Eater Special Movies on Asianet " Nasrani " and " Kanakasimhasanam "
Eater Special Movies on Asianet ” Nasrani ” and ” Kanakasimhasanam “
Nasrani Cast: Mammootty, Vimala Raman, Mukta, Lal… Director: Joshy
Nazrani was a film that was eagerly awaited because it had Joshi and Mammootty teaming up with writer Renjith, and was expected to be a big thing. However, though it drew large crowds (mostly die-hard fans) in the opening days, Nazrani is a film that has elicited a mixed response, with more minuses than pluses.
Nazrani takes us to the Kottayam belt, where rich rubber planters and estate owners live. One such rich planter is David John Kottarathil, popularly known as DK. DK spends most of his time at the Cosmo Club, where he is the secretary too. He has his say over all spheres of human activity. He is respected and feared too. That’s one side of him.
There is another side too. He is a man with some very grave personal sorrows. His father John is in jail, serving a term for having killed his friend, Eapen, which however was an accidental thing. DK’s marriage with Sarah, Eapen’s daughter, was called off on the very eve of their marriage ten years back, when things took a tragic turn and Sarah’s father got killed and DK’s father got imprisoned for that. But the love between them never faded, though Sarah’s mother Kochammini had stood in the way of their marriage.
Annie is Eapen’s daughter, borne of Alice his mistress. It is the illicit affair that led to the tragedy on the eve of DK’s and Sarah’s wedding. Annie, studying for medicine, is a depressed girl. When her intimate friend Archana commits suicide on being cheated by Dr. Benny Paul, the son of prominent politician M.C. Paul (who incidentally is Eapen’s brother-in-law), Annie gets even more depressed. Benny, who has political ambitions, denies any kind of involvement with Archana in a press-meet. This irks Annie, who sets out determined to finish off Benny. What happens after that and how things culminate form the rest of the plot.
The big plus in Nazrani is no doubt Mammootty who is the saving grace for the film. His electrifying presence and his mesmerizing performance as DK is what makes the film sufferable. Otherwise it is just old wine, which has been served in too many cocktails before. Others in the cast have done their respective roles well. But the film, which obviously was made solely to excite the star’s fan-following, has the gifted actor dominating over the whole of the action.
Vimala as Sarah is fine, while Muktha as Annie does a good job of her role. Vijayaraghavan as M.C. Paul is his usual self, while Captain Raju after a considerable gap gets to do a meaty role as John, DK’s father. Biju Menon, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kalabhavan Mani and Arun (as Benny Paul) also do their roles satisfactorily. Technical aspects like cinematography, editing, art-work etc are in tune with the theme and the mood of the film. The background score by Ouseppachan also deserves mention though nothing in the music score will stay in our memories for long.
The biggest negative aspect of the film is that it offers nothing new and is far from being impressive. The final scenes which are typical in nature could even provoke you into booing. For all its flaws however, the film is definitely worth a watch if you go for it without any presumptions or prejudices, and just for the sake of watching Mammookka. Hats off to the superstar! Such films are necessary to retain the star-status, and are good for the industry on the whole. Having said that, one cannot but remark that Nazrani could have been made into a better movie, given the potential of the Joshi-Mammootty-Renjith trio.
Eater Special Movies on Asianet ” Nasrani ” and ” Kanakasimhasanam “
Kanakasimhasanam
Banner: Sunitha Productions
Cast: Jayaram, Karthika
Direction: Rajasenan
Production: M.Mani
Kanakasimhasanam turns out to be as expected from the duo of Rajasenan and Jayaram. Told in the lightest humor vein, the film offers a plenty of chuckles in an often repeated merry go round – camouflage storyline. But the film’s real star is Jayaram as expected, who has got a meaty character to display his flexible emoting manovours. So the catchword is, watch it, but only for Jayaram.
The film stages the life of Kasargodu Kanakambaran and his wife Maarthandam Bharathi, who are professional theatre artists. Kanakambaran is also the owner and lead actor of Kottaram Theatres, a drama ballet troupe that specializes in epic themes like Ramayanam, Sakunthalam, and Vikramadithyan.
In all these dramas Kanakambaran plays the lead role of the king and it is always Marthandom Bharathi, his wife and two times winner of state award for best artist, who plays the queen. They have to borrow money at high interest to keep the show going and are soon up to his neck in debt.
They could never find enough to pay their co-artists and to manage the troupe from crisis. As they come back everyday from the venues, money lenders are those they find in their doorsteps asking for payback.
Kanakambaran’s father, who managed the troupe earlier, withdrew from the running of the troupe owing to differences with his son after the latter married Marthandom Bharathi. Even though the troupe didn’t made profits, it was Kanakambaran’s father who wanted the troupe to last long till he breathed his last. Kanakambarabn also take it as his life’s challenge to keep the troupe survive at any cost.
At this juncture, Bharathi finds bundles containing money on their verandah, and a note saying that it is a gift from ‘Kanthapuram Brothers’. Kanakambaran is only too happy to spend lavishly the money that he thinks as a divine gift. And then enters the ‘Kanthapuram Brothers’, Udaya Varma and Ramakrishnan, who are closely related to a Royal family from Kanthapuram. The duo wants Kanakambaran to go with them and act out, the role of a prince named Suryanarayanan. Their niece Kanchanalakshmi, who is the present Rani of Kanthapuram, has been waiting for her childhood sweetheart Suryanarayanan who had gone missing two decades ago after a child marriage with the princess. And if Suryanarayanan turns up, Udaya Varma and Ramakrishnan could get a fortune out of the Rani. They promise Kanakambaran three lakhs for the deal of acting for a single day. Kanakambaran does find the proposal appealing as it will help him come out of his debts. He agrees to it despite protests from his wife. As far as the payment is prompt and in cash, Kanakan has no other options but to accept the offer.
Kanakan elopes from his house to reappear as Suryanarayanan in the Kanthapuram palace. He convince the princes that he is the original, after many tests. He has many tug of war with Narsimhan, who is doubtful about the new Suryanarayanan and is also plotting all ways to marry Kanchanalakshmi,with the help of Thripurasundari, the princess favorite servant. But the real drama and confusions start with the arrival of Raja Guru Indrasena Reddy who is the final word in the proceedings of the palace.
Jayaram excels in the role tailor made for him. With able support from Karthika as Bharathi and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy as Kanchanalakshmi, Rajasenan is able to carry forward the story with not much lag, even though with no logic. Others in the cast like Janardhanan as Udaya Varma, Bheeman Raghu as Ramakrishnan, Kalasala Babu as Guru Indrasena Reddy, Geetha Salam as Rishikesha Kaimal, Venjaramoodu Suraj as Bharathi’s brother Gopalan and Kiran Raj as Narasimhan have also done their little to lift the film from shades of similar plots.
