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Parunthu review
Cast: Mammooty, Lakshmi Rai, Roma, Sreelatha, Jayasoorya, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kochin Haneefa, Mamu koya, Augustin, Suraj Vejaramood, Saju kodiyan
Director: M Padmakumar
Producer: Howly Pottur
Cinematography: Sajeev Sankar
An interesting and promising story-line gone off the track for lack of a well-written script - that's what the Mammootty-starrer Parunthu is. Coming from T.A. Razack (who did the screenplay for films like Ente Sreekuttikku, Raapakal, Vesham etc) and M. Padmakumar (who directed films like Ammakilikoodu, Vargam and Vaasthavam) you certainly would have expected a lot more from Parunthu than the totally disappointing stuff that it has eventually delivered after all the hype.
Produced under the banner of Dream Team Productions, Parunthu tells the story of a heartless money-lender Purushottaman, who is known to all as 'Parunthu' (meaning Eagle) for his rancorous ways. Purushottaman, who has never cared for the feelings of people around him or the destiny of the people who borrow money from him, was bothered only about his business interests.
Purushottaman has two very funny guys - Kunjachchan and Poojapura Mahendran - as his aides. And he has an arch-rival in Kallayi Azeez, who had once been his friend. Azeez wants to see Purushottaman's downfall, but the latter always manages to survive.
One day Purushottaman goes to one Hemant Bhai to recover money lent to him. It happens to be the eve of the marriage of Rakhi, Hemant Bhai's elder daughter. Hemant Bhai fails to return the money and is threatened with dire consequences. The marriage does not take place. Hemant Bhai becomes a mental wreck and his daughters are taken under the wings of Azeez, who decides to protect them.
In the meantime Vinayan, who had been working as a carrier for Azeez, joins Purushottaman. Things move towards a point where (as you might have very well guessed) something drastic happens in the life of our hero, forcing him to mend his ways and turn a new leaf. And that forms the rest of the plot.
The main problem with Parunthu is that the film is extremely slow especially in the second half. It's the script that is to be blamed. The mediocre script led to the director losing his grip over the story and the film as a whole.
Of the three songs, two seem to have been deliberately put in and are totally unwarranted. The only song that is good is "Nee cheytha karmangal...", sung by Jayachandran, while the song "Mayile..." has been visualized rather distastefully. It looks like music composer Alex Paul has lost his magic touch; he has been churning out unimpressive stuff of late. The background score by Ousepachchan however, is good. There's nothing much to be mentioned about the technical aspects of the film.
Performance-wise Mammootty as 'Parunthu' Purushottaman is good, but his character lacks soul. Jayan, who has mostly been seen in television serials and in some films too, is good as Azeez. Jagathy Sreekumar as Hemant Bhai too is good. Lakshmi Rai as Rakhi falters at many places while Kalyani as Hemant Bhai's younger daughter is good. Jayasurya is OK as Vinayan. Cochin Haneefa as Kunjachchan is his usual self. Suraaj Venjaramoodu, though he elicits a few laughs as Poojapura Mahendran, delivers nothing new. Mamookoya as Kunjikka, who had once been a moneylender and now is a wreck of a man, is good, though he and his character have nothing much to do in the film.
The main flaw with the film as mentioned is with the way the story is presented. The dialogues too are unimpressive. The screenplay has too many loose ends and it is doubtful whether Parunthu will make any impact at the box office.
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