User reviews

You can call it beginners luck, or pure talent but this doesn't feel like a first venture at all. The team has done a splendid job. The array of actors is obviously the highlight. Everybody gets an equal share of stardom in this movie. I cannot point to a hero, nor is it necessary. The slomo fight sequence is a let down. It was completely unnecessary. Rest everything was done perfectly. The direction and screenplay is a plus. The shots is beautiful. The location even more. Overall its pleasing to watch. The cast is a blend of newcomers and pioneers and it works perfectly fine. The story is good too. There is lot going on, but still the screenplay has made it easier to follow. Job well done. Overall an above average movie.

18am Padi Malayalam movie.

Marketing is an art by itself, that attracts the audience to the auditorium. The name, the posters depicting Superstars..all are according to this plan. 18am Padi - the name made you think.. This is a religious historical movie, This movie is in tune with the recent political scenes in Kerala, This is multistar Superstars studded movie .. You are wrong in all 3 counts. The story happening in Trivandrum around 1990s. Rivalry between two schools and the events inside and outside the school is the oneline thread of the presentation. Non linear editing is well done to keep our curiosity. Camera work is excellent. Music and back ground score is commendable. The battalion of cast members, most of them having NO or monologues to do on screen managed well by the script. The Superstars like Mammootty, Prithviraj, Unni Mukundan, Arya are all cameos for the project.. marketing strategy. The school boys and girls are new to the screen, but carried their roles very well.... the Malayalam movie is getting the future heros and heroines. The debutant director, even though not new to the industry, did his job well, but should have contrailed the unnecessary length of the presentation. 7 on 10 for the newcomer's movie.

Unbelievable storyline, raw action scenes in school level, unacceptable social interactions make the movie a fantasy. By the time every character is introduced, it's time for interval.

Not a Superstar movie, 'mass' dialogues and scenes belong to the new gen. Worth a watch.

The story is quite illogical and how it tries to include a lot of themes is a proper mess. But its strong aspect is how well done is the mass aspect of it. The cinematography and stunts were flashy and eye popping which perfectly fit to what the movie is supposed to be. The acting by the ensemble debutants were so fantastic that they even overshadowed all the extended star cameos that was used to market the film. We really got a bunch of promising new actors which seems to be the best outcome of this movie.

In an era when realistic films are becoming a thing in Malayalam, a movie like 18am Padi is difficult to sit through. While I'm completely okay with fictionalized settings and characters (it's a movie after all), what makes a film watchable lies purely in its treatment of the screenplay. Shanker Ramakrishnan's last script (My Story) was an equally pathetic (if not worse) rendition of a love story set in Europe, with key characters being played by actors that we look up to. 18am Padi also lives up to that promise to an extent, with cameos from folks like Prithviraj, Arya (who's also co-producing), Unni Mukundan, and of course, Mammootty.

Right from Prithviraj's philosophical dialogues in the opening scenes, 18am Padi doesn't ring a bell. The rivalry depicted between two schools (one local and the other international) in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in the 90s is shoddily penned. Why do they hate each other so much? The reasons are concluded at the beginning itself - societal segregation, standards of living, and lastly (and most awkwardly), more good-looking female students in the international school.

This isn't how high-school rivalries in the 90s were. There might have been tensions running high between students of schools but all that was restricted to playgrounds, stages, fests, and classrooms. In the film, it almost seems like students can be categorized into two. The students at the International school are spoilt brats, fully aware of their privileges and do not hesitate to show off. Almost everyone there is a drug-addict and performs flips and swirls like they were born straight out of Shaolin temple.

On the other hand, the students at the Govt. school are portrayed as standing up for the group always, striving to make things better for themselves and everyone around them. They, however, are quick to come to blows with students from their 'rival school' more often than necessary. The numerous fight scenes have been stuffed in to just add to the stylistic overtones that the film so desperately tries to live up to. The women in the film have nothing to do - including Annie Teacher (played by Ahaana who gets the most screen-time), who has been carefully placed to draw more admiration towards Joy Sir.

When you look back, what should have formed the crux of the story was the bond between Joy Sir and the students. Instead, it's fleetingly sketched in a badly written stretch of scenes (and a song) that add up to nothing. Mammootty's late entry into the proceedings doesn't help a lot either. As John Palakkal, he only has to repeat mannerisms from several of his earlier flicks where he played mentor to a group. I wish Shanker had focused more on the little things - the bus rides that the students shared, the transient romances, the arts/sports fests that they were a part of, and more along those lines. What do we get instead? Choreographed fights in slow-motion. Plenty of them.

