Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum movie review: This Fahadh Faasil starrer is worth adding to your weekend-watch list

Akhil Sathyan’s first directorial effort, Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum (Pachu and the Magic Lamp), centres on a young girl’s desire to pursue education and an elderly woman’s efforts to support her aspirations, with the aid of a young man who joins them for his own selfish purposes. But did the movie manage to stay honest to its intent? Let’s see…

The film begins with an adorable song “Chalte Raho”, featuring never-before-seen footage of Mumbai, excluding Mumbai Central Station and the Gateway Of India (phew!). The visuals mostly depict the daily lives of Mumbaikars. Soon after, the film introduces a franchise of a Kerala-based enterprise that sells ayurvedic products, including medicines. The franchise is owned and operated by Prashanth (Fahadh Faasil), fondly called Pachu. After toiling away for several years, Pachu has finally achieved financial stability and has hired a new worker (Althaf Salim), enabling him to take it easy and give himself some rest. However, despite approaching his mid-30s, Pachu is still unmarried, which is a source of distress for his parents (Shanthi Krishna and Mukesh) and himself.

While on a trip to Kerala to renew his shop’s licence and collect medicines, Pachu finds himself in a bind due to unforeseen events. When he’s ready to head back to Mumbai, Riyas (Vineeth), a regular customer and owner of the building where Pachu’s shop is located, contacts him and asks him to accompany his mother Laila (Viji Venkatesh) to Mumbai by train. Pachu agrees to the offer after Riyas promises him an iPhone in return.

However, during the train ride, Laila gets off at Goa without informing Pachu, and he is forced to get down as well. Pachu soon discovers that Laila went to Goa to rescue Nidhi (Dhwani Rajesh), her domestic worker’s daughter who is being forced by her step-grandmother and her goons to work in a cafe instead of pursuing studies. When Laila offers Pachu complete ownership of his shop, he agrees to assist Nidhi and bring her back to Mumbai. Along the way, Pachu meets Hamsadhwani (Anjana Jayaprakash), a young woman who has also been trying to help Nidhi. The film further follows their journey to bring Nidhi home safely.

While the film does provide a satisfactory and enjoyable experience, it falls short in many places. The first half, despite having enough moments that make the viewers crease up, seldom discusses what the story is actually about. While one might think that the movie is about Pachu, his struggles and how he finds a (literal or metaphorical) magic lamp, the viewers get to know the main plot of the movie only towards the intermission, which could make them wonder what the point of the first half was. Till the actual focal point is revealed, the movie centres just on situational comedy scenes without settling anywhere.

Despite the introduction of Nidhi’s character, the film deviates from its main plot several times, which hinders its progress. Furthermore, the nearly three-hour runtime is bogged down by several unnecessary scenes that fail to add value to the story. While Pachu’s relationship with Hamsadhwani becomes a focus of the film at one point, it lacks compelling moments for both the audience and the characters, contributing to the sense that the title of the movie is either misleading or that the story has taken unnecessary detours rather than focusing on the essential elements.

The film commits a common error often seen in contemporary movies, where certain characters appear early on but disappear for a significant portion of the film, only to reappear towards the end, rendering their presence meaningless. This is evident in the roles played by actors Mukesh, Shanthi Krishna, and Althaf Salim. Furthermore, the movie also falls prey to the trend of male writers/directors failing to create well-developed female characters who have a purpose beyond serving as a catalyst for the male protagonist’s personal growth and understanding of life.

Conversely, a few dialogues in the movie seem to be dragged out needlessly and become a hindrance to the audience’s enjoyment. It’s worth noting that this isn’t one of those deliberately slow-burn movies. If the creators had wanted to, they could have made Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum much more concise and effective.

Nevertheless, the actors deliver commendable performances and provide some enjoyable moments for the audience. Debutant Viji Venkatesh, Anjana Jayaprakash, and Dhwani Rajesh excel in their respective roles, whereas Vineeth once again demonstrates that he is not only a remarkable dancer and dubbing artist but also a skilled actor. Undoubtedly, it was heartwarming to witness the late actor Innocent in his last final on-screen performance. Even though his part is minimal, the scenes he appeared in will surely bring a final smile to Malayalaees who grew up watching him, as they bid goodbye to the thespian.

Fahadh Faasil proves once again that he is a versatile actor, able to handle a range of roles with ease, including those that require humour, which is not the strong suit of many actors. Despite his year-long break from the film industry, his acting seems as natural as ever. And for people who body-shamed Fahadh Faasil after the teaser of Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum dropped, you still have no idea what he or anyone else is capable of. Although the film may remind some viewers of Akhil’s father Sathyan Anthikad’s ventures with Fahadh such as Oru Indian Pranayakadha and Njan Prakashan, the actor manages to bring a new perspective to his character without repeating himself in a plot that shares similarities with those two films.

While there isn’t much to say about the technical aspects of the film, cinematographer Sharan Velayudhan and director-editor Akhil Sathyan, who also wrote the story, have done a commendable job in their roles. The music by Justin Prabhakaran is also pleasant to the ear. One aspect that deserves special mention is the subtitles by Vivek Ranjit, which is often overlooked in Malayalam films.

Overall, for those seeking a relaxed viewing experience this weekend, Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum is likely a satisfactory choice. However, whether it will leave a lasting impression is a matter that can only be determined after watching it in nearby theatres.