Pulimurugan — Mohanlal is back with a BANG !!!

Mohanlal’s Pulimurugan was one of the most anticipated Malayalam films of 2016. The announcement made almost 2 years ago, marked the union of Vysakh, the director, Tomichan Mulakupadam, the producer, Uday Krishna from the very popular Uday Krishna Sibi K Thomas duo and the Complete Actor himself. The movie after facing a lot of delays for filming as well as post production finally hit the theatres on Oct 6th, 2016.

I managed to watch the movie on the very first day of its release and I was relieved and satisfied to see that the team has come up with something that meets the expectations and if not a classic action film, it’s not a disaster as well. History says that Malayalam cinema audience is not that comfortable with big budget movies with single heroes since the 2000s if I am right. Mammooty’s Dubai, Mohanlal’s Sagar Alias Jacky and Cassanova are a few from the list of such disasters. One may argue that these films are not so bad, but the fact is they failed to live up to the expectations. As far the latest in the list of such hyped films — Pulimurugan did not leave me shattered or disappointed.

It has been 3 days since I watched the movie and I did not see anything worth writing about the film until I saw the review of the same in The Hindu. The reviewer Mr. S.R. Praveen slammed the film calling it an utter disappointment. This literally irked me as flaws of Pulimurugan have been clearly outweighed by its positives.

This post is not a review to glorify the film or its cast and crew. This is just an attempt to prove that the reviewer is wrong.

1. Mohanlal is an actor who always plays it safe as far as directors are concerned. Very rarely do we see him acting in a film directed by the new age directors and signing a film, which may sound challenging on the paper itself for Vysakh, who is known for his mass masala entertainers is a clear indication that film had something to offer.

2. The film will go into the history books as the best action choreographed film in Malayalam cinema. The benchmark set by the film for action choreography by the superman Peter Hein is really a challenge for the other big budget movies in the making, like Karnan.

3. The storyline is pretty average and almost predictable but the scripting and editing have been done in such a way that the audience is never left bored, not even for a couple of minutes.

4. The shooting locations, cinematography and art direction has brought in never seen before visuals for Malayalam audience. The forest sequences, the shots involving tiger and VFX justify the budget and at the same time, the audience is never left with an impression that there has been a lavish spending spree during production.

5. The Mohanlal — Lal chemistry is something new for the Malayalam cinema. I can recollect only Kanmadam and Rock n Roll where this duo has appeared onscreen before. Their combination worked well on screen and the comedy timings were terrific.

Now the cons –

1. Even though titled Pulimurugan, the film brings in the tiger only for the character build up and the introduction of hero and for the climax. Unlike Mrigaya, the first Malayalam film based on a tiger hunt, the script totally revolves around Murugan and the tiger is just one of the challenges faced by him.

2. The female lead Kamalini Mukherjee has nothing to offer other than a single expression of a confused state. Namitha, portraying a seductress is another unwanted member in the star cast.

3. The comedy track of the film led by National award winner Suraj Venjaramoodu is disappointing. Double meaning dialogues could have been avoided.

4. The film’s main antagonist Jagapathi Babu himself is a capable villain and logic behind Kabali fame Kishore being cast in a minor role as forest ranger just for an action sequence needs justification.

Given all these facts, the huge rush in front of theatres showing Pulimurugan itself is a fact that proves my claim that the pros of this film clearly outweigh its cons. The film has its minus points but the efforts put in by the team, especially Mohanlal at his age of 56 is something every one of us should be proud of. When such attempts are made, it is the responsibility of fans, supporters, online and offline media to spread the good word and help the producer recover his cost. A superhero / macho film is a like a biriyani and I can’t figure out a reason for not having a tasty biriyani once in a while.