Pranchiyettan & The Saint

Ranjith's 2010 Malayalam film follows Pranchi, who has grown rich from the rice trade in Thrissur, and his obsession with being respected. Money buys him everything but social standing cannot be bought; he opens by telling his story to Saint Francis of Assisi, and the film proceeds in that confessional form. What Ranjith builds is the divide between money and cultural capital in Kerala: earning is not enough, you must have attended the right school. Mammootty's performance carries the Thrissur speech and the ridiculousness without humiliating the man. The film is at its best in holding a distance that neither exalts nor mocks its protagonist. The narrative is episodic and some side stories are left unfinished. Who it's for: viewers who like Malayalam cinema and Mammootty's comic work. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a tightly built story, or viewers who cannot follow the local cultural references.