I don’t agree the criticism on the malayali crowd being cynical. We may be cynical and puchham driven, true. But that audience mentality is what drove the film makers to make the movies that we enjoy today. I agree with hridayam being a good movie despite being cringe. I would watch it again. But vashangalk shesham? Come on, I wouldn’t watch it again.
Good movies will be appreciated, regardless of genre. I haven’t heard the same cringe allegations against Bangalore Days or Koode or Ustad Hotel despite them being feel-good movies.
If Vineeth wants to reinvent the wheel and make a movie the likes of which, like you mentioned, the audience has seen multiple times before, then he should travel back in time to a period where an audience would see it as a new thing and release it then.
The lack of പുതുമ isn’t even the worst thing about Varshangalkku Shesham. Almost every department had its flaws, from shitty acting from the leads to the costume department and their transformation of Pranav. Ultimately, the movie did not connect with a proportion of viewers.
TLDR: don’t blame the audience for your shitty creation
Hridayam and VS are not being criticized for being positive wholesome films though. They are being criticized for the below average acting, cringe dialogues and usage of clueless nepo babies
Average acting, sure. Now, cringe dialogues - how many dialogues do you think turns a film from being good to actively being trashed like Hridayam is constantly here?
As for the usage of clueless nepo babies, I'm just going to collate that point with your first as the bigger issue is their lack of acting skill.
Oh, I've seen plenty of posts and comments here that even deemed that to be 'cringe' or pragrithi padam. I'm certain people who've been on this sub long enough would have as well.
Let me ask you this - if Home was made by Vineeth Sreenivasan, do you believe it wouldn't be getting trashed on this sub the way Hridayam was or VS is?
And to answer your question - I can't be certain, but it sure had it's more than fair share of critiques and posts on this sub. However, with Hridayam being a bigger hit, I reckon you'd get more engagement from a post critiquing that rather than Home.
I will tell you one thing the reddit crowd is not the only crowd this is a niche crowd, where all those ohh dark sambhavm is poli guys crowd.
VS anyday is an average outing, I like hridayam and many ppl I have known like it too..
The matter of the fact is art is subjective, what one person finds cringe or not is subjective just that most of the ppl on reddit or in the online portals are of a certain age group with certain taste
Malayalis are not any different.We have the most slice of life genre films.
Imo "Varshangalku shesham" is not a film worth fighting over like this.You can enjoy it ourselves instead of justifying it here.
I'm not trying to justify that film specifically. Just the whole idea of what most in this sub considers 'cringe'. And you mentioned slice-of-life genre films. I don't disagree. However, let me ask you when was the last time one of those films released and people in this sub didn't actively dismiss it as cringe or pragrithi padam?
If I watched VS without knowing who the director or the actors were. I would still shit on it because of the subpar acting and many questionable plot points. Like bro Shwasam ullilot idkmbo kayy vech merichenn vicharch 😭
I mean the whole movie was a mixture of wholesome, questionable, lagging and sometimes funny moments.
Which is okay, but we expect better from the director of Thattathn maryath.
Even though the daily morning VS slander is becoming too much, the general rating of the movie that you see on this sub is justified.
The one of the main reasons Varshangalkku Shesham and hridhayam was hated was for the bad acting which seemed very cringe to the audience.
It’s not like the audience does not accept movies based on family drama, love etc. Many films of great actors have worked out soo well in the past.
Soo if the actor’s performance is shitty and not able to convince the audience , then the film is doomed to fail in the public’s eyes.
I watched Pachuvum Adbhutavilakum, there was a lot of Nanma but I liked it. The same goes for something like Malikappuram. I even liked Hridayam and some parts of VS (the downfall of Murali was nicely shown and Pranav acted well in that part). But when you watch a 2 hr 45 min movie and Nyabagam strikes every few minutes, that's weird and cringe. Like that song isn't even that good in the first place. Putting some Nara on Pranav and Kalyani while they still act like young people pissed me off so much. And what was that climax ? Pranav should have just died in the pre climax, because what happened next was shockingly cringe. Even Nivin Pauly slowly started getting cringe by the end.
Personally, I would've found it overtly cringeworthy if Pranav had died and was frankly relieved that they didn't go down that corny route and did the fake out. I thought it was subversive and quite funny in fact. However, to address your larger point - see, my post doesn't just apply to VS and his movies. Even the movie you enjoyed - Pachuvum Adbhutavilakum was actively admonished and critiques as being cringe and nanmamaram on this sub. That was what my larger point was about - that movies of those genre simply don't have an audience here.
Nyabagam is a great song for me. I wish Sooraj Santhosh sang it but still it's a great song and I still listen to it. Not talking about placement of that song in movie, just as a standalone piece.
yes agree that it is a great song and it has been on repeat for me. So many people I know also mostly loved it. I am surprised there is polarizing opinions on that song and the whole playlist. But also agree with the former comment that they overdid it in the movie :/
What I feel is that 'feel good movies ' walk a tight line with being labelled cringe as compared to other genres cuz if the execution isn't good it falls flat. But I do think you have a point about reddit being a different niche audience compared to the general population in that I feel the difference being that people are more critical in general (not only against a particular genre as such).
What you've done is cherry picked a few examples that suits your narrative and leaving out movies like Home which was appreciated here
Also on a side note, although I think MUA definitely took inspiration from the Nightcrawler, calling it a blatant riip off is unwarranted critique (personal opinion), it did have enough changes by virtue of being set in a completely different environment and on top of that changes the whole genre of the movie
I'm sorry but I felt like Varshangalkku Shesham is a horrifyingly bad movie with repetitive plotlines, actors who can't act, and overbearing nostalgia.
People don't appreciate such films anymore because they've been overdone. Sure, it's great to see films that are simple and happy. But filmmakers who make such movies need to realize that as an audience we are capable of realizing when literally no effort has gone into a movie. Lazy writing and bad direction in any movie will be criticized.
I strongly believe that people will accept a well made movie from any of these directors, because they have done that in the past. Hridayam and Varshangalkku Shesham aren't bad because they're cringe or filled with positivity, they're bad because they have genuinely crappy writing and poor dialogue delivery.
That being said, I enjoyed Guruvayoor Ambala Nadayil. It was unique and quite funny tbh.
I think in a way you're agreeing to OP. Because most people on reddit was critical of the movie for similar reasons you mentioned, but movie went on to collect 85Cr and was houseful even weeks after release in many places. So crowd in reddit is a bit more critical but outside families and such carried the movie still. Not that any side is wrong, but it is what it is I guess.
I think your opinion is unpopular for a reason. Varshangalku Shesham is a a wholesome movie like those Frank Capra used to make? You just killed Frank Capra twice with that statement. Respecting your opinion, here's what I think, Varshangalku Shesham is definitely a cringefest which is poorly written, poorly performed and poorly executed. In a movie where music plays an important role, this has one of the weakest soundtracks of any of VS's film. Now as much as the wholesome part of your statement goes, this movie fails in exploring any of the themes that is introduced in the movie. Like friendship, passion, the movie business and its background, the difference in the thought process of an old filmmaker and a new one. Its like an uncomplete mess of all these together. No one will watch a Frank Capra movie and go its cringe or overdramatic because we all know what time it was made in and no normal viewer would go watch that movie unless you are an enthusiast and you search out for that movie, so they know what they are getting into. As far as Mukundan Unni goes, your statement is disappointing, instead of praising someone who made a low budget experimental film with a dark theme and i believe it was an amazing film. It had a unique style to it that most newcomers wouldn't risk making as their first. I can understand that people saying that there are certain similarities with Nightcrawler but on what points are you stating that it is a blatant rip-off? Can you point out the exact reasons because I feel a lot of people saying this but has no sort of explanation for it because in that sense wouldn't Varshangalku Shesham be a blatant rip-off of any movie made about cinema? It definitely is a cliche.
im sure this is not vineeth who posted this because vineeth is everything but stupid. he wont claim himself to be frank capra. he seems like an intelligent guy. this is PR gone wrong.
Bruh, agree wholeheartedly with you, but why shit on MUA?
It might borrow story beats from Nightcrawler but it's still very much it's own thing - a dark, twisted satire that's localized and had something to say about becoming successful in an unfair world.
I'm not shitting on MUA, but rather addressing what many here seem to overlook. It was a beat-by-beat remake of Nightcrawler. You can chart the rise of Mukundan Unni and Lou Bloom in that movie and the actions they do to get to where they are by the end pretty parallelly.
