Ranjith the Magician
In the last one year, I’ve watched three malayalam movies that can probably be qualified with many long and impressive words – But I am settling for simply awesome! The movies I’m talking about are
- Kerala Cafe – An anthology film with 10 very different stories, shot by 10 different directors (cast & crew) – none of which have anything in common with the others. But they all come together neatly in the end.
- Paleri Manikyam – A movie about the first rape-muder case to be filed in the state of Kerala (in the late ’50s).
- Pranchiyettan & The Saint – A satirical comedy which revolves around a businessman named Francis and a night-long conversation he has (or imagines having) with Saint Francis of Assissi.
All three movies are by Renjith, who has been making quality malayalam cinema for some time now. With these three movies, he proves his incontrovertible genius: He has has successfully adapted the anthology concept into a malayalam movie; skillfully crafted a period murder thriller – with the truth being revealed to the audience in layers; and of course, set new standards for an all-time favorite genre in malayalam cinema – intelligent comedy/satire.
I hereby recommend these three movies and all his other movies; and I also hereby state that I shall always be a fan of Mr. Renjith.
I’ve seen Ravanaprabhu, Nandanam and Tirakkatha. The first two were really good, but while Tirakkatha had great screenplay and direction in the first half of the movie, I felt Renjith was starting to lose his head trying to make outrageous movies.
I’d like to watch Paleri Manikyam and Pranchiyettan and the Saint, have to wait until they become available.
@ sahas – you should DEFINITELY watch these 3.