Parunthu: Reviews:

 
Rediff:

July 21, 2008 13:54 IST

Parunthu, Mammootty's latest Malayalam film deals with the world of
Blade Mafia (a term used for private money lenders charging
exorbitant interest) that has become the bane of the middle class
trying to be upwardly mobile. Directed by M Padmakumar, (his first
with Mammootty), the effort is the most lacklustre of his four films.

Basically, it is a character-driven film without a story (written by
veteran T A Razak) to support him. The intensity Mammootty puts into
his performance is nothing short of thrilling. However, after the
initial adrenalin rush, the realisation dawns that we are not moving
forward.

Parunthu Purashu (Mammootty) is a ruthless money lender who would go
to any extent in humiliating the borrower if he does not return the
sum and the interest on time. This character is full of negative and
villainous traits. And, as if to thicken the plot, there is a
competitor in the form of a childhood playmate who had always
defeated him in the game of soccer by cheating. The competitor is
Aziz (Jayan, who acts as a poor imitation of Siddique). After
establishing the character and the rivalry, the film goes into a
limbo for a while and never returns to top form despite some thrills
pumped in some portions before and after the interval.

The story goes like this: Parunthu spoils the betrothal ceremony of
Rakhi (Lakshmy Rai) the daughter of a Gujarati businessman Hemanth
Bhai (Jagathy Sreekumar), who owes Parunthu money. As a result of
this, the engagement is called off, which unhinges Hemanth Bhai and
his daughter. Aziz is then called in to save the day.

Sounds simple, right? But there is no fluidity in the proceedings.
The scenes are all put up in a haphazard way so as to give us a false
sense of pace. But, the repetitive dialogues jar and mar the flow of
the narrative.

That said, we do see a couple of directorial flourishes in a couple
of scenes like Parunthu devouring chicken legs in the beginning while
watching a news story about a family suicide (his victims as a result
of his threats of eviction if they fail to repay the loan) all the
while justifying his actions.

In the second half the same dining area is enveloped in darkness
(after a change of heart), the food is untouched as a way of
expressing his of guilt that money is the be all and end all in life.

There are characters like the one played by Suraj Venjaramoodu who is
supposedly there to spread mirth.

On the whole, Parunthu is very tough to be endured let alone to be
enjoyed.

Rating-2/5

Indiaglitz:
Parunthu - Fails to take off 
IndiaGlitz  [Saturday, July 19, 2008] 

The hype around two superstar movies with similar plots suddenly fell flat with 'Parunthu', ending up as one that seldom keeps us engaging. Largely inspired from the likes of 'Devaasuram', in drawing the negative caricatures of protagonists, the movie just places another central character, this time a cruel money lender, in the already set frame of transition and turning a new leaf in the life of the lead baddie.

'Parunthu' has Mammootty as 'Parunthu' Purushothaman, a blade mafia chief having a particular penchant for hot cash, operating in Kozhikode city. He is like the ravenous hawk who pounce upon his preys, who are in demand of money and tearing them apart with his sharp eye with little care for any human emotions. He don't believe in any form of relationships as  his mother had abandoned him at a young age, leaving him to grow up as the right arm of a money lender, Kunjikka.

Purushu's  curious forms of  entertainments includes watching football matches on television, and practicing yoga and  exercises other than eating 'Nadan' Chicken fry and creating havoc's in families, trying to milk in his capital and its crude  interests.

Puroshothaman's few  associates includes  Vinayan (Jayasurya), another youth  trapped in  a planned 'Hawala' case, Kunjachan (Cochin Haneefa) a defaulter who now turns out as his cook and Poojapura Mahendran (Sooraj Venjaranmoodu), a small time land  broker. Purushu's only soft corner is with Seetha (Lakshana), whose property he has taken over after the elopement of  her husband, who defaulted Purushu's loan. The only opponent of 'Parunthu' is Kallayi Aziz, another cunning blade mafia don, who runs the Calicut chits and real estates.