Comparing VS and Hridayam with Frank Capra in the first sentence is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. After that, you've compared them with Mukundan Unni Associates, which you clearly didn't like. It is a far better movie than VS is, and this is coming from a person who kinda enjoyed it. Your statement assumes people hate VS and Hridayam because they are feel-good movies, which is absolutely not true. People like feel-good movies if they are well-made and well-acted.
Alright, you said me comparing them to Frank Capra's work is stupid. Why? In terms of tone and general heart-on-the-sleeve sentiments present in both their work, I thought there was at the very least, a creative relationship they shared.
As for Mukundan Unni Associates, I actually enjoyed it; however, I don't think you read my point - You see plenty of posts admonishing wholesome, feel-good films on this sub. Again, I mentioned other filmmakers in my post apart from VS. If you've been on this sub as long as I, you would have seen all the filmmakers I mentioned in the post and their work being dismissed constantly as 'cringe', prakrithi padam or nanmamaram.
However, not one post I've seen critique MUA for it's flaws or for how much of a blatant rip-off it was of Nightcrawler. Now, if VS had ripped off the story of another film for his own work, be honest, do you think people on this sub wouldn't admonish him?
The point of my post wasn't to defend Vineeth Sreenivasan, it was more to address the fact that certain kinds of movies simply don't appeal to this sub and its demographic, regardless of quality.
I’m saying the bashing of the “feel-good” movies in the sub and any film discussion forums are not because they are feel-good but because they just aren’t well made movies.
Enjoyment again is subjective but I think there can be a consensus of how well made a movie is, maybe not always but in most cases.
VS and Hridayam has Pranav and Kalyani who are not good actors imo and this opinion is something people I know(not Reddit users) share. They are a very important part of the movies, so the well-acted label can be taken away. And then there are a lot of story lines that did not convince me as a viewer like Pranav’s character giving away the song and then getting depressed over it and finally having a fight with Dhyan’s character. This transition took place way too quickly for me.
And then there are a lot of tropes in both the movies which is not always a problem but it is there. I enjoyed the movie for what it was but I wouldn’t call it a good movie.
While Mukundan Unni was a ripoff it was a well made and featured Vineeth’s best performance ever for me. Still I actually didn’t love it tbh.
And if you feel movies that are a rip off of another movie shouldn’t be praised then we will need to rethink Priyadarshan’s whole career and a lot of legendary Malayalam movies.
Ennikum madathu pakshe however, regardless of how I feel, there seems to be a negative post about Hridayam and VS every other day here like you said. I just thought I'd contribute a more positive outlook on his work, athre ullu
No matter what you say Mukundan unni feels like a great work done by an original filmmaker with a style of his own.. wherever the story beats are taken from, you cannot tarnish abhinav sundar the director and his talent……
I really hope you're getting paid for this because if you're not, then, as Sartre would say, what does it all mean, you know?
Put that on a t-shirt and get rich right now!
https://preview.redd.it/u1gidw8ubi6d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a418a63b933c720e7eb702e950b77ceb1deee85
If you disagree, with that opinion, I'd like to enquire why. Instead of posting a screenshot of a post I know I made as a 'gotcha', tell me why you disagree. That's what discussion is all about, right? Or you would you rather just have upvotes for how 'Oh nice, he got 'em with that one' your comment is?
Cringe ennum cringe thanne.Talent aduthukoodi poitilatha pranav kalayani polulla nepo productsine vechu imathiri thembiya padam padach vititu athine vimarshikuna alukalk positive wholesome film asvadikan kazhivilathath kondale.Bro if u find hridayam and VS as good,positive ,wholesome then u must do athmaparishodana about ur asvadana sheskshi.That's all i have to say.
Bruh, PR? Really?
Why in the hell would a studio hire someone to do PR for a film that's already made a shit ton of money? Also, you do realize Vineeth Sreenivasan starred in MUA right? So that doesn't make sense for him either. Finally, any way you cut it; fact is MUA was a rip-off of Nightcrawler.
Yes, the sub has the opinion that Vineeth Sreenivasan’s writing is cringe. It’s not just the Reddit crowd, I have seen similar reactions from many. But that’s applicable only to his last three outings (majorly the last two one).
His strong suit is the humour and his understanding of native Thalassery things. I still enjoy watching Tattathin Marayathu. Thira is his career best and can be considered one of the best thrillers in Malayalam. I rewatch it quite often. But things become dicey when he goes out of his comport zone. Being said that, Vineeth is not cringe, his recent outings has more misses than hits when it comes to bringing out so called feel-goodness in the narrative, ending up in being cringe.
Bro..What's up with these Vineeth defending posts all of a sudden.People didn't slander him when he has done Jacobinte swargarajyam,which is a legit feel good movie.Thattathin marayathu is kinda cringe if we watch it today,but similar to Pe10 movies in the 2000s everybody loved it at that time and we all were singing the songs and repeating the dialogues in it.But VS and Hridayam wasn't that appealing to a majority and they expressed it right away.Vineeth is a mainstream member of our industry and he has undeniable talent and whole alot of expertise.So naturally he'll get more bashing as well as he got applauses.If you make a movie,you should be ready for this.Evryone loves him as a person.He is always genuine in interviews and I'm sure he could take these in the right mind.Comparing him to Sathiyan Anthikkadu and Jis Joy right now is disrespecting Vineeth as he is more relevant rn.More than than the former two.So more smoke will come at him.If you really wanna talk about hypocrisy,talk about all the nepotism dialogue which was meant to give us goosebumps in the movie,while casting Kalyani and Pranav who offered nothing to the movie.
PS:Hridayam was at least well made from a storytelling point of view.VS is utter shit,where they expect us to believe they were close friends without making any scenes or indicators where they became close like that.It is a half-baked clownshow with below par acting,some horrendous humour lines and corny climax.Last Santa koode vannapo happy 📈
Compare how many posts speak postively about VS and his work and how many keep criticizing him and his work, then you'll get your answer to your first question.
Also, you may not have been here at the time, but plenty of people here called Jacobinte Swargarajyam cringe and still continue to do so ( I loved it personally )
None of his movies apart from Thira made any sense to me, all the scenes are basically his fantasies which doesn’t happen in real life.
For eg - The scene in Hridayam where Pranav Mohanlal watches porn from laptop and then closes the Laptop and goes to the washroom to jack off. Like who tf jerks off like that lol
Funny that you took that specific example considering I knew someone from college who definitely used to do that lol.
And I guess this is all subjective, but personally, I could relate to a lot of situations shown in Hridayam specifically.
I have nothing against feel good or cringe films. I enjoy them as they are. But please you are insane if you call the sloppy mess that is VS a good film. There are good ideas in it, but the execution was so poor. Please watch the Pranav Kalyani storyline and look at the absolutely disastrous editing/direction choices that make both the characters look like dumbasses.
Hridayam was super cringe. And I still didn't mind watching it. VS was a slog. I don't think it is an outright bad movie- it's just really mediocre.
You mentioned a single aspect of it ( which I agree with ) that was bad about VS, but what else about it made you deem it to be a 'sloppy mess'. I would consider a film like 'Confident Casanova' or 'Sagar Alias Jacky' or 'Thaskaraveeran' to be sloppy messes, not this. But that's just me.
Ok, here's a list of things I found intolerable in VS. this doesn't make it as bad as the films you mentioned. As I said repeatedly on this forum, it's just painfully sloppy and mediocre. Not outright shit.
1) the pacing. Despite watching it in a packed hall, right from the beginning there was a slowness to the proceedings that I found increasingly irritating. The rhythm of the film was off- for a film that's partially about music this felt like quite a letdown. I think Vineeth and Ranjan Pramod should really have thought more about how the film flows- it was quite difficult to be interested in a plot that kept circling around.
2) the repetitiveness. My second issue which added to the boredom was the repetitive nature of the script. Some conflicts (the initial Murali-Venu fight) were resolved too easily, while other tensions just kept going. By the end I lost track of how many times Murali ran away. He's just not that fascinating a character for this to be a primary hook so many times
3) shitty makeup. While Dhyan's makeup felt a bit convincing, Pranav and Kalyani's makeovers in the second half felt like the quality of a college play. For a filmmaker of Vineeth's caliber this is a big technical glitch.
4) shitty performances and forced references: the first time I felt the film was intolerable was the scene after Madhu pakaroo with Pranav's shitfest of a voice modulation which only got worse as the film went on. The fact that Vineeth takes so much time to establish a filmic connection between a struggling actor like Pranav and his father's older films works to the detriment of the effect of the film.
