Director M Padmakumar seems to have an obsession with the `hunter Vs hunted' themes, which he is going on repeating from his very start in `Vargam' to his recent films. After a lucky hit in `Shikar', this sort of revenge drama is put forward once again by the director in `Ithu Paathiramanal'. A movie which is evidently inspired from the Padmarajan flick `Itha Ivide Vare,' also merges many more sequences from some fine Mollywood classics, but end up as a very average watch, even with this frills on. The movie has Unni Mukundan as Eldho, who in his early years was forced to witness his mother Ambika (Shalu Menon) being raped and his father Johnykutty (Jayasurya) being stabbed to death by an police inspector Shouliar (Pradeep Rawat), who first came down to their house in the hilly areas of Maravoor investigating a theft case. The grownup Eldho is but now waiting for Shouliar , arrested and put in jail for killing a fellow policemen, to come out of the prison gates so that he can have his burning revenge on him. But before that he has already befriended Sshouliar's daughter Sarah (Remya Nambeesan), who is a hardworking girl taking all the responsibilities of her little sisters. Shouliar, who is out of jail, instantly gets into the company of Eldho but little does he realise that he is in the wait for the rightest moment to walk into doom. The very faithful replica of `Itha iveidevare' hardly has got a powerful script and dialogues as the original. Ramya Nambeeshan's character is a carbon copy of many more that we have already seen like that of Manju Warrier in `Kanmadham' or Ann Augutine in ` Elsamma enna penkutty'. But surprisingly Unni Mukunadan is in a role that couldn't bring out the best in him, with no punch lines and poor dialogue renditions. The scripts by Babu Janaardhanan is half baked and the director also seems to have missed another opportunity to make a film that could have added up to his repertoire. And startlingly the movie is given a rating `A', but for no big reasons. The technical sides of the flick are topnotch with Manoj Pillai proving a feast for the eyes with the best shots of Alappuzha and Paathiramanal. The wide shots are aplenty and the climax fight and struggles in ultra slow motion are a finer watch. The songs by Afzal Yousuf like ` Eriveyilu kollum ` are pleasant hears while Ouseppachan's BG tracks also impress. Saloo K george's art work and Samjith's editing also demands applause. In the acting side Pradeep Rawaat impresses as Showliar in his best of the roles in Mollywood. Shammy Thilakan's deeper voice also lends the needed vindictiveness for a character that is safer in his hands. Ramya Namabeeshan , clad in a role of a bold village girl devoid of makeup is good. Unni Mukundan doesn't have much to impress and the actor fails to get into the teeth of the complex character. The rest of the casts are OK, with Kunchan and Jayasuriya's' cameo making a small impact. `Ithu Pathriamanal' is a family film, but with nothing new in its narratives, the movie could be watched only for its technical sides , visuals and music. Rating -5.5/10
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