Pathinonnil Vyazham Malayalam Movie
Suresh Krishna's much delayed 'Pathinonnil Vyazham' has finally made it to the theaters. The film has very few fragments of good comedy scattered amidst the several unmemorable scenes that you have come across in several unmemorable films.
Appukkuttan (Mukesh) has a secret to tell about Chandran Pillai (C I Paul), a millionaire based in Ooty. He manages to persuade Pillai to offer him the job of his driver, while Pillai's daughter Meenakshi (Manya) is bewildered at the developments. Meenakshi waits for an opportunity to dismiss Appikkuttan from his job, but her horoscope would hear nothing of it.
The horoscope as the title itself suggests is the focal point in the film, and it is what rewrites the story along with, hold your breath, a goat. Well, Nakulan (Jagathy) the caretaker who is entrusted the job of entrusting Meenakshi's horoscope with renowned astrologer Kizhakkedam (Nedmudi) happens to stop at his lover's (Beena Antony) place midway. The horoscope left outside is eaten by a goat, and Nakulan's lady love, born on the same day as Meenakshi substitutes it with hers.
There are no mobile phones in the film, and the reasons are quite clear. Mobiles weren't that common when the film was being shot. And to make things worse, the secret that Appukkuttan threatens Pillai with takes the form of a giant VHS tape. It does seem a bit awkward then, when Appukkuutan tucks into his pullover and flashes the tape to make Pillai dance to his tunes.
Talking of tunes, Pillai has a domestic help (Sreerekha) at home who hails from Tamil Nadu. She is the kind who breaks into a voluptuous song at the middle of the night, and the driver and the gardener match steps with her on the middle of the lawn. She is mostly seen fawning over anything that smells male, and is very rarely seen in the kitchen.
Time plays the villain in 'Pathinonnil Vyazham', and the film does look and sound a bit outdated. The chauvinism that is often displayed through the timely slap on the woman's face is here as well; the one smack that would restart her CPU and let her view things from the male perspective.
Mukesh has no problems playing Appukkuttan, and C I Paul, may his soul rest in peace, has us in splits on a few moments. Manya who has almost been forgotten is also back, and does a decent job as Meenakshi. Jagathy is his usual self in the film, and Nedmudi lends ample support.
At the moment, it doesn't look that good for 'Pathinonnil Vyazham'. The stars would have to do some real spot swapping for the film to have a dream run at the box office.
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