Papanasam (2015) Movie Details

Papanasam rides on the tensions it creates and the source of the tension is partly due to the music. Ghibrans background scores are a huge strength to the film and a special mention to the track Yeya En Kottikara and its breezy visuals. Sujith Vaassudevs realistic and rustic visuals sans the artificial filters and gloss, captures the true colours and the natural prosperity of Papanasam. At the same time, his contribution is not just a functional one. The overall slowness in the compositions adds a tinge of curiosity, suspense, grip and thrills to the film. Editor Ayoob Khans precise editing is also a major player in making this 3 hour long affair an engaging ride. Special mention to the edits in the climax.

The film opens with a shot of a lake whose smooth surface is interrupted by ripples the image prepares us for whats to follow, the increasing turbulence in the placid life of Suyambulingam (Kamal Haasan) and his family (wife Gautami, daughters Niveda Thomas and Esther Anil). But first, we see what a placid life it is. The early portions are leisurely paced the scenes seem to be cut to the rhythms of a small town. Its like strapping yourself to the time machine from Indru Netru Naalai and setting the dial to an era when cinema meant more than breakneck editing and the conviction that every audience member is a three-year-old suffering from ADD.Another thrill is watching the good guy do the kind of things the bad guy usually does. Lying. Covering up. Manufacturing alibis. Tampering with evidence. Its a spin on the classic Hitchcockian scenario of an innocent man on the run. Only, Jeethu Joseph is no Hitchcock. He relies on reaction shots to tell us what to feel. I havent seen this many cutaways to pointed expressions on actors faces we might as well be staring at subtitles saying things like this man is afraid hes caught in a lie or this woman is suspicious.

All the actors have delivered the nellai slang with sheer perfection, they have also followed the mannerisms and body language of the people lives in the particular locality which deserves a huge applause!

Drishyam was perhaps one of the tightest scripts in Indian cinema but Papansam is also impeccable and it is note worthy that Jeethu Joseph has corrected all those unidentifiable minor logic loopholes in the remake which indeed gives a fresh feel to the audience who have already seen the original.

Another interesting aspect of Papanasam is the nativitywriters Jeya Mohan and Suka have penned the dialogues in such a way that the film gives us a feel of being there in Papanasam for three hours.

Suyambulingam is someone who has made it big in life all by himself and he takes pride in the fact. His cable TV business serves as a perfect outlet for his obsessive cinema watching (he even stays up at his office during the night to watch movies on TV and goes home only in the mornings). But what he cares the most is his family his wife Rani (Gauthami, decent in her comeback role) and daughters Selvi (Nivetha Thomas) and Meena (Esther Anil). When Selvi is blackmailed by Varun (Roshan), who has shot a scandalous video of her, the situation goes out of control and the boy ends up dead. Suyambulingam will not let his family suffer and so, hatches upon an elaborate plot inspired by the movies he has watched and his innate street smartness to create water-tight alibis. But his opponent, Geetha Prabhakar (Asha Sarath), is equally clever; she is a woman, a mother and a cop and all these three kinds of people are known for their instinct. At one point, she sees through his game plan but can she prove that they are lies?