The well worn plot and the familiar characters in the film are impossible to root for. Sreekrishnan’s ‘Paviettante Madhurachooral’ strives to drive out the angst of its leads on to its viewers, but hardly scores.
‘Paviettante Madhurachooral’ is not a throwback to those good old times for fans of Sreenivasan, the writer, for in the Sreekrishnan directed film, the veteran scenarist comes up with a jaded jumble of a script; one which has none of the charisma or charm that had once made his writing so appealing to Malayali film enthusiasts across the world.
It’s been thirty years since Pavithran (Sreenivasan) and Annie (Lena) hade eloped on the former’s bicycle, and currently the couple serves as higher secondary teachers at a school at Chanadanappara. Childless, they lead an otherwise serene life, with Pavithran having emerged as an iconic figure in the state in the field of organic farming.
There is also the school manager (Vijayaraghavan) who is brought into the picture; a ruthless, self-centred business man who when his pesticide infested vegetable business runs into trouble turns to artificial milk manufacturing that soon has its consumers rushing to the hospitals. He is more of an antagonist for an antagonist sake, and does little harm his adversary Pavithran, or to the film itself.
The former half of the film pulls on, with nothing much detrimental if not constructive either, and is mostly spent on sermons and long lectures as to how the ecological balance has been brought under threat, and how none of the governments have displayed any concern. Pavithran talks on illegal mining and on how the Ghats stand to suffer, and it sounds like refined class on environmental concerns, with occasional titbits dropped on how everything around is fast becoming contaminated.
The world can wait, and so can all the contaminants, or so it seems when it strikes the bell for half way time. Along comes a young boy on Annie’s door (Shebin Benson) who, claims that he is none else but Pavithran’s son. Expectedly, Annie sees not just red, but also blue and white, storms off to her place, before returning to uncover the mystery that the boy is.
Come to think of it, there is no mystery as such, as Annie soon discovers; a bitter truth that we have realized several minutes before her, and the rest of the film dilly dallies along before finally toppling down like a sand castle built a bit too close to the lashing waves. There is an epilogue of sorts that supposedly serves the purpose of clearing the air of intrigue, and there is likely to be hardly anyone who hasn’t guessed by then as to how things have transpired.
The sentimental drivel that ‘Paviettante Madhurachooral’ has on offer is unlikely to find many takers, and the writing also gravely lacks the intrinsic humour that Sreenivasan’s characters have been renowned for. This is a patched piece of writing that strikes you as an elongated piece of counsel, more than anything else.
‘Paviettante Madhurachooral’ has an impeccable performance from Lena, who passionately rises above all the ambiguities in the script. There is also Shebin who manages to nudge at our empathetic selves through a feat that is never overstated. All other actors including Sreenivasan play along, as the script slogs along its way to the finishing point.
The well worn plot and the familiar characters in the film are impossible to root for. Sreekrishnan’s ‘Paviettante Madhurachooral’ strives to drive out the angst of its leads on to its viewers, but hardly scores.
Verdict: Average