22 Female Kottayam (2012)

Don't Believe the Hype

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Was a nice one and a moral boost for the harangued females of kerala. I hope the women out there take a leaf out of the plot. But a question lingers at the back of my mind.... "Why did Tessa lovingly invite the 'pimp' Cyril to Canada, where she plans to start life afresh?" Don't tell me that she still loves him, after all the degrading atrocities he heaped on her! and if she does, then its again a carry over of the mallu female psyche... where she loves the man despite all the filth he flings on her.... yuck! Wish the director had stepped out of this narrow mindset and rather had her simply walk out of the room having performed the penisectomy, leaving him to struggle in pain till he's discovered by the room boy or somebody. Would have been a lesson for life for all men like him..... I'm reminded of a Hindi movie 'Ek hasina thee'... which spelt the doom for a similar pimp of a man at the hands of a woman he tortured likewise. A very good lesson for the man! Malayalis need to get out of the frame of 'cushioning' the male psyche, however wrong he be............

A quality drama with some bold substance shown flawlessly, that with no cooked up dialogs, no surrealism, no stupid subplots whatsoever. The plot doesn't boasts to be a novel one, the story of the deadlier sex in its throttling boldness have been told many a time. In fact, 22 Female Kottayam had bit of a resemblance with "ek haseena thi" big time. That said, emasculation of men in a subtly crude manner makes this drama a distant class, an aberration never seen in Malayalam Movies makes it top notch.Shades of misandry and feminism can be pointed to, but all well complemented by the innocence, love and passion we see in each characters. All of them honestly sketched and neatly written be it T.G Ravi, Sattar, Prathap Pothen or Fahad. The protagonist played by Rima Kallingal stands out, easily the best female character written in a long time - loved her in nidra too. Fahad is a charm with his looks and subtle emotions. There were reasons why i started hating the neomallu noirs, read new generation film making. But then, this movie changes my perspective. The screenplay could have been crispier, for not all would find this an enjoyable outing. The background score and cinematography fuses well.Lovable are the technicalities - was awed by the movie making style more than anything else - all so perfect which makes it an impeccable movie product. All credit to director Ashiq Abu & team who makes a raw film which shows the ugly side of our societal lives. 8/10

Just one word to say about the movie. Excellent.. Whole crew did an extra ordinary work and that reflects in the final output.The movie is about a young Malayali Nurse who is trying to go abroad. Her surroundings, the problems she face and all. A great movie with a female lead.The main positive I felt about the movie is that, each and every single character who came infront of us has their own identity and depth. Well written and superbly directed. Hats off to Abhilash Kumar and Shyam Pushkaran(Writers) and the real hero Aashiq Abu. He really deserves a great applause.PerformanceRima did a great job as the center character. Her acting has been improved a lot. Excellent.Fahad was superb with his natural way of acting. He really proved his talent and is showing us how much he grew up from his debut movie 'Kayyethum Dhoorathu'. Hats off man..T.G.Ravi was another surprise in the movie. Small, but a great character. The last scene of him was great and touching.Pradap Pothan & Sathar. A great come back by the veteran actors. Did a good job with their roles.Positives:*Direction *Script *Character Creation *Rima *Fahad *T.G.Ravi *etc……..Negatives:Didn't felt that much negatives or may be the movie didn't give me a chance to think of the negatives.

I saw 22 Female Kottayam yesterday from Changanachery Apsara Theatre....First of all, a thumbs up to the theatre management..After the success of Second Show and Masters, I think they gained some money such as they have been able to modify the seats and interior.....Now it has become a good theatre.Coming to the movie, it is a good movie worth watchable. I must appreciate the bold attempt by the team not to restrain dialogues or scenes involving sexual matters. The theme of the movie is good. A woman going for revenge against men who cheated her and abused her sexually. The way it is treated is also good. Good direction by Aashiq Abu. The visualisation of the story is superb. Eye catching visuals actually. I have not seen Salt and Pepper yet. But by this movie, I regard him as one of the future bests.The best thing about the movie, I think, is Fahad Fazil. He is absolutely amazing. Believe me, he is going to be one of the best actors in Malayalam movie industry. He has portrayed a complex character with such ease and fine precision. The transformation from a handsome chocolate boy to a heartless villain is simply amazing. The main thing to say here is that he has not overacted a little bit. He did what was required by the screenplay. That is a very difficult thing to do. This guy has got talentHaving said all these good things, I really do not appreciate the movie as some other people have reviewed it. I think it is a good movie, but not that very good. It lacks something somewhere. My main argument is that the movie lacks an inherent logic. It is like the team wanted to portray the power of women and some feminist thoughts all along the way, let it be in the expense of a good, solid storyline. I felt that especially during the climax scenes (when she wants Cyril to know what he has done wrong). That felt comical to me. No real depth in those scenes. Actually, who in the hell is going to forgive a person who surgically removed one's genital organs and who is still going to say that "Neeyanu pennu??" . (Although one can argue that Cyril was bluffing throughout the scene, but certainly not in this case ). It was all symbolic. A little too much feminism for the sake of feminism.And another thing I felt went wrong was Reema Kallingal. I know most people praised her for her acting. I am not saying that she was bad. Actually overall she was good. In the latter half, when she is a smart and bold and deadly woman, she is very good. But that is in her comfort zone. That is what Reema Kallingal can do. We have seen the confident-self of her in Happy Husbands and all. That is who she really is. But what about the first part of the movie where she is a pretty naive girl??? I don't think she has handled it well, especially in the scenes after she was raped and she gets emotionally disturbed. There was way too much theatrical, melodramatic overacting (especially in the scene when she cries all over Fahad). I did find it irritating actually. (When Anne Augustine did it in Ordinary, everyone booed. What is the difference here?). The main flaw of the movie lies in the transformation part. The focus was not at all on Reema Kallingal. Just because of a jail sentence (where she actually had not much difficulties or did not have to endure that much torture), will one become a ruthless cold minded person over two or three months?? In Kill Bill (one of the movies from which it is inspired as the director himself quotes), Uma Thurman was already an assassin and she just came back with a vengeance. Here, just over time, she transforms (without much shown in the script). I couldn't accept it.But another good thing here is the woman who portrayed the pregnant Subaida. She is an absolute class actress.And finally do not get me wrong here. I liked the movie. It is a very good movie. But the reason I spoke too much negatives about the movie is that no one did it before. Everyone was in appreciation of the movie. So someone has to flip the coin, right?It is a good movie, go and watch it, you won't be bored,My rating is 7/10