This 'Parudheesa' is good
R Sharath's `Parudheesa' beckons you to a sleepy, picturesque hilly village of Pullanimala where the Church has unplumbed influence upon the people living around. Here you find the Vicar Aanjilithaanam (Sreenivasan), all set to become the Bishop in a few months, inflicting pain and suffering upon himself for the sins that happens around him. He has a sexton in Jose (Thampi Antony), a true follower of church with deep understanding about the socialist values that the holy text promulgates and asks for. But the Vicar, who always tries to hold the middle path between the powerful and the insignificant, fails to come up in support whenever the weaker ones demands some. So is the Sexton, a submissive and cowardly guy who exhorts people to demand their rights but fear to appear in public, by their side. And when Jose is indicted for a sin that he hadn't committed, the vicar fails to come up for him, leaving him to destruction, estrangement and finally the forces of nature. But there is always the reincarnation of good virtues, even though it doesn't happen on every third day. The sexton is ultimately graduated as a priest and is posted , coincidentally on the same church from where he had been deported .And here he confronts with the sinners, ultimately leading them to a path of repentance. Parudheesa handles another set of serious issues apart from sin and repentance. The idol shedding tears, which is commercialized by the church folks is one such event that you can find parallels with many happening in the state. Though the justifications for its happening are never dealt with in detail, the movie makes mockery of the religious establishments resorting to these gimmicks for the flooding of believers and popularization of place of worships. The movie scripted by Vinu Abraham deals with a very few characters which remains its beauty and weakness. While dealing with conflicts of faith, a bigger canvas could have been wiser. But as of now, the movie is a simple, but quality affair which doesn't takes time to kick start its narratives in a deeper plane. But after the apology of the sinner who is leading a restful life with a broken heart, the shots in the epilogue lessens the strength of the theme. A sharper punch could have been finer. Moreover, it may not be an easily digestible and likable story `about the moral degeneration of priesthood', though the makers have shown the ingenuity to subtly engage the whole narrative without any show off of tempting forces of violence or lust, which deserves to be complemented.
In this best of entertaining film from Sharath till date, `Parudheesa' has some good to average performances from its lead cast. While Thampi Antony appear meek in performances in the former half, he uppers fit for the second. Sreenivasan is reasonably good in a restrained role while Shwetha Menon appear a little mismatch for the character. Jagathy seems to be supported by good dubbing.
But the biggest highlight of the movie is the cinematography by Sajan Kalathil. He seems to have done the best in merging the lone settings of a hilly village and inanimate church to the flow of the movie. His different takes of the church building speaks in volumes as much as the verbal on goings. Supporting him in equal expertise is the editing by Ajith Kumar and the art departments. The BG scores by Issac Thomas Kottukapally is equally inviting. As far as the box office fortunes are concerned, it is likely that this `Parudheesa' may not capitalize on it's content. But it's not a bad idea to share your weekend with this one! Rating :7/10 |
