Kumari

Let me get this straight first, this is by no means a bad film, but screenplay doesnt give the story enough strength to give the audience the needed effect.

The first 20mins of prelude had some of the best story telling i have seen in some time but from there the screenplay meanders. Cinematography was top notch with some brilliant shots, nusic was okayish though i dont think it fits a period fantasy film.

Aishwarya lekshmi gives it her all.

There are portions of the film that we wish we had a forward button and the climax showdown looked amateurish.

As i said in the beginning its not a bad film by any means but leaves a lot to be desired.

First the good points * Interesting horror side engaging with tales of demons, spirits tantra and a look at ancient kerala and landlords thamburatti, *Simple costumes, real outlook without glamour and fanfare * Authentic tantrik practices and temple worship system depicted

Spoilers * Car, Bikes, Wrist watch are shown but then in the landlord house there is no electricity and oil lamps are used * Dhruvan cuts off three fingers in later part of movie the fingers are back again * In modern time of car, bikes the labour and birth of child is done in house with midwives.

Murder is committed in open fields no cops or police

Actual year is not disclos.

It's been years since a horror fantasy mystery (like Ananthabhadram) in Mollywood. Kumari may not be a watch for all but for me it was a bliss ✨. Apart from small trails and non understandable dialogue delivery of Shine Tom Chacko It was a pure joy of wonderful screenplay ,music and great performances of all the cast. Everyone was beautiful in every screen notably the main cast . Eventhough ,it was a beautiful theatre experience it was underwhelming to see vacant seats on the third day of release . It is a must watch for all those who love to hear stories of the land and to escape from the real world to a world of mysticism ,witchcraft which hasn't lost its relevance even today...

Let me come straight to the point, Surabhi Lakshmi was terrific. The casting was perfect, the colour grading & all is perfect as well. But it's the screenplay which falls flat after that 1st half & the animations could have been better. The character of Shine Tom Chacko can be a little irritating at times but he did shine in his role. Aishwarya lekshmi did her part well especially during the 2nd half. The timelines in the movie is quite confusing as the songs & certain aspects do not match with the time period. The songs were unnecessary & few of the BGM seems a mismatch to the time period. Aesthetically the movie is quite appealing but the story seems thin. The opening sequence is literally the same as tumbbad. Give it a watch for a Saturday night movie.

I'm confused on so many levels about this movie. On the one hand, the visuals and the music together make a great atmosphere throughout the movie making the horror fantasy feel of it almost perfect. On the other hand, the dialogues are horrendous with a stage drama-like style to them and the direction of the actors seems to make it worse. It's only when the actors deliver something beyond the dialogue, some things they are already comfortable with outside of this movie, that the acting works very well. Shine Tom's recent unhinged interviews now feel like an extension of this character. Either you will love it or you will hate it. I loved his performance in this movie so much that no one else deserves a mention about their performances after his one in this movie.

There is an attempt to use folklore and bring it to a western sensibility without losing our perception of such folklore. That aspect is clearly inspired by Tumbbad but it doesn't really translate beyond the basic idea and some creature designs used. Due to this attempt, there are a lot of things in the movie that doesn't make a whole lot of sense but the movie doesn't really want us to think that deeply either.

Overall, I think Kumari is a decent attempt despite its shortcomings as a horror fantasy. It could've been easily a better experience just by trimming around 30 minutes out of the movie.

By making Ranam and Kumari, placing both films on extreme ends of the spectrum in the visual landscape and making both of them aesthetically stunning yet lacking something in the writing department, Nirmal Sahadev proves his aesthetic sensibilities and the need for a better screenwriter for his stories.