Poovan Review | A Wafer-Thin Comedy With a Scattered and Aimless Script

There is a brand of humor that Girish AD and his frequent collaborators have established in Malayalam cinema. Thanneer Mathan Dinangal, Super Sharanya, Pathrosinte Padappukal, Vishudha Mejo, etc., were movies that belonged to that particular syntax created by the Aluva belt. The new film Poovan co-produced by Girish AD, directed by Vineeth Vasudevan, and written by Varun Dhara, also follows the same humor pattern. Even though this type of humor is working in favor of the movie, Poovan is clueless about how to merge its zillion subplots.

Hari is this young guy who runs a juice shop with his close friend. He has a sister named Veena, who is in love with a guy named Kannan. The film basically shows us a series of events that happened in Hari’s life after the entry of a rooster in the neighborhood. These events and how Hari’s equation with the rooster changes over time are the core of Poovan.

The summary mentioned above is, in a way, the only presentable synopsis of this movie. Varun Dhara is actually trying to navigate three parallel love stories in his script. And just like Girish AD and Dinoy Paulose, the movie is built around a wafer-thin concept. In a very episodic way, Poovan can be called an enjoyable film. Because each track feels like a light-hearted, humorous short film. So I am anticipating a huge fan following for the character of Benny, played by Sajin Cherukayil, after the OTT release. The inability of the script to contain all these tracks into a story that feels engaging is the problem with Poovan.

Antony Varghese, who is playing this regular guy Hari in this film, looks convincing as the calm middle-class boy. Since almost all his characters to date were violent, it was good to see him in a different texture. Director Vineeth Vasudevan portrayed the character of Kannan, and he was a convincing choice. His pair in Kiran Josey’s Anurag Engineering Works, Akhila Bhargavan, plays the role of Veena, and the film offers her ample space to register in the audience’s minds. Anishma Anilkumar as Sini was another impressive casting. My favorite performance from the movie was from Sajin Cherukayil as Benny. Benny’s love story in this scattered mess was a relief to watch, and Sajin was able to find the right pitch to perform that character.

Vineeth Vasudevan could register all the characters and geography by making them a part of the narrative. But as I already said, the script is scattered. It jumps from one episode of one love story to another, and the rooster track seems to be insignificant to the movie. The last act of the film, in which Hari blames everything on the rooster, just doesn’t work. And it almost felt like the entire climax was pointless. They were forcefully creating scenarios to make the rooster a point of conflict. Since it didn’t work, the movie’s hero looked like an insignificant addition to the story.

In Poovan, writer Varun Dhara wanted it to be an amalgamation of three parallel love stories. But the disjoint nature of each track makes the movie a shapeless one. And towards the end of the film, one could see them desperately trying to include the rooster into the narrative and failing miserably. Benny and Sini deserved a better movie.