Parimala and Co review: A painfully unfunny dark comedy with best of talents wasted

2013 gave us Drishyam. What followed was numerous remakes of the same film across multiple languages. Not just that, the same premise — a family involved in committing an accidental murder and going to great lengths to save themselves in the eyes of the law, purely because their intentions were good — was adopted by several films over the years. None of them came close to achieving the same magic. Now, Pandiraaj's Parimala and Co is the latest addition to that bandwagon.

There is nothing wrong with seeking inspiration from a successful film. What is wrong is the intention to sell outdated ideas in the garb of a new attempt. That is how Pandiraaj — who has delivered multiple successful family dramas — sold Parimala and Co. The result is a headache-inducing, painfully unfunny film that does the opposite of what a comedy is supposed to do.

Parimala (the ever dependable Jayaram) and Sudhanthiram (a brilliant Urvashi) are parents to two daughters, Parasakthi (Sanjana Krishnamoorthi) and Madhumitha (Ananthika). The local ruffian and drug pedlar Varghese (Sandy) even teases Madhumitha. When Parasakthi fights back, he humiliates her by throwing eggs in her face in public. Madhumitha voices her disinterest and the entire family, including the matriarch Sudhanthiram, wants to put an end to this menace.

And voila — Varghese ends up dead. Enter Inspector Emperumaan (played by Mysskin, trying his best to save the mess of a film), to go after the killer as the clues begin pointing to Parimala and Co.

There is a common expectation when watching a screenplay — that every knot built up will eventually be answered. Parimala and Co creates knot after knot, only to abandon each one and move to the next. Every new conflict makes you think it will pay off in the end. It never does. Each thread turns out to be another nothing-for-good plot point with zero effect on the larger story.

The film begins by establishing who Parimala is. When you assume it is Urvashi's character because of the name's feminine touch, Pandiraaj reveals it belongs to Jayaram. Urvashi's character is named Sudhanthiram — meaning freedom – an unusual name for anyone. You wait for a clever wordplay using their names later. It never comes. There is nothing in the names. As it does in the screenplay.

When the house owner, played by Yogi Babu in yet another unfunny role, discovers the anonymous letters the family has been receiving, you expect them to add to the thriller's tension. It fizzles out too. This pattern repeats itself from the very beginning — so much so, that by the time the big climactic reveal arrives, the story renders Parimala and the entire family inconsequential to the outcome.

Making matters worse is a peculiar directorial choice: both Madhumitha and Sudhanthiram speak so slowly and deliberately in their scenes that you are genuinely tempted to switch to 2x speed. What may have been intended as a naturalistic performance ends up feeling like the film is actively testing your patience.

Jayaram and Urvashi are, without question, two of the finest veteran actors Tamil cinema has. And they prove it even here — bringing warmth, nuance and commitment to roles that give them almost nothing to work with. But even their combined talent can only do so much to salvage a screenplay that keeps pulling the rug from under them. They deserve far better material than this. It is only Mysskin who makes it remotely interesting in the chaos.

Imagine sitting through 138 minutes only for the film to tell you that its lead characters were of no importance in the larger scheme of things. Tiring and frustrating, isn't it? That is the biggest grouse with Parimala and Co.

With every comedy line landing with a thud, you end up watching characters move across the screen lifelessly, counting every second of those 138 minutes. All of it feels like an eternity.