An Adoor movie after eight years, that too a classic one like 'Naalu Pennungal', was bound to create an interest. With the cast including Dileep and Kavya Madhavan in the lead roles, there was much hype about its 'commercial' intent. With such a prelude, there sure was an unusual crowding(compared with a usual Adoor release) at the theatre. The movie did have a lot of Adoor tropes, but his signature that has made him much revered is missing. In 'Pinneyum' the setting, mood, tone and narrative style is reminiscent of the auteur's trademarks, but the the way he has conceived the plot leaves a lot to be desired.
The movie is based on real life incidents. There is Purushothaman Pillai who is married and has a six year old daughter. He is jobless and has to face the ridicule of all and sundry including his family. Even his wife often utters harsh words. Having to live on his wife's income and feeling totally worthless, Purushothaman Pillai is one dejected man. As the first half concludes, we have Purushothaman Pillai getting a job in the gulf and ready to start a new life. The tough times in the family now turns joyous. Even as the plot moves forward in the first half what strikes one is the lack of empathy that one feels for the lead character. There is too much drama in the dialogues to disrupt a realistic feel. There is a theatricality to many of the sequences. Adoor has been careful in not giving out any clues regarding the age and milieu. This could be because he is dealing with a timeless human emotion - greed.
The twists happen in the second half with the hatching of a get- rich- quick scheme jeopardizing the family. At this point one does wonder about the lack of clarity of motive for the family to agree to something like this. Even for an emotion like greed to take hold of the entire family, the motive seems to lame. Adoor has tried to be soft with the wrong doers, but his intent does not move the viewer - either in support or in opposition (maybe a bit on the opposition side). Most of Adoor movies have always had strong themes and emotions attached. Though he has taken an age old human predicament in 'Pinneyum', the execution is flawed.
Its not that Dileep and Kavya were bad in the movie, but the excess of theatricality in the dialogues and the not so natural reactions commanded from their respective characters have taken a toll. The characters of Indrans and Baby Akshara, who supports Purushothaman Pillai in his downhill stage have been conceived well. Indrans play Dileep's brother - in- law and his emoting is perfect. It is perplexing why Adoor let the girl who later played the couple's daughter act the way she did. It looked like she was acting in a stage drama. A host of supporting cast appear in the movie. Srindaa, Nedumudi Venu, KPAC Lalitha and others who have proved themselves to be actors of mettle over the years, though does not make much of an impression in the movie.
'Pinneyum' does not stimulate the intellect or touch our emotions the way much of previous Adoor's movies have done. This movie cannot be called a classic and fails to live up to the lofty expectations.
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