Bodyguard

Movie - Bodyguard (Malayalam)
Director - Siddique
Producer - Johny Sagariga
Cast - Dileep, Nayanthara, Mithra Kurian, Thyagarajan, Harisree Ashokan, Guinness Pakru, Appa Haja, Janardhanan, Cochin Haneefa and others.
Music - Ouseppachan
Cinematography - S Kumar ISC
Choreography - Prabhu Deva
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Siddique
Release Date - 23rd January 2010.






A Siddique film after a gap of almost 7 years, Bodyguard is a decent movie which would classify more as a romantic comedy rather than Siddique's usual brand of comic thrillers. His last movie was Chronic Bachelor starring Mammootty, which released in 2003 and was a moderate success. Bodyguard was in the making for over one and a half years and the release of the movie got delayed several times because of many problems faced by the crew and the producer of the film. And after a lot of struggle, Bodyguard finally released on January 23rd and had a great opening. But has been doing just average business after that. The movie actually deserves more than that as it is quite decent and tells a different story.


The story is about Jayakrishnan (Dileep) who idolizes rowdies because he thinks that strength and the ability to create fear in others is the biggest thing in life. So he works as a bodyguard to big time dadas to learn from them, much to the opposition of his family. While working with a dada called Shanmukhan, he learns that a man called Ashokan is the boss of all the other dadas and he is the most feared and respected person in their community. So Jayakrishnan leaves immediately to get a job as the bodyguard of Ashokan (Thyagarajan). A letter from a family friend who taught Ashokan in school, helped him in bagging that job. Jayakrishnan meets Ammu (Nayanthara) at Ashokan's place and realizes only later on that Ammu is actually the daughter of Ashokan. Soon after getting appointed as the bodyguard, Jayakrishnan saves Ashokan and family from a murder attempt on them. Scared of his daughter's safety, Ashokan sends Jayakrishnan along with Ammu and her friend Sethu (Mithra Kurian) as a bodyguard to her college. And to make sure that he is there with her all the time, he arranges a seat for Jayakrishnan also to study in the same class and continue his studies which he dropped long back. Jayakrishnan's funny attire of a Safari suit and cooling glasses causes lots of embarrassment to Ammu when she goes to college. She thinks that the only way to change him is to trap him in a love affair. So she decides to play a prank on him by calling him in a different voice as a girl who is in love with him. Bodyguard tells the story of the confusions that follow.


Siddique has moved away from his usual style in this movie and has tried to narrate a more youthful story, set in a college. The movie follows the genre of a romantic comedy more than an out and out comedy. The movie starts on a disappointing note and picks up momentum once Dileep and Nayanthara move to the college. The prank, which later turns into a romance has been treated quite decently. But people who go for the movie expecting an out and out comedy from Siddique would be disappointed. The comedy is considerably lesser than his previous movies as the director has decided to give more importance to the romance between the leading pair. But the songs which pop without any reason at all are totally irritating. There are six songs in the movie, when it required only a maximum of 2 songs. His decision to cast Thyagarajan, who has just one expression throughout the movie, in a vital role has certainly lessened the impact of the movie. The much-publicized climax of the movie, is written in order to surprise everyone, but becomes predictable once the movie reaches its final stages. There is an obvious inspiration from the blockbuster Hindi movie Kuch Kuch Hota Hai as well. (And ya, the famous train scene from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge also finds its place in the narrative).


Coming to the performances, Dileep shines in a role tailor-made for him. In his first outing with director Siddique, he has made sure that he gives his all to the character Jayakrishnan. Even in the scenes which are written to depict some mushy romance, he adds his own brand of humour in most of those scenes making them more lively. The parts where he goes to college in Safari suits are hilarious. But his dance was much more hilarious in all the songs (unintentionally, of course). If this movie succeeds, it would be a great relief for the actor who hasnt had a solo hit since Vinodayathra in 2007. Nayanthara, in her comeback role, is pretty decent. She gives the much-hyped glam-quotient to the movie and is quite okay in the acting department as well. The actress also hasnt had any hit after Yaaradi Nee Mohini in 2008 and her dates were one of the major reasons for the delay in the shooting of Bodyguard. Mithra Kurian is just passable and in the scenes where she's required to act, she is saved because the director has used only a voice-over by her dubbing artiste. Thyagarajan's stone-faced acting was totally horrible and killed the impact of the character Ashokan, who could've been yet another powerful character like the other villains created by Siddique/Siddique-Lal. Such a role required a much more powerful actor who can be very expressive. Here, Thyagarajan has just one single expression throughout the entire movie. Janardhanan is too loud. Harishree Ashokan is the one who's appointed to provide comic relief, but as seen in recent movies, he has totally lost his old touch and just irritates more and more in the name of comedy. Somebody should seriously tell him that shouting the dialogues will not make it sound funnier. Guinness Pakru provides some good laughs in the college scenes. The late actor Cochin Haneefa, in his last on-screen appearance in Malayalam is very good. His appearance was greeted with a great round of applause even though the theatre had a small crowd. The first 30 minutes of the movie is unbearable due to the loud acting by the cast, which gets all right only when the narrative moves to the college.


