The new horror comedy from Malayalam, Prakambanam, is not delivering anything entirely different from what we have already seen. Thematically, it has a close resemblance to the Jithu Madhavan movie Romancham. However, when you look at the story idea of this movie, it becomes very clear that this wasn’t made with the intention of replicating the success of that movie. From dialogue humor and situational humor, Prakambanam evolves into well-written thematic humor and chaotic humor. With the performances of Ganapathy and Ameen helping the movie enormously in the final bits, Prakambanam is a harmless horror comedy that succeeds in keeping you entertained.
So the story is built around these three hostel mates. The gang is trying to win the college election, and in the middle of that, the main man, Kannan, had to leave for a family emergency. When he returned to the hostel after that, things took a drastic turn, and his mate Punyalan started to behave oddly. What caused this phenomenon, and what the gang had to go through because of that, is what we see in this movie.
The first half an hour of the movie doesn’t have much happening in the story, as it is mostly invested in establishing the world. We get an idea about the power hierarchy in Kannan’s family and also how things are going in the hostel. It is actually after the pivotal incident that the laughter element kicks in. Once the movie enters the track, there is no dull moment in the film. Some of it is banter comedy, and some of it is a bit slapstick. However, writer Sreehari Vadakkan derives all that from the core conflict of this movie. The writing also explores the various possibilities of what could happen, and it creates some really hilarious moments. My favorite was the super clean hostel room.
Once we get an idea about the nature of the horror element in the movie, it is investing mostly in situational comedy. Usually in movies like this, after a point, you can’t continue with mere slapstick humor, and you need to find a track that has more drama and that takes the story forward. The good thing about Prakambanam was that in the second half, they shifted things to a different place, and they are also looking for a solution. When the location gets shifted, the already established subplots and new developments make it funnier. I thought the Rajesh Madhavan episode in the movie would take it to a generic space. But to my surprise, there was a bit of a spoof element in it, which made that part entertaining as well. The scream fest that happens in the final leg of the film had really good visual effects combined with fabulous performances from the actors.
Ganapathy is playing the character Kannan in this film. Compared to others, it is not an extremely animated character. However, there are moments where he is supposed to show certain extreme emotions, and the performance was extremely real in those moments. Sagar Surya is the one who gets the meatiest role in the movie as the one who gets possessed. While the normal one isn’t that amusing, the performance in the possessed state was good, and it was even better in the scenes that showed the transformation. Ameen is somewhat repeating the kind of stuff he has shown in his YouTube sketches. However, in this movie, that really works, and most of the time, it is the reaction he and Ganapathy give in certain situations that make them extremely hilarious. Sheethal Joseph, as the only female member in the gang, was okay, and it wasn’t a demanding character. Rajesh Madhavan, as the fake Russian guy, delivers a good performance that was in sync with the spoof energy of that track. Even though it wasn’t a necessary character, Sanesh Guninnes never felt like a burden to the film. Mallika Sukumaran gets a commanding role here, and the movie makes use of her verbal energy effectively. PP Kunhikrishnan, as the grandfather, was fun. Azeez Nedumnagad manages to crack the Kannur slang without many issues. This was Kalabhavan Navas’s final movie, and we get to see him in a different voice.
Prakambanam, from director Vijesh Panathur, is an extremely simplistic horror comedy that manages to convert even the most generic scene into something that will make you laugh out loud. By creating multiple tracks and juggling them in the final act, Vijesh and writer Sreehari manage to create the much-needed chaos and fun resolution towards the end of the movie. If you have enjoyed Romancham, I would say this one won’t really disappoint you in giving that popcorn fun.