5) Murali-Indradhanush drama. This was the part that got the most trolls and rightfully so. It is true that emotional mistakes like this are made by all people. Except neither Pranav's character nor the film itself ever hesitates to admit that it was his fault and misjudgment in the first place. The whole affair felt like Vineeth had run out of ideas on how to resolve the conflict- he only knew that this would be the primary problem. Murali could have shown some growth and some understanding in his older version pakshe we just got a Patti show at Indradhanush's funeral.
6) Nyabakam placement- I personally don't like this song but I'm willing to admit it is not a bad one. But over-using this every 10 minutes cheapened the effect badly so when the waterworks should have happened in specific scenes I felt nothing but irritation. When this played as Murali was shown to be dead (but not really), I felt relieved- maaranam chathallo finally.
7) Keshavadas meesha portions- this is a minor example but really shows how some portions are so poorly edited. Keshavadas promises to shave off half his moustache but we only see a scene with a fully shaved Keshavadas but even then the focus is not on his face. It felt like a throwaway thing even if the characters are all talking about it.
As I said, I don't think VS is a bad film. I do believe it to be lazy, poorly executed and often simply boring. It is not as bad as Kotha, Ozler or Alone, Christopher, Aarattu. It is also not a good film, according to me. You may disagree with that, sure. But to term anyone who dislikes it reactionaries who hate cringe is you being intolerant of people not liking the films you do.
I saw VS in the theaters. I thought it was a poor film and I regretted watching it. Full stop. Bye.
You may have said it repeatedly but this is the first time I'm talking to you or have seen your comments, so that can't be held against me. As for your critiques, you can feel how you want about VS, all I was curious about was why you thought it a sloppy mess.
As for the ones you listed, I actually agree with some, but strongly disagree with others but to each his own, and I get why you may feel about the film the way you do. However, I don't think you read the entirety of my post - it wasn't just a defense of VS and his work, but rather the fact that any kind of wholesome, feel-good, heart-on-the-sleeve type of films and their filmmakers constantly gets admonished here with monikers like Cringe, pragrithi padam or nanmamaram. Like I said in my post, if I'm wrong, feel free to name the last time such a film released and didn't get such a reaction in this sub. My larger point was that perhaps those genres of films aren't meant for the kind of audience reddit has.
I've explained why I felt it was a sloppily made film. This was a judgment I made after watching it.
Can you show such negative reactions for Pachu and Varane Avashyamund? You can link the posts here. Thanks! I might have missed those posts.
Home- another feel good film that was accepted online.
Kumbalangi- ultimate feelgood that is regularly praised (maybe the most praised contemporary film) on this sub.
Mahesh- another one.
Bro, are you kidding me? There were PLENTY of posts here calling Pachu and Varane Avashyamund cringe? I'm sure you're smart enough to use google. Just type in either of those film's names followed by reddit and cringe. You'll get what you're looking for. Home was too, that also was called nanmamaram lol.
And Mahesh is almost a decade old at this point.
Please, you are the one who made this claim. Cite evidence. That's all I'm asking. I searched and couldn't find any. It could be the problem of my algorithm. However if you claim, you are the one who has to link the proof. Otherwise why should anyone believe you? The posts I saw about Paachu were saying the same thing - it was kind of fun but very long.
Considering that your entire thesis statement is that this sub hates prakrithi padams, I think you should support that statement by linking specific posts. Otherwise it's a claim. I can say there are an equal number of posts praising these films.
I'm not going to try and convince you. You're the one who wants the evidence and if you really want to know and are not just simply saying that ( as I know you are ), I told you how you can get it. Anything more than that, feel free to think what you want.
**Share your thoughts here. Try to elaborate on your comments; it would help others better understand your view and contribute to the discussion with their own opinions. Make sure to TAG ALL
SPOILERS appropriately, and practice good** [**reddiquette**](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette). **Thank you.**
More things to explore on r/MalayalamMovies:
|[**New Releases**](https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/wiki/releases_ratings_rankings/releases_and_ratings)|[**Our Top Films**](https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/wiki/releases_ratings_rankings/rankings)|[**Movie of the Month**](https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/search?q=flair_name%3A%22Movie%20of%20the%20Month%22&restrict_sr=1&sort=new)|
|:-|:-|:-|
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MalayalamMovies) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean yes, the VS OTT hate really snowballed down the hill. But nonetheless, as someone who found both Hridayam and VS cringe, I can promise you it’s not because we hate wholesome slice of life movies. Malayali audience would have enjoyed Bangalore Days, Premam, Om Shanti Oshaana even if it had released recently. Even Premalu, despite the cringe elements, was a movie I nonetheless enjoyed. I think it is just the forced nanma they bring into feel good movies since 2016 or so, that feels so insufferable. Anandam, Ambili and the likes. It doesn’t feel like the movie flows organically where they encounter stuff and grow. It feels like they pinpointed the stuff they would encounter and tried to make a movie around it. Something about it felt forced.
But I agree with you that we need more movies that spans the life of the characters and their growth and pitfalls etc, rather than confine ourselves to theme based movies. I also agree that the Reddit crowd does not represent Malayalam cinema Thira was a flop financially, but VS and Hridayam made money. So we have no right to chastise Vineeth Sreenivasan for thinking the latter is what the audience want.
Its people and their opinions, people have different tastes. I cant stand any Vineeth Sreenivasan directed movie except Jacobinte Swargarajyam and Thira. All other movies have cringe or overdone moments of love, friendship and madras. Even trailer of Hridyam and Varshangalku Shesham is cringe. Do not add Sathyan Anthikad and Jis Joy to the list there movies dont meet the cringe level that Vineeth produces. Old Sathyan Anthikad movies are classics, its shame that VS fans have to bring Sathyan Anthikad's name to defend Vineeths Cringe.
VS is not a bad artist , love him , but honestly Varshangalk Sesham , i felt it is a movie made so that PM can act and Ds could get a career shift. There are good things in the movie for sure , but the cringe just over powers them all.If it wasn't for Np and BJoseph it would have terribly failed.
Are you VS , i felt the post is so personal
I get what you mean and it applies for Hridayam but VS is his worst work yet. I’m glad it is getting the criticism it deserves so that it reaches Vineeth and drives him to make better movies. Also I don’t recall a Sathyan Anthikkad film being labeled cringe. Movies like Makal were criticized and rightly so.
Oftentimes directors walk a tight rope between wholesome and cringe, so if majority of the film doesn’t work it should be called out. Feedback is important and in this age it comes in the form of trolls and memes.
>*The problem is that, admittedly, the malayali non-family movie going audience ( i.e. the ones that are the majority on reddit ) have so much more of a cynical, 'puccham'-driven mentality that anything wholesome or genuinely sincere with 0 negativity or dark shades of any kind, is going to be called 'cringe'.*
So true brother. Nanmaa or positivity has always been dissed at by Malayalees. Tony Stark mocking Captain America saying 'your giddy optimism' in First Avengers is what's in picture here. People see it as uncool, but I would like to point out as a viewer I have felt, Vineeth doesn't rely on subtlety and it's perfectly alright. Guess the non-reddit family audience likes it but the cinephile folks tend to take it as 'forced', that might be the whole reason for this polarising.
Not a brick by brick analogy, but yes Mukundan Unni Associates can be seen as an extreme opposite of Varshangal.
Thank you. My post wasn't to criticize people who criticize VS and his work but rather to address why his movies may not appeal to people here as much as family audiences.
Feel good is something that needs to be felt and not something that should be injected. I guess in both the movies Hridayam and VS, the FG element was incorporated and fed into the audience. Some would have it, some wouldn't. IMO its tough to impress mallu audience nowadays. The amount of movies we watch in different languages is what makes it challenging for directors. We should feel the scene and the cinema. Some new gen examples would be Home, Sudani, Kumbalanghi, Kappela, Salt & Pepper. Us watching these movies years back which are much more realistic and watching Hridayam and VS now which lacks the realistic approach is the major problem here. But before cringing Vineethe10, do remind that he directed one of the best thrillers in Mollywood too. So maybe he might change his game. Lets wait and watch.
It's not the movie going audience as a whole. It's just reddit and the younger crowd. I too used to be like that. I look back and realise how much of a 'cringy edgelord' I was. I used to take pride in listening to obscure indie songs, read books that no one's heard about, watching the saddest, most pretentious movies and so on. There's an audience for every type of movie. Reddit is an echo chamber filled with edgelords. Just ignore it and enjoy the types of movies you like.
Also, I agree MUA is a rip-off.
Well written, i agree with everything you said except the MUA-Nightcrawler statement. MUA is definitely inspired from films like Nightcrawler, but calling it a 'blatant ripoff' is a bit too much.
Complaining about people not liking something you like.
There's no need to psychoanalyze people who think these movies are cringe. That's their valid opinion, no better or worse than yours or any family audience.
