Adi (Anoop Menon) is really cool about Sidharthan's (Mohanlal) lustful relationships with several women. Sidhan, as he was known to his friends, lived in a world created by himself and no one dictated terms to him. But what surprised Adi was the knowledge that his father could have been pushed to death by someone else. He finally succeeds in finding who did it, but that was a truly shocking revelation for him.

Pakal Nakshatrangal is an engaging tale for sure, but falls short of becoming a brilliant effort. It has been packaged in a conventional format, without taking pains to give a feeling of freshness to its narration. The initial sequences give an “off beat” colour but the efforts to solve the mystery behind the murder gives some pace to the proceedings as well.

But the major letdown could be the film's climax, where Adi has to explain who did it to his fiancée, when it was understood by a sensible viewer several scenes back. Such moments take the viewers away from being engrossed to the film to a certain extent.

Talking about performances, with his amazing screen presence, acting style and mannerisms, Mohanlal just steals the thunder. His character stays in the minds of the viewers all along and that could have been done deliberately as well. His character has been well written and Mohanlal gives an extra energy to Sidharthan, by which even the viewer tries to find justifications for his unconventional thoughts and the wayward lifestyle.

Anoop Menon looks convincing as Adi, who narrates the story to his fiancée, Padma (Lakshmi Gopalaswamy). Suresh Gopi is Vaidyanathan, a scientist who can talk to ghosts but has nothing much to do perhaps just like the rest of the cast in the film who are mainly there to help in developing the main character. Ramachandra Babu's visuals are good and the music is perhaps aimed at giving a serious tone to the film.

Th film oozes sincerity and is certainly a genuine attempt as well. Perhaps it should be appreciated especially since it came out during these times when only meaningless entertainers seem to fetch takers at the cash counters.

Verdict: Above Average