Paka: The River of Blood (2021) User Reviews (16)

Another gem in Malayalam movies

[user-33237 · 7/10 · 10 December 2021]

Was fortunate to get a chance to watch this movie in Redsea film festival Saudi Arabia. Thanks to the Directior Mr. Nithin & Producer Mr Raj for inviting me.

Simplistic movie with powerful script . Nicely directed & with good BGM. Most of the actors have done a great job regardless for their experience. The voiceover , dubbing stars also did a great job. Everything seems real without any gimmicks.

Will be on a watchout for more from Mr Nithin.

A good story bad character development

[omc-44475 · 6/10 · 10 July 2022]

It is all about a good story of village rivals but i don't know why all men's drinking and smoking every night even the character of lead actor is like idiot at some scenes, morning to evening just smoking is everyone's duty here.

Rawness encircled in a river

[sudhakaranakhilan · 7/10 · 7 July 2022]

The main reason I watched Paka was only because of one man, Anurag Kashyap who is onboard as one of the movie's producers. The trailer gives me a glimpse of what might be the core and the movie's treatment. Paka is a raw movie, that seems to be an alien thing to the Malayalam film industry (some of Lijo Jose Pellissery's movies are exceptional) and looks like an art-house thriller product. It has some sort of reference from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet where the subject revolves around the love affair of Jhonny and Anna both of them from two rival families. They look forward to the unity of their families through their marriage. But something disastrous is going to happen when the protagonist's father's younger brother comes to the place after a long term of imprisonment. The tagline or the subtitle of the movie is River of Blood and it is so suitable for the movie because the river plays an important role in the movie. Every moment or the hypes in the film are connected with the river. We can experience and entertain through a small remote village in the outskirts of Kerala where the majority of the people are illiterate and doing simple jobs. So we can see some sort of wild nature in each and everyone which pleases the entirety of the movie. Most of the actors are new ones but that doesn't reflect while they performing their particular characters. The most important thing that I found special in the movie is the sound design. We can feel the minimal usage of background score in the movie because the sound of nature got its prominence here. The entire graph of the movie can be judged through the progression of the sound. As I early said, the story takes place in a remote village, so the beauty and the visual imagery have gained something important which gave us attention to the movie. When we look out the river seems to be a little one and the director doesn't intend to shoot the river with a wide lens but the situations happening around shows us the violent as well as raw nature of the river. Director Nithin Lukose's debut attempt was a good one and he can do better with his next one.

River of Revenge

[kkomandla · 9/10 · 17 September 2021]

I was privileged to watch this movie during its screening at TIFF. The story of this movie was built up on various real life events including an incident from the director's life. The beauty is, all the actors in the movie are from the same village where they shot.

The story line is based on two parallel tracks. One is Revengeful and the other one is love angle. The back drop voice of an old lady who narrates about the river is evocative. Though it's a revengeful story, I didn't feel much of a violence.

Over all the movie went like a smooth flowing river without any unwanted gushing effect.

The visuals and sound effects are the heart of this movie.

Though I do not understand Malayalam, I throughly enjoyed the movie.

• Krishna Komandla.

Simply and boring

[arjun-tkalathil · 3/10 · 7 July 2022]

Please take some entertainer movies. Always on realistic one, why mollywood??? I like realistic movies, but this one is boring... Waste of time. I cant recommend this to anyone.

WELL TAKEN MOVIE

[vinjomedia · 9/10 · 17 September 2021]

Was fortunate to watch the international premier of PAKA at Toronto International Film Festival. Team Paka deserves a big round of applause. It's the story of feud... Though screens a family feud, it's beyond that. Well narrated, metaphors used were awesome, and connects with the audience of all generations.

Casting was excellent. Even though most of the actors were first timers, all of them marked their presence. Nithin Lukose, a sound designer tuned director, in his directorial debut, made sure that his movie should be noted for the magic of sound too.

PAKA should be experienced in a theatre, at least in a home theatre with surround sound. To get the real feel of the movie. Well done team. More and more festivals to go...Expecting more from the team.

