Pookkaalam (2023)
5/10
Playing it safe and feel-good, as expected! [+53%]
20 May 2023
Ganesh Raj, who hails from the Vineeth Sreenivasan school of filmmaking, tackles the subject of infidelity in a long-standing marriage. As such, the protagonists here is a couple in their late 90s, played by Vijayaraghavan and KPAC Leela - both delivering very nuanced performances. While I like the beginning of the film that establishes their casual camaraderie and the end portion (though corny, still gets you to smile and shed a happy tear), the mid section had me caring a lot less. This is mainly because we're subjected to a host of characters playing various family members, but none with any distinct, remarkable traits (except acting like clowns). There's two sets of twins, a woman who's about to get married (for whatever stupid reasons she says), her brother who's only aim is to live up to his name (Guinness), and enter the famed book of records, and a few others who are basically "just there". The subplot, involving the marriage and changing decisions, exist because the central conflict lacks the strength to keep us invested.

When the film shows a 50-year-old infidelity story as something that excites the community the family lives in, I was literally rolling my eyes. School-kids discussing their great grandmother's affair? Okay then. The film did not even bother to explore it all the way either. I expected things to get more twisted but Ganesh Raj plays it safe. His inclination towards feel-good elements robs us of the chance to make the film one of the better written (and performed) films about nonagenarians. For some reason, M. T Vasudevan Nair's Oru Cheru Punchiri suddenly came to mind, in bits and pieces. The supporting cast does an okay job here, with Basil Joseph and Vineeth Sreenivasan towering over the rest because they're just fun to watch together. I'll also give credit to the make-up department for making the lead couple look how they're supposed to.
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