Pranchiyettan and the Saint

Viewers generally go out for the movies to be entertained. Thats exactly what Renjith has managed to do with this wonderful movie. The movie starts off with Mammootty being introduced by some ghosts. That initially made me feel that it would be something like Shyamalan's movies. But I was totally mistaken and taken aback by what followed.

The story telling is some thing that one would find remarkable in the movie. The feats of the so called Mammootty character 'Pranji Yettan' is depicted very skillfully and meticulously. He thrives for the respect and recognition that he always wanted. He tries to become a better man but still no one seems to take his seriously. The manages to become a helper of the needy in spite of being a wealthy person. How his friends try to become a well know personality is the crux of the story.

The Thrissur slang has been used very cleverly in the movie and manages to chuckle the audience. Though not used very dramatically it stands out as the best feature of the film. Innocent, Tiny Tom, Siddique, Jagathy and Khusboo play their roles to the at most of perfection not to mention how great Mammootty was.

I would give it a 8 out of 10 for entertainment.

Once in a while along comes a movie that makes your spirits soar and helps you forget the mediocrity that this medium often serves. That is does it without seeking recourse to any manipulative tools, that we are all too familiar with, makes is even more remarkable. It solely depends on unalloyed storytelling skills.

Director Ranjith's latest offering Pranchiyettan and the Saint, starring Mammootty, is one such effort where the viewer is drawn into the story to experience the sheer joy of it. This film just tells the story of a rich but uncouth simpleton, C. Francis -- popularly known as Pranchiyettan. As his family has been into rice business, he is also known by a nickname Aripranchi, and this pains him.

So, he makes serious efforts to get rid of the nickname -- and his efforts include diversifying into other businesses and supporting worthy charitable causes. But, as fate would have it, the nickname that has troubled him since school days, never leaves him.

What works for the narrative of this film is the simple humor, which is continued till the fag end of the film.

The film depends heavily on Mammootty's histrionic skills to be convincing and it works. It is this effortless and natural performance that gives Pranchiyettan the lifeblood.

Mammootty as an actor has resorted to slapstick comedy to prove his credentials too, but in this film it is quite different -- the middle aged character that he plays here possesses a natural sense of humor and does not require any help in the form of slapstick situations.

On the whole, the success of Pranchiyettan and the Saint rests on the shoulders of Mammootty and Ranjith.

Pranchiyetan and the saint is a movie revolving around the central character ,Prachiyettan's ( played by Padamshree Bharat Mammoty) reflection on his life, on his futile attempts to achieve, fame respect and recognition, Ultimately leading to self realisation.... A very well scripted movie, Master director Ranjit nicely blends thrissur slang and the central character's possible imaginary tryst with St Francis.In the process Pranchiyettan as well the viewers are taken through stark realities of life , in what meets the eyes are not always true... and what one percieves as success and successful people in real life are often neither happy nor successful and true success in life lies within oneself and helping others in realising their's

Pranchiyetten and the Saint is a satirical, surreal, thought provoking and a character driven movie that manages to draw us into its story, enjoy and cherish, the comical and eccentric adventures of Pranchiyettan in pursuit of fame. The whole story is narrated by Pranchi to the Saint as reply to his question "What is it that worries you?" Eenashu Cherammal Francis or Pranchiyettan or "Ari Pranchi" (Mamooty) is a wealthy businessman, who is quite unhappy with the way people call him "Ari Pranchi" referring to the business of his ancestors (rice vendors), without respect. He wants to earn respect of the people and his efforts to do so is so hilarious. Later in the film, he comes to the point of literally 'buying' respect. He is not well educated and therefore, obviously, suffers from an inferiority complex. He, in his pursuit for fame, is also used by others for their own profits. He never gets mentioned for anything he does (His company sponsored a ceremony for congratulating the achievements of the Oscar winning Malayali "Gaffur Chekutty". He was, quite politely, thrown out of the stage and thus losing his chance to become a well known person). He has a rival, who was his schoolmate (Siddique), to whom he lost his girlfriend (Kushboo) while at school, which leads to another complex he has. He is extremely bothered by certain failures in his personal life. Both the rival and his wife are 'well known' doctors in the city (which really bothers Pranchi a lot).

Ranjith(writer & director) is among the few film-makers in Malayalam film industry, who tries to do something unconventional. He has such films like Nandanam, Thirakatha, Paleri Mankiyam to his credit. Ranjith has created such a brilliant tale and narrated it almost flawlessly and quite stylishly that makes the film, a far cry from the usual, mediocre and clichéd stuffs that has been ruling the roost at the box office lately (a few exceptions of course). The humor here is simple and brilliant. Mamooty has breathed life in to Pranchiyettan. He literally lived as Pranchiyettan in every frame. Mamooty has been getting quite a few experimental roles lately (Kuttyshrank, Paleri Manikyam and this film). This is, in my opinion, one of those movies where his excellent acting skills have been really put to use. He has handled comedy so naturally rather than overdoing it like in Thuruppugulan. A few friends of mine, complained about the way he handled 'Thrissur' accent. But I've no such complaints as I was too busy enjoying the film. Priyamani makes a brief entrance as 'Padmasree' an artist, in the story who is another love interest of Pranchi. This part in the movie could've been a tad longer in my opinion, as the exit of the Padmasree from the story, lacked the intended punch (on me. I don't know about others). Master Ganapathy plays Pauli, a rebellious but intelligent kid whom Pranchi meets in the later parts of the film. (I am not going to reveal much about the role). The Saint is played by an Australian theater artist and I liked him. He was much better than the other foreign artists that show up in most other Malayalam films. Innocent plays Menon a close friend of Pranchi who gives the ideas to Pranchi to get famous. Everybody has done a nice job in the film.

The movie explores or at least touches superficially on a lot of things, which I noticed and which I don't think I am matured to enough to say. I am talking about humans & human relationships. This is so far the best film I've seen this year. In my opinion it will be future classic.

Good dailog delivery Good slang Dairection Comedey Family movie.