Pachuvum Albhuthavilakkum Malayalam Movie
Almost every Sathyan Anthikad film revolves around a jobless youth with lots of life problems and a love interest as his guiding light, a separated son or daughter, and parent-child sentiments. Akhil Sathyan's "Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum" has all of these elements, which means some cliches and a lengthy running time. As per a Google search, the running time of Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum is 2 hours and 1 minute, but the movie is at least 45 minutes longer with a new plot within the already-existing story even in the second and third quarters.
Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum starts with the story of Prashant, aka Paachu, played by Fahadh Faasil. Paachu is not a jobless youth; he runs an ayurvedic pharmacy business, but the entrepreneurial stint is only a cover-up for the lazy life that he aspires for. When his co-worker asks him why he is this responsibility-shirking youngster all of a sudden, Paachu tells her that he deserves some rest after putting in years of hard work to make his business successful. Paachu's problems are relatable to ordinary Indian youth; he is unmarried and has terrible luck with the women he sees. Paachu is the classic everyman, and Fahadh Faasil owns the role like only he can.
The film coasts along with many relatable sequences and chuckle-inducing moments in the first half, but it becomes more serious in tone when an older woman (Viji Venkatesh) enters Paachu's life with a few problems of her own. Suddenly, the focus of the film shifts from Paachu to the older woman, with a flashback sequence explaining her agenda for a girl (Dhwani Rajesh) with a serious domestic problem. This forces Paachu to go to Goa to gain the goodwill of some powerful people, which results in him meeting new people. Each time he meets someone new, Akhil Sathyan introduces a new subplot with a lot of screen time for that character. This deprives the film of any real focus and adds to the length of the already-meandering screenplay.
It is only at the end of the film that we even realize that it has been Paachu's story all along and that these subplots add up to the sense of adventure in his life (on paper, that is). The way the Anthikad family writes protagonists, it is like their movies are all about youngsters who are on their life journeys-a trend that continues with Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum.
When Akhil Sathyan breaks certain cliches at the end of the film after a string of stereotypes earlier, you wonder whether it was his movie the whole way through. I like the subtle cliche-breaking sequence at the end, even though it takes a good 2 hours and 45 minutes for the film to get there.
The performances are all reasonably good, though. Anjana is a relative newcomer to Malayalam cinema but approaches her role with lots of confidence. Vineeth is exceptional as a Mumbai-settled Malayali with a bit of Hindi in his Malayalam accent. Dhwani Rajesh hardly has a false note as the young girl. Viji Venkatesh's lack of experience shows here, but she does her role with utmost sincerity. And there is Fahadh Faasil as the happy-go-lucky Paachu, who infuses the film with a bit of seriousness and lots of comedy wherever necessary.