PATTIYAL

The rough and tough Arya and a deaf and dumb Bharath are intimate friends and this apart, they are hired killers engaged by middleman VMC Hanifa, who also provides the two with the necessary stratagem for execution and maintains a clandestine relationship unknown even to their lovers, Pooja (the very same girl in Thambi) and Padmapriya (completely different from that of Thavamaai Thavamirunthu).

The drunken and sullen appearance of Arya, with his unshaven face fits very easily into this ruffian role while the calm Bharath steels the show in romantic scenes. However, realistic acting is still a long way to go for the two. Except VMC Haniffa, nobody shows any maturity in acting. Yuvan Shankar Raja could have done better. Anyhow, the song in his own voice Yethaetho...has already turned out to be a hit. However, on the technical side, Nirav Shah and Sreekar Prasad for Camera and Editing respectively, deserve mention.

The director (Vishnuvardhan,the guy who made Arindum Ariyaamalum fairly watchable) lets us down on many fronts. The killings are shown as an amateurish drama lacking vital punch. The stunt scenes lack action while dialogues are deprived of any touch. The fatigued narration gains momentum in the second half only, when Hanifa under pressure, grudgingly agrees to forfeit the two after they complete the task of murdering a big shot at Coimbatore as per the original plan of Hanifa. But by then, the whole thing was lost.

The killers go unnoticed all along. And don't ask what the law enforcing agency was doing all along? In one way, this is a different film... in any normal Tamizh film, you could see Police cops come into sight in the last scene, after the hero accomplishes his task. Here in this movie, the director did not bring a single policeman in the atmosphere till the end!

THANMAATRA

Though the film released during the last leg of 2005, I got the opportunity to see the movie only last week. Director Blessy of Kaazhcha, triumphs again with this meticulous and well crafted film. This time he teams with Mohan Lal... oh, what a great actor he is... showing his class and eminence in each and every frame. For sure he will be endowed with National Award for this towering performance.

Right from the beginning, the film traverses through one's heart. The father-son relationship is as natural as we saw in Thavamai Thavamirunthu. Mohan Lal as a typical middle class Govt employee ambitious to see his plus-two son pursue a career in civil services was unfortunately struck by a devastating Alzheimer's disease. All of a sudden every thing turns nightmare for himself and his loving wife, son and daughter. The family tries very hard to cope up with the inexplicable situation.

The great piece of acting from Mohan Lal, supported aptly by other casts (Meera Vasudevan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy, etc.), melodic music of Mohan Sitara, gentle and breezy cinematography, to cap it all, the splendid narration of Blessy all carry the film to greater heights - A must-watch movie!

I believe, the commercial success of film will really place Malayalam cinema back in its right track.