The early 2000s saw Mammootty donning the role of an authoritarian family or village head in several movies. But never before has the actor taken the form of a vengeful angel of death like he did in Bheeshma Parvam. Directed by Amal Neerad, the film stars Soubin Shahir, Shine Tom Chacko, Sreenath Bhasi, Jinu Joseph, and Dileesh Pothan among others in pivotal roles.
Bheeshma Parvam follows the Anjoottikkaran family, which is headed by the third-born Michael after the family head's and the elder son's death before the movie's start. Michael is in control of all aspects of the family's several businesses, trying to hold together a divided family, consisting of his brothers and his children, and his late brother's widow and her family. Thus, it is no surprise that we see most of Michael's family members (his brothers and nephews) turning against him. How he strategically and ruthlessly deals with this mutiny, fueled by family rivals, much like Bheeshma from Mahabharata, forms the crux of the story.
What stands out in the movie mere minutes into is the cinematography. Anend C Chandran has given us several stylishly shot scenes that add to the charisma the film, it's characters, and the background score exude. The fight sequences in the 144-minute film is a treat to watch with graceful choreography and excellent camera work. Chandran is also able to portray the different shades of characters simply through his shots, which helps flesh out the characters.
What makes Chandran's cinematography powerful is the background score from Sushin Shyam that accompanies it (and vice versa). This effect is compounded especially in mass dialogue scenes and action-heavy sequences. Coupled with dialogues (some penned by Manu Jose), Bheeshma Parvam is a visual and aural treat for Mammootty fans and mass entertainer lovers.
Malayalam movie industry is not new mass entertainers centred around an affluent and influential Christian family. However, what sets Bheeshma Parvam apart is the lack of razor-sharp focus on the central character, Mammootty's Michael in this case. In sequences without the veteran actor, rest of the cast, especially Shine Tom Chacko, Jinu Joseph, Dileesh Pothan, and Soubin Shahir take over the screen and audience's attention. Even the brief moments featuring late actors KPAC Lalitha and Nedumudi Venu add to the rising tensions.
For all its impressive cinematography and music, Bheeshma Parvam's downfall is its bogged-down screenplay, written by Amal Neerad, Devadath Shaji, and P. T Ravi Shankar. In a quest to flesh out the divide in the Anjoottikkaran family and several key characters, the film ends up adding sequences that could have been avoided. Indeed the film needed sleeker editing for the few songs in the movie are misplaced, creating a sudden disconnect in the measured tone of the film's first half.
Bheeshma Parvam takes a long time to get to the point; in fact, we get to the main premise of the film only in the last 45 minutes or so. Perhaps it's having too many cooks in the kitchen that led to a few unnecessary plot lines in the film that don't have much of an impact on the story. Their sole purpose it seemed was to make the audience hate villainous characters more. Without these sequences and the songs, the movie could have shaved off a minimum of 30 minutes from its runtime, while retaining the overall impact of the film.