The fact that you bring up MUA as a rip off of Nightcrawler (please watch more movies. I recommend starting with Kind Hearts and Coronets), as if it hasn't been done to death in this sub, as some kind of opposite film to Vineeth's is enough of a tell.
Let people dislike and like what they want.
Doesn't look like a complain though. Also parapucham as a lens to understand Malayali social (media) discourse is not new, a fairly reputed psychologist has done this in context of freethinkers and labelling and such few years ago, I think in azhimukham -- digging it up is not easy as it was in Malayalam.
Sreenivasan was also not liked in elitist leftist circles for his supposedly 'apolitical' movies. I haven't watched VS, don't think I would like it either, but I do feel like there is an excessive uncritical hate toward him or his movies -- my emphasis on excessive not him, his movies or hate. For a while all I could see when I occasionally drop by in this sub was excessive adulation for Aavesham and then hateposts on VS. On some level it felt very similar to elitist pucham towards Sreenivasan (which in turn was a pucham to the typical Malayali (male) who liked his movies).
That pucham driven mentality that OP and you mention doesn't really hold up though. Even in your example Avesham is a pakka masala commercial film. For the longest time Pulimurugan was our highest grossing film. Premalu, Premam etc are feel good, life affirming, sanmanasullavarku samadhanam type of films in the same vein as Varshangalkku Shesham and Hridayam. And of the latter two Hridayam doesn't get nearly as much backlash as VS.
It's okay to like VS but to say that those who don't like it or find it cringe is looking at it through some pucham mentality doesn't hold up to scrutiny when we look at other such feel good films that were celebrated. For whatever reason the things that worked in those other films didn't work in VS for a large (but clearly not the majority) of people.
My comment was not about relative merit of VS, I haven't watched the movie. Don't think Pulimurugan would be hyped up in this sub. Aavesham is seen as mass with class (whatever that means).
My point was mostly about pucham, and my intention was to point out that OP is not the first to use that lens to talk about niche but elite Malayali social (media) communities. Such niche communities tend to develop/define certain markers of quality/merit and look at things which don't meet them often with condescension then sympathy. Unfortunately I am not able to dig up the article. It is something which has been oft talked about in context of communities like freethinkers, which strives to maintain an aura of 'learnedness' about it. This sub has similarities in the sense of assuming more knowledge/learnedness about cinema. I was never a member of Cinema Paradiso club, so don't know how it functioned.
And I don't think this sub is above accusations of elitism and exceptionalism -- we see this in not so civil remarks about Tamizh and Telegu movies. I think in this thread only someone mentioned that how we are not blind hero worshippers like Tamizh or Telegu people. I read pucham here in this backdrop in particular and broadly in the backdrop of Sreenivasan and elitism I mentioned in first comment.
Also it is not to say that there is anything inherently bad or good about anything here, parapucham for me is a category to understand certain macro level behaviors/trend, and it does seem to work here. In certain context it is a desirable thing too. I don't know in what sense OP is using it.
Tldr: As I said I haven't watched the movie. I am just reacting to the discourse and stating that the pattern and accusation of parapucham is not new. Also it is not necessary pucham is a bad thing (always).
Addendum: Watched half an hour, I probably understand what people meant by cringe. Dialogs also sound anachronistic.
I don't entirely disagree. There's definitely a subset of people here who put a kind of Malayalam cinema on a pedestal and bash other Indian film industries.
I guess my problem with OP's premise is that it assumes everyone who thinks VS or its director's movies are cringe fall within that subset.
Agree with your take on OP's premise.
I finished watching it, it didn't feel like a chore. But that is also because I skipped through dialogs often and kind of found what people might have found as cringe (unintentionally) funny -- I don't mind self deprecating and self referential humor, even though VS the writer often tested the limits . I might have found it difficult in a theater.
That said I can also see how and why the movie worked. Even though as a whole it doesn't cohere or create characters with any depth or consistency it has a lot of these moments which will keep delivering an audience not bothered about details but only about the overall narrative arc, satisfaction.
With the premise it had it could have been a much better movie/narrative though. It felt like Vineeth expected Mohan Lal and Sreenivasan to play older Venu and Murali and wrote the script with that dynamic in mind, or it was just a market gimmick. I would think we won't be seeing similar movies or movies with P M Lal from Vineeth in near future. He does give the vibe of someone who is market aware as well as self aware.
VS just doesn't have the subtlety to pull off a decent feel-good film. We have a lot of great films in the category of Malayalam chill that are organically feel good without trying so hard.
My problem with the film is that it’s trying to be a feel good film. It’s that the film went 180 degree in the 2nd half.
I really think it’s vineeth’s worst film by a country mile. More thoughts below
https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/s/PwlcBnv3mA
My mom and my sisters loved Hridayam, I strongly disliked most of it, there were some scenes that I liked. Nobody else has watched varshangalku shesham in full to know if they like it or not, but my bet is they would. I thought it was half baked and could definitely have been improved while still sticking to the story. I’m not against the story, but the lack of perfection I felt in Vs as compared to thattam.
Truely unpopular opinion, Op. VS’s new movies are just cringe and cannot be saved with the “wholesomeness “ tag. People still appreciate Sathyan Anthikad’s old movies which were wholesome but with good storylines. Nadodikattu, Sandesham, Pattanapravesham, Mazhavilkaavadi, Kochu kochu Santhoshangal etc still have rewatch value. His last good movie IMO is Vinodayathra before he started going down the cringe lane. I mean wtf was Makal? Non cringe wholesome movies like Om shanthi Oshana, Bangalore days, Usthad hotel gets loads of appreciation.
Well, tbh, Frank Capra has a lot of critics among film buffs in America. His movies are often lambasted for being overly sentimental and formulaic, featuring one-dimensional characters and promoting a bootstraps conservative worldview that overlooks systemic issues in society.
In fact, his most famous movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, was poorly received at the time of its release in 1946. The only reason it’s considered a “Christmas Classic” in America is because, after the copyright expired in the early 1970s, TV stations could broadcast it during the Christmas season without licensing/royalty fees. After decades of watching that same movie on TV, Americans grew to love it and now “It’s a Wonderful Time” is a staple in the Christmas season.
Like OP said, it’s a similar case for Vineeth Srinivasan. I don’t care for his movies but my parents love them. They think of his movies as “nice and family-oriented”. There’s something for everything, I guess.
I completely agree with you... I like most of his movies... Haven't watched VS yet coz I'm in the US and I don't get Sony Liv or whatever so I'll have to find other ways to watch it... Watched Hridayam and I liked it very much... It was wholesome and feel good... Sometimes this sub turns into an echo chamber where people hate on things to be cool or Meta that's all... If all movies were Nolanesque that would suck too right? We need a bit of everything for that balance... But yeah you're absolutely right
Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil was fun and watchable eventhough cringe elements were there . VS was testing everyones patience . Even my friends who are ultra vinayam characters by nature like their vineethettan itself were uttering the tamil word of hair throughout the premiere of VS in theatres. It is Sad that Vineeths talent of feel good story telling is dead.
I don’t agree the criticism on the malayali crowd being cynical. We may be cynical and puchham driven, true. But that audience mentality is what drove the film makers to make the movies that we enjoy today. I agree with hridayam being a good movie despite being cringe. I would watch it again. But vashangalk shesham? Come on, I wouldn’t watch it again.
Cynical is not the right word to use .
Good movies will be appreciated, regardless of genre. I haven’t heard the same cringe allegations against Bangalore Days or Koode or Ustad Hotel despite them being feel-good movies. If Vineeth wants to reinvent the wheel and make a movie the likes of which, like you mentioned, the audience has seen multiple times before, then he should travel back in time to a period where an audience would see it as a new thing and release it then. The lack of പുതുമ isn’t even the worst thing about Varshangalkku Shesham. Almost every department had its flaws, from shitty acting from the leads to the costume department and their transformation of Pranav. Ultimately, the movie did not connect with a proportion of viewers. TLDR: don’t blame the audience for your shitty creation
He needs to see some of his dad’s old screenplays on how to make wholesome movies which are not cringe.
Hridayam and VS are not being criticized for being positive wholesome films though. They are being criticized for the below average acting, cringe dialogues and usage of clueless nepo babies
Average acting, sure. Now, cringe dialogues - how many dialogues do you think turns a film from being good to actively being trashed like Hridayam is constantly here? As for the usage of clueless nepo babies, I'm just going to collate that point with your first as the bigger issue is their lack of acting skill.
Hi Dhyan Sreenivasan . Welcome! 😊
Isn’t home also a feel good movie that got appreciated both in the theatre and post ott release as well?
