Take a bow MT and Hariharan! Contrary to popular perception, you made a magnum opus after all! The best malayalam movie to come out in a long time. I would go a little further to say one of the best movies to come out of India in a long time. I don't know if I am still affected by watching the movie, but I honestly cannot recall a better Indian movie I have watched in a long time.
I am not going to write about the story, go watch the movie! If you are a history illiterate then it would be a delightful lesson, and for the ones who know the history its a delight in itself to watch events unfold.
The movie is 3 hours 20 minute long, but you would never feel the length. It starts of slowly, gradually picks up the pace and second half goes like a big whoosh.
To be honest, the movie does not having gripping or memorable dialogues like Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha. But still, it is the individual performances make the movie a delight to watch. There are way too many characters and some very important characters who literally just walk-in and go in a single scene. Especially, Unni Moosa Moopan, the character played by Capt. Raju comes in a couple of scenes which does not do any justice to the part he played in history. The 4 minute song at his home could have been converted to something productive. Apart from this minor grouse, I guess characterisation and casting has been spot on.
Mammooty is graceful and exudes an aura. Its difficult imagine anyone else as Pazhassi Raja. Thankfully, his screen time is limited in comparison to the fare he has been dishing out recently. This builds up to the anticipation of his appearance. Only flaw I can see is that he underplayed the character a wee bit. A little too graceful and sort of one dimensional. May be he did justice to the real Pazhassi Raja!
Sharath Kumar as Edachena Kunkan Nair stole the limelight. He is the real star in the movie as far as I am concerned. I never considered him to be a good actor and boy how wrong I am! His screen presence is immense and its not every day that you see someone stealing the show from Mammooty!
Manoj K Jayan as the tribal leader Thalakkal Chanthu does full justice to his role and Suresh Krishna as Kaithery Ambu is also very good. Jagathy Sreekumar as the Eas India Company crony has executed his role very well. His attempts at humour early on doesn't do justice to the man's ability though. And where did Jagadeesh disappear after being introduced as the second crony?
When it comes to female characters, Kaniha was her graceful best. But the best one was Padmapriya as Neeli, Chanthu's fiancee. Her action sequences are mindblowing and it does help that she looks damn sexy! Her last stand against the EIC army will be etched in memory for a long time.
The actors portraying the British are so-so at best. A haunting question: Why is there always a white female sympathetic to the natives in every pre-independance movie?
Technically, this movie is the best from Malayalam cinema so far. It does match up to the recent Bollywood big budgets productions as well. Camera work is breathtaking at times. LOTR esque shots, battle scenes inside the forest in heavy rains...the movie is visual spectacular. Sound perfectly matches the visuals if not surpasses. Resul Pookutty has shown why he is the best in the business. Sounds of swordfights, water, battles are intricate and adds to the experience.
Do yourself a service and go watch the movie! Its best watched in a theatre to say the least!
Coming to economics. The movie costs 27 crores. Nearly 6 times that of a normal superstar movie in Malayalam. Its almost impossible to cover cost from Kerala alone. I guess the movie would do very well in Tamil Nadu thanks to the career best performance by Sharath Kumar and Mammooty. I have my reservations on the success for Telugu and Hindi versions. It was heartening to see a packed house in Innovative Bangalore for the late night show on a week day though!
Rating: 9/10 (The only glaring negative I would say is the misuse of ropes in a couple of fight scenes.)
