Palthu Janwar movie review: Basil Joseph stays on course even when the script goes adrift

Language: Malayalam

Imagine failing in your attempt to set up an animation firm and being compelled instead to become a livestock inspector in a mountain village. This is the career shift that life thrusts on Prasoon Krishnakumar played by Basil Joseph in Palthu Janwar.

The two professions are poles apart, so it’s no surprise that Prasoon is unhappy about the change. He is not particularly committed to animals and is, hence, initially passionless towards his work. He also struggles in this alien environment where he has to cope with the often unreasonable, sometimes self-contradictory demands of the local populace, the shenanigans of politicians and fellow government officials. His messiah in this quagmire is his friend Steffy (Sruthy Suresh), a vet whose cellphone consultations get him out of several sticky situations with beasts.

This is the world into which debutant director Sangeeth P. Rajan and writers Vinoy Thomas and Aneesh Anjali invite us, in a film produced by the formidable trio of Fahadh Faasil, Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran.

As Prasoon adjusts to an unfamiliar setting, we are introduced to a fascinating assortment of lively supporting characters in this Christian-dominated community. There is the local ward member played by Indrans whose memory problems somehow, coincidentally, don’t diminish his politicking skills. An energetic, enthusiastic Christian priest (Dileesh Pothan) is ever ready with hocus pocus as a solution to every problem. Dr Sunil Isaac (Shammy Thilakan) is a corrupt government vet who neglects his principal occupation in the interests of a shady side gig. Meanwhile, a hapless citizen called Davis (an excellent Johny Antony) finds an urgent requirement drowning in a rigmarole created by the establishment’s neglect and inefficiency.

Rarely has the buck been passed by those in authority as smoothly as it is in this film. Rarely has it been so challenging to sift a character’s absent-mindedness from his political games as it is while observing the incredible Indrans in Palthu Janwar.

Men get all the film’s well-written parts, the exception being Unnimaya Prasad as Prasoon’s sister who offers him the advice that, in my view, is the main argument made by this script.

Palthu Janwar operates on two levels. On the one hand, it is about Prasoon’s journey in this strange place in a difficult new job, as we watch and wonder if both will ultimately grow on him or this will be a brief interlude before he returns to animation. On the other hand, it is also about drawing us, the audience, into this remote region with its mix of people ranging from loveable to immoral to dubious, and acquainting us with their way of living, until we too are on a parallel journey with Prasoon. So will this crazy place ultimately grow on us too?

The first hour of Palthu Janwar sails by on a breeze. The characters are oddballs, the cast superb. Basil’s natural boyish charm is an asset that he supplements by giving Prasoon an endearing vulnerability and alluring innocence.

Palthu Janwar’s sharp, funny, insightful first half makes way for a meandering second half that dulls its overall impact. A conversation that Davis was earlier shown having with a statue of Baby Jesus is left hanging. And towards the end, the film suddenly, inexplicably, finds itself a villain – a cold, calculating butcher eyeing an unwell, beloved pregnant cow. Unlike the rest of Palthu Janwar, his part in the proceedings does not have a humorous sheen, nor is he given a likeable manner unlike the film’s other questionable characters. It is bizarre that the writers and director would do this at a time when beef-eaters and butchers are being demonised by Hindutva forces in India, and Dalits and Muslims have been assaulted, even murdered, on the mere suspicion of possessing beef. That this character is featured in a story set within the Christian community – a religious minority that too is on the primary target list of this majoritarian ideology – makes it especially ill-judged and thoughtless.

The final moments of Palthu Janwar are designed to symbolise hope and new beginnings as represented by motherhood across species. It’s a bit maudlin and too literal for my tastes, with the imagery encompassing a cow that has just delivered a calf and the body of a woman in all her pregnant glory. Maternity as a metaphor for hope may have been acceptable if women had centrality in the rest of the narrative, but they do not. Palthu Janwar is a men-centric film in which every woman is defined by her relationship with a male figure – so and so’s daughter, wife or sister, so and so’s friend on the phone. The scene with the pregnant person is the only one in which a woman is given primacy, thus subconsciously revealing the film’s traditionalist view of child-bearing as women’s chief purpose. This is a conservative position that is romanticised in society by cleverly pedestalising motherhood and devi-fying mothers, then offered as justification while pressuring or preventing women from opting out of that role.

DoP Renadive is fantastic while shooting Palthu Janwar’s magnificent locations, but I longed for more visuals of animals bonding with people. Whether this is a choice made by the director or the script, it is a lacuna in a film that revolves around the human-animal equation.

Palthu Janwar then is well-begun but ultimately undone. It is a good case study for those whose public commentary implies that slice-of-life cinema – a genre mastered by the new Malayalam New Wave – is child’s play. The makers seem to lack conviction even in their choice of genre. For one, the Hindi title (meaning: Domestic Animal) is incongruous in a film so rooted in the Kerala soil. The name mirrors the incongruity of the closing credits accompanied by the unmemorable song, Palthu fashion show, featuring animals with child dancers. That number is completely at odds with the film’s sedate tone and rural Kerala setting, and is imitative of a Bollywood formula that is long past its use-by date.

Lost in all this is an important lesson contained in Palthu Janwar. The popular liberal discourse for a while now has counselled young people to pursue their dreams, which is as it should be. Palthu Janwar takes that point further, gently adding that what you consider your vocation may, unfortunately in reality, be a line you are not so good at, and it might be necessary to assess your talents and occasionally re-examine your dreams. This is an interesting premise, one that is certainly worth exploring. But the writing and direction of Palthu Janwar are unable to build on it after a winning opening hour.

What works in Palthu Janwar are the sense of humour and cultural detailing of that pre-interval half, and the leading man. Before we knew Basil Joseph the accomplished director, we knew Basil Joseph the actor. The past year has been crucial in the journey of both Basils. In late 2021 he led the ensemble cast of an acclaimed film, Jan-E-Man, and shortly thereafter his directorial venture, Minnal Murali, made waves nationwide with its distinctive take on the superhero universe. In Palthu Janwar, Basil burrows beyond his own easy charm to breathe life into Prasoon’s coming of age. He is so … how does one put it? … cute … and so easy before the camera, that his talent is very likely to be under-rated. It should not be. Even when Palthu Janwar loses its moorings, Basil Joseph is the one element that stays on course.

Rating: 2.5 (out of 5 stars) 

Palthu Janwar is in theatres

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial