Review of “Parimala & Co”

Director Pandiraaj (Pasanga, Namma Veetu Pillai and Thalaivan Thalaivi) brings together again the iconic duo, Jayaram & Urvashi in the comedy thriller Parimala & Co. The film has an impressive supporting cast includes Sanjana Krishnamoorthy, Ananthika Sanilkumar, Mysskin, Sandy, Yogi Babu, Santhosh Sobhan, Sendrayan, Harshad, Bhagavathi Perumal & Singam Puli.

Parimala (Jayaram) and Sudhanthiram (Urvashi) are the quirky parents of equally quirky daughters in Parasakthi (Sanjana Krishnamoorthy) and Madhu (Ananthika Sanilkumar).

Madhu is being harassed by the local thug, Varghese (Sandy), causing Parasakthi to come to her sister’s aid. When Varghese is found dead, they realize that the family would be regarded as suspects as they had a motive for the killing.

However, Inspector Empuraman (Mysskin) who is assigned to the case, appears to be dragging his feet while the family have to contend with a blackmailer, an unsympathetic landlord and a death in the family while dealing with other deaths that appear to be related to the death of Varghese.

The family’s attempt at evasion, their constant doubt of each other, the ill-timed death in their family and the looming act if retribution from Varghese’s mother all come together in an interesting cauldron that produces suspense, mystery and side-splitting comedy.

Jayaram and Urvashi each have impeccable comedic timing, but when they come together, their on-screen chemistry, their symbiotic feeding of each other’s talents and energies, and their individual strengths in heightening comedy collectively produce peak comedy that is extremely difficult to match. Verbal, non-verbal, expressions, modulation and body language of both artists are a masterclass in brilliant comedic timing. The film is worth watching just for their contributions to the film.

Sanjana Krishnamoorthy and Ananthika Sanilkumar have taken their cues from Jayaram and Urvashi in transforming their roles to a mixture of intense acting and delightful comedy, excelling in both aspects.

Mysskin has already proven himself to be a classy actor, but his role in Parimala & Co will rank at the very top of his acting performances to date.

Bhagavathi Perumal and Singam Puli make a magical duo and their combined talents create a unique brand of humour.

Sandy delivers a memorable performance as Varghese while Yogi Babu is in one of his better roles.

Sendrayan is in a powerful role while Santhosh Sobhan falls somewhat short of the heights reached by the rest of the cast.

Pandiraaj’s script is cleverly written, incorporating elements of spoof, satire, slapstick, wit and witty repartees while also weaving an excellent story with depth, surprises and twists. It is only in the screenplay that Pandiraaj falls short in the first half. Despite the liberal dose of comedy in the first half, the slow unravelling of the plot greatly reduces the overall impact of the film.

Dark comedy is a difficult genre to master, but Pandiraaj extends this to include other forms of humour to make the film appeal to all comedy lovers.

Cinematography by George C Williams is very good and there are some brilliant shots, but his experimentation is inconsistent.

The film deserved better music than the efforts of its music composer FoxN – in the soundtrack and in the background score.

Parimala & Co is pure escapist fun, but the film has more than great comedy to keep one engaged, there is also a very absorbing story with enough in the tail to keep one engrossed.

Parimala & Co scores 8 points out of 10.