Nenjam Marapathillai

Movie : Nenjam Marapathillai
Director: Selvaraghavan
Actors: S J Suryah, Nandita Shwetha, Regina Cassandra
Language: Tamil
Running time: 142 minutes
Genre : Thriller – Horror

Let me admit it. I enjoy Selvaraghavan movies. I was thinking about watching this movie (in horror genre) created by Selvaraghavan utilising the acting talent of S J Suryah and the ever-bankable talent of Yuvan in the music department. The story is simple. When Mariam (“sweet looking” Regina Cassandra) is given a task of taking care of the child of an affluent household which involves a businessman Ramsey (a terrorising, robotic S J Suryah) and his wife Swetha (a dominant Nandita Shwetha), Mariam knows little that she will be harassed by Ramsey and eventually killed, but Mariam will return as a ghost to haunt the servants who tormented her and have her final laugh. What makes the plot effective is the performance given by Ramsey (a very convincing S J Suryah) and also the acting by swetha and Mariam.
The director makes sure that these characters leave an indelible mark in your memory and takes his own sweet time in setting up the story and the horror part (Mariam’s revenge) is setup and executed in double-quick time. The final showdown between Ramsey and Mariam is a bit disappointing as it looks more like Robots fighting with each other with the special effects not really top-notch. Apart from that, S J Suryah impressed with his acting talent. Ramsey is a monotonous, robotic character living his usual life, but needs some really big thrill is well shown by Selvaraghavan. Regina Cassandra also impresses as the timid Mariam willing to be bullied by his businessman owner thinking that the “Nanny” work she does here will be feeding the needy. “Dai summa irruda” – is one mundane dialogue that will go down the record books again as the director infuses some humour as the horror story takes shape as he tries to go beyond the usual cliche involved in a horror movie. Background score by Yuvan is a big positive aspect for this movie. Very well done.

Yet another movie to watch.

Stree

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Movie : Stree
Director: Amar Kaushik
Actors: Shraddha Kapoor,Rajkummar Rao,Pankaj Tripathi
Language: Hindi
Running time: 128 minutes
Genre : Horror Comedy

Getting all the ingredients of a Horror comedy is very difficult, a near-impossible task for any Indian movie and just when you thought Horror-comedy is not for the Indian audience, a movie comes along serving it right. Stree ticks off all the check boxes needed for a Horror comedy – starting from the adorable pair of lead actors, quaint town of Chanderi haunted by a unique legend, funny friends and mundane dialogues that will remain (or haunt you) forever (“Vicky pleaseeeee” is one such dialogue…). So, Chanderi is this town where Stree (a witch) strikes every year abducting young men (leaving their robes behind). Vicky is the tailor of the town and lives a happy bachelor life until he meets a mysterious but beautiful girl (Shraddha Kapoor) and gets to know that she visits the town only once in a year for the festival times (exactly when Stree strikes), does not have a mobile phone and wants a dress stitched in no-time for the festival around the corner. Vicky promises to take care of the stitching, but is attracted to her instantaneously. With a letter that lists down her needs, Vicky brags around with his friends – but the friends are curious (and suspicious) why the girl ordered a bottle of Brandy, a kilo of mutton, broken glass, cat fur and a lizard tail – which does not look exactly like a list hinting of a girl falling in love. The friends are convinced that the mysterious girl is indeed Stree when one of the friends get abducted by Stree, they join hands with a librarian (Pankaj Tripathi as Rudra adds up to the laughs) who has done extensive research on Stree who has books claiming to be on Stree (with important pages missing) and go in search of Stree to put an end to her. The mysterious girl joins the search and what happens next is the story. The Story has a great twist in the climax which should not be missed. Both Rajkummar Rao and the beautiful Shraddha Kappoor capture your imagination even if their performances looks a little flawed or even limited. The little essay that Vicky narrates on “Peacock” to impress the mysterious girl is something not to be missed. 2 hours of pure fun. just go ahead and enjoy.

