Top 10 Songs of 2011 - Malayalam

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Its that time of the year when movie bloggers make their year end lists with their favourite movies, songs and performances. I'm no different either. I'm starting my series of lists with this one on what according to me were the 10 best songs of 2011 in Malayalam.  

10. Nin Viral Thumbil / Moovanthiyaay - Beautiful

Singers - Gayathri (Nin Viral), Vijay Yesudas (Moovanthiyay)

Music - Ratheesh Vega

Lyrics - Anoop Menon

Featuring - Jayasurya, Anoop Menon, Meghna

Director - VK Prakash

2 Beautiful tracks from the film Beautiful which came at the end of the year. The amazing Gayathri, singing after long made Nin Viral Thumbil worth remembering for a long time. Sadly, the song doesnt have a video in the movie and features during the titles. Moovanthiyaay, the song which shows the friendship and bonding between Jayasurya and Anoop Menon is spirited and positive. Superbly sung by Vijay Yesudas, this song has fantastic visuals shot by Jomon T John. Ratheesh Vega is growing to be a music director to look forward to. And Anoop Menon makes a really impressive debut as a lyricist. 

9. Paattil Ee Paattil - Pranayam

Singers - Shreya Ghoshal, P Jayachandran

Music - M Jayachandran

Lyrics - ONV Kurup

Featuring - Mohanlal, Jayaprada

Director - Blessy

Shreya Ghoshal in her mesmerizing voice sings the soulful words by ONV Kurup, set to tune by M Jayachandran in one wonderful song. The song showed the romance that is still alive between a paralyzed Mohanlal and his loving wife Jaya Prada in Blessy's Pranayam with excellent frames shot by Satheesh Kurup. The song also has a male version which is equally good, sung by P Jayachandran. But it is the female version that made it to the film. One of the best moments in the film, this song is probably M Jayachandran's best work in a long time. And we're always ecstatic to hear ONV's poetry in film songs. 

8. Chimmi Chimmi - Urumi

Singer - Manjari

Music - Deepak Dev

Lyrics - Rafeeq Ahmed

Featuring - Nithya Menen, Prabhu Deva

Director - Santosh Sivan

This was the first genuine blockbuster song of the year. Deepak Dev's playful music, Manjari's sweet and flirtatious vocals and Rafeeq Ahmed's fab lyrics were one major reason. And the other was Nithya Menen's performance in the song as the sensuous Chirakkal Bala and Prabhu Deva's equally brilliant reactions to her advances. Shot by India's best cinematographer Santosh Sivan, this was one cracker of a song where everything came together perfectly. 

7. Anthimana Chembadiyil - Indian Rupee

Singers - MG Sreekumar, Sujatha

Music - Shahabas Aman

Lyrics - VR Santosh

Featuring - Prithviraj, Rima Kallingal

Director - Ranjith

Remember all those wonderful songs we used to hear in MG Sreekumar and Sujatha's voices in old Priyadarshan movies in the 80s and early 90s?? This song from Indian Rupee takes us back to those memories and gives such a nostalgic feel. (So did the movie) The song was shot by S Kumar (who used to shoot all such songs back then) and directed by Ranjith. If one listens to this song without knowing which movie it is from,  he/she would imagine the old Mohanlal & Shobhana performing the song. But Prithviraj & Rima Kallingal live up to their standards and look great together, dressed in simple costumes, effortlessly performing the song. Shahabas Aman kept the music simple and effective, perfectly complimenting the pleasant lyrics by VR Santosh. The song leaves you with a smile. :) 

6. Thelu Thele - Urumi

Singer - KR Renji

Music - Deepak Dev

Lyrics - Engadiyoor Chandrashekharan

Featuring - Prabhudeva

Director - Santosh Sivan

The best song from Urumi. An inspirational song which Prabhu Deva performs just before the final battle in the movie. The rustic vocals of KR Renji and inspiring lyrics by Engadiyoor Chandrashekharan were put to brilliant use by Deepak Dev in this great song. And as always, Santosh Sivan made sure that its visualized perfectly. 

