PremiumPerilloor Premier League review: Nikhila Vimal’s webseries is an amusing take on a suburban game of politics
Perilloor Premier League review: For those of you looking for some nostalgia in a rural set up, just watching the series and its myriad characters without bothering about the story can also be fun
Last Updated: 06.22 PM, Jan 05, 2024
Perilloor Premier League story: Peethambaran, who was the panchayat president of Perilloor multiple times, can’t contest in the latest election. Instead, his niece Malavika is fielded as the candidate even though she is reluctant to enter politics. In a village that’s home to numerous halfwit characters and their reckless problems, a ‘premier league’ unfolds in its political fray as Malavika enters it as a reluctant participant.
Perilloor Premier League review: Mambatta Sreeraman’s (Sunny Wayne) flex printing shop in Perilloor has a heap of prints he had to abandon, due to minor yet hilariously noticeable spelling errors. His village Perilloor, similarly, is dotted with caricature characters ranging from ‘Keman’ Soman, ‘Psycho’ Balachandran, ‘Kozhi’ Sundaran and ‘Thiruvaanam’ Babu to the thief Sathyaraj, each of them owning their own dangerously evident and misspelled personalities. Each of them probably deserves a comedy show of their own and their quirks make them interesting, next-door characters you would enjoy observing like a neighbour. But how well does their overall story entertain the audience?
Malavika Purushothaman (Nikhila Vimal) reveals her one-sided love story to her romantic interest, Perilloor native Sreeraman, when he comes to meet her for an unplanned ‘pennu kaanal’ ceremony. When her uncle approaches her with an out-of-the-blue panchayat election candidate in the same village soon after, despite her reluctance, Malavika agrees. Little does she know that things will go haywire, soon after she signs the nomination paper.
Set in a quaint suburb where logic or development hardly has any place, the story of Perilloor Premier League (PPL) is a comical portrait that you can enjoy without giving much thought about logic or political correctness. Be it the numerous ‘pennukaanals’ of Sreeraman, the various one-sided love stories of the region, flirtatious and naïve uncles or their quirky wishes, PPL gives you reasons to laugh, often.
Perilloor has a bus stop before it has a bus service, its people are more thrilled about the fire engine coming to their village than the prospect of rescuing someone trapped in a well, it also has mothers who are worried about their sons’ ‘lepression’(depression) after poor performance in exams. It also has a Perillooramma devotee panchayat president that promises the region’s atheist group to pass a resolution against ‘superstitious beliefs in Perilloor.’ What you get is an ‘avial’ of a story that progresses at a normal day pace, with no intention to prove any greater point or character arcs. A few of the episodes, especially the fifth and sixth, don’t offer many laughs but they keep you interested enough to give the series a chance. For those of you looking for some childhood nostalgia in a rural setting, just watching the series and its myriad characters without bothering about the story can also be fun.
The stories and characters are borrowed from its writer Deepu Pradeep’s blogs and he makes good use of them quirky traits to build the world of Perilloor, which is well-detailed by the director, Praveen Chandran. In fact, there are scenes where the audience would feel they are smack in the middle of the village as the mishaps unfold, one after the other. The eagle-eyed would also notice smatterings of influence from Deepu’s previous films Padmini and Kunjiramayanam in PPL.
Nikhila Vimal is believable as a timid, obedient Malavika who hesitates to say no to things she doesn’t want. Vijayaraghavan eases the politically ambitious Peethambaran, while Ashokan’s portrayal of Keman Soman with a ‘never-say-never’ spirit is also lovable. Sarath Sabha elicits many laughs from us as the astrologer Ambareesh and so does Aju Varghese as Psycho Balachandran, while Sunny Wayne gives a decent performance as Sreeraman. Sajin Cherukayil, Unni Nair and the rest of the actors have also performed their small yet memorably comical parts well.
Perilloor Premier League verdict: PPL deserves a watch if all that you are looking for is a light-hearted story. With seven episodes varying from 30 to 40 minutes, it will make a good weekend watch with the family and with time, the natives of Perilloor, their antics and theatrics grow on you.