Palthu Janwar Malayalam Movie
In Sangeeth Rajan's Palthu Janwar, Basil Joseph plays a young man who gets the job of a livestock inspector (LI) in a village after his animation business fails. Basil's Prasoon Krishnakumar has his eyes set on starting another animation business, but family responsibilities force him to take up the LI job. Corrupt seniors, political shenanigans, and an overall unfamiliar job atmosphere make Prasoon unhappy at work. As a result, he makes certain mistakes that earn him the despise of the locals, while his peers doubt his sincerity to the job.
Director Sangeeth and his writers Aneesh Anjali and Vinoy Thomas mean Palthu Janwar as the coming-of-age story of the protagonist and his relationship with animals. The setting of Palthu Janwar is small, the conflicts in it are simple, and its resolutions are straightforward.
For instance, when in doubt, Prasoon calls his vet friend Steffy (Sruthy Suresh) through a video chatting app for guidelines on treating livestock in duress. Since there is more potential in the coming-of-age part of the film, you would like the makers to do something other than applying Prasoon's animation expertise to the veterinary field. There is a bizarre scene where Prasoon uses his animation knowledge to help with the delivery of a calf. This is borderline 3 Idiots-level in terms of how the scene plays out, but at least you can suspend your disbelief and keep watching the film.
What does not work well enough here is the relationship between Johny Antony's Davis and Basil's LI character. You needed more scenes to establish their relationship more firmly so that the final act would not appear a tad ineffective. Instead of focusing a bit more on the relationship, the makers give us a set of quirky characters in an idyllic world.
Indrans plays Ward Member Kochu George, a man with a serious memory problem and a chameleon-like ability to deceive people. Dileesh Pothan plays Kavalakkunnel Achan, an idiosyncratic priest who believes that religion can solve everything. Shammy Thilakan plays Sunil Isaac, a senior veterinarian who uses his position for some quick money through underhand dealings. There is also Unnimaya Prasad in a small role as Prasoon's sister.
Most of these are colorful characters, but they are types and are not as indispensable to the story as Prasoon, Davis, or even that cow. I would also have liked the makers to focus more on Davis and his conversations with a baby Jesus at the cemetery. There is also the use of delivery or labour as a symbol of a brighter future. Immediately after the delivery scene of the calf, the makers cut to the image of a pregnant woman and her tummy. Now, this scene would have worked better if we knew a thing or two more about the pregnant woman.
Individual scenes work wonders, but the film does not come together as a whole as well as it could have. Now, don't let the aforementioned discourage you from seeing the film. There is just enough material here for a lazy Sunday evening. The first half of the film, especially, has some good laughs and enough for us to chew on.
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