Originally Posted at PFC - http://passionforcinema.com/puthiya-mugham-movie-review/PUTHIYA MUGHAM (Malayalam Movie)
Malayalam cinema is going through a phase of exploring a complete change over in the story telling, searching a new experience to attain the lost era of golden cinema which carried the legacy in late 80's and early 90's. Going by the records of recent malayalam cinema, it was clear of the fact that today's malayalam cinema is running on two 'M' shoulder(s) i.e. Mohanlal and Mammooty. They have proved it most of the times, which kept me puzzling who will be the next genuine actor after Mohanlal, the response was NONE.
Then I came to know of a movie called 'Puthiya Mugham' via Television. The rushes were cool, very good music and moreoever it had PrithviRaj in it. The media claimed PrithviRaj as the next superstar in Malayalam cinema. I wasn't happy for this, as I wanted PrithviRaj to be the next best actor representing Malayalam cinema like Mohanlal is doing now. But the media created an undying anxiety in me to watch this movie only on theatres. As I reside out of Kerala, I had to wait for a long time to see the small poster in our national newspaper about the scheduling of this movie. I jumped on it, rescheduled my office priorites to make sure that I watch this one. The songs were constantly running on the Music channels which was just adding the vigour to the undying anxiety in me.
The day arrived, I was at the cinema hall, the cinema was delayed by half an hour, after half an hour we got seated in the halls, advertisements was shown like a goods trains passing by. I thought they have lost the reel of this movie and were just fooling around with the ads. Then after a while, the movie started. Bang on! the movie started with the theme song sung by PrithviRaj 'Puthiya Mugham', the start credits were cool and the song geled well with the credits. Expectations raised a level above, hoping that the golden era of malayalam cinema is right here.
Unfortunately it is not, the start was very fast as if the director was in no mood to treat a scene as a scene. He was running from one visual to another leaving zero connect to the drama, not assuring any emotion to get registered in viewers mind. He has used many unnecessary dissolve(s) (dissolves mean to transit from one scene to other) in the first half which was disturbing. I was shattered by the way the filmmaker has handled the first half, it would have been a great opportunity for the filmmaker to use the talents like Nedumudi Venu to the extreme in these segments.
The second half delves with only action. Action for what? There was no logical plot, as I was really not into it why these guys are fighting for? There were many questions running behind my mind like
1) Why Bala behaves politely with Priya Mani in the first half, as he is a womaniser, he could have done his deed to Priya Mani in no time.
2) PrithviRaj bashing the police officer like anything in the police station, surprisingly Kerala Police were getting beated left right and no officer dared to carry gun/revolver. Why?
3) Why NeduMudi Venu hides the fact to PrithviRaj that he has lost his mental balance. Whereas it felt to me that PrithviRaj was behaving normal when he comes to know about this.
4) The ending was disgusting, Bala choses not to live and throws his life when PrithviRaj tries to save him by lending his hand, then in the next frame PrithviRaj is shown in the college with his new girlfriend Priya Mani, so what about his mental imbalance. No police case, no medication, WOW that's a good treatment. Isn't it?
And many more...........
To be honest, the action scenes were also cliche, we have seen it many a times in southern cinema. The sad thing about these stunt sequences were, one can see the carpet lied on the ground when anyone falls down on the ground. The camera work is nothing exceptional. The editing is disturbing and the background score is irritating. The technical aspects of this movie is really below par. The direction is very pathetic, one wonders how this movie gained such respect to the filmmaker.
The only saviour for this film is PrithviRaj, he is certainly the next big thing in Malayalam cinema and the director Diphan understands this and is exploiting Prithvi for his next disaster errr ... I mean film. Hope this time Diphan works on the characters and comes with a sensible plot.
Acting wise PrithviRaj has very limited scope. In the second half he just beats up everyone and stares while he moves. As far as I feel, PrithviRaj is wasted, he can do a better job if he is provided some meaty roles rather just hitting people left right. Priya Mani is decent with her role. Bala does justice to his character. NeduMudi Venu, Sai Kumar (he was just destined to get thrashed by PrithviRaj) are wasted. Shammi Thilakan impresses with his very small role. Meera Nandan looks overweight, she looks below moderate on screen.
In all, because of PrithviRaj; director Diphan will stay in Malayalam Cinema for years to come. Let's pray Almighty that he works on the script rather stunts, camera movements and pathetic editing pattern. Am not sure about the future of this filmmaker, but one thing is for sure, Puthiya Mugham fails to provide a new face in Malayalam Cinema. The search for good cinema is still ON. Are you hearing Diphan?
