Murder at Midnight

Just when I thought Renjith was incapable of experiementing any further, comes up "Paleri Manikkam- Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha"- that smashes away all theories of how a Mega Star movie in Malayalam should look. Easily the best movie made since "Classmates" (though the two are not relatable), Paleri Manikkam is that rare movie where everything has fallen rightly into place- be it performances, script, direction, Art, Sound, Camera, Editing or Music. This one is as close to perfection as it can get.

Haridas (Mammootty) carries eerie memories of the night he was born in Paleri, a small hamlet in the Northern part of Kerala. The night he was born witnessed 2 deaths- a brutal murder of Manikkam, a 16 year old housewife, the tragic drowning death of the temple priest and also of the elopement of the Velichapaadu at the local temple. Haridas is not ready to believe that the Manikkam murder mystery was solved properly and hence, 52 years later, he lands in Kerala with his criminologist girl friend Sarayu (Gowri Munjal, the only weak link in an otherwise perfect scenario) to find out what actually happened on that fateful night.

Hari and Sarayu land in Paleri with all police records and from there on, it is an unstoppable journey into the past where Manikkam, Cheeru, Pongan, Velayudhan, Kunjikkannan, Othenan, Adhikari and the local barber come into life. Hari goes through the crime records, meets all living souls who remember something or the other about the Manikkam Murder and tries to piece together the mystery like a Jigsaw puzzle. We are also introduced to Ahmad Haji and Khaled (both played by Mammootty)- the former being a rich landlord who manages to sleep with every woman he wants to and the latter being his Aligarh University educated son.

The best part of Paleri Manikkam is its intelligent storyline (T P Rajeevan is the story writer) that has been translated into a perfect script and has been captured on screen flawlessly. Renjith is definitely a strong contender for all major awards this year at both State and National levels. Manoj Pillai's camera and Vijay Sankar's Editing are near flawless. The camera captures the lush greenery of Paleri in the same spirit as it captures the interiors of Cheeru's imporverished home. Most of the story happens during nights and the lighting used gives a natural feel to all those scenes. Art Direction is authentic and so are the Make up and costumes.

Casting is another factor that works in Paleri's favor- majority of the supporting cast are either novices or amateur drama artistes. They dont act, all of them just live their parts. Among the others, Siddique is as natural as it gets and Sreenivasan playing the ageing barber leaves a strong impression. T Damodaran, the legendary scriptwriter, plays Hamza, the local communist leader very well. New comer Mythili impresses as Manikkam though she has very little on screen time. Shwetha Menon puts in the best performance in her career so far. She is smoking HOT and effectively portrays the sensuality and helplessness of Cheeru. But, it is Mammotty who has a field day portraying 3 different characters- he not only looks different playing 3 characters, he also changes his looks, diction and body language to suit the milieu of each of the 3 characters. This is easily the actor's best performance in recent times and he should rightfully collect all major awards this year! I would not be surprised if Mammootty brings home a 4th National Award this year...

Paleri Manikkam is a treat for all those of you who love serious, meaningful, different and well made cinema. Don't miss it!!!