Paresh C Palicha says Kunchako Boban gives his best performance in Pullippulikalum Aattinkuttiyum.
Kunchako Boban has long been considered the chocolate-boy hero of Malayalam films even though he is in his early thirties. In the Lal Jose directed Pullippulikalum Aattinkuttiyum,though, we see him as a 29-year-old guy sporting a funny goatee and doing a humorous role.
Gopan (Kunchako) is a houseboat owner in the picturesque backwaters of Kuttanad. Chakka Gopan (aka Aadu Gopan for his funny beard) is debt-ridden and looking after a family consisting of three useless elder brothers and an ailing mother. The humour comes through the scenes in which Gopan has to pay for his brothers' actions as they are small time goons who beat up people for money and their victims even the score by beating up Gopan.
There is very little in the story if we are looking for something fresh or new. It just follows the template created by Malayalam directors of the mid-eighties with Mohanlal in the lead.
Gopan's lady love is Kainakari Jayasree (Namitha Pramod) who dances for the guests on board Gopan's houseboat. Shammi Thilakan is the typical bad guy of the piece, a rich and lecherous houseboat owner with political ambitions.
There is a string of other actors filling up the space to show the life of Kuttanad feeding on the tourists from foreign lands. This is where the scriptwriter Sinduraj had put some real effort in creating a more genuine story.
Scriptwriter Sinduraj had made a real effort to create a genuine story, but other departments are lacklustre.
The film is hoping to cash in on Kunchako Boban's new found star power and comic talent. No complaint as far as that goes, as he is at his best. The rest of the star cast just supports him in this endeavour. He is the new Dileep for Lal Jose, with the latter trying to repeat the success he had achieved with Dileep.
The one stand-out of this film is S Kumar's camerawork which captures the lush beauty of the Kuttandan backwaters.
Pullippulikalum Aattinkuttiyum is a formulaic entertainer.
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