Ranjith’s ‘Palery Manikyam, Oru Pathirakolapaathakathinte Katha’ delivers what was expected out of it. Scripted well and narrated in an excellent manner, the film begins in the 1950’s, then brings us to the present and then shuttles between the past and the present and in between narrating an interesting story, makes references to many things of social and political significance. A film that stands out in quality, ‘Palery Manikyam…’ is in fact multilayered and works on different planes. But whether the film will work out at the box office is uncertain.
The story begins in the 1950’s in Palery, when a young girl Manikyam (Mythili) is found dead in the most mysterious of manners one night. The very same night, a young guy is found dead by the river in the village. And the very same night, a child is born in the village.
Cut, to the present. The child that was born on that day is now a grown up man, Haridas (Mammootty). Haridas, an investigator based in Delhi, sets out to unravel the mysteries surrounding the death of Manikyam, the 20-year old girl who died, or perhaps was killed, the very same night he was born. He is accompanied by Sarayu (Gauri Munjal), a crime analyst, with whom Haridas, who is married and has a family of his own, has an affair. Haridas, when he makes his exploration into the happenings that happened over half a century back, seems to be seeing it all as happening in front of his eyes. (The film merges the past and present in a single frame in a brilliant manner). Things move on, from one character to another and it all takes a twist with the introduction of Ahmed Haji (Mammootty), a rich landlord who lived in the 1950’s. The revelation that Haridas makes about Ahmed Haji sort of startles and shocks Sarayu. And from here the story takes off, to end in a totally unpredictable and impressive manner.
It’s the over-all structure and the narration that makes ‘Palery Manikyam…’ stand out among the films that come out these days. The strain that Ranjith, his team and the producers Maha Subair and A.V.Anoop have taken to make this film a reality has to be appreciated. But since the film doesn’t have much of the usual box office kind of ingredients, it may not work out with Mammootty fans or the lovers of commercial movie. But still, it’s definitely one of those films which could effect a change in the sensibilities of the average Malayalee film viewers. Hats off to Ranjith and crew.
