Pokkiri Raaja

Medium : Malayalam
Starring : Mammootty, Prithviraj, Shriya Saran, Sidhiq, Suraaj Venjarammood, Salim Kumar
Director : Vysakh
Music : Jassie Gift, Rajamani (bg score)

The grand success of films like 'Twenty 20' and 'Happy Husbands', provoked the creators to come up with multi-star projects. Though 'Twenty 20' had got a big star cast, the main stars of the particular film might be none other than the script writers duo, Uday Krishna and Sibi K.Thomas. To write such a big project, incorporating all the ingredients necessary for an entertainer by giving all of them equal importance, should be a commentable thing. We shouldn't forget that they are also the writers of the mega budget film by Joshi named 'Christian Brothers', which is under production. Now their new film 'Pokkiri Raaja' had got Mammootty and Prithviraj in lead roles. They are coming together after the unsuccessful film 'One Way Ticket', where the former did the guest role only. The new project is directed by debutant Vysakh, a former associate of Johny Antony and Joshi. Heroine Shriya Saran ('Sivaji' and 'Azhagiya Tamil Makan' fame) comes to malayalam for the first time.

Raja (Mammootty) and Soorya (Prithviraj) are brothers. In the childhood days, due to the quarreling between the two families in the village, Raja went to jail, after being involved in a murder incident. When returns, he is not welcomed by his father (Nedumudi Venu) and he is forced to leave them and reaches Madhurai, where he met a rich man (Charan Raj) and started working for him. When grown up, Soorya reaches the city to live with his sister (Bindu Panicker) and her husband, a coward inspector (Suraaj Venjarammood). Soorya gets in touch with the daughter (Shriya Saran) of the police commissioner (Sidhiq) ans started loving her. This was not liked by his father, as his daughter's marriage was already fixed to the home minister's son (Riyaz Khan). Though both of them tried to destroy Soorya, they were not succeeded. Now the police officer takes the help of Raaja, a 'don' from Madhurai. At the same time, Soorya's father asked his elder son (the same Raaja) to save Soorya from the cruel police officer. How Raaja reacts to such a situation, is told in the second half portions.

'Pokkiri Raaja' is made in a masala entertainer format, where you have got three songs and six fights mixed with some comedy sequences. Jassie Gift gave some good fast numbers, as per the mood (they reminds us of the hit tamil songs from 'Pokkiri', 'Dhool', 'Ayya' etc). The hit duet song 'Manikkinaavin...' by Yesudas-Sujatha must have been included in the film. Songs have been neatly choreographed by Shobi ('Priyanu Mathram... fame). He has been successful in making Mammootty dancing (without vulgarity) in the club song. Swetha Menon finds very difficult to dance in the first song with her 'heavy' body language. Rajamani gave the bg score in his usual style only (he might be fast in delivering the output, but his work is not attractive most of the times). Fights by Kanal Kannan and Mafia Sasi are good. In some shots, the carpets on the floor, for the fighters to fall, are evident; i don't know who among the two stunt masters, is the culprit.

The father character done by Nedumudi Venu and the dialogues by him in many parts felt like a cliche. Just before the introduction of Prithviraj, his uncle (Vijayaraghavan) makes a big 'dramatic' laughing, to praise the former character, which should have been avoided. The childhood scenes of the heroes had got resemblance with films written by Benny P.Nayarambalam, like 'Raajamaanikyam' and 'Annan Thambi'. The character of Sidhiq has got the shades of his own role in the film 'July 4', by Joshi with the same writers. The comedy scenes of Suraaj Venjaramood is repetitive, Salim Kumar's character is having more scope to create laughing situations, which is not done well. The introduction of hero's god father character (Charan Raaj), 'coming out of a luxury car with a gun in white outfits', is not an attractive sight. As the story tells, when calculated the age, Mammootty is in his late 30's; it should have been avoided by generalizing the period, in place of specifying the correct year count !

Mammootty's dialogue delivery using 'negative' English dialogues are good. Though Prithviraj got a chance to show his heroism in the first half, he is being dominated by the title character to a great extend, in the later portions. Dialogues in the combination scenes of both the heroes are also done well. The new director Vysakh had made his debut in a notable way by placing the most valuable stars in the industry, in an attractive manner.


We usually welcome many entertainers from other languages, so no need to hesitate in the case of 'Pokkiri Raaja', which can be a good time pass for this vacation days. Enjoy it with the same mentality, as if you are watching a movie with Rajnikanth & Vijay combination...


Rating : 7.5 / 10