പഴശ്ശി രാജാ നിരൂപണം

സവ്യസാചിയുടെ ബ്ലോഗില്‍ പോസ്റ്റ്‌ ചെയ്ത ഒരു കമന്റ്‌ ആണ് താഴെ കൊടുത്തിരിക്കുന്നത്. കമന്റ്‌ വളരെ ദൈര്‍ഘ്യം ഏറിയതിനാല്‍ ഇവിടെ പോസ്റ്റുന്നു. പഴശ്ശി രാജ സിനിമയാണ് പ്രമേയം. കുരുടന്‍ ആനയെ കണ്ടത് പോലെ എന്ന പ്രയോഗം ചെറി അടക്കമുള്ള നമ്മുടെ സിനിമ പ്രേക്ഷകരെ ഉദ്ദേശിച്ചാണെന്ന് എനിക്ക് തോന്നിപ്പോകാറുണ്ട്. ഈ സിനിമയെ വ്യത്യസ്തമായ ഒരു വീക്ഷണ കോണില്‍ അവതരിപ്പിക്കുന്നു.

Hi folks, I'm Saswath from Pazhassi,living just 300 meters east to the abolished Kovilakom of Pazhassi Raja. The lores of Pazhassi are in my blood from childhood. Whatever it may be, Pazhassi Raja is not a great movie according to me.. The reasons are:

1) The poor camera work as AK said. Venu should understand that 'angle' is not everything for camera. There are two or three world class shots, the rest are average or notably poor. Many a scenes, I have seen camera was out of focus. He should stick on to his basics.

2) The Jambavan Director sir- Mr. Hariharan, please accept the fact that there were better directors in the industry who knows the technical details better than you. While doing a cult movie like PR, you could ask others about shots perfection. And you should have learned about guerrilla warfare.

3) The music done by Ilayaraja is pathetic. It is better for him to stop at this moment. Nowadays, he's invited only to Sathyan Anthikkad movies and from Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal, his music is repetitive. The same instruments, same ragam, thalam- there is absolutely no effort from his side to better his music!

And to say, bringing Rasool Pookkutty is not everything. To know a movie can be thrilling through background score, sound editing and mixing, watch Jason Bourne's third edition- The Bourne Ultimatum. Watch it fully and play it again by muting the sound- and feel the difference.

4) The lack of planning and research- The major fact behind the skyrocketed budget was the lack of planning. If you had planned for 27 Crores earlier, you could have brought in AR Rahman and Asutosh Gowarikar. Also, the film took 2 years to complete, but seems to me that the picture was done in a hurry without perfection. Again, to tell the truth, some scenes are world class. But you could have done more D.I. in the studio to make the lightings perfect.

5) The refusal of real history. MT could have done more research and should have consulted people like former Calicut university VC Dr. KKN Kurup, who has done PhD in Pazhassi wars history. There could have been more information about Col. Arthur Wellesley(of Napolean's Waterloo fame) who was assigned to defeat Tipu and Pazhassi. He ordered to abolish Pazhassi's Kovilakom and built the Tellicherry Coorg Road over it. Second, Pazhassi was not dead on the spot. He was found seriously wounded at the banks of Mavila Thodu (where he prays before the final battle) after the shootout. Many of us don't know the historical facts, so this point is not that valid as compared to the other obvious reasons.

6) The glamour quotient was not necessary for such a cult movie- for that we could have seen other third rate movies. So Gopalettan has spent much on this.

7) Using the story teller's voice throughout or showing maps of places of battles were good techniques for a historical movie. Think about Mohanlal's voice telling us about the uprisal to the freedom struggle and its final result after the climax, folks- that could have been a better ending which results in hope for the viewers. Remember how Amitabh Bachhan's proud voice lead Lagaan.   Overall, PR is not a bad movie as many of the fans, TVs, A/Cs or Mixies say. It is worth watching once. I just compared it with the actual cost they claim. It is better than any Mammootty or Mohanlal movie in the past two years. (exceptions like Bhramaram & Loud Speaker are there.) If Madambi or Thurup Gulan or Twenty 20 can be hits, this obviously deserves that status.

(കടപ്പാട് : എ. കെ.)