The Rainmaker

Movie: Kerala Cafe
Language: Malayalam
Theatre: Savitha
Date: Oct 30, 2009. 9:30 pm

Review
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As a different occasion demands a different look, the most different Malayalam Cinema of recent times also demands a different format for review.Stories have always enthralled us, be it the bed time stories from childhood, to books , novels and cinema. Director, Producer Ranjith's new movie 'Keala Cafe', is an analogy of 10 Short stories.

The 10 stories have been rated below purely on the basis of how much the reviewer has liked each.

The Best Ones
1. ‘Bridge’ by Anwar Rasheed - The most heart warming of all the stories is 'Bridge', the journey of discovering company at the point of being abandoned. It’s not because its unpredictable but because of its sheer presentation that this story wins hands down. With awesome camera and performances (Shantadevi, Salimkumar,Kalpana to the little boy) 'Bridge' reigns down in your hearts as the first rain after the summer.

2. ‘Island Express’ by Shankar Ramakrishnan - Personally, I liked the way this story unfurled. There is this tinge of surprise element and as the missing pieces
fall in place, the journey of common suffering after a disaster is a touching tale. Prithviraj's voice is apt during the scenes and Jayasurya's modulation notable.
Raju, Sukumari, Rehman throw in passing but competent glimpses.

The Good Ones
The first 3 in this lot were too close to call, but here it goes...
3. ‘Nostalgia’ by Padmakumar - The most sarcastic of all the stories, 'Nostalgia' is about all the Malayalees who live in nostalgia when they are abroad but shun the same when they reach their motherland. Brilliantly cheesy and sarcastic, 'Nostalgia' throws our falsifications out in the open. Dileep puts is a good one.

4. ‘Puram Kazhchakal’ by Lal Jose - Simple, unassuming yet with a chilling climax is Lal Jose's contribution, about the passengers in a journey who never know what the other is going through. Srinivasan is competent and Mammotty fits the role to perfection. The closing shot is one of the best story climaxes you will see in the movie. Lal Jose is moneys worth, most of the time.

5. ‘Happy Journey’ by Anjali Menon - Journey that takes twists to unchartered territories; 'Happy Journey' is a wonderful take on a short trip. Nithya Menon shines as the star of the show. Jagathy is classic as usual. Anjali Menon sure knows what she is doing with this two way conversational trip.

6. ‘Makal’ by Revathy – ‘Makal’ is nothing surprising but has a well known social message portrayed in a convincing manner. The actress playing the mother excels in her performance and her desperation and helplessness moves you. ‘Makal’ is for social enlightening.

The Ones That Went Sore
7. ‘Aviramam’ by B.Unni - A normal story of a struggling man in the midst of a financial crisis, 'Aviramam' is pretty much ordinary stuff apart from the warmth between the leading characters. An expected effort by the director.
8. ‘Season’ by Shyamaprasad - A story that tries to be hep, funny, humanitarian but reaches no where and ends up as passing fare. Shyamaprasad fails to leave an impact in the minds of the audience.
9. ‘Lalitham Hiranmayam’ by Shaji Kailas - The bizarre close up shots and the incessant rains proclaim the arrival of Shaji Kailas with a story which has unconvincing sequences and dialogues. Nothing better was expected from this anyways.
10. ‘Mrityunjayam’ by Uday - The story which disappoints as a horror, mythical tale looks like one out for the 'Darna Mana Hai' lot. With CBI and investigators thrown in, it’s easy to be shunned away.

Directors
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Of the directors, the most impressive are Anwar Rasheed, Anjali Menon, Padmakumar and Lal Jose. Most of the cast has put in superb glimpes of their talent. Camera in some stories like ‘Bridge’ and ‘Puram Kazhchakal’ is superb. Renjith needs kudos for bringing this together.

The Link. Does it work?
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The main challenge of any analogy of short stories on screen is whether the link between them works. Here the link is the cafe which they take their breaks during the journeys.The 'Cafe' element seems forced in most of the stories as they progress but as the climax unfurls, it has been more or less convincingly depicted. This should impress the link well in the minds of the audience.

Verdict - 3.5/5 as a Rating
'Good Experiment for a Different Movie' as an Opinion.

Kerala Cafe - Bold and Beautiful