free left or any order on the road. In the capital especially, rallies add to these woes. What if an accident victim in a car is caught in this melee? If in Traffic, it was how an ambulance made it despite all odds, Nirnayakam discusses the other side of the coin _ a life lost because of delay in reaching the hospital, all because of a political rally. It can happen to anyone. If telling this story is ‘playing to the gallery’, well let’s have more such games.
The first half of the movie moves at such a frenetic pace that you are surprised it is interval time. Crisp direction and what photography by Shehnad Jalal. Of Left Right Left fame, he belongs to the new school of cinematographers who make the visuals supplement the story, like Jomon and Shamdat. The second half has more to handle and the editor must have wounded the feelings of the director, but the story loses nothing. Woven with this everyday worry of Keralites, called man made road blocks is the emotional turmoil of relationships that turn sour, of modern day emotional needs that are taboo to society and of friendship. The breezy road of the first half does have a few bumps in the second half, and a few loose ends, which don’t trouble the story, but you are glued to the screen, with nary a lax moment. After a long time there is a proper song by M Jayachandran and the background score too is apt.
Prem Praksh acts with his body, mind and soul. Asif Ali must never forget how he acted in this movie in his life, if he wants to go far. Nedumudi Venu. We see him emote as he did many years ago in his golden years. Malavika Mohanan is arm candy. The woman who acts as Asif Ali’s mother, the friend at the Military Academy, and the judge, Anoop Chandran all come out fine. V K Praksh has all kinds of marks in his report card. Good, bad, fair, very good and excellent. The last is appropriate for Nirnayakam.
I am still thinking of the review I read. Why can’t we be more responsible while doing our job? If something is bad, well say so, but why dub a good thing as bad? Everything in art is subjective but being prejudiced is hardly credit to the responsibility you handle. Not only do we give ourselves away, but blacken the paper you wrote for too, which is what annoys me! Credibility is at stake, my friend! For mouth publicity is bigger than all the reviews put together!
Evening: Nevertheless we go for the movie.The cinema is full house.
After the movie: I am shocked and aghast that anyone can do such shoddy work and damn any movie, without assessing it in parts and in totality.
The movie: It is perhaps the best that V K Prakash has ever made, and a Godsend of a role for Asif Ali, who till now has given quite mediocre results in the department of histrionics. The Bobby-Sanjay duo perhaps has written for their father, Prem Prakash the role of a lifetime. Acted he did and how!
Every day we curse the traffic woes, no free left or any order on the road. In the capital especially, rallies add to these woes. What if an accident victim in a car is caught in this melee? If in Traffic, it was how an ambulance made it despite all odds, Nirnayakam discusses the other side of the coin _ a life lost because of delay in reaching the hospital, all because of a political rally. It can happen to anyone. If telling this story is ‘playing to the gallery’, well let’s have more such games.
The first half of the movie moves at such a frenetic pace that you are surprised it is interval time. Crisp direction and what photography by Shehnad Jalal. Of Left Right Left fame, he belongs to the new school of cinematographers who make the visuals supplement the story, like Jomon and Shamdat. The second half has more to handle and the editor must have wounded the feelings of the director, but the story loses nothing. Woven with this everyday worry of Keralites, called man made road blocks is the emotional turmoil of relationships that turn sour, of modern day emotional needs that are taboo to society and of friendship. The breezy road of the first half does have a few bumps in the second half, and a few loose ends, which don’t trouble the story, but you are glued to the screen, with nary a lax moment. After a long time there is a proper song by M Jayachandran and the background score too is apt.
Prem Praksh acts with his body, mind and soul. Asif Ali must never forget how he acted in this movie in his life, if he wants to go far. Nedumudi Venu. We see him emote as he did many years ago in his golden years. Malavika Mohanan is arm candy. The woman who acts as Asif Ali’s mother, the friend at the Military Academy, and the judge, Anoop Chandran all come out fine. V K Praksh has all kinds of marks in his report card. Good, bad, fair, very good and excellent. The last is appropriate for Nirnayakam.
I am still thinking of the review I read. Why can’t we be more responsible while doing our job? If something is bad, well say so, but why dub a good thing as bad? Everything in art is subjective but being prejudiced is hardly credit to the responsibility you handle. Not only do we give ourselves away, but blacken the paper you wrote for too, which is what annoys me! Credibility is at stake, my friend! For mouth publicity is bigger than all the reviews put together!
