ഉത്തരം (Utharam) (1989)

Director: Pavithran
Writers:  M. T. Vasudevan Nair, Daphne du Maurier
Cast:      Mammootty, Sukumaran, Parvathi, Suparna
Language: Malayalam

One fine morning, not any different from every other day, a promising poet shoots herself. Leaving no trace of motive, her husband's best friend and journalist, Balu embarks on a journey to find the truth.

The film is an adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's short story called 'No Motive'. Since it doesn't have a wiki entry, I cannot really comment on whether they deviated too much from its plot. In general, film adaptations work best when the source material is a short story rather than a novel because more often than not, it will involve some universe expansion through adaptation. When it is from a novel, plenty of things get lost due to the constraints of the medium which normally means length limitation and also inner thoughts through perspective narration. I haven't seen any of MT's works quite recently and plan to explore it further, especially with his films that are set in contemporary times (not a big fan of Malayalam period films). He was a formidable force in Malayalam film industry, during what was considered as its peak, and him and Padmarajan were two blokes who came into it from a literature background though both were from very different generations. Unlike Padmarajan, he largely restricted himself into script writing and directed only a few films.

Coming back to the film at hand, it is an excellent watch and can be considered as a mystery thriller which moves at a very leisure pace. Mammootty is at his best when he plays polished intellectuals, like he does in this film, or boastful and insecure rich guys (വേദനിക്കുന്ന കോടീശ്വരൻ). As he begins investigating her past life, the things gets pieced together only gradually and there is no big twist or anything or what can be considered as twists does't feel like them because the film develops in such a fashion. I would have preferred a slightly different and less conclusive ending, with something just triggering a memory from her past instead of the improbable meeting that the film has now (I mean what are the chances !!). They could have taken the easy way out by leaving Parvathi's character out from the unfortunate incident but they quite bravely opt to give some sort of ambiguity to her plight and her memories. It is a great watch with excellent performances from all concerned.

PS: Malayalam filmmakers really knew how to do mystery genre right during those days and these days, it just means shitty twists and lengthy expositions at the end....

Rating: 4.5/5

കിരീടം (Kireedam) (1989)

Director: Sibi Malayil
Writer:    Lohithadas
Cast:       Mohanlal, Thilakan, Mohan Raj (Keerikkadan Jose)
Language: Malayalam

The life of a young man turns upside down when he intervenes in a fight in order to rescue his father (a cop) from a ruthless local Gunda (outlaw). The title of the film translates as crown and refers to the fact that the villagers sees the fight as the handing over of the crown from the old Gunda to the new one. 

When searching for a poster for Naduvazhikal, I had come across the one on the left. It is really difficult to fathom that such two films would have come in within the space of a month in Malyalam and, I guess, those were the days. Kireedam is a film that you would not want to watch again because it is kind of Kerala's 'Hamlet' in terms of it being the ultimate tragedy. I think I saw it for the last time when I was less than 10 years old and it had a lasting effect because it also affected me while watching another film. I thought the same named character in 'In Harihar Nagar' to be also the same man and his fate in that film is also quite tragic. After having decided to give it a go, in order to actually gauge the merit of this film, I couldn't help but notice the 'same but not quite same' aspects of this film when compared with Naduvazhikal. Both sons get into these unwanted positions quite reluctantly because of their respective fathers and the reaction from their their dads are quite the opposite. Sethumadhavan is quite apologetic as he begins to excel inadvertently in his new role while Arjun becomes quietly confident. Both films are marked by iconic last sequence fights but Sethumadhavan's one is about survival while Arjun is in it for revenge. Both of them ends up in jail.

I really don't class 'Kireedam' as one of the best efforts from Sibi Malayil-Lohithadas combo. If you add Mohanlal to this, I actually prefer both 'His Highness Abdullah' and 'Dasharatham' to it. Kireedam is a bit manipulative and some of its side characters, especially Sethumadhavan's family and relatives, are kind of half-baked and cliched. What really elevates the film to greatness is really the tour-de-force performance from Mohanlal, amply supported by Murali and Thilakan. Mohan Raj's role as Keerikkadan Jose is so iconic that I only found out about his actual name today only. The rawness of the last fight and Mohanlal's mannerisms are so good that every Malayalee will have a little cry after watching the film's ending no matter how many times you have seen it.I guess you have to class such a film as great despite its flaws leading up to it. Film has been remade to other different languages, with a very low degree of success, and it is safe to say that it was Mohanlal who made this average material into a great film. He only got a special jury mention at the National awards where he lost out to Mammootty for 'Oru Vadakkan Veeraghada' and 'Mathilukal'.