The movie opens with a mass suicide of a family due to Purushu's harsh dealings. But Purushu never gets moved by these incidents, which he considers as a regular outcome of his business. He goes on to thrash other families who are already in his debit list and to drive them out of their properties, by using his thugs. The latest in his list is Hemanthbhai, a business tycoon who is in the verge of big loss due to pending court cases. Purushu halts the wedding of Rakhi, Bhai's daughter. And this leads to Bhai losing his mind and gradually succumbing to death.

The later half of the movie presents the expected but unavoidable change of the cruel hero into a hearty person, following a number of reasons of which, very few are convincing. In between all these incidents, Kallayi Aziz creates some situations that demands fights and intense dialogues. 'Parunthu', as usual, drags into its much predictable and sentimental climax, leaving the viewers much in despair.

T A Rasaq is easily the topper in the list of the best of the dialogue writers, available in Mollywood. But that does not qualify him as a good scriptwriter, though the veteran had an experience in the field of around two decades. 'Parunthu' is one best example of this never gripping screenplay writing. The  pit holes of the narratives, show more than itself in 'Parunthu', which even after with this inviting premise fails to take off to better arenas of film realization. Rasaq miserably fails to make the transition of the protagonist smooth enough to suit the demand of commercial format. Like the catchword in the scripts that he talks through the character 'Nammal randum villanmara, Villain jayikkunna charithrame illa'' and ends up taking the old fashioned ways for transformation of the villain into a savior.

Then comes the choreographer Rekha, who has done the most harm to the movie by the two songs that she has done for the movie. The first one, the Kavady song, is embarrassing and awful to watch, disturbing the mood and seriousness of the movie to the levels of amateurism. The repercussions on the viewers, who started booing this song from the shot one, subsided only after ten minutes from the song. The second song in the movie, the Gujarati stuff, also seldom invites much interest with poor shot selections, all through it       

And we suspect the director M Padmakumar who has shown much promise with his first three ventures, did his very little share, to rise over an ever faltering script lines. This movie never matches the quality and ingeniousness of his previous ventures. In the acting front, Mammootty in an out and out negative role holds the movie from ending up as bits and pieces. The  highpoint of the film is his attempt to break the mould of the  super hero  to present himself in black and grey , at the same time resisting any attempt to demeanor 'Maadambi' - the other movie with same plot ,running in theatres, thus avoiding a star warfare. Jay Kumar, a TV serial actor, as Kallayi Azeez  is a revelation and show promise of being in the industry for some more time.

The songs by Alex Paul are nothing exceptional while Ouseppacahan in rerecording has tried his best to make the movie, more engaging. Sanjeev Shankar behind the camera and Ranjan Abraham in editing just go through their routine jobs cycles.

All in all, 'Parunthu', provides a few good moments, but offers little else to distinguish itself from other slashed films, made with similar plots. Like any other humble birds, it is destined to fly low.

3.Nowrunning[1.5/5]:

Parunthu is a feel-nothing movie that tries too hard to find its way into your heart. And in its frantic attempts to do so, it presents before us an outrageous premise and then fails to make us believe it.

Parunthu Purushothaman (Mammootty) is a hawk-eyed moneylender with a particular penchant for hot cash. There are quite a few families that have taken to the streets as the ruthless monster stealthily descends on them, as a falcon in hot pursuit of its kill. Purushu doesn't think twice before rudely barging into a wedding and messing it all up, even as the bride Rakhi (Laxmi Rai) and her sister (Kalyani) gape speechless. In a mad fervor to crush the world under his feet, Purushu goes about waging a losing battle against truth, honesty and integrity.

The male leads in all of Padma Kumar's films have thick streaks of villainy running through their veins. They are seldom champions for a just cause until brought in confrontation with a bitter truth that wholly rips them apart. In Parunthu it's no different, and yet the makeover is terribly unconvincing due to a succession of events that are redundant, stiff and colorless. While the basic idea is an interesting one, two and a half hours of monotony is a bit too much to ask for its disclosure.

