Movie Review: ‘Pookkaalam’ – a feel-good film revolving around a 100-year-old man

‘Aanandam’ director Ganesh Raj, who gifted us a feel-good school drama as a debutant, is again after a seven-year hiatus. This time, he has returned with one other romantic drama, retaining a number of the actors from his debut work.

The storyline of the film is kind of distinctive because it revolves round a 100-year-old man who instantly discovers that his spouse had an affair throughout their marriage. The incident leaves him disturbed and he begins contemplating a divorce. The incident and the sudden turns of occasions turns into the speak of the city, leaving the household, particularly his equally outdated spouse, devastated.

The upcoming divorce of each Ichappan (Vijayaraghavan) and Ichamma (KPAC Leela), as they’re fondly referred to as, comes throughout their grand-daughter Elsy’s betrothal. Elsy (performed by Devika) decides to find the id of the person who wrote the letter.

Although the film dwells on a severe topic like a marital discord, Ganesh Raj’s ‘Pookkaalam’ isn’t a tear-jerker. As a substitute, he depends on the youthful vibrancy that was the pillar of his earlier work, to relate this movie, too.

Vijayaraghavan’s transformation into an 100-year-old man is noteworthy. At first glimpse, he appears unrecognizable. The make-up artist has completed an unbelievable job remodeling the actor into a person who’s within the sundown of his life.

Watching the actor carry out was a deal with, although he wanted to be a bit extra convincing in some scenes. KPAC Leela, Basil Joseph, Johny Antony, Jagadish, Devika, Arun Kurian, amongst others, have been a delight to observe.

Regardless of the nice performances, the weak dialogues and the failure to discover a number of the characters additional, have an effect on the movie, which is in any other case an fascinating household drama.

Ichamma’s conviction about her supposedly ‘sinful’ previous, was not convincingly portrayed, making her seem because the stereotypical, timid lady of a Christian family. A couple of jokes fall flat, however court docket scenes between Vineeth Sreenivasan, Basil Joseph and Johny Antony elicit a couple of laughs.

Malayalam cinema has explored aged couple relationships by means of movies like ‘Oru Cheru Punchiri’, but it surely’s good to see a contemporary tackle this topic.