With a predictable story about a father and son living like buddies that had been done to perfection in many Mollywood movies before, 'Pappy Appacha' from the debutant director Mammas is solely based on the intentions to tickle your funny bone, now and then. The movie displays some big promises with genuinely funny title cards and 2D illustrations for flashbacks but a beaten to death plot lines destroy much of the charisma of the flick, ending up as a passable fare.
Wisely using the best of the sequences from the Sathyan Anthikkad's Manasinakkare, Sibi Malayil's Ishtam, Joshiy's Lion and Lelam , debutant moviemaker Mammas's father and son, Nirappel Mathai (Innocent) and Pappy (Dileep) and their story has been made as an ensemble dish - a light hearted tale about a father and son.
Virtually ruling the silent village of Ithirikkandam, the idiotic father and son have wealthy business deals including school, market, financiers and so on, from their very modest beginnings. The duo is said to have worked hardly during their rough times to built the empire they are presently on.
Pappy is in love with his childhood schoolmate Annie, who is currently working as a teacher in a school managed by Nirappel family. Though Pappy doesn't have the courage to reveal his feeling towards her, he takes pain to have her as his first look everyday, though Annie dislikes the pompous ways of the father-son duo who place money in front of every deal. The movie goes on to tell how the duo separates from each other following the works of certain crooks, including Sashankan Muthallai (Ashokan) and Maanikunju (Suresh Krissna). A panchayath election and some unthinkable happenings as its aftermath and a surprise villain are in store for the climax.
The script by the director Mamas has some worthy and some stale jokes but most of the sequences are racy enough to engage the viewers. Moreover, from the very start the movie advises the viewers to take the plot in the lightest sense without thinking with brains. And once you are set, the formulaic stuff that follows with out dissent any more and can even turn entertaining.
The downers include a couple of melodramatic scenes, which appear overly done. So are the reasons behind the rift between father and son, which appear childish.
The highlight of the movie is definitely the full form performance from the lead combo of Dileep and Innocent. Dileep repeats his best antics and punchlines to make some genuinely funny moments in the former half. Together with loud performances from K P A C Lalitha, and debutant Dharmajan Bolgatty (a popular comedy presenter in TV) who plays Kuttappy, the sidekick of Pappy, the movie propels easily through the former half without many distractions. Kavya too is back with a bang as Annie, in a powerful role, much different from the regular heroine characters who go to oblivion in the latter half.
Here Annie teacher is a strong character who has her say in every proceedings of the plot and even make some illogical scenes look very believable on screen. The other surprise package of the movie is Ashokan who once again exhibits his brilliant comic timing.
The technical sides of the movie are fine with Sanjeev Shankar wielding the camera effectively to get into the mood of the story. V T sreejith in editing also is good, though the movie is a little longer than needed. The action scenes by Stunt Shiva are loud, but stylish.
Though the two songs in the movie are picturised well, a couple of better melodies tuned by Vidaysagar like `Manjin Velli' and `Thammil Thammil' are surprisingly missing from the flick. The addition of these songs could have eased the unwanted seriousness that the movie gets tom in the later half.
Altogether 'Pappy Appacha', is the really the better one coming from Dileep stable, in the recent times. The movie has got all that may satisfy his thick fans, mostly children and families. And if marketed well, this may end the drought of big hits in Dileep's recent career.
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