Theater- Changanacherry Anu (Bodyguard replaced it in Abhinaya)
Show- 11.00am
Status: 40-50% (balcony) mostly 15-30 yr old people
Before coming to the movie I had an unpleasant experience to share, I had a little fight with the ticket giving guy in the counter, ticket price is 55 , he wanted the exact amount, I gave 100, he asked me to wait rather rudely , but what made me angry was he was giving change to ladies who came with 500 , I waited for few more guys to give the 10′s an 20′s but he never called me back so I got angry and raised my voice a bit….that spoiled my good mood to see a movie of this nature.
Movie started with the titles as usual but with some memorable quotes about love, what was so pathetic about Anu theater was, most of those quotes were not visible as it went out of screen either due to bad projection or because of slightly smaller screen.
About the 3 pillars of Pranayam- I will start with Anupam Kher , I felt his lip movements were slightly out of sync in the first few scenes, but i did not find any problems with that later,other than that he did his part well, I can imagine how hard it is to convey such diverse emotions especially the divine emotion of love in a langauge he has never used before even though we can say love has no langauge but to emote something without knowledge of language takes a lot of courage and also tremendous skill from director (I still wonder how Nithish Bhardwaj sang “Devanganagal kaiozhinja tharakam” song with such precision in lip movements)
Jayaprada- Who will believe she is not a malayali after seeing the film, she was so superb. And I felt she and the younger Gracy character shared almost identical looks which really gave a better linking to the film.
What to say about our Lalettan, he stole the show , completely subdued character who stands by his wife till the death, who loves her more than anything else in the world and believes he is the greatest lover of her . HE WAS HER MAN…. I am no one to comment on his acting , but I like to comment on few finer moments in the film without giving away any story.He plays the role of a one-sided paralyzed retired professor (diplegic) I have never seen someone acting with facial drooping which is a feature of stroke in an entire movie,he gave that tone to his voice which is peculiar for a person who suffered stroke. In another scene where he is lies in hospital bed in a critical situation , during his talk he picks his nose , so naturally.I do not know whether he will get a state award or national award but this day he WON MY HEART!!(as ever)
Now coming to few important characters, there are actually few characters that will make us notice them even among these legends, one is Anoop Menon , he once again proved he is worth a talent to invest for the future, I felt a sense of realism in his acting from his previous ventures. Another stand out performance is from the grand-daughter of Anupam Kher played by the character Megha, she looks promising.
Songs – Enjoyed every song and the songs were well placed and it fell right in place. “Pattil ee pattil ” and “Kalamozhikali” songs were the best in my opinion as visuals also did justice to those beautiful songs.
Ambiance inside theater- Some young guys around 15-20yrs, booed Mohanlal song , “I am your man” but the majority responded that with huge claps , silencing the boos.
My verdict ****/5
(Do not know whether it will be a commercial hit like Thanmatra but it will steal many hearts)
