nair-vinith One of the great things about Malayalam cinema is that it keeps on experimenting with different genres and comes up with various story lines unlike other industries. North 24 Kaatham (N24) is road-rom movie, which shows how a single journey can change one's outlook towards life. Protagonist of the film is 'Hari Krishnan', a software engineer who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is portrayed convincingly by Fahadh Faasil who undertakes a journey to attend a conference in Trivandrum.First and foremost, the great thing of the film is its subtle depiction of the problems faced by people in Kerala like 'Harthal' strikes and carefully highlighting the perennial issue of politics. Debutant director Anil Radhakrishnan Menon has skilfully managed to incorporate such elements in the movie, with which every Keralite will relate to, but avoided a preachy tone or overemphasis on a particular subject. Menon has been able to unravel each character layer by layer until one reaches the center.Fahaadh Faasil's character's transformation and his outlook towards life is aptly portrayed with subtle scenes that you cannot but appreciate his acting, which shows why Faasil is among the best in today's young guns. 'Nani', played by Swathi Reddy, is a carefree character who enjoys life and has a 'ready to help' attitude. The thing worth mentioning here is, the portrayal of her character by director Menon, he skilfully avoided to show scenes involving alcohol or to showcase unnecessary 'helpful act' scenes, but still is successful in putting across the message. Acting by veteran actor Nedumudi Venu playing as Gopalan, is like having a dessert after a course of a meal. Even though there is no relationship between Nani and Gopalan, you still see glimpses of father-daughter love between them, delighting the viewers.The technical aspects of the film like direction and cinematography is really good and music by Govind & Rex adds to the film's good quotient.Nutshell: If you had a bad day and wish to end it with a good feeling, you got to watch N24; with no love or fight scenes, it still captures your attention manages to show that love doesn't need words to express, emotions is enough.

Prasenjit Sanyal A great film a must watch for cine lovers, specially those who like road movies. I didn't watch any Malayalam movie before but it is a great experience. North 24 Kattham has a refreshing plot on how certain circumstances make Hari (Fahadh Faasil), a brilliant but meek and geeky techie meet two strangers, Gopalan, a veteran Communist leader (Nedumudi Venu) , and Narayani (Swathi Reddy), a social worker and his journey with them from Paravoor in the South to Kozhikode in the North part of Kerala. The movie is all about their journey which in turn becomes a life changing experience for geeky Hari.Fahadh ,Nedumudi Venu,Swathi all played their role brilliantly.The two things that I liked most about the film is the portraying of Beautiful Kerala and the emotions of strangers met during travel.

PimpinAinttEasy An above average performance by Fahad Fazil barely saves this poorly written and edited film. Fahad plays a misanthropic software engineer obsessed with cleanliness. He is regularly rude and cruel to his co-workers and family but the fact that he is brilliant at his job keeps him from getting fired. A transfer to another city and a Hartal puts his ordered life in jeopardy.The director uses way too many scenes to emphasize Fahad's obsessive cleanliness and misanthropy. The writing is uniformly poor, many of the scenes are the ones you have seen numerous times in Malayalam cinema (like the old guy talking about how he first fell in love). And then there is the usual collection of kind working class Malayali characters with whom the main character comes into contact with. And of course, the token scene in a "kallu/arrack shop".Sreenath Basi as Fahad's brother reprises the role of a slacker (similar to the one he played in Da Thadiya). Nedumudi's role is full of clichés. He has played this role too many times. Swathi Reddy is awful. I guess its not her fault. her character is so poorly written, you don't even understand why she is attracted to a guy like Fahad.(4/10)

Tejas Nair The summary above states the plight of how fantastic Malayalam cinema is received by the movie-goers. People just haven't got acclimatized by which movies to go to & which not. At a time when the industry is experimenting, it is onto us that we support it.North 24 Kaatham depends upon the used formula, but delivers hyper-adventurous experience.Talking about how a single journey can change a person's perspective in & towards life, N24K captures the condition of commuters during the infamous & sometimes unnecessary strikes (hartal) in Kerala. It gathers few current topics as well, while speaking about love, relationship, life values & death. Now, since there are many elements packaged in one, interpretations may differ, but at the end of the day, what matters is entertainment & message. The film by débutante Anil Menon does to Malayalam Cinema which only few filmmakers have done: STRENGTHEN!Fahadh Faasil is getting glamorous every passing day, his performance as the skeptical, hygiene-conscious prig is amazing; he is directed very well & aptly. His co-actors Nedumudi Venu & Swathi Reddy both are top-notch. Supporting cast is fine; Sreenath Bhasi is growing as a teen symbol. Coupled with ample humor, slapstick, seriousness & drama, N24K succeeds more in the second half throwing emotions & sensitive expressions to its viewers. Music is very good and Rex Vijayan's vocals again brings the ceiling down, editing is tad goofy, screenplay & direction well-done.BOTTOM LINE: Highly Recommended! As a whole, it delivers what it proposes & we might even link it with Neelakasham.... Although both talk something different about life. 7.4 out of 10.Can be watched with a typical Indian family? YES (One scene might be awkward)Profanity/Nudity/Sex: No | Vulgarity: Mild | Violence/Gore: No | Smoking/Drugs: No | Alcohol: Strong