Parava

Parava (2017) is set in the Mattancherry neighbourhood of Kochi and its subject is pigeon flying. In that area pigeon flying is an actual sport. Each competitor's pair must fly without landing, and the pair that stays up longest wins. Irshad and Haseeb are two teenagers buried in it, and we get to know the neighbourhood through the competition. The first hour moves like a neighbourhood comedy: shops, rooftops, fights, a large cast. Then Irshad starts telling a story about something that happened years earlier and the film goes somewhere else entirely. That turn is its best decision. Parava is the Malayalam word for pigeon, and the title points at both the birds and the young men of the neighbourhood. Soubin Shahir was a well known actor and this is his first film as director. Dulquer Salmaan appears in a short but significant role. It is frequently cited among the Malayalam films that record local life in the most detail. It runs 146 minutes, which is long. Good for: Indian regional cinema, neighbourhood stories, and coming of age. Less good for: there is violence and drug use in the second half, the running time is long, and the crowded cast makes the first half hour hard to follow.