Ritu – Movie review
Movie name: Ritu (Seasons)
Director: Shyamaprasad
Story & script: Joshua Newton
Music: Rahul Raj
It has been some time since I have watched a movie in theaters. Watching a movie in theaters has its own advantages and disadvantages. If the crowd around or with you is annoying enough, you lose the mood to enjoy the experience that only a cinema hall can provide. So, I usually skip most of the movies until it comes on CD. But Shyamaprasad is a favorite director of mine. There are only a few films which I go to watch by the director’s name and Shyam is one of them. I have been religiously following his films ever since his Door Darshan tele-serial days. So I decided to go to watch his latest film, Ritu, and I didn’t even call my friends to come along to avoid any kind of distraction and immerse myself fully into the movie.
Ritu tells the story of three friends and what the time has done to their relationships. The backdrop is of IT sector. Ritu is Shyam’s first work with an original story and screenplay (by Joshua Newton) and it is a youth oriented movie. So obviously the expectations were sky high. But when the movie ended, I was left with no emotion except the deep disappointment that I had. Regardless of the talented new faces, Ritu fails to strike an emotional chord.
Look at the scene where Sarath (Nishant) sees his father’s death in the hospital. There is a good scope of making you feel the intensity of the scene or the stillness of that moment. But you look at it with the same blank mind that you had from the beginning of the movie. You would want to force yourself to feel something about the scene, but with no luck. See the whole composition of the scene, the ridiculously looking doctor (who gives a good laugh to the audience by his ‘acting style’ right from his first appearance), and I couldn’t really believe that I was watching a Shyamaprasad movie.
Flashbacks seem to be a favorite technique in Shyamaprasad’s movies. It has worked very well in his movies and telefilms too. Take “Peruvazhiyile Kariyilakal” or “Akale” for example. But the flashbacks actually flashes at you in every single minute of this movie in the first half. Sarath drives – flash back, he keeps on driving – flash back, he halts – flash back, he looks sideways – flash back. Flash back, flash back… it flashes on your face repeatedly! I would say a good technique is to choose a few flashback scenes and fit it in appropriate parts, rather than flashing it all on our faces one after another.
Another thing is that Ritu focuses on multiple stories but not in a “Crash” or “21 Grams” or “Babel” way. Those movies, even though they tell stories of different lives, it all connects to one single thread beautifully. But Ritu wants to touch everything that the IT world (or shouldn’t I say competitive corporate world?) has made an impact on. The cleaner guy’s story is a good example. We get to know from his first appearance that he is a displaced citizen because of the internet city. We see his plight when we see the way his boss treats him. Or the scene in the elevator where he looks alienated among an executive crowd. Those were good enough, but wait! They had to make him talk about his plight by himself to make us “feel”. But what felt through the “scenes” were not felt by the “dialogues”.
The climax was the most disappointing. I thought the movie would end after the conversation of Sarath and Varsha in the car park. Sarath talks about people changing like seasons, and he doesn’t want to see Varsha or Sunny ever again. The movie could have ended there, but no, they want us to know what would happen to Sunny in the matter of data theft, and what would happen to him and Varsha after 3 years, and then again a copy of Sarath’s book to convince us that he indeed wrote a book. Such a pathetic climax compared to Shyam’s previous movie Ore Kadal. Compare the climax of this movie with the climax of Ore Kadal. There, Nathan and Deepthi hugs each other and Deepthi’s kids walk up the stairs. We are not told whether Nathan and Deepthi would live together or what would happen to Jayan. It was left to the audience. But look at the climax of Ritu. I would say just one thing – sometimes you don’t need to explain everything and better leave it to the audience so that they can take something back when they leave the movie hall.
The only saving grace of the movie is it’s actors – Rima Kallingal as Varsha is the most talented of them all. She handled her role perfectly well for a new comer. Nishant as Sarath Varma comes to second. Asif has also done a good job as Sunny. Manu Jose as Jithu was quite natural. He and director M G Sasi as Sarath’s brother Hari are two characters with some life. They were really wonderful even though they had short roles.
Music by Rahul Raj is good. My favorite pick from the album is the song “Pularumo“, sung by Gayathri. The male vocals seem to go out of pitch in the very beginning of the song; in the part where he sings “oru kanaleriyunnatho“. I don’t know how the music director did not notice it.
