Christmas is here & as one would expect there are a host of movies that has hit the screens hoping to capture the attention of the audience. I was back home in Kollam for a couple of days & didnt have to think twice to rush off to the nearest pilgrimage site for a movie buff which is obviously the theatre. There were quite a few that I wanted to watch of which Rosshan Andrrews's "Prathi Poovankozhi" caught my attention primarily due to the uniqueness in its title. As a film maker, Rosshan rarely disappoints & I hoped that the trend continues.
Madhuri (Manju Warrier) is a sales girl & the sole bread earner of her family which consisted of only her widowed mother. As her father owed a significant amount to the bank, she was constantly under pressure from the concerned authorities to clear off the debts lest they impounded her property. To further compound her troubles, she gets molested in the bus by a rather infamous rowdy & before she could vent out her anger, he managed to slip into the crowd. Despite being discouraged by her well wishers & terrified of what such a rowdy could do to her if she confronted him, she was still adamant that she would teach him a lesson. This essentially forms the crux of this movie which has a running time of just about 100 minutes.
Rosshan's credentials as a director needs no introduction as I have invariably been impressed with all his celluloid creations except for "Cassanova". This time around he has taken the short story 'Sankadam' penned by Unni R & has weaved an extremely relevant topic that haunts the society. Just like Rosshan, Unni has a respectable name in the industry coz of scripts like "Chaappa Kurishu", "Munnariyippu" etc. The manner in which the society responds to women being molested is shown realistically & it paints a sad yet sorry picture that many women have resigned to the fact that nothing will ever get down to prevent such occurrences. To make matters worse, they also stand the risk of getting their names tainted for no obvious fault of theirs thanks to media & the narrow minded group in the population. The casting was spot on for both the main characters but I cant say the same about Anusree as the flirtatious character written for her didnt quite suit her, the lady who played Manju's mother had no chemistry with her & Divya Prabha.
On the technical side, Gopi Sundar's BGM was in sync with the mood of the movie. If at all, there was something negative I certainly felt that this wasn't worth a full fledged movie but rather a short film. Manju Warrier was fantastic as the fiery protagonist while Rosshan will definitely surprise the audience with his looks & body language which was spot on for the character. Anusree & Alensier shared a good chemistry with Manju, Saiju Kurup was fine with his shades of grey while Divya Prabha seemed artificial.
Verdict: Since the production values are on the lower side, the producers should be able to recover the costs. There is no doubt that Rosshan has portrayed an extremely relevant topic but I felt it had the content only for a short film. It might not get as many takers as one would expect in a festive season but I would certainly suggest everyone to check it out.
Rating: 3/5
Regards...Ben
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