Neelakasham Pacha Kadal Chuvanna Bhoomi

 With the pandemic that gripped the world, travel became rare. The lock down made us captive in our homes and we had to stay away from travel till things got safe. Watching this movie allows us to travel virtually. The title translated is Blue Sky, Green Sea, Red Earth and the movie is a road adventure. The movie title is a real tongue-twister for me!

This movie takes us on a virtual road trip and let's us travel and explore a few new places. The locations are breath-takingly beautiful and urge us to visit them. Don't miss the opening aerial shot of Kerala, it's awesome. It also ends with an aerial shot of them on their way to Tawang.

Dulquer Salman looks amazing as usual and is supported by the other characters. Dulquer looks dashing on the bike but I disliked the fact that they showed bikers performing stunts on the roads and also not wearing their helmets many times. I feel responsible bikers would never do that. Such stunts encourage youngsters to do the same and can be harmful for them and others. Movies can be really impactful.

The movie follows Kasi and Suni, two friends, on their road trip. We see them have different experiences through the trip and are also acquainted with Kasi's love incomplete love story. Is Kasi successful in getting the girl of his dreams? You have to find out yourself. I give no spoilers. How far would you go to win back your true love?

I watched this movie just with the hope of seeing some new places because I miss my travels and explorations. It is a good watch for bikers and travel buffs. The film was shot at real locations in eight Indian states, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu (Tirunelveli Highway) Odisha, West Bengal, Nagaland and Sikkim.This itself, made me want to watch it. This movie had a cult following in Kerala when it was released.

Not that great but surely a good watch if you are a fan of travel.

It's streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

Watch this one and do away with your travel blues.

Kammatipaadam

 It's an action movie about a group of childhood friends who work together when they grow up. Circumstances bring different upheavals in their lives. The movie takes us to witness that friendship through the years.

Dulquer Salman is brilliant as Krishnan who is extremely loyal and will go to any lengths to save his friends. He has a love interest, Anitha who is also pursued by his close friend, Ganga. Dulquer played his role brilliantly and is well-supported by the others who are equally amazing. Dulquer's awesome skills can be seen in the hospital scene and at the climax. The movie drags a bit as it is 2 hrs 40 mins long. The songs are melodious and the locations just apt. The movie is an average watch so can be missed for better ones. The length is the dampener for the movie. Too many fight scenes and a lot of boozing. The movie is superb but a bit dragged. Story and acting is superb.

Nomadland

 I was waiting to watch this movie. It has won the Oscar for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director. It is an adaptation of Jessica Bruder's book, Nomadland and it takes us along a journey with Fern, who is one of the many victims of the Great Recession in America.

I had a lot of expectations from this movie and was sorely disappointed with it. The movie takes us to different locations with Fern, who wants to keep working and keep travelling in her van, thoughtfully named Vanguard. She meets different people who are living around like modernday gypsies and doing all kinds of odd jobs. The movie is about the life she leads as a nomad and the lessons she learns in the way.

Frankly, I did not see anything, substantial in the movie and I am guessing the book is better. The film dragged on and I was waiting for something to happen, but it didn't. Of course, this is just my view, so you can go ahead and find out for yourself. There was not much scope to act either, so I wonder about the awards this movie won. There is a scene where Fern is lying in the river stark naked and another where she is defecating in the van, nothing that can be considered as important for the story or lack of it. Was this that made it Oscar-worthy, I wonder. The movie tries to tell us the plight of Americans struck by The Great Recession.

For me, this is a movie that is better to be missed, but you can watch it and find out for yourself. Maybe you will see something in it that I missed and see what the accolades are all about.

No apologies for those who liked this movie. This is my view about it and it does not change. I loved the Malayalam movie Joji so much better than this one! In fact I have watched some really amazing movies lately, so maybe that's why watching this one was like a let-down for me.

This movie too had some good moments in it but they were few and far between. Nothing miraculous or extraordinary in it that will change our life as some reviews suggest.

I have watched Frances McDormand in the movie Three Billboards that was really brilliant and she acted amazingly in that one. That one is streaming on Disney Hotstar too, so you can watch that one instead of this one.