Koi Jaane Na

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Movie : Koi Jaane Na
Director: Amin Hajee
Actors: Kunal Kapoor, Amyra Dastur
Language: Hindi
Running time: 139 minutes
Genre : Thriller

Very disappointing inspite of a promising story line. The film starts off on a confusing note – why such a setup as to have Kabir (Kunal Kapoor) in disguise to murder someone is baffling. We get to know that due to personal problems and as a writer with a mental block, he travels to a quiet place to continue writing. We also get to know that Kabir is the ghostwriter for the popular “Zaran Khan” novel where Zaran is a crusader fighting violence. He meets a beautiful girl on the way to his road trip called Suhana (Amyra Dastur) and develops a liking for her. However, when he notices that someone is murdering in the neighbourhood and “Zaran Khan” has come true to commit these murders. The story does look promising here, but lacks any direction.
The way in which story setup – it looks like only Kabir or Suhana could be committing the murders. The sub-plot with the publishing company (which involves with Kabir’s ex-wife) and the investigation conducted by the police officer or the daughter of the gardener Bindia (Neha) getting bribed to entice Kabir does not help much for the proceedings. The flashback which involves Suhana (and her alter-ego) at the climax looks more ridiculous, but by then who cares….. Very disappointing. “Mera paisa waapas dho” kind of movie…

Woh Kaun Thi

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Movie : Woh Kaun Thi
Director: Raj Khosla
Actors: Sadhana, Manoj Kumar, Prem Chopra
Language: Hindi
Running time: 140 minutes
Genre : Thriller

I’m only thinking how much this movie would have left the audience terrified (back in the 1960’s).

The first 15 minutes is very scary as Dr. Anand (a very convincing Manoj Kumar) as he meets a woman (nice, but creepy looking Sadhana) in white dress asks him for a lift on a stormy night. Strange things happens to the car as she gets in to the car (scary!!!) and she gets out and disappears in to a grave (more scary!!). He is also called in to a dilapidated mansion where he sees the same girl as a patient, but goes mysteriously missing as the police arrive (even more scary!!) Next day he sees the same girl has died in a train accident (way too much scary!!!) Finally, its his wedding night and the same girl whom he gave a lift appears as the bride (wait a minute…what’s happening? ).

Very good thriller plot, the kind of drama you need if you want someone go insane – slowly. “Naina Barse Rim Jhim Jhim” will be that song that will haunt you forever – there are almost five different versions (ordinary, slow, damn slow, snail slow….in that order) of the same song. Total Thriller ride of the 1960’s.

Don’t miss it.

MAGPIE MURDERS

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MAGPIE MURDERS

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Genre: Crime Thriller

Release : 2016

Let me first admit that I never had time to read a Dame Agatha Christie Crime – Thriller novel, but I’m interested in do so (just that time never permits) and here we have a novel which is a classic whodunit worthy mystery which would have made the “Queen of Crime” proud.

When editor Susan Rhyeland reads a manuscript of a crime novel written by Alan Conway, she does not suspect anything that it will be much written from any of his earlier works – just that Susan gets the news that Alan Conway has been mysteriously killed, which seems to be a suicide and she is yet to get the final chapter of the crime novel that she was reading. This crime novel that she is reading a real-thrill ride for all of you who love crime novels which Detective Atticus Pund is investigating in one of those sleepy English villages. Susan suspects something wrong in the suicide, as there was no reason for Alan Conway to kill himself and starts investigating the suicide case (and also trying to figure out the last chapter in the unfinished book) and gets to know that there are clues buried in the unfinished manuscript which could lead to the killer of Alan Conway.

Only word to describe this book – BRILLIANT!!! This is actually one mystery within another. The plot is cleverly crafted and very ingenious. If the first half is more of a period drama which involves Atticus Pund investigating two mysterious deaths which almost happened the same time the drama shifts gears and goes into real time mode with Susan meeting a number of people to check how Alan Conway was killed (or why he would kill himself!!)

The only downside is that after Susan (after finding out the killer of Alan Conway) gets to the unreleased last chapter of Alan Conway’s manuscript which reveals the real killer and their is a little chance by then the reader might have lost interest in the actual Atticus Pund Investigation though you would have never guessed the killer in both these plots.

But still a worthy read. I’m giving full marks and hope I read more in the years to come!!!