Rating : 1.5/5 (0.5 - Starting credits, 0.5 - NeduMudi Venu/PrithviRaj, 0.5 - End credits)
Then I came to know of a movie called 'Puthiya Mugham' via Television. The rushes were cool, very good music and moreoever it had PrithviRaj in it. The media claimed PrithviRaj as the next superstar in Malayalam cinema. I wasn't happy for this, as I wanted PrithviRaj to be the next best actor representing Malayalam cinema like Mohanlal is doing now. But the media created an undying anxiety in me to watch this movie only on theatres. As I reside out of Kerala, I had to wait for a long time to see the small poster in our national newspaper about the scheduling of this movie. I jumped on it, rescheduled my office priorites to make sure that I watch this one. The songs were constantly running on the Music channels which was just adding the vigour to the undying anxiety in me.
The day arrived, I was at the cinema hall, the cinema was delayed by half an hour, after half an hour we got seated in the halls, advertisements was shown like a goods trains passing by. I thought they have lost the reel of this movie and were just fooling around with the ads. Then after a while, the movie started. Bang on! the movie started with the theme song sung by PrithviRaj 'Puthiya Mugham', the start credits were cool and the song geled well with the credits. Expectations raised a level above, hoping that the golden era of malayalam cinema is right here.
Unfortunately it is not, the start was very fast as if the director was in no mood to treat a scene as a scene. He was running from one visual to another leaving zero connect to the drama, not assuring any emotion to get registered in viewers mind. He has used many unnecessary dissolve(s) (dissolves mean to transit from one scene to other) in the first half which was disturbing. I was shattered by the way the filmmaker has handled the first half, it would have been a great opportunity for the filmmaker to use the talents like Nedumudi Venu to the extreme in these segments.
The second half delves with only action. Action for what? There was no logical plot, as I was really not into it why these guys are fighting for? There were many questions running behind my mind like
1) Why Bala behaves politely with Priya Mani in the first half, as he is a womaniser, he could have done his deed to Priya Mani in no time.
2) PrithviRaj bashing the police officer like anything in the police station, surprisingly Kerala Police were getting beated left right and no officer dared to carry gun/revolver. Why?
3) Why NeduMudi Venu hides the fact to PrithviRaj that he has lost his mental balance. Whereas it felt to me that PrithviRaj was behaving normal when he comes to know about this.
4) The ending was disgusting, Bala choses not to live and throws his life when PrithviRaj tries to save him by lending his hand, then in the next frame PrithviRaj is shown in the college with his new girlfriend Priya Mani, so what about his mental imbalance. No police case, no medication, WOW that's a good treatment. Isn't it?
And many more...........
To be honest, the action scenes were also cliche, we have seen it many a times in southern cinema. The sad thing about these stunt sequences were, one can see the carpet lied on the ground when anyone falls down on the ground. The camera work is nothing exceptional. The editing is disturbing and the background score is irritating. The technical aspects of this movie is really below par. The direction is very pathetic, one wonders how this movie gained such respect to the filmmaker.
The only saviour for this film is PrithviRaj, he is certainly the next big thing in Malayalam cinema and the director Diphan understands this and is exploiting Prithvi for his next disaster errr ... I mean film. Hope this time Diphan works on the characters and comes with a sensible plot.
Acting wise PrithviRaj has very limited scope. In the second half he just beats up everyone and stares while he moves. As far as I feel, PrithviRaj is wasted, he can do a better job if he is provided some meaty roles rather just hitting people left right. Priya Mani is decent with her role. Bala does justice to his character. NeduMudi Venu, Sai Kumar (he was just destined to get thrashed by PrithviRaj) are wasted. Shammi Thilakan impresses with his very small role. Meera Nandan looks overweight, she looks below moderate on screen.
In all, because of PrithviRaj; director Diphan will stay in Malayalam Cinema for years to come. Let's pray Almighty that he works on the script rather stunts, camera movements and pathetic editing pattern. Am not sure about the future of this filmmaker, but one thing is for sure, Puthiya Mugham fails to provide a new face in Malayalam Cinema. The search for good cinema is still ON. Are you hearing Diphan?
Rating : 1.5/5 (0.5 - Starting credits, 0.5 - NeduMudi Venu/PrithviRaj, 0.5 - End credits)
Hey bhai
ReplyDeleteYou are right about 'Diphan' as a director. But, Samjith(Mhd) has done good editing, which even hid many directional errors! Note that he used just dissolves and cuts.
'Puthiya Mugham' is an out & out commercial film with full of clichés and of course, with no substance at all. But in my opinion, this was among the most enjoyable commercial cinema in d past few months.
With its week characterisation and script, especially the 3rd act, 'Puthiya Mugham' is an above average film, which gives it a clean 2/5. Moreover, considering the fun of watching Prithviraj and the sudden surprises the director fills in post 2nd act, I just can't help giving it a generous 3/5.
But analysing 'Puthiya mugham', your review is perfect, except for your conclusions on editing and camera work. But I request you rate a film depending on the genre it belongs to. ;)
Abhinav
Hi Abhinav,
ReplyDeleteI cannot analyse any movie based on any genre, even if I do, it should carry some basic plot, a basic story line. I understand this movie is meant for commercial aspects, but if a movie is commercially viable don't you think it needs to have atleast a basic story telling or is it just show hero bashing everyone for some hyped reason; which I feel is doing unjustice to every one including the filmamker's conscience.