Music by Ouseppachan is just okay. Barring 2 songs, all the other 4 songs were totally unnecessary and out of place in the movie. They just pop in randomly when you least expect them and suddenly the entire cast begins to dance to those songs. The only 2 songs which are good are 'Arikathaayaro' and 'Perilla Rajyathe', both having the much-hyped choreography by Prabhu Deva. While the first one has some interesting visualization, the latter one has dance steps which look funny and odd. I didnt find any necessity of having such a big-shot choreographer for the songs of this film. And Prabhu Deva working on those songs, hasnt made much of a difference as well. They look as if they were choreographed by one of the regular people who compose steps for songs.


For the first time, I was not impressed by S Kumar's camerawork in this movie. There is not even a single shot worth remembering in the movie, that too when such a reputed and respected cameraman is behind the camera. First of all, the movie got released in film prints all over Kerala where most of the theatres even in local centres have installed UFO and QUBE digital projection facilities. So that itself kills half the fun. On the whole, the movie doesnt have much visual beauty that one usually expects from a cinematographer like S Kumar.


On the whole, Bodyguard is pretty decent, but not up to the high standards set by the film's director Siddique, who hasnt had a single flop in his career of over 20 years. Lets hope this one also helps him keep his track record intact. The movie is certainly one of the better movies playing in theatres now.


Rating - 3/5

Happy Husbands

Movie - Happy Husbands (Malayalam)

Director - Saji Surendran

Producer - Milan Jaleel

Cast - Jayaram, Indrajith, Jayasurya, Bhavana, Samvritha Sunil, Rima Kallingal, Vandana, Manian Pillai Raju, Suraaj Venjarammood, Salimkumar

Music - M Jayachandran

Cinematography - Anil Nair

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues - Krishna Poojappura

Release Date - January 17, 2010

Saji Surendran may be one of the few directors who acknowledges where the idea for his movie has been taken from. Happy Husbands is based on the blockbuster Hindi movie No Entry, which in turn, was a remake of a Tamil movie Charlie Chaplin. Having seen No Entry several times and enjoyed it each time, I went in for this one, expecting nothing more than some timepass. And I must say that the movie was total timepass and had lots of hilarious scenes, even though it is a scene by scene remake of No Entry. I watched the film almost a month after its release and the theatre was still packed to its capacity and people were having a really good time watching the movie. The movie was declared a hit in the first week itself and is doing great business now also. Saji Surendran shows some promise as he was able to turn both his debut film and his second film into runaway hits.

The story, as we all know, is about marriages and extra-marital affairs. Jayaram plays Mukundan Menon, the MD of a popular magazine. He is married to Krishnendu (Bhavana), his murappennu, who obsessively keeps doubting him and his activities. She feels insecure that somebody else would snatch her husband from her. She has a friend Shreya (Samvritha), whose husband Rahul (Indrajith) is the ideal husband in front of her, but is actually a hardcore flirt and playboy. Johny (Jayarsurya) is a photographer who works in Mukundan's magazine and is like a brother to him. Johny slowly falls in love with a psychology student Serina (Vandana) and decides to marry her. But the trouble starts when Rahul introduces Diana Philip (Rima Kallingal), a bar dancer to Mukundan. His mind wavers for a while and is attracted to Diana. But by the time he realizes his mistake, he had already told a hundred lies to Krishnendu. The confusion that follows makes up the story of Happy Husbands.

The movie begins with a title song featuring the entire cast in Malaysia. The director and producer also walk in slo-mo along with the cast towards the end of the song. And the entire movie is saturated with loud colours. Be it costumes, sets, walls, accessories, anything. Everything is so bright and flashy. There are places where Indrajith wears lipstick and Orange pants and and all that. Jayaram also wears fancy outfits to his office. And when they go off to Malaysia, things become even worse. Only Bhavana, Samvritha and Jayasurya appeared in good costumes. The properties and set designs were also overflowing with flashy colours. A major part of the second half of the film is shot in Malaysia which gives them an excuse to show some more colour. These were some major turn-offs for an otherwise entertaining movie. They would have done it to make the movie 'colourful'.

Jayaram always excels in comic roles and here we see him in a full-blown comic role for the first time since his comeback through Veruthe Oru Bharya. He plays the part Anil Kapoor played in the Hindi version and adds his own comic touch it and comes out in flying 'colours' :P. It is a delight to watch his expressions when he helplessly begins to lie to his wife. Bhavana was really good as the nagging and doubtful Krishnendu. She is getting more and more beautiful with each film of hers. Indrajith tried to be the uber-cool Salman Khan of this movie and was partly successful. He was good in many scenes, but his costumes and accessories made him look like a wannabe. Not everyone can carry off flashy costumes like Salman Khan. And his comic expressions at times reminded of his brother Prithviraj's poor comic expressions. But on the whole, he was quite okay, but certainly not upto what is expected from a really good actor like him. Samvritha, as usual was looking really beautiful and played a docile wife who believes her husband is the purest person on earth. Jayasurya didnt get much scope to display his full comic timing in the first half, but he makes up for it in the second half. But one feels that he should have been give some more scenes, knowing how good he is with comedy. There is nothing much to mention about the newcomer Nandana. Rima Kallingal certainly suits the part of the seductress and is quite okay, considering that this is only her second full length feature film. Manian Pillai Raju as a horny minister and Salimkumar's double role as a doctor and a travel agent are just passable. Suraaj repeats his Trivandrum accent yet again and people who are still not bored of it, continue laughing at it yet again.

