Hi,
Its yet another xmas, yet another new year and its yet another review from the ever-active KK :).Kripa theatre was the location this time and goodness me, ended up watching an unforgettable cinema in Rosshan Andrew's latest venture, Notebook.
First thing, "this is not a painkili love story". No superstars, no item numbers, no explosions, no double meanings. These are some glimpses of Notebook and let me tell you, the film still works to a large extent. Seira, Pooja and Sreedevi are doing their 12th in Lords Academy and they share thick friendship. Seira is the bubbly and naughty girl in the batch and she is always the centre of attraction for both teachers and students. Always comes late in class, an LHite who believes day scholars are fortunate to eat what they wish and hence both Seira and Sreedevi eats from Pooja's house every weekend. Pooja, the school headgirl, is smart and a bit more matured than the other two while Sreedevi is soft and lovable. Pooja's mother who is a widow nourishes and babies them as her children. Of course they fight each other like any other friends but there is nothing more in those little pranks.
Suraj, a 12B student, is considered to be the macho among the gals and they simply fall for him (Don't know why:). After some really funny circumstances, Sreedevi and Suraj fall in love but being immature and in fear of words passing by; they keep quiet about their relationship. During the tour, they somehow find some time to spend each other but the inevitable happens. Sreedevi become pregnant, yes I spelled that word properly :P, and her friends just cannot believe what had happened. Hang on. Upon the advices from Seira and Pooja, Sreedevi doesn't reveal the matter to Suraj cos her friends feared that it may force him to depart from the school and from her friend's life for ever. Sensible thought :) Alas, they have no other option but to abort it. Believe it or not, Seira somehow manages to get Sreedevi into the operation theatre by telling lots of unconventional yet convincing lies to the doctor who is supposed to do the operation.
From this point, the film takes a U-turn as Sreedevi dies in the hospital and Seira and Pooja escapes from the whole scene. The principal and the authorities come to know about it and they call up both Seira and Pooja to discuss the issue in front of Sreedevi's father and the investigating police officer. Seira accepts the whole fact cos she regrets the fact that she has forced sreedevi to do it without telling her parents. She gets scolding from virtually everyone and now its time for Pooja to speak up. She bloughs that she is unaware of the incident and is able to convince the authorities that she is innocent.
Seira will be dismissed from the school and she is understandably furious over her "innocent" friend. Will Pooja have regrets? Will they unite again? Will Suraj come to know about this? All these are revealed in a 10 mins climax where the film moves in breathtaking pace. One of the main reasons of the movie's success is its background score and some commendable camera placing. It has a slick look and Ooty is seen as a heaven. Music by Mejo Joseph is adequate as there are only 4 songs. Roma as Seira, the best of the three, is a delight to watch. But it's the director who has the last laugh as he is able to transform himself from the star studded cult classic Udayanu Tharam to Notebook with ease. 3 crores extravaganza is seen all through out the film.
On the downside, the hero is a pastry and he has a long way to go in acting. First half is uneventful though passable with Seira enjoying the possession. On the whole, Notebook is indeed a brave attempt and it takes more braveness to bring it to the theatres along with the biggies like BabaKalyani and Palunku. At the end of the day, people will find this as a sensible yet controversial film.
Too good to turn down !
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