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Panthaya Kozhi -
1 year ago
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Panthaya Kozhi Movie Review (1 Reviews)
Panthayakozhi, directed by M.A. Venuu and
produced Lal, who has produced only hits till date, is a film that
disappoints you on the whole. It seems hard to believe that a director
who had earlier given us a film like Chakoram could come up with such insufferable stuff.
Panthayakozhi starts with a bang. We are taken fifteen years
back in time to Kalimuththupalayam in Tamil Nadu. A person who refuses
to submit to the wishes of goondas doing booth-rigging during an
election gets his hand cut off by the villainous Nachiappan.
And then we are transported back to the present with Nandagopal and his
three friends, who live in Palakkad district of Kerala, spending their
time merrily, playing all kinds of silly pranks on people, singing,
dancing etc. But Nandagopal has his own responsibilities and lives with
his mother Madhavi and mute sister Maya at his uncle's house.
Nandagopal's uncle Shankaran Nair and aunt Bhanumathi make him work
hard and rebuke him for no reason.
In the meantime one Abdulla Rowther arrives from Kalimuththupalayam one
day and hands over to Shankaran Nair the documents of a house and
property that is in Kalimuththupalayam. After Abdulla Rowther departs,
Shankaran Nair informs Nandagopal that he had bought for Nandagopal,
Madhavi and Maya a house in Kalimuththupalayam in Tamil Nadu. He asks
Nandagopal to go to the place and sell off the property so that the
money can be used by them for acquiring a new house and to marry off
Maya.
Nandan sets off and is joined there by Bhaskaran, who has reached there
as per the request of Nandan and his friends. As Nandan and Bhaskaran
step into the compound of the house, they meet Chembakam and her gang
of kids who have been stealing things from the compound. Chembakam
remarks that the house is haunted and Rajappan, who runs a tea-shop
nearby, too endorses this opinion. Nandan and Bhaskaran find it
difficult to sell the house, as Chembakam does everything possible to
dissuade prospective buyers.
Nandan's friends meanwhile arrive and they all decide to bring Nandan's
mother and sister to stay in the house. When Madhavi comes and stands
before the house, she is shocked. For there is a story from the past
that she remembers - one that Nandan doesn't know. In the days that
follow, Nandan is destined to encounter some very tragic developments
and also face the crooked, scheming and powerful Nachiappan.
There seems to be nothing new or refreshing about Panthayakozhi
and it seems that it is a film that should have been made some ten or
fifteen years back. Narein, who does the lead role, playing Nandagopal,
cuts a poor figure and even falters in the scenes where he has to emote
strongly. He falters in dialogue delivery too, which he does rather
unconvincingly at many places. He does the last scene very convincingly
though, indicating the arrival of a new action hero, but the makers
should have remembered that it is not a single well-executed scene, but
the totality of the film that matters.
Pooja as Chembakam is OK while Ramya Nambeeshan has not much to do as
the mute Maya. Cochin Haneefa as Bhaskaran is his usual self. Same is
the case with Janardhanan as Shankaran Nair, Geetha as Madhavi, Indrans
as Rajappan and Manka Mahesh as Bhanumathi. Sudheesh, Sreejith Ravi and
Anoop Chandran as Nandagopal's friends are OK. Lal is OK in the few
scenes in which he appears as Nandagopal's late father Raghavan. Rami
Reddy makes his debut in Malayalam as Nachiappan and the character that
he plays is just like those umpteen ones he had played in many films in
Hindi, Tamil etc. Veteran actor Madhu does a very impressive cameo as
Abdulla Rowther.
The songs are good, especially the "Karimbanayude kaattile..." and "Sundariye chembakamalare..."
numbers. Technical aspects are good. Cinematographer Venugopal has
captured the beauty of the Palakkad landscape in the song sequences,
but we have seen similar locations in many other films and hence it all
seems boring. In total, Panthayakozhi has a subject that could
have been made impressive if the script-writer and the director had
worked a bit harder. As such the film has nothing new, nothing
impressive and is simply boring stuff.
Movie Rating: 
Music Rating: 