There is nothing much to talk about the music, which is way below the standards of M Jayachandran. Ivar Vivahitharaayal had a great music score, but this one has 3 boring songs, overflowing with colour. The set created for the bar song featuring Rima, looks straight out of the old CID Nazir movies. It looks like Joseprakash's dens where cabarets used to happen in those movies. I couldnt stop laughing seeing that set.

Cinematography by Anil Nair was very impressive. Keeping aside the overdose of colour, his framing and camera movements were really good. He is just 2 films old, and has already landed a huge multistarrer Joshi project (Christian Brothers), which shows that he is already popular in the film circuit. Editing suited the mood of the film. But the length could have been trimmed a little more.

On the whole, Happy Husbands is a fairly entertaining film for people who have already seen No Entry and would be a no-brainer laugh-riot for people who havent seen it. And thankfully, there is no vulgar or cheap humour in the film, just like Saji's debut film. It is hard to find movies like that in today's times when even the major respectful directors fill up their movies with cheap and vulgar jokes just to please the changing tastes of our audience. Saji shows a lot of promise and should soon become a prominent young filmmaker, provided he cuts down on the colour. So those who havent already seen the movie, leave your brains at home and go get a ticket, to have some good time laughing.

Rating - 3/5

Aayirathil Oruvan

Movie - Aayirathil Oruvan (Tamil)
Director - Selvaraghavan
Producer - R Raveendran
Cast - Karthi, Reemma Sen, Andrea, R Parthiban, Azhagam Perumal
Music - GV Prakash Kumar
Cinematography - Ramji
Editor - Kola Bhaskar
Art Director - Santhanam
Action - Rambo Rajkumar
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues -  Selvaraghavan
Release Date - 14th January 2010

Aayirathil Oruvan was certainly one of the most awaited movies of recent times. The movie, directed by Selvaraghavan had been in the making for over 2 years and had faced several hurdles to finally release on Pongal 2010. The movie falls in a never-before-attempted genre in Tamil, or perhaps Indian Cinema - Fantasy Adventure. Karthi, the young hero who stole everyone's hearts through his spectacular performance in the blockbuster Paruthiveeran, is back in his second movie after a gap of around 2 years. Also in the cast are Reemma Sen (who hasnt been doing many movies recently) and the multi-talented Andrea, along with the veteran actor R Parthiban in a pivotal role. The music for the movie is composed by GV Prakash Kumar, thereby making it his biggest project till date. The movie tells the story of two archaeologists and a coolie who set out on an expedition, only to stumble upon a lost civilization.

The movie begins with a 'therukkoothu' which shows the end of the Chola reign and cuts to Thanjavore in AD 1279, where the empire of the last King of the Cholas is being destroyed by the Pandias. With no other option left, the king sends his child and a chosen few of the Cholas to a secret place to escape from the Pandias. They take a sacred idol of the Pandias along with them, which instills further anger in the Pandias. The prince and his group of people is said to have reached a faraway island. Despite several attempts, the Pandias could not reach their hideout due to the traps set by them. And it is said that the Pandias are still trying to get there and recover their sacred idol from the Cholas.


Cut to 2009 - an archaeologist goes missing in an island off the shores of Vietnam. His daughter Lavanya (Andrea), who's also an archaeologist is contacted by another archaeologist Anitha (Reemma Sen) who is given the responsibility to find her missing dad and the area he was exploring, the remains of the Cholas who escaped from Thanjavore. Lavanya joins them on the expedition to help them out with her father's findings about the Cholas and the island. They leave for Vietnam in a ship along with several officers, one of them being an ex-army man Ravi (Azhagam Perumal) and a huge group of Coolies, led by Muthu (Karthi), who is a crass, flirtatious Chennai local and above all, a die-hard MGR fan. They reach Vietnam and set off for the Min-Gua island along with the huge group of archaeologists, doctors, army men and coolies. But the journey was not as easy as they expected. To reach the destination, they have to cross the seven deadly traps set by the Cholas to prevent the Pandias from reaching them. The team loses many of its people on the way and after a while, Lavanya, Anitha and Muthu get separated from the rest of the group. They travel some more, escaping from one trap after the other to finally reach the remains of the Chola kingdom.  Shortly after reaching there, they go crazy due to black magic and are led to another place while they are under a spell. Only then they realize that the Cholas dynasty still exists and consists of a primitive group of barbarians led by their king (R Parthiban). Anitha reveals a secret about herself which causes a crucial turn in the events which later develops into a full-fledged war between the armymen led by Ravi and the primitive Chola group.

