Paleri Manikyam - Graceful

Paleri Manikyam Oru Paathira Kolapaathakathinte Katha -- Movie Review

Ever Since Ranjith has taken a deviation from his larger than life story telling style ,the malayalee audience has been blessed with quality outings that has been quite memorable.Same has been the case with the Veteran actor Mammootty who after the bhoothams and scrap dealers has returned to what he is really best at, starting with the simpleton Mike in Loudspeaker , the royal heroic Pazhassi and now in scintillating multiple getups in Ranjiths Palery Manikkam.

The movie adopted from the Novel By T.P.RaajevKumar presents Haridas , a private detective, unraveling the mystery behind ............. the murder of Manikkyam,an incident that occured on the same night that Haridas was conceived by his Mother.Though unofficial, Haridas is back to Palery with his colleague Sarayoo ,52 Years after the Manikyam murder.Palery,a village where Ahmed Haji the Muslim feudal landlord always had the final say regardless on what the subject was.Cheeru (enacted by swetha menon) was just one among the many Women in Palery ,who had to give up to the desires and Lust in Ahmed Haji.Impressed on the adorableness of Manikyam, Haji sets the stage ready for her arrival to Manikkyam,as cheerus daughter in Law. Incidents that follow leads to Manikkyams Murder.

Be it the Takings or the beautifully etched out close to heart dialogues, Ranjith once again displays the genre of film makers that he really belongs to.Mammootty puts in a phenomenal performance as the cruel Landlord Haji.Once agian he proves his versatility in handling different slangs and get ups .Haridas's character is just another Cakewalk for him (the voice modulation is notable though)and so is the third character,the details of which has been kept a suspense ever since the movie has been announced.Shwetha Menon gets another performance oriented role in malayalam and she does it credibly well.Maithili (as manikyam)does not have a demanding role to perform.Other casts like Sreeni,siddique,etc fits in perfectly.A special mention needs to be done on the exemplary performance of the character Chokkan(I am not sure of the actors name).
Music by sarath really forms the soul of the scenes invloving Manikyams murder.The title song attracts on the first hearing itself.

One notable issue with the story telling was that it let the intensity to loosen out by interleaving the flashback and current scenarios quite frequently.Also personally felt that the character of Ahmed Haji wasnt developed to its Potential.As per infos from friends who have read the novel, the political backgrounds in the actual novel couldnt be portrayed with the same intensity in the movie.


Recommended to all those who have appetite for movies with content.Dont expect a Murder - thriller ivestigation entertiner like that of the CBI series.