5. Theeye Theeye / Oru Naalum Kaanaathe - Chaappa Kurishu

Singers - Saju Sreenivas, Sayanora Philip (Theeye), Reshmi Satheesh, Rex Vijayan (Title Song)

Music - Rex Vijayan

Lyrics - Engadiyoor Chandrashekharan

Featuring - Fahadh Faasil, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Remya Nambeeshan, Niveditha, Roma

Director - Sameer Thahir

Chappa Kurishu was a completely different experience, both as a movie and as a music album. Popular rock band Avial's guitarist Rex Vijayan made his debut as a composer through this movie and composed two killer songs which had separately shot music videos to promote the movie. Theeye Theeye had a haunting feel to it with Saju Sreenivas & Sayanora Philip behind the mic. And the title song gives a great adrenalin high with the music accompanied with a superbly layered chenda track. Reshmi Satheesh's unconventional voice backed ably by Rex was another major plus point. The videos were slickly shot by Jomon T John and directed by Sameer Thahir. Full marks for experimentation. The title song of the film even featured on MTV Roots, a show that recognizes non-Bollywood talent from around the country and more. 

4. Premikkumbol - Salt n Pepper

Singers - P Jayachandran, Neha Nair

Music - Bijibal

Lyrics - Rafeeq Ahmed

Featuring - Lal, Shwetha Menon

Director - Aashiq Abu

Another extremely popular track of the year. This beautiful melody had the soothing vocals of the legendary P Jayachandran and the super-talented upcoming singer Neha Nair. Bijibal's melodious composition with Rafeeq Ahmed's lovely lyrics was perfectly picturized by Aashiq Abu. The tune gives a complete nostalgic feel and takes us back to the era of the late composer Baburaj and his melodies. A middle aged couple who're slowly falling in love without having seen each other even once was superbly captured through this wonderful song. Lal and Shwetha Menon were excellent . One cannot help but fall in love with this song. 

3. Ee Puzhayum - Indian Rupee

Singer - Vijay Yesudas

Music - Shahabas Aman

Lyrics - Mullanezhi

Featuring - Prithviraj, Rima Kallingal

Director - Ranjith

This song was forced into the movie and had a terrible picturisation. But what the hell, it is such a soothing and melodious song, one of the best songs we've heard in years. Vijay Yesudas has finally started proving that he is the worthy successor to his father and this song adds much more brownie points towards that. The late Mullanezhi Maash's lyrics reinstate everything that was good about Malayalam Film Music and what we thought we had lost. Shahabas Aman has done an excellent job with the composition and has used the unplugged version in the movie concentrating on Vijay's voice and the soothing guitar chords. I have nothing to say about the terribly picturised video of this song other than it was a royal wastage of such an amazing song. Especially when the other song in the movie got quite a nice video. 

2. Mazhaneer Thullikal - Beautiful

Singer - Unnimenon

Music - Ratheesh Vega

Lyrics - Anoop Menon

Featuring - Anoop Menon, Jayasurya, Meghna

Director - VK Prakash

UNNIMENON!!! One of the best singers Kerala has produced returns to form with this gem of a song. Ratheesh Vega's brilliant composition and Anoop Menon's beautiful lyrics form a perfect backdrop for Unnimenon to blow our minds once again, that too after ages. VK Prakash has made a video which captures all the beauty of the song and builds the relationship of the 3 main leads in the film. The song is received with applause in movie halls and is a high point in the movie. Listening to this song on a rainy evening is pure bliss.

1. Chembavu Punnellin Choro - Salt n Pepper

Singer - Pushpavathy

Music - Bijibal

Lyrics - Rafeeq Ahmed

Featuring - Kerala's delicious food joints

Director - Aashiq Abu

The song of the year!! Kerala makes the best food in the country. And none of our movies or songs had ever captured that aspect about our state so far. So when Aashiq Abu and team started their delicious movie with this sumptuous song, it was purely mindblowing. Rafeeq Ahmed wrote his heart out about our food and dishes and Bijibal composed the perfect tune for it. Pushpavathy's rustic voice is the find of the year. And the video of this song features Malayali's favourite eating places across the state ranging from Kayee's Biriyani to Mullappanthal Shaappu to Paragon and Sagar and so on and so forth. The video would make you want to rush to grab something to eat the second you finish watching it. Such a mouth-watering song was a first in our cinema and it certainly deserves the top spot of the year. 

