Wonderful! Excellent! Spectacular! Adjectives fail me to describe this work of art: Pazhassiraja, a Malayalam movie about the King Pazhassiraja from Kerala, who fought against the British East India Company in the beginning of 19th century, it is directed by Hariharan for M.T. Vasudevan Nair's script. I am not the one who can write reviews of movies. Let me attempt to describe how I enjoyed this movie.
From beginning to end the movie is tight, breathtaking. Every scene has suspense, and I had to eagerly wait to see things happening. Direction is really good, so disciplined and careful. The movie was more than three hours, but I never felt bored (I was reminded of "Seven Samurai"). The director Hariharan has used every character in the movie very well. Everyone has definite roles except for Dora Baber, I don't know why she got a place in the movie--is it for creating some sentimense? However, the character is funny.
The cinematography is excellent. There are a few visually charming scenes throughout the movie. Especially, there is always the presence of the forest in the movie, which is exploited well. The scene in which a white horse is running through the river, Mammootty taking bath in the river, the camera work in the scene where the "Pazhassi pattalam" (the army of Raja Pazhassi) is shown at the Telecheri fort while the King Pazhassi signs a treaty of peace with the British are very good. And there is the introduction of Sarathkumar--excellent. The fight scenes are also very good.
Regarding acting, I have nothing to say. Every actor has done his / her part very well. Sarathkumar is really fantastic. From his introduction to his death, he was like a fire on the screen. His body structure, agility, proud look, everything is superb. (While watching the movie my mother asked me who that actor was, she felt he was a good actor. I told her, in fact, he really is. This is the debut film for Sarathkumar in Malayalam.) And there comes Padmapriya. Maybe, a female character doing so much stunt is for the first time in Malayalam cinema. She has put immense effort into every scene, especially in action scenes. Has she dubbed for herself? Her Malayalam is not natural but good. If she has dubbed herself, great--keep it up! Characters played by Suresh Menon and Manoj K. Jayan are also good. Suresh Menon is becoming better and better, he has to put more effort to improve his facial expressions. However, compared to his other movies, he acted very well in this one. I have nothing to say about Mammootty, I could never say if he was acting--so natural a performance. Excellent are the performances by other actors like Devan, Suman, Jagathy Sreekumar, Jagadeesh and the actors who gave life to the British characters.
I will never forget the fight scenes. They looked really real. Swordfights by Mammootty and Sarathkumar, and fights using bow and arrow by Manoj K. Jayan and Padmapriya, are taken well. The director and stunt director have taken much care to make the scenes natural, fierce and real. We can really feel the spark when two swords are crossed.
The end was nice though I have the opinion that it resembles like the end of the Hollywood movie "300".
Another thing not to forget to write down is the dialogues. Once again M.T. Vasudevan Nair proved his mettle by using the Malayalam language in the most elagant way. Each dialogue is beautiful, poetic, sparkling and unforgettable.
Someone asked me if it is an art movie or commercial movie. What can I say? I can't distinguish. It is a great work of art, and it is commercial--it attracts people, that's all. Any way, I experienced multiple goosefleshes throughout the movie. And there were long-standing ovations and whistles for every stunning scene, performance and dialogue. I think most of the applause went to Sarathkumar as he had to put more stunts and fights than anyone else in the movie. I confess that I want to see the movie once again.
While searching the internet, I discovered this blog: http://malabardays.blogspot.com/. The blogger Mr. Nick Balmer claims to be the great great great great nephew of Thomas Harvey Baber, the British sub-collector of Thalassery under whose command Pazhassiraja was killed eventually in 1805. Thomas's account of Pazhassi's death is put up by Mr. Balmer in his blog.
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