George of the Jungle!

Much has been written, said and discussed about the Magnum opus of Malayalam Cinema- Sree Gokulam Movies' "Pazhassiraja" written by veteran Gnanapeeth Award winner M T Vasudevan Nair and directed by Hariharan. If you ask me whether they deliver, my answer would be a big YES!

Comparisons to "Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha"- the landmark movie that brought the MT- Hariharan- Mammootty trio together earlier are natural but in my opinion it is not fair to compare Pazhassiraja to Veeragatha mainly because if the earlier film narrated the story of a character, Pazhassiraja is more like a chapter from the Indian freedom struggle.

That more or less explains the prominence that characters like Edachena Kunkan (Sharathkumar, looking like a beefcake and performing like a dream), Kaitheri Ambu (Suresh Krishna- a revelation here) and Thalakkal Chandhu (the ever dependable Manoj K Jayan delivers yet another punch) get along with the great Pazhassi himself.

Unfortunately for me, I missed the first half hour of th movie so I cannot comment on how it started. The movie is reported to have been made on a budget of 30 crores- too high by any standards for Malayalam Cinema- but the good thing is that it shows- the art team has recreated huge sets within the forests, the weapons and clothes are as authentic as they can get, the re recording is superb (Thanks to Maestro Ilaiyaraaja) and the sound design by Academy Award Winner Resul Pookutty makes that BIG difference.

The story is known to almost everyone in Kerala and MT weaves the story line into a cohesive script with ample scope for heroism, punchy dialogues, well choreographed action sequences and scenes that raise the patriotic spirit of the viewers. Ramnath Shetty's camera deserves special mention. Sreekar Prasad's editing is slick and the 3 songs blend well with the narrative. Special kudos to Ilaiyaraja, ONV team to have come up with a beautifully composed Daf Muttu song!

The entire cast delivers well and not just the lead players. Devan, Suman, Nedumudi Venu, Jagadeesh, Jagathy Sreekumar, Tilakan, Kanihaa and Padmapriya have all done well in their respective roles. At the end of the day, the movie belongs to director Hariharan who has mobilized all resources properly and correctly to deliver what can easily be called "The biggest movie ever in the history of Malayalam Cinema". The ringing cash registers are proof enough!