These were my favourite songs of the year. Apart from them, there were many other great songs which couldnt make it to the final list, including Kalamozhikalaya (Pranayam), Nee Akaleyano (City of God), Aanakkallan (Salt N Pepper), Amruthamay Abhayamay, Aavanithumbi (Snehaveedu), Aaarane Aarane (Urumi), Chembakappoo (Rathinirvedam) and Aaru Tharum (Make Up Man). Post your favourite songs as comments as well. :) :) 

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

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Movie - Beautiful (Malayalam)

Director - VK Prakash

Producer - Anand Kumar

Story, Screenplay, Dialogues, Lyrics - Anoop Menon

Cast - Jayasurya, Anoop Menon, Meghna, Nandu, Jayan, Tini Tom, Unnimenon, Aparna Nair, Deepak Nair, KB Venu, Kochupreman, Mredul and others. 

Cinematography - Jomon T John

Music - Ratheesh Vega

Editor - Mahesh Narayanan

Art Direction - Ajayan Mangad

Release Date - 2nd December 2011

First of all, a huge apology for such a long delay in posting the review of this wonderful film. 

Few films make Malayalis wholeheartedly get up and give a standing ovation to a film these days. And fortunately in the year 2011, we were blessed with many such movies. 'Beautiful' - a movie that truly lives up to its title, is the latest to join them. Directed by VK Prakash and scripted by Anoop Menon, this movie is indeed a must watch. 

Stephen (Jayasurya) is a paraplegic millionaire who doesnt crib about his fate and loves to live life positively finding beauty in every small thing, while his relatives are after his life to get access to his enormous wealth. When he notices a singer John (Anoop Menon) whose voice reminds him of his late friend, he makes an offer to John to be a friend for him and sing for him everyday, in return for a fat paycheck every month. John who is in dire need for money accepts the offer reluctantly and the both of them strike an unusually beautiful friendship in the course of time. There enters a sensuous and seductive home nurse Anjali (Meghna) to take care of Stephen and there is tension in the air. 'Beautiful' tells the story of what happens later. 

Anoop Menon is a brilliant writer. People who watched Pakal Nakshatrangal would vouch for that. That one was a slightly intellectualized movie which did not work very well with the general audience. But with Beautiful, Anoop Menon has found the right balance and has shown exceptional skill in creating wonderful scenes and even better dialogue. Not a single character is there for the sake of it and each and every one has a perfect part to play. The friendship between the two leading men is developed beautifully and that is the backbone of the movie. Another master stroke by the writer is the constant referencing to movies which Stephen keeps watching on television. The interval scene with a tribute to Thoovanathumbikal and Johnson Maash should go down in history as one of the best tributes ever and is undoubtedly, the scene of the year. The references to films come at the right points (its not fun if I reveal them here, so go watch it for yourselves). The usage of vintage film songs at the right points was also another great touch. The humour is direct and in your face and not the regular double entendre types which we're used to hearing from Suraaj, Salimkumar and co. And since it is so direct and casual, we do not feel offended and actually find it extremely real. Dialogue has always been Anoop Menon's forte and he has done a kickass job with them here also. This movie is a reservoir for movie quote junkies like me with one epic line after another, all of which may sell hundreds of copies if printed on T shirts. Stephen's positivism and the evolution of his friendship with John are the best parts of the first half while the sexual tension in the atmosphere between John, Stephen and Anjali and the dilemma that John faces towards the end which races into a suspense thriller mode are the highlights of the second half. There is only one request to Mr. Anoop Menon - please write more often. We need great writers like you to be active in this industry which faces such extreme scarcity of good writers. 

VK Prakash is a director who has attempted various different genres ranging from parallel cinema (Punaradhivasam, Karmayogi) to romance (Mullavalliyum Thenmavum) to horror (Moonnamathoraal) to action (Police) to suspense (Positive) to slapstick comedy (Gulumaal, 3 Kings) with different results and perhaps for the first time since Punaradhivaasam, he gets a script which gives him space to showcase his true potential as a director, and he has done a fabulous job translating Anoop Menon's fantastic script to the screen. He should easily be up there with the big directors after this movie. His energy and the efficiency of his entire team made it possible for this small movie to be finished under 25 days of principal shooting. The actors have been handled extremely well and the visuals are fantastic as it is always in VKP films. There is not a single dull moment in the film and the narration is simple and fresh. Now VKP can proudly say that he has earned a place among Malayalam Cinema's top directors and rightly so. 

