153. Pranaya Vilasam; movie review

 

PRANAYA VILASAM

Cert 12A

121 mins

BBFC advice: Contains infrequent moderate violence

Another week and another Indian movie which reserves all of its punches for its second half.

The opening hour of Pranaya Vilasam is a rather laboured drama in which a middle-class family's patriarch (Manoj K.U.) has little time for either his wife (Sreedhanya) or adult son (Arjun Ashokan).

Indeed, he is having clandestine but relatively innocent meetings with the first love of his life (Miya George).

At the same time, his lad doesn't take life too seriously and has a similar secret relationship with a fellow student.

In their own ways, they think their respective wife and mother is an open book. Until they discover she has more to her than either realise.

Panaya Vilasam is subtler than most Indian films - initially brash characters are faced with discoveries that force them to rethink their views.

It takes the audience on a journey through the Indian countryside as as father and son go from barely speaking to realising they need to work together to reach their respective goals.

I admired the nuanced performances of both Manoj and Arjun as they both realise the errors of previous thinking.

And I enjoyed the curve balls thrown by writers Jyothish M and Sunu AV and director Nikhil Muraly.

It is an enjoyable, thoughtful if unusually low-key Indian movie.

Reasons to watch: Unusual relationship drama

Reasons to avoid: Takes too long to reach its point

Laughs: None

Jumps: None

Vomit: Yes

Nudity: None

Overall rating: 7/10

Did you know? According to the Harvard Political Review, approximately 90 per cent of marriages in India today are arranged. 

The final word. Nikhil Murali: "We slowly realised that Malayalam cinema rarely revisited the 90s. Besides, it's less complicated because there are no major differences between the aesthetic of today and then -- aside from updated vehicles, television sets, and mobile phones, of course. We thought people would find that aesthetic easier to connect than something preceding it." Cinema Express

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