The movie begins as an adventure/expedition movie taking several cues from the Indiana Jones movies in the first half and turns into a completely different movie in the second half involving black magic, history, mythology and several other factors. Selvaraghavan should certainly be appreciated for even believing that such a story could be brought alive on the Tamil screen. And with lots of conviction and hard work, he managed to do that with mixed effects. The movie is fairly engaging in the first half with great scenes involving the three leads Karthi, Reemma and Andrea. As usual, Selvaraghavan depicts sexual tension quite openly in this movie also and the 3 main characters are not entirely positive or negative. They are characters with grey shades which make them more interesting. But the movie takes a drastic turn in the second half with the introduction of the lost Chola dynasty and its king Parthiban. First of all, the chaste Tamil spoken by them is very difficult to understand. It takes time for the audience to adjust to that language and the whole setting with a strong dose of sex and violence. It is interesting nevertheless and one keenly follows the whole path where the story is progressing. But it disappoints towards the end where the 'Aayirathil Oruvan' or the 'Chosen One' hardly does anything, despite having the backing of magic powers. In spite of that, the movie is gripping right till the end because one rarely sees such bizarre storylines in our cinema.

Karthi is superb as the coolie Muthu, who later turns into the Chosen One (as the title of the movie suggests). He charms you in the first half with his brilliant comic timing and dialogue delivery. His interactions with the ladies is a delight to watch. Another winning performance from him after his debut Paruthiveeran. With that one film itself, he was touted as the next big thing. Now this one would just add more glory to him.  But he is sidelined in majority of the second half, despite being the hero of the film. He is brought back into action, only towards the end and is not utilized properly in the climax also.

But the movie certainly belongs to Reemma Sen.  The actress, who hasnt been doing many movies off-late, shines in the role of Anitha, the archaeologist, with a hidden agenda. She displays superb confidence in the first half and oozes raw sexuality in the second half. But a minor irk was that her lip-movements for the chaste Tamil were slightly out-of-sync with the dubbed voice.  Her drastic turn in the second half was really impressive. Talking further about her character would give away the plot.

Andrea is beautiful and thats it. She just remains a spectator for most parts in the movie and does not have much to do in this film, other than a swear session with Reemma, which looked really forced, even though it was enjoyable. :P She is completely left out in the second half and hardly has any dialogue.
R Parthiban is the surprise package of the film. He is purposefully over-the-top as the barbaric King. His acting in the scene in which he gets to know that he has been betrayed, and the climax portions, was very good.

The movie relies heavily on Computer Graphics, which are a total letdown. I should say that the graphics were much worse than the sub-standard graphics shown in Dasavathaaram. But the action scenes, choreographed by Rambo Rajkumar (who is no more) are done very well. The logic behind many things cannot be questioned as the movie belongs to the fantasy genre. But still, one feels irritated when certain totally incoherent things are shown in the narrative. The major one being, how did Muthu turn out to be the Chosen One. That question is never answered. I saw the edited version of the film where almost 30 minutes of the film had been edited out from the second half. I heard that those scenes had extreme depictions of sex and violence. But removing those scenes hasnt affected the movie in any manner and from the words of other critics, has only made the movie better. Though Selvaraghavan created a daring and never-before storyline, he was not as successful in converting that on to the screen. But Aayirathil Oruvan deserves to be watched, because such films rarely come in our country and it is very engaging right till the end, even though there are many plot-holes and hiccups here and there.

The music by GV Prakash Kumar is excellent. The first song of the movie is the remix of the superhit MGR song 'Atho Antha Paravai Pola' from the MGR movie with the same title as this movie. Like that song, this one is also picturised during the journey in a ship and its a delight to watch Karthi, Reemma and group doing the old-world steps. 'Oh Easa' is more like a music video with some scary imagery inserted with no particular reason into the movie and also shows the troubles the group has to go through during their expedition in the island. 'Un Mela Aasadhaan' is an awesome song sung by Dhanush, Aishwarya Dhanush and Andrea, which again jars with the rest of the movie. The girls who were fighting with Karthi till then start singing and dancing with him suddenly after drinking a little bit of alcohol. 'Thaai Thindra Manne' featuring Parthiban and Reemma Sen, has Reemma trying to seduce Parthiban where as he sings of the troubles faced by the Cholas since they fled from their homeland. Vijay Yesudas' voice is excellent in that song. The saddest part is that the best track of the album, 'Maalai Neram' sung by Andrea has not been used in the film. It is such a beautiful track and has been the most popular song from the audio soundtrack since its release in June last year. Sadly, there is no place for that song in the movie. And several other tracks from the album were also only partly used or not used at all in the movie. The background score by GV was great as well. Usually Yuvan Shankar Raja comes up with magnificent background scores for Selvaraghavan's films. GV has matched up to that and has even gone above that at certain places.

Cinematography by Ramji is brilliant. Be it the green jungles, the dry and sunny deserts or the dark and dingy hideout of the Cholas, he has captured them all with superb effect. He has replaced Selvaraghavan's favourite cinematographer Arvind Krishna, but has delivered what the film requires and much more than that. Editing by Kola Bhaskar is just okay. He could have trimmed the movie a little more which would have increased the pace considerably. Art Direction by Santhanam is very good, especially in the scenes involving the Chola dynasty in the second half. They havent shown the Cholas to be kings wearing all kinds of Golden jewellery and stuff, but has instead gone for a barbaric and primitive look for all of them.

On the whole, Aayirathil Oruvan is an intriguing watch. After watching the entire movie, I read up stuff on the net about the movie and about Cholas and Pandias. Now, how many movies would make one do that? If you are truly interested, then the movie deserves a second viewing also, to get much more details which one couldnt get in the first viewing. The movie has its share of flaws, but stands out for its courage to tell a story which is drastically different from anything we have seen on screen so far. With a little more work on the screenplay, this movie could have been a classic. But for now, it has to settle being just a good/different movie.

