Ordinary (2012)

You won't be disappointed!

Instant Favorite.

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

This movie has evoked good interest and has had good response in Kerala. For short of the right word, Divya had expressed an 'If only we could see this movie' some time back.So when Jimmy(colleague) sent an email about the shows on Friday and Saturday, I had immediately responded enthusiastically to all in the mailing list.Also, I am currently suffering from a soccer ankle sprain that got worsened from the time I responded to the mail and the time I need to drive to the theatre.Tried to work out a ride from Brijesh and Binish that did not work out as Binish had some sports plans. So I limped to the car and drove to the highway. Once on the highway, set the car in cruise mode, first time for a purpose.I wanted to still rest my leg as much.So once at the theatre building, I did not want to limp and find the hall. So I drove around to choose a spot close to the hall.There were no lots - so I circled around and parked on handicapped reserved spot.While I was working out optimizations on parking , people were trickling in.Once in, the theatre organizer tells us that tickets were sold out.Then we are told that the first row is empty but it is right next to the screen.Decision was easy as I did not want to drive back again tomorrow nor did I want us to miss the chance having worked this far.So Brijesh,Binish,myself and Divya sat on the first row. Actually , we had an added advantage that we could stretch our legs and rest it on the stage.Helped rest my sprained leg well.----So, here we were , half an earth rotation away from home with a hall packed with people like us - in a hall listening to a lot of malayalam comments / laughters. The movie's first half was full of one liner quick jokes/ light romance and generally warm and friendly ambiance. The story was not going anywhere for quite some time - a string of comedy dialogs. That is all we want too. The whole theatre was laughing as the movie had worked it's humour well and the theatre was full of young families.The second half is when the new filmmaker tried to put in some story into the movie. That is a requisite - it seems. Can there be a time when movies are made without a need for a story and is still enjoyable.In this case, story is not what drove the film. The film was driven as indicated by the title by a setting. The setting of a KSRTC ordinary bus and associated people and humour around them. The story is what did not fit into the film.I think the right thing to do might have been to just build around the humour and just have the actors wave a friendly good bye to the audience at the end of the movie.Something like 'Ok guys - hope you enjoyed the movie. see you.. ' or something like that.The first half was amazing. It was a nice string of comedy sequences and has evoked the right response. Cinematography was not that great but there were some nice shots around the red and white nostalgic bus and it's saturated colors.Music is also not the high point of the movie save the catchy tune of 'Sun sun sundarathumbi..'. Biju Menon is the one who shone best in the movie followed closely by BabuRaj. Dialogue rendition by both have been excellent. As an audience, my feedback to young aspiring filmmakers is to focus on doing the things that they relate to and really enjoy and to not to try too hard to make a drastic impact by putting in some shockers.Keeping the light mood of the movie and conveying some simple theme beautifully through the setting should have been sufficient.The second half had some chase scenes which felt pretty natural and yes, you are not going to predict the climax. Overall , it is a good movie to watch , for me , primarily for the humor.

When you write a movie as a writer director, what is it that you need to impress a producer or a director in order for the film to roll?? To tell that there is a twist in the end and the treatment is similar all other hit movies in the recent past ?? Ordinary is a movie written with that in mind I would say. My way of reviewing is most importantly based on how a movie makes you feel after watching it. All technical and other aspects are dissected only later.In that perspective , I pretty much didn't enjoy the movie. You cannot make a movie only because you got a good locale to shoot it in can you?. The movie begins ambitiously and shows us a perspective into the much adored KSRTC, which we as a viewer haven't seen much in detail. Then till the end of the first half its a more or less, a happy ride with a few songs and scenes, standing out like sore thumbs. I must admit there were some scenes which really did make me laugh out loud in the first half. The second half is more or less a whodunit mystery. But the fact that , the script writer is intentionally giving you clues to keep us guessing is little over the top. The climax is a bummer as, the only character for whom the script writer didn't give any clues about, to the audience turns out to be our culprit. Acting wise, Biju Menon with his accent is an amazing find. I would say , he sincerely carried out that role , with his slang, even very effective during the real tense moments. Kunchako Boban is just a hero who as always is the most kindhearted and loving guy of all times with nothing special to mention. Baburaj , who is having a good time with lots of offers recently due to the Salt and Pepper gig, is wasted completely here in this mediocre and ineffective role. If he continues this same checklist in role selection , I don't see him going anywhere far in the coming years. Even though there have been exceptions, the ladies lot in the Malayalam film industry are there just to pray , cry or fall in love. This is repeated here. The locale is amazing. I believe , it should have been showcased better. The camera man has done his job pretty well Gavi is a literal find and hope in the coming years it is not ruined by the inflow of tourists. The use of a body mount Doggicam in the final fight scene, even though for a few scenes did give it a different look and feel. I would give it an extra star for that effort. Overall, I would say , Ordinary is just a very ordinary movie with nothing special in it to mention. With the quality of movies that we are seeing in Malayalam film industry lately , we cannot call this movie a winner. That being said, a Friday evening or a Sunday morning with family to watch a no brainer , family entertainer, I will recommend this.

i must say, this movie had great potential. the first half of the film was just too impressive. it had a great story, a good screenplay, good locations, and very rich humor. but in the second half, the story started to fall apart. i am guessing that the writer ran out of ideas to take the story forward, because the story during the later parts of the second half was just pathetic. some writers have a notion, that if they make the most unexpected man in the story the villain, it will be some huge thrilling suspense or something like that,, but in most cases, it doesn't work out. it definitely didn't work out for this film. as for the rest of the departments of the film,,,,, the acting by all actors except asif ali was really good. i am really sorry to disappoint asif ali fans, but i didn't like asif's acting at all. as for chakochan and biju menon,, they were just pure awesome in the first half. the cinematography was also really good, which captured the scenic beauty of the beautiful place called gavi. i would have given this film a solid 10 out of 10 if it wasn't for the disappointing second half and climax.

The movie has a lot of good jokes to laugh. The movie starts with Kunchako Boban entering his first day of job as bus conductor to a place called Gavi. The lives of Gavi people are described with laughs and lots of humorous moments. The movie revolves around love between Kunchakoo Boban and Shritha Sivadas and the an incident which caused Kunchacko Boban to be hated among Gavi people.The best dialogs being from Baburaj when the heroine says to foreigners I am Gavi Girl he say I AM GAVI BOY and then by Kunchako Boban telling "I AM THE ONLY SOUTH Indian BUS CONDUCTOR WHO CAN SPEAK English" which is direct mocking to another guy who is acting in movies. Biju Menon did a wonderful job in speaking a different dialect and Kunjako Boban for performing well.Asif ali provided an apt acting for the title.