There has been an influx of young, innovative directors in Indian cinema across Bollywood and Kollywood, but there is one young director from Kerala whose sophomore feature changed Malayalam cinema this year. We begin the list with this year’s crowd favourite:
Premam: Of all the movies that I have watched this year, this was a movie that’d bring a grin to my face by just thinking about it. Alphonse Putheran’s second feature deserves a longform on its own because there is so much to write about it: It being a pop-culture phenomenon that introduced to us the freckle-faced Malar (Sai Pallavi) who looks like she just woke up from a slumber, George David’s (Nivin Pauly) journey from a boy to a man in search of love in the company of his friends Shambu and Koya, the use of colours in each frame, it using music effectively to enhance the narrative–if Malare made you feel like wanting to fall in love, watching a scene shot in single take tuned to Kalippu gave you goosebumps, while Scene Contra is just a hilarious song on a couple of friends trying to dissuade their friend from falling in love a third time. Premam told a story about love, a concept as old as the hills, but what made it a fantastic watch was the innovative approach. We may have heard this story countless times, but not like the way it was told in Premam.
Uppu Karuvaadu: A movie about movie making, Radha Mohan’s Uppu Karuvaadu has Karunakaran in the lead as a struggling movie director who is enamored by the fictitious leading lady in his script. Chandran (Karunakaran) seeks the help of a local bigwig called Ayya (MS Baskar) who decides to finance his film, but only if he casts his daughter Mahalakshmi (Nandita) as the main character. Chandran has a tough job in preparing the immature Mahalakshmi for the role. How Chandran ends up directing his project forms the rest of the story. What works for UK is its quirky cast of characters: a superstitious manager, a fake godman, an English-butchering helper, and a thirukkural quoting assistant director. A philosophizing henchman called Manja only adds more variety to the cast of characters. While the movie could have ended like Jigarthanda, about a meta-film, where UK changes gears and leaves you enthralled is during the final fifteen minutes when the screenplay heads to a direction you couldn’t have predicted.
Sicario: Rarely does a movie that has actors like Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin and Emily Blunt gets overshadowed by a cinematographer. But when it is Roger Deakins handling the camerawork, it comes as no surprise. From the first scene to the final few frames, Deakins’ camerawork makes Sicario a tight, atmospheric thriller keeping you at the edge of your seats. Denis Villeneuve shows us why he is an exciting filmmaker with this engaging drama-thriller. From a shootout at a crowded highway to gunfights in an underground tunnel, the war on drugs never looked this beautiful on screen before.
Mad Max: Fury Road: A movie that had cinema critics and the average moviegoer going gaga over it, Mad Max: Fury Road was high-octane, action-packed entertainment from the get-go. A reboot of the Mel Gibson movie franchise from the 80’s, director George Miller’s thrill-a-minute was one of the most gorgeously shot movies of 2015. The psychedelic camerawork and the VFX complement the characters we see on screen, each of them crazier than the last. Tom Hardy’s stock as a solo hero rose high, while Charlize Theron won plaudits for her role as an ass-kicking emancipator. The pulse-pounding score and the large setpieces come together to leave you breathless in the biggest hit of the year. Read a detailed review here.
The Hateful Eight: Twenty years ago, Quentin Tarantino broke into the scene with Reservoir Dogs, a story about a heist gone wrong that leaves the surviving criminals in a room with bloody circumstances. Now established as one of cinema’s leading experimental directors, QT brings The Hateful Eight in the large 70mm format to revitalize an obsolete technique of film making. The story is similar to Reservoir Dogs, but with a post-Civil War setting with more established actors. A room full of strangers interact in lengthy conversations, as an air of distrust and deception fills the room. Clocking close to three hours the story unravels chapter by chapter, yet never seeming too tedious. Set to the original background score of the legendary Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight is one of the bloodiest and shocking movies of the year. Read a detailed review here.
Rajathandhiram: In a year when Arvind Swamy won accolades for being a smooth criminal in Thani Oruvan, Veera Bahu’s cocky antihero went almost unnoticed. A cleverly written heist thriller, Rajathandhiram takes its own time in getting to the main plot, it sets the story up with flashbacks and fleshing out its characters, there is an impending double-cross that is boldly revealed in the first half of the movie. These are tricks we have seen in Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn movies, but it still keeps us riveted because of the enigmatic lead actor and an earnest bunch of supporting actors.
Kaaka Muttai: Kaaka Muttai is a story of the travails of two little underprivileged boys who yearn for the taste of pizza. With a story set in the slums, M. Manikandan could have tried to play at your heartstrings by emotional manipulation, instead he portrays the boys’ predicament matter-of-factly. Kaaka Muttai doesn’t ask for your charity, it only asks for your attention. We become so attached to the boys that when one of them contemplates stealing a phone from a moving train, we hope he doesn’t lose his way. Kaaka Muttai works as a social commentary, a satire that mocks the great divide between the rich and the poor in India. It could have turned into a Slumdog Millionaire indulging in poverty and misery porn, yet it is more dignified in approach, much like the two boys.
Honorable Mentions:
The Revenant: Dicaprio battling a bear, Dicaprio rising from the dead, a badass Tom Hardy, a breathless action sequence between Native Americans and a hunting party, Innaritu’s masterful direction, the gorgeous cinematography by Emmanuel Lubezk all together make it a must-watch Man vs. Wild survival thriller.
NH10: Produced by and starring Anushka Sharma, NH10 has her fighting against misogyny and honor-killing. Anushka Sharma is a tough cookie and it is great fun watching her dole out her brand of justice to those who have wronged her.
Spotlight: A throwback to movies on good ol’ fashioned investigative journalism, Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight has a stellar star cast comprising of Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Stanley Tucci. Despite being heavy on conversation, a powerhouse bunch of actors discussing how to bring down the Boston Catholic Archdiocese that covers up for child molestation keeps you glued to your seats.
Orange Mittai: Vijay Sethupathi as Kailasam gives an understated performance as a grumpy old man in this poignant drama. Also starring Ramesh Thilak from Soodhu Kavvum, Orange Mittai is a mature take on old age and the loneliness that accompanies it.
Click here to go back to Part I of this list.