Parthipan’s greatest trick is Oththa Seruppu Size 7

Five minutes into the movie. Inspector’s mobile rings – It is his wife – Masilamani notices that – we can hear the sound of the ceiling fan – Masilamani notices that too – CUT TO the shot of the ceiling fan (Usha) – CUT TO Masilamani, he was calm till now. Now we can see a sadness on his face, followed by a beautiful piece of music track. I am impressed. Started the journey into a world so foreign, yet so familiar and engaging.

Oththa Seruppu Size 7 is a murder mystery written and directed by R. Parthiepan, a filmmaker who always do experiments with screenplay. The only character that comes on screen is Masilamani, played by R. Parthiepan himself. There are few more characters in the story but they don’t come onscreen. We know them through their voices only. Parthiepan shows his high caliber acting ability with no scratch, and the writing is nothing short of excellent. If you saw the movie then you would realise why I say this.

Masilamani moves back to the wall (about to start demonstrating how he killed Vasudevan) – “I decided to kill him for her” – suddenly we hear a voice of a woman crying – there is a window on the left side – the light beam thrown through the window makes the window looks like a character.

I could go on and on about the flawless cinematography (Ramji), and lighting effects, and art. Classy.

My favourite moment is the portion where Masilamani tells about his marriage day.
Masilamani: “If you had informed me, I would have killed them”
Female VO: “I didn’t tell you because I knew you would get mad and do something”
The noise from walkie talkie breaks his memories/demonstration
Masilamani turns to police: “I felt very angry when Usha said that”
Police VO: “Who is this Usha?” – takku’nu – Mangalyam thanthunanena mama jiivana (song bit)

The background music, by C. Sathya, is outstanding. There are moments when the music fits so perfectly with the scene that they meld together as one to present a perfect emotion. The above mentioned portion is also an example for awesome use of sound and music. The score stands out as a fantastic attribute of the experience; not overpowering.

It is like a jigsaw puzzle. We have a lot of pieces. Each piece has a small part of the picture on it. Masilamani starts joining the pieces when he feels to in a way he want to. There are some hilarious moments as well as some emotional and suspense filled ones. This is a beautifully crafted movie on absolutely every level but it’s the use of voice throughout that makes it truly astonishing. Carefully crafted by Parthiepan, Rasool Pookutty and C. Sathya.

Parthipan’s trick

Sidney Lumet’s 12 Angry Men is one movie which comes to my mind. 90% of the film has only 12+1 characters on screen. They discuss about a murder happened. Throughout the film they discuss about four to five people who we don’t see at all, but still we come to know them, and their character. Same way, here, by the end of the movie we know Mahesh, the lady doctor, Usha, and the police officers. Even though there is no face associated with the voices we hear, we know them, and their face expressions through their voice and the reaction of Masilamani. Our mind will create a blurred face, and visuals to all the voices.

I have experienced this. When was that? Yes. Ameer Sultan’s Paruthiveeran climax scene. We don’t see Muththazhagu, but we hear. Then our imagination takes over.

“Oththa Seruppu Size 7” is quite simply a wonderful piece of cinema.