Rating: 4/5

വടക്കുനോക്കിയന്ത്രം (Vadakkunokkiyantram) (1989)

Director: Sreenivasan
Writer:    Sreenivasan
Cast:       Sreenivasan, Parvathy, Innocent
Language: Malayalam

A man with a serious case of inferiority complex, Thalathil Dineshan (Sreenivasan), is married to a beautiful girl, a girl whom he considers to be way out of his league. Soon, his love and care turns into suspicion. 

It is a common refrain that Sreenivasan is someone who made money by selling his inferiority complex for films. While he has written for many directors there are only two films for which he took up the role of director as well and Vadakkunokkiyanthram (Compass) is the first one of those two. The second one is 'Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala' which came out it 1998. Both of these films are rightly considered as classics of Malayalam cinema marrying comedy and topic seriousness in a perfect manner. The films he did with his frequent collaborator, Sathyan Anthikkad, tended to be social commentaries while these two films that he directed were much more inward looking in terms of depicting its central character. The title of the film refers to Dineshan's propensity to react to all things in the film's story-line by orienting towards his inferiority complex and suspicion just like a Compass, which always orient towards north.  

The film is laced with high quality comedy, like you would expect in a Sreenivasan film, and can be classed as a cringe-comedy, a genre in which the likes of Ricky Gervais is an expert. The character, Thalathil Dineshan, and his antics has been part of Kerala pop-culture as its very meme-worthy as well as highly quotable. His is a very exaggerated portrayal and one might raise an eye-brow at the convoluted ways in which his mind goes. When you think the film is ending with a very cliched happy ending, he gives a nod to horror films by suggesting a relapse into his old self for the character. 

To sum up, it is a great watch but I do consider his second effort as director to be the superior one out of the two. Many of the characters introduced from the midway of the film serves just as plot devices and he managed to create a richer universe around the central character in 'Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala'. 'Thalayanamanthram', which came out a year later, could be classed as a sister film to this one. 

Rating: 4.5/5

When Harry Met Sally... (1989)

Director: Rob Reiner
Writer:    Nora Ephron
Cast:       Billy Crystal, Meg Ryan, Carrie Fisher

Harry and Sally have known each other for years, and are very good friends, but they fear sex would ruin their friendship. So in essence, their approach is the complete opposite to the one in Spaced, where two house mates have sex right away so that the sexual tension won't make their time together awkward. 

So what you have here is what should be a very Woody Allen like New-York picture with neurotic characters. The film starts off well with the couple of time jumps starting with the time they were in college and meeting for the first time when they took an eighteen hour car ride from Chicago Uni to NYC. Finally it settles ten years later after both of them just coming out from long-term relationships. The time jumps are done accompanying testimonails from some very old couples. Ten years back they had started off in an abrasive manner disagreeing on the topic of 'Whether a man and woman can just stay as friends without any sex/ sexual thoughts coming in between'.

So even in their thirties they are trying it out in their case as they become thick friends. I felt the film was very interesting up to a point after which I began to lose interest as you know how it is going to end. It wouldn't have been a problem if it takes you there in an interesting manner but it really felt like a chore for me. That said, the famous deli scene where they debate about fake orgasms and Sally proceeds to fake one right there was great, and you do get a Seinfeld vibe about the whole thing. That Deli in NY still has a sign which refers to  the legendary response from an older woman on-looker. The idea for that scene was suggested by Meg Ryan and the line by Billy Crystal. On the whole the film felt like a not very funny extended Seinfeld episode which is a shame considering how well it began. You know what could be a good idea, a film that features just their 18 hour car drive from Chicago to New-York and when the film began I thought it was gonna be a road movie like that with lots of talking.

Overall it is a decent watch without being all that good on the whole. I just went through Meg Ryan's filmography and realized that I hadn't seen any of her films prior to this. So it makes sense that I didn't like it very much since she seems to be perennially involved with wrong sort of rom-coms for me. I need a lot more of self-loathing and neurosis. Rob Reiner went on to make several films with Nora Ephron as his screenwriter. 

Rating: 2.5/5