Rajasenan was a director who know how to create comedy entertainers in excellent manner. He has proved that through his early films like Meleparambil Aanveedu , Aniyan Bava Chettan Bava , Kottaram veettile Appoottan ,C I D Unnikrishnan B A , B.Ed etc . But very sorry to say that his recent films are failures and one more disaster to his account through his latest movie Radio Jockey .As the titile indicates, the film is trying to say some internal problems in a private FM Station. The young artists play the role of Radio Jockeys in this film .
Rajasenan and Madhupal also acted with Arjun , Nimisha , Sidharth Siva , Chris Iyer and Riya Saira . Music is composed by M Jayachandran . Rajasenan’s Oru Small Family , 72 Model , Bharya Onnu Makkal Moonnu etc were also among his films of the failure list . Rajasenan some recent films like Kanaka Simhasanam ,and Madhuchandralekha attracted at least a few people . But this Radio Jockey ..!!

Rating: 3 /10

This is what will eventually happen to any particular formula when it’s used frequently. May be the financial success of even their most bizarre entertainer have made writer duo Udaykrishna Siby K Thomas to take the audience for granted. Sringaravelan is an annoying formula that fails to entertain its audience with its content. Coming from the same team that created Mayamohini, director Jose Thomas can’t handle this clichéd drama that just doesn’t seem to end.

Kannan studied fashion designing and is not that interested in helping his father in the handloom business. The guy who wants to become a billionaire in quick time decides to go behind girls with rich parents. During this time he happens to go to a palace where his father had some privileges. Some unfortunate incidents force him to stay in the palace for two more weeks. The drastic changes that happens in Kannan’s life after this particular event is the main focus of this dull festival entertainer.

Much like Mr Marumakan, Kaaryasthan and Mayamohini, Uday-Siby plants their main protagonist in that unfocused or financially screwed position. And then the character is moved to another plot ( palace here). In that plot you will get to see a grandfather and grandmother who are living with pain. The hero is falling in love with the grand child of these grandparents. The back and forth dramas. The ‘smart’ tricks of hero to get/save the girl. The friends of the hero who will always be around him to create mess of a situation and also to entertain the audience with some counter jokes. Finally everything comes to the marriage where the muscle power will decide the winner. If you can check the filmography of Uday-Siby duo, it’s quite clear from where they have taken the situations of Sringaravelan.

On screen, Dileep is ok in his role. That scene just before the interval where he imagines about getting killed was bizarre. Kalabhavan Shajon was pleasing. The guy who really offered anything to laugh was Lal in his role as Yesu (even though the character was totally irrelevant). Joy Mathew was convincing with his looks but when it came to dialogs he couldn’t get that required attitude. Nedumudi Venu was good. Baburaj was there in a wasted role. They spoiled Ukken Tintu. The heroin Vedhicka was just about ok. Lots of other characters are there in the cast.

In the making Jose Thomas has failed to handle the content that required a director’s polishing to avoid typical feel. The script as I said is the assembled version of the writer duo’s previous films. The laughable humor is only there in the first quarter of the movie, after that it’s all irritating jokes. Audience was howling for many of the “funny” sequences in the second half. By the time the hero enters that Puthiyamukham style heroism, you will feel exhausted. Some songs are pleasing. BGM of Rajamani lacked that kick. Cinematography is on the average side.

Overall, the latest permutation and combination of the hit machines is a dull product. If you think Mr Marumakan is enjoyable, you will feel satisfied.

Sometimes a journey can give solutions to a lot of your oddness and for those who are reluctant to change these journeys happens accidentally. North 24 kaatham from debutant director Anil Radhakrishnan Menon is that film which will delight you with its fresh content, contemporary plot elements and some really sensible characters.

The story here revolves around the character Harikrishnan who is a techie working in an MNC. He is an odd character as he is too conscious about hygiene. His parents are concerned, his relationship with his brother isn’t that great and his colleagues also can’t tolerate his attitude. On a particular occasion company asks Harikrishnan to go to Trivandrum to do a presentation about the software he developed. On this journey Harikrishnan meets an old man and a girl. Circumstances force him to stay with them. As there is a state wide harthal on the particular day, these characters are in a tight situation.

The movie narrates the eventful journey of these characters towards their destinations which influences Harikrishnan in a huge way. It’s the freshness in the making that makes this movie engaging. And the movie doesn’t really go after situations to create humor. Almost every segment has various emotions and that real feel makes the film a refreshing one. Planting the idea of Harthal and conveying a lot of emotions were quite impressive as far as scripting is concerned. Writer has used each step in their journey to tell something either personal or social. With sound technical backup that just improves the quality of the craft; the movie manages to move in a very appealing way. On screen, Fahadh Faasil comes up with a variety character and he has done it with absolute conviction. He also handled the transformation of the character towards the end very elegantly. Swati Reddy also did a very good job in her deglamourized look as Narayani. Nedumudi Venu also deserves applauds for portraying that character of the communist. Chemban Vinod Jose, Premgi, Thalai vaasal Vijay, Sreenath Bhasi, Geetha and a few more are there in the cast who did a decent job.

Direction of Anil Radhakrishnan Menon is really appealing. He successfully manages to keep things real. The script as I said uses the idea of personal reformation and also the elements of Harthal very smartly. The dialogs are less dramatic and sensible. The tempo of the screenplay isn’t that even which may annoy a certain percentage of audience. The cinematography is really good. Background score is interesting and the music also falls in the fresh category. Edits were a bit confusing in some song sequences.

Overall, the film lover in me was quite happy after watching North 24 Kaatham. It has its heart in the right place and thumbs up. The least you can say about the movie is good.