Pranchiyettan and the Saint -- Fresh thoughts......

Pranchiyettan and the Saint

With Ranjth Mammootty combo coming together after the critically acclaimed paalerymaanikyam,cine freaks would have kept their fingers crossed on what praanchiyettan and the saint would be all about.Well,they don't disappoint you... yet again they deliver a silver screen experience far from the routine cine products which at the same time is both entertaining and thought provoking.Ranjith has come up with a satire that throws light into relevant social and religious concepts.

Parnchiyettan(Mammootty) is a rich rice dealer based in trichur who is quite desparate to make a name for himself and in the process escape from the nick name that he is often associated with -- "Aripraanchi".In an effort to help his friend, Vasu menon (innocent)misleds praanchi to commit blunders that often makes him end up as a laughing stock. With more characters entering into his life, praanchi is exposed to some bitter realities that demotivates him and decides to seek relief from St.Francis.

Coming to the performances,its a Mammootty show all the way,proving his critics wrong yet again,as he easliy handles the natural humour with subtle expressions and rocking trichur slang based dialogue delivery without resorting to any slapstick comics.He is the soul of the movie, which otherwise could have gone very dry handling an unconventional subject.Innocent too rocks (after a long time)as praanchis sincere friend.Praanchis servant,priyamani,siddique,kushboo,The Saint, etc. fits in perfectly to their roles.Ganapathy could have done better in some scenes or he was badly directed.
One song in the movie is hummable with its feel good music and lyrics.

Ranjith deserves credit for having come up with something that shows up to be fresh and different from the other movies.He has shown that there can be cinemas like praanchi too,rather than sticking to formula movies.His dubbing for the saint was flawless too.His dialogs (especially the one liners of praanchi) are excellent and steals most of the appreciation.

The screenplay however could have been better in the second half.The episodes that brings the realizations in praanchiyettan should have been more interesting.(Especially the pauli episode).Siddique and Kushboo could have been given more importance in the plot.Jagathy's character/plot had some shades of slapstick humour which almost went overboard.

In an industry which finds itself safe to resort to masala movies ,Praanchiyettan is another bold attempt from Ranjith and Mammooty that needs to be appreciated.Needs to be seen if it would cater to all type of audiences.I would anyday recommended Praanchiyettan to serious movie buffs as well as to those who love satiric comedies.