The performances by the debut actors are so-so. I wouldn't blame them since the material offered left a lot to be desired in the first place. 18am Padi would have worked just fine if it was released in the early/mid-2000s, before the resurgence of realism and intelligent storytelling in Malayalam cinema.

Verdict: Blah!

Amazing Cinematography and a inspiring effect. Worth Watching...

There was no connectivity between scenes. Lots of masalas got inducted so as to complete two and a half hours.

Shanker Ramakrishnan's Gangs of 18 is a film released yesterday. It is the Malayalam version of the film '18am Padi'. Starring Mammootty, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and Arya in the lead roles, the movie is an astonishing film to watch if one needs to have a nice time.

Review in 2 words "thoroughly avoidable " and such a wannabe effort in terms of acting and direction

Its a must watch , no dull moments, You will have a smile on your face while watching the whole movie. Those who are Giving bad reviews have a Bad taste for sure. Go for it. This is a Pure action Entertainer with Mammooty Charm and swag.

Shanker Ramakrishnan's 'Gangs Of 18', a movie released today, is the dubbed version of the Malayalam film titled '18am Padi'. The directorial work has been done by Mammootty himself and starring must watch worth watching.

I don't understand the logic behind the movie . One of the worst I've seen in decades.. stupid storyline and acting..I feel sad for the producer.. no wonder why this movie flopped

Nice thriller movie to watch. All Actors done a reasonable acting in this movie. Some predictable scenes however movie running like marathon. Music travelled with story is very well appreciated. Sankar ramakrishnan always rocks.

As a Mammooka fan and because of his recent hits, I had great expectations for this movie even though he was in an extended cameo. My expectations were even higher because it's Shankar Ramakrishnan's directorial debut and many Mollywood mainstream stars are in cameos. But the movie is all kinds of bad. The movie makes no sense and almost every aspect of this movie sucks. The one good memorable scene was the fight scene in a bus. 18am Padi is set in 90s but the costumes wore by the characters is full modern. The direction was so bad that the movie felt like an advertisement most of the time. This movie made me understand that Shankar Ramakrishnan is a really bad film maker. I might have said okay to this movie if it was made in around 2012 because at that time, realistic Malayalam movies were scarce. But now, there are very good movies relasing and 18am Padi cannot be compared with them. There was no standout performance. I'm not undermining the debutants. I know they have worked hard but the debutants were just debutants. I thought Mammootty's cameo will be as strong as Dulquer's cameo in Parava or Mohanlal's cameo in Kayamkulam Kochunni. But his character was dull as the movie. Technically, the movie is good with some very good shots. I recommended this movie to the people who likes highschool kids partying like grownups, talking like grownups, fighting like grownups etc. If you are looking for a good movie, 18am Padi is not the destination.

Brilliant cinematography, action scenes are superb, starcast performance is good and mammooty performance is outstanding and background music is the backbone of movie.

WORSTTTTTTT MOVIE EVER MADE.....NEVER EVEN THINK ABOUT WATCHING IT..... MISLEADING CAST TOO

I don't know why all Malayalam movies have the heroes as SFI leaders .. I could watch only 45 minutes and I could not continue coz I think the script writers are afraid that they think the movie will be watched by people only if they make the hero supports communism and study state syllabus .. do a movie with hero as a congress supporter if you have guts. . Communism is for people who are mentally immatured .. stupid movie and I rate -10/10

Just to show Christians are upper caste brahmins converted during the st Thomas times.All the Christians are rich and hindus poor.

Film is good . Story is excellent and Mammooty and prithviraj is excellent . Mostly background music is very interesting in this movie. Action is very well. Good dubbing movie in recent times.

One word: Garbage. I don't want to write a review. This movie doesn't deserve one.

It is very interesting on the subject because we have not seen so much movie with Good theme . So this is an amazing movie. Screenplay is awesome. Making is fantastic. Mammooty sir is Perfect always.

Not even the brilliant pieces of action cinematography can save this multi-genre vomit that aims to convey so much using so less organization between the actors, the plot arcs, the intentions, 18am Padi (18th Step) can very well be nominated for the worst Malayalam film of 2019 and I'm sure by December 2019 the qualification will be unanimous. TN.

Dont even deserve a single star.. watched with lot of expectations...and there is nothing in the movie

Very bad movie. WAAAAAAAAYYYY too many characters. What message were they going for? what were they trying to achieve with this movie? What the hell were they thinking ? just SSSSOOOOO many characters. It's almost infuriating. You can remove 3/4th of all the characters and you wouldn't notice, because they are so damn forgettable and bear nothing on the plot. The conflict is forced and unnecessary. I found mamooty's character's dogs in the movie to be better characters than everyone else. A horrible mesh of action scenes, some dumb boohhoo messages, some stupid coincidences and some frustrating conflicts.