'Puthiya Niyamam' straddles the thin line between the right and wrong and easily loops in the grey places. Once again justice is meted out by people close to the victim as we have seen in countless stories. With Mammootty and Nayanthara leading the roost as a couple, the familial bond is classy. An uneasy air prevails in the story and the narration takes its thriller tone from here.

 

The way the plot is conceived is interesting. Starting with a heavy aura around Vasuki (Nayanthara) which even leads to her daughter to wonder if her mother is having an affair to the occasional steely and resigned looks alternating in each frames, the element of mystery is introduced right from the beginning.

 

This thread is kept up throughout the narrative. While Louis Pothen (Mammootty) is as cool as a cucumber, Vasuki is a smoldering mess. An eminent advocate who prefers to let his clients who approach him for divorce think twice before filing notice, an uber cool exterior who supports his wife in perplexing moments, a lovable flat mate, self confessed communist, and a staunch family man - Lois Pothen is one someone whom everyone loves. Who can blame the ever nosy neighbor played by Rachana Narayankutty who proclaims to love this married man and unashamedly chases him?

 

'Puthiya Niyamam' has a lot many classy moments which lend a charm to the overall feel of the movie. Some of the dialogues are very engaging and works well to further the story. Comic elements have not been left off, mostly coming in from the divorce cases that comes to Louis. Intrigue is also added by the visuals - an old man with the telescope, Vasuki's broken arm, the mask of the Kathakali, the fluttering Kathakali vesham et al feels symbolic, without feeling contrived.

 

The urbane landscape is beautifully brought out with a tastefully done flat, a garden in the balcony, the dingy but proactive office of Pothen and the cityscape.Inspite of all these realistic elements, a perfect looking Nayanthara with no hair out of place unlike usual home makers, typical slow motion Mammootty walk towards the end, the police role done by Sheelu Abraham, the garish and conventional background music of a typical thriller and backtracking camera all add to take away from a lovely tale.

 

'Puthiya Niyamam' should have stuck with the familial part of the narrative instead of going the revenge way in such an unlikely fashion. The psychological aspect of the characters which were given importance in the beginning was dismissed from the scene later on.

 

Apart from these odds moments in the story, 'Puthiiya Niyamam' is definitely an engaging watch. But the weightiness of the issue pictured gets drowned out in the process and this is where the movie fails. A K Saajan can take heart that he has been able to conceive such a movie beautifully. More thought on how to deal with what Vasuki undergoes would have taken the movie to a new level.