'Oththa Seruppu Size 7' Film Review: One-man army Parthiban springs a deadly surprise

Oththa Seruppu Size 7 is another experimental film from the director-actor with him as the ‘only on-screen character’, shot in a single room.

It’s his brilliant acting and above all his flawless writing that hooks you on to the screen for a little over 100-minutes. Maasilamani (Parthiban), who works as a security guard at a recreational club is held by cops as a murder suspect. While the cops want him to confess the crime, he takes us through a maze, which has various layers to it. Though we only see Parthiban onscreen, he speaks to several characters, like police officers, his son Mahesh, his wife Usha (even before he reveals that his wife’s name is Usha, the camera zooms into a ceiling fan with the same brand name). The first half of the film is about Parthiban laying a solid foundation for all these characters and him confessing to the crime. The second half is about the actor justifying it with subplots and getting away with it.

Oththa Seruppu Size 7 boasts of a narrative structure similar to that of a novel. He tells us a story like how a director outlines the plot to a performer. His idea is to illustrate characters and then take us into Maasilamani’s world. The sound design by Resul Pookutty and Ramji’s cinematography usher the audiences into this singular universe, which simulates the presence ofseveral characters.

Though it is an experimentation of sorts, the film has commercial elements in place too. You still witness Parthiban channelling the emotions of a murderer, a lover and a corrupt individual and find him falling prey to hiskarma as well.

Oththa Seruppu will stand out as a classic example of Parthiban’s quirky wordplay. Like for instance, the scene where he refers to a state of ‘all out’ which also stands as a colloquial ways of saying “man down.” The non-linear narration shifts between the past and present, but still paints a coherent picture.

The flipside is that at some junctures, Parthiban’s acting goes overboard and looks made up. The plusses of the film overshadow these minor flaws. All said and done Oththa Seruppu Size 7 is a winner and makes for an engrossing watch – if you are looking for something different