Rani Padmini

Saw it yesterday on DVD, movie is so so - maybe a one time watch if you are sucker for chick flicks, Good Things - Rima and Manju are excellent in their characters. That villain guy "Raja" is also good. Bad - Too many useless characters and parallel story lines which don't contribute to central theme. The story kind of seems like rambling on at times... At times the movie looked like an advertisement of Himachal Pradesh Tourism. Songs are o.k, the first song is good. Rima Kallingal's portrayal of Rani is very good and realistic. It is quite easy to go over the board while portraying such a character, But Rima balances it very well. Manju Warrier's character is more like familiar territory - she's portraying the married/single mother damsel in distress ever since her comeback - so nothing new there. Also this is more of a bilingual film than an out an out Malayalam film. So if you are not comfortable with speaking Hindi then you might struggle with the story. The DVD has subtitles but still just a warning.

The film Rani Padmini is a cinematic work belonging to the adventure drama genre, directed by Aashiq Abu.

The narrative chronicles the lives of two young women. One of the protagonists is Rani, who was brought up in an environment of strict control by her parents in an urban setting. Consequently, her behaviour exhibits some divergence from the norm. The second character is Padmini. She was raised in a rural setting under the supervision of her grandparents. Consequently, she has gained a wealth of experience in the local culture. Padmini was married by Giri, whose family had settled in Delhi. Giri was an accomplished motorsport competitor, having amassed numerous accolades in the field of adventure racing. Following her marriage, Padmini's autonomy was curtailed by her mother-in-law. Her mother-in-law forbade her from pursuing any other employment, instead requiring her to assume the role of caretaker for her mother-in-law and grandmother. Nevertheless, Padmini was able to secure employment. Prior to participating in a significant racing event, Giri's mother encouraged him to sign a mutual divorce document. However, Padmini was not informed of this until Giri had departed. She subsequently fled from the house to meet Giri. En route, Padmini encountered Rani, who was also experiencing difficulties. They proceeded together, continuing their journey. During this journey, a number of incidents occurred. Some were humorous, while others were thought-provoking and enjoyable. Ultimately, they were able to locate Giri, who had already realised the error of his ways.

The film's narrative and direction are satisfactory, and the performances are commendable. The musical scores and visual placements are excellent. However, some scenes seem incongruous and could have been avoided. The film is suitable for single viewing.

There are many factors which make this movie one of my favourites- basically a woman centric movie-nice locations,humour, emotions everything is there in this movie, Reema Kallingal has given full justice to her role...

With his recent film 'Gangster' featuring Mammootty being heavily criticized by both audience and critics for its lack of good script and inability to engage the viewers, Aashiq Abu really needed to make it to the top. After a long gap, he has finally presented us 'Rani Padmini' with his wife Rima Kallingal as Rani and Manju Warrier as Padmini.

Padmini is a typical good and well-mannered malayali women who goes to Delhi with her husband (Jinu Joseph) after their marriage. One day her husband leaves her and after not hearing from him for days, she comes to know that he has signed a mutual divorce petition application. It hurts her really bad. She decides to go to Himachal Pradesh all by herself to meet her husband who is participating in Himalayan Car Rally. During her journey she meets Rani, who is more bold, daring and extrovert in nature compared to Padmini. Both soon becomes friends and Rani assists Padmini to guide her to Himalayas. The adventures they face and the blissful, paradisiac beauty of the cold mountains, moon-lit night sky which mesmerizes them on their path to Padmini's husband, which also makes them closer to each other, are the highlights of the movie.

The pre-interval portion of the movie is just 50 minutes. Post- interval session is about 1 hour and 40 minutes. The reason for this might be the makers didn't want to interrupt the flow of the movie once Rani and Padmini embark on their journey which begins after the interval. The title sequence featuring the childhood of Rani and Padmini which also highlights their differences was well made with the song 'Varu Pokaam Parakkaam'. Similarly there were two short films inside the film which were portrayed as stories told by Rani and Padmini to each other.

Performances of Manju Warrier, Rima Kallingal and Jinu Jacob were outstanding. The supporting cast including Sreenath Bhasi, Sajitha Madathil and Soubin Shahir also made their performances noteworthy. The chemistry between Manju and Rima worked out well which led to many funny and good moments in the movie. The fun factor is one important element which helped engage the audience in the long second half of the movie. Sound design and sound mixing was brilliant. Cinematography by Madhu Neelakandan brought the Himalayas to life on screen. It was classy and beyond perfect in capturing the richness of the scenes into every frame. Background score and songs by Bijibal were good and was the key factor mostly in connecting the viewers to the movie. These 3 aspects raises the movie to Hollywood perfection.

Overall, 'Rani Padmini' is a movie that raises the idea that women aren't just meant to be stuck doing household chores, held back by family responsibilities or locked up inside social barricades and should spread her wings and fly out of their comfort zone to explore all the beauty, thrills and happiness that nature has in store.

Not a typical malayalam flick and definitely not everyone's cup of 'tea or coffee or whatever'. An adventure drama movie with an exceptionally good direction from Aashiq Abu. This is definitely a comeback for him and the way he executed this movie in his unique style makes me wait for his next flick. 'Rani Padmini' is a must watch - for those who love 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' or that kind of adventure drama flicks - to be experienced from theaters.

Dear Ashiq Abu,

are you trying to win the award for honorary feminist?

Rani Padmini is like a charming, goofy, Malayali version of Thelma and Louise. The Rani-Padmini duo could well be the new Dasan-Vijayan (from Nadodikattu) of Mayalayalam cinema.

Neither Manju Warrier nor Reema Kalingal are particularly good in their roles. Reema is quite inept at comedy, her over the top role was ill conceived. Manju Warrier is overtly goofy and there are too many scenes to remind us that she is a homely and innocent Malayali girl. But the film is filled with clever jokes and directorial flourishes to keep you entertained.

However, your film does have an interesting structure with lots of flashbacks and side stories. Though some of the stories that Manju and Reema tell each other during their trip together were rather trite.

When the movie got over, I was thinking you could have done a lot more with the material. Too much space was given to Manju Warrier's husband (played by the mediocre stone faced Jinu Joseph). The racing scenes were well done but they served as a distraction from the more interesting main plot.

And Aashiq, like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, your film does have the tourism advertisement aspect to it. You tried to compensate for the lack of an interesting script by setting the film in an extremely beautiful place. Frankly, the overtly feel good paragliding scenes were quite cringe worthy.

Best Regards, Pimpin.

(5/10)