Pakalpooram (2002)- Mukesh, Geethu Mohandas, Salim Kumar

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Overall: 2.5 out of 5
 

Another horror film and this time by director duo, Anil-Babu. Their inspiration seems to be from films like Akashaganga, Manichitrathazhu and even the old Lisa. Pakalpooram is a rehash of all these ghost stories and the script itself seems to be ghostwritten!

The story is set in the Suryamangalam ‘mana’ an ancient Brahminical house. Once upon a time Brahmadattan Namboothiripad a famous astrologer, magician and faith healer used to live there. The local temple was closed for sometime due to nocturnal activities of a female ghost. Brahmadattan, through his magical power is able to find a solution to this by chaining the ghost. The Namboothiri has two wives, one a Brahmin and the other a lower caste weaver. The two women who deliver at the same time accidentally have their babies exchanged. The Brahmin son Gowridasan (Mukesh) who is treated as a low caste becomes a temple pujari, while the son born out of the lower caste woman Manickan (Salim Kumar) becomes a no good loafer and a drunkard. One day Manickan gets into the temple to steal, where the ghost was chained and sets it free. This leads to chaos and confusion and how Gowridasan tries to solve the problem forms the rest of the story.

The film is a tacky blend of horror, mystery, suspense and the outcome is plain boredom. The script by Vinu Kiriyath is the major drawback of the film. Mukesh is stale in the comedy scenes while Geetu Mohandas, the promising star (her outstanding performance in Sesham) is a total let down.

Directed by Anil Babu
Music by Raveendran
Lyrics by Girish Putenchery
Songs Sung by MG Sreekumar, Jayachandran, Yesudas, Chithra, Sujatha