Sarvam Maya movie review: Nivin Pauly’s horror comedy is more miss than hit, fails to punch up

When Prabhendhu (Nivin) returns to his father’s house after a long time, his old pet dog immediately wakes up to greet him, and they fuse into one in no time. The dog here can be seen as a microcosm of the entire household that leaps to its feet at the sight of Prabhendhu after having been in torpor for quite some time. There’s not a single moment in the movie when one feels that Nivin doesn’t belong there, and he manages to ensure this while also conveying Prabhendhu’s sense of disconnection from home owing to past trauma.

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A star guitarist in a local music troupe, Prabhendhu’s dream is to scale great heights as an artist. Estranged from his family, mainly his father, he leads a loner’s life. However, circumstances force him to return to his home for a few months and live under his affluent father, renowned priest Neelakandan Namboothiri (Raghunath Paleri). Despite claiming to be an atheist, Prabhendhu, who was well-versed in pujas and other rituals as a kid, is eventually ‘forced’ to serve as an assistant to his cousin, priest Roopesh (Aju Varghese), for survival until he gets his big musical career break.

Once, owing to Roopesh’s unavailability, Prabhendhu is tasked with carrying out an exorcism. Although he completes it successfully, the ghost attaches itself to Prabhendhu. However, she isn’t like Ganga (Mayoori) from Aakasha Ganga (1999) or other yakshis who wait around corners with sharp canines to bite your neck and chug blood. If anything, she’s easily scared than we are. And there’s one more thing: she can’t recall a single detail about herself, including her name. Despite initially being petrified of her, like any normal human being would be, Prabhendhu starts getting close with her eventually and they become friends soon. He names her Delulu (Riya Shibu). As the days go forward, they become each other’s happy place. But, like every other good thing, they know that this too will come to an end one day.

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If you are a fan of a simple movie that offers a momentary escape from reality and a few laughs in a stress-free setup, Sarvam Maya is definitely for you. However, for anyone expecting even a bit more than that, I highly doubt the Akhil Sathyan directorial would come across as even satisfactory. While the writer-director sets Sarvam Maya’s tone straight at the start itself, clearly communicating that it’s not going to aim high at any point, there are moments when this feels more like stubbornness on Akhil’s part, as if he is not ready to explore the potential of his narrative and is adamant about sticking to a particular scale and mood.

While attempts to keep things light and breezy work at certain points, they can also feel contrived at times, particularly in the comedy. Even in moments when he could have gone slightly louder and embraced chaos for humour, Akhil has opted to water things down to the casual level. While some of these attempts succeed — such as the moment when Roopesh points out that a priestly touch has seeped into Prabhendhu’s speaking style, prompting him to ask, “Uvvo?!” in the stereotypical Namboodiri manner — they don’t occur often. One of the major issues here is that the dialogues aren’t particularly polished or funny either, and, combined with the limited wit in many instances, most scenes come across as merely serviceable and nothing more. Worse still, some of the jokes sound too familiar, with one or two clearly lifted from the director’s previous venture, Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum (2023).

Another significant issue in Akhil’s writing is that, barring Prabhendhu to an extent, almost none of the characters are even slightly fleshed out. Although we see Roopesh frequently, he contributes little to the narrative beyond a few comedic lines that also fall flat far too often. If not for the Nivin-Aju charm that never fails to impress, the character of Roopesh would have been as pointless as Deepu (Madhu Wariar), Prabhendhu’s elder brother. Even Vallyachan (Janardhanan), portrayed as one of the few people Prabhendhu shares a deep connection with, is nothing more than a namesake presence throughout the narrative. Although Akhil tries to take a leaf out of his father and ace filmmaker Sathyan Anthikad’s book, attempting to extract humour from the natural chemistry the actors share, such moments fall flat, as the script fails to serve as either a launch pad or a safety net.

Saadhya (Preity Mukhundhan), a music coordinator whom Prabhendhu eventually falls in love with, is the most pointless character seen in a Malayalam movie in recent times. One can’t even classify her as a token character, as even they would typically have a bit more to do. Even if one were to assume that Saadhya was introduced to advance the Prabhendhu-Delulu arc, her lack of significance in the forward journey makes this creative choice appear quite sloppy. Now that I think about Sarvam Maya again, I feel that literally every character, including the psychiatrist played by director Alphonse Puthren, had this fate: introduced with a level of importance only to be forgotten soon after and never remembered again. Meanwhile, the frequent mentions and references to Brahminism for a good part of the first half serve only to cement the notion that mainstream cinema is overly obsessed with it even now.

Though Sarvam Maya doesn’t make significant attempts in this regard, there are a few moments when one can clearly sense that the makers are trying to ‘bring back’ the “vintage Nivin Pauly.” While the actor wisely sidesteps these attempts with a mature performance, Nivin risks falling into the same trap that Dileep has led filmmakers into in recent times if he doesn’t play it safe.

Although Akhil has tried to recreate the man-yakshi bond, iconified (in a good or bad way is debatable) in Malayalam by movies such as Vismayathumbathu (2004) and Meghasandesam (2001), the overall lack of chemistry between actors Nivin and Riya further detracts from Sarvam Maya. While the character of Delulu and Riya’s casting in it are afresh in the realm of Malayalam horror movies — where yakshis often follow a strict formula in their portrayal; whereas we get a Gen Z, chill version here — Akhil never manages to explore the supernatural element beyond a certain point. As a result, we never see Sarvam Maya utilise its potential anywhere. Riya’s performance also fails to impress, owing to an overall lack of naturality and forced attempts (possibly from the maker’s part) to make her appear like a bona fide sweetheart.

While some emotional and dramatic moments resonate, particularly the flashback showing Delulu’s real family and some conversations between her and Prabhendhu, Sarvam Maya could have definitely benefited from better music, as composer Justin Prabhakaran disappoints big time here. Sharan Velayudhan’s cinematography, nonetheless, offers coolness to the eyes that the movie never manages to provide the heart. Sameera Saneesh also deserves praise for her work in the costumes department, particularly for Delulu’s attire, which indirectly conveys more about her character.

Sarvam Maya movie cast: Nivin Pauly, Riya Shibu, Aju Varghese, Preity Mukhundhan, Janardhanan, Madhu Warrier, Althaf Salim, Anand Ekarshi
Sarvam Maya movie director: Akhil Sathyan
Sarvam Maya movie rating: 2.5 stars