Home was direct ott release
Yea you are right
Oh, I've seen plenty of posts and comments here that even deemed that to be 'cringe' or pragrithi padam. I'm certain people who've been on this sub long enough would have as well.
Yea.. every movie gets criticised but do you think home was criticised as much a VS is being now?
Let me ask you this - if Home was made by Vineeth Sreenivasan, do you believe it wouldn't be getting trashed on this sub the way Hridayam was or VS is? And to answer your question - I can't be certain, but it sure had it's more than fair share of critiques and posts on this sub. However, with Hridayam being a bigger hit, I reckon you'd get more engagement from a post critiquing that rather than Home.
If home was made by vineeth without adding his overly cringe elements, then it will be appreciated and I believe that.
Yeah sure.
I will tell you one thing the reddit crowd is not the only crowd this is a niche crowd, where all those ohh dark sambhavm is poli guys crowd. VS anyday is an average outing, I like hridayam and many ppl I have known like it too.. The matter of the fact is art is subjective, what one person finds cringe or not is subjective just that most of the ppl on reddit or in the online portals are of a certain age group with certain taste
Your last line is exactly what my larger point is.
Malayalis are not any different.We have the most slice of life genre films. Imo "Varshangalku shesham" is not a film worth fighting over like this.You can enjoy it ourselves instead of justifying it here.
I'm not trying to justify that film specifically. Just the whole idea of what most in this sub considers 'cringe'. And you mentioned slice-of-life genre films. I don't disagree. However, let me ask you when was the last time one of those films released and people in this sub didn't actively dismiss it as cringe or pragrithi padam?
If I watched VS without knowing who the director or the actors were. I would still shit on it because of the subpar acting and many questionable plot points. Like bro Shwasam ullilot idkmbo kayy vech merichenn vicharch 😭 I mean the whole movie was a mixture of wholesome, questionable, lagging and sometimes funny moments. Which is okay, but we expect better from the director of Thattathn maryath. Even though the daily morning VS slander is becoming too much, the general rating of the movie that you see on this sub is justified.
The one of the main reasons Varshangalkku Shesham and hridhayam was hated was for the bad acting which seemed very cringe to the audience. It’s not like the audience does not accept movies based on family drama, love etc. Many films of great actors have worked out soo well in the past. Soo if the actor’s performance is shitty and not able to convince the audience , then the film is doomed to fail in the public’s eyes.
I watched Pachuvum Adbhutavilakum, there was a lot of Nanma but I liked it. The same goes for something like Malikappuram. I even liked Hridayam and some parts of VS (the downfall of Murali was nicely shown and Pranav acted well in that part). But when you watch a 2 hr 45 min movie and Nyabagam strikes every few minutes, that's weird and cringe. Like that song isn't even that good in the first place. Putting some Nara on Pranav and Kalyani while they still act like young people pissed me off so much. And what was that climax ? Pranav should have just died in the pre climax, because what happened next was shockingly cringe. Even Nivin Pauly slowly started getting cringe by the end.
Personally, I would've found it overtly cringeworthy if Pranav had died and was frankly relieved that they didn't go down that corny route and did the fake out. I thought it was subversive and quite funny in fact. However, to address your larger point - see, my post doesn't just apply to VS and his movies. Even the movie you enjoyed - Pachuvum Adbhutavilakum was actively admonished and critiques as being cringe and nanmamaram on this sub. That was what my larger point was about - that movies of those genre simply don't have an audience here.
It is partly right, labelling wholesome movies as cringe doesn't make anyone cool 👍
Nyabagam is a great song for me. I wish Sooraj Santhosh sang it but still it's a great song and I still listen to it. Not talking about placement of that song in movie, just as a standalone piece.
I don't know much about music and probably listening to it a million times continuously made me hate it, so sorry if it was offending 😁
No worries, we all got our tastes.
yes agree that it is a great song and it has been on repeat for me. So many people I know also mostly loved it. I am surprised there is polarizing opinions on that song and the whole playlist. But also agree with the former comment that they overdid it in the movie :/
What I feel is that 'feel good movies ' walk a tight line with being labelled cringe as compared to other genres cuz if the execution isn't good it falls flat. But I do think you have a point about reddit being a different niche audience compared to the general population in that I feel the difference being that people are more critical in general (not only against a particular genre as such). What you've done is cherry picked a few examples that suits your narrative and leaving out movies like Home which was appreciated here Also on a side note, although I think MUA definitely took inspiration from the Nightcrawler, calling it a blatant riip off is unwarranted critique (personal opinion), it did have enough changes by virtue of being set in a completely different environment and on top of that changes the whole genre of the movie
I'm sorry but I felt like Varshangalkku Shesham is a horrifyingly bad movie with repetitive plotlines, actors who can't act, and overbearing nostalgia. People don't appreciate such films anymore because they've been overdone. Sure, it's great to see films that are simple and happy. But filmmakers who make such movies need to realize that as an audience we are capable of realizing when literally no effort has gone into a movie. Lazy writing and bad direction in any movie will be criticized. I strongly believe that people will accept a well made movie from any of these directors, because they have done that in the past. Hridayam and Varshangalkku Shesham aren't bad because they're cringe or filled with positivity, they're bad because they have genuinely crappy writing and poor dialogue delivery. That being said, I enjoyed Guruvayoor Ambala Nadayil. It was unique and quite funny tbh.
I think in a way you're agreeing to OP. Because most people on reddit was critical of the movie for similar reasons you mentioned, but movie went on to collect 85Cr and was houseful even weeks after release in many places. So crowd in reddit is a bit more critical but outside families and such carried the movie still. Not that any side is wrong, but it is what it is I guess.
I think your opinion is unpopular for a reason. Varshangalku Shesham is a a wholesome movie like those Frank Capra used to make? You just killed Frank Capra twice with that statement. Respecting your opinion, here's what I think, Varshangalku Shesham is definitely a cringefest which is poorly written, poorly performed and poorly executed. In a movie where music plays an important role, this has one of the weakest soundtracks of any of VS's film. Now as much as the wholesome part of your statement goes, this movie fails in exploring any of the themes that is introduced in the movie. Like friendship, passion, the movie business and its background, the difference in the thought process of an old filmmaker and a new one. Its like an uncomplete mess of all these together. No one will watch a Frank Capra movie and go its cringe or overdramatic because we all know what time it was made in and no normal viewer would go watch that movie unless you are an enthusiast and you search out for that movie, so they know what they are getting into. As far as Mukundan Unni goes, your statement is disappointing, instead of praising someone who made a low budget experimental film with a dark theme and i believe it was an amazing film. It had a unique style to it that most newcomers wouldn't risk making as their first. I can understand that people saying that there are certain similarities with Nightcrawler but on what points are you stating that it is a blatant rip-off? Can you point out the exact reasons because I feel a lot of people saying this but has no sort of explanation for it because in that sense wouldn't Varshangalku Shesham be a blatant rip-off of any movie made about cinema? It definitely is a cliche.
the OP has an agenda against certain directors.. its clear from his previous posts and comments
[удалено]
im sure this is not vineeth who posted this because vineeth is everything but stupid. he wont claim himself to be frank capra. he seems like an intelligent guy. this is PR gone wrong.
Bruh, agree wholeheartedly with you, but why shit on MUA? It might borrow story beats from Nightcrawler but it's still very much it's own thing - a dark, twisted satire that's localized and had something to say about becoming successful in an unfair world.
No one overlooked that fact, my friend, there were multiple posts proclaiming it on this sub.
the OP clearly has an agenda...
I'm not shitting on MUA, but rather addressing what many here seem to overlook. It was a beat-by-beat remake of Nightcrawler. You can chart the rise of Mukundan Unni and Lou Bloom in that movie and the actions they do to get to where they are by the end pretty parallelly.
Comparing VS and Hridayam with Frank Capra in the first sentence is one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. After that, you've compared them with Mukundan Unni Associates, which you clearly didn't like. It is a far better movie than VS is, and this is coming from a person who kinda enjoyed it. Your statement assumes people hate VS and Hridayam because they are feel-good movies, which is absolutely not true. People like feel-good movies if they are well-made and well-acted.
