Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja

All the questions which people had before the release have vanished now. What were they cooking for more than two years- Hariharan, MT and Mammootty? Now, we know- The most classical most commercial most unbelievable Indian film of the century (As Mammookka himself said). Although everyone contributed well in this film, most technicians are passengers safely traveling with Hariharan in the driver's seat and MT beside him.To call Hariharan's contribution "the greatest effort by a Malayalam director ever" would be an understatement. The care he has taken to make it a classic, the power to control the actors & background, the conviction to make a film which no one would dare and his undeniable directorial brilliance is what primarily elevates the film. To think creatively while controlling a project like this for such a long time is not easy and he made it seem like a cakewalk. A special thank you to him for proving that silence CAN also get the attention of the people. There was pin drop silence in the theaters during some emotional scenes without dialogs. That's the power of cinema. NOT a hero,heroine, villain and comedian who keep speaking from start to finish in one frame (Like so many Malayalam films these days). Hariharan's craft is unparalleled.

So many accusations came for the film while it was being made and you have to hand it over to the crew for having faith in the film. MT Vasudevan Nair is undeniably one of the greatest living writers in India. There are people criticizing him for the film, but it is because they really just don't have anything bad to say about it, so they say something. We should remember that compared to any other Malayalam cinema, Pazhassi is miles ahead in terms of content and budget, and it has been possible because the script travels easily from one scene to the next. The second half just sails and I didn't feel a lag at any point. He deserves credit for making pazhassi's presence felt even in the scenes without him. Gokulam gopalan, what to say?. Considering the size of our industry, He is the bravest producer of ALL TIME in the history of world Cinema. I can only imagine how many people would have told him he is making a big mistake. He should thank hariharan and MT for being able to walk with his chin up. I doubt if he would have spent so much if it wasn't them in the movie. This movie is a testimony of all of their sincerity.

Mammuka! Nothing to say! He is the King! Purely majestic! He is magic! This is probably the only movie where he has acted the most with his eyes. Be it-the sandhi scene or the whole of second half. After getting disappointed with so many recent films, it was heavenly to see him in this. He should thank his gurus for this chance. At the same time, the fact is, this movie would never have happened if it wasn't for mammootty., who else will play the role? Padmapriya was the second hero in my opinion. FINALLY! A FEMALE CHARACTER IN A SERIOUS ROCKING ROLE! Phew! The way Malayalam cinema has been treating women in the past years has been disgraceful to say the least. All stereo typed roles of wives and underplayed sex objects! Kudos to hariharan & MT for bringing back woman power. (Panchagni is one of my favorites) I am happy Mt has nothing explicitly bad to say about women in this movie unlike OVV. Really I don't understand what his issue is sometimes. He almost bordered on it once in a scene with mammootty and kanihaa. The rest of the cast were top notch: Sarath (WOW), Manoj and kanihaa rocked! Jagathy and suresh and rest of the cast also! But really, this is a technicians film. All these actors have acted in a lot of other films, but could never get this reaction from us, that's purely because of the director. The other technicians were splendid too. Raman shetty, Resul, Ilaiyaraaja, Sreekar Prasad, art design and whole crew! Was fantastic. I don't know if Im eligible to criticize an Oscar winner, his sounds were great but sometimes there was too much in wars. There was no clarity overall. It was tough to separate the music and sound. I don't really care if there are other negatives. After such an effort, it is sinful to comment on the bad aspects. This is the best Malayalam film of all time so far (Especially considering the current situation of the industry). And the Malayalam audience can take pride in the fact that they have made it a success. This proves that we love good cinema more than just any star. One thing is for sure. Like OVVG, Pazhassi will live forever. Gopalan can take pride in the fact that he has made an investment that will live forever. He has to thank two people for it:

Heart of the movie: Hariharan Brain: MT

Gokulam gopalan and mammuka can take a bow.

LAST NOTE: This is a once in a lifetime Malayalam movie. No matter how optimistic we be, the truth is our generation will not witness such crowds and excitement again.

The movie is recommended since: 1. It has a gripping script even though it stays true to history. 2. The fight scenes are awesome 3. The cinematography is praiseworthy. It captures the beauty of Wayanad forests and war scenes well. 4. The sound design is one of THE best ever in Indian films. Resul Pookutty captures the sound of war and the song of rain effectively. 5. You won't be bored for a minute considering that the movie is around 3.5 hours 6. The film uses the best talent in Indian film industry. Lead actor with more National awards than anyone else, music maestro Ilayaraja, singers Yesudas and Chitra who holds the maximum national awards for the best male singer and female singer respectively, editor with the most number of National Awards, script writer with the most number of national awards and Resul Pookutty who won a Oscar. The team can't be better!

Indian ANSWER TO TROY,GLADIATOR BRAVE HEART. Its most awaiting movie in India.Its just not an Indian Cinema. Its a world cinema. Famous Indian actor, who won 3 National awards in Two different languages Padmasri Bharath Mammootty done the title role. The movie is simply awesome telling the story of one of the first freedom fighter in India Kerala Varma Pazhassiraja. Film is directed by Hariharan and the story is written by Famous award winning Indian writer MT Vasudevan Nair. The film is dubbed in to 5 languages. Hope this film will be rock in red carped. The sound mixing is done by Oscar winner Resool Pookutty. For more just watch the movie and enjoy.

