Bhoopadathil Illatha Oridam Movie Reviews

Bhoopadathil Illatha Oridam is a proverbial village tale in which the seemingly peaceful life of a village is rattled by a series of events. There is a theft in the biggest shop in the village followed by the death of a girl. The real culprits remain hidden and the torture is reserved for a naive school teacher, played by Sreenivasan, who is completely ignorant of the dark events that unfold in the village.

The film never goes beyond the initial interest it evinces. The village is inhabited by stereotyped characters. There is a bird-brained police officer with a queer name Idikula (Innocent). His attempts at arousing laughter are persistent and annoying. He flees from a violent mob, gets his hand stuck between a half-door and though unharmed, screams loudly, smatters English with scant regard for grammar and tries to intimidate everyone with his stubby gait.

There is also a feudal, insecure panchayat president played by Nedumudi Venu, who is keen on nabbing the thief just to prove his efficiency as an administrator. Love blossoms between an unemployed youth and a hard-working, dusky beauty. The lead character, portrayed by Sreenivasan, is forced to be a witness for crimes he has never seen.

The script is supposed to juggle humour and reality. But the narrative is as shoddy as some of the characters in the film. The presence of Sreenivasan, Nivin Pauly and Nedumudi Venu fail to save the film and the story turns out to be a tepid affair.