Pallichattambi Review: Visually Sumptuous

The strength of the human spirit in the face of oppression and collective action is a theme well suited to these divided times, but Pallichattambi needed to be more precise and focused in its imagination to the make the noble intentions stick, notes Arjun Menon.

The cinema of Dijo Jose Anthony is marked by heightened calls for inclusiveness in a world dominated by dividing loyalties and infuriating social circumstances. In his fourth directorial, Pallichattambi, the director behind Jana Gana Mana, continues his search for a sightly vulnerable yet noble hero figure, whose inward journey for redemption becomes a moral reckoning with the changing socio-political frictions of the current moment.

The setting and plot of Pallichattambi

In Pallichattambi, the director travels back to the late 1950s to tackle the story of a dwindling Christian community and its struggles against external insurgencies in a particularly tumultuous period in Kerala's political history.

The liberation struggle also dubbed as Vimochana Samaram was a testy period in Kerala politics that unfolded towards the end of 1958 and beginning of 1959.

A statewide insurgence against the first democratically elected Communist government In Kerala, the time was rife with religious fragmentation and fundamentalist attacks on institutions.

This inflammatory period, where political upheaval was at an all-time high in a changing Kerala society, is the backdrop around which Pallichattambi situates the story of a savior and his people.

A local church with its fair share of partisans decide to create a hit force against any suspected communist attacks. The 'Christopher' gang headed by a bulky Chattambi (Tovino Thomas) finds himself at odds with the local politics of the hill side town and the territorial war declared by another local group.

The church-going folk see Chattambi as the long awaited 'one' who can protect them against fringe elements trying to undermine their place of worship and in turn their way of life. It's a very serviceable one line that has stretched to make for a sometimes enticing but ultimately inert exercise in mainstream storytelling.

The arresting production design and period details

Dijo Jose Anthony and his writer Suresh Babu populate the world of Pallichattambi with believable period details, but the generic approach to the story beats falls short.

The research and period appropriate production design is clearly the standout here and you can see the depth and scope of the imagination at play, that is trying to fictionalise a forgotten chapter in Kerala history.

But the one note writing and tired execution does not let the character, the central 'cipher' leading the charge of the story take the central stage. The hero becomes a bulky action figure, who is given a passable backstory and larger than life dimensions that feel under written to a fault. The breadth of scope in the setting is betrayed by the plotless progression of events that almost seems incidental to the attentive set work on display.

Broad, generic writing and meandering tropes

Pallichattambi is a visually sumptuous movie, which manages to make the terrain an inexplicable part of the rising stakes. But every beat is premeditated and is broad to a fault and you feel the déjà vu of familiarity inherent in the tropes being used to propel the story forward.

Jakes Bejoy makes the theatre experience worthwhile balancing the soundscape with the necessary agency. The stakes become tangible with Bejoy's overzealous score that is there to provoke feelings in the viewer and he succeeds in the noble endeavour, whereas the script barely holds together.

The performances that stick

Tovino Thomas is the beating heart of Pallichattambi. His ruffian leading man becomes both a beacon of resistance and a saviour for the masses in the latter half. The actor manages to infuse some charm and goodwill to undercut the one note characterisation. His dichotomy as the 'macho assailant with the heart of gold' works due to the gentleness he brings to the predominantly showy performance.

There is also an interesting cameo that lends some life to the proceedings. There are styling choices of this particular 'cameo' that might come under scrutiny once the film comes out on streaming.

Leading lady Kayadu Lohar looks out of place in a movie that trusts its rootedness and regional sensibility a little too much. She feels like an alien entity further let down by the out of sync dubbing and poorly conceived romantic interactions with the hero.

The supporting cast including veterans like Vijayaraghavan, Siddique and Baburaj among other deliver serviceable turns as the townsfolk caught in different sides of the film's central conflict.

Final Thoughts

Pallichattambi is a functional exercise in action cinema, that neither focuses on the logistics of its action choreography, nor makes the setting rousing enough to meet the expectations of a 'chosen one' narrative. The action though not over used as in many contemporary movies feel incidental and old fashioned without any of the slickness associated with the current standards of hand to hand combat scenes in our films.

The film tries to drive home a universal message regarding the importance of inclusiveness in an increasingly fractured word driven to the brink by religion, ideology or any other collective obsession.

The strength of the human spirit in the face of oppression and collective action is a theme well suited to these divided times, but Pallichattambi needed to be more precise and focused in its imagination to the make the noble intentions stick.

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