Kuttavum Shikshayum

This is an nth style of making by Rajeev Ravi,who doesn't like to repeat what he made previously. And I really liked the entire film for no reason. The characters, realism and slow pace of an investigation in its extreme originlity is very pleasing to watch. But the problem is with the climax. The climax,literaly have collapsed the entire thriller.

This movie was Exceptional right up until the ending. It's an engaging police procedural that takes it time. Just keep in mind that it's based on a true story and the real life counterpart of the lead is one of the writers.

It could have been one of the best movies of the year with a better executed ending. It's a shame.

This film is such a realistic film which shows the police life as it is. The work, the sweat the different types of characters who have to come together and the stress. Running for your life and putting your life in peril all for nothing most of the time. Then the next case begins.

No one knows who is going to get out of this alive you just keep running.

Police life as it is without gimmicks being used to solve cases with no high fi teams, no fancy gadgets, no slow motion walks and no great dialogue just hard work.

Kudos team... none of you may read this but it makes me happy to write this.

Unlike how many reviewers remarked, Kuttavum Shikshayum doesn't have pacing issues. Where it does have problems is in its deadweight mystery. There isn't much going for it in terms of texturing the antagonists (as they're regular village folk), so Rajeev Ravi focuses on the atmospherics of rural Rajasthan to engage the viewer. While Asif Ali's