Razak's script has a zombie of a protagonist who badly wants to appear persuasive. In drawing up a ravenous soul, Razak disregards the need to perk it up with a prudent tale that constantly engages. Even as a greed for anything that smells of money lingers all over the film, there are a few instances that suggest gluttony as well. There are such nuances aplenty that would most fittingly be content for a character study, but certainly not alluring enough to sustain a viewer's concern.

Parunthu is a film that refuses to move beyond its kick-off point. Adamantly stuck to where it set off, it makes little progression and even lesser transition. There are a few trials to your patience as well, and there is no handsome reward at the end either.

Mammootty sports a frown through the entire length of the film, inkeeping with those shades of black and grey. It's his performance that occasionally lifts the film above its predictability. As a bleeding Purushu staggers along the hospital floors, begging for a bit of attention, we suddenly realize what we had been missing all the while. There is perhaps this only odd instance that's truly demanding of the fabulous actor's potential. The rest of it is a mushy enterprise with no thematic weight to justify the effort.

The most laudable feature of Parunthu is that it doesn't succumb to pave the way for a star warfare, which was eagerly anticipated by all and sundry, especially after its predecessor Madambi took an open dig at the film. As the credits roll, Parunthu has Purushothaman piercingly proclaiming that he would rather compete with himself, thereby pulling down the curtains on an imminent celebrity combat.

In Padma Kumar's Parunthu, the regal bird is uncharacteristically passive. There is simply no ferocity in its eyes nor does it whoosh about with a lethal clinch. All it does is soar senselessly all around with neither a prey nor a perch in sight.

4.Nowrunning[2/5]:

An interesting and promising story-line gone off the track for lack of a well-written script - that's what the Mammootty-starrer Parunthu is. Coming from T.A. Razack (who did the screenplay for films like Ente Sreekuttikku, Raapakal, Vesham etc) and M. Padmakumar (who directed films like Ammakilikoodu, Vargam and Vaasthavam) you certainly would have expected a lot more from Parunthu than the totally disappointing stuff that it has eventually delivered after all the hype.

Produced under the banner of Dream Team Productions, Parunthu tells the story of a heartless money-lender Purushottaman, who is known to all as 'Parunthu' (meaning Eagle) for his rancorous ways. Purushottaman, who has never cared for the feelings of people around him or the destiny of the people who borrow money from him, was bothered only about his business interests.

Purushottaman has two very funny guys - Kunjachchan and Poojapura Mahendran - as his aides. And he has an arch-rival in Kallayi Azeez, who had once been his friend. Azeez wants to see Purushottaman's downfall, but the latter always manages to survive.

One day Purushottaman goes to one Hemant Bhai to recover money lent to him. It happens to be the eve of the marriage of Rakhi, Hemant Bhai's elder daughter. Hemant Bhai fails to return the money and is threatened with dire consequences. The marriage does not take place. Hemant Bhai becomes a mental wreck and his daughters are taken under the wings of Azeez, who decides to protect them.

In the meantime Vinayan, who had been working as a carrier for Azeez, joins Purushottaman. Things move towards a point where (as you might have very well guessed) something drastic happens in the life of our hero, forcing him to mend his ways and turn a new leaf. And that forms the rest of the plot.

The main problem with Parunthu is that the film is extremely slow especially in the second half. It's the script that is to be blamed. The mediocre script led to the director losing his grip over the story and the film as a whole.

Of the three songs, two seem to have been deliberately put in and are totally unwarranted. The only song that is good is "Nee cheytha karmangal...", sung by Jayachandran, while the song "Mayile..." has been visualized rather distastefully. It looks like music composer Alex Paul has lost his magic touch; he has been churning out unimpressive stuff of late. The background score by Ousepachchan however, is good. There's nothing much to be mentioned about the technical aspects of the film.

Performance-wise Mammootty as 'Parunthu' Purushottaman is good, but his character lacks soul. Jayan, who has mostly been seen in television serials and in some films too, is good as Azeez. Jagathy Sreekumar as Hemant Bhai too is good. Lakshmi Rai as Rakhi falters at many places while Kalyani as Hemant Bhai's younger daughter is good. Jayasurya is OK as Vinayan. Cochin Haneefa as Kunjachchan is his usual self. Suraaj Venjaramoodu, though he elicits a few laughs as Poojapura Mahendran, delivers nothing new. Mamookoya as Kunjikka, who had once been a moneylender and now is a wreck of a man, is good, though he and his character have nothing much to do in the film.

