Paaleri Maanikyam, Oru Paathira Kolapathakathinte Kadha

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Sidhiq, Gowri, Maidhili, Swetha Menon
Director : Renjith
Music : Sharath, Bijibal

Mammootty's new film directed by master craftsman Renjith has got a different name, 'Paaleri Manikyam, Oru Paathiraa Kolapathakathinte Kadha' (may be one of the lengthiest name in the film history of the state). We have got yet another literary work being translated into the film language. This time, writer TP Rajeevan's novel based on a murder mystery happened in the northern region, Paleri almost 50years ago, is the highlighted subject. Though the story of the film is not so popular, the main attraction regarding the particular project will be, of course, Mammootty. He has acted in three roles here. The first one being the investigator, the other one being the landlord from a certain community with the extreme villainous attitude and the last one being kept as a suspense role.

The story starts when Haridas (Mammootty), a private detective reached Paleri, the place where the controversial murder of a girl Manikyam (Mythili) happened in the 1950's. She was brutally raped and killed within 2 weeks of her marriage. His colleague and criminologist (Gowri, 'Bunny' fame) also accompanies him to help him. The real truth behind the murder mystery case is still not revealed; but Haridas has got a curiosity in the case which gave him the extra interest to go through this very old incident. After hearing the verdict of some of the witnesses and examining the files, he gets into a conclusion by pointing the local landlord, Ahmed Haji (Mammootty). He was a womanizer who involved in all sorts of criminal activities also. But there were some twists and turns in the anti climax area, any way the investigator is successful in finding the real culprit.

Story by TP Rajeevan has been excellently presented by Renjith. The scenes where the current period and the flashback scenes blended together, is an area that resembles some foreign classics. The director has also been successful in re-creating the history about 50 years ago. The selection of new faces for the majority of the roles is appreciative; all of them are suited well for their characters. It was heard that the director had given so many rehearsals for the new artists. Also good to see that Renjith gave the story credit for TP Rajeevan with a big priority in the titles, just before the director's name.

The contrasting nature of the soft investigation officer and the negative characters are neatly handled through a versatile performance by Mammootty. The actor's boldness to do the negative activities at its extreme style should be noted here. Swetha Menon also did well in her role. The guy who is loyal to the villain, Manikyam's husband character, the local political leader role, the village leader role etc done by new faces / theater artists were notable.

Mythili, the new face who did the title role doesn't have much to do. Gowri, who is the companion of the hero, started her career through telugu films. She had got a north indian face; her struggling in speaking the language has been reflected in some places. She might have been casted to give the uniqueness to the character as she has to smoke in a couple of scenes and also she is shown sharing bed with the hero, who is her colleague (I am not sure whether an average malayalee viewer is open minded to accept such sequences). The CG scenes used in the double role scene should have been done in a more professional way.

Cinematography by Manoj Pillai gave the tone it required for the film. The theme song and background score by Bijibal were excellent. Sabu Ram's art direction helped a lot to give the old flavor.


There was no big rush at night on the opening day of this film. Seeing this, the two people who reached there, in a bike asked the theater staff, 'has the movie PM released ?', he replied 'yes', 'then y there is no big crowd' was the question in return, the reply was that 'it is an "art film"'....the two men vanished from the scene all on a sudden...such a negative promotion for a film of this genre is a bad custom...(don't tell any comments unless you are not aware of the real fact!!!)


'Paaleri Maanikyam, Oru Paathira Kolapathakathinte Kadha' is mainly focused on a murder mystery. It is presented in a different style and has also got a good suspense, accompanied by a remarkable performance by the Megastar.


Rating : 8.5 / 10