The background music was disappointing. It comes with some rock guitars at one time, which would make us think it is going to take the movie into another pace, but it ends within a couple of minutes. It pops up again when we do not expect it and then again ends as soon as it is heard. I think we have so much to learn from Hollywood on how to use background music to add value to the scenes.
Shyamaprasad is very good at adapted screenplays. I think he would do a good job with a Malayalam adaptation of One Night at Call Center with the actors of this movie. Nishant as Shyam, Asif as Vroom and Rima as Priyanka would have made a perfect fit (don’t you think some of the scenes like the car sex of Sarath-Varsha remind you of Shyam-Priyanka’s love making scene from the book ON@CC ?)!
To sum up, Ritu is a deeply disappointing movie. I admire the writing of Joshua Newton by reading his English blog from a long time, but I think he has so much to improve on script writing after this maiden attempt. I have heard one thing about script writing from a friend who is a movie buff, which he quoted from a book. If a movie’s striking point doesn’t come up in the first 20 or 30 minutes, it is not worthy of watching fully. I think it is so true about Ritu.
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August 23rd, 2009 at 1:33 am
the only good thing in this movie is the music by rahulraj. we went to the theatre with some expectations and came back disappointed..
August 23rd, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Good review Jo. But nice to see that some of the bloggers are writing films too!
August 24th, 2009 at 12:08 am
very disappointed after eading this review…cos I was waiting eagerly for this movie … Still I’ll give it a try considering my love for shyam;s work
August 24th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Jo Chetta,
A really good review. I have also been an admirer of Joshua Newtonji and that the screenplay didn’t click came as a surprise. Anyways he is a talented person and hence he will recover and make some good scripts.
August 25th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
A very harsh review, i would say.
I saw the movie and fail to be in accord with the reviewer.
Watch the movie folks !!!
September 4th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
I disagree. Reema Kallingal was never convincing. Nishant was controlled. Asif quite good. Rithu was enjoyable.
Change Jo………..As the seasons do.
September 5th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Praveen:
Change Jo………..As the seasons do.
That itself is proof that you did not get the message of the movie (if there was any).
September 7th, 2009 at 9:20 am
Dudezzz,
I read your review first and then went for the movie, so I hadn’t expected much.
Now I realize one thing Malayalm cinema is short of one thing- intelligent viewers(and reviewers
I hav not seen Shyamaprasad’s any movie, but this is one of the best movie I have ever seen.
Agreed there are some flaws but not as bad as you claim in the post
So sorry to say you didnt get what the directed tried to say. I can’t with your review
September 9th, 2009 at 7:03 pm
Very VERY Harsh review!!!!!
To me, this movie alone was the only worthwhile film I have seen this year!!!!!!!!
This movie to me had many plus points; the subtitle yet moving music, good acting, great screenplay, entirely new theme etc
Well I would give the film a rating of 4.5/5
September 14th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Stupid review – Do really know how to analyze a movie. Get well soon.
I understand that you were not able to comprehend what shyam conveyed.
September 16th, 2009 at 1:01 am
Jo,
Thanks for the review, I went with no expectations and I liked it very much. Probably because I could identify with the main protagonist. Its not as bad as you wrote, may be your expectations were too high.
Couple of things I wanted to convey. They made the cleaner guy to talk his feelings because they wanted to show how Sharat reacts to it. That’s why its there, I don’t think a guy like Shyamaprasad had put that scene just to make us “feel” about cleaner-guys feelings.
Then making love in the car is not a new thing. The earliest movie I can remember is Titanic. So just because the characters are related to IT industry and they are making love in the car, it doesn’t mean its a lift off from ON@CC.
I would say – its not the best of Shyamaprasad, but definitely a good movie and the script too is excellent. I am glad that Joshua is doing the script for Kerala Cafe too For Shyam.
September 16th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Hero Super
September 22nd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
Spot on!!! Great Review…Exactly what i felt when i got out of the theater..For those who liked this movie.I would say you ppl havent seen good moives.
September 23rd, 2009 at 11:07 am
Hi Jo,
I like the way you write- picking out little details that stood out from a film you recently watched.
However i am dismayed that all that good writing almost went to complete waste -considering you picked out a few negatives and beat them to death!.
My all time favorite reviewer is James Berardinelli. Check him out on IMDB.com. I sometimes write to him and stay in touch with him.For he has an amazing ability to call a spade a spade but without overdoing it. He writes reviews like it should be written. Very objectively.
