Painkili Review - Bearable Mindless Entertainer That Lacks Substance!

Ashwin Ram

Painkili is a comedy drama starring Sajin Gopu and Anaswara Rajan in the lead roles. The film is directed by Sreejith Babu, written by Romancham and Aavesham fame Jithu Madhavan.

Premise:

Anaswara Rajan is desperate to be a graduate, opposing her parents’ wishes. Sajin Gopu is being teased by his hometown people as mentally unstable. How their individual lives change after they cross paths form the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction:

There is no story as such, it seems like the entire screenplay was formed surrounding the climax idea. Coherency is majorly missing for the most part of the film. The reason behind Anaswara Rajan’s lustful approach is extremely silly, stretching it out with Riyaz Khan’s cringe track is probably the most atrocious decision taken by the team. On the other hand, Sajin Gopu’s character flow is monotonous as well. It was fine until the scene where he was involved in an accident, but the situation leading him to join a mental health centre and forthcoming sequences feels forcefully added just to arrive at the already fixed end point. What is worrying is that Jithu Madhavan has penned the script, even the linking factor between the two characters are not convincingly written. Barring the shortcomings with respect to the subject, it surprisingly did not land as a “bad film” because of the comical moments it offers. The characters behave in a bizarre manner, but it is sure to entertain at many places if the eccentricity works and it goes without saying that it differs from person to person. There are some hilarious dialogues and peculiar reactions by characters for several situations that evoke laughter, but it is hard for the fun quotient to hold the audience's attention without substance.

Performances:

Sajin Gopu overacts beyond limits, his exaggerated expressions partly works and partly irritates, enjoyable when it lands as intended but the pole opposite when it is the other way around. The above mentioned factor goes for most of the supporting characters too as they have been made to outburst on-screen for each and every happening. Anaswara Rajan is known for her innocence and subtle act, she tries differently here and it is a complete misfire, her character goal is inspiring but she keeps blushing at men in every frame which makes her look like an imbecile.

Technicalities:

The English lyrics used in the songs don’t blend in well, otherwise also the music is just lukewarm. Decent background score matching the mood of the situations and the loudness of the characters. Cinematography is neat and there is nothing much to complain about, yet the cameraman could have tried something different rather than treating it in a generic manner. Many errors could have been rectified at the edit table, the output could have been so much better if the runtime was probably around 100 minutes by, however it is best to chop the needless things off on-paper.

Bottomline

The eccentric humour works to an extent and acts as the saving grace. But at times overly loud too, plus the film immensely suffers from not having a proper story in hand.

Rating:2.5/5