Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha (2009)

Country: India

Language: Malayalam

Actors: Mamootty, Shweta Menon, Mythili, Sreenivasan

Director: Ranjith

Story: T P Rajeevan

This is a crime drama based on a Malayalam novel of the same name by T P Rajeevan. This story is supposed to be based on the first recorded murder case in Kerala (after the state was formed following the linguistic carving out of states in the 1950’s). This is yet another movie where Mamootty plays a detective and cracks a previously unsolved case. But it doesn’t just stop there, we get to see Mamootty in 3 different characters and you get to see a different him in each of those.

A young woman, Manikyam is raped and murdered in the village of Paleri. There is another death on the same day, of a young priest which passes off as a case of drowning. After prolonged investigation and court procedures the accused are acquitted for lack of evidence thanks to a weak prosecution case.

Around 52 years after that, the protagonist Haridas a detective from New Delhi comes to Paleri to solve this case. The reason, he was born on the same day the murder happened and happens to be the illegitimate son of a powerful landlord in the village. Who incidentally was accused by a few to have played a part in the murder.

The movie is gripping as it traverses the length and breadth of feudalism, money, cronyism, power and politics. The director very subtly shows how the two major political parties, the Communists who have just come to power and Congress who have just lost play to the galleries for political one-upmanship. This battle is eventually won by the comrades at the expense of humanity & justice for the oppressed.

The way Ranjith has treated this film is fantastic and is worth a special mention. For many of us who remember Kamalhassan’s Virumandi as the Indian tribute to Kurosawa’s Rashoman should watch this movie, the way Ranjith cobbles up the story through the different points of view (although in the strictest sense this is slightly different from Rashoman). There are also many characters who come in and go out, telling what they know about the Manikyam murder case. But each one of them serves a purpose in the whole scheme of things.

Sreenivasan appears in a small but a superbly crafted role, of that of an aged renegade barber. A person who always suspected his top comrades to be hand in glove with the rich & powerful murderer. His character is sure to stay etched in the viewers mind for a while. And so are all 3 of Mamootty and Shweta Menon who does superbly well as Manikyam’s mother in law who is also the village prostitute. Cinematographer Manoj Pillai makes the movie come alive with his pleasing visuals.

I wonder why this wasn’t India’s submission for the foreign movie Academy awards in 2010 (Peepli Live !!).

A great movie, highly recommended.