Pavi Caretaker

Pavi Caretaker is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language comedy drama film directed by Vineeth Kumar and written by Rajesh Raghavan.^[2] It was produced by Dileep through Grand Production and stars himself in the title role.^[3] It also features Vineeth, Johny Antony, Radhika Sarathkumar, and Dharmajan Bolgatty.^[4]

It was released in theatres on 26 April 2024, and received mixed reviews from critics. It has been mostly panned by critics; several reviewers have compared Pavi Caretaker to 90s films and criticized its comedy scenes, which they felt were outdated.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]}

Plot

Pavi is an unmarried caretaker in a residential apartment in Kerala. His life changes when he forms an unexpected bond, adding joy to his routine existence in a residential complex amidst life's challenges.

Pavi spends most of his time in the building, often working double shifts including nighttime security duty to improve his financial situation.The irritating behaviours common among many middle-aged men have surfaced in him too and he’s extremely nosy and believes the world revolves around him and the building. A short-tempered loner, Pavi finds solace in his pet dog, Bro, and his rented house where he sleeps during the daytime. Meanwhile, the house’s owner, ex-cop Mariyamma (Radhika Sarathkumar), decides to rent out a portion of the top floor, where Pavi resides, despite his initial objections.Pavi, who has never met this person due to his night shift work, learns from Mariyamma that the tenant is a woman. He slowly begins communicating with her through notes left on their shared table, eventually developing feelings for her. However, a miscommunication leads to the woman moving out abruptly, leaving Pavi heartbroken and affecting his work performance, previously done flawlessly. Whether they will ever meet again forms the remaining part of the movie.

Cast

• Dileep as Pavithran / Pavi, a janitor of an apartment
• Vineeth Kumar as Abhi
• Johny Antony as Maathan
• Radhika Sarathkumar as Mariyamma
• Dharmajan Bolgatty as Ratheesh
• Swathi Konde as Leena
• Rosmi as Jeena
• Shreya Rukmini as Janaki
• Joohi Jayakumar as Malini
• Dilina as Sruthi
• Spadikam George as Purushan
• Jinu Ben as Jerry
• Deepu G. Panicker as Pramosh

Release

Theatrical

Pavi Caretaker was released in theatres on 26 April 2024.^[15]

Marketing

Prior to release, Dileep promoted the film on the Mohanlal hosting TV show Bigg Boss (season 6). He entered the Bigg Boss House on Day 47, met the contestants and shared the details about the film in a similar apperance of a press meet.^[16]

Reception

Critical reception

The film generally received mixed reviews from critics and audience.

Anna Mathews of The Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and called it "A typical Dileep comedy".^[17]

Times Now Entertainment Desk called the film "A Hardcore Dileep Showcase That Entertains" and rated it 3.5 out of 5.^[18]

Aswin Bharadwaj of Lensmen Reviews wrote "The core theme gets brutally abused by caricaturish eccentric style humor, and what you get is an outdated and clueless film that just struggles to find genuine humor" and gave a "Not Recommended" Verdict.^[5]

Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "It's time for Dileep to think up stories that can put him in the league of his contemporaries who are pushing the boundaries".^[9]

Anandu Suresh of Indian Express rated the film 2 out of 5 and wrote "Vineeth Kumar's Dileep-starrer proves that both the actor and filmmakers should cease attempting to resurrect the "vintage Dileep" and instead focus on creating something fresh."^[8]

Vivek Santhosh of Cinema Express rated the film 1.5 out of 5 and wrote "For someone who previously directed Dear Friend, one of the best films of 2022, Pavi Caretaker is a serious downgrade for Vineeth Kumar as a filmmaker".^[10]

Gayathri Krishna of OTTplay gave a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote"Director Vineeth Kumar's attempt to bring back the beloved old-school Dileep has, for the most part, fallen flat due to a bland and prolonged narrative."^[13]

K. R. Rejeesh of Nowrunning wrote "Dileep appears relatively in a flexible mode in this mediocre romantic drama that generates feel-good vibes through a quasi-interesting love affair" and gave the film a 2/5 rating.^[11]

Box office

Despite the film having very low shows on its opening day due to the Lok Sabha election, the film managed to collect 1.12 crores from Kerala, thus getting a decent start.^[19][20][21]

References

External links

• Pavi Caretaker at IMDb

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