Padavettu review: A coming-of-age political thriller with Nivin Pauly’s spectacular performance

Maloor, a village in Kannur, serves as the setting for the story in the Malayalam flick Padavettu, the debut of director Liju Krishna.

Ravi is an unemployed youth. He lives in the shadow of his young aunt Pushpa, who ekes out a living by rearing a cow.

Ravi looks forward to a promising future. But boredom affects his mind more than his body, and turns him into a lazy lad.

Indeed, there is a story behind how Ravi, who was once the idol of all the young men in Maloor, lost his life.

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— Nivin Pauly (@NivinOfficial) October 22, 2022

Story of today’s youth

Padavettu is the story of Ravi. It is the story of many such Ravis. This is the story of this land.

This is the story of politicians who take people’s land, money, and lives, and finally, give them back something, as if they are performing charity.

Due to Ravi’s lack of initiative, a scenario arises where a political party takes advantage of that vacuum.

The embarrassment of that occurrence pushes Ravi to become a better version of himself. And Padavettu shows how that change takes place.

Ravi is a representative of everybody who lives with a repressed capacity and whose individuality is at stake.

Engaging narrative

The whole first half of the movie is devoted to introducing the character of Ravi, his past, the reasons for his present condition, and the atmosphere.

Then, we see the beginning of his change. The movie does a good job of getting us into the head of the main character.

Padavettu is made well. By using a visual narrative of the events, Liju Krishnan keeps the viewer interested without compromising on anything.

One can see a great amount of confidence in his direction and writing, and hopes to see more of him in the future.

This film is packed to the brim with intense scenes, and it is extremely well-filmed and well-paced.

Brilliant technicalities

Govind Vasantha’s music, which combines rap, poems, and folk, songs is another strength of Padavettu. The background score in some scenes is rejoicing.

Deepak Menon’s cinematography is rich with beautiful frames and visuals.

Ranganath Ravi’s sound mixing is too good. Everyone in the technical department is commendable.

Nivin Pauly’s mighty comeback

This is Nivin Pauly’s mighty comeback. He embodies Ravi in terms of attitude and appearance.

Nivin portrays Ravi’s helplessness and humiliation, sometimes, without a dialogue.

And in the dramatic scenes, he holds the audience’s attention with his powerful screen presence.

He pulls off brilliantly and adds so much charisma and power to the character.

In a scene where he addresses a crowd, his enthusiasm and assurance make each word he utters so compelling.

Shammi Thilakan gives an outstanding performance as the Kuyyaali.

Pushpa is a character with a lot of potential, and Remya Suresh does a fantastic job playing it.

The rest of the cast exists to support the lead character. The acting is good from top to bottom.

An incredible drama

Whilst the plot is familiar, Padavettu is still an incredible drama that’s emotional and relevant.

It is unflinching in its portrayal and is as good as this dialogue: “If we don’t have a politics of our own, others will use us for theirs.”

With a striking performance from Nivin Pauly, this film should be watched.