Pathonpatham Noottandu

*** Pathonpatham Nootandu ( 19th Century) Movie Review ***

Directed by Vinayan...

Starring Siju Wilson , Anoop Menon , Chemban Vinod , Sudev Nair, Kayadu Lohar in lead role...

Verdict of The Movie : Super Hit ... 5/5 ⭐

Plot of the Movie...

During the era of 19th Century, in the place of Travancore, there was a custom that women of lower caste is not allowed to cover their breasts..They were deprived of their fundamental right... Moreover they also need to pay breast tax..

Also there were other crimes named as tradition like moustache tax for lower caste men, not allowed to visit temple, not allowed to wear the used clothes of the upper middle class...

So Aaratpuzha Velayudhan Chekavar a fierceless person who also belongs to the lower caste was on a battle against this unjust crime against the state...

Positive Factors of the Movie

1) Siju Wilson, this man broken the expectations of the movie...If he was a comedian in Premam, no one ever believed that he could carry such a heavy character..Even when the movie poster launched i was confident that this will be an another disaster for Vinayan the film maker but Siju you stolen the show...

2) Vinayan Sir writing and screenplay was good... His involvement was well evident in all the sectors of the movie, be it action, sound design, art direction etc...

3) Kayadu Lohar as Nangeli also gave a stellar performance...

4) Action sequences were well choreographed, especially the climax fight sequence was awesome...

5) Vinayan sir able to bring out the hardships faced by the lower caste people in depriving from their fundamental right especially the last scene wherein Nangeli cuts her breast to show her protest against the attrocity was heart touching.....

6) Cameo Appearance of Indrans stolen the heart of the audience....

Negative Factors of The Movie

1) Songs were not upto the mark...

2) Casting of Tiny Tom Deepti Sati , Chemban Vinod was not right...

3) Portray of Kayamkulam Kochuni characterization seems to be incorrect as Kayakulam Kochuni Malayalam movie played by Nivin Pauly was different...

I am kinda confused as to why I found this one to be surprisingly the best one among the recent lot of period dramas that came and went without any real engaging experience.

It doesn't do anything better than the period dramas that came before but idk it maybe coz it didn't have that kind of elevations like them too.

The sets weren't very striking except for a few ones like the ones put up for the port? The others looked good but at the same time the artificiality could also be easily seen.

The performances were decent enough and i guess I found it engaging and entertaining coz of the narrative and major plot points, which I felt were delivered neatly and with needed seriousness in it..... which I didn't find effective in those other malayalam period dramas (if being honest MAMANGAM did have a partially effective one though but it faltered on most of the other stuff) of recent times.

Siju Wilson delivers in a good if not exceptional way and the other supporting cast members too contributed decent performances.

The script was missing with good and striking character elevations and dialogues and the action sequences too weren't anything gripping.

Everything felt really grounded from the get go but the climatic action sequences was the one that finally did the very much needed character elevation and stylish(even if with a bit overused slowmotion effect)and engaging and the whole of it even made me root for AVP :)

Overall even with the lack of good and memorable character expositions, quality compressions and lack of tightness in script I really found it to be an engaging and enjoyable period action drama fr.

PS the voiceover from ikka at the end. Lit af

6.5/10.

This could have been an epic, landmark movie ! In terms of production and costumes the movie might be one, but had the storytelling be tighter, editing a bit more crispier, some insights into main character's origin or struggles or "thoughts" (we only see his final actions and repercussions of those actions.

Now coming to the movie itself - the actions sequences were well shot - but got repeating and quite honestly boring towards the end. I was almost sleeping through some in the Theatre after a while ( yeah there is bunch of similar slow motion action sequences which definitely could have been cut)

The idea of clubbing Nangeli, Kochunni and Velayuda Panikar as a creative liberty would have been fine had they made a significant difference - here these are done in a messy and pretty ridiculous manner. And king asking Panikar to capture Kochunni and Kochunni stealing from a poor priest are really doing injustice and totally wrapping history cruelly and un-necessarily as well ( it doesnt really after the overall narrative other much )

Pathonpatham Noottandu is an episodic re-telling of certain events that took place in the 19th century with extreme cinematic liberties taken by writer-director Vinayan. For sure, the visuals by Shaji Kumar, Ajayan Chalissery's production design, Supreme Sundar's stunt choreography, and Santhosh Narayanan's score give the film a strong technical backing but the script lacks the emotional punch required in a film like this. Siju Wilson's presence is imposing and he totally shines in the set-pieces as Ezhava spice merchant turned activist Aarattupuzha Velayudha Panicker. Kayadu Lohar's portrayal of Nangeli is also quite impressive. Chemban Vinod, who plays (a different version of) Kayamkulam Kochunni, is decent. The cast is huge, with prominent names filling up important roles.

For a relatively smaller budget period film, Pathonpatham Noottandu scores better than some of the other entries in this genre in recent memory (i.e. In the Malayalam language). Yet, most characters are uni-dimensional and fail to register as anything beyond good/bad. The melodrama, which is usually on the higher side in Vinayan films, is thankfully balanced out with the action blocks and sub-plots. He reserves it exclusively for the climax, which recalls a folklore we've all read or heard somewhere. There is a very chapter-by-chapter feeling to the film, be it in the way it introduces (and re-introduces) characters or major plot developments. This adds to the emotional disconnect between us viewers and the film's protagonists.

First of all I would like to appreciate the effort that has been put into making this film.

Positives.. 1. Good performance from The Nangleli actress. She did her best.

2. The BGM is nice even though there are places where its overdone.

3. The overall direction, art and choreography did well.

4. The film did bring those old era feels.

Now onto some criticism.. 1. Siju Wilson performance is just average, I mean the acting part.

2. Storyline is bit boring here and there. Not a totally compelling tale.

3. Gokulam Gopalan's casting as the lead actor's grandfather is terrible (cringe fest).

4. Also the Kannan kurup guy is below average.

5. Expected a more intense screenplay.

The film is better than Marakkar or Mamangam but no way close to Vadakkan Veeragatha or Pazhassiraja.