North 24 Kaatham

Released in September this year, I'd been hearing a lot of good reviews about North 24 Kaatham, but I couldn't catch it at the movies and I woefully regret it now. North 24 Kaatham is indeed a casual watch with not the thickest of storyline or the best of direction but for what its worth it bring out a warm feeling from within. I loved it and I have to shout how good it is, period!

North 24 Kaatham by débutante director Anil Radhakrishan Menon is assured to be a good time. An IT professional with OCD, an elderly school teacher and an NGO activist makes for an odd trio who takes a trip through a hartal-stricken Kerala's one end to the other. Stumbling on to crass and caricatures alike, comedy has been spattered from frame one to the end and it doesn't bore you for even a second. Hari's fish outta water sequences were the best among the lot.

Having starred in more than 10 movies this year and most of them garnering enough attention, Fahadh Faasil is a force to reckon with. A well established actor by now, this guy has proved that he can handle any role with ease. The OCD-ridden Harikrishnan he plays here is a perfect example where he displays a prodigious performance with the least of dialogs. Nedumudi Venu, one of my favorites, is never less impressive. Swathi Reddy, fresh outta her Amen debut and despite her weird lip-sync issues, manages to steal some smiles as well. Familiar faces like Geetha, Sreenath Bhasi, Chemban Vinod and Premji Amaren makes good use of the screen time they were given.

Ah and the music, such wonderful tunes that goes well with the visuals. Rex Vijayan's title track 'Thanaro' deserves to be stuck in that little niche in your head at least for some days. Govind Menon's score was also pleasing to the ears. I'd recommend North 24 Kaatham to anybody seeking some good fun. Its fresh, its fun and unlike me, its never too late for you to regret.

One of the great things about Malayalam cinema is that it keeps on experimenting with different genres and comes up with various story lines unlike other industries.

North 24 Kaatham (N24) is road-rom movie, which shows how a single journey can change one's outlook towards life. Protagonist of the film is 'Hari Krishnan', a software engineer who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is portrayed convincingly by Fahadh Faasil who undertakes a journey to attend a conference in Trivandrum.

First and foremost, the great thing of the film is its subtle depiction of the problems faced by people in Kerala like 'Harthal' strikes and carefully highlighting the perennial issue of politics. Debutant director Anil Radhakrishnan Menon has skilfully managed to incorporate such elements in the movie, with which every Keralite will relate to, but avoided a preachy tone or overemphasis on a particular subject. Menon has been able to unravel each character layer by layer until one reaches the center.

Fahaadh Faasil's character's transformation and his outlook towards life is aptly portrayed with subtle scenes that you cannot but appreciate his acting, which shows why Faasil is among the best in today's young guns. 'Nani', played by Swathi Reddy, is a carefree character who enjoys life and has a 'ready to help' attitude. The thing worth mentioning here is, the portrayal of her character by director Menon, he skilfully avoided to show scenes involving alcohol or to showcase unnecessary 'helpful act' scenes, but still is successful in putting across the message. Acting by veteran actor Nedumudi Venu playing as Gopalan, is like having a dessert after a course of a meal. Even though there is no relationship between Nani and Gopalan, you still see glimpses of father-daughter love between them, delighting the viewers.

The technical aspects of the film like direction and cinematography is really good and music by Govind & Rex adds to the film's good quotient.

Nutshell: If you had a bad day and wish to end it with a good feeling, you got to watch N24; with no love or fight scenes, it still captures your attention manages to show that love doesn't need words to express, emotions is enough.

North 24 Kaatham (2013)

Debutant Director Anil Radhakrishan's North 24 Kaatham (N24K) is close to the heart and deals with multiple plots like Harthal, psychological issues and for instance, goodness and love.....

N24K has got a refreshing plot of how certain circumstances make Hari, a brilliant but meek and geeky techie meet two strangers, Gopalan, a veteran politician, and Narayani, a social worker and his journey with them from Paravoor in the South to Kozhikode in the North part of Kerala. The movie is all about their journey which inturn becomes a life changing experience for geeky Hari.

A good content makes the script half successful, and fully successful, when it is free from flaws and lags. This is the place where dir. Anil tops high. The script was error free without any boring sequences. The movie started very slowly in an interesting manner and the first half passed in a breezy manner, but the movie became much more interesting in the second half and ended with a beautiful climax. The penultimate sequences were really close to the heart and offered a great feel.

