Couple of movies this weekend kept me busy.

One was Lesa Lesa, Priyadarshan‘s re-make of malyalam movie Summer in Bethlehem. The original Malayalam version had Mohanlal (played by Madhavan in Tamil) and Suresh Gopi (Shaam in Tamil). It is a perfect example of a movie with a good storyline but damaged by bad characterisation and very loose screenplay. Madhavan rocks the show with his powerful cameo performance like Karthik in Mouna Ragam. Trisha scores badly because her characterisation doesn’t keep up with the story. Its a heavy role like Revathy’s role in Mouna Ragam and is played very lightly by Trisha but with lot of new comer exuberance. As usual Thiru kalakks with his stunning cinematography. Every scene is framed immaculately. Except Ulaga Azagiye song there aren’t many innovative number by Harris Jayaraj. Finally, the movie can be re-named Promise Promise, for there are dozens of promises made back and forth in the movie.

Also watched a long overdue movie, Mr & Mrs Iyer. Aparna Sen‘s exceptional directorial skill amazes me. Rahul Bose, one of my most favourite actors since the TV series, Mouthful of Sky, continues with a simple-yet-relaistic performance. He is someone who is like Morgan Freeman whose acting couldn’t be distinguished from the movie. He is the best choice for this role. If this movie was to be shot a decade back it would have been Amol Balekar. Not many would attempt this role which needs a common man and not an actor. Konkona Sen, is an unexpected acting talent in the movie. Her performance as Meenakshi Iyer, goes much beyond the boundaries of a veteran actresses.

Ustad Zakir‘s background scores are a treat to ears while Gautam Ghose displays the artistic skills of Kolkatta cinedom. But a little disappointing point is the thin line of dramatic feeling that runs throughout the movie. Maybe for me who is accustomed to Mani Ratnam way of film-making, this spoon-feeding-the-viewer-with-expressions-that-could-have-been-sublime technique is slightly difficult to follow.