When i saw the movie, I just related the movie with a classic movie 'Kireedam'(unfortunately). The plot of Puthiya Mugham (which is not etched properly) is loosely based on Kireedam. Even Kireedam did some great commercial business, I would like to ask whether were you able to find any severe gap in story telling in Kireedam.
I feel even if a movie is commercially viable, it's still a movie and I feel that a movie can be of any genre but if it doesn't have a story telling aspect, it will be treated the way I wrote in the blog.
It's sad to see that Malayali's have made this movie a commercial hit. Now because of this we will have to bear again and again the filmmaker Diphan (if he still repeats the same mistakes) for a long time. God Save Malayalam Cinema!
Yes, you have got a point there. But gone are the days where story/plot plays a vital role for a film. If story was important, then Hollywood films should have been banned decades ago. Today, what matters is a taut screenplay, visuals, and an edge of the seat presentation. Puthiya Mugham was a hit because of its new age presentation. And once in a while, a hint of difference work with the already bored audience. Puthiya Mugham is just a small example. The audience cannot be blamed.
ReplyDeleteAnd if Puthiya Mugham is to be criticised, then Amal Neerad should have been thrown out of the Industry, even before his SAGAR ALIAS JACKEY, because he just shows off his technicalities, and doesnt know the basics of 'Direction'. Haven't you noticed how amateurish, his style of direction is?
Blessy, Lal Jose, Renjith and Roshan Andrews who can be regarded as better directors come out only once in a while, Priyadarshan vanished into Bollywood, Siddique comes in rarely, Lal is shining now, but till when? Major Ravi is monotonous, Sibi Malayil and Lohithadas lost their essence, Shafi and Rafi Mecartin used to entertain us, but not now; Amal Neerad bores us with his stretched out films, Shaji Khailas irritates us with his idiotic potboilers, Johny Antony comes out with lame crass comedy, atleast Diphan's Puthiya Mugham entertains.
See, almost all the Malayalam film makers have gone below standards. Bhramaram is a perfect example of Blessy's downfall. If it weren't for Mohanlal's performance and the technical gimmicks, its just an average film! MT Vasudevan Nair written, Hariharan directed epic classic Pazhassi Raja is the only landmark film to come out of Malayalam industry in the past few years. So who is to be blamed?
It's really shocking to see that nowadays Malayalam cinema doesn't need a script, just a difference in the look and feel. This is bad. Partly the audience are to be blamed here, because they have made Puthiya Mugham a super hit film which will give the filmmaker a chance to experiment few other films which ultimately the viewers will have to experience (unfortunately).
ReplyDeleteIn any cinema, be it Hollywood, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil any film, if you don't have a script which has enough meat to sustain the audience impulse then that cinema will not be loved forever.
Tell me why Pazhasi Raja worked, because it had people who care for creativity, who are not bothered as to what their audience wants to see rather it is their passion for films decide what the audience should see. I hope you get my point.
I agree with you that no one in today's Malayalam Cinema is as potential to the likes of Padmarajan, Arvindan, Bharathan and LohitDas. But one thing is for sure if one doesn't have a viable script then the filmmaker has to rely mainly on LUCK, and that is what Diphan is blessed with.
I wonder if you or me would have got a chance to direct Puthiya Mugham, we would have given some credibility to this film. Real Blunder by Diphan.
Dude, take an assignment, try to work only on characters and make a film with no VFX, no slick editing, simple camera work. I bet you will make a far decent film than your previous work. And there is a large audience still out there who are thriving to see good movies with different story telling style at the same time providing some content.
Cheers,
Suraj
Interesting to see someone criticizing 'Puthiyamugham'. I was as curious when my friends said the movie was good and 'entertaining'. And i took the risk and was disappointed, what i found in Puthiyamugham was just a crass cliched potboiler Tamil movie made in Malayalam language. If this is the 'new face' of Malayalam cinema then i am afraid its ugly!
ReplyDeleteBut good films are definitely not alien here. How many of us have watched Shyama Prasads take on reality,'Rithu', a heart warming and a sensible movie came and went like a flash. Who is to be blamed here? My answer is : the audience. When we have such stupid viewers who lauds at some telugu dubs and thrashes gems like 'Rithu', 'akale'(another Shyama Prasad movie which had Pritvi in the lead) etc how can we expect the other directors to do justice to their scripts.
Now on VFX and other technicalities...one must note that, contemporary malayam directors like Adoor Gopalakrishnan never uses high end editing or mind blowing VFX. Its just the story line and the universal appeal he carries in his films. And tell me, who in Malayalam cinema or in the Indian film industry can beat this genius right now ? And i was extremely disappointed when RANDU ANUM ORU PENNUM (two men and one woman) was not released in Kerala!!! Shame on the audience!!!