POPCORN REVIEWSS

Written by Jishnu Sreekumar and Jithin K Jose, Kalamkaval course corrects every bit of criticism that I had for Bhagwat: Chapter One, something that starts from its cold open. In the latter, the sequence involved the disappearing one a girl – a parallel in Karamkaval that felt like a fleeting incident in the overall scheme of things. Instead, you see a psychological cat and mouse game being initiated with the viewers when they are first introduced to a ‘nameless’ man (Mammootty), harmlessly watching TV with his wife and children. A phone-call later, the setting changes and as does his company, even as it is implied that the man has been having an affair with a woman on the side. The stakes are raised even further when the man randomly starts talking about the satisfaction he gets while killing his ‘preys’ – comparing himself to a python waiting for a rat to enter his mouth, or even the human tendency to kill mosquitos. And before you realise it, his next prey is the woman sitting on the bed – in what has got to be one of the most chilling sequences on celluloid in recent times.

The proceedings play out in two tracks – one of the serial killer whose modus operandi you notice through an intercut sequences involving multiple women. And the other remains a lesser known police procedural featuring top-cop Jayakrishnan (Vinayakan) whose initial case of missing girls spirals into a larger conspiracy. In the same breath, the template that the drama wishes to be is of a classic cat and mouse chase between two intelligent individuals. For Stanley (as we are told about his name later on), it remains a classic case of switching identities quicker than clothes, just as he paves his way towards his new victim. Notice the sinister smile on his face during a particular sequence wherein he discovers a new medium to bump off his preys. For Jayakrishnan, the chase becomes that much more complicated given how the already ‘faceless’ perpetrator is a shape-shifter of sorts.

One of the biggest victories from the writing perspective remains the charscterization – an imminent flaw that I had noticed in Bhagwat: Chapter One. Jayakrishnan isn’t one of those cops who is marred by a past trauma, a trope that has been bastardized on celluloid lately. In fact, it is refreshing to note on how the character is without a baggage – a no-nonsense cop who is committed to getting to the bottom of the crime featuring deceased women that have outnumbered the ones alive in a village. On the other hand, Stanley also comes without a baggage. There isn’t a cutaway flashback about how he may have been abused as a child, just so that it justifies him being a serial killer. In fact in a little montage, the camera deftly pans over a few photographs in his room that chillingly gives a glimpse of his childhood. Stanley is a man without any remorse, Jayakrishnan is a man with a high moral value – in that sense, both characters are refreshingly binary with their traits, with no real inclination in glorifying the criminal (with slow-mos being played with an enticing BGM). This, despite my little criticism with Stanley’s equation with his wife and children that isn’t explored enough.

The writing here beautifully employs some metaphors along the way, even while doubling up as a fascinating character study. When the focus remains on Stanley, you see him being at his charming best with women who are single, half his age or even depressed in life. The subtext justifies a clear motivation in play even more so, when you see Stanley sketching his preys. The ones with the red ink account for the deceased ones, and the ones in blue account for the ones that got away. And you can sense that he doesn’t attain satisfaction while killing men, given the dull monochrome ink he sketches them in. Likewise, there are metaphors in play for Jayakrishnan too – he often equates himself to the owl that swoops up the rats from the ground, or alternately terming himself as a reluctant rat-killer, laying traps for the rats and invariably having to kill them in order to avoid further damage.

The writing often veils you into believing that the beats of the drama are predictable. This works in the film favour given a resounding interval block that I didn’t see coming, even as I was witness to a collective gasp in my auditorium. There are moments like these that take you by surprise while further adding stakes to the drama, something that the drama does wonderfully well in the second hour too. It is always interesting when one character remains ahead of the chase while being pitted against another character who is oblivious of his identity. The journey is filled with twists and turns that will keep you engaged even as the makers maintain a firm grip on the proceedings without deviating from the fact that this is a police procedural at the end of the day. This also accounts for a riveting final act that remains edge-of-the-seat stuff while doubling up as a poetic mode of justice in many ways (given how a random character makes the final ‘killer’ move). The screenplay is an absolute winner here given how the same story is presented with such raw flair that did leave me awed and how!