Rating - 3.5/5

Best Movies of 2009 - Malayalam

2009 has been a great year for Malayalam Cinema with great films with different ideas coming in, some becoming successful and some remaining as experiments alone. But the industry as a whole has started to feel a sense of revival with such good films coming our way this year. Here are 10 movies which I think should be considered as the best of the year.

1o. Rithu

Director - Shyamaprasad
Cast - Nishan, Rima Kallingal, Asif Ali, MG Sasi

Rithu was a completely different attempt from director Shyamaprasad who is known for arthouse cinema, which he usually makes by adapting literary works. But this time around, he chose to tell the tale of 3 friends who work in a software firm in Technopark, Trivandrum and their relationships. Like the caption which goes, 'Seasons change, do we?', the movie showed the change in characters during different phases of life. Nishan and Rima Kallingal came up with decent performances and Asif Ali is a promising newcomer if he does not go overboard. Music by Rahul Raj and cinematography by Shamdat were the other highlights of the movie. The movie was written by Joshua Newtonn and is one of the better films of the year. If the pace had been a little more faster, it could have created a big difference in the box office fate of the movie.

9. Neelathamara

Director - Lal Jose

Cast - Archana Kavi, Kailash, Rima Kallingal, Samvritha Sunil, Sreedevi Unni, Suresh Nair

Lal Jose and MT Vasudevan Nair coming together, was a dream combination for many. Neelathamara was Malayalam Cinema's first official remake of an earlier Malayalam film, made 30 years ago. It was a sweet and simple film told with lots of old-world charm, amazing visuals, great music and excellent performances.  The song 'Anuraga Vilochananayi' from the movie became a rage all over Kerala with its inherent sweetness and charm. Archana gave a confident performance in her debut film and had a great screen presence. Kailash is also a promising newcomer.

8. Bhagyadevatha

Director - Sathyan Anthikkad

Cast - Jayaram, Kaniha, KPAC Lalitha, Naren, Nedumudi Venu, Innocent, Venu Nagavalli

Sathyan Anthikkad gave his finest film since he began writing on his own, through Bhagyadevatha.  A refreshingly simple story, told in the backdrop of the luscious Kuttanad, this movie had Jayaram delivering yet another huge hit after Veruthe Oru Bharya. Kaniha was impressive as the demure bride. The interval point of the movie is the finest in recent times. Ilaiyaraaja's music and Venu's cinematography added much more appeal to this movie. The movie had smooth 100 day run in the cities with family audiences flooding the theatres, which is the case with every movie from brand Sathyan Anthikkad. KPAC Lalitha gave a superb performance as Jayaram's mother, which would easily feature among the year's best.

7. Loudspeaker

Director - Jayaraaj
Cast - Mammootty, Sasikumar, Gracy Singh, Jagathy Sreekumar, Salimkumar, Janardhanan

Mammootty had been going through a rough patch in his career till this film came to him. Even though this film was not a big hit, it gave a chance to the performer in Mammootty to strike back after so many of those inane movies which were made in the name of comedy. In this movie, he showed how comedy can be done without resorting to buffoonery. A completely charming performance which bowls you over with goodness, one cannot imagine anybody other than Mammootty as the simpleton Mike Philippose in this film. Media moghul Sasikumar made a comeback to the silver screen through a good character in the movie. It was the first release in Malayalam to be done in sync-sound completely, where the dialogues were recorded on the spot instead of dubbing. The movie also featured a wonderful re-rendering of the timeless classic, 'Alliyambal Kadavil' by Vijay Yesudas. Despite receiving rave reviews, this movie sadly could not become a financial success. But that doesnt deprive it from being on this list. 

6. Passenger

Director - Ranjith Shankar
Cast - Dileep, Sreenivasan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Mamta Mohandas, Nedumudi Venu, Madhu

Passenger, which released in May, was the first among the good movies of the year. The movie had a completely new treatment, something which we have never seen before in Malayalam Cinema. The movie discussed the power of the common man and the impact he can bring about, if he stands up for an issue. The movie had excellent performances from an ensemble cast. Dileep shed all his superstar image and portrayed Advocate Nandan Menon as realistically as possible. Sreenivasan as the common man made a huge impact. Mamta got the maximum screentime and showed us that she's just not another 'beauty without brains' with her excellent performance. But the best of all was the performance of Jagathy Sreekumar in a negative role as villainous minister. Cast against his stereotypical roles, Jagathy played a cruel and cunning villain with superb effect. The film had no songs and had a racy narrative which kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Ranjith Shankar shows lot of promise as a new writer-director.

5. Bhramaram

Director - Blessy
Cast - Mohanlal, Bhumika Chawla, Suresh Menon, Muralikrishnan, KPAC Lalitha, Lakshmi Goplaswami

Bhramaram boasts of the best performance of the year by an actor. Mohanlal showed us why he is the best yet again through his bravura performance as the eccentric Sivan Kutty who has lost everything in life. The movie, which can be considered as Malayalam's first road movie, was full of unexpected turns and had amazing technical work, especially by cinematographer Ajayan Vincent. The way Blessy conceived the different shots during the travelling sequences in the movie deserves special mention. Amazing locations, edge-of-the-seat thrills and Mohanlal's stunning performance make this movie one of the best of the year. Suresh Menon and Muralikrishnan also impressed with their supporting roles. Blessy came back into form after Palunku and Calcutta News which didnt rise up to his usual standards.

