Boy, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these! Rest assured, I have been reading the headlines and stuff all along, I just haven’t been writing about them.
I can’t believe it!!!! An actual happy Malayalam film! Or maybe I have just been worn down in my definition of “happy”, so that it now expands to accept illegitimate children, forced commitments to insane asylums, kidnapping, sibling murder, and so on. But hey, it doesn’t end with the heroine being raped and/or the hero being arrested, or a sad song in the rain, so HAPPY. (you understand I kid because I love, right? Malayalam movies are beautiful and brilliant but MAN can they be depressing sometimes!)
I don’t do directors often with these birthday posts, but Priyadarshan is distinctive enough, and also crosses multiple language industries that all are addressed by this blog, that I feel like he deserves a post. If only a small one.
Well, I finally saw Oppam. Only 6 months late. Oh well, this is what happens when the theaters only give one screen to Malayalam films, and there are 4 (or 5?) major releases for Onam weekend. I saw Oozham, which was in a similar genre but not quite as good as this. Because Prithviraj is not quite as good as Mohanlal and Jeethu Joseph isn’t quite as good as Priyadarshan.
I almost feel bad, I’ve been putting up so many posts beating the war drums against the corporate run studios, it kind of seems mean. But then, they’re corporations! They don’t have feelings.
I asked for requests for Hindi films to write about, and someone suggested Hulchul. So, yay! I have an excuse to write about Hulchul! One of my favorite films, and definitely my favorite Hindi Priyadarshan movie. I understand it is a remake of a Malayalam film, but I suspect even after I watch that, I will still like the Hindi version better. Because what I like about it isn’t just the plot and direction, but how that interacts with the casting.
Priyadarshan! I love Priyadarshan, his comedies are always funny, and yet somehow heartbreaking. Sort of “you look at the worst situation possible, and you can either laugh or you can cry” feeling. And somehow I did not realize until I watched this film that he came out of the Malayalam industry.
dontcallitbollywood 