Puzhikkadakan Malayalam Movie
The sole best thing about 'Puzhikkadakan' is that it has the presence of a host of good actors. It has a cliched but socially relevant theme that affects a village gravely due to the negligence of corrupted officials. Here the intention is positive for Gireesh Nair-directed film. Yet the director is short of ideas about how to execute this aimless and ineffective tale, which is filled with the commotion of political parties and inane dialogues. Despite having the support of leading actors, the director fails to bank on this trump card and make the most of it. Certainly, a sense of dismay prevails while watching it since there is hardly any sort of intensity in the narration.
Chemban Vinod plays army man Samuel, who is on leave in his village Cheruthoni. During his vacation, Samuel witnesses the bad practices in the village, mainly by political parties and bureaucrats. While leading a happy life with his wife Anna (Dhanya Balakrishnan) and son, an unexpected incident makes Samuel fight against the corruption prevailing among government employees. He questions their lethargy in implementing road works in a different way.
In the village, two party leaders-Santhan (Sudhi Koppa) and Biju Sopanam (Tony)-- always vie for ensuring their prominence. Meanwhile, quarry owner Murali Menon (Anil Nedumangad) and panchayat member Josutty (Aziz) play dirty games for their own benefits. Alencier plays Koshy, Samuel's neighbour, and Balu Varghese plays Seban, brother-in-law of Koshy. Both the characters are insignificant in the tale, which is co-written by Gireesh Nair and Hari Prasad Koleri.
Jayasurya appears as an unassuming District Collector, but the actor has minimal screen space in this aimless package of events. Albeit the concept sounds good, the shoddily written screenplay and lacklustre events make 'Puzhikkadakan' a tedious watch. The scattered events never let to buttress the knots of rapport between the characters to convey the emotions effectively. So, the biggest tragedy in Samuel's life fails to kindle the necessary emotion in viewers.
The lead character is a snap for an actor like Chemban's calibre and he has enacted it fruitfully. The mode of response by Samuel to the corruption is certainly a fancy of the distressed public but the unimaginative sequences sully the whole effect. Dhanya plays a typical housewife sans any significance in the major plot. The insipid narration creates an exasperating mood throughout even though the topic is largely concerned to each of us as well.
Everyone must have experienced the kind of anger and disgust shown by the protagonist, especially while dealing with the corrupted system. Instead of elevating us to that terrain of emotion, 'Puzhikkadakan' makes us a passive viewer. Not a dollop of resurrection is in sight at any stage of this flick that pursues trite situations, including in creating humour sequences. It's a poor and lame attempt to highlight a familiar social issue ignoring the basics of effective story-telling.
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