Sarvopari Palakkaran: A bland cocktail

Sarvopari Palakkaran has a promising start, introducing its chauvinist hero with intercuts to an Oorlai song mocking moral policing. Anoop Menon’s CI Jose comes across as a macho cop who doesn’t approve of sleeveless kurtis, leggings, friendly girls and a string of other things. He makes sly and satirical remarks, and he is looking for an obedient wife, a girl perpetually conscious of her cleavage.

And then we meet Anupama, the posterchild of female empowerment who roams the streets at midnight. The character, played by Aparna Balamurali, is a theatre student, activist, writer, do-gooder and above all a 'Kiss of Love' icon! The film is basically built on the unspoken chemistry between the conservative cop and the boho-chick, but the scenarist adds to this some humour, intrigue, suspense and lots of fast-selling cliches. Despite having an interesting thread, often the screenplay lacks focus and turns into a potpourri of ideas, sights and incidents that fail to lead anywhere. There are points where the plot falters and you will find loose ends and somewhat insipid twists.

Cast: Anoop Menon, Anu Sithara, Aparna Balamurali
Director: Venugopan

The humour, especially when Balu Varghese appears on screen, sounds laboured, and the makers seem to be under the impression that boozing sequences garnished with tacky BGM qualify as comedy. The film is visually pleasing at moments and has a nice premise, yet it fails to impress.

Thankfully, Anoop Menon never attempts any super-cop gimmicks and pulls off his role relatively well. Anu Sithara is expected to do nothing more than look good as she plays Linda, Jose’s fiancee. She is your typical wife material, a girl who is not afraid of the possible love triangle since her husband-to-be is a palakkaran. Hearing her dialogue you can’t help thinking of all Pala achayans you have seen on and off the screen, trying to make some sense out of her statement on this particular species of men. Though it’s the bold-and-independent cliché, Aparna Balamurali essays Anupama beautifully, and Alencier is another actor who comes out with a convincing act. Sarvopari Palakkaran is not an utterly boring expedition, but we wish it had been a lot more fun and a little more compact.