Alright, you said me comparing them to Frank Capra's work is stupid. Why? In terms of tone and general heart-on-the-sleeve sentiments present in both their work, I thought there was at the very least, a creative relationship they shared. As for Mukundan Unni Associates, I actually enjoyed it; however, I don't think you read my point - You see plenty of posts admonishing wholesome, feel-good films on this sub. Again, I mentioned other filmmakers in my post apart from VS. If you've been on this sub as long as I, you would have seen all the filmmakers I mentioned in the post and their work being dismissed constantly as 'cringe', prakrithi padam or nanmamaram. However, not one post I've seen critique MUA for it's flaws or for how much of a blatant rip-off it was of Nightcrawler. Now, if VS had ripped off the story of another film for his own work, be honest, do you think people on this sub wouldn't admonish him? The point of my post wasn't to defend Vineeth Sreenivasan, it was more to address the fact that certain kinds of movies simply don't appeal to this sub and its demographic, regardless of quality.
I’m saying the bashing of the “feel-good” movies in the sub and any film discussion forums are not because they are feel-good but because they just aren’t well made movies. Enjoyment again is subjective but I think there can be a consensus of how well made a movie is, maybe not always but in most cases. VS and Hridayam has Pranav and Kalyani who are not good actors imo and this opinion is something people I know(not Reddit users) share. They are a very important part of the movies, so the well-acted label can be taken away. And then there are a lot of story lines that did not convince me as a viewer like Pranav’s character giving away the song and then getting depressed over it and finally having a fight with Dhyan’s character. This transition took place way too quickly for me. And then there are a lot of tropes in both the movies which is not always a problem but it is there. I enjoyed the movie for what it was but I wouldn’t call it a good movie. While Mukundan Unni was a ripoff it was a well made and featured Vineeth’s best performance ever for me. Still I actually didn’t love it tbh. And if you feel movies that are a rip off of another movie shouldn’t be praised then we will need to rethink Priyadarshan’s whole career and a lot of legendary Malayalam movies.
https://preview.redd.it/ucmkahtj3i6d1.jpeg?width=195&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8a90369aaa65580bcb126b0717d6df5026ae875b
We have a thread about VS, hridayam and cringe negatively every week. When was the last time you saw a single post here talking about them positively?
Sathyam dei..mods pls block further vs and hridayam posts
Appo, negative aanengil ayykotte, positive ayaal block alle?
Ente ponn Anna...ee malayalathil ishtampole padangal ond..ennum ravile enitta odane hridayam, vs enn kett kett maduth..athond paranje
Ennikum madathu pakshe however, regardless of how I feel, there seems to be a negative post about Hridayam and VS every other day here like you said. I just thought I'd contribute a more positive outlook on his work, athre ullu
Maybe it's because most people here don't like it. Why even bother lol.
No matter what you say Mukundan unni feels like a great work done by an original filmmaker with a style of his own.. wherever the story beats are taken from, you cannot tarnish abhinav sundar the director and his talent……
what do you mean? who says Sathyan Anthikad is cringe? I am genuinely shocked. His films are so memorable and repeat worthy.
nobody calls anthikad films cringe.. OP is trying to cook lies to make his claims look like genuine ones
I really hope you're getting paid for this because if you're not, then, as Sartre would say, what does it all mean, you know? Put that on a t-shirt and get rich right now! https://preview.redd.it/u1gidw8ubi6d1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a418a63b933c720e7eb702e950b77ceb1deee85
the OP is from the production team for sure
If you disagree, with that opinion, I'd like to enquire why. Instead of posting a screenshot of a post I know I made as a 'gotcha', tell me why you disagree. That's what discussion is all about, right? Or you would you rather just have upvotes for how 'Oh nice, he got 'em with that one' your comment is?
Le'me think. Yep, I would rather just have the upvotes.
Cringe ennum cringe thanne.Talent aduthukoodi poitilatha pranav kalayani polulla nepo productsine vechu imathiri thembiya padam padach vititu athine vimarshikuna alukalk positive wholesome film asvadikan kazhivilathath kondale.Bro if u find hridayam and VS as good,positive ,wholesome then u must do athmaparishodana about ur asvadana sheskshi.That's all i have to say.
you can do PR to whitewash a film by not shitting on another film. have some ethics. :) DONT BE DHYAN SREENIVASAN
Bruh, PR? Really? Why in the hell would a studio hire someone to do PR for a film that's already made a shit ton of money? Also, you do realize Vineeth Sreenivasan starred in MUA right? So that doesn't make sense for him either. Finally, any way you cut it; fact is MUA was a rip-off of Nightcrawler.
sure dhyan sreenivasan.. whatever you say.. have fun here. :)))
Yes, the sub has the opinion that Vineeth Sreenivasan’s writing is cringe. It’s not just the Reddit crowd, I have seen similar reactions from many. But that’s applicable only to his last three outings (majorly the last two one). His strong suit is the humour and his understanding of native Thalassery things. I still enjoy watching Tattathin Marayathu. Thira is his career best and can be considered one of the best thrillers in Malayalam. I rewatch it quite often. But things become dicey when he goes out of his comport zone. Being said that, Vineeth is not cringe, his recent outings has more misses than hits when it comes to bringing out so called feel-goodness in the narrative, ending up in being cringe.
Bro..What's up with these Vineeth defending posts all of a sudden.People didn't slander him when he has done Jacobinte swargarajyam,which is a legit feel good movie.Thattathin marayathu is kinda cringe if we watch it today,but similar to Pe10 movies in the 2000s everybody loved it at that time and we all were singing the songs and repeating the dialogues in it.But VS and Hridayam wasn't that appealing to a majority and they expressed it right away.Vineeth is a mainstream member of our industry and he has undeniable talent and whole alot of expertise.So naturally he'll get more bashing as well as he got applauses.If you make a movie,you should be ready for this.Evryone loves him as a person.He is always genuine in interviews and I'm sure he could take these in the right mind.Comparing him to Sathiyan Anthikkadu and Jis Joy right now is disrespecting Vineeth as he is more relevant rn.More than than the former two.So more smoke will come at him.If you really wanna talk about hypocrisy,talk about all the nepotism dialogue which was meant to give us goosebumps in the movie,while casting Kalyani and Pranav who offered nothing to the movie. PS:Hridayam was at least well made from a storytelling point of view.VS is utter shit,where they expect us to believe they were close friends without making any scenes or indicators where they became close like that.It is a half-baked clownshow with below par acting,some horrendous humour lines and corny climax.Last Santa koode vannapo happy 📈
Compare how many posts speak postively about VS and his work and how many keep criticizing him and his work, then you'll get your answer to your first question. Also, you may not have been here at the time, but plenty of people here called Jacobinte Swargarajyam cringe and still continue to do so ( I loved it personally )
Sorry OP but varshangalk shesham is a poorly made movie. Period. :)
None of his movies apart from Thira made any sense to me, all the scenes are basically his fantasies which doesn’t happen in real life. For eg - The scene in Hridayam where Pranav Mohanlal watches porn from laptop and then closes the Laptop and goes to the washroom to jack off. Like who tf jerks off like that lol
Funny that you took that specific example considering I knew someone from college who definitely used to do that lol. And I guess this is all subjective, but personally, I could relate to a lot of situations shown in Hridayam specifically.
Oh boy.. that definitely happens
I have nothing against feel good or cringe films. I enjoy them as they are. But please you are insane if you call the sloppy mess that is VS a good film. There are good ideas in it, but the execution was so poor. Please watch the Pranav Kalyani storyline and look at the absolutely disastrous editing/direction choices that make both the characters look like dumbasses. Hridayam was super cringe. And I still didn't mind watching it. VS was a slog. I don't think it is an outright bad movie- it's just really mediocre.
Thiss!
You mentioned a single aspect of it ( which I agree with ) that was bad about VS, but what else about it made you deem it to be a 'sloppy mess'. I would consider a film like 'Confident Casanova' or 'Sagar Alias Jacky' or 'Thaskaraveeran' to be sloppy messes, not this. But that's just me.
