Producer : Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Director : Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Cast : M.R.Gopakumar,Seema.G.Nair,Nedumudi Venu,Jagadeesh,Ravi Vallathol, Manoj.K.Jayan,Praveena etc.
Screenplay,dialogues : Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Review By : Unni
Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s latest film, the State award winning ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’, based on four short stories by the late Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, is set in the 1940’s. The film is an anthology of sorts, telling four different stories one after the other. (Adoor’s last film ‘Naalu Pennungal’ also represented this genre). ‘Kallante Katha’ narrates the story of a young child, who is the son of a thief named Neelakantan (M.R.Gopakumar) and who is caught between love for his father and the stigma of being a thief’s son. The second story ‘Niyamavum Neethiyum’ is about two police constables (played by Nedumudi Venu and Jagannathan) who frame an innocent rickshaw-puller in a robbery case in a bid to save their jobs. The third story ‘Oru Koottukaaran’ is about two friends, one an advocate (Jagadeesh) and the other a college student (Sudheesh), the latter approaching the former seeking help in a very complicated matter. The fourth story, ‘Pankiyamma’, is about what happens to two men (Ravi Vallathol and Manoj.K.Jayan) who come into the life of the beautiful Pankiyamma (Praveena). While one of them is her husband, the other is her lover. Things take a totally different turn for them and both of then finally land up in jail.
The four stories are narrated by Adoor with a purpose- to highlight how men are led to commit crimes. The film focuses on how socio-economic factors are behind personal crimes. Adoor has been true to the stories and he has succeeded in capturing the atmosphere of the 1940’s in a very effective manner. With brilliant performances, excellent technical features, captivating background score and a well-worked out script as its highlight, ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’ stands out as a film that delivers strong, relevant messages. The film of course is not box office material.
Performances
With Adoor as the director, it’s but natural for actors to deliver their best. All the actors- those with key roles as well as those with minor roles- have delivered great performances and do justice to their respective roles. No point at all in mentioning actors name-wise.
Technical aspects
M.J.Radhakrishnan, excellent cinematographer that he is, has rendered excellent support to Adoor and has composed frames in keeping with the demands of the subject. Editor Ajith Kumar too has done a good job. And so has art-director Marthandam Rajashekharan.
Music
Issac Thomas impresses us with his music, soft and blending well with the subject and giving us the right kind of feel.
Script
Adoor, who has done the script himself, has seen to it that the film retains the essence of the original stories, those written by Thakazhi. The characterization, the dialogues etc has been done with this in mind. The script is well worked out too.
Direction
In an Adoor movie, it’s always the direction that is of prime importance. The master director that he is, he has done the film with a real master stroke. Every frame betrays the fact that ‘Oru Pennum Randaanum’ is a director’s movie. Adoor is in control of the minutest of details and has made that reflect on the film’s totality.
Overall verdict- Class movie.