Likewise, we all need benchmarks to compare. Like most people, you compared RITU with Ore Kadal. Fine. But you cannot expect the climax to be structured the same way for every theme. A writer and a director spends hundreds of hours pouring over pages of writing and coming to terms on how to ‘end it’. And ending a ’3rd act’; need not be the structured the same way for every theme.
Am a filmmaker too. And i can get real nasty with reviewers and filmmakers as well with my writing. But i choose not to- especially when the attempt is to create something not solely for the purpose of setting the box office register ringing. And, on the other hand, nor do we want just middle cinema.We want good commercial cinema too.
But here is a man like Shyam attempting to create some NEW every time he makes a film. And you dont have many of his calibre in malayalam these days. With a limited budget and theme laden with messages, it takes courage to break new barriers and make such films for a small, non cosmopolitan market such as Kerala. This man has done it. And it is being talked about here in Andhra film circles too.And am a mallu born and raised in Hyderabad. We want to encourage remaking of malayalam films like we used to couple of decades ago. However, we seem to be churning out so much crap in malayalam that it is a huge relief to see films such as RITU come out.
So my request is: as responsible bloggers/reviewers who are genuine lovers of good cinema as you are, do not allow the small flaws to compel you to completely disfigure a film. RITU scores a decent 7.5 on its own.
September 26th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Thawk: Thanks for your comment. I admit that I was a bit harsh in this review, but I am a big fan of Shyam’s films and Joshua’s blog posts, and I did not want to see any such faults in both of their works in the future, so I put it that way.
Personally, I felt that would be the best thing to do as a person who admire both their works than doing any sweet talk.
October 30th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
poda pulle…..nchan kandittillengilum….kidilam padamada…..
ini oraksharam nee ritu ine patti mindiyal….
nchan mikndathirikyum,.,….
gd bye…
gd nit…
and get lost….
November 14th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
i cant agree with wat u wrote here…..rithu is a very gud movie…i wont say perfect…but a gud one….onnum offer cheyyaan illathe varunna super tharangalude padangal kandu madutha oru prekshakan enna nilakku enikku ee movie orupaadu isthapettu… haunting melodies….gud performances by a bunch of new comers..casting was perfect…all in all a gud watch….
December 10th, 2009 at 1:24 am
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December 13th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Very good review…I too had some expectations..Totally lost after watching this…BGM is the most disappointing thing..Esp those death scenes…really sucks!! Rima and Nishant just above average. Asif is looking goodn acting too is somewhat OK. Scenes which boasts they are making a BIG SOFTWARE and close up they are showing some html tags all time..might be just starting of software
hee hee.
December 25th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
superb film…shyamprasad rockzz again..wid such an awesome one…
December 27th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Hello .. I watched this movie on Kairali on Christmas day and I think it is absolutely fantastic .. Very very realistic and I could relate myself a lot to the movie.. esp. being in the IT sector and growing up in Bangalore and watching painfully the way my good friends changed while we all grew up…. however I agree tht most ppl would find it difficult to connect to theis movie as it portrays a very different environment/culture in which they live .. one can appreciate movies like this only if he/she has had experiences and a lifestyle like this which is very rare in a conservative society like Kerala … Pls tell me what you think. Thanks .
…
Amal Antony
January 12th, 2010 at 11:20 am
Found it worth watching. All new comers have done well. I feel it was an attempt by Shyam eligible for a round of applause because it was relief to see a new theme with new faces than seeing stereotyped superstar movies. i wont say a classic but definitely a brave attempt to deviate.
We viewers or reviewers should consider the pain and effort behind it, also expect flaws, but definitely should appreciate sincere efforts so that they are encouraged to do better. That will be the best we can do for our cinema.
March 14th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Jo,
Good one,I just watched this last night.Tried doing that because of the director name tagged into it.
Your review on Ritu makes sense matey.
Well,I would say these are new comers(they did what they cud do..& this wasnt a film for masses) more to come out alle,let us give it a bit of time(thanks to SP for giving them an opportunity).
warmth
Vinu
May 24th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
hey dude…,
seems u dont njoy such gud films.. Its a classic frm shyamaPrasad n Joshua Newtonn…
Joshua had done a fantastic job here..The script is d most promising thing in d movie.Classic script….
And folks d movie is simply stunning. Loved it…