•Language: Malayalam.
•Genre: Comedy Drama.
•Duration: 02 Hours 14 Minutes.
•Theatre: Carnival Cinemas Kollam.
•Status: 60%.

•REVIEW BY: ARUNJYOTHI. R. VALIYAVEETIL.

•PROS:
1: Direction.
2: Humour.
3: Cinematography.
4: Background Score.
5: Editing.

•CONS:
1: Predictable Story.
2: Screenplay.
3: Music.
4: Art Direction.
5: Dance Choreography.

•ONE WORD: A one time watch the average flick.

•STORY IDEA:
Mera Naam Shaji tells about the life of three men having the same name called Shaji from different parts of Kerala. Rest of the story unfold various funny incidents on a thrilling and romantic backdrop.

•ANALYSIS YO DIRECTION, STORY, SCREENPLAY AND DIALOGUES:
The movie is directed by the hitmaker Nadirshah after his previous movie Kaatappanayile Rithwik Roshan and the story by Dileep Ponnan and Shaani Khader.

The director Nadirshah is well known for making colourful entertaining movies for every type of audience which will have all the commercial factors for a worthy watch. So after his previous movies like Amar Akbar Anthony and Kattappanayile Rithwik Roshan he comes with his third film Mera Naam Shaji in which he follows his same directional style to execute a fun-filled one-time watch movie.

The director had effectively used the acting talent of the actor Biju Menon, Baiju Santosh and Asif Ali in the best way which gives them applause. The direction held by Nadirshah was passionate but the undeveloped screenplay and immature story spoiled his making.

The story written by Dileep Ponnan and Shani Khader was fine but the plot was predictable. There are many incidents in the movie which converge from time to time with twist and turns but the entire story will be expected as the viewers think. The story doesn’t offer anything new rather than some fun comedies. The screenplay written by Dileep Ponnan was having the mixed factors of comedies, romance, friendship, betrayal, brotherhood so these factors were not used properly.

If the writer had given more efforts to the screenplay Mera Naam Shaji could have been ended as a more engaging worth watch movie. The way the makers had ended the movie and the climax which the writers had a written was poor and unrealistic.

The comedies in the film were entertaining but when the movie reaches to the main plot the film suffers a lot to make it as engaging for the audience because of the half baked screenplay and cliche storyline.

The dialogues in the movie were good because the conversation between the characters was authentic. The comedy dialogues were good with funny and hilarious words.

The decent direction with a half baked screenplay and the predictable story made Mera Naam Shaji as an average one-time watch film.

•PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:
The movie Mera Naam Shaji comes with the casting of Asif Ali, Biju Menon, Dharmajan Bolgatty, Baiju, Nikhila Vimal, Sreenivasan, Aasha Aravind and K.B Ganesh Kumar also joins with the casting.

Asif Ali as Cochin Shaji did a stunning performance. His romantic performance was first class. His situational humour was also entertaining. Also, his outlook was looking stylish. Asif Ali’s dialogue delivery was also superb. The action sequences of Asif Ali was also energetic.

Biju Menon as Calicut Shaji did a fantastic job. His comedies were hilarious and timing in delivering the humour was phenomenal. The outlook of Biju Menon was also charming. The stunts which he performs through his unique style was passionate and outstanding.

Baiju Santosh as Trivandrum Shaji made a brilliant performance throughout the film. His dialogue delivery with the slang of Trivandrum language was fantastic. Also, the humour presentation was perfect with the right timings in delivering the dialogues.

Nikhila Vimal as Neenu Thomas also delivered a fabulous performance. Her outlook was gorgeous with her unique cute smile and expression. Her combination scene with Asif Ali was romantic. Nikhila Vimal’s performance was having the proper standard which was noteworthy.

K.B Ganesh Kumar as the brother of Asif Ali did a good job. His character was having an important role throughout the film and his acting was having the real intense.

Dharmajan Bolgatty as the friend of Asif Ali was awesome with his unique acting and entertaining comedies. Sreenivasan as the advocate also did justice to his character.

Ranjini Haridas and Aasha Aravind were not having much screen space so the performance was less but the screen space was crucial.

•MUSIC & TECHNICAL ASPECTS:
The musical work of the film composed by Emil Mohammad was mediocre. The songs were good but not great and ranked on an average level. The song ‘Manasukkule” sung by Shreya Ghoshal and Ranjith was pretty good to hear with a romantic feel. And the song ‘Marhaba’ sung by Javed was quite decent. Also, the song ‘Mera Naam Shaji’ sung by Jassie Gift was. The background score tuned by Jakes Bejoy was amazing with the right BGM which had set the scenes.

The cinematography by Vinod Illampally was good with the best night shots and also the close-up shots were also impressive. The various camera angles for the actions were impressive. The editing of John Kutty was crisp and clear without feeling or making any mismatches.

The Art Direction had done a below average work because the sets they made for the song ‘Manasukkule’ looks unmatured and childish. Also, the dance choreography they had done for the same song looks cliche with unmatching dance moves.

•CONCLUSION:
So overall Mera Naam Shaji doesn’t offer anything new in the storyline. So better to see the movie with fewer expectations and the movie can be an ok choice for a one time watch.

•VERDICT: Average.
•RATING: 2.5/5.

Review for LUCIFER:

•Language: Malayalam.
•Genre: Political Action Thriller.
•Duration: 02 Hours 54 Minutes.
•Theatre: Carnival Cinemas Karunagapally.
•Status: HOUSEFUL

•REVIEW BY: ARUNJYOTHI. R. VALIYAVEETIL.

