Spoilers ahead…
Read the full review on Film Companion, here: http://www.filmcompanion.in/article/vimaanam-movie-review
Vibhu Puri’s 2015 drama, Hawaizaada, posited that a Maharashtrian took to the skies before the Wright brothers did. Earlier this year, Srikant Murali’s Aby told the story of a boy from Kerala whose only dream was to fly. Now, Pradeep M Nair comes up with his version of the I-want-to-build-a-plane story, Vimaanam (Aeroplane). The arc is the same: dream, get mocked, fail, face criticism, fail, succeed. But here, there’s an intense romance at the centre, between Venkidi (Prithviraj Sukumaran) and Janaki (the charming Durga Krishna). Imagine the star-crossed lovers from Ennu Ninte Moideen, but with rudders and propellers and a syrupy score (Gopi Sundar) determined to out-soar Venkidi’s aircraft. The result: two-and-a-half hours of narrative turbulence.
Continued at the link above.
Copyright ©2017 Film Companion.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Vivek narain
December 27, 2017
It always works when you know what you’re doing. Forget about faith, Chiang said it time and again.You didn’t need faith to fly, you needed to understand flying. ~Richard Bach
LikeLiked by 1 person
MANK
December 27, 2017
Prithviraj may be unique in that he chooses good ideas, things that sound terrific on paper, but the films turn out underwhelming because they aren’t directed well
Guess that’s why he is turning director. And i guess the analogy could be extended to him as an actor\performer. he chooses rather interesting roles, but he is not naturally gifted or spontaneous enough to pull them off. i have never seen a performance of his where i am not aware of the fact that he is acting. His dialogue delivery also doesn’t help much, which has too much of an artificial twang to it.
LikeLike
Aman
December 27, 2017
Prithviraj may be unique in that he chooses good ideas, things that sound terrific on paper, but the films turn out underwhelming because they aren’t directed well
There’s this theory that he ghost directs his films and that’s why prefers to work with debutantes and new directors. And some film makers never seem to want to work with him. May be he is not a good director and should leave the directing part to the film makers. He is teaming up with Anjali Menon now, let’s see what happens there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
amithjc
December 27, 2017
@MANK : “i have never seen a performance of his where i am not aware of the fact that he is acting. ”
I think the film where he truly let his guard down was “Mumbai Police”. Especially that scene where he creates a ruckus in the colony and manhandles the suspect’s wife. With a different director (perhaps Rosshan Andrrews, again), Ayalum Njanum Thammil could have been another. The Salim Kumar character,among other things, totally spoiled that movie for me. I still thought Prithvi was decent in the film.
@brangan: “The other younger actors seem to gravitate to better, or at least edgier, filmmakers.”
Totally agree. I believe the success of (the highly overrated, in my opinion) “Ennu Ninte Moidheen” is what’s keeping him from reconsidering. I remember “Moidheen” was released a few months after “Premam” and a lot of people were saying how “Moidheen” was a classic and that Premam paled in comparison. But that’s almost like saying “Age of Extinction” is better than “Baby Driver” because it was mounted on a bigger canvas. On the other hand, Nivin Pauly, Fahadh and, to a lesser extent, Dulquer chooses right people over high-concepts.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Rahul
December 27, 2017
I find his brother Indrajith Sukumaran a more interesting presence on screen , in my limited viewing of Malyalam movies. He was great in Amen and Nayakan , both by Lijo Jose Pellissery.
LikeLike
Jayram
December 27, 2017
Indrajith outshined Prithviraj in City of God, also directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery.
LikeLike
Ht
December 27, 2017
Its an open secret that he is ghost directing his films. He works only with debutant directors now. And all his recent films looks very similar even though by different directors.
He delivered good performances when associated with talented directors (mumbai police, celluloid, city of god, thalappavu etc). I hope he concentrates on his acting and leave direction part to eligible people.
LikeLike
MANK
December 28, 2017
Indrajith is a much better and a more versatile actor than Prithvi. He is also the most intense and the subtle of actors, i love his performance in Ee Adutha Kaalathu
LikeLike
Jayram
December 28, 2017
Speaking of City of God, I’ve always felt that it is a homage to Imaan Dharam. The four storylines (The Tamil migrant workers, the corrupt businessmen/gangsters, the despondent superstar actress, the businesswoman seeking revenge for her husband’s murder), the theme of surviving in a city full of ruthless people and unhelpful cops and most importantly the characterization reminds me so much of Imaan Dharam. In fact, if you only focus on the main characters of City of God, you will find similarities with the characters of Imaan Dharam.
Indrajith (Vel)= Shashi Kapoor as a good natured rowdy and a bit of Utpal Dutt (Tamil pride)
Prithviraj (Jyothilal) = Amitabh
Parvathy (Marathakam) = Rekha with baggage
Rima Kallingal (Suryaprabha) = A mixture of Helen and Aparna Sen (75% Helen, 25% Aparna Sen)
Rohini (Lakshmi Akka) = Sreeram Lagoo (Govinda Anna), but a bit more selfish
Rajeev Pillai (Sonychan)= Prem Chopra as a drug addict with Amrish Puri’s body type
Shweta Menon (Viji Punnose) = a mixture of Helen and ruthless Amrish Puri (50/50)
Jagadeesh (CI) = AK Hangal
Renjusha (Parimala) = a forlorn Aparna Sen
The biggest difference is the Sanjeev Kumar (Kabir) character from Imaan Dharam doesn’t exist in City of God and the above have to rely on themselves and each other to survive.
I think I should write a review about City of God here soon. I’ve already written the opening paragraph, but am having trouble formulating the rest.
LikeLike
Rahul
December 28, 2017
Jayram and MANK, thanks for your tips. City of God was already on my list, since I have admired all of Lijo’s work that I have seen. The only version of City of God that I found online is a Hindi dub, and I am reluctant to go for dubbed movies – but if I cant find a subtitled one that will have to do.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Jayram
December 28, 2017
Rahul, please send me your email. I have the full movie without subtitles. No Hindi dub.
LikeLike
Rahul
December 29, 2017
Jayram, thanks mate. My email is notrahul at mail dot com . But, I do not know Malyalam so have to rely on subtitles.
LikeLike
babablacksheepweb
January 7, 2018
To add to the Indrajith – Prithvi discussion – both of them are awesome in their own separate ways.
There was a time before Nayakan, Ee aduthkalathu, Amen etc. when Indrajith was seen as an underachiever in comparison to Prithviraj and I remember in each interview Indrajith used to be asked about Prithviraj and his success (insinuating how he had achieved lesser than his younger brother). In a particularly insensitive interview he was directly asked whether he was bothered by the fact that Prithviraj was far more successful than him and his answer was beautiful. He said the following but not verbatim – this is what i recollect from my memory – “There are two Toms who rule Hollywood – Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise is the star everyone adores and Tom Hanks is the actor everyone admires. Prithvi is like Cruise, I aspire to be in a Hanks like space.”
And with movies like Amen, Ee Adutha Kalathu, Nayakan, City of God etc. Indrajith has proven that he was always looking at things differently.
Also, there is a rumor doing rounds that Prithviraj resigned from August Films to start a production house with Indrajith.
LikeLiked by 1 person