The main flaw with the film as mentioned is with the way the story is presented. The dialogues too are unimpressive. The screenplay has too many loose ends and it is doubtful whether Parunthu will make any impact at the box office.

5.sify:[5]

Mammootty as Parinthu Purushothaman does an unusual negative role, as a moneylender (blade) riding a Bullet bike and with hardly any human emotions. He brings about a primal mixture of crudity and savagery into his role, which is the highpoint of the film.

Mammootty has to be appreciated for trying to break the mould or his do-gooder super hero image, by portraying the role of a ruthless 'blade mafia' chief with élan. Sad, for though you could applaud the actor's attempts at innovation, you can hardly savour the film in its totality.

Purushothaman (Mammootty) is a moneylender in Kozhikode town and runs his own blade mafia. He is like the proverbial 'Parinthu' (hawk) with a sharp eye who looks up from the skies to sweep down on his prey. Purushothaman has no human emotion as he was a born a bastard and his mother had abandoned him at a young age.

His only form of entertainment is eating 'Nadan' Chicken fry and watching football matches on television, and whenever he outsmarts his rivals, his favourite punchline is- Adichu Oru Penality.

Purushu occasionally spends the night with Seetha (Lakshana), whose property he has taken over after her husband ran away as he defaulted on his loan!

Those who have taken loan from him pledging their property at cut-throat interest rates normally end up committing suicide or are driven out of their property by his thugs.

Purushothaman celebrates by bursting crackers whenever he takes over the defaulter's property. His biggest rival is Kallai Azeez (Jayakumar). They were together in blade business, but are now competitors gunning for each other.

Puroshothaman's associates are Vinayan (Jayasurya), trapped in a 'Hawala' case by Azeez, and now protected by him . Kunjachan (Cochin Haneefa) a defaulter becomes his cook and Poojapura Mahendran (Sooraj Venjaranmoodu) a small time blade.

One day Purushothaman takes over the house of Hemant Bhai (Jagathy Sreekumar), a business tycoon who lost heavily and has taken a loan. Parinthu goes to Hemanth Bhai's house on his daughter Rakhi's (Lakshmi Rai) engagement day and makes a scene which results in the marriage being called off.

A shattered Hemanth Bai and his daughters Rakhi and Bhuvana (Kalyani) meet Azeez and borrow from him to pay back Parinthu leading to a dramatic twist in the tale.

The trouble with the film is that in commercial cinema you have to show the hero with negative shades turning over a new leaf for the better to justify his early villainy. Here Parinthu in the first half is completely black, with no redeeming features.

But in the second half, writer T.A Razzak and director Padmakumar makes the character have a change of heart, and in the last scene he becomes too sentimental. Purushothaman tells Azeez in the climax fight- Nammal randuperum villain mara. Villain jayakuna charithrame illa….

The makers' justification for turning a rock hard guy with no emotions suddenly into a emotional wreck is the film’s major flaw. The climax is jerky and loses the razor sharpness required of an action entertainer.

However Mammootty's performance, makes the film compelling. He brings about a savvy freshness to the negative role he does in the first half. The rest of the star cast does their usual job, Jayakumar a TV serial actor as the villain Azeez is a revelation.

Cut out the tuneless songs including an embarrassing 'Kavadi' song of Mammootty, Sooraj and Haneefa, the tendency to tilt towards slapstick, prune away the jagged edges Parinthu ,would have been a far better film. Still it is worth a dekko.

Verdict- Average

6.Galatta:



Director M. Padmakumar's latest film Parunthu opens with the mass suicide of a family due to the harsh dealings of Parunthu Purushottaman (Mammootty), a 'blade' mafia chief having a particular affinity towards money, operating in Kozhikode city. But Purushu's heart is least moved by the mass suicide; he does not believe in any form of relationships since his mother abandoned him at a young age, leaving him to grow up as the right-hand man of a moneylender, Kunjikka (Mamookoya).

