Pakalum Pathiravum movie review: Lousy, unintentionally funny attempt at a thriller

Ajai Vasudev shoots his heroes and villains in the same way -- as if they belonged in a mass movie. Kunchacko Boban's stranger, who remains unnamed for the most part, is shot like a hero, but his background is suspect. However, Aji Vasudev extends the 'heroic' treatment to even the bad guys. When they arrive in their vehicles (in slo-mo), it takes a few minutes for them to get to the front door. ('Taking a few minutes' in Ajai Vasudev's universe translates to 'eternity'!) He slows down an actor's smallest gestures -- taking out a cigarette box, followed by the cigarette, taking off the sunglasses, touching the beard... I got extremely annoyed. 

Director: Ajai Vasudev

Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Rajisha Vijayan, Manoj KU, Seetha

He also seems to have a tough time staying away from his lucky mascot Mammootty and somehow manages to slip in a poster of Bheeshma Parvam 'winking' at the audience. Unnecessary. He also resorts to weird Shaji Kailas-esque (post-2000) camera gimmicks to film a bus or jeep. Unnecessary. I don't even want to mention the forced attempts at visual analogies. If these are not enough, wait till the nauseating overdose of melodrama in the third act hits you.

Pakalum Paathiravum is so brain-numbingly lousy that I don't know where to begin. What was this movie trying to be? A mass entertainer? A dark comedy? A thriller? Or all of the above? At one point, we get a fight scene -- which I thought would never happen in this movie when we consider everything that preceded it -- and it's a typical Ajai Vasudev fight scene. Bodies flying (in slo-mo), dry leaves suspended in mid-air (in slo-mo), dust dispersed from the bad guys' clothes (in slo-mo)... It also seems to have all the ingredients of a black comedy and a thriller, but it's as though someone poured pesticide into the final dish, just like the chicken curry made by Rajisha Vijayan and her family in the movie.

While on chicken curry, there is an unintentionally funny gag revolving around a family trying to kill someone with it. I presume the makers didn't intend this situation to look comical, but the 'seriousness' on everyone's faces registered in my mind the opposite reaction. My feelings lie somewhere between laughter and disbelief. It's as though everyone is vying for the top prize for overacting. It gets really ridiculous when an actor like Manoj KU, known for his naturalistic performances in Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam and last week's release Pranaya Vilasam, falls prey to it. He seems to have watched Kamal Haasan's Nayagan multiple times in preparation for this role. While Rajisha effectively relays the frustration of being born into a miserable family in a few places, it looks slightly awkward in portions where she has to crank up the intensity. 

Before I conclude, since I don't have the energy to write a thousand words about the movie, let me add that the central idea was not bad, but it's packaged all wrong, with ill-fitting parts. It's one of those concepts that would've felt right at home in the hands of a filmmaker adept at handling darkly comic subjects. 

The only areas where the movie brought me a modicum of relief belonged to Guru Somasundaram, who, despite playing a corrupt, perverted cop, was entertaining because of the actor's calibre. Maybe giving him a lengthier screen time would've helped. In a movie headlined by Kunchacko Boban, I never expected to find Guru Somasundaram to be the only entertaining factor, albeit briefly.

The reason for Kunchacko Boban doing a movie of this variety after Nna Thaan Case Kodu and Ariyippu eludes me. If someone finds out, please let me know.