Anweshippin Kandethum follows the story of a suspended cop who gets a new lease of life wherein he is asked to investigate the murder of a young woman much against the resistance of the entire village. Will he be able to solve the crime? The story here may not be novel but one novelty is in the writing that presents dual cases here which are only connected through the lead protagonist investigating the same. I remember observing this time of narrative in the Malayalam film Operation Java that had a string of cases undergoing investigation with the leads at the center of it. This can get tricky and almost seem like an episode of CID if the right amount of detailing is not added to the drama. Thankfully, both these cases an extremely absorbing and manage to keep you on tenterhooks while viewing them through the gaze of the protagonist, all of it packaged in a screenplay standing at a shade above 140 minutes. 

The drama here opens with the introduction of the protagonist, a suspended ex-cop who happens to visit the police station while his peers(some of them) give him a warm welcome. The pain in his eyes is cut to an earlier timeline featuring him in all flesh and blood as a cop who finds himself investigating the disappearance of a young woman(case number one). The good thing that the writers do is that you as a viewer has the same amount of knowledge as the protagonist does, which basically means shooting in the dark with respect to all characters around. There are subtle twists and turns here which also introducing religious undercurrents in the narrative that proves to be a major deterrent for the protagonist amidst the politics that he finds himself in with respect to his superiors too. 

The proceedings are engaging are absorbing particularly when the first case comes to a closure, a part of it which felt a little too convenient with respect to its resolution. Yet, the real action transpires post that, something that leads the events to the point of the protagonist being suspended from duty. This until life offers him a second chance following the investigation of the murder of another young woman(case number two) that he utilizes it as a case of redemption. The events get murky even as the setting of the village turns hostile, and with multiple threads doing the rounds, the resolution also seems like a distant reality. 

The minor issue that I felt with this style of narrative was that you couldn’t quite get deep into either of the two cases due to a time constraint but credit to the writers for packing both cases with a lot of details that are spilt through the conversations. You need to be attentive to completely grasp the details of the case even though the narrative will give you a good context on the overall scheme of things leading to the resolution. I must say that both cases were slightly on the similar lines with a little tweak in the resolution but what stood out for me was the issues that both cases were tackling, one a religious outburst and the other caste based issues that hold relevance even today. The screenplay is quite engaging and manages to shine at various junctures.