Friday, September 22, 2017

Parava, Mattancherry's own

Parava flies very high with Littil Swayamp Paul, its cinematographer and endearing child stars, Amal Shah and Govind Pai. Director Soubin Shahir's maiden movie would have been hard to beat, had there been a story. Right from the credits to the ending, the freshness is all pervasive 
The credits are written on the weather beaten walls and doors of ancient Mattancherry and Fort Kochi, in a child's handwriting. This is a precursor to the child interest of Parava. Irshad and Haseeb are heart stealers. Their pranks and fun filled school life are absorbing. Littil's camera brings out so much, filming the dark alleys, the birds' flights and their behaviour. He brings out the children's expressions so realistically, definitely with Soubin's wonderful direction. Realism lies behind every frame.
The situations and dialogues have outstanding humour. Shane Nigam is so cute and expressive while Srinda, always gives of her best even if it's one scene. Siddique has slowly moved away from his pet niche, humour, to a mellowed realistic character actor.. and how. Dulqar Salman looked like a fish out of water amongst the others, who all jelled into the locale.
The movie Parava should have been named 'A slice of life from Mattancherry', because that's what it gives. You wait for the story which is not around till the end. The doves, and kites all belong to Mattancherry and the characters. Only, the story is missing, except for tiny, interesting incidents which are strung together. Loose ends stare at you in Parava. Yet I enjoyed the cinematography and the acting...Tom Shine Chacko is so good you feel sorry he is not used well by the industry.