Jothish Shankar’s ‘Ponman’, an excellent dramedy about dowry with Basil Joseph and Lijomol Jose, is now on JioHotstar

How will a common man take on an established systemic evil like dowry? Without preaching, ‘Ponman’ makes a hell of a case for how a social message can be sneaked into a very entertaining movie. The rest of this review may contain spoilers.

You take a loan. You are unable to repay the loan. The loan shark is after you. This premise can be played in a number of ways: as drama, as a psychological thriller, or perhaps even as a comedy involving chases. Jothish Shankar’s Ponman, set in the Kollam region, is all of the above, plus a commentary on the dowry system. The loan is that of gold. Basil Joseph plays PP Ajesh, a man with a unique plan. He is in the jewellery business. He “lends” gold jewellery to poor families where there is a wedding and a bride to be displayed in all her finery, and in return, he asks to be repaid with the cash gifts received during the wedding. One such transaction sets the plot of Ponman in motion. Ajesh lends gold to Steffi (Lijomol Jose) for her marriage to Mariano (Sajin Gopu).

You can read the rest of the review here:

https://www.galattaplus.com/jothish-shankars-ponman-an-excellent-dramedy-about-dowry-with-basil-joseph-and-lijomol-jose-is-now-on-jiohotstar/

You can watch the trailer / video review here:

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