Native, Gripping village revenge story

[kirangkus · 9/10 · 18 September 2021]

This movie is a revenge story in a village backdrop with a natural and rustic looking and gripping screenplay. All Actors acted naturally. Director did the job as an seasoned/experienced though it is his first movie as a director. I really liked the screenplay and sound design.

A compelling watch!

[nirajghai · 10/10 · 18 September 2021]

Team Paka, You have a good one under you belt to win every major award!

The movie was very well directed and edited. Stories around cross-generational family feuds are very common in Indian movies. But this one is exceptionally well written and narrated. I was on the seat's edge for a long part.

Editing, screenplay, sound and direction was very professional. Several memorable characters like the devilish granny, villainous Kocheppu with a soft core, the old man who sits by the river with a transistor, the diver-salvager...and several others, have kept this movie running in loops in my mind ever since I watched the movie 5 days ago.

I was super impressed and I recommend this movie as a must watch!

Rustic, authentic, and thought provoking

[amanikonda · 10/10 · 18 September 2021]

PAKA is an awesome movie that takes us through different layers of human emotions at different levels. It's hard to believe how local folks who acted in this movie immersed into their respective characters so naturally.

The granny from one feuding family and the old man from another feuding family are so stoic, as audience we can understand their immeasurable pain and agony.

The debut story writer and director Nithin Lukose, and passionate producers and filmmakers Raj Rachakonda and Anurag Kashyap deserve all the credit for making this thought provoking movie. Wishing the whole team great success!

The Unseen Granny

[rejikoduvath · 10/10 · 17 December 2021]

Unseen characters have been used since the beginning of theatre with the ancient Greek tragedians, such as Laius in Sophocles' Oedipus Rex and Jason's bride in Euripides' Medea. Rosaline in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is another classical example of an unseen character.

In the Malayalam movie Paka which was showcased in the recently concluded Toronto Film Festival, there is a Granny whose disgruntled mutterings are pivotal to the movie all through. Only her toes are shown, with her lying on her bed. Her two grandsons live with her until one of her sons, uncle of the two grandsons, returns from jail.

In the Tamil movie 'Ethir Neechal,' directed by K Balachander, the Coughing Grandfather only his cough is heard all through the movie. The Grandfather is never shown. The other movie I watched where a body part of a main character is shown is in Inspector Gadget, a 1983 animated film where the villain Dr Claw's right hand is shown all through the film.

Like the Dr Claw, the Granny of Paka is arrogant, malicious, ruthless, sinister, short-tempered and sadistic. The Granny is the one injecting venom of revenge into her grandsons. She does not want to change and does not even want any light or fresh air entering her room. She chastises her grandson who tries to open the window of her room. After her death, the grandson opens the very same window to let in light and fresh air into the room.

The other movie I remember where a main character's legs were shown was in Charlie's Angels, where the villain and the master mind's legs are shown at the very end. In Paka, the Granny's toes are only shown all through.

I wanted to meet Nithin Lukose, the director and script writer of the movie after the premier show, but Nithin couldn't make it to Toronto due to the pandemic protocols.

Mariakutty, aged 83 years. Who enacted the role of the Granny mesmerised the viewers with her voice alone. She happens to the Grandmother of the Director Nithin. The story is loosely based on the stories the Granny narrated to a young Nithin. In fact Mariakutty relived her life in the movie, through her voice.

Worth a watch

[cysunil-61525 · 8/10 · 8 July 2022]

I wasn't very expectant about this movie but it turned out to be one of the best movies I watched recently. Guys, give it a try. Hat's off to the debut director and his team who worked hard to make this movie a real success.

The Circle of Life.

[shonimanandakumar · 8/10 · 20 August 2022]

What makes PAKA stand out is how well it is put together. Once you see the film it's hard to believe that it's a small production film. The actors, the setting, the narrative, the music, the tone of the film all seamlessly blends together to bring in a thrillingly well crafted visual treat. My favourite thing about the film is how it presents the river. The river as a space becomes a character in and of itself. It is the one place where everyone's thoughts are tied together for better or for worse. Another interesting aspect of the film is it's circular nature. It ends where it began but it also doesn't end exactly as it began. This small difference is precisely what makes a large impact in the film. All in all PAKA is definitely worth a watch as it pulls our thoughts into questions surrounding ancestry, tradition, masculinity, familial bond, the circle of life and of course 'revenge'.

