483. Panchavarnathatha; movie review

PANCHAVARNATHATHA
Cert PG
146 mins

BBFC advice: Contains mild bad language, sex references

On average, Indian movies last from between two and two and a half hours. Most often, they could be cut by 30 minutes to the benefit of the film's construction.
Panchavarnathatha is a typical example of a picture whose opening half is flabby. Indeed, it took me 45 minutes to comprehend where it was going.
I am led to presume that the length of movies comes from the fact that going to the cinema is a day out to Indian families.
Indeed, I have seen evidence of this in the UK where popular films often see a gathering of all ages from babies to the elderly.
Perhaps, that means that Westerners such as I need to swallow the length and accept it.
I digress. Ramesh Pisharody's is a comedy surrounding the connections between a harmless animal-lover (Jayaram Subramaniam) and his rather large menagerie and the battle for local political power.

Kunchacko Boban stars as the politician who is trying to emulate his father as a well-loved MP. However, the antics of his mischievous wife (Anusree) threaten to undo his career.
It takes a heck of a long time before the two stories become interwoven and even then there is more padding in Panchavarnathatha than up an Elvis impersonator's shirt.
Even after it has greater focus, the cultural nuances went over my head and I struggled to be on the same wavelength as Pisharody.
While I understood the appealing simplicity of the man who lives with animals and sees only the propensity for good in people, I found the political connection jarring.
But most of all, I simply found it unfunny. Not a single gag hit its mark with me. Worse still, it has an ending which is more likely to prompt tears than a giggle.
All in all, the 146 minutes seem to drag on and on.

Reasons to watch: Quick-paced Malayalam comedy
Reasons to avoid: Disjointed and not very funny

Laughs: None
Jumps: None
Vomit: None
Nudity: None
Overall rating: 3.5/10

The big question - Are regional Indian movies really as rushed as they sometimes appear?

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