M A Nishad's Malayalam film, Pakal, has good intentions, and leaves us with quite a few issues to think about.
Nishad takes up the issue of farmer suicides in Wayanad district and tries to make a cohesive film with little compromises.
Nandan (Prithviraj), a television journalist, does a news story on the suicides of farmers for his channel. This impresses his boss so much that he suggests Nandan to do a series on the issue.
Nandan embarks on the mission with his reluctant cameraman Abu (Sudhish). As he tries to get a ringside view of the issue, he slowly gets involved in it, as he tries to make a difference.
The director, who is also credited with the story, touches upon every aspect of the issue before zeroing in on a group of farmers who become symbolic of the sufferings of the people in the region. There is an old man (Thilakan) who has lost everything due to the heartless policies of the rulers, and he is silently protesting to draw attention towards their plight. Then there is a widower farmer (T G Ravi) with four daughters. He is neck deep in debt, and his only hope for survival is his second daughter Celine (Jyothirmayi), who is pursuing an MBBS degree.
Despite the jargon spewing narrative that mentions terms like 'globalisation' and 'World Trade Agreement' a few times, what wins the day for us are details like the mention of reputed journalist P Sainath's writings about the region.
Prithviraj carries off his role with ease, and makes us wish that he would take up more of such roles. The dilemma on his face when his subjects break down in front of the camera -- on whether should stop shooting or continue for a good visual -- is worth noticing.
Pakal deserved a better reception at the box office. But what it got was a virtually empty theatre on the first weekend of its release.
Rediff Rating: 
