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Pallotty 90's Kids

Farhad Dalal Founder
By-
Farhad Dalal
Rating
3.5 Star popcorn reviewss

Introduction

You are introduced to Kannan and Unni in the Malayalam film Pallotty 90’s Kids belonging to different stratas of the society. Kannan is seemingly from an economically backward class while Unni is from a relatively upper class. Yet, Kannan and Unni are best of friends, luckily because the remain unaware of the economic differences because of their tender age. It is amazing how children view the world as binary – dividing it into good and bad while never once getting into its nuances. In a way, they are the pioneers of keeping things simple in life while never wishing to overcomplicate things. If you look within you, chances will be that the child in you feels the same, or alternately, even if you transport yourself to your golden era of childhood, your binary vision towards life would be intact, while slowly being corrupted and blurred over the years to the person that you have transformed into today. Luckily, films like Pallotty 90’s Kids do offer you an opportunity to relive your childhood when life was simple and social media did not exist to wreck its havoc, and world still remained a peaceful place (as viewed through the lens of a child, in this case you).

Story & Screenplay

Pallotty 90’s Kids, a film that won the Kerala State Award for Best Children’s film of 2023, has sweetness laced all over it. It is early on in the film that you are introduced to one of the characters in the current timeline being insistent on buying an older model of the Harley Davidson bike (the one that The Undertaker once rode). There isn’t much context provided but it isn’t hard to join the dots as well, once you are transported to the flashback in the golden era of the 90s. The 90s era has to be one of the most unique phases (not just because I am a 90s kid myself) because it was a transition era between the satellite boom and the eventual digital boom. As a result, 90s kids would often be seeing playing weird spiral ball games (as Kannan in the film), or even occasionally whiling away their time in plucking mangoes on their way to school, or being fascinated by a single rod wheely which they would call a scooter of their own. In Pallotty 90’s Kids, all of it is wonderfully represented through the gaze of Kannan and Unni as they gently find their footing in life. And needless to say, that the strongest aspect of the writing remains the relatability around its characters.

Kannan might seem to be a simplistic school-going boy, but there are traits that do set him apart. Firstly, you are privy to the humble background amidst which he is been brought up. He is a fatherless boy (his father committed suicide due to financial issues of the family) staying with his mother and grandma, who barely are able to make ends meet. For instance, Kannan’s mother isn’t able to get a new uniform for him, diverting an excuse to how his already dirty uniform would eventually get dirty by the end of the day. Kannan isn’t served breakfast either, simply because his family cannot afford it, while reducing his diet to flat rice which he is tired of, yet boasts of boosting his health in front of his bestie Unni. There is a certain inferiority complex that engulfs Kannan – he is a sharp mind, ably making a vacuum cleaner for his science expo at school from ruins, yet he doesn’t present it in front of his class because he remains afraid of failure.

Unni is slightly better placed in life as opposed to Kannan. He stays with his father and mother in a better looking house as opposed to Kannan’s dilapidated home, while often accompanying Kannan on foot to school. Both aspire to ride on a bike while having to pacify themselves, that it is better to walk given how they can pick mangoes along the way. There is a bittersweet feeling engulfing their friendship, while the two remain happily unaware of the caste differences between them. Unni is always there for Kannan even while being bullied by a younger version of Chatur from 3-Idiots, who loves boasting of his lifestyle. The drama follows the chronicles of Kannan and Unni, even as they are on the cusp of adolescence that prompts the latter to drop a peck on the love of his life, while fearing having kids, to the latter again swallowing chewing gum only for the former to come to his rescue. These are seemingly fragmented narrative that leads to some beautifully woven heartfelt moments along the way.

I liked how the writing touched upon character dynamics emerging from characters of different age groups. In a scene, the dynamic duo run into an elderly character who recounts her days of school with Kannan’s grandma, triggering an instant case of nostalgia. In another scene, you see a mid-aged character interacting with another on how their friendship could only aspire to be like Unni and Kannan, only for the other to reply that the duo don’t have a baggage. It was just the kind of unlearning that the concerned character needed to listen to, while dealing with his soured relationship with his own family. In turn, there is also a beautiful scene wherein the character explains the idea of fear and friendship to Kannan and Unni, after the latter did lose a race in school due to a rather heartfelt reason. These scenes that play out back to back will roll tears down your cheeks while filling you with a lot of hope.

If there was this one gripe that I had with the film, then it was with respect to its final act that seemed to be quite abrupt with its transition from the past to the present. In an ideal scenario, I would have liked a little background on how the characters were doing in life, before bringing them together for a heartwarming finale. The idea was always to delay the inevitable and formulate a buildup of sorts, in order to accumulate all the emotions brimming on the surface for a far more impactful payoff. That wasn’t to be, but still I cannot discount the fact that the writing was heartfelt and quite successful in transporting me to the 90s, an era that always paints a bittersweet picture on every occasion that I look back.

Dialogues, Music & Direction

The dialogues are simplistic but they definitely are laced with layers of sweetness and relatability while being wonderfully palatable, and successful in transporting you to the 90s. The music and BGM gracefully highlight the simplicity of life in the golden era while tactfully enhancing the underlying emotions in the drama. The cinematography comprises of frames that always keep you within touching distance of its principal characters thereby allowing you time and space to invest in them. The editing is pretty good apart from the final act that felt a little patchy and abrupt while not exactly landing with its emotions the way it ought to have. Director Jithin Raj does a solid job here, scoring nicely with his characters that seemed an extension of his own childhood. There is a simplicity in his craft that automatically allows pure heartfelt emotions to land through his characters, while creating a wonderful aura of the 90s. The direction is pretty good here.

Performances

The performances are pretty good by the members of the cast. Dinesh Prabhakar as Dasan, Niranjana Anoop and Mariya Prince as Devi are sincere characters that make their presence felt. Sudhi Koppa as Biju has his moments to shine, as do Arjun Ashokan and Balu Varghese that make for heartwarming performances mounted on a solid emotional weight. Adish Praveen as Bubblegum Subish is adorable with its innocent mischief at the cost of his young fellow actors in a character that was designed on the lines of Chatur from 3 Idiots but laced with innocence and naivety. Nirupama Rajeev as Rema is cute and does a nice little job. Anuprabha and Ajeesha as Unni and Kannan’s mothers are first rate, as is Anulekshmi as Paathu. Saiju Kurup as Manjulan is excellent in a character that is so heartwarming with his life wisdom and emotions that it automatically makes him affable. But the two stars of the show are Davinchi Santhosh as Kannan and Neeraj Krishna as Unni. Both of them share a searing bromance onscreen that definitely allows you to invest in their journey, emotionally speaking. There is such sincerity with their performances wherein if one of them cries, you want to cry and embrace them as well. The sheer expressions that they bring to the table is commendable, particularly seen in that scene in which Unni recognizes the sacrifice that Kannan bestowed on his birthday, for his happiness. They are both brilliant to witness.

Conclusion

The winner of the Kerala State Award for Best Children’s Film of 2023, Pallotty 90’s Kids is a heartwarming and relatable children’s tale of friendship set in the golden era of the 90s that makes for a heartfelt watch. Available on Manorama Max.

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