Padavettu

Padavettu is a film that aspires to delve deep into themes of personal struggle and societal change, presenting a story that's firmly rooted in its setting. The film's grounded storytelling is one of its standout features, offering a realistic portrayal of rural life that feels authentic and immersive. It's a story that aims to reflect the challenges and aspirations of its characters in a way that resonates with the audience. However, despite these positives, the film struggles to maintain its momentum, leaving me with mixed feelings.

The film opens with promise, setting up a narrative that feels both intimate and epic. The cinematography captures the essence of the rural landscape beautifully, enhancing the film's realistic tone. There are moments where the storytelling shines, drawing me into the world and the characters' lives. The film's attention to detail in depicting its setting and the nuances of everyday life is commendable.

However, the film falters with its pacing. The story unfolds at a sluggish pace, making it challenging to stay engaged throughout its runtime. At times, I found myself waiting for the plot to pick up, only to be met with prolonged sequences that felt more meandering than meaningful. This slow pace, combined with a plot that can be hard to follow, detracts from the overall impact of the film. The narrative occasionally becomes muddled, making it difficult to fully grasp the characters' motivations and the story's direction.

Another significant drawback is the film's lead character, who comes across as unlikable and hard to empathize with. While complex, flawed protagonists can be compelling, this particular character lacks the depth needed to make his journey relatable. His decisions and actions often left me feeling disconnected, which is a shame considering the film's potential to explore meaningful themes.

The supporting cast, while delivering competent performances, are sometimes underutilized. There are glimpses of interesting character dynamics and subplots that could have added depth to the story but remain underexplored. This leaves certain aspects of the film feeling incomplete, as though some narrative threads were left dangling without resolution.

Despite its shortcomings, Padavettu offers moments of brilliance that hint at what could have been a powerful narrative. The film's grounded storytelling and visual appeal are its strongest assets, providing a glimpse into a world that's both familiar and new. However, these positives are overshadowed by pacing issues, a hard-to-follow plot, and an unlikable lead character, making it a film that falls short of its potential.

Amazing cinematography and bgm... realistic characters but with a fairy tale touch... what a brilliant director LK is! My second favorite director after LJP in malayalam cinema!!! Very artistic move! So times we are confused with the story and think what this director is trying to say but if we understand that is the way director is trying to portrait the characters like in a fairy tale and it is very artistic! Dont watch the movie expecting like a typical old generation movies but this one is director's brilliance and we need to watch from his angle. Then we can really enjoy the art in the film.

The movie discusses a relevant topic of the current society in a very pleasant manner. The movie was a great experience with its storyline, screenplay, cast and best performance of the actors. The movie speaks about the illegal activities that some political parties do to get power and influence within the general public. Thanks to the direction, the movie had a very pleasant first half and the transformed second half where the main idea of the movie is conveyed to the viewers. The cinematography was also awesome and the movie was able to build the imaginary village in the minds of the views. Overall quality of the movie was great.

The story was not bad but the screenplay dragged each scene with unnecessary shots that it became impossible to even pretend to like the film... Too much slowmo in the last fight, in fact the whole fight was in slow-motion. Story writing style was pretty old where things were being explained on atom level, c'mon, we are living in net age. People understand things faster than the speed of light.

However I liked the casting. Shine could've been used better or a bit more of his involvement would have been great.

Overall an average flick... People who watch movies based on the lead actor in the film would like it a lot 'cause Nivin has done a great job.

Padavettu depicts the essence of Indian politics through the struggles of a rural village and a protagonist who rises up to the occasion after living the longest time in his own failures. The film brilliantly draws out the characters, their existence in the land and the different sides of politics very clearly.

All the characters are very flawed in their own ways which are also very realistic and relatable. I've seen other films that have shown similar character arcs like that of Nivin in this film. But what made this really different is that there were many moments in this film where in another film it would be a point where he starts doing something different. But here, his fears and doubts are given so much focus all the while he arrogantly walks away from everything he should be facing. It felt so real and raw that he took this much time to do something and even when he does something it doesn't change everything immediately. The time taken for the transition made it feel very real.

Talking about the politics of the film, on one side there are genuine politicians who are still in the trappings of being a politician with decades of political culture that still drags down their ideologies. They do the work in the way they know and are comfortable with. Which is not really that great for the common people at first glance. On the other side, there are those who see this as the opportunity to rise up and take the power using the power they have with money, ultimately aiming to make even more money. These businessmen may not only use sweet words and investments into the people like the movie says loud but also uses various methods to create a divide between the people to their own benefit.

It's also worth noting that this film also uses the myths of the land like Theyyam at times and even wild boars like the recent Kannada film Kantara even though this doesn't really have any mystical element in this and uses them as metaphors that are motivating.

The plot is not really anything new to Malayalam cinema. But the way the different aspects are explored in the movie makes it one of the best attempts to use this plot. But the biggest positive of the movie being the exploration of those aspects ends up as the negative too in a way. When the movie ends and says to be continued, it really feels like half a movie that ended at a great interval punch. There are a lot of characters that are only explored enough as in the first half of a movie and need more exploration. The politics, as strong as the movie depicted it, could only be completed with the rest of the story. With the not-so-great box office collection and other issues in the background of the film, that doesn't look too hopeful.