Oru Vadakkan Selfie is fun

Freshness  pervades the entire movie, Oru Vadakkan selfie. A bunch of young actors and technicians giving of their best. That is what makes you very happy. Fast paced, naturally funny and yet has a very good message.
 The story can happen anywhere and the same plight can be anybody's. That's yet again why people relate to it. Vineeth's script is the key to its success. More importantly, the excellent performances of most of the artistes, its music and cinematography by Jomon.
 In every department of the film, what stands out is the freshness of approach. It's a breezy comedy that gathers seriousness as it progresses. Yet the characters are not morbidly pessimistic and give you reasons to expect the unexpected. The director has taken his job seriously and the team has risen to the occasion.
This is not to say that there are no flaws. Yes, the ending does not match the quality of the movie taken as a whole and there are loose ends but not so loose that you take the memory home. All is forgiven for the nearly three hours of sane entertainment.
 Manjima is an actress to look out for. Subtle emotions that rock the soul of the character she plays come out successfully. Nivin Pauly, Aju Varghese, the boy with curly hair and Vijayaraghavan act very well. There is sincerity in their work. A movie with a message for the young, not so young, the old, and most of all, crazy netizons. But wait...why vadakkan selfie? Don't know!!
Prema Manmadhan

Tira review

Tira, Vineeth Sreenivasan's latest movie, IS different. Malarvadi Arts Club was a sort of internsgip film and Thattathin Marayathu a surefire hit subject, romance and young love. But Tira goes off at a tanget, subjectwise. He heads straight to untrodden paths in Malayalam cinema, with a pace so fast that at the end of the cinema, you are sapped and are back to reality.
The story is topical, of the seamy side of cities and ugly exploitation, complete with the political - business nexus. More on the story will be unfair to both the makers and future viewers of the movie. Central to the story is Shobhana, and WHAAAT a comeback! Easily her best performance to date. Yes, Nagavally pales before the deglamorised Dr Rohini. She is a sort of female desi James Bond  and Vineeth takes a leaf out of Bond in the last scene too. It's the first of a trilogy, he says. Dhyan, Sreenivasan's other son, is that new kid on the block, who will give his compatriots good competition. Most of the others are new faces who do very well indeed. Street scenes, chases, are all very realistic. Jomon's camera works as in western movies. Costumes get an A rating. Shobhana wears just one sari throughout the movie, merely because it's one day and a hectic one at that! In the last scene, it's a different sari. Costumes are apt and good.
 Background score is fine, but that cannot be said of the songs. They are the same dragging 'new gen' tunes that you hear again and again, without any individuality. Subtitles are a distraction. That they are used at the very beginning in good measure irritates, to put it mildly. You come to see a Malayalam movie and you are dished out conversations in subtitles for a few minutes long. No, one does not expect it. But the rest of the movie is so good that you forgive this lapse. There are loose ends. And the investigative work is all old hat in English, but new in Malayalam. Direction, acting and camera take equally high honours. Congrats, Vineeth! And Sreenivasan, one proud moment for a father indeed! I liked it, despite the few flaws. That's why I took pains to write this!!!