Papanasam Review
Director: Jeethu Joseph
Cast: Kamal Haasan, Gautami, Niveda Thomas, Baby Esther
First things First! Remaking a well received, cult classic movie like Drishyam into another language is definitely not a cake walk.
And when you are going to replace an exceptional actor like Mohanlal with an equally talented Kamal Haasan there must have been huge pressure on Jeethu Joseph, the director of the both the films.
Thankfully, Papanasam –the Tamil version is even tighter and there is absolutely no room for error in the writing. Flawless is the word!
Suyambulingam (Kamal Haasan) is a local cable TV operator living happily with his family comprises of wife Rani(Gautami), daughters—Selvi (Niveda Thomas) and Meena (Baby Esther). When an uninvited guest enters into their family to cause heavy havoc, they stand together and send him to a place where he can never comeback.
But the irony is that they actually messed up with the son of a powerful and sharp IG Geetha Prabhakar (Asha Sarath) who does her best to bring the truth out from them. Does she succeed? Watch out the film.
Drishyam was perhaps one of the tightest scripts in Indian cinema but Papansam is also impeccable and it is note worthy that Jeethu Joseph has corrected all those unidentifiable minor logic loopholes in the remake which indeed gives a fresh feel to the audience who have already seen the original.
Another interesting aspect of Papanasam is the nativity—writers Jeya Mohan and Suka have penned the dialogues in such a way that the film gives us a feel of being there in Papanasam for three hours.
All the actors have delivered the nellai slang with sheer perfection, they have also followed the mannerisms and body language of the people lives in the particular locality which deserves a huge applause!
Performance wise, Kamal Haasan is amazing and he has not followed the acting style of Mohanlal, so there is no way that we compare both the actors. The way Kamal speaks the nellai Tamil is a treat to watch, needless to say, his emotional outburst in the climax would even move a stone heart! But the question to be asked is being a perfectionist, why Kamal has opted for the fake mustache? Which is sadly the one and only distraction in the whole movie.
Gautami has once again proved her acting prowess while Asha Sharath has brilliantly reproduced her powerful performance from the original. The rest of the actors including Niveda Thomas, Baby Esther, Kalabavan Mani, MS Baskar and Anant Mahadevan who have also excelled in their performances.
Technically, Ghibran's background score is a big asset to the movie which brings the audience to the edge of the seat while cinematography by Sujith is brilliant.
Overall, Papanasam is a faithful remake of Drishyam with an authentic local flavor and more detailing from the original!
