Paappan

A series of murders. A link to the past. Investigation by Kerala Police. Lots of twists. Intense Crime drama.

The return of Suresh Gopi as CI Abraham Mathew Mathan aka Paappan. He did make a comeback in 2020 after a 5 year hiatus with VARANE AVASHYAMUNDU. So this is his second comeback. A revelation that is Neeta Pillai. She debuted with Poomaram in 2018, alongside Kalidas Jayaram. I haven't watched that movie. But I sort of liked her in Abrid Shine's movie "Kung Fu Master". I read that she did a year of training for her action role in that movie. But I loved her in Paappan. Terrific perfomace as ASP Vincy Abraham IPS & Paappan's daughter. And always a welcome change to see a female cop leading the investigation and story. Thrilling music/bgm by Jakes Bejoy though at times it did feel too loud. Visually pleasing cinematography by Ajay David Kachappilly. And superb direction by the one and only Joshiy. He proves time and time again why he is still relevant after directing movies for 44 years! And he is one director who knows how to manage lots of actors/characters in one movie. Another Director who excels/exceled in that was I. V Sasi. This movie has a lot of characters, most of them well placed, well thought of and well acted. No wonder that a movie like "2020", that had almost all the actors from Malayalam cinema was also directed by Joshiy! Not saying that it was a perfect movie. But it was a celebration of cinema!

As it's a suspense thriller, I won't get too much into the specifics. The movie it took it's own sweet time and that bothered me. A 170 mins runtime could have been trimmed quite a bit to increase the pacing. The elaborate story and characters does need the time but it still did test my patience a few times. And I honestly felt that Suresh Gopi wasn't utilized to his maximum potential. Obviously there was nothing here to showcase his stellar acting chops but his screen presence with a new found salt & pepper look did make up for it to a extent. As an experienced ex cop, he did pull his weight around. A commanding presence on screen. Thankfully the long boring monologue contests of yesteryears wasn't used here and that was a big relief. I also wished he would have lost a little weight/hit the gym, as an extra effort by him can be seen in the action scene. Though he and Nyla Usha looked good together, the added weight did not justify his look in the flashbacks as a younger person. I say this with utmost respect to the actor. When you see how an older Mammootty tries to maintain his looks and physique, you wonder why SG cannot!

The supporting cast did their parts well, as I mentioned before. Among them Asha Sharath as Dr. Sherly and Shammi Thilakan as Iruttan Chacko stood out. Gokul Suresh Gopi did not have much to do, other than be SG's foster son Michael and sidekick but whatever was given to him, he did it well. Nyla Usha is a very good actress but she was also under utilised here. She didn't have much to do other than a few scenes of being Paappan's wife Nancy Abraham. She was excellent in the title character of Mariyam in Joshiy's last movie prior to this one, "Porinju Mariam Jose". So was Kaniha's character. Small role but did good. Another veteran actress Maala Parvathi too had a small role as Doctor Radhika Menon and she did well too. I am not mentioning about a few other actors as this is a suspense movie. And it's been only a few days since it's release.

Though Paappan overstayed it's welcome and was a bit exhausting at times, it was still an enjoyable & gripping suspense thriller. There are times when Suresh Gopi takes a back seat and it's a Neeta Pillai show all the way and then there are times when SG steps in and takes over. It's not in the league of some of the other great thrillers that came out earlier or in recent times but leave it to Joshiy to satisfy the audience one way or the other. He knows the pulse of today's audience and he still has 90s nostalgia eteched in his mind as we can see flashes of 90s movie making combined with today's sensibilites at times. No complaints here! Give it a watch. You will be invested from the get-go. Enjoy!

Watched it today.. It was a fine movie with an excellent story and climax. There are somany peoples trying to degrade the movie because of personal/ political feud. Please don't believe that.. Its making, story, bgm everything is fine except some casting like Tiny tom, sadhika veugopal and asha sharath ...first two where overacting and asha sharath was struggling.. Overall its great to wacth in the big screen.

Joshiy is perhaps the greatest mass movie maker Malayalam has ever seen with the possible exception of Shaji Kailas. From "New Delhi (1987)" to "Lion (2006)", the master director has given us an array of character-driven mass heroes, in direct contrast to the template physicality we have seen in the genre, relying more on power of personality and dialogue to deliver mass elevation sequences. In "Paappan", he gives us a more understated, brooding and low key avatar of superstar Suresh Gopi which while being appreciable, still just barely manages to salvage an overlong, trite film.

The story follows the journey of retired Circle Inspector "Abraham Paappan" (Suresh Gopi) and his estranged daughter, ASP Vincy Abraham (an excellent Neeta Pillai) as they are forced to put aside their differences and work together to track down an elusive serial killer. The writing from RJ Shaan is unimaginative and cliche-ridden, relying on familiar tropes we have seen umpteen times in films such as "Ee Thanutha Veluppan Kalathu (1990)", "Memories (2013)" and "Anjaam Pathiraa (2020)", offering nothing ingenuitive or unexpected to justify its overlong, overstuffed 2 hour 50 minute run-time.

The supporting performances from Asha Sharath, Nandhu, Gokul Suresh, Kaniha and co remain surface-level and without impact not due to their performances but due to clear lack of tightness in the script and depth in the writing. There are so many characters moving in and out of the narrative without ever justifying their presence that after a point the audience will want to give up. The director might have thought these barrage of red herrings would have built up the suspense element, but they act contradictory to expectations, giving a contrived and exhausting sheen to proceedings.

It was refreshing to see Suresh Gopi in an aged, battle-weary avatar as a dejected cop trying to rewrite old wrongs and Neeta Pillai holds her own as a fierce, steadfast cop who habitually puts duty above family and relationships. Unfortunately, the script and narrative fall apart around them the more you get into the movie, with the vapid, cringeworthy climax, especially leaving a bad taste in the mouth. Watch this one at your own risk. In a year that gave Malayalam thrillers of the level of "Twenty One Grams" and "Ela Veezha Poonchira", "Paappan" does not pass the acid test and ends up being sub-par. If you are expecting classic Joshiy level thrills and chills, you will be sorely disappointed!

I would say excellent movie without any hesitations . Suresh gopi is amazing and he did a great job again. We always love to see him in this roles .this Filim has everything a triller action Filim should have.

The film is too slow and lacks logic at many points. Casting too was not great as the junior actors couldn't or didn't perform well. An average murder mystery that gets a bit dramatically interesting by the last 10 minutes.