Purushottaman continues to thrash other families who are unable to repay the loans they took from him and to drive them out of their properties. The latest in his list is a Gujarati businessman Hemanth Bhai (Jagathy Sreekumar), who is on the verge of big losses due to pending court cases.

Hemanth Bhai fails to return the money and is threatened with dire consequences on the eve of the marriage of his elder daughter Rakhi (Lakshmi Rai). Purushu halts the wedding; this leads to Bhai losing his mind and finally surrendering his life.

The story takes a different twist when Bhai's daughters are taken under the protection of Kallayi Azeez (Jayan), another cunning blade mafia don. Kallayi Azeez had always defeated Purushu in soccer during their childhood days by cheating. In the midst of all these incidents, Azeez creates some situations that demand fights and intense dialogues. In the meantime, Vinayan (Jayasurya), an associate of Azeez, joins Purushu. The latter portion of the story presents the predictable and unavoidable change of the cruel hero into a soft-hearted person with a sentimental climax!

Apparently the negative traits in Parunthu are largely inspired from Mohanlal's Devasuram. Like Mohanlal's character in Devasuram (Mangalaserry Neerakandan), Mammootty's character is also very negative. But the difference is that Parunthu is a character-driven film, lacking a good story.

Performance-wise, Mammootty as Parunthu Purushottaman is good, but his character lacks soul. There is nothing much to talk about Jayan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Lakshmi Rai, Kalyani, Jayasurya, Cochin Haneefa, Mamookoya and Suraaj Venjaramoodu, who all deliver nothing new.

The mediocre script is the weak part of the movie, which was not expected from T.A. Razzaq who created screenplays for blockbusters like Ente Sreekuttikku, Raapakal, Vesham, etc. With this insipid script, how can we expect more from director M. Padmakumar, who has directed hits like Ammakilikoodu and Vaasthavam?

Of the three songs composed by Alex Paul, 'Nee cheytha karmangal' sung by Jayachandran is good while the other two songs appear to be deliberately pushed into the film. The background score by Ousepachchan is good. Sanjeev Shankar behind the camera and Ranjan Abraham in editing just go through their routine jobs. There is nothing great about the technical aspects of the film. Though Parunthu offers a few good moments, it provides little to rise above other films with similar plots!
P

Director M. Padmakumar's latest film Parunthu opens with the mass suicide of a family due to the harsh dealings of Parunthu Purushottaman (Mammootty), a 'blade' mafia chief having a particular affinity towards money, operating in Kozhikode city. But Purushu's heart is least moved by the mass suicide; he does not believe in any form of relationships since his mother abandoned him at a young age, leaving him to grow up as the right-hand man of a moneylender, Kunjikka (Mamookoya).

Purushottaman continues to thrash other families who are unable to repay the loans they took from him and to drive them out of their properties. The latest in his list is a Gujarati businessman Hemanth Bhai (Jagathy Sreekumar), who is on the verge of big losses due to pending court cases.

Hemanth Bhai fails to return the money and is threatened with dire consequences on the eve of the marriage of his elder daughter Rakhi (Lakshmi Rai). Purushu halts the wedding; this leads to Bhai losing his mind and finally surrendering his life.

The story takes a different twist when Bhai's daughters are taken under the protection of Kallayi Azeez (Jayan), another cunning blade mafia don. Kallayi Azeez had always defeated Purushu in soccer during their childhood days by cheating. In the midst of all these incidents, Azeez creates some situations that demand fights and intense dialogues. In the meantime, Vinayan (Jayasurya), an associate of Azeez, joins Purushu. The latter portion of the story presents the predictable and unavoidable change of the cruel hero into a soft-hearted person with a sentimental climax!

Apparently the negative traits in Parunthu are largely inspired from Mohanlal's Devasuram. Like Mohanlal's character in Devasuram (Mangalaserry Neerakandan), Mammootty's character is also very negative. But the difference is that Parunthu is a character-driven film, lacking a good story.

