Kammatti Paadam

Rajeev Ravi's third Malayalam venture is a not a so called clichéd gangster flick. Instead of being an action filled masala crap,kammatti paadam focuses in developing the characters. The characters feel so realistic. The script shows a huge potential in balancing the characters and their emotions. We actually care about them. The performance of the actors are excellent. Dulquer proves he's a class actor again by Continuing his dashing performance. But the real heroes are Vinayakan and Manikandan. Vinayakan gives his career best,while stage artist Manikandan pleases us with his extraordinary acting skill. In all, its a beautiful cinematic experience. But it is not everyone's cup of tea. If you know who Rajeev Ravi is and appreciate a well written, masterfully directed movie with amazing actors, go and see it. You will enjoy it for surely.

This is my first movie review for a website. Being a movie buff, I have always wanted to watch out for good and critically acclaimed movies (masala and non-masala), irrespective of the language (as long as there are sub-titles). Usually, Malayalam movies are known for their realism. Kammatti Paadam is no exception. Added to it, it has rawness. As I watched the movie, it took me a while to get involved in it. But, once I got used to the characters, it was quite tough to move away from them. The exotic locales, the houses, the dresses -- all theese make you feel, as if the incidents are happening near you. Coincidentally, i visited Cochin last year during my holidays. It added to my love for this movie. Agreed, the story line can be found similar to many such gangster movies. But, Kammatti Paadam has definitely something for it. It may not be an interesting watch for many viewers, but for movie buffs like, it is a great watch. The casting is pitch perfect !!

Kammattipadam mourns the loss of innocence at the hands of the greedy, indifferent, and the deceitful. It is violent, like Ravi's other two movies. And it is unflinching. The film has noble intentions. It brings faces on screen that conventional Mollywood would never approve of. It takes their side and sings their songs.

Rajeev Ravi had earlier gave us films like Annayum Rasoolum and Njan Steve Lopez, which were realistic to the core and told love stories. Both those films got great appreciation from critics for its realistic portrayal of life, but failed to register its mark in Box office. So, this time he had tried to do a film which has some mass appeal as well. We can say that he become fully successful in that. But at the same time he kept the class which sets his film apart from usual entertainers. He narrated the film in a very different way and will be a treat for his followers.

Screenplay by P Balachandran also maintained a perfect pace and intensity throughout. The characterization and development of plot is the highlight of the film and Rajeev Ravi's craft is very much evident there.

Dulquer Salmaan gave a great performance as Krishnan and he is really improving as a actor. He really done a great job while portraying the different phases of Krishnan's life. He sported 3 different looks in this film and gave life to each phases with ease. Another great performance came from Vinayakan who was terrific as Gangan, the intimate friend of Krishnan. His change over for this character was too good. Manikantan, a theatre artiste, is perfect as Balan, Ganga's brother. Actors like Vinay Fort, P Balachandran, Suraj Venjarammoodu, Sine Tom Chacko, Alencier, Amalda Liz as Rosamma, Shaun Romy as Anitha, Muthumani, Anjali Aneesh Upasana, Manikandan, Soubin Shaheer, Alencier le, etc also done their part to perfection. Also there are numerous characters in the background who appear for less than a few minutes, yet create an indelible impression.

DOP by Madhu Neelakandan was one the highlights of this movie as his frames really set the atmosphere which the flick needed to tell the story convincingly. Music by John P Varkey and Vinayakan was very good as well and the background scoring was superb to say the least.

On the whole, Kammatipaadam is a realistic entertainer and those who loves these kind of films will be in for a treat.

A Pure cult classic which has a unique quality in characterization. It shows how equations in life change when money comes in. Through fascinating characters, it also analyses what happens when their personal and gangster phases collide.

The blood soaked life of Ganga makes us to understand the life of ground level gangster from their shoes and Krishnan, a good example on how to make decisions in life in order to make it a peaceful one.

Kammattipaadam is a mixture of various emotions and the sad story of a population that we tend to forget as we crave for more luxuries, narrated in a disturbingly true manner.

Rajeev Ravi's third feature film tells the story of a bunch of boys from an area in Ernakulam called Kammatti Paadam. They grew up to be what is colloquially called as members of a 'Quotation Team', a euphemism for the low rung enforcers of local mafia. The story follows them from their childhood to teenage years and then to mid- twenties and finally to when they are in their 40s.

The title, Kammatti Paadam, refers to an area of Ernakulam which lies to the back of KSRTC Bus Stand. It is basically a tale of the growth of the city told from the perspective of its main protagonists, characters played by Dulquer and Vinayakan. Film begins in the present with Dulquer struggling to stay alive in a bus to Ernakulam with a stab wound. The backstory is told using a well- known concept of 'Life flashes before your eyes just about when you are about to die' and the recent Malayalam film, James & Alice, is another one which employed the same. The basic concept of the film can be summed up as a representation of 'Gentrification' of Ernakulam city told through a bunch of characters who get gentrified in their life due to it. They were part of it both as people who helped in displacing the original people to make way for high-rise buildings and also as victims who got nowhere in their lives even as they were just used up by their paymasters.

A title of 'Once upon a time in Kammatti Paadam' would have been quite fitting for this film as it shares a lot with Sergio Leone's 'Once upon a time in America' in both its characterization and the way the story is told. It is also another film which begins its back-story through its main protagonist's memories as he lies in his deathbed. Only difference is that in Rajeev Ravi's film, the characters remain slumdogs. Another film that one would be reminded of is the Brazilian one- 'City of God' in terms of its rawness and the characters played by both Vinayakan and Manikandan, who revels in his role as the eldest gangster among them, would remind you of couple of characters from it.

It is overall a great watch even though the strength of the central relationship between Krishnan (Dulquer Salman) and Ganga (Vinayakan) is not quite convincing. I also had issue with some of the lazy narration in it, especially during scenes where some of the characters in the present tell Krishnan about when they had last seen Ganga. These are some things you would never expect from a Rajeev Ravi film who is quite known for his aversion to traditional narrative techniques. I also felt the light-weightiness of Dulquer's acting in many occasions. Rajeev Ravi is known for his tremendous casting of supporting characters and this one is no different with plenty of excellent new actors in it. One doesn't need to wax lyrical about cinematography in his films as it is quite understood how it is gonna be. Both his previous films, Annayum Rasoolum and Njan Steve Lopez, had quotation teams as characters and their influence in the films grew as he moved from former to latter. In his third film, they occupy almost the entire story. It is the least Rajeev Ravisque film out of the three and his weakest effort but it is still a great watch.

PS: It is quite ironic to see Dulquer Salman occupying almost all the space in its posters when it can be argued that Vinayakan is its central character. Maybe that is quite apt since the film is mainly about people who fall by the wayside.