Plot: The hero with an unusual medical condition that actually turns a boon.

Peechaankai is one of those films set in our world but plays out amidst quirky characters. In other words, it is not a Jil Jung Juk set in an alien land but more like a Soodhu Kavvum. Director Ashok is never short of ideas to induce a laugh. A few of them do get diluted on screen but when they click they are a riot. The signature quirkiness of each character is well defined and the actors who are almost entirely new,  do a decent job. Decent might be a little harsh because they are actually very good at places. But there are instances in the film when you wonder if some of the jokes might have worked better with actors who might not have to try that hard to be 'quirky'. 

The film does take a little time to warm up with all the separate tracks at the start. But things get interesting once the 'Alien Hand Syndrome' gets into the picture and these tracks merge. The good thing is that the film does not rely on this core-idea alone to get us laughing. In fact some of the best jokes do not have anything to do with the medical condition of the hero. When some stretches are so much fun it must be said that with some more refining this film should have been so much more. Because whenever it works best you are laughing your lungs out but there is no place in the film when the jokes are so closely packed that you keep laughing till your sides hurt.

Ideas like the news anchors emoting based on the news that they are reading out and the police commissioner giving press meets like a success party when he has actually not done anything are interesting. But they are lost in translation. You see what the director was intending in these places and you wish that they had come out exactly as he had envisioned them. But the film works because it is never really bad. Even the above complaints have more to do with the potential the film shows and the misfired jokes never really test your patience. 

Bottomline:

Packed with genuinely funny moments, Peechaankai is one of the better comedy films to have come out in recent times. If Ashok is a little more hard on himself  he probably would be able to give us some side-splitting films in the future.

Rating: 2.75/5