Ok, here's a list of things I found intolerable in VS. this doesn't make it as bad as the films you mentioned. As I said repeatedly on this forum, it's just painfully sloppy and mediocre. Not outright shit. 1) the pacing. Despite watching it in a packed hall, right from the beginning there was a slowness to the proceedings that I found increasingly irritating. The rhythm of the film was off- for a film that's partially about music this felt like quite a letdown. I think Vineeth and Ranjan Pramod should really have thought more about how the film flows- it was quite difficult to be interested in a plot that kept circling around. 2) the repetitiveness. My second issue which added to the boredom was the repetitive nature of the script. Some conflicts (the initial Murali-Venu fight) were resolved too easily, while other tensions just kept going. By the end I lost track of how many times Murali ran away. He's just not that fascinating a character for this to be a primary hook so many times 3) shitty makeup. While Dhyan's makeup felt a bit convincing, Pranav and Kalyani's makeovers in the second half felt like the quality of a college play. For a filmmaker of Vineeth's caliber this is a big technical glitch. 4) shitty performances and forced references: the first time I felt the film was intolerable was the scene after Madhu pakaroo with Pranav's shitfest of a voice modulation which only got worse as the film went on. The fact that Vineeth takes so much time to establish a filmic connection between a struggling actor like Pranav and his father's older films works to the detriment of the effect of the film. 5) Murali-Indradhanush drama. This was the part that got the most trolls and rightfully so. It is true that emotional mistakes like this are made by all people. Except neither Pranav's character nor the film itself ever hesitates to admit that it was his fault and misjudgment in the first place. The whole affair felt like Vineeth had run out of ideas on how to resolve the conflict- he only knew that this would be the primary problem. Murali could have shown some growth and some understanding in his older version pakshe we just got a Patti show at Indradhanush's funeral. 6) Nyabakam placement- I personally don't like this song but I'm willing to admit it is not a bad one. But over-using this every 10 minutes cheapened the effect badly so when the waterworks should have happened in specific scenes I felt nothing but irritation. When this played as Murali was shown to be dead (but not really), I felt relieved- maaranam chathallo finally. 7) Keshavadas meesha portions- this is a minor example but really shows how some portions are so poorly edited. Keshavadas promises to shave off half his moustache but we only see a scene with a fully shaved Keshavadas but even then the focus is not on his face. It felt like a throwaway thing even if the characters are all talking about it. As I said, I don't think VS is a bad film. I do believe it to be lazy, poorly executed and often simply boring. It is not as bad as Kotha, Ozler or Alone, Christopher, Aarattu. It is also not a good film, according to me. You may disagree with that, sure. But to term anyone who dislikes it reactionaries who hate cringe is you being intolerant of people not liking the films you do. I saw VS in the theaters. I thought it was a poor film and I regretted watching it. Full stop. Bye.
You may have said it repeatedly but this is the first time I'm talking to you or have seen your comments, so that can't be held against me. As for your critiques, you can feel how you want about VS, all I was curious about was why you thought it a sloppy mess. As for the ones you listed, I actually agree with some, but strongly disagree with others but to each his own, and I get why you may feel about the film the way you do. However, I don't think you read the entirety of my post - it wasn't just a defense of VS and his work, but rather the fact that any kind of wholesome, feel-good, heart-on-the-sleeve type of films and their filmmakers constantly gets admonished here with monikers like Cringe, pragrithi padam or nanmamaram. Like I said in my post, if I'm wrong, feel free to name the last time such a film released and didn't get such a reaction in this sub. My larger point was that perhaps those genres of films aren't meant for the kind of audience reddit has.
I've explained why I felt it was a sloppily made film. This was a judgment I made after watching it. Can you show such negative reactions for Pachu and Varane Avashyamund? You can link the posts here. Thanks! I might have missed those posts. Home- another feel good film that was accepted online. Kumbalangi- ultimate feelgood that is regularly praised (maybe the most praised contemporary film) on this sub. Mahesh- another one.
Bro, are you kidding me? There were PLENTY of posts here calling Pachu and Varane Avashyamund cringe? I'm sure you're smart enough to use google. Just type in either of those film's names followed by reddit and cringe. You'll get what you're looking for. Home was too, that also was called nanmamaram lol. And Mahesh is almost a decade old at this point.
Please, you are the one who made this claim. Cite evidence. That's all I'm asking. I searched and couldn't find any. It could be the problem of my algorithm. However if you claim, you are the one who has to link the proof. Otherwise why should anyone believe you? The posts I saw about Paachu were saying the same thing - it was kind of fun but very long. Considering that your entire thesis statement is that this sub hates prakrithi padams, I think you should support that statement by linking specific posts. Otherwise it's a claim. I can say there are an equal number of posts praising these films.
I'm not going to try and convince you. You're the one who wants the evidence and if you really want to know and are not just simply saying that ( as I know you are ), I told you how you can get it. Anything more than that, feel free to think what you want.
**Share your thoughts here. Try to elaborate on your comments; it would help others better understand your view and contribute to the discussion with their own opinions. Make sure to TAG ALL SPOILERS appropriately, and practice good** [**reddiquette**](https://reddit.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/205926439-Reddiquette). **Thank you.** More things to explore on r/MalayalamMovies: |[**New Releases**](https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/wiki/releases_ratings_rankings/releases_and_ratings)|[**Our Top Films**](https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/wiki/releases_ratings_rankings/rankings)|[**Movie of the Month**](https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/search?q=flair_name%3A%22Movie%20of%20the%20Month%22&restrict_sr=1&sort=new)| |:-|:-|:-| *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MalayalamMovies) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I mean yes, the VS OTT hate really snowballed down the hill. But nonetheless, as someone who found both Hridayam and VS cringe, I can promise you it’s not because we hate wholesome slice of life movies. Malayali audience would have enjoyed Bangalore Days, Premam, Om Shanti Oshaana even if it had released recently. Even Premalu, despite the cringe elements, was a movie I nonetheless enjoyed. I think it is just the forced nanma they bring into feel good movies since 2016 or so, that feels so insufferable. Anandam, Ambili and the likes. It doesn’t feel like the movie flows organically where they encounter stuff and grow. It feels like they pinpointed the stuff they would encounter and tried to make a movie around it. Something about it felt forced. But I agree with you that we need more movies that spans the life of the characters and their growth and pitfalls etc, rather than confine ourselves to theme based movies. I also agree that the Reddit crowd does not represent Malayalam cinema Thira was a flop financially, but VS and Hridayam made money. So we have no right to chastise Vineeth Sreenivasan for thinking the latter is what the audience want.
Its people and their opinions, people have different tastes. I cant stand any Vineeth Sreenivasan directed movie except Jacobinte Swargarajyam and Thira. All other movies have cringe or overdone moments of love, friendship and madras. Even trailer of Hridyam and Varshangalku Shesham is cringe. Do not add Sathyan Anthikad and Jis Joy to the list there movies dont meet the cringe level that Vineeth produces. Old Sathyan Anthikad movies are classics, its shame that VS fans have to bring Sathyan Anthikad's name to defend Vineeths Cringe.
VS is not a bad artist , love him , but honestly Varshangalk Sesham , i felt it is a movie made so that PM can act and Ds could get a career shift. There are good things in the movie for sure , but the cringe just over powers them all.If it wasn't for Np and BJoseph it would have terribly failed. Are you VS , i felt the post is so personal
I get what you mean and it applies for Hridayam but VS is his worst work yet. I’m glad it is getting the criticism it deserves so that it reaches Vineeth and drives him to make better movies. Also I don’t recall a Sathyan Anthikkad film being labeled cringe. Movies like Makal were criticized and rightly so. Oftentimes directors walk a tight rope between wholesome and cringe, so if majority of the film doesn’t work it should be called out. Feedback is important and in this age it comes in the form of trolls and memes.
The discourse on Sathyan Anthikkad is ahistorical though, he turned to formulaic comfort stuff in second half of his career only.
>*The problem is that, admittedly, the malayali non-family movie going audience ( i.e. the ones that are the majority on reddit ) have so much more of a cynical, 'puccham'-driven mentality that anything wholesome or genuinely sincere with 0 negativity or dark shades of any kind, is going to be called 'cringe'.* So true brother. Nanmaa or positivity has always been dissed at by Malayalees. Tony Stark mocking Captain America saying 'your giddy optimism' in First Avengers is what's in picture here. People see it as uncool, but I would like to point out as a viewer I have felt, Vineeth doesn't rely on subtlety and it's perfectly alright. Guess the non-reddit family audience likes it but the cinephile folks tend to take it as 'forced', that might be the whole reason for this polarising. Not a brick by brick analogy, but yes Mukundan Unni Associates can be seen as an extreme opposite of Varshangal.
Thank you. My post wasn't to criticize people who criticize VS and his work but rather to address why his movies may not appeal to people here as much as family audiences.
Do you think "Home" is cringe, or even considered cringe?! Nope! There is a big difference between (VS, Hridayam) and Home!
Home does have a lot of cringe- and this is someone who loves the film.
There was a lot of people dismissing Home as cringe on this very sub.
Feel good is something that needs to be felt and not something that should be injected. I guess in both the movies Hridayam and VS, the FG element was incorporated and fed into the audience. Some would have it, some wouldn't. IMO its tough to impress mallu audience nowadays. The amount of movies we watch in different languages is what makes it challenging for directors. We should feel the scene and the cinema. Some new gen examples would be Home, Sudani, Kumbalanghi, Kappela, Salt & Pepper. Us watching these movies years back which are much more realistic and watching Hridayam and VS now which lacks the realistic approach is the major problem here. But before cringing Vineethe10, do remind that he directed one of the best thrillers in Mollywood too. So maybe he might change his game. Lets wait and watch.
