PULLIKKARAN STARAA STORY: To escape the bad name of being a womaniser in his native place, Idukki, Rajakumaran relocates to Kochi. However, two women cross his path only to change his life forever.
PULLIKKARAN STARAA REVIEW: To convincingly show the image makeover of a man who has been labelled a womaniser from the day of his birth (yes, you read it right) to that of a star, it takes a sensible script, mature and thought-provoking dialogues and some characters with depth. Pullikkaran Staraa attempts a tale of this genre with none of it, and without much effort, it offers disappointment in no time into the movie.
Rajakumaran (Mammootty) hails from Idukki, where he grew up earning one notorious label after the other, for no fault of his. He comes to Kochi to work in a teacher's training college, and bad luck follows him here too. His paths cross with that of two women, Manjari teacher (Asha Sarath) and Manjima (Deepti Sati). Their presence also cause a few twists in the otherwise passable life of Rajakumaran.
Mammootty looks as handsome as ever in the film. In Kochi, he stays in a classy apartment, which you can't help take notice of, for the interiors and a cool terrace. The visuals of the song Kilivathilin has an album feel and they bank well on Deepti Sati’s good looks. With that, anything entertaining about the movie comes to a closure.
One can’t help wondering how the veteran, experienced cast and crew of the movie couldn’t see through the shallowness of the story and its lack of entertainment quotient that are evidently absent. The scene in which Innocent’s character Omanakshan Pillai helps Rajakumaran get rid of the ‘bad name’ reminds one of those from Pranchiyettan and The Saint, just that there is nothing here that matches their genius. Rajakumaran ends up looking like a pervert where he has to appear as guardian angel, due to the poor execution of certain scenes. For the same reason, the one in which Manjima attempts to pass on a gift to a stranger ends up dud. Similarly silly are those scenes in which Manjima and the rest come together to teach Rajakumaran some tele-romance. Certain songs fall into the plot out of the blue and it’s so evident that there isn’t much thought gone into incorporating them well. The glaring age gap between the actors also sticks out like a sore thumb in a romantic song, though the crew has tried to visualise it beautifully.
At 135 minutes, neither the star nor the story help the film stand tall on its feet as a decent entertainer. If not a die-hard Mammootty fan, the movie is an avoidable fare.