The most hyped malayalam movie of the year, has gave what it promised, and more. The film is indeed the best period movie taken in India. For malyalies, this is a film that makes you proud to step on the lands, where these great warriors fought. The film is rich in content and technical wise. All the characters did their part well, Especially Mammootty, Sarathkumar and Manoj.K.Jayan. The makers don't have an intention to make the superstar rich with a great introduction scene and all for his fans. They maintain this standard thorughout the movie. Its not about how much each characters scores. The film is set up very beautifully in the 18th century. One thing i found interesting was the Character transition of Pazhassiraja. The king his is found with pleasant face in the beginning and with the film the character changes to a bold faced one. Thats was brilliantly done by mammootty. In fights, Mammootty was good , But Sarathkumar outplayed him in that. Manoj.K.Jayan and devan has played a role that will bring us a great feeling of patriotrism. You, whether whose fan , will clap for some scenes, especially when you see the British flag burning and the mammoottys 3rd fight alone. The team has proved that this small industry can make such huge movies. Hariharan was excellent in camera-work. MT did good work and gave some mind blowind dialogues. Resul pookutty gave our ears a mighty treat. Pookkutty said this film is like Gladiator and all. But , I don't think so. Gladiator is nothing compared to Pazhassiraja. Illayarajas music was good. And the song Adiyushasandhya rocks. Watch it and be proud of Kerala and Malluwood.

+ves Mammootty , Sarathkumar, Manoj.K.Jayan Hariharans Direction MTs script Pookuttis sound mixing Choreography

-ves Jumps in fight scenes

Rating : 9/10

Even if there was hype, this movie was also an underdog movie because: Everyone including me thought how can history movies be successful in this modern day? How can Hariharan and mt make film for audiences of today? How will the audience sit for 3+ hours? How can it ever be bigger than OVVG?

Except for the fans, a lot of others were very negative about the film.

BUT

I was breathless. How did they make this? I don't think there is a need for telling the story. There is nothing to prove for Hariharan mt. they are legends. They have made zero budget movies without stars (like Nakaksatangal) to prove it. But the beauty gets bigger when the canvas gets bigger. Great Script.Supreme direction by the ace director. Great cinematography Great art direction. Great music. Great everything.

Like what I said before Hariharan is the grandest part of the movie because- -the locations are super. He deserves an award just for finding such spots. -the takings are really majestic and thrilling.Truly a masters touch. -the determination and will to make one movie for three years in forests. -his casting is spot on. Not one character is out of place. He got the best performances out of his actors. -he managed to co-ordinate stars, hundreds of junior artists and technicians very well. There is not a doubt that his job was the toughest in the film to set the right atmosphere and also to make them act, successfully transporting us into the period.

Next points about MT: -This is a special script from the master. It is amazing how he managed to accommodate all the actors and give them equal importance in the script. A lot of people are complaining that there is no layered subtext or dimension or characterization like ovvg. I think they are fools. Ovvg is a story with which mt and Hariharan could bend it any way they wanted. The characters in Pazhassi are people with one sole aim- freedom, how much more can you add depth to that? Mt has lot of limitation. Even then mt has put a great family angle to Pazhassi.

-in my opinion this is one of Hariharan's and mt's best works considering how they have so far managed to satisfy the mass and the class (even to satisfy one of the two categories is something the current young generation is struggling to do)

Mammootty: He can be proud of the fact that there is NOT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING IN THIS WORLD WHO CAN PLAY PAZHASSI RAJA! -A lot of people are criticizing him now but trust me this is one of his career best. The Pazhassi raja you see is not the talkative Chanthu. He is the man who speaks more with his silence and his eyes. Hariharan and mt have done the opposite of OVVG and it will take time for people to acknowledge Mammuka's performance.

SARATH KUMAR: Hariharan has extracted the best performance of Sarat Kumar's life. He has an author backed role which is commercially more likable as the loyal army chief.

Manoj,Padmapriya and Suresh Krishna are really rocking too. Supporting cast was all good. Devan, Thilakan, Nedumudi Venu, Jagathy, and the foreigners were all great.The most impressive in the foreigners is Baabar and his exchange of looks with Pazhassi in climax was out of the world. The Major is also notable.

Sound and BGM: Rasul has done a great job overall. But I don't think that he is at his best in the movie. Sometimes there's too much noise and on second viewing I noticed that, some sounds( like the sarath stabbing Suman sound) is almost laughable. It's cartoon like.

Cinematography and art direction: Both have worked well on enhancing the director's vision although the camera work sometimes is inconsistent and blurred(maybe projector problem).

Next Gokulam Gopalan: It is no mean task to spend 25 Cr for a Malayalam movie. And there is no safer bet than the Hariharan mt combo but still you have to appreciate the raw guts of this man to stand by his team when so many obstacles came their way.

This is a film which is the product of great research from mt. And hard work, creativity and will power of Hariharan.

Hariharan is really the backbone as it is a very visual film. Flop Films like BLUE (100 Cr +), Kanthasamy (50 Cr+), etc. have proved that with great power… comes greater responsibility…we can be proud that we have our own classic big budget director. In these times when film makers fail to keep our attention even for 10 minutes, these two have made us gape at the screens for 3 hours and 15 minutes.

Pazhassi is actually a low budget war film. Hariharan deserves a lot of credit to make 25 Cr seem like a lot more. This is like 1/100th of the cost of a Hollywood film to put it lightly. Gladiator was approx 103,000,000.00 USD

This film is special because it has broken all the rules, trends and instilled a sense of patriotism in every audience member.

A Timeless & Priceless commercial classic