Anjali Menon’s Bangalore Days (2014) Movie Review
Cast: Dulquer Salman, Fahad Fazil, Nazriya Nazim, Nivin Pauly, Parvathy, Isha Talwar, Nithya Menen, Vijayaraghavan, Kalpana, Maniyan Pilla Raju, Praveena , Pratap Pothen, Vinaya Prasad.
Director: Anjali Menon
Censor Certificate: U
Runtime: 172 Minutes
Watched at Prasadz (Screen 4), Hyderabad
“No heroism. No punch dialogue. Be simple and show the reality. Movie will be a hit”.
Story about the lives of three cousins Arjun (Dulquer Salman), the typical Kerallite Kuttan (Nivin) and Divya (Nazriya Nazim) who have been playfellows from childhood. Divya gets married to Das (Fahadh Faasil), and gets settled in Bangalore Bangalore
Bangalore Days starts off brilliantly, and the camera work is the best I have seen in a long time!! Kerala and Bangalore
The first half is a breeze, and you don’t realize that interval is just round the corner. Sugar coated scenes, dialogues, extremely true and simple characters, and very nice songs. There is a constant grin on your face throughout the first half, with occasional bursts of laughter. Nothing seems forced, it all flows smoothly. There is the marriage scene, the cousins holidaying, decent songs, nice locales, but all presented in a simplistic and credible manner. Nothing is over the top, the treatment is most realistic.
The first 15-20 minutes of the second half looks a bit contrived, but from there on the movie really catches you by surprise. The real TWIST in the smooth story starts during the last 40 minutes or so, and from there on it’s an emotional ride. I don’t wanna give away plot details so that you enjoy the movie completely.
The music rocks, so does the background music. Every song blends quite well with the movie. Cinematography is top notch. Editing is innovative, and enhances the overall impact of the important scenes. The movie is colorful, and carefully differentiates between the current and flashback portions through different hues.
Anjali Menon has done a great job, especially with the concept and style department. Give her a competent screenplay, and I bet she can win international acclaim. Director must be lauded to present something refreshingly different and completely original. She tackles Love – Adventure – Friendship – Relationships – Life, and creates a great collage of all. The way the central characters develop is very realistic and identifiable. Three cheers Anjali Menon, you rank right up there, and add me to your fan list.
Coming on to the performances, Nazriya Nazim does very well as the simple and dreamy Kerala girl. Her expressions, her getup, her nuances, her dialogue delivery are just perfect. Dulquer Salman as the city bred graffiti-cum-bike racer is awesome. His eyes speak more than his words, which is to his credit and an achievement for Anjali Menon. DQ is sure to be nominated this year in the awards. Nivin Pauly is just awesome and fits his character to T. The real scene stealer and best performer is Fahadh Faasil. You just have to see the movie to understand what I mean. He just dominates every sequence he’s in. Parvathy, Nithya Menen, Vijayaraghavan, Isha Talwar and Kalpana lend nice support.
To sum it up, Bangalore Days sticks to its basics with nice bits of emotion and humor. Bangalore Days is a must watch movie for anybody who falls in the following category:
- A fan of Dulquer Salman / Fahadh / Nivin Pauly
- A fan of Nazriya
- A fan of Malayalam Youthful Entertainers
- A fan of good unadulterated fun, which involves lot of poking fun.
- A fan of movies that defines Love/Relationships/Life/Memories.
Well, I guess the above list doesn’t leave out too many options for cinegoers, does it. In that case, Bangalore Days is for all of you folks reading this post out there.
Survi Review: 3.5/5 (0.25 More for the final sequence.)
Survi Review: 3.5/5 (0.25 More for the final sequence.)
Have you seen this movie? If yes, what do you think about this movie? Rate & comment below.
Theatrical Trailer:
Awesome movie!!!!!! Dulquer Salman rocks!!!!!!!