Pallu Padama Paathuka Movie Review

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A wave of adult comedies has struck the coast of Tamil cinema. Pallu Padama Paathukais about a bunch of inane youngsters who are in the midst of an existential crisis and happen to come across zombies in a forest, and are forced to activate their survival mode. Actor Attakathi Dinesh who was last seen in the comedy drama Naanum Single Thaan is back on screens with his zombie comedy flick Pallu Padama Paathuka. Actress Sanchita Shetty has depicted the female lead role. Director Vijay Varadharaj has written and directed the movie. So, how has the zombie comedy film Pallu Padama Paathukka come out? Will it help end actor Attakathi Dinesh’s losing streak, and be a memorable debut for storyteller Vijay Varadharaj? To know that let us get into the movie review. 

Pallu Padama Paathukka starts off with a flashback where a struggling voice artist’s financial situation forces him to take a wealthy blind man to a forest named Kunju Thanni Forest. In the forest they stumble upon a zombie. Fast forward few years, a bunch of depressed individuals come to the forest to commit suicide which they very well might have literally committed from any part of world given the progression we have achieved today. But for some reason that the audience could not comprehend, they came to Kunju Thanni Forest. If they had stayed committed to their choice, they would have saved the audience from an excruciating volume of trauma. But they do not. They get distracted and sort of accidentally start a support group by sharing what prompted them to arrive at the decision of suicide. While doing so they chance up on Mahesh (Attakathi Dinesh), who invites them for a drink party. Mahesh begins to share his life experiences with the group. 

Arumai Nayagam (Jagan), a member from the gang, stumbles upon an experimental lab where they find zombies. Suddenly they have a mindset transition, and try to get away from zombies alive. Sathya (Sanchita Shetty), a woman comes out of nowhere for their rescue. She shares her food with them. The next morning, the gang finds themselves tied up. They learn Sathya is conducting research on zombies, and that she intends to use them for her research. A scared Mahesh offers a prayer. Sathya has a change of heart. In an unfortunate turn of events, she gets bitten by a zombie. Mahesh and the gang now try to save Sathya. Who is Sathya, is she in any way responsible for all the mess in the jungle, will Mahesh and his acquaintances be able to save Sathya, and will every one of them manage to make it alive out of the jungle, is what makes the rest of the flick. 

First, to talk about the positives of Pallu Padama Paathukka, yep there are positive elements, the creative staging, social commentary, and the touch of history that director Vijay Varadharaj aims to bring about in the film is actually interesting. Sadly, all these merely stay as interesting ideas in paper. When it comes to execution the novelty in all these ideas is diluted and messed up in every possible way. That makes Pallu Padama Paathukka a dud on all fronts. What is even more annoying about Pallu Padama Paathukka is the alarming level of convenience in the film making style. 

For instance, predominant double entendre used in the film are done to death cliches. Sample this, a sex doctor pressing and staying more than required on the word ‘seed.’ This has been around for more than half a century, and director Vijay Varadharaj expects this to pass off as adult humor. Really? The director seems to be an excessive hoarder of all celebrity gossip because you could find a reference to almost every single one of them from recent history. If only the director had put this level of effort and commitment in shaping his script, Pallu Padama Paathukka would at least have been a bearable product. 

It is disheartening to witness such a brilliant performer like Attakathi Dinesh in an inutile role. The actor does try to infuse humor into badly written quips with his expressions and voice modulations. Unfortunately, there is only so much an artist could do. Actress Sanchita Shetty does not have much scope other than receiving and dispensing double entendre. Actor Hareesh Peradi lives up to what his character demands. Actor Sha Ra does complete justice to his role. Actor Rajendran as usual brings his own persona to his part making an averagely written role enjoyable. Actor Anand Babu is effective. Actor Jagan is adequate. Actor Dhileepan Palanivel is operational. Actors Sai Dheena, and Mahanadi Shankar are functional. Comedians G M Kumar, Lollu Sabha Manohar, Linga, Abdool Lee, Raa Rishikanth, Augustine, Badri, Dawood, Benito, Divakar Natarajan, and Sengottuvel G, none serve the purpose for why they were brought on board. The rest of the cast has delivered an average performance. 

The technical facet of the film is equally horrible. Music director Balamurali Balu’s songs are middling and are not entertaining even for a momentary bit. Even his background score is not any special. He deploys the same archetypical tones for comical portions. Cinematographer Ballu Shreyas Krishna’s frames are unadorned. Even YouTube videos have better visuals these days. Editor San Lokesh has put his scissors at the right spot to chop off the shortcomings in his colleague’s work. 

On the whole, director Vijay Varadharaj’s Pallu Padama Paathukka is edentulous in the first place to even ponder about taking a bite.