Bheeshma Parvam Malayalam Movie Review

    Picture Courtesy: Times of India

Do we need a larger-than-life mass movie focussing on a patriarch managing to keep a family of misfits afloat? Probably not. Yet we do have an audience for that genre since as a nation, we have a tendency to look for that one person, as a savior and bearer of justice. That tendency is what collectively got us into the misery that we are in currently. Corruption of such amassed power can also translate to mass destruction, which we are bearing witness to these days.

Although in Amal Neerad’s fictional world of Bheeshma Parvam (Book of Bheeshma), the thalamoothappan (head of the family) for a relief, is a flagbearer of justice, with shades of wokeness way ahead for the age the movie is portrayed. The backdrop for that is set as his parents being loving and open-minded, a trait which unfortunately passed down only to Michael aka Michaelappan (played by Mammotty), and a few others in the family.

Anyone who has been following Amal Neerad’s filmography, especially his all-powerful don character movies, will not have many surprises in the storyline. In fact, at many points, you will know what exactly is going to happen; you will know which character is going to be the pawn for emotional turmoil in the final storm, who will turn the tables, and so on. What makes Bheeshma Parvam stand apart despite the predictability is the fact that Amal Neerad and Mammotty have learned to evolve according to the changing times, at least on screen. Big B, Amal’s previous outing with Mammotty, another swag-filled mass entertainer, despite having a decent enough narrative, was marred by the same issue in which creators often get affected, lack of confidence in their own material and style. To overcompensate for that, certain portions in the name of comedy and dialogues were added which was hard to sit through. Despite all of that, Big B wasn’t a theatre success although it generated its own cult following after being on the online platforms. This time to manage that, Amal didn’t take support, substandard comedy, and vulgar elements, instead, added the right amounts of socially relevant pieces of recent incidents into the narrative and also changed his style of making it age-appropriate. Here the hero is indeed all-powerful but isn’t superhuman, he does fight a bunch of goons but gets injured himself bad enough to take him to a near-death stage.  

While some things changed, some remained the same too. The women in the movie are not exactly damsels in distress in the traditional sense but they have nothing much to do. From Nadhiya Moidu to Lena, the women in the movie are treated with respect and given points of importance but the action and the storyline largely remain with the men of the movie. Yet it felt far better than the regular casting of women in such movies, a recent example being the train wreck of a movie called Aarattu. Yup, too low a bar to prove to be better but that’s a plague associated with mass entertainers, that even baby steps towards some change feel like a relief. Amidst the women cast, Susan by Lena, Alice played by Anasuya Bharadwaj, and Rachel played by Anagha stood out for me.

Outings of the two superstars of the Malayalam industry post the 2000s have been extremely disappointing, especially in the mass action-drama genre. There were only a few memorable characters they portrayed on screen and as years went by their choice of movies became only worse. It was Prithviraj’s Lucifer that utilized Mohanlal’s capabilities to the fullest and created a mass entertainer from the actor which was worth sitting through. Bheeshma Parvam is Mammotty’s Lucifer and better; he is in the best possible form and portrays the character of Michaelappan with the swag and flavor, it deserves. The character and the story, in general, draw heavily from movies like Godfather to mythological narrations of Mahabharatha, and those who know both can find a lot of parallels in the story. So naturally, it’s indeed a tale of men, their egos, glorified violence in the name of justice, and the destruction that haunts past generations. Amal Neerad with his quintessential style and technical proficiency adds the visual appeal and makes it entertaining.

                                                           Picture Courtesy: Koimoi

In the age of scrolling and shorter attention span, if you decide to create a movie for almost 3 hours it needs to have aspects that can capture the audience time and again. Amal Neerad has already proven that he builds his narrative at his own pace, so in his own style, each character of the elaborate family tree within which this story occurs is carefully established. Although there are many characters with small but impactful parts, Ami played by Sreenath Bhasi, Ajas played by Soubin Shahir, and Peter played by Shine Tom Chacko were some of the notable performances. Sushin Shyam’s music perfectly assimilates into the narrative, at many points even accentuates it. I especially loved the theme music and the beautiful Parudeesa, which also showcased, the impressive dancing skills of Soubin and Sreenath.

Action scenes are choreographed with style but again not in the regular '10 villains flying all around the superhero' kind. Goons don’t wait for the hero to finish with another goon to attack him, the wounds don’t heal overnight magically as the hero recovers and most importantly, the hero doesn’t snatch out the IV line and go with a broken rib to beat up the last villain in the final act, untying his bandages with his teeth. It feels so silly while actually wording it out that, how less a creator in a certain genre has to do, to be called better. Yet, some change is better than no change, I guess.

So, in conclusion, once again, do we still need mass hero-oriented action movies? Probably not, but if it HAS to be made, then make it this way and better.

Bheeshma Parvam is currently streaming on Disney+Hotstar.