Pretham (2016)

Pretham: Directed by Ranjith Sankar. With Jayasurya, Govind Padmasoorya, Aju Varghese, Sharafudheen. Three friends run a beachfront hotel leaving their jobs. Now their hotel is haunted by paranormal phenomenons. A cold reading psychic John Don Bosco enters their life and Clara’s phantom realm to solve the troubling mystery.

“Ranjith Sankar has given us two excellent films in the last two years. So, the expectations were naturally higher for Pretham, also considering that horror comedy is a rarity in the Malayalam film industry. But, all that hype surrounding the film in the past few weeks, and that dull trailer, should have been an inkling that the film could be a damp squib.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eDenny (Varghese), Priya (Sharafudheen), and Shibu (Padmasoorya) are three friends-cum-business partners who run a sea-facing resort together. It is when they start experiencing paranormal activities that they turn to the local priest, and then eventually to Jon (Jayasurya), a professional mind reader. The story follows Jon and the trio as they set out to connect with the ghost who may be seeking their help to settle some old scores…u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWhile the premise is promising, the plot isnu0026#39;t free from clichés we normally see in a suspense thriller, which is what the film largely is. The first half is rather poorly constructed, because lots of things happen here, although none of them reach a crescendo. The humor which is built up by the characters using slapstick never touches the zenith. The narrative is like broken pieces of cliffhangers sewn together, without any sign of advancement in the story. There are a handful of one-liner jokes here delivered by Varghese and Sharafudheen which may cause you to laugh, but their quality is so low they will be forgotten by the time you move out of the cinema hall.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTalking about funny dialogues, the speech is not always in sync with the actions of the characters, as has been a notorious practice in Malayalam films for decades. This occurs during the dubbing session where the creative inflow is disrupted and artistes add one or two more lines (usually of comical nature) in addition to what they actually spoke during the shooting. (More about that on my blog.) After churning out trash for sixty minutes and only hinting at a paranormal presence in the resort, Jayasurya enters the scene like heu0026#39;s just come out of a stuporous sabbatical which mostly involved serial bouts of debauchery. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe little-to-no horror references that are made in the first ninety minutes do nothing other than igniting a sense of mockery of the horror genre. Of course, the fantastic eerie score supported by some good camera work gives us a ride into the fears and anxieties of the central characters, but one cannot call door-knocking or phone screen flickering as elements of horror. That stuff is amateur and does not necessarily work in inducing fear. Hence, it soon becomes apparent that characters like that of Dharmajanu0026#39;s are intended as pillars of comic support should the audience detect the hollowness of creativity that is the film. It also makes a large number of references to classic Malayalam films, which is only funny to a certain point; and Pretham definitely overdoes it, corroborating the fact that is the previous sentence.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe second half fades in terms of comedy, and briefly turns into a whodunit and is conveniently climaxed in that flow. The film runs for about 140 minutes and I can promise you, other than the score, there is ironically nothing horror in Pretham. 2015u0026#39;s Adi Kapyare Kootamani is much, much better both with the comedy and horror. While I wouldnu0026#39;t exactly call this experimental, new wave dash of cinema a blunder, thereu0026#39;s not much novelty in any of the themes it chafes other than the interesting subject of mentalism.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eJayasurya looks dull in his attire of a knowledgeable psychic. Expecting more from him now seems like a mistake, because although his character demanded a sort of eccentricity, the performance does not totally come out as natural. Sharafudheen is the primary source of humor, with Varghese and Dharamajan on toe. Padmasoorya and Maaney both look out of place with their Zumba fixations. Special praise for the only good thing about the film: the score. Had the content been more substantial with respect to mature horror, the whole effect would have been something else and better. Be that as it may, it goes without saying that Mr. Sankar has at least tried to do something different here, irrespective of the outcome.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBOTTOM LINE: Ranjith Sankaru0026#39;s Pretham is a disappointment not because it does not deliver, but because it forgot to (or couldnu0026#39;t) add a good amount of half of the genre that it is credited to be of. Wait for DVD, and then rent it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCan be watched with a typical Indian family? YES”