Pachamarathanalil

Cast: Sreenivasan, Padmapriya, Lalu Alex, Lal, Nassar, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Bijukuttan, Sukumari, Sona Nair
Language: Malayalam
Banner: Revathy Kalamandhir
Director: Leo Thaddeus
Producer: Suresh Kumar
Camera: Manoj Pillai
Story: Leo Thaddeus
Screenplay: Leo Thaddeus
Dialogue: Leo Thaddeus
Music: Alphonse
Distribution: Pyramid Saimira Release
Year: 2008

Pachamarathanalil, which is Leo Thaddeus' debut directorial venture (he was earlier an associate of Bhadran) has its plusses and minuses, but on the whole the plusses seem to outweigh the minuses if you tend to look at the film from the perspective of the viewer and not that of an intellectual bent on splitting hair.

Pachamarathanalil tells the story of Satchidanandan alias Sachi, a well-known cartoonist, and his family consisting of his wife Anu and his five-year old daughter Sneha. Both Sachi and Anu love their daughter. Anu is obsessed with Sneha's education, while Sachi being an artist encourages the artistic tendencies shown by his daughter.

Once Sneha gets invited to act in an ad-film. This offer is accepted and the shooting for the ad-film begins. Then there is a location shift to Pollachi. Mid-way to Pollachi, Sneha vanishes mysteriously. Sachi is totally confused, not having any clue about the whereabouts of his missing daughter. And then comes a police officer named Venkatachala Iyer alias Venkiti, who begins investigating the case of the missing child. The investigations lead to certain startling revelations. Just prior to the interval, Venkiti finds out that Sneha is not Sachi's daughter. The rest of the story then unfolds.

Till the interval the film moves smoothly, with scenes conceived and executed in a very orderly and tasteful manner, retaining your interest in every way possible. But post-interval, the colorfulness of the first-half is lost and things don't seem that appealing. There are portions that lag and tend to bore you. The flashback sequence that follows the interval even hampers the flow.

As for performance, it's Nazar who has scored the best, donning the role of Venkatachala Iyer. Padmapriya as Anu is good while Baby Ahana does justice to the role of Sneha. As for Sreenivasan in the role of Sachi, it must be said there isn't much worth mentioning though he is OK in the role. Lal, who comes in towards the end of the movie, shines as Koliyakode Muhammed Ali, while Laloo Aalex is good as Alfy, Sachi's friend and a wild-life photographer. Suraaj Venjaramoodu is his usual self as Oorakam Jose, the dreamy production controller. Bijukuttan delivers his brand of humour as Sivadasan, the production manager.

Alphonse does good work with the background score whereas the songs, which too have been composed by him, are not worth mention. The song, 'Chithrathooval...', though average, has been picturized beautifully, while the song in the post-interval section seems totally unwarranted. Manoj Pillai's camerawork is a highlight of the film and the shot where a window opens up to the vastness of the ocean is brilliant. Editing by Ranjan Abraham is OK, but had it been better, the film would have had more appeal.

There are scenes which seem unconvincing; there are portions where you feel the lag, there are occasions when you feel the scriptwriter has faltered. But in total the film is good for a watch. Of course it doesn't have anything to deliver to those with an intellectual or critical bend of mind, but for the average viewer with not too high expectations, the film is like a whiff of fresh air at a time when films by even the most established of filmmakers and with the best of stars turn out to be stale stuff.

If it is marketed well (which exactly is what is not happening in the case of most Malayalam movies these days), Pachamarathanalil could even do good business. As a postscript, it should be added that the film should not be viewed the way you'd view a Sreenivasan film because it's not a Sreenivasan film in the usual sense; the film gives more importance to the plot.

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