Pazhassi Raja - A Constructive Review

Let me get straight into the verdict.

With due respect to the crew and kudos to the idea and implementation, it was nothing but throughly mis-cast actors and lacklustre fight scenes that disappointingly bring down the expectations of the viewer. Barring Sarath Kumar, Padmapriya and Manoj K Jayan, rest of the character portrayals were disappointing. Not that I'm an A+ in History. But when you embrace the idea of filming a movie based on freedom struggle, you OUGHT to pay special attention to the acrobatics. The fights were nothing but mockery.

The movie is still fresh in my mind. I recollect only 2 occasions of applauses while inside the cinema. One was when the following lines were printed on the screen:

Special Thanks

Mohanlal

And the 2nd was a spirited act by Sarath Kumar when he went to the British Collector with a message from Pazhassi.

So where did the director get it all wrong ?

1. Casting, as I told, is one thing. Mammooty is a great actor. And when you cast him for a role that demands acrobatic maneouvres you should have your support crew ready - this involves camera-tricks and "realistic" graphics support. Both were missing.

2. Jagathy has seldom appeared in character roles. Rather, the crowd never can digest him in such roles. Coz they expect comedy and nothing else from him. Am attempt to get comedy out of him for a relatively serious role as in this movie was nothing but stupid.

3. The make-up works are worth not mentioning. Dont they get a lil more realistic looking moustache pieces ?

4. Fight scene - too much of attention at some places (why do they need to fly vertically up - the Matrix style?) and too less at some other (when Pazhassi locks sword with his most talented Army Chief, with the entire regiment looking on, there need to be some sparks)

5. The movie looked stretched too much. A song or two more?

So what are the take-aways ?

The story-telling part was good (this should be more of a negative f/b than a compliment)

I cant think of anything else.

The movie disappointed me.

Tail:

1. Geo seemed to have got it all wrong. He invited frowns from everyone around when he missed the syllables a little bit to say "Kerala Varma Parasuraman" :P

2. Thanks to a late start from home, and a heavily clogged highway, we (me and she) missed Geo's bday treat at McD :(

3. The movie started 10mins late, at 8.45. And it was 12.18 when we stepped out. Loooong !!

4. Of all the names, Sarath Kumar's character had the best one - Kunkan :)

5. All said and done, the film is reportedly raking in a lot of moolah all over Kerala..