A power-packed performance by Mohanlal, who simply chewed-up the screen space, and some good music, are the highlights of this rather subdued film.

After watching the film, it is only Mohanlal’s face as the 80 year old man that will linger in our minds, and not the predicament of scores of Muslims who are labeled as Pakistani spies and deported from their own land. Mohanlal plays three different life stages, one as the young Moosa, then as the 60 year old man, but mostly as the very old Velyakathu Moosa, around whom the story develops and ends.

Paradesi is the story about the state of many Muslims, who before independence, were working in places which became Pakistan after partition, thus gets stranded in the ‘foreign’ land. When they took a Pakistani passport, they didn’t know that they will be branded as ‘paradesi’s’ for the rest of their lives.

Velyakathu Moosa (Mohanlal) is one such ‘paradesi’ who was allowed to live in India on a one-to-one year visa, during which he has to report in the police station every month. His wife Ameena (Shwetha Menon) is the only one backing him, as his sons hated him because everywhere they are labeled as sons of a Pakistani spy.

Moosa had to give bribes to police to leave him in peace and also had to pay hefty sum to the lawyer. He still he helps out those like him. Those unfortunates who get deported to Pakistan gets worse treatment there, the Pakistani police mark them as Indian spies and beat them up.

Usha (Padmapriya), a free lance journalist, decides to write a story about the plight of these unfortunates. She, with the help of Moosa gathers information about many who were, or are in the verge of getting thrown out of their own homeland. He tells her how Khadeeja (Lakshmi Gopalasamy), his relative and whom he really cared for, got deported to Pakistan, where she committed suicide. The police bugged by Usha’s investigation and the support that Moosa gave her, was looking for a chance to get back on Moosa. The opportunity did come…

P.T Kunhi Mohammed, who decided to make the film minus much emotional upheaval, unfortunately didn’t succeed in connecting with the audience, except perhaps towards the climax.

Apart from Mohanlal and Jagathy, others like Siddique and Shwetha Menon, who played the old characters, were littile patchy and went little overboard with their acting. Makeup man Pattanam Rasheed has done a great job, he along with Mohanlal, is sure to bag some awards. Music of the film was mesmerizing