Pulimurugan movie review

Pulimurugan opens with the mysterious death of a kid in a forest. Is the girl mauled by the tiger or taken by a cannibal? Enter a strange man in a black blanket, asking about the whereabouts of Murugan (Mohanlal). Without dragging the scene, director Vysakh cuts to a short flashback; we see Murugan's past.

Cast: Mohanlal, Kamalini Mukherjee, Jagapathi Babu, Lal and Kishore
Director: Vysakh
Rating: (2/5)

When Murugan's father is hunted by a tiger, he is survived by his two sons; Murugan and Manikuttan (Vinu Mohan). Murugan seeks blood for revenge and sets a trap with the support of his uncle Balaraman (Lal). A young Murugan kills the tiger with a boastful background score accompanying the act. Lo and behold, Murugan transforms to Pulimurugan (Tiger Murugan/ Leopard Murugan), who is now the protector of the village.

Set against the picturesque locales of Kerala, Pulimurugan chronicles the journey of Murugan, a tribal hunter who battles human-eating tigers in a forest called Puliyoor. Despite being a warrior in the forest, Murugan's innocence is exploited by Daddy Girija (Jagapathi Babu), who assures a formidable future to the former's brother. The plot unravels when Murugan smuggles ganja for Daddy Girija, followed by a sub-plot which shows only a fraction of the rivalry between Murugan and RK (Kishore), a forest ranger, who preys on the former's wife Maina (Kamalini Mukherjee).

Pulimurugan runs close to three hours, and the first part of the film soars high. Despite Mohanlal, the film offers prominence to characters like Balaraman, Poongayi Sasi (Suraj Venjaramoodu) and Maina. In that way, Pulimurugan is a win-win. Be it the scenes with Murugan and his nagging wife Maina or the comical portions with Sasi, Pulimurugan keeps the audience hooked to it in the first half. Suraj Venjaramoodu as Poongayi Sasi has to be credited here. The man tickles your funny bone quite often.

Considering the commercial liabilities, Pulimurugan would still have been a triumph for the director, had the crux of the film not been to depict Murugan's extraordinary skills to rub his shoulders with the tiger's. Some of the scenes have been purposefully written to enthral the troops of Mohanlal fans, and they work pretty well. The scene which makes way for the intermission has the stranger revealing himself as Daddy Girija, which piques our expectations and ushers us to a rather sulky second half.

The film loses its pace in the second half. It doesn't deliver the punch which the film projected in the first half. The director builds up the plot with Murugan's flashback. It works. However, it seems like he stayed a bit long.

Of course for Lalettan fans, it's but a feast for the eyes, especially when Murugan folds his lungi and beats the goons to pulp. There's another scene where Murugan sheepishly reads Manikuttan's name when the name board reads 'Marketing Manager'.

Arguably, the plot has loopholes. But Udayakrishna has managed to write an engaging screenplay, which was not expected after a misleading trailer.

Peter Hein, who has worked in films like Baahubali: The Beginning and Enthiran, has choreographed some breathtaking stunt sequences in the film. Though the fight sequences with the tiger and Murugan have been well-executed, one wonders if the film would come under the radar for portraying the already engendered species in a grey light.

Thankfully, Pulimurugan doesn't have the space for mood-killing songs. Gopi Sundar is the most promising find in recent years. Pulimurugan solely lies on its striking background numbers, and Sundar just upped the crescendo to the maximum.

With a patchy story, Mohanlal's charisma makes Pulimurugan an engaging yarn, but only in parts.