A masterpiece

[sasankbhv · 9/10 · 7 February 2023]

Generally as a cinephile I used to watch atleast 1 movie per a day, recently i started watching underrated Malayalam movies and as a part of it I got to know about this PAKA movie and after knowing "Anurag kashyap" produced this movie i immediately downloaded and Started watching this movie. From the beginning onwards the film went so interestingly and the film was so good. The Nativity of that village the characters and the people all of them was so perfect,and the climax was also perfect,and the length of the film is also less so it was short and best movie,every cinephile should must watch this film.

A gloriously minimalistic, eerily poignant retelling of the Romeo-Juliet epic

[nidhunmoviebuff · 8/10 · 9 July 2022]

A great film maker who has a handle on his craft doesnt really need fancy equipment, unlimited budgets and top-draw stars to tell us a good story. Tharun Moorthy showcased that in "Operation Java (2021)" and Senna Hegde underlined the same in "Thinkazhcha Nishchayam (2021)" and now we have another name to add to that accomplished lexicon. Nithin Lukose and his gloriously minimalistic, poignantly engaging retelling of the Romeo-Juliet story in "Paka" is a bonafide masterpiece holding your attention for the entirety of its runtime with its spine-tingling narrative style and a clutch of superb performances.

The Illikkal and Vettikkal families take the place of the Montagues and Capulets in a rustic rural Wayanad setting, sworn enemies due to a bitter rivalry generations past. Basil Paulose shines as "Johny" the young scion of the Illikkal clan who abhors violence and his family's gruesome history but is haplessly in love with Anna (Vinitha Koshy) from the Vettikkal family. How the pair of star-crossed lovers move heaven and earth to be together amidst the furore thrown up by their alliance amidst a bunch of blood-thirsty relatives forms the rest of the story.

While we have seen similar storylines in the past like in "Godfather (1991)" and "Annayum Rasoolum (2013)", Lukose takes an altogether different approach with a characteristic disconnected, almost forlorn narrative style that is both disconcerting and too good to turn away from at the same time. Scenes that call for grotesque, gory violence are dealt with in an impressively minimalist fashion, with the actors' facial expressions accompanied with symbolism, excellent sound design and use of light communicating the fury and hatred much more than the actual bloodshed.

The team deserves immense praise for its casting, with Jose Kizhakkan an absolute standout as the ageing ex-convict patriarch "Kocheppu" of the Illikkal clan while Athul Johny as "Paachi" and Nithin George as "Joey" put in eye-catching shifts. Nithin Lukose's minimalism comes to the fore in his use of just a pair of hands and the voice to portray the ageing bedridden Illikkal family matriarch, a narrative device that would fall flat if not executed to perfection like he has. "Paka" is a towering example of how a filmmaker can make even the most cliched stories engaging using their own authentic and distinctive narrative styles and visual treatment, backed by a keen sense of casting the perfect actors all the while being constrained by a limited budget. Highly recommended. An absolute must watch!

Realistic

[classicalbumdesigner · 9/10 · 11 July 2022]

The performances by the cast, a blend of amateurs and professionals, capture the everyday rhythms of the region even as the actors rise to the challenge of fleshing out characters who are caught in situations that are anything but ordinary.

Review Of Paka: A Chilling Landscape Of A Place Where Revenge Is Routine

[shefali-59244 · 29 September 2021]

It is almost ironic that Paka is being produced by the director of Gangs Of Wasseypur. When seen from a distance, both films talk about generational violence between two warring families. Both films are set away from cities (Wasseypur and Wayanad) and they both use revenge as their narrative fuel. These films also paint a landscape of a place where blood flows like water, and where terms like honour and justice matter more than peace and humanity.

Read the full review on Film Companion.