Padakkalam review: Suraj Venjaramoodu and Sharafudheen roll the dice, but does it hit the mark?

Padakkalam plot: An engineering college in Kerala is where the story of Padakkalam unfolds as two professors - a much-liked Ranjith and Shafi - eye the HOD post. But instead of playing the usual petty department politics to achieve his dream, Ranjith uses an ancient game of dice (pakkida) that sets off a chain of events, which draws in four college students (Jithin, Ramzad, Nakul and Kannan) and even ends up in the body swap of three lead characters.

Padakkalam review: Halfway through Padakkalam, one of the college students quips that a particular instance is hard to believe. Another retorts as if it is easy to believe everything else that is happening here. This is exactly what one should keep in mind (or not) while watching the directorial debut of Manu Swaraj (who has also co-written the film) - don’t worry about believability.

Put aside the questions of what, how and even why. Because why would someone who has the power to control another person’s body use his skills merely to become a department head in a fictitious college named after Karthika Thirunal, a king who even defeated Tipu Sultan?

This ‘powerful’ ancient game is the crux of this movie, the fantasy or supernatural elements connected to it, hilarious events that obviously follow suit, and throw in some oddball characters, and we get the madcap film or Padakkalam. The film works if you mindlessly follow the lads as they try to crack the game and set things right. The idea is intriguing even when the execution doesn't quite hit the mark.

The idea of body swaps is not new to Malayalam cinema. We had seen parts of it in Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Anandabhadram and Shine Tom Chacko’s Ithihasa that depicted body-swapping between two people. However, in Padakkalam, the body swaps happen between three characters - student Jithin (Sandeep Pradeep), Shafi (Suraj Venjaramoodu) and Ranjith (Sharafudheen). Ironically, Sandeep Pradeep is able to look more convincing after the body swap, as he turns into the vile Ranjith. And that is commendable as he is up against the seniors Suraj Venjaramoodu and Sharafudheen, both of whom have proved their mettle in character and comedy roles. Suraj and Sharafudheen pull off the characters, even when the youngsters playing the college students struggle to keep up.

The pace of the film also works in favour of the movie, as you don’t have too much time to think about how exactly this game, which the youngsters connect to Ludo, works. And how did the college student, who struggles with basic Malayalam words, understand its dynamics from a script that is written in Tulu (don’t think even Google would have helped much here)? Rajesh Murugesan’s musical songs also help in keeping the proceedings fast. 

The saga of sidelining women characters in Malayalam cinema continues with Padakkalam as Aparna Das and Pooja Mohanraj, who also featured in the recent Basil Joseph-starrer Maranamass, work more as plot devices to keep the story going. 

Padakkalam verdict: Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sharafudheen and Sandeep Pradeep take you on a wild ride if you are ready to enter their world with scant worry about whether it is making sense. If you just want a break from the mundane, Padakkalam may not be a bad choice.

Padakkalam is streaming on JioHotstar