Kerala Cafe(2009)

It sets the high standard among all those released in the recent past.It was an experimental venture and it wins.All credits goes to director Renjith for coming with the idea and coordinating the project.Its an astonishing journey of life depicted through 10 films . Am quite happy to hear that the experimental film become a success and that too many loved the experiment, i mean the causal users of the film. The following is about those 10 films with no particular order.

The film 'Nostalgia' shows the life of a man residing in Dubai who feels nostalgic about their time they lived in their homeland. Padmakumar did a good job in conveying the theme and the humorous way of conveying the thread was nice. His previous films included the critically acclaimed 'Ammakkilikkodu' and 'Vastavam'(Not to mention the commercial crap 'Parunthu').

The film 'Aviram' was a nice portrayal of recession hitting largely into the lives of ITians. And surprise surprise surprise, the director is none other than B.unnikrishnan who i never thought would come with such a good film. I think he is all set to do good films, just needs some good stories to work with. The main problem was he used to write for the films he directed. Well acted by Siddique and Sweta. Ten minute time frame was taken perfectly.

The film 'Mrityunjayam' gone below the expectation. In fact thought it deviated from the common theme journey. Horror didnt worked out well. But acting were still above average. The surprise was Fazil's son who seemed to have improved his acting.

The film 'Lalitham Hiranmayam' was the one got a lot of curse from the audience due to the subject the movie concentrated. The acting of the second heroine Dhanya was below par compared to other two. The subject was a bitter one for viewers of the cinema. But for me he has done the best job to carry out the subject. Excellent editing and cinematography. The colours of the film was so brilliant that i thought if the script was a little good, then it would have been a real treat to watch. The parts showing the romance(if it can be called so) between suresh gopi and dhanya was portrayed with soothing camera angles and did a perfect editing as well. The initial scene was verysoothing to the eyes with rain pouring in the background. Lots of styles to watchout for.

Lal Jose's 'Puram Kazhchakal' was adapted from the story written years back by C V Sreeraman. It starts as smooth pleasant story and gives some humorous moments and ultimately gives you pain. Simply good film with good acting department.

'Makal' by revathy was a disappointing tour. It wasnt a boring film. The problem was it was the same old story. The directors talent should be to choose a new subject and present that in 10 min frame or in how to present this story in a different way that could have just washed out the cliche. Disappointing effort, but not bad at all. It has its own moments that makes it a good one.

'Happy Journey' by Anjali menon positions among the top films in this saga which entertained most of the audience. There is something refreshing in the subject. The real hero of the subject for me was not the director, but were the duo actors, Jagathy Sreekumar and Nithya. Nithya promises to be a very good heroin to look out for. Nothing else to mention about the story. A good Journey that is really interesting.

'Off season' by Syamaprasad was again a disappointing one for me. I got something far below from what i expected. It was a light approach on a very serious theme. It worked well but was average. Its about recession hitting in foreign countries and people coming in India in search for the job.

'Island Express' is one of my favorite films of this saga. It has got cinematography, graphics and crisp editing blend with a good script and sharp dialogues. The direction was completely new from what i normally see in Indian films.The starting of the film wasnt very convincing and a bit tougher to follow along the lines to understand what it is telling. Slowly the story conveyed and when it reached the climax, it winded up beautifully. The heroine of the film was new and really good as well. Except Rahman and Jayasuriya acting from every other were excellent. The cinematography along with colors was top notching. Now Shankar Ramakrishnan is a director to watch-out for.

'Bridge' was directed by commercially acclaimed director Anwar Rasheed. He proved his caliber already with these average films. In one word the film was 'Awesome'. There isn't a single element to consider as weak in the film. Brilliant direction,excellent cinematography, excellent choice of story, neat script, dialogues and excellent acting department. Everything worked fine for the movie. Certain scenes in the films made me remember the films by the famous Korean director Kim ki Duk(this is not a comparison but just comparing the excellency). The first shot with the camera itself was brilliant. The raining that sustained in some parts of the movie is beautifully captured.The location was fantastic as well. I think this one was the film with larger time consumption more than 20 minutes. And this one has got more claps from the audience. Everyone felt like they have seen something big.True. Even some days after watching the film, the images that the film shown will be imprinted on you. Thats how powerful the medium Cinema is capable of. A director to watch-out for the future.

If you havent seen this yet, you would be missing one of the greatest films in malayalam. A real treat to watch for. An answer to all those who asked what can be done in 10 min frame. After watching this we feel like where the hell where these directors have been?

OneLine: An experimental venture that stands out to show the brilliance of direction.

9/10