Premise: Mithul Ryan is a naughty 8-year old boy, he plays the son of Shiva and Grace Antony. The joyful moments that happen during his school half yearly holidays with his family and friends form the crux of the story.

Writing/ Direction: Director Ram who is known for his hard-hitting commentaries on life, comes out with a surprising light-hearted package. The central character is an 8-year old, so was Thanga Meengal which showcased many depressing aspects of a child, refreshingly this one is a comfort watch that empathizes a kid’s happy times and maybe why the story takes place during vacation. The little boy’s innocence and Shiva’s humour drive the film, of course along with the director’s aesthetic craft. The lead characters have been beautifully written, the supporting roles are also valuably presented to bring in the contradictions, and how the boy’s mindset constantly fluctuates seeing their lifestyle. The film can be split into four episodes of travelogue, the initial parts of both the halves are quite middling, helping to set a fair tone, the whole Anjali segment and portions where the kid runs away from his parents land superbly. The lengthy bike chase sequence felt odd from the rest of the movie, it also carried that unwanted cinematic appeal to it. The film is engaging on the whole with many clap-worthy elements, there are also quite a few dry patches here and there. The comedy is very lively and casual, jovial dialogues at the right situations does the trick. The separate track of the wife character taking place from a different city is very much in coherence with the rest of the movie. There are a bunch of cards with the director’s voiceover that forcefully convey a message, instead they could have seamlessly been brought into the screenplay.

Performances: The little Mithul Ryan’s presence is super cute, he looks very confident and natural on screen by suiting his innocent nature. Shiva at his best, it has been a long time seeing his jokes flourish and thankfully it has happened in this movie which results as a great asset to get hold of the viewers, also his timing and dialogue delivery were in perfect sync throughout. Grace Antony is a revelation, such a calculative and composed performance from her. The supporting characters are rightly casted, all of them adding their best to the flow, especially Anjali appears in a role that makes us put a constant smile on our faces.

Technicalities: Santhosh Dhayanidhi has followed the director’s command and has helped his vision to be fulfilled, the issue is with the filmmaker’s idea of how to musically treat the movie. Way too many songs, it feels more like a musical, the lyrics are the weakest part of the product, they are very kiddish trying to explain the ongoing situations through words, which after a point started to negatively impact the flow. Good background score from Yuvan Shankar Raja, but the songs just overpowered it. Fascinating camera work, lovely aerial shots focusing on nature and tight closeups did the deserving justice for the reactions of the actors. There were some portions that could have been trimmed, the farmhouse episode felt long in particular, however the overall runtime fits the bill.

Verdict:  A contrasting light-hearted one from director Ram from his earlier dark subjects. Shiva’s entertaining humour and the little kid’s innocent naughtiness make this one likeable, barring the musical treatment and some other minor shortcomings.

PARANTHU PO - A Free Flowing Feel-Good Fun Flick!

Rating - 3/ 5.