It is hard to say how much I liked this deviant comedy about a gold lender and family which defaults on its promise. Basil Joseph, who started as a director to watch, is now more of an actor to be watched. His variety of roles, funny at the top and deeply tragic beneath, has set new goals for performing ambiguity in Malayalam cinema.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Basil has emerged as a force to reckon with. Ponman reinforces his burgeoning power. He plays Aajesh, a gold lender who bails economically challenged families in their wedding arrangements by lending gold for the dowry with the promise of quick recovery.

Things get out of hand soon enough, resulting in chaos that is deeply troublesome, and yet the fun element is never dissipated. This is the Usp of Basil Joseph’s cinema: it makes you ponder on the vicissitudes...