The movie presents the helping nature and the selfishness of people, vividly. The problems faced by a malayalee on a "strike" day seemed much realistic and close to the day to day life, notable in case of that gulf malayalee, played by Chemban Vinod.

Anil didn't limit his film to a "harthal" day film, rather, he has even discussed some psychological issues,love and goodness. Being a debutant, he was highly successful in presenting the well written script in an enterprising manner on screen. Anil has added flavors of humor and thrill, making N24K an entertainer in all aspects.

A well written script becomes a good movie mainly due to the excellence in performance..... This is where N24K strikes high.... Superlative Performance from #Fahad_Faasil remains as one of the highlights of the film. Certain mannerisms of him were really awesome. The not sudden but Slow transformation in Hari's mentality from a geeky guy to a well mannered loving man was excellently portrayed by Fahad. A promising actor with great caliber.....

#Nedumudi_Venu too exposed his versatility through the character,Gopalan. It was tailor made for him. Handled it with such an ease. My opinion is that, he should stop doing those formulatic oldie roles and concentrate on characters with good potential.

The rest of the cast including #Swathi Reddy and #Chemban Vinod were perfect in their roles. But the character of #Premji Amaren was surprisingly interesting....superb characterization....

The film excels in its technical side too.... BGM was matching the mood of the film.....especially of those in penultimate scenes. Songs were also good, with the last song offering a great feel.

Camera was also handled in a good manner. Being a road movie, Cinematography is important and Jayesh Nair was successful in capturing great frames.

On the whole, North 24 Kaatham is an entertainer of its own kind, without any lags. One of the best films of the recent times, which can easily be sorted into the list of best films of 2013

The film passes a beautiful message that, "Even if you are the most brilliant, you can reach your goals only by the help or caring of some people, irrespective of their status.....We may belong to different races, cultures and religions but our basic human qualities are the same. The common core values and a beautiful heart are far more important. "

My Rating: 4/5 A movie close to the heart, sure to be liked by common people...

Thank You for reading my views about North 24 Kaatham....

_Yours Truly Sooraj.

This is a must watch for anyone who loves travel/road movies. You will have a feast of beautiful Kerala, visualize the life changing events of a man, experience the mastery of a travel story telling. The cast was so perfect with their flawless acting. Definitely a keeper. The movie portrays the everyday life of Kerala people in most places of the state. The strikes, shutdown of public services, travel hassles are not something that would be surprising for a Malayalee. If you are in the look out for a feel-good movie, experience an adventure in the most beautiful way, discover Kerala (Southern state of India), understand the emotions of strangers who you may meet during travel (India), see the heights of a clean freak - then this will be a worthy movie to watch. Malayalam language is a beautiful dialect (I do not speak Malayalam, but understand it well) - and will not be a barrier to watch this movie (there are sub titles available).

The summary above states the plight of how fantastic Malayalam cinema is received by the movie-goers. People just haven't got acclimatized by which movies to go to & which not. At a time when the industry is experimenting, it is onto us that we support it.

North 24 Kaatham depends upon the used formula, but delivers hyper-adventurous experience.

Talking about how a single journey can change a person's perspective in & towards life, N24K captures the condition of commuters during the infamous & sometimes unnecessary strikes (hartal) in Kerala. It gathers few current topics as well, while speaking about love, relationship, life values & death. Now, since there are many elements packaged in one, interpretations may differ, but at the end of the day, what matters is entertainment & message. The film by débutante Anil Menon does to Malayalam Cinema which only few filmmakers have done: STRENGTHEN!

Fahadh Faasil is getting glamorous every passing day, his performance as the skeptical, hygiene-conscious prig is amazing; he is directed very well & aptly. His co-actors Nedumudi Venu & Swathi Reddy both are top-notch. Supporting cast is fine; Sreenath Bhasi is growing as a teen symbol. Coupled with ample humor, slapstick, seriousness & drama, N24K succeeds more in the second half throwing emotions & sensitive expressions to its viewers. Music is very good and Rex Vijayan's vocals again brings the ceiling down, editing is tad goofy, screenplay & direction well-done.

BOTTOM LINE: Highly Recommended! As a whole, it delivers what it proposes & we might even link it with Neelakasham.... Although both talk something different about life. 7.4 out of 10.

Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES (One scene might be awkward)

Profanity/Nudity/Sex: No | Vulgarity: Mild | Violence/Gore: No | Smoking/Drugs: No | Alcohol: Strong