4. Palery Manikyam : Oru Pathirakkolapathakathinte Katha 

Director - Ranjith
Cast - Mammootty, Mythili, Shwetha Menon, Sreenivasan, T Damodaran

Ranjith adapted TP Rajeevan's famous novel for the screen through this movie which made a compelling watch. Quite unlike the usual investigative movies made in Malayalam, this movie showed the unraveling of the murder mystery step by step with the investigator, played by Mammootty, taking us through various incidents. Most of the cast consisted of rank newcomers who were selected through an acting workshop prior to the movie. Some of them gave really impressive performances. Shwetha Menon gave her career-best performance as Chiru. But it was Mammootty who gave an absolutely superlative performance in a second role as Ahmed Haji who was the highlight of the movie. As a cruel, sadistic and lecherous landlord, Mammootty delivered a stunning performance totally unexpected from him. His getup, make-up, accent and body language further added to the strength of the character. The dialogues were excellent throughout the movie and Manoj Pillai gave some of his finest frames ever. The climax was a bit of a let down, but still, this movie is certainly one of the finest this year for the sheer brilliance it maintains till the hurried climax.

3. Ividam Swargamanu

Director - Rosshan Andrrews
Cast - Mohanlal, Thilakan, Lalu Alex, Sreenivasan, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Lakshmi Rai, Priyanka, Jagathy Sreekumar

The year came to a close on a high note with Mohanlal's Ividam Swargamanu, which gave us everything that it promised. A light-hearted family film, which dealt with a serious contemporary issue in a satirical way, this film gave back the Mohanlal of yesteryears, whom we thought we had lost. The movie has a huge star cast with a lot of amazing combinations which have always worked in the past including Mohanlal-Thilakan, Mohanlal-Sreenivasan, Mohanlal-Kaviyoor Ponnamma-Thilakan and Mohanlal- Jagathy Sreekumar. Lalu Alex gave his career-best performance as Aluva Chandy, the villain in the movie. The movie's only negative was that it moved at a very slow pace, but the brilliant climax more than made up for it. Rosshan took the risk of not including any songs in the movie because songs would have hindered the pace of the movie, which was already very slow. The movie is running successfully across movie halls now.

2. Keralavarma Pazhassiraja

Director - Hariharan
Cast - Mammootty, Sarathkumar, Manoj K Jayan, Suresh Krishna, Padmapriya, Kaniha

Such a movie can come in our industry only once in a blue moon. Made on an estimated budget of 27 Crores (supposedly), this magnum opus had the brilliant team of Hariharan, MT Vasudevan Nair and Mammootty who had earlier created the epic, Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. This movie told the story of Pazhassiraja's guerrilla warfare against the British in the jungles of Wayanad. With excellent performances by the whole cast, good battle scenes (except for some really awkward rope-fights), great music, brilliant cinematography, extraordinary sound effects and clever marketing, this movie truly lived up to its epic proportions. It got one of the biggest openings ever in the history of Malayalam Cinema, completed 65 days and is still running successfully in many centres. Mammootty, Sarathkumar and Manoj K Jayan gave awe-inspiring performaces, out of which, Sarathkumar was the most impressive. The movie is the biggest hit of the year (even though getting back the invested money is still a big question mark) and proved that Malayalam Cinema can also make movies of such large scale and proportions.

1. Kerala Cafe

Directors - M Padmakumar, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Uday Ananthan, Shaji Kailas, Anjali Menon,
B Unnikrishnan, Shyamaprasad, Anwar Rasheed, Revathy, Lal Jose
Cast - Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Dileep, Prithviraj, Sreenivasan, Jayasurya, Jagathy Sreekumar and many others.
Producer - Ranjith

Kerala Cafe tops this list because of the courage and dedication that all these people had, to bring about a change, a new kind of storytelling, in Malayalam Cinema. By telling 10 stories set in 10 different places, with an underlying theme of 'journey', this movie was a completely new experience for our audience. Hearing them applaud after each movie was over was indeed a great feeling. The movie brought out different facets of many popular directors, things we didnt expect out of them. Shaji Kailas made a story of extra-marital relationships, moving away from his action films; Shyamaprasad made a comedy with Suraaj Venjarammood in the lead, completely different from his art-house cinema; and Anwar Rasheed was the biggest surprise of them all, making the finest movie among the ten, and giving a whole new impact. One could not imagine that it was the same person who directed Rajamanikyam, Chotta Mumbai and Annan Thampi. Anjali Menon and Revathy made their debuts in Malayalam as directors and Malayalam Cinema got 2 female directors for the first time, through the same film. Each and every actor, including superstars like Mammootty and Suresh Gopi took some time off to be a part of this great experiment. Movies like these, restore hope in the minds of a Malayali film lover, that our industry has not totally deteriorated. We still stand a chance to bounce back. :)

The other movies of the year which would fall among the good/average categories would be - 2 Harihar Nagar, which was a superhit entertainer running to packed houses for almost 2 months; Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded, which perhaps is the most slick and stylish movie to have come out in Malayalam, but sadly with no content at all; Ivar Vivahitharayaal, which was a decent family entertainer; Gulumaal, a comedy movie which delivered what it promised; Makante Achan, the first hit of the year which had some nice moments between the real-life father and son, Sreenivasan and Vineeth;Vairam, which was a hard hitting movie based on a true incident; a very mediocre Puthiya Mukham which turned into a big hit, due to smart marketing and packaging and Swa Le, which had a good and short concept, which was stretched to eternity and ultimately became a flop. All in all, 2009 has been a great year compared to the recent years and shows a good sign of improvement in the quality of movies that have come out. Lets hope we have better things in store for 2010.