Performance-wise, Mammootty as Parunthu Purushottaman is good, but his character lacks soul. There is nothing much to talk about Jayan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Lakshmi Rai, Kalyani, Jayasurya, Cochin Haneefa, Mamookoya and Suraaj Venjaramoodu, who all deliver nothing new.

The mediocre script is the weak part of the movie, which was not expected from T.A. Razzaq who created screenplays for blockbusters like Ente Sreekuttikku, Raapakal, Vesham, etc. With this insipid script, how can we expect more from director M. Padmakumar, who has directed hits like Ammakilikoodu and Vaasthavam?

Of the three songs composed by Alex Paul, 'Nee cheytha karmangal' sung by Jayachandran is good while the other two songs appear to be deliberately pushed into the film. The background score by Ousepachchan is good. Sanjeev Shankar behind the camera and Ranjan Abraham in editing just go through their routine jobs. There is nothing great about the technical aspects of the film. Though Parunthu offers a few good moments, it provides little to rise above other films with similar plots!

7.Oneindia:

Director M. Padmakumar's latest film Parunthu opens with the mass suicide of a family due to the harsh dealings of Parunthu Purushottaman (Mammootty), a 'blade' mafia chief having a particular affinity towards money, operating in Kozhikode city. But Purushu's heart is least moved by the mass suicide; he does not believe in any form of relationships since his mother abandoned him at a young age, leaving him to grow up as the right-hand man of a moneylender, Kunjikka (Mamookoya).

Purushottaman continues to thrash other families who are unable to repay the loans they took from him and to drive them out of their properties. The latest in his list is a Gujarati businessman Hemanth Bhai (Jagathy Sreekumar), who is on the verge of big losses due to pending court cases.




Hemanth Bhai fails to return the money and is threatened with dire consequences on the eve of the marriage of his elder daughter Rakhi (Lakshmi Rai). Purushu halts the wedding; this leads to Bhai losing his mind and finally surrendering his life.

The story takes a different twist when Bhai's daughters are taken under the protection of Kallayi Azeez (Jayan), another cunning blade mafia don. Kallayi Azeez had always defeated Purushu in soccer during their childhood days by cheating. In the midst of all these incidents, Azeez creates some situations that demand fights and intense dialogues. In the meantime, Vinayan (Jayasurya), an associate of Azeez, joins Purushu. The latter portion of the story presents the predictable and unavoidable change of the cruel hero into a soft-hearted person with a sentimental climax!

Apparently the negative traits in Parunthu are largely inspired from Mohanlal's Devasuram. Like Mohanlal's character in Devasuram (Mangalaserry Neerakandan), Mammootty's character is also very negative. But the difference is that Parunthu is a character-driven film, lacking a good story.

Performance-wise, Mammootty as Parunthu Purushottaman is good, but his character lacks soul. There is nothing much to talk about Jayan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Lakshmi Rai, Kalyani, Jayasurya, Cochin Haneefa, Mamookoya and Suraaj Venjaramoodu, who all deliver nothing new.

The mediocre script is the weak part of the movie, which was not expected from T.A. Razzaq who created screenplays for blockbusters like Ente Sreekuttikku, Raapakal, Vesham, etc. With this insipid script, how can we expect more from director M. Padmakumar, who has directed hits like Ammakilikoodu and Vaasthavam?

Of the three songs composed by Alex Paul, 'Nee cheytha karmangal' sung by Jayachandran is good while the other two songs appear to be deliberately pushed into the film. The background score by Ousepachchan is good. Sanjeev Shankar behind the camera and Ranjan Abraham in editing just go through their routine jobs. There is nothing great about the technical aspects of the film. Though Parunthu offers a few good moments, it provides little to rise above other films with similar plots!

Banner : Dreams Frame Productions
Producer : Howly Pottur
Cast : Mammootty, Jayan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Lakshmi Rai, Kalyani, Jayasurya, Cochin Haneefa, Mamookoya and Sooraj Venjaranmoodu
Director : M. Padmakumar
Scriptwriter : T.A. Razzaq
Music : Alex Paul
Camera : Sanjeev Shankar
Editing : Ranjan Abraham