•PROS:
1: Direction
2: Story, Screenplay & Dialogues.
3: Cinematography.
4: Background Score.
5: Actions.
6: Editing.

•CONS:
1: Item Song.

•ONE WORD: A fascinating chapter to the world of L.

•STORY IDEA:
A political leader who rules God’s Own Country dies and many other political leaders dressed up as politicians took over the rule. So the question arrives who will be next God, the name appear; Stephen Nedumpally. Rest of the story unfolds the life of Stephen Nedumpally with various twist and turns.

•ANALYSIS TO DIRECTION, STORY, SCREENPLAY AND DIALOGUES:

The movie is directed by the actor Prithviraj Sukumaran under the production of Aashirvad Cinemas owned by Mr Antony Perumbavoor and the story is written by the actor Murali Gopi.

Firstly Prithviraj Sukumaran had described Mohanlal in Lucifer as ‘The Way I Want To See Him’ and without any kind of resistance I can say that Prithviraj had done a marvellous job for portraying each and every presence of Mohanlal as spectacular. The movie Lucifer is all about the clever execution of Prithviraj Sukumaran because he had amazingly used the real and unique talents of the actor Mohanlal which established the movie as a complete engaging worth watch film. The way Prithviraj presented the actor Mohanlal according to the story and screenplay deserves a big thump up because he managed to execute the stardom of Mohanlal accurately without losing his potentials. What the audience expect to see from an actor like Mohanlal is visible in the movie Lucifer.

Due to the passionate direction and outstanding making held by Prithviraj Sukumaran, the movie was moving accurately from the beginning without any fault and also the film predominately focuses on the life of the central character so the director had portrayed his thrilling life without any form of confusing factors.

The movie was also cleverly targeted for the political and action movie lovers and also for the Mohanlal fans so the maker Prithviraj had effectively won to conquer the heart of these targeted audiences by his skilful masterly direction. Importantly a unique way of style was witnessed in the making of Prithviraj Sukumaran and here it can be said that his masterly direction by keeping the genuine depth of the plot made Lucifer as a brilliant start to his directional carrier.

The story written by Murali Gopy was expectational because the plot was having every entertaining factor for every type of audience. The story was passing at a fast pace and converge from time to time resulting in an upstanding direction for Prithviraj Sukumaran, in a sense that such a complex story was told without boring the viewers in a high duration of nearly three hours.

The screenplay of the film was having the combined factors of actions, sentiments, brotherhood, parenthood, struggles, betrayal etc so both the writer and director had successfully implemented these elements impeccably without losing the engaging grasp and tone of the film.

The dialogues in the movie were strong and powerful because the conversation between each and every character was having the right soulful momentum which will definitely dominate the audience to engage in the film. Also, the dialogues in the movie were really attentive because the communication can contrive every viewer to apprehend the feel and emotion of the plot.

Therefore it is clearly evident in Lucifer that the ultimate winning credits are in the court of Prithviraj Sukumaran and Murali Gopy by their superlative direction and story works which gives the viewers especially for the Mohanlal Fans with an exceptional punch and glow to celebrate in this vacation.

•PERFORMANCE OF ACTORS:

Coming to the casting of the movie actor Mohanlal played the central character, called Stephen Nedumpally. Along with him Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Vivek Oberoi, Manju Warrier, Saikumar, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Nyla Usha, Saniya Iyappan joins in the casting.

Mohanlal who played the central character Stephen Nedumpally did a spectacular performance. The way he portrayed his character was having every sublime quality of true acting. The action sequences of Mohanlal was terrific and really energetic. Moreover, his dialogue presentation and its delivery were filled with truthful impact components to cheer the viewers. The emotional scene was also brilliant.
All in all, Lucifer is all about a gigantic comeback of the veteran actor Mohanlal.

Prithviraj Sukumaran as Zayed Masood did an unbelievable performance. His action was phenomenal with his unique style. Every screen presence of Prithviraj was momentous.

Vivek Oberoi as Bobby did a remarkable performance and his negative shade character and acting was flawless. His few action sequences were also stylish.

The extended cameo of Indrajith Sukumaran and Tovino Thomas was also crucial with their virtuous performance.

Manju Warrier as Priyadarshini did a marvellous performance. She as a mother and her emotional scenes were awesome. Nyla Usha and Saniya Iyappan also did total justice to their respective characters.

Kalabhavan Shajon, Saikumar, Baiju, Sachin Khedekar, Suresh Chandra Menon did total justice to their respective characters.

•MUSIC & TECHNICAL ASPECTS:

The musical work of the movie is composed by Deepak Dev along he handles the background score for the film.
The song ‘Varika Varika’ sung by Murali Gopy was given a revolutionary feel and the vocals of Murali Gopy was having the right depth to pass its bond. The background score composed by Deepak Dev was also strong and powerful to give the feel for each and every scene. For the crucial scenes in the movie especially at the action sequences and emotional sequences, the background score stood up as first class because the tunes were having a veritable impact to hook the audience within the movie.

The cinematography by Sujith Vaassudev was stunning with top-notch visuals. The close up frames of actors were impressive. The various angles for action sequences were also perfect. The editing of Samjith Mohammed was crisp and shine with the perfect cuts which don’t give any type of mismatches in viewing experiences. The Actions by Stunt Silva was terrific with breathtaking fights. The technical division of the film ranked at the first spot.

•CONCLUSION:

So overall Lucifer is not just a typical action movie, its a film which has a true classic signature of the director. The movie got every element to entertain the viewers which will be a treat to watch for this vacations with your friends and family.

•VERDICT: BRILLIANT.
•RATING: 4/5. ​