Top 10 Songs of 2009 - Tamil

Tamil Cinema didnt have many reasons to celebrate this year. It didnt have as many good movies this year compared to the earlier years. And the soundtracks too were poorer than usual. And one of the biggest disappointments was that AR Rahman did not have a single release in Tamil after his glorious Oscar victory. So, choosing the best 10 from the few good songs that came out this year was not a very tough task. And here's the list.

10. Om Sivoham - Naan Kadavul

Music - Ilaiyaraaja
Lyrics - Vaali
Singer - Vijay Prakash
Picturised On - Arya

This was the opening song of Bala's long pending Naan Kadavul. This awe-inspiring song by Ilaiyaraaja showed glimpses of the lives of a particular clan of saints in Varanasi called the Aghoris. The entire song was picturised on Rudran, the character played by Arya in the movie, and his antics.  Shot brilliantly by cinematographer Arthur V Wilson, this song showcased the locales of Varanasi which are very rarely shot in our movies. The song was one of the best things about the movie and became very popular, perhaps even more than the whole movie itself. This song is a proof that, when he is challenged, Ilaiyaraaja can still deliver amazing stuff.

9. New Age Aathichudi - TN 07 AL 4777

Music - Vijay Antony
Singers - Vijay Antony, Dinesh Kanagarathnam
Picturised On - Shobi, Pasupathy

Well, this one was supposed to be the 'Nakka Mukka' of this year. But it didnt quite make it. But still, the song was hugely popular for its kick-ass tune and  gibberish in the name of lyrics popularized by Vijay Antony. In a certain portion of the song, Vijay Antony pokes fun at himself and his style of using words which nobody can understand as part of his songs. The dancer Shobi and his groovy steps was even more awesome. The editor contributed tremendously to make this song look slick and stylish. Pasupathy joins by the end of the song to dance to the usual 'kuthu' beat.

8. Hasili Fisiliye - Aadhavan

Music - Harris Jayaraj
Lyrics - Pa. Vijay, Dr. Burn, Maya
Singers - Karthik, Harini, Dr.Burn, Maya
Picturised On - Surya, Nayanthara

This song became an instant chartbuster, thanks to some interesting music from Harris Jayaraj. Even though the song reminds you of many of his earlier compositions, it is still quite nice to hear. The main reason for that being the voice of singer Karthik. He just takes any ordinary song to greater levels with his singing. The rap bit was also done very well by Dr Burn and Maya. The song was shot in foreign locations including Iceland (first time a movie is being shot there). Surya looked dapper and Nayanthara looked cool (instead of looking hot). Though parts of the video were inspired by the song 'Behka' from Ghajini, it made for interesting visuals in this one too.

7. Karigalan - Vettaikkaran

Music - Vijay Antony
Lyrics - Kabilan
Singers - Surchith, Sangeetha Rajeshwaran
Picturised On - Vijay, Anushka

This movie is releasing this friday, but this song, along with almost all the other songs, is already a chartbuster. A romantic folk dance number is a must in every Vijay movie and this song is there just to serve that purpose. With a nice folk tune as its base, this song also has loads of English lyrics like any other Tamil song now. Some of the visuals from the song which are out now, look very good and colourful. Vijay and Anushka look very good together and lets hope that they make an interesting pair. Vijay Antony gets yet another hit in his career with this one and other tracks from the movie such as 'Naan adicha thaanga matte' and 'Chinna Thamarai'. Sangeetha Rajeshwaran's voice is very impressive and Surchith is very good as well.

6. Daddy Mummy Veettil Illai - Villu

Music - Devi Sri Prasad
Lyrics - Kabilan
Singers - Mamtha Mohandas, Naveen
Picturised On - Vijay, Mumaith Khan, Zabyn Khan

Now this one has to be the 'item song' of the year. The tune of a song called 'Akalasthe' from a Telugu movie by Devi Sri Prasad was reused by himself to create this chartbuster Tamil number. Popular actress Mamtha Mohandas who is also a great singer lent her powerful vocals to this song along with Naveen. The song featured the 'item' sisters Mumaith and Zabyn Khan along with Vijay dancing at some foreign dance bar. The tune and the beat pattern were irresistible and almost anyone would feel like dancing once they hear this song. The lyrics were atrociously vulgar, but that became the most popular aspect of the song. It is still being played repeatedly in many TV and radio channels and almost all other stage shows, events and parties. The film was a dud but this song is still hugely popular.

