Why a No to Mili?

I had already provided a review of Mili at my other blog (https://moviesofthesoul.wordpress.com/2015/01/27/mili), but I know that there are people who don’t like the movie, even are they are less in comparison. For them, I am giving a few reasons for not liking the movie, and as a whole, you can say that it is not a problem of the movie, but a tragic situation which exists within these people. Most of them have the disease of being blind fans, but other than that there are a few other reasons too. So, here is why you don’t like Mili. Feel free to choose from these options.

1. You have been a bully: A major reason for disliking this movie should be because you have been a bully, the worst nightmare of one of your introvert friends whom you used to abuse and make fun of. Now, when introverts have a voice, you have a big problem with it. So, you choose to spend your time hating introverts and this movie, but supporting all those movements which are of lesser significance to show that you are extremely cool. You praise something else to bring down this movie. According to them, being introvert is bad, but being an abuser and liar is okay.

The story of Mili should begin and end with everyone having a personality.

2. You have no empathy: You don’t like to think about what others feel, because you are so awesome as yourself. With so much of pride and not ready to feel for others, you try to make sure that the protagonist in this movie doesn’t exist or her problems are not real. You will think that introverts make no sense. So, you support other movies with the same theme, like How Old Are You, Queen and Highway, pretending that you love those movies, even as the truth is that you despised those movies when they were running in the theatres too.

3. You want only rich and successful people: Yes, those who don’t become highly successful and rich in life are big unworthy idiots according to you. You wish to do a holocaust of unsuccessful people. Being good doesn’t matter to you – only money does. Most of you are parents of some successful people who make a lot of money. Some of these so called parents would surely realize that money can’t buy them love when they are older. Some of such younger people will understand from their friends that rich and powerful people needn’t always be the best friends.

4. You are a porcupine judge: You spend your life judging people and sometimes even punishing them in one way or the other. As a rodent with “special skills”, you fight others making sure that they are hurt with your terrible attacks which defy conscience. You have already judged many people like Mili and you can’t see another of such inferior person getting any better. Some subaltern rising from nowhere has always concerned you, and once again you try to degrade such a person, and this time by spreading hatred about this movie.

Mili will always be Mili. If you don’t like it, please go to the Ninth Circle of Hell.

5. You are a blind fan: You are that kind of a blind fan who feels that movies like Mili with no superstar super-character shouldn’t be made. You watch unrealistic movies and your desire is to watch your favourite actor on the screen doing dumb things all the time. Mili happens to be a realistic movie and it hurts you. Therefore, you take movies like How Old Are You which was less realistic only in comparison, and as it had bigger stars and more fans, you would go on to appreciate it even as you never really liked that either.

I have seen the comments from people who didn’t like Mili. Most of them are self-proclaimed cool people, and those who feel that life is for just enjoying, not thinking about the rest of the world. They feel that they are the centre of the world. When most of the critics and the common man has approved of the movie, some of those selfish people would feel otherwise. Don’t introverts deserve a movie? Are they to be hated forever by a new generation freaks who have no concern about the difficulties of others? Are introverts not people?

***This is not for everyone, but for those people who can only say “flop movie”, “worst film”, “very bad to watch”, “waste thing”, “so horrible I walked out of theatre” on different pages and posts of some movies on Facebook, and keep copy posting the same again and again on different flicks. All the images used in this blog post are the from the official Facebook Page of Mili (https://www.facebook.com/milimovieofficial)

TeNy

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Does it Really Feel Good?

There have been so many so called “feel-good” movies, and it makes one wonder if it is a title which is just used because there is nothing else could used to describe that movie. There has been too much use of that word to describe the recent movies, even the recently released Bangalore Days which actually has nothing to feel that good with even motherhood given no positive points. So many other movies have been asking for that title, or have adorned the movie like a colourless garland. Is it too easy to make some people feel good, or do they make themselves feel good by pressing a button after watching any movie?

So what does feel-good mean? Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary says it is “causing happy and positive feelings about life”, and this is where Bangalore Days completely misses out. But the fans of the movie have been wandering around forcing people to accept their opinions, as it includes fans of too many actors who are part of the multi-starrer. This has become a new device to make bad movies good – a “feel-good movie”. They said the same about Salalah Mobiles, Pattam Pole and Annayum Rasoolum, none of them having that element and are pretty much among the worst.

The poster of North 24 Kaatham (Cropped from movie’s official page)

To this world of fake feel-good movies, North 24 Kaatham comes and proves to the audience that a true feel-good movie is not about what the fans say, and it can only be understood by the people whose eyes are not tied by the black clothing of celebrity worship. Even as movies like Immanuel, Punyalan Agarbathis and London Bridge do have a certain amount of this feel-good effect, there is nothing like the one cent percent feel-good influence that North 24 Kaatham has on the audience. The winner of Best Feature Film in Malayalam in the 2013 National Film Awards and getting the Best Actor for Fahadh Faasil in the State Film Awards, the movie is making more marks.

The movie has the protagonist going on a journey, and ends up on the road with two strangers on a harthal day with no means of transportation. Our hero is a geek and an introvert with OCD who is not liked by his colleagues. But this wonderful journey will change him in such a way that he is able to go beyond his problems. The journey is woven very nicely with significant lessons at almost every point of the tale. The other two people are also interesting ones, an older honest politician and a social worker. The aim of the journey changes to another one which involves getting the old veteran home as his wife is seriously ill.

The movie has a hero who doesn’t speak much, and the more heroic deeds are rather performed by the female protagonist. She is the smarter and the more active participant of the journey. This is a road movie, and lets not deny its role in the genre, and unlike the movies like Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi, this is not a selfish one, but a powerful message to help others rather than saying that much known dialogue about one deciding his own life and how others don’t really matter. This movie from Anil Radhakrishnan Menon is also a bildungsroman, a story in which the protagonist changes or even gets better over the tale progresses.

Innovative posters by Shilpa Alexander (Cropped from movie’s official FB page)

North 24 Kaatham is a movie that keeps the humanity’s hopes alive for a better tomorrow, and its message of compassion and kindness makes sure that it gives a lot for the audience to be happy about, and obviously feel good. It will play a significant role in restoring faith in humanity sooner or later as we are fed with dumb movies full of mindless violence and sex. The celebrity worshipers, the fans of the worst kind will take it over and praise those movies as greater than whatever movies are known to man, with a ten out of ten rating. There were good and sensible people among them, but where are they? Nowhere to be found in the open?

The main problem which this movie also faced was with the fan-boys and fan-girls, and this was a movie for them to dislike because of its goodness. The interesting thing is that most of them can only use abusive language or illogical excuses without watching the movie. There will be good movies and there is hope in all movie industries, but for that, the fan clubs have to learn to behave instead of abusing other movies and the makers just in the name of appreciating bad superstar movies. The procedure of expressing one’s opinion in a decent way seems to be unknown to some people. This movie could somehow rise above it, but should have had an even better response.

TeNy