Tag Archives: crime drama

Crime, Drama, Genre, Malayalam Movies, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews

Joji Review

Joji Review – Joji is a Malayalam dark crime drama released in 2021. The story revolves around a family of brothers where everything seems to go fine from the outside but internally greed lurks around. How a simple amazon order triggers the chain of events that would bring out the worst in people is what Joji is all about. Joji is a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

Joji is Dileesh Pothan’s third outing with Fahad Faasil after Maheshinte Prathikaram and Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum. One could notice the signature style of Dileesh Pothan’s world that captures the essence of reality as it is. This one may not be pleasing to anyone and I wouldn’t be surprised if there are people who dislike this movie.

Dileesh has taken time to introduce the characters and the surrounding of the story visually without explicit words. A courier delivery person riding through a small town and then through rubber plantations to reach Joji’s house, the empty dining table in a big house filled with members, each of them not looking into the eyes while talking, absence of any house help for a such a big wealthy family and many more such visuals tell you a lot about the family.

Fahaad’s performance as Joji is brilliant. He has lost a lot of weight for this character. He is the son that his muscular father is not very proud about. He treats him like a trash as he is just a boy in a blanket, for he feels solace is confining himself to his closed room (Joji’s palace) wrapped in a blanket. He tries hard to impress the family that he has a seat at the table by doing horse trading but none of them takes him seriously.

The only person in the house on whom he can exercise some control is the son of his eldest brother. The other person in the house, who treats him equally is his sister-in-law ( wife of his second brother ). When the father of the family meets with an unexpected accident that puts him in mortal danger, the dark side of the family turns up. It’s not just the family the film also brings out the selfish nature that is everywhere. His father’s friend asks the son to get the liquor bottle from his father’s case while his father is still unconscious. The priest is obsessed with the latest gadgets. The people spreading rumors around the mishap in a wealthy family,

The only sequence that happens outside of the estate is few shots at the hospital. Otherwise, the entire movie happens within the estate. For the most part of the movie, there is no background score but at key moments the symphony kicks in elevating the impact of the scene to a different level.

High Points: Direction of the movie, performance of Fahad Faasil, background score, visuals.

Low Points: Its a slow burner and is very dark. It may note suite the taste of general audience.

Overall Joji is an excellent film that stays very true to its genre. Once you get connected to the world, you would feel you have lived with the family for 90 odd minutes. If you love slow burner, crime dramas then don’t miss Joji.

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Crime, Drama, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Tamil Movies, Thriller

Asuran Review

Asuran Review – Asuran is a Tamil crime thriller released in 2019. When powerful landlords in the village, try to overpower the poor farmers to take over the land, the family of Sivasami doesn’t budge and the following events turn into an endless revenge saga between families.

I always wish that Indian directors make movies on already written material than trying to create material on their own every time. Director Vetrimaaran has taken a step if followed by other fellow directors in this country could change the landscape of Indian Cinema in a positive way. Kudos to him for making a movie based on a novel Vekkai by Poomani. This makes the content very rich, characterization very deep-rooted and overall movie a very engaging one.

I haven’t read the novel so I may not be able to comment on how much true to the book the movie has been. My analysis is mostly on the structure of the movie. The structure of the screenplay is much akin to the structure of the cult classic commercial movie Baasha. Due to the rural treatment and the message in the movie, it also resembles Devar Magan in many ways. An innocent protagonist, who doesn’t raise voice against atrocities has a dark past in which he is akin to a menacing Villain, the secret breaks right at the interval block and then dwells into the past to establish the gory side of the protagonist, coming back to the present to close the proceedings. While many directors have tried to emulate the success of these movies have miserably failed, Vetrimaaran banked on the content which eventually created a successful product.

I was very intrigued by the fact of the choice of the name Asuran. In Hindu mythology, the Asuras were always looked down upon by the Devas and were constantly at war between each other. Devas also made peace with Asuras whenever they needed some work to be done with them like in the case of churning the ocean to create Amruth. In the movie too, the landlord keeps a good pact with Dhanush till he is preparing liquor that helps his business grow. It is only later he realizes where his real place is and things change. Even the scenes involving the insult of the upper cast before women, the insult he takes for her laughing and the way he avenges for it are all in correlation to the Deva and Asura wars. In that way, it is a befitting the title.

The characters are sketched well. Although Dhanush becomes of prime importance in the second half, other characters still have a convincing life cycle. It is nice to see Pasupathi and Prakash Raj on screen after a while. The choice of Manu Warrier to play Dhanush wife as well is a great choice. She has a lot more scope in the first half of the movie.

The locations in which the movie is shot adds a more convincing tone to the whole narration. In particular, the forest sequences are taken very well. The background score is the soul of the movie and GV Prakash has done a phenomenal job in scoring the BGM.

High Points – Strong content, Interval Block, background score, depth of characters, visuals of the forest sequence, action blocks, raw treatment

Low Points – Too much violence might not appeal to everyone.

Overall Asuran is a very well made commercial crime thriller. It has all the ingredients that would keep you glued to the chair until the end and leave you with a powerful message. It is now available in Amazon Prime.

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Crime, Drama, Genre, Korean Movies, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews, Suspense

Mother Review

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Mother Review – Mother aka Madeo is a South Korean crime mystery released in 2009. A mother has to find the killer of a girl murdered in the neighborhood to save her son from being convicted for the murder.

The premise is very interesting and is set in a small town in South Korea. Director Bong Joon-ho yet again comes up with a brilliant script with full of suspense and mystery around a crime after his Memories of Murder. A mother’s love towards her son is universal. How far a mother would go in order to save her son when all the odds are pointing against him is a very interesting plot line. The screenplay is very intense and starts getting gripping once the mother start her journey of finding the killer. The opening shot of the movie itself is a brilliant one and keeps you interested till the end. Kim Hye-ja has performed the role very well and is the backbone of the movie.

The scene in which she is trying to hide in one of the suspect’s house to take an evidence of crime and the attitude in her walks is simply amazing. The entire scene is very gripping. She can turn her expression from anger to guilt to love in seconds. The suspense is maintained till the end of the movie and the ending is just brilliant. I had a very long reflection process after watching this movie. It was quiet overwhelming for me to see the ending anything I speak about it I would give the movie away.

High Points: The screenplay of the movie, acting performance by Kim Hye-ja, gripping moments, background score

Low Points: There are no much low points. I felt the script was bit longer for its content.

Overall the movie is brilliant and is very different from the movie you would have seen. Watch it for the unique script and power packed performance by Kim Hye-ja. This is a must watch for all suspense thriller fans.

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Crime, Drama, English Movies, Genre, Must Watch, Rating, Reviews

Scarface

Scarface – is an American crime drama released in 1983. Tony Montana, a criminal in Cuba arrives to the United States along with the Cuban refugees. He becomes part of a criminal gang and rises to power due to his arrogant, aggressive and brutal attitude.

Although the movie has been shot in 1983 it is still one of the best gangster movies. Right from the start till the finish you see street fights, gang wars and shootouts. Al Pacino has set a great role model for any gangster role in movies that would be made. Many of Indian gangster movies have been influenced by this one. The recent one is Billa 2 starring Ajith. As the movie progresses you could see a remarkable transition in Al Pacino’s character, mannerisms and style. All these have become iconic now. If you love gangster movies this one is a must watch. Strictly not for kids for the violence it has.

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