Not Just Another Day

Nostalgia goes back by many years, but before reaching the beginning, there is another stage which can be directly related to the Malayalam movies. It is to this stage that one particular actor and his movies are related. The situation goes back to 1997 when his first movie was released, even though I watched the flick only later. His birthday was yesterday, and as usual, I realized that it was another birthday one day later. The actor in picture here is Kunchacko Boban, and it is about his movies that the rest of this post is going to be about.

Aniyathipraavu (1997): The biggest hit of the season and also of his career on his debut as a hero itself – it is something which every newcomer will dream about, and Kunchacko Boban did manage to achieve that. It also had some of the best songs of the century, and it was remade into the Tamil with the name Kadhalukku Mariyadhai and Priyadarshan used the same story for his Hindi movie, Doli Saja Ke Rakhna; it also had Telugu and Kannada remakes. It was also the first movie of Shalini as heroine, and the two established themselves as the new crowd favourite pair in the Malayalam movie industry. The movie was strong in emotions as well as comedy.
The great evergreen romantic song!

Mazhavillu (1999): This was not that much of a preferred movie at the time of its run as I remember people more concerned about this being a sad flick with tragedy awaiting to finish the story sending the audience into unexpected depression – the overall mood of the movie was so happy. This is also Preeti Jhangiani’s first movie and makes a really cute debut in this one. Kunchako Boban along with Vineeth in a rather negative role, this movie would have worked better if it had released later; the audience of the time just wasn’t ready. With some of the most melodious songs of its time, the movie is a lovely memory.
This song was the cutest one of the time!

Chandamama (1999) and Niram (1999): Chandamama was his first full comedy movie and with some good songs, it had enough to keep the laughter going throughout the flick as long as you don’t think much. But the grand movie was Niram, and it will remain my favourite movie from him, and this teamed him up with Shalini yet again. Remade in Telugu as Nuvve Kavali, in Tamil as Piriyadha Varam, in Kannada as Ninagagi and in Hindi as Tujhe Meri Kasam, the movie was a grand success. Once again, beautiful songs aided this one as the movie became a big boost to bring more of the campus based stories which followed.
A long time favourite song from Niram!

Doctor Love (2011): I wouldn’t like to remember any of his solo movies after this except for Kasthooriman, as it wasn’t a good stage in between. There were some nice movies in which he teamed up with others or played interesting roles in movies which were heroine-centered. Meanwhile, teaming up with other actors like Biju Menon had fine results as hit movies, and the trend followed after this movie too. Doctor Love was a nice return for him as the solo hero, as the man who solved the problems related to love in an arts college. The songs are good and the movie has the feel-good power.
And a lovely song from the romantic movie!

Chirakodinja Kinavukal (2015): There are not many spoof movies in Malayalam movie industry, and this one comes as a full spoof entertainer. Even though one might still think that this could have been an even better movie, this flick manages to bring enough here to catch our attention. The movie is successful in making fun of a good number of cliches in the movies, and Kunchacko Boban does a fantastic job as more than one character. It also successfully makes fun of some of the incidents which have happened related to the movie industry and that comes as a bonus – variety works here well.

Lord Livingstone 7000 Kandi (2015): I do not consider this one as a grand movie which needs to be given the status of Avatar from Malayalam movie industry. But it is surely a nice try and it is a variety attempt which needs to be applauded. Kunchacko Boban plays Philipose John Varkey, a survivalist and nature enthusiast in this multi-starrer movie and is the leader of a gang which tries to save a village deep in a forest, as too many people from the world of modernity hopes to end these trees and destroy their world. There is beauty in the way the movie is taken, and it is best experienced in the theatres.
Read full review of the movie here

Wishing Kunchacko Boban a very happy birthday! 🙂
Leaving you with a song from his movie Visudhan.

TeNy