A gripping tale with a languid pace

Riding on the combined weight and histrionic skills of legendary actors in three different southern languages, the 2013 Malayalam original ‘Drishyam’ assumes a Tamil avatar with ‘Papanasam’. This 220th film of Kamal Haasan had to wait for its turn, letting it be overtaken by the mega dud ‘Uttama Villain’.

So how does this venture which sees the Tamil superhero paired with real life partner Gautami measure up? Pretty well, one should admit. Reasons are many. Firstly, Kamal Haasan is a master in recreating environments and undergoing total transformations in make-up, dialogue delivery and costumes for his characters.

‘Papanasam’ too, set in southern Tamil Nadu, with its breathtaking lush greenery, mountains and valleys, provides ample opportunities for this requirement. In a long time, the Tamil spoken in Tirunelveli district, adjoining neighbouring Kerala, forms the lingua franca of the film, a surprise delight for the audience.

Secondly, the underplayed screen presence of Kamal, given his penchant for directly and indirectly hogging the spotlight from his co-stars, is a welcome development. With minute attention to detail, this film, hailed to have heralded a new genre – family thriller – in its Malayalam original retains viewing interest till the end, a full 181 minutes long. In itself, this is longer than the Mohanlal film by good 27 minutes.

Finally, Jeethu Joseph, who directed Lal and Meena in Malayalam, wields the megaphone for this film too. His presence contributes to the taut screenplay. The fierce determination of the protagonist as he assures his all-female family of total protection to shield them from an unintentional murder committed by his school-going daughter is a racy narrative for sure.

The catch-me-if-you-can game which Kamal indulges in with the high-ranking police officials, who almost close in on him, his sense of anticipation and successful outwitting of the frustrated cops till the end forms an eminently watchable film, therein fully justifying the decision of the team which decided to remake it.

The onscreen chemistry of the lead pair is endearing, while the small-town and unhurried ambience makes one long to live a life thus. The carry-over artistes from Malayalam film industry, especially Asha Sarath essaying the tough lady cop role is apt and seamlessly blends with the supporting cast. Literally meaning vanquishing the evil, ‘Papanasam’, truly justifies the hero’s desperate bravado to keep his family away from the long arms of the law.

Interesting trivia about this film which awaits its Hindi version’s release on July 31 is the series of box-office records it has smashed in every language it has released. While Mohanlal had this film touch dizzying heights, making it Kerala’s best-ever box-office hit (made on a budget of Rs 4.5 crore, it collected a whopping Rs 60 crore), Venkatesh in Telugu and Ravichandran in Kannada too saw it hit the bull’s-eye effortlessly.

Needless to say Kamal too has a fair chance of setting new revenue benchmarks at the TN box-office! (The review was planned keeping in mind Haasan’s following amongst the Telugu-speaking audiences)

Movie Name : Papanasam

Cast : Kamal Haasan, Gautami, Asha Sarath, Niveda Thomas, Esther Anil

Direction : Jeethu Joseph

Genre : Family Thriller

Likes : Faithful recreation of the original, performances, new genre of filmmaking

Dislikes : Length, songs

By K Naresh Kumar