Monday, May 1, 2023

Paachuvum Albhuthavilakum: "Akhil continues his father's legacy!!!"

Apart from"PS2", there were two other major releases that hit the screens last Friday among which this review is about Akhil Sathyan's "Paachuvum Albhuthavilakkum". I presume the surname would have raised a couple of eyebrows, well just as you might have suspected this is indeed Sathyan Anthikad's son. Just like his twin brother, Akhil has also put his hat in the ring to prove his worth as a director after having assisted his father & brother in a couple of projects. So will he able to helm a project that would make his family proud & the movie lovers happy???

In his directorial debut, Akhil has chosen to juggle with a couple of responsibilities which includes editing & penning the story that he wanted to convey. As opposed to his father's usual backdrop of luscious green scenic villages, Akhil chose to stage his tale in Goa, Mumbai & Kerala. Prasanth aka Paachu (Fahadh Faasil) had been running the Kottaikkal Arya Vaidyashala franchisee in Mumbai for quite a while & his efforts had started to bear fruit. In order to continue the association, he headed back home for a short visit & renewed the contract. On the way back, the owner of the complex, Riyas (Vineeth) where he had his shop requested him for a favour whereby he had to accompany Riyas's mother Laila (Viji Venkatesh) back to Mumbai. Paachu agrees to it oblivious of the fact that it was a trip that would change his life. 

Atleast some of you would have wondered as to whether it sounded familiar to the template of Sathyan Anthikad's movies. Well if you did, then even I would agree to it coz it reminded me of "Njan Prakashan" & "Oru Indian Pranayakatha" among others in some context. However, that does not imply that it hampered the viewing experience since it offers the audience a laid back feel with numerous light moments that will give us a smile especially in the first half. The underlying theme is about an important Government campaign & Akhil has crafted the story with the right balance without being preachy or melodramatic. Kudos to the work that Akhil had put into fleshing out most characters & also for the thought that went into the casting. Similarly, Justin Prabhakaran deserves praise for the music & Sharan Velayudhan Nair for the apt frames that gelled with the mood. 

The main highlight of the movie are the performances & literally all of them have done their jobs pretty well. Does one even have to talk about Fahadh? He was excellent as always & handled the situational humour with finesse. Anjana Jayaprakash was a delight to the eyes as she seemed completely at ease as Hamsadhwani. Vineeth was impressive as the arrogant selfish yet passionate son, which is proof that he is an artist who is under utilized in our industry. Among the other main characters, Dhwani (as Nidhi) & Viji Venkatesh (as Ummachi) did their parts aptly. As for the rest, Indrans, Mukesh, Althaf etc were also fine while the presence of Innocent on screen does make us emotional. 

Verdict: The template & the general feel of the movie undoubtedly gives the vibe of his father's movies. However, Akhil does give us characters & sequences that is light and enjoyable. It could have been a bit more crisper but on the whole it does not test our patience. In short, give it a try!!!

Rating: 3/5

Regards...Ben

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