Shahjahanum Pareekuttiyum Malayalam Movie
If there is one thing that 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' has triumphantly managed to accomplish, it is the installation of a fear in me - a perpetual dread of films that dare to dapple with the theme of memory loss. Of late, the genre has repeatedly stunned us with one disappointment after the other, and 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' is an unwelcome addition to the long list.
With a story that could give the thinnest of wafers a complex with its skinniness, 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' has three youngsters occupying the three corners of its plot.
Jiya (Amala Paul), the pretty lass with memory issues doesn't have a clue as to who 'P', her prince charming truly is. It doesn't help much that two men - Prince (Jayasurya) and Pranav (Kunchacko Boban) - are around, who both claim the rights to the much coveted 'P' throne.
It's apparent that the focus in 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' is to keep the audience in splits for a while, feed them a bit of a tale that keeps them guessing, and wind it all up as a no-hassle comic package that doesn't much hurt, even if it doesn't astound. And this exactly what it does, in the one hundred and forty plus minutes of running time that it has.
If you look back at it, 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' has pretty much all the elements that you would find in a romantic sitcom of the 90's and with the blank memory thrown in for that extra effect, it has an old age film feel to it. The technicalities however are in sharp contrast though, and the film does look refreshingly bright.
And if you are thinking of the predictability factor, the film scores pretty high on it as well. It doesn't work well when you have the viewers working their way ahead of the script that they are watching on screen, and in 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' this is exactly what happens!
This out datedness is what the film tries to conceal under a blanket of banter, and while some of the laughter that it generates is indeed genuine, for its most part this mirth appears hollow. It is also unable to be in command over the irritants that pop up dime a dozen, much to the chagrin of the viewer.
There isn't really a need for comparisons here since Jayasurya very easily puts the rest of the cast onto the shade and towers over the entire film with a laudable performance. The very few scenes in the film that you might have a faint remembrance of will most likely belong to the actor, while Kunchacko Boban looks quite comfy pillion riding this time around. Amala Paul despite having grabbed the very pivotal role around which the entire film revolves, makes do with a middling feat. And of course there is Suraj Venjarammoodu who is back with a vengeance! Anishlal puts on display a few decent frames, while Gopi Sundar comes up with an upright musical score.
Boban Samuel's latest film is a mash up of outlandish gags that could have you breaking out into a guffaw or two and then head back home wondering what had actually hit your senses a couple of hours back! While it remains that it is neither ill-intentioned nor resolutely insolent, 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' harps on a retrograde theme that hardly has a place today, whichever way you look at it.
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