Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha / A Northern Story Of Valor (1988) :
An Absolute Masterpiece Crafting of Historical Epic. Traditional Cinema at its Finest. No matter how much people and critics shout about parallel cinema, new wave cinema, experimental cinema and path-breaking cinema, this traditional cinema will always be the bestest. There is no other magic like this. I don't understand Malyalam language but first two minutes into the film, and i was hooked. A melodious song appears in the start telling a past story and while reading the subtitles I was into it. Right this moment i knew that there's is no escape for me for next two and half hours. What a great piece of writing it is. The film offers an alternative version of the fight between two legendary Chekavars from Chanthu's perspective. It is a reinterpretation of Chandu's life and depicts him as an unlucky and misunderstood but ultimately honourable man rather than the traitorous character as known in folklore. I don't know the history so i'd better stay away from arguments of historical accuracy but whatever i have seen in 160 minutes has simply won my heart. I always believe that such great historical tales only needs to be told in correct manners and then there's no stopping to it. Look at Maya Bazaar and Mughal E Azam. Who hates these films? And who can ever forget these films? Today i am adding 3rd one in my list and that's Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. People can go mad about commerical potboilers like Magadheera and Bahubali but for me they are nowhere close these masterpiece films. Four unforgettable things about this film are- Mammootty's performance, terrific writing of conflicts, Immortal Music and Hariharan's Direction. Hands down, no words. This is a textbook on historical genre. Watch it to learn and understand why traditional cinema will always have its head above anything else. In short, One of the Greatest Film of the 80s Decade.
RATING - 9/10*
By - #samthebestest.
An Absolute Masterpiece Crafting of Historical Epic. Traditional Cinema at its Finest. No matter how much people and critics shout about parallel cinema, new wave cinema, experimental cinema and path-breaking cinema, this traditional cinema will always be the bestest. There is no other magic like this. I don't understand Malyalam language but first two minutes into the film, and i was hooked. A melodious song appears in the start telling a past story and while reading the subtitles I was into it. Right this moment i knew that there's is no escape for me for next two and half hours. What a great piece of writing it is. The film offers an alternative version of the fight between two legendary Chekavars from Chanthu's perspective. It is a reinterpretation of Chandu's life and depicts him as an unlucky and misunderstood but ultimately honourable man rather than the traitorous character as known in folklore. I don't know the history so i'd better stay away from arguments of historical accuracy but whatever i have seen in 160 minutes has simply won my heart. I always believe that such great historical tales only needs to be told in correct manners and then there's no stopping to it. Look at Maya Bazaar and Mughal E Azam. Who hates these films? And who can ever forget these films? Today i am adding 3rd one in my list and that's Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. People can go mad about commerical potboilers like Magadheera and Bahubali but for me they are nowhere close these masterpiece films. Four unforgettable things about this film are- Mammootty's performance, terrific writing of conflicts, Immortal Music and Hariharan's Direction. Hands down, no words. This is a textbook on historical genre. Watch it to learn and understand why traditional cinema will always have its head above anything else. In short, One of the Greatest Film of the 80s Decade.
RATING - 9/10*
By - #samthebestest.