5. Nanbanai Partha Neram Mattum - Ninaithale Inikkum

Music - Vijay Antony
Lyrics - Annamalai
Singer - Benny Dayal
Picturised On - Prithviraj, Shakti, Priyamani and others

Yet another Vijay Antony song in this list. Looks like the young composer is the hottest flavour of the season. This song about college and campus life with a rock theme was a superb track. Benny Dayal's voice is as usual, great. And the picturisation was just about fine. But still the song had the power to stay in one's hearts despite the weaknesses because of the tune, lyrics and singing. The lyrics make you feel like going back to your college, for one last time.  This song was the only good thing in the otherwise forgettable film. And I still dont know what Priyamani was doing in the video of this all-male song. (Especially when she's supposed to be fighting with the characters that appear in this song. :P)

4. Lesa Parakkuthu - Vennila Kabaddi Kuzhu

Music - V Selvaganesh
Lyrics - Na. Muthukumar
Singers - Karthik, Chinmayi
Picturised On - Vishnu, Saranya Mohan

This is certainly one of the best romantic songs to have come out in Tamil in recent times. The lead pair meet during a village fair and slowly develop a liking towards each other. And then they fall in love, even without knowing their identities. All this was brought out very well in the song's picturisation, which reminded one of last year's biggest hit 'Kangal Irandaal', where the hero and heroine communicated only through their eyes. One good thing about this song was that it was not lip-synced. The movie was a daring attempt by a group of youngsters and was appreciated both critically and commercially. The movie also gave us a new music director V Selvaganesh. Karthik and Chinmayi do their parts with perfection. Chinmayi's voice haunts you much after you finish listening to the song.

3. Mazhaiye Mazhaiye - Eeram

Music - Thaman
Lyrics - Viveka
Singer - Ranjith
Picturised On - Aathi, Sindhu Menon

Thaman was the fat drummer from Shankar's film Boys. So in this production of his, Shankar re-introduces Thaman, this time as a music composer. And the young guy gave us a great song in his debut album itself. A song which captures the essence of rain, Mazhaiye Mazhaiye was also shot very well with stunning visuals involving raindrops. Aathi and Sindhu Menon looked very good together and showed some nice chemistry in the song. This song was also not lip-synced and that added to the beauty of the whole package. Viveka's lyrics were primarily about rain and romance and were very good in totality.

2. Oru Vetkam Varuthe - Pasanga

Music - James Vasanthan
Lyrics - Thamarai
Singers - Shreya Ghoshal, Naresh Iyer
Picturised On - Vimal, Vega and Children

James Vasanthan and Thamarai were two people who created the two biggest hits of last year, Kangal Irandaal (Music by James) and Nenjukkul Peidhidum(Lyrics by Thamarai). This year they got together to give yet another beautiful romantic song which will be remembered for a long long time. This song also had a rainy feel to it and was picturised on Vimal and Vega beginning with their romance. The song also showed the budding romance between the children who are the main protagonists of the movie. A wonderfully cute music video along with some great singing by Naresh and Shreya, this song became immensely popular once the movie came out. And it is totally deserving to be in the second position.

1. Vizhi Moodi Yosithaal - Ayan

Music - Harris Jayaraj
Lyrics - Na. Muthukumar
Singer - Karthik
Picturised On - Surya, Tamannah

I did not have any second thoughts while deciding which song would be the No.1 Tamil song of the year. It had to be this one in all means. It was, and is still a hugely popular soft romantic number. The warm picturisation and great chemistry between the lead pair Surya and Tamannah helped both the movie and this song a lot. Harris and Surya are a winning combination. And after Vaaranam Aayiram last year, they continued their winning streak with Ayan and Aadhavan this year. Karthik's singing is perhaps the best aspect of this wonderful melody. Again, a favourite for the TV and radio channels and also for people to keep as their caller tunes.  Like always, Harris's music was accused the charge of sounding repetitive. But that didnt stop this song from being a huge hit with people, especially among the young crowd. And since the director KV Anand is basically a cinematographer, there was no scarcity of great visuals. And a lot of comic situations were also there in the song, which also added more value to it.

The other good/popular songs that missed being a part of this list would be  -Sambo Siva Sambo, Aadungada (Nadodikal); Excuse Me Mr.Kandasamy, Bambarakkannale (Kandasamy); Vaada Mappillai, Jalsa, Dheem Thanakka Thillana (Villu); Naan Adicha  Thaanga Maatte, Puli Urummudhu, Chinna  Thamarai, Uchimandai (Vettaikkaran); Vaanam Yellai, Unnaipol Oruvan(Unnaipol Oruvan); Adada Vaa, Kaatrukkulle (Sarvvam); Vaarayo Vaarayo, Eno Eno Panithuli, Damakku Damakku (Aadhavan); Piya (Ninaithaale Inikkum); Oh Divya Oh Divya (Masilamani); Suthuthu Suthuthu, Kanden Kadhalai, Naan Mozhi Arinthen, Katru Puthithai (Kanden Kadhalai); Etho Seigirai, Oru Devathai (Vamanan); Raanki Rangamma (Padikkathavan) andManasellam (Kulir 100 Degree).

Another song could have easily been in the No.1 position - Maalai Neramfrom Aayirathil Oruvan. The audio was released in September but since the movie is not releasing this year, I could not include it in this year's list. But that song is indeed a wonderful serenading melody.