Painkili

An over the top comedy that tries to be a little bit like the successful Malayalam comedies from the 90s but also doesn't really want it to be called like that. There were a lot of moments that really made me laugh out loud. Any time movies make a lot of movie references it makes me giddy and even though this only uses it in like some specific scenes, those were all great. There was quite a lot of stuff that felt really forced and thus lost the humor in it. But just in the comedy aspect, it had so much in it that, even though the stuff that didn't work was a lot, there was more stuff that worked for me.

However, the issue with this film is the story itself. There are so many plot points in this movie that are too stupid, and the characters are given a pass after questionable actions. This kind of stuff was very common among the unsuccessful Malayalam comedies of the 90s too. This plot could have worked more if they hadn't wanted to add some thematic elements and thus a heart to it, it should have been ridiculous throughout, just the way it started. Jithu Madhavan's writing intentions feel like he wanted to make it a bit emotional at the end which is still hilarious like he did in Aavesham. In Aavesham, it was all focused on one character but here, there are two main characters involved and the writing fails to make it sensible. The second act which was supposed to build a base for the climax didn't really work much and the ending was really a confused mess. Performances from Sajin Gopu, Anaswara, and Jisma really carried a lot of scenes that would have totally failed if the acting wasn't as solid.

But even with all those issues, it was still hilarious for the most part. Overall, an above-average experience for me.