Pani review: Joju George’s violent gangster flick is a good directorial debut

Pani review: Actor Joju George has earned a name for himself through splendid performances in Malayalam cinema in films like Iratta, Trance, Malik, Nayattu, Pada, and Joseph. Now, he makes his directorial debut with Pani, which he also wrote. He is the lead in Pani, featuring Abhinaya, Sagar Surya, Junaiz VP, Seema, Bobby Kurian, Chandini Sreedharan, and Prashanth Alexander. (Also read: Anurag Kashyap says Joju George’s Pani is on par with Korean new wave films)
The movie is set in Thrissur where the audience is introduced to two young mechanics named Don (Sagar Surya) and Siju (Junaiz VP), who end up taking up a contract killing job to earn a quick ₹10 lakhs. They end up killing a man and stuffing him into an ATM, and this makes headlines. The city of Thrissur, which had been quiet for a long time, now erupts into action, and everyone, including the cops, wonders who is responsible for this murder. Don and Siju pocket the money, which they believe could make their life. However, their paths quickly cross Giri (Joju George), one of the most well-known dons in the city, and his wife Gouri (Abhinaya), and things take a nasty turn. Giri and his friends are a close-knit gang who are known for their criminal activity and are on the police radar, but they remain untouched by the law. So, what happens between these two men and Giri? Why are Giri and his men hunting down Don and Siju?
Joju George is a seasoned actor who has worked in numerous excellent crime thrillers. However, the story he has written for his debut directorial doesn’t present us with something novel and is literally old wine in a new bottle. It is a revenge drama that has been told many times before, and the actor has chosen to keep it simple yet infused with a lot of action and violence. The first half takes the usual trajectory one expects to find in this genre, and we see Giri as a loving family man who doesn’t voluntarily get involved in the nasty business. It is in the second half that Joju George has pushed the envelope with his character, and we find out really who Giri, the gangster, can be when his vulnerability is exposed and he’s backed up against the wall.
The character arc he has written for himself is laudable, as well as those of Don, Suni and his close friends. He is able to convey how Don and Suni’s psychopathic minds work, as well as Giri’s own friendships pithily in carefully crafted scenes. The action sequences are well done, and the chase scenes push up the energy levels too. Having said that, the film could be a tad too violent (in the second half) for some people, but the crime possibly justifies this.
Pani has shades of other films that are probably not intentional on the part of Joju George. Technically, the movie is sound, and the action scenes are well choreographed, which offsets the middling screenplay, which could have been better written. Nuances of the city of Thrissur and city life have been captured nicely on screen, lending the story more authenticity. The cinematography by Venu ISC and Jino George stands out in this film as does the editing by Manu Antony. The BGM by Vishnu Vijay and Sam CS ensures that the audience feels the pace of the chase and intensity of the action scenes and the emotional ones.
Joju George has made a good directorial debut, and Pani presents it well on screen, even though the story is not new for the audience.