Movie Reviews
Maranamass movie review: This Basil Joseph dark comedy is a fun ride filled with mayhem
Maranamass movie review
Cast: Basil Joseph, Rajesh Madhavan, Babu Antony, Suresh Krishna, Siju Sunny, Anishma Anilkumar
Director: Sivaprasad
Star rating: ★★★
The fact that actor-writer-director Basil Joseph and actor-producer Tovino Thomas are thick as thieves is well-known among cinephiles. The two work together professionally quite often and if Basil gave Tovino a superhero in Minnal Murali, it’s now the turn of Tovino to give Basil a comical sigma male in Marannamass.
The premise
A serial killer who’s killing elderly men and then stuffing the state’s famed Poovan banana in their mouth is causing havoc in Kerala. Dubbed the ‘Banana Killer’, he has created fear among people, and the villagers of Vallikkunnu are no exception. The movie reveals early on who the killer is and why he is hell-bent on murdering old men (childhood trauma), and how he finds his victims. Now, while the police are searching for the Banana Killer, another man is creating a major nuisance in the village itself – Luke PP (Basil Joseph), the hero of this film. The police arrest him believing he is the serial killer, but unfortunately for them, he’s not.
Proudly branding himself a sigma male, Luke is a new-age YouTuber cum influencer who goes out of his way to expose people’s dirty secrets with not a malicious intention but to clean up society. If he pulled out the porn search details of the panchayat head and plastered it in the village, he also placed the local police station up for sale on OLX as he didn’t find the cops doing their work. Fed up with his antics, the entire village pools in a sum of ₹16 lakhs to send him packing to Czechoslovakia to get rid of him. The last straw for Luke is when Luke’s girlfriend Jessie (Anishma Anilkumar) breaks up with him because of his inability to take life seriously. Luke is all set to win her back somehow when a bus journey Jessie is on adds a major twist to the story. One night, Jessie heads back and finds herself on the bus with Luke, Jikku (driver), Aruvi (bus conductor), an elderly man, and a stranger. And it is this bus ride they are on that the entire story unfolds.
What works for Maranamass
In recent times, Basil Joseph has been striving to push himself out of his comfort zone (think Ponman, Praavinkoodu Shappu, Nunnakuzhi) and get into the skin of really offbeat characters. Luke PP is one of those roles that uses Basil Joseph’s ability to pull off comedy and adds the Gen Z Sigma male who struggles to pull it off despite his flashy clothes, blonde hair, and faded haircut.
Basil has pulled off Luke in style, but it has been ably aided by the other actors, namely Rajesh Madhavan, Suresh Krishna, Siju Sunny, Babu Antony, and Anishma Anilkumar. Each of them has delivered a truly note-worthy performance and the on-screen chemistry between the scenes lights up even when the dialogues don’t.
In Maranamass, debutant Sivaprasad, who has co-written the film with Siju Sunny, gives us a dark comedy centred around Luke. Most of the comedy in the film, though, is of a slapstick nature and often situational, with heavy pop culture references to elicit laughs. In one instance, the trend of pre-wedding photoshoots is spoofed with a ‘save the date’ photoshoot at a graveyard, and in another, a cop is called Tiger sir because he carries around a Tiger balm in his hand. You get the drift by now. Not all these scenes want to make you laugh and this is due to the inconsistencies in the screenplay that the second half lags.
Each of the key characters has been given interesting quirks to keep alive the narrative, which hits speed breaks ever so often, like the bus journey that Luke and Jessie are on. Produced by Tovino Thomas, Maranamass is, for the most part, an enjoyable, fun ride that’s filled with mayhem.
Movie Reviews
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu Review: USA Premiere Report
U.S. Premiere Report:
#MSG Review: Free Flowing Chiru Fun
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It’s an easy, fun festive watch with a better first half that presents Chiru in a free-flowing, at-ease with subtle humor. On the flip side, much-anticipated Chiru-Venky track is okay, which could have elevated the second half.
#AnilRavipudi gets the credit for presenting Chiru in his best, most likable form, something that was missing from his comeback.
With a simple story, fun moments and songs, this has enough to become a commercial success this #Sankranthi
Rating: 2.5/5
First Half Report:
#MSG Decent Fun 1st Half!
Chiru’s restrained body language and acting working well, paired with consistent subtle humor along with the songs and the father’s emotion which works to an extent, though the kids’ track feels a bit melodramatic – all come together to make the first half a decent fun, easy watch.
– Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu show starts with Anil Ravipudi-style comedy, with his signature backdrop, a gang, and silly gags, followed by a Megastar fight and a song. Stay tuned for the report.
U.S. Premiere begins at 10.30 AM EST (9 PM IST). Stay tuned Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu review, report.
Cast: Megastar Chiranjeevi, Venkatesh Daggubati, Nayanthara, Catherine Tresa
Writer & Director – Anil Ravipudi
Producers – Sahu Garapati and Sushmita Konidela
Presents – Smt.Archana
Banners – Shine Screens and Gold Box Entertainments
Music Director – Bheems Ceciroleo
Cinematographer – Sameer Reddy
Production Designer – A S Prakash
Editor – Tammiraju
Co-Writers – S Krishna, G AdiNarayana
Line Producer – Naveen Garapati
U.S. Distributor: Sarigama Cinemas
Mana Shankara Vara Prasad Garu Movie Review by M9
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1986 Movie Reviews – Black Moon Rising | The Nerdy
Welcome to an exciting year-long project here at The Nerdy. 1986 was an exciting year for films giving us a lot of films that would go on to be beloved favorites and cult classics. It was also the start to a major shift in cultural and societal norms, and some of those still reverberate to this day.
We’re going to pick and choose which movies we hit, but right now the list stands at nearly four dozen.
Yes, we’re insane, but 1986 was that great of a year for film.
The articles will come out – in most cases – on the same day the films hit theaters in 1986 so that it is their true 40th anniversary. All films are also watched again for the purposes of these reviews and are not being done from memory. In some cases, it truly will be the first time we’ve seen them.
This time around, it’s Jan. 10, 1986, and we’re off to see Black Moon Rising.
Black Moon Rising
What was the obsession in the 1980s with super vehicles?
Sam Quint (Tommy Lee Jones) is hired to steal a computer tape with evidence against a company on it. While being pursued, he tucks it in the parachute of a prototype vehicle called the Black Moon. While trying to retrieve it, the car is stolen by Nina (Linda Hamilton), a car thief working for a car theft ring. Both of them want out of their lives, and it looks like the Black Moon could be their ticket out.
Blue Thunder in the movies, Airwolf and Knight Rider on TV, the 1980s loved an impractical ‘super’ vehicle. In this case, the car plays a very minor role up until the final action set piece, and the story is far more about the characters and their motivations.
The movie is silly as you would expect it to be, but it is never a bad watch. It’s just not anything particularly memorable.
1986 Movie Reviews will continue on Jan. 17, 2026, with The Adventures of the American Rabbit, The Adventures of Mark Twain, The Clan of the Cave Bear, Iron Eagle, The Longshot, and Troll.
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