The first word I thought of associating with Pravinkoodu Shappu after watching the film is... strange. Strange — not just due to the behaviour of its characters but also the territory which the film ventures into. When we usually start watching or reading a whodunit, the primary expectation is to see a flawless, upright investigator who approaches the case in a very serious manner, with absolutely zero distractions. This is because we have been conditioned by many works of fiction in this category to consume these stories in a certain way.
For a while there in Pravinkoodu Shappu, that's the kind of investigator we see Basil Joseph play. But, a little later into the film, you know that Basil has been cast in this film for a damn good reason. We know we are not going to get a typical sleuth. Basil plays a cop investigating the mysterious death of a toddy shop owner. Naturally, this idea gives the film, in some places, the behaviour of an Agatha Christie-style adventure, on account of it teasing the possibility of a murder and one of the shop's patrons being the culprit.
Only last week, we saw Asif Ali navigating the mystery space in Rekhachithram. Now, in that film, what we got was an unconventional story that had more to do with emotions than intelligence. I'm not implying that Pravinkoodu Shappu and Rekhachithram behave alike. However, they do share one common quality: they don't come at you with an attitude that says, 'Look how smart this story is.' It doesn't offer the viewer a complex puzzle to solve. We can see the final twist coming from a mile away, but not the motive. This was also the case with Rekhachithram.
What's interesting in Pravinkoodu Shappu, though, is how it creates this heavy smokescreen to distract the viewer from the actual truth. Everyone, including Basil's police officer, behaves strangely; they all have a past that they're not readily willing to share. Basil's incredible comedic gift is put to good use here, sometimes in the most serious situations. His character could be best described as a contemporary version of Sreenivasan's character from Sanmanassullavarkku Samadhanam.
It's not just Basil, but nearly every character in this film gets to be funny; one character makes us laugh even when he is about to die. At one point, a bunch of characters get into a nasty but hilarious fight while a corpse awaits the arrival of the police. Now, this kind of dark comedy-whodunit fusion might make some people uncomfortable, probably to the extent of asking, "Is this for real?" But isn't this the kind of aberrant storytelling approach that more filmmakers should take a crack at instead of worrying about how audiences will respond?
That said, I'm not sure I can say that I found all parts of the film appealing. There are a few pre-interval portions that could've been done without the humour because those bits felt forcefully incorporated to put the viewer at ease. For example, in an interrogation session, Basil's fellow officers try to lighten the mood by occasionally intervening with funny questions, which, I felt, makes the whole thing resemble a Marvel movie. I also felt the non-linear structure could've been done away with as it creates a fair amount of confusion with regard to continuity.
Cinematographer Shyju Khalid's work is, as always, exceptional; some of his inventive lighting choices create a painterly effect, most notably in the nighttime portions. There is a brief, but superbly shot, chase sequence involving a school bus that's infused with the necessary menace. Editor Shafique Mohamed Ali creates some memorable match cuts depending on a given situation's context or a collage of disparate moments to give us a sense of what's happening inside a character's mind.
Pravinkoodu Shappu is a film that requires the viewer to watch it with a measure of detachment. Which character should we feel sorry for? Are some actions justified? Did Basil's character really figure everything out in the end? These are some questions that linger in mind long after we leave the theatre. This may cause the ending to feel a bit weak, but, isn't it better not to have all the answers, sometimes?
Film: Pravinkoodu Shappu
Director: Sreeraj Sreenivasan
Cast: Basil Joseph, Soubin Shahir, Chemban Vinod Jose, Chandini Sreedharan, Shivajith
Rating: 3.5/5
