When Malayalam superstars play characters with negative shades, more often than not, one can expect things to take a turn towards the climax, revealing the saint who had hidden in plain sight, in wolf’s clothing. This has been the case except for a few remarkable films over the past few decades, so much so that superstars playing negative characters can give away the plot twist early on.
However, in Ratheena’s debut film Puzhu, there is no quick whitewash job at the end, nor is there any redeeming quality thrust upon the character played by Mammootty. For much of the film, we experience the same feelings that his young school-going son experiences in his presence. No, it is not affection or respect, but a strong sense of fear mixed with revulsion.
It is not easy to put a finger on what really makes the character behave in such a way, especially since the script by Harshad, Sharfu and Suhas, reveals only the bare bits and pieces of his background or past until the very last moment, when we get an overflow of information. The casteist hatred that he displays towards his sister (Parvathy)’s husband Kuttappan (Appuni Sasi) is easier to understand, but not so the attitude towards his son (Master Vasudev) nor his constant fear of someone being out there to endanger his life.
