One of the things the makers sort of mentioned during the promotions of the new Nivin Pauly starrer is that it is like a Sathyan Anthikadan ghost movie. Which basically means the ghost is not a scary one like the ones we see in many of these movies. As a concept, the idea of a ghost who doesn’t know what to do with the newly found ghost status and who gets scared just like any other human is fun. Akhil Sathyan, who previously made Paachuvum Albuthavilakkum and wrote the story of Hridayapoorvam, is infusing his updated Anthikad template into this idea. The grounded setting and the humor are definitely working in favor of the movie. However, when it comes to sentimental bits, the subtlety we experienced in the fun bits of the movie is not there, and that sort of makes the movie a slightly forceful feel-good film.
Prabhendu is our central character, and he belongs to a Namoothiri family that is known for performing Poojas all around the world. Since he is an atheist and loves music, Prabhendu was more of an outcast to his family, and he only shared a close bond with his father’s elder brother. What we see in the movie is a phase in Prabhendu’s life where the financial crunch forces him to take up the “family business” for a brief time, and the events that unfold during that period.
There are no jump scares here, and the ghost is dressed as just another Gen Z kid. As I said, the ghost, having no clue about what to do with her ghost-hood, is creating a strange friendship dynamic between the hero and the ghost. Akhil Sathyan prefers sync sound, and that adds a layer of natural feel to the way this fantasy element is rendered on screen. Whenever the movie is creating humor either through the practicality of such a scenario or through the possibilities of it, the audience is getting moments worth laughing out loud. And it is not like it is funny in the first half and sentimental in the second half. The humor element is sprinkled all over the movie.
Even though he is only 2 films old as a director, one can sense a structure to Akhil Sathyan’s story ideas. Like how he has openly admitted in interviews, his aim is to create comfort-watch movies that you can rewatch without much hesitation. While the Hamsadhwani sequence in Paachuvum Albuthavilakkum stayed with us for its sentimental heft, the structure of the story in that movie wasn’t totally different from the Anthikad school of feel-good. In the case of Sarvam Maya, what keeps you hooked to the content is the way they utilize humor effectively. Even the friendly talks between the hero and ghost have a warmth, along with being fun. Where the movie starts to feel slightly formulaic is when the backstories happen. The minimal and practical treatment we saw till that point in this film takes a back seat, and this overtly verbal drama begins. The film goes on explaining how things changed for the hero. I mean, there is a setup in the movie where the ghost establishes breez as a form of touch, and I thought the film could have easily ended when its payoff happens.
The biggest and most obvious takeaway of this movie is seeing Nivin Pauly in his comfort zone, delivering the humor in the way we have seen him do in films like Oru Vadakkan Selfie or Love Action Drama. Seeing Nivin perform smoothly on screen itself gives us a sense of happiness, and that is helping Sarvam Maya in many ways. Aju Varghese joins hands with Nivin after a considerable gap. Even though he hasn’t tried to do anything entirely different from his usual style, there is a slightly evolved chemistry between these two, and it works in favor of this movie. Riya Shibu, producer of films like Veera Dheera Sooran, Mura, etc., makes her debut in Malayalam as a lead actor with this movie. The kind of chilled-out energy one can see in the Instagram reels she posts is what the character here really demands, and she delivers that in an effortless manner.
I think the makers either forgot or ignored the fact that Preity Mukundan has already shown her face in Malayalam in Riya Shibu’s brother’s movie, Maine Pyar Kiya. Because in the credits, they have written “Presenting” in front of Riya and Preity’s names. While the acting part was fine, the dubbing done for Preity’s role wasn’t that smooth. There is a Hamsadhwani kind of scene in the movie featuring Preity, but the dubbing artist trying to achieve the lip sync for that tightly written dramatic dialogue just made the whole thing too artificial. Janardhanan plays the role of the cool uncle. Raghunath Paleri is there as the father with whom Prabhendu has unresolved issues. I think Akhil has tried to convey his love for the movie Aattam by casting its director, Anand Ekarshi, and a couple of other actors from that movie for small parts in Sarvam Maya.
Most of the discussion around Sarvam Maya was about whether it would be the much-anticipated comeback of Nivin Pauly. Well, when you approach the movie strictly from that perspective of wanting to see the Nivin Pauly who made us all laugh out loud with his comical timing, then there is enough there for you to feel happy. However, when you look at the story in totality and evaluate the movie, there are many predictable patches where the screenplay depends on Nivin Pauly’s charm to make the viewer overlook those flaws. There is a version of self-love philosophy that we hear from one character, and there is another dialogue that talks about the importance of peaceful sleep. I think the sporadic addition of these minute yet memorable lines about being content is what helps Akhil Sathyan make his movies, these comfort-watch films.
