When there are three women playing lead opposite a single man in a romantic comedy, you imagine it treading the path of several movies that successfully trod it before: Premam, Boeing Boeing and the like. But Padmini, which has Aparna Balamurali, Madonna Sebastian and Vincy Aloshious opposite Kunchacko Boban, manages to find a new path, original and a wee bit hilarious, though not entirely engaging. Director Senna Hegde, who gave us the wonderful Thingalazhcha Nishchayam and an enjoyable 1744 White Alto, offers a fun film with Padmini, scripted by Deepu Pradeep. But despite its interesting premise, the film loses focus.
Like all of Senna’s films, Padmini goes directly into the thick of Rameshan’s story, beginning with a traditional wedding, told only through the murmurs of a crowd. You are spared the visual details as the screen remains black and the opening credits roll over the commentary of the wedding attendees. The camera opens its shutter to show us Rameshan (a bearded Kunchacko Boban) in his wedding bed, reading his book of poems to the new bride, still glittering with the gold of her adornments.
It is an arranged marriage, and Rameshan says that it was her name – a poetic one like Smrithi, which means memory – that he liked when the proposal came. But unexpectedly, on the moonlit night of his wedding, a setting meant to be romantic, he loses his new wife in bizarre circumstances. This earns him a moniker, Padmini, a name that makes the calm Rameshan reach out for stones to pelt at people.
He is a lecturer, teaching Malayalam at a college, a place he finds peace in, spared from the insults and name-calling. Two years have passed since the unfortunate wedding night, but Rameshan is only just coming out of the trauma it had caused him. As he begins to take note of other women once again, new characters come into his life. For some reason, Rameshan does not seem interested in finding love. He’d rather climb the steps of an old-fashioned marriage bureau and submit his biodata.
Trailer of the film:
We don’t really get Rameshan. We get that he is hurt, finding it hard to trust another person, and is desperate for company, patting the empty side of his bed at night. But he is not one to talk. A few outbursts and reluctant chats with his brother-in-law do not really help. Perhaps, it is left unexplored for the comedy around his situation to work. Some of the humour works, especially those coming from the brother-in-law, played by Anand Manmadhan. Seema G Nair as the practical mother is also wonderful in the few scenes that she appears.
It is also nice that the women are not left behind after the seemingly short parts they had in Rameshan’s life. Vincy, an immature young woman, Madonna a teacher, and Aparna a lawyer, all keep coming back and revealing their personal interests that don't always concern Rameshan. Madonna looks different from Premam days – her debut film, which also had three heroines and a single hero – donning saris, long-sleeve blouses, and a mature demeanour.
Aparna, once again, plays a character older than her age and appears to have no qualms about it. Hers is the most developed of the three women characters, unwilling to compromise on her romantic ideals, easily pricked, and quite expressive. Only, the sequence involving her and Sajin Cherukayil, a businessman selling mattresses, is overstretched and the intended humour fails to work. It is also a blow that his toxicity is made light of and distastefully presented in a coating of humour.
But by then, the script loses you and just manages to float towards the end. It has enough in it to keep you watching, thanks to Senna’s hand in the making, but it doesn’t leave you with lasting images to take home.
Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the film. Neither TNM nor any of its reviewers have any sort of business relationship with the film's producers or any other members of its cast and crew.