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November 27, 2010

Nothing Great about 'TD Dasan VI B'


reviewed by nikhimenon@gmail.com
 ‘Mohan Raghavan’s debut feature film ‘TD Dasan VI B’  got positive reviews from almost all the leading Malayalam movie portals when it was released early this year.Obviously nikhimenon’s expectations were sky high when he bought the dvd of this small movie.The covers had a fully dressed up Swetha Menon(thank God,she sn’t playing a pro this time! -thinks nikhimenon.) along with Biju Menon(oops.!) and two child artists.
100 minutes and a moserbaer dvd later nikhimenon was back with some startling discoveries and…..
·       TD Dasan VI B is a simple but pretty ordinary film which has it’s heart in it’s right place.
·       11 year old  Dasan’s search for his father would have been a compelling watch,had the makers concentrated a bit more on the scripting avoiding cliches’ like the lunatic (who comes out of nowhere and fades into the oblivion in the beginning of the movie ),the un necessary ‘movie within the movie sequences’ (honestly, the track is quite underdeveloped and it adds nothing much to the narrative),to name a few.
·       Both the child artists were quite competent.The boy who played Dasan(Alexander) deserves a pat on his back
·       TD Dasan had a decent and (most importantly)an original story to tell which  couldn’t  live upto it’s potential,thanks to a mediocre script.

…………some annoying querries…..

·       Will Ms Swetha Menon ever be able to play a morally correct character in a Malayalam film?
·        Biju Menon’s character is shown as an Ad film maker in the movie.One fine morning, he calls his assistant and says that the story for a movie is ready.C’mmon ,is it so easy to start making a movie?One needs a producer atleast.. right?
·       What was the ‘movie within the movie track’ doing in this film?
·       Why does Malayalam Cinema  prefer an Alex Paul or a Suresh Peter to  a Sreevalsan Menon or a Jason J Nair when the latter is available at a cheaper rate with better music?  
·       What made the reviewers think that this movie (‘TD Dasan VI B’) is some sort of a masterpiece?

Verdict: 2.5/5(Not bad)


ps: Mr Jagadish,please don't torture us more..!

6 comments:

sateeshan said...

Completely agree with yur views....
but about the 'movie within movie' track...
i think t was the most intersting port of the movie...

vinu said...

which movie is this?

വിനയന്‍ said...

T.D.Dasan is not a fully satisfying film. Agreed. And its not even comparable to foreign film standards. But the movie stands high amongst most of the movies released recently in malayalam cinema. And movie within movie was one of the best parts in the whole movie.

harish said...

i really dont understand what runs through "nikhi menons" mind when writing this review, there was nothing short of a brilliant movie this, i read this only coz i saw a negative comment abot it, the movie within a movie is the way the plot cold devolop prompting the viewers to have a quiet imagination of the entirity of the situations,the fact that u said that shwetha is playing a immoral character says volmes about what u saw in the movie , where in the movie does it say she is immoral, in my humble opinion jagadish did a decent if not gr8 job , nothing there to criticize, so in ur opinion , ad film makers dont make movies uh??? hope priyadarshan etc, are just not movie makers, and do u look for a producer first or a storyline first????? this is exactly wat is wrong with todays film makers, find a producer and then make up a story.. there is not a single sequence which is aimed at jst luring audience in to the hall, but jst pure cinema and that shows the sincerety of the director to the medium,, if by posting this review want to be considered a "bhudhjivi", then so be it.. learn to appreciate what ever is good around u.. get a life!!!!!!!!!!
harish

nikhimenon said...

@ harish

td dasan was a movie which s considered as some sort of classic by the so called budhijivis that u have mentioned.

abt the shweta thing...i thing ts pretty clear y she committed suicide in the mvie.what i understud after seeing the mvie was that she had been having somesort of illicit relation with someone and which has probably esulted in her husband deserting her.when she came to know that he wud return she decided to end her life out of guilt.there s a scene in the movie where leela menon accuses her sister in law for infedility.i think thats what the film maker was trying to say thru that scene.

//pinne oru sadharana prekshakanu aswadhikkan pattunna karyangal onnum athil ullathayi enikku thonniyilla..as yu said the so called bhuddijeevi's might say that td dasan a brilliant movie,but for me ts just an above average flick,considering the fact that other craps like apoorvaragam are being made here.

i don't know why yu mentioned abt priyadarsan here.

for me,td dasan was a movie which could have been better and in it's present form it's just an above average fare.

vallya bhuddieevi jaada kanikkan ayirunenkil i cud have given a 5/5 review for this movie.

alukale theatre ilekku akarshikkan kazhiyatha cinema engane vijayamakum? mohan raghavan is a talented writer/director no doubts about it,but still td dasan could have been better,that's what i feel.

nikhimenon said...

and moreover i saw the movie after reading so many positive reviews abt the movie,may be that high expectations abt the movie might also have influenced me in riting this review