Bheeshma Parvam

In the thanks credit of Bheeshma Parvam, you can see names like Vyasan, Maria Puzo, and Francis Ford Coppola. Bheeshma Parvam is basically Godfather Meets Mahabharatham. With signature Amal Neerad elements of heroics and character building, Bheeshma Parvam is engaging till the end, and I would say it manages to be that fan film with some well fleshed out characters. With Mammootty getting to play a character that occasionally demands the actor in him, Bheeshma Parvam manages to find the right balance.

Michael is the head of the Anjoottikkaran family. He has a history of serving a jail term for killing the people who murdered his brother. Michael is the one who takes care of the extended family. But his elder brother Mathai’s kids Paul and Peter were not really comfortable with Michael’s supremacy and the care Michael gave to his late elder brother’s family. With Michael becoming a roadblock for all the crooked minds, a conspiracy happens against him, and the main focus of Bheeshma Parvam is about the consequences of that.

Set in the backdrop of the ’80s and early ’90s, Bheeshama Parvam is pretty much like an adaptation of Godfather. In fact, the very first scene in the film is pretty similar to the first sequence in Godfather. Then the film gradually shifts the focus to the drama that was there in Mahabharatham. The family feud theme gets a contemporary outlook, and the movie does manage to create a big pool of characters that stay with you. Even though it is that over-the-top entertainer where the hero can thrash multiple people easily, Amal Neerad isn’t trying to make him a superhero. He is an intimidating figure, and we even have a scene where he helplessly talks about that image.

Since it is an adaptation of the classic, the scripting structure is not unfamiliar. We know how things will change and who will be teaming up. So instead of breaking the predictability, Amal Neerad works on developing characters more deeply. Soubin Shahir, who was a mere supporting character for almost 70% of the film, comes to the forefront at a crucial point, and the writing manages to add several more layers to that character. Amal Neerad and co-writer Devadath Shaji also manage to capture the texture of the old days. In his first collaboration with Amal Neerad, Anend C Chandran makes sure that the director’s signature elements are presented stylishly. The color composition in frames was really good. I enjoyed the first fight sequence more than the parking lot fight, where the choreography, cinematography, and cuts looked slick. Sushin’s scores are on the louder side, but that works for a canvas-like Bheeshma Parvam.

Bheeshma Parvam is definitely fanboying around the aura of someone like Mammootty in that look. But as the character is an intimidating figure, that gaze never bothers the narrative. After a certain point, the swagger in the voice modulation made the viewer whistle or clap rather than the thickness of the beard and hair. Soubin Shahir gets to play a crucial character in the film who switches gears after a point. Sreenath Bhasi, in his usual style, was convincing. Shine Tom Chacko was perhaps the guy who got a role with a lot of space and variation, and he scored. Farhaan Faasil was okay playing Shine’s younger brother. He got a character that felt different from the other characters in his filmography. Dileesh Pothan, Lena, Harish Uthaman, Sudev Nair, Jinu Joseph, Nadhiya Moidu, Maala Parvathy, Nisthar Sait, Srindaa, and several others are there in the elaborate star cast. It was good to see late KPAC Lalitha and Nedumudi Venu in characters we usually don’t associate with them.

Low angle shots, wide-angle lenses, and extreme slow motion are accepted Amal Neerad-signature elements in narrating a story. All these things feel repetitive and pointless when used to cover up the lack of content in a film. But in the case of Bheeshma Parvam, the foundation is fairly strong, and even after being this so-called mass film, it gives the viewer a chance to understand characters beyond the peripheral glow.