2021, Malayalam, Amazon Prime, 8.8/10 IMDB, Directed by Jeethu Joseph
The resumption sequel is nearly at par with the nine year old flick that caused a stir in the pan Indian film industry, except for the wearisome sequences that lay hold of nearly one-third of the film.
The aesthetics, the characters, the house, the tea shop, the police station, the church, the grown up girls, the cable TV office, the newly built cinema hall that carries Georgekutty’s wife’s name ‘Rani’, a little too fatigued Meena, a tummy tucked Lalettan, new neighbors- The sequel unveils in snail pace for 45 minutes, after the opening credits. It seems a conscious effort to stimulate the viewer’s memory of the 2013 Drishyam. Sadly, we remain visualizing that film rather than being invested in the sequel.
The threads of random scenes of Gerogekutty (Mohanlal) interacting with a couple of unrelated new characters, the forensic security in the car and a bed ridden man in his house, accelerates curiosity. The story discussion of Georgekutty with a renowned director for his new found love of movie making, makes the viewers inquisitive. We end up challenging ourselves to solve the mystery before the director reveals the plot as we are familiar with the pattern by now. The carbon copy template for the sequel is a setback indeed, as the viewers are joining the dots themselves. Another downside of this is that the audience are at some point made to subconsciously judge the lead characters on basis of karma.
When one morally starts questioning on the crime going unpunished, the director himself cautions the viewers that the family is being punished enough, just by plotting to evade the consequences for years. But somehow it doesn’t convince you enough, as it did the first time.
It might be because the agony of the family remains blurred with the normalcy in their life, apart from few gossips in the small town and the elder daughter’s epilepsy. Nevertheless a fantastic screenplay, bounces the sequel to make it yet another noteworthy film from the team.
It’s laudable that the screenplay hurdles the ‘familiar-plot’ quotient and even turns it to its advantage, through a bunch of fresh knots. The knots are both subtly sharp and grippingly engaging, till the curtain falls down.
A good watch.