When Desert Rose watched Parava

Whenever I watch a film, it is always the story telling that fascinates me. I just cannot stop thinking of how they came up with a certain story and developed it into a script. And lately it has been getting better – how an event or a certain something that we never thought was significant enough to be developed into a full-fledged engaging script actually gets made into such interesting films with technicality, creativity and yet realistic nature.

And that is one of the many respects I consider myself lucky to be a malayali because Malayalam cinema’s affair with experimentation producing some avant-garde projects featuring both unknown and established stars has been striking our hearts and the box office!

So the latest I watched was Parava, the directorial debut of Soubin Shahir. Having spent a significant period living in Cochin and exploring Fort Kochi, it was a feel good watch for the fact it was all happening in familiar frames. During my days there, I’ve come across some people who are involved in the pigeon flying and I’ve spent afternoons staring at them. But a year later to see them in flight on screen was such a visual novelty! Good work with the cinematography by Littil Swayamp, where the prowling camera darts after the boys as they race through narrow by-lanes and up and down rusty stairways, across green thickets and long stretches of wastelands. 

While most of the cast has done a neat job, I have to mention Govind Pai and Amal Shah – the two very young leads who takes the film ahead with their sheer dynamism and perfect on screen chemistry.

With so much going for it, it is impossible not to be attracted to Parava. Yet, the director’s extreme awareness of his artistic inclinations and his transparent ambition to follow styles of his contemporaries can be observed. The result is self-conscious writing and direction beyond a point, leading to inconsistencies in tone and a little pretentiousness.

‘Parava’ is a charming tale with a liberal dose of back tales thrown in.  Though it has storytelling strategies with innovative modes of its own, it leaves you with that faint regret that despite all its artistry and ambition, it’s not that absolute!

But despite all of that, I walked out with a smile because I love what most of the Malayalam film fraternity is up to.