Jayasurya is an actor who hasnt got his due in Malayalam Cinema yet. He has been taking such enormous effort to portray distinctly different characters in each movie of his - be it a hero, villain, comedian or a supporting actor. But still majority of the people dont take him seriously. Now that would definitely change with his amazing performance as the paraplegic Stephen in Beautiful. After a charming Janapriyan earlier this year, Jayasurya stuns us again just by using his face and dialogue delivery and nothing else. If you ask me, he should walk away with all the best actor trophies this year for these two films (Mohanlal was brilliant in a similar role in Pranayam, but he's been there, done that. These younger guys need all the boosting when they dare to do roles like these). 

Anoop Menon was a pure natural as John in the movie. After the great roles in Cocktail, Traffic & Pranayam, he shines effortlessly in Beautiful and you can actually notice the tremendous growth in him as an actor. His body language is so free flowing and natural that not once do we feel that he is performing as a character. We have very few lead actors now who can effortlessly bring out humour through their body language and Anoop shows that humourous side of his also in this movie. He shares fantastic chemistry with his real life buddy Jayasurya and that friendship truly reflects in this movie. The subtle exchange of expressions and dialogue between the both of them further accentuates their great chemistry. The only jarring thing was that he appeared a little stiff while performing the rock song in the second half (more on that later) but that doesnt matter as he is brilliant in the rest of the movie. By being part of many important movies, Anoop is truly becoming a force to reckon with in the Malayalam industry.  

Meghna was the surprise package of the film. As the joke that is doing the rounds now, nobody really noticed her face so far in films and its the first time that people actually sat down and took notice of the girl's talent. And boy, the girl can act. She looks sensuous, seductive and plays her part perfectly. Great casting choice. Nandu, in an important role after Thirakkatha, is brilliant. Its a pity that this fine actor is not used to his capabilities by most filmmakers. Jayan, another underrated brilliant actor also pitches in a great performance. Tini Tom is really nice as Jayasurya's over friendly cousin. The rock band including KB Venu, Aparna Nair (let down by bad dubbing), Mredul and Deepak Nair (his Calicut accent was superb) are really good and a welcome change from the usual people seen in such roles. Unnimenon is quite stiff. Kochupreman is funny. The rest of the cast do their bits quite well. 

The film is shot exquisitely by Jomon T John. The awesome cinematographer who debuted with Chaappa Kurishu takes his two RED cameras out there and does an awesome job, be it the excellently lit interiors or rain soaked exteriors or the sensuous Meghna. This dude is bound to go places. So is Mahesh Narayanan who keeps the film crisp, sharp, fine and simple. His skill is really visible in the song sequences and the interrogation/revelation sequence in the climax. Art director Ajayan Mangad has done up the different spaces in the movie really well - be it Jayasurya's posh house or Anoop Menon's makeshift living space in a furniture showroom. 

Ratheesh Vega's music, especially the 'Mazhaneer Thullikal' track became a sensation even before the movie's release. The movie has 3 excellent songs including Mazhaneer Thullikal which is probably one of the best songs of the year. But the rock song was a complete disappointment. The haphazardly shot video didnt do any help either. It is the only jarring portion in an otherwise well shot film. He keeps the background score minimal and lets the audience soak in the goosebumps-inducing music of RD Burman and Johnson Mash instead. Like the entire new wave Tamil Cinema depended on vintage Ilaiyaraaja scores to create magic on screen, Anoop Menon gives a fitting tribute to Johnson Maash through the Thoovanathumbikal scene where that haunting Clara-Jayakrishnan's love theme plays out as the introduction for Meghna. Its just pure magic. 

Born out of Jayasurya's leg injury and an inspiration from a true incident in Anoop Menon's childhoood, this movie reinstates our belief in good cinema and keeps the new wave moment of this year alive. A lot of biggies have released alongside with it now and many more biggies from other languages are expected to release in the coming weeks. It is the responsibility of Malayalis as an audience who've been starved of good cinema to give all their support to this movie and not to let it sink in between such big budget flicks. Take a bow, VK Prakash, Anoop Menon, Jayasurya, Jomon, Mahesh and team!! You've created a film that cant have any better adjective than its title itself - BEAUTIFUL. 

PS - For all the guys who're desperately trying to find imdb links to prove that this one is also a copy, good luck!! Even though you wouldnt get any results, your efforts are appreciated. :P 

Bottomline - Go watch!! Right now!!!