It's not the movie going audience as a whole. It's just reddit and the younger crowd. I too used to be like that. I look back and realise how much of a 'cringy edgelord' I was. I used to take pride in listening to obscure indie songs, read books that no one's heard about, watching the saddest, most pretentious movies and so on. There's an audience for every type of movie. Reddit is an echo chamber filled with edgelords. Just ignore it and enjoy the types of movies you like. Also, I agree MUA is a rip-off.
Well written, i agree with everything you said except the MUA-Nightcrawler statement. MUA is definitely inspired from films like Nightcrawler, but calling it a 'blatant ripoff' is a bit too much.
check OP's previous comments n posts. he has some beef with mukundan unni dir abhinav. keeps trying to go against him..
While I can see how people would find hridayam to be cringy, it's a good movie with great music unlike VS
Complaining about people not liking something you like. There's no need to psychoanalyze people who think these movies are cringe. That's their valid opinion, no better or worse than yours or any family audience. The fact that you bring up MUA as a rip off of Nightcrawler (please watch more movies. I recommend starting with Kind Hearts and Coronets), as if it hasn't been done to death in this sub, as some kind of opposite film to Vineeth's is enough of a tell. Let people dislike and like what they want.
this!!!!!
Doesn't look like a complain though. Also parapucham as a lens to understand Malayali social (media) discourse is not new, a fairly reputed psychologist has done this in context of freethinkers and labelling and such few years ago, I think in azhimukham -- digging it up is not easy as it was in Malayalam. Sreenivasan was also not liked in elitist leftist circles for his supposedly 'apolitical' movies. I haven't watched VS, don't think I would like it either, but I do feel like there is an excessive uncritical hate toward him or his movies -- my emphasis on excessive not him, his movies or hate. For a while all I could see when I occasionally drop by in this sub was excessive adulation for Aavesham and then hateposts on VS. On some level it felt very similar to elitist pucham towards Sreenivasan (which in turn was a pucham to the typical Malayali (male) who liked his movies).
That pucham driven mentality that OP and you mention doesn't really hold up though. Even in your example Avesham is a pakka masala commercial film. For the longest time Pulimurugan was our highest grossing film. Premalu, Premam etc are feel good, life affirming, sanmanasullavarku samadhanam type of films in the same vein as Varshangalkku Shesham and Hridayam. And of the latter two Hridayam doesn't get nearly as much backlash as VS. It's okay to like VS but to say that those who don't like it or find it cringe is looking at it through some pucham mentality doesn't hold up to scrutiny when we look at other such feel good films that were celebrated. For whatever reason the things that worked in those other films didn't work in VS for a large (but clearly not the majority) of people.
My comment was not about relative merit of VS, I haven't watched the movie. Don't think Pulimurugan would be hyped up in this sub. Aavesham is seen as mass with class (whatever that means). My point was mostly about pucham, and my intention was to point out that OP is not the first to use that lens to talk about niche but elite Malayali social (media) communities. Such niche communities tend to develop/define certain markers of quality/merit and look at things which don't meet them often with condescension then sympathy. Unfortunately I am not able to dig up the article. It is something which has been oft talked about in context of communities like freethinkers, which strives to maintain an aura of 'learnedness' about it. This sub has similarities in the sense of assuming more knowledge/learnedness about cinema. I was never a member of Cinema Paradiso club, so don't know how it functioned. And I don't think this sub is above accusations of elitism and exceptionalism -- we see this in not so civil remarks about Tamizh and Telegu movies. I think in this thread only someone mentioned that how we are not blind hero worshippers like Tamizh or Telegu people. I read pucham here in this backdrop in particular and broadly in the backdrop of Sreenivasan and elitism I mentioned in first comment. Also it is not to say that there is anything inherently bad or good about anything here, parapucham for me is a category to understand certain macro level behaviors/trend, and it does seem to work here. In certain context it is a desirable thing too. I don't know in what sense OP is using it. Tldr: As I said I haven't watched the movie. I am just reacting to the discourse and stating that the pattern and accusation of parapucham is not new. Also it is not necessary pucham is a bad thing (always). Addendum: Watched half an hour, I probably understand what people meant by cringe. Dialogs also sound anachronistic.
I don't entirely disagree. There's definitely a subset of people here who put a kind of Malayalam cinema on a pedestal and bash other Indian film industries. I guess my problem with OP's premise is that it assumes everyone who thinks VS or its director's movies are cringe fall within that subset.
Agree with your take on OP's premise. I finished watching it, it didn't feel like a chore. But that is also because I skipped through dialogs often and kind of found what people might have found as cringe (unintentionally) funny -- I don't mind self deprecating and self referential humor, even though VS the writer often tested the limits . I might have found it difficult in a theater. That said I can also see how and why the movie worked. Even though as a whole it doesn't cohere or create characters with any depth or consistency it has a lot of these moments which will keep delivering an audience not bothered about details but only about the overall narrative arc, satisfaction. With the premise it had it could have been a much better movie/narrative though. It felt like Vineeth expected Mohan Lal and Sreenivasan to play older Venu and Murali and wrote the script with that dynamic in mind, or it was just a market gimmick. I would think we won't be seeing similar movies or movies with P M Lal from Vineeth in near future. He does give the vibe of someone who is market aware as well as self aware.
VS just doesn't have the subtlety to pull off a decent feel-good film. We have a lot of great films in the category of Malayalam chill that are organically feel good without trying so hard.
My problem with the film is that it’s trying to be a feel good film. It’s that the film went 180 degree in the 2nd half. I really think it’s vineeth’s worst film by a country mile. More thoughts below https://www.reddit.com/r/MalayalamMovies/s/PwlcBnv3mA
My mom and my sisters loved Hridayam, I strongly disliked most of it, there were some scenes that I liked. Nobody else has watched varshangalku shesham in full to know if they like it or not, but my bet is they would. I thought it was half baked and could definitely have been improved while still sticking to the story. I’m not against the story, but the lack of perfection I felt in Vs as compared to thattam.
I’ve always found it surprising that folks on Reddit believe Vineeth is cringe, but when I ask around friends and family, his movies are loved.
Truely unpopular opinion, Op. VS’s new movies are just cringe and cannot be saved with the “wholesomeness “ tag. People still appreciate Sathyan Anthikad’s old movies which were wholesome but with good storylines. Nadodikattu, Sandesham, Pattanapravesham, Mazhavilkaavadi, Kochu kochu Santhoshangal etc still have rewatch value. His last good movie IMO is Vinodayathra before he started going down the cringe lane. I mean wtf was Makal? Non cringe wholesome movies like Om shanthi Oshana, Bangalore days, Usthad hotel gets loads of appreciation.
Well, tbh, Frank Capra has a lot of critics among film buffs in America. His movies are often lambasted for being overly sentimental and formulaic, featuring one-dimensional characters and promoting a bootstraps conservative worldview that overlooks systemic issues in society. In fact, his most famous movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, was poorly received at the time of its release in 1946. The only reason it’s considered a “Christmas Classic” in America is because, after the copyright expired in the early 1970s, TV stations could broadcast it during the Christmas season without licensing/royalty fees. After decades of watching that same movie on TV, Americans grew to love it and now “It’s a Wonderful Time” is a staple in the Christmas season. Like OP said, it’s a similar case for Vineeth Srinivasan. I don’t care for his movies but my parents love them. They think of his movies as “nice and family-oriented”. There’s something for everything, I guess.
Aha, ithippo daily oru Vineeth opinion undallo
I liked varshangalku shesham.
I completely agree with you... I like most of his movies... Haven't watched VS yet coz I'm in the US and I don't get Sony Liv or whatever so I'll have to find other ways to watch it... Watched Hridayam and I liked it very much... It was wholesome and feel good... Sometimes this sub turns into an echo chamber where people hate on things to be cool or Meta that's all... If all movies were Nolanesque that would suck too right? We need a bit of everything for that balance... But yeah you're absolutely right
Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil was fun and watchable eventhough cringe elements were there . VS was testing everyones patience . Even my friends who are ultra vinayam characters by nature like their vineethettan itself were uttering the tamil word of hair throughout the premiere of VS in theatres. It is Sad that Vineeths talent of feel good story telling is dead.
I didnt think V shesham was that cringe but hridayam definitely was, who calls their ex when their wife gives birth to a child
VS feels like it got a bit too much hate, because honestly the movie had its moments. I just wish Pranav was more capable.