Padmini movie review: Senna Hegde, Kunchacko Boban’s comedy lives up to its petty desires

The enduring interest of a good section of the population in other people’s personal lives earns a nod from filmmaker Senna Hegde in the opening credit sequence of his fifth film. Padmini. As the credits roll on a black screen, we hear conversations from a wedding ceremony, some guests sizing up the groom, and others exchanging comments about his brother, who might be the next target of the marriage market. And a few who judge the weight of the bride’s jewelry and express displeasure.

Tongues usually stop wagging after a boy or girl is successfully pushed into marriage, but in the case of Ramesan (Kunchako Boban), a poet and college teacher, the conversations around him take off right after his marriage. His wife Smriti (Vinci Aloysius), who runs away with her lover on her wedding day, becomes a laughing stock in the village. A good part of Hegde’s film is about learning to overcome sarcasm, but he also has some complications to face.

Hegde changes a scene from the landscape of his previous two films ‘Made in Kanhangad’. Confirmed on Monday And 1744 White Alto – and sets Padmini In Palakkad village. Scriptwriter Deepu Pradeep also co-wrote Must be a baby With Basil Joseph, it initially gets it right with a compelling premise, but the struggle to sustain the two-hour narrative is evident at times.

Some humour, especially the scenes involving Ramesan and Aliyan (Anand Manmathan), help the film to make up for the shortcomings of the script. Another parallel track involves lawyer Sridevi (Aparna Balamurali) and her ‘overprotective’ toxic fiancé Jayan (Sajin Cherukail). Like ‘Big Kahuna Burgers’ and ‘Red Apple Cigarettes’ in Tarantino movies, Padmini Jayan’s ‘Rariram’ mattresses have an imaginary brand, ad shorts that flow into the interval break and after the movie.

Still, compared to Hegde’s previous two outings, with no surprises for the most part, that’s about it for the film’s quirkiness. The screenwriter fails to tie everything convincingly to the climax which felt a bit forced. Some remarks Confirmed on Monday, Kunchacko Boban’s most popular film also makes an appearance, as do references to old hits. Among the three leading heroines, Aparna gets more scope for performance than the other two and gets as much screen space as Kunchako.

Finally, Padmini It turns out to be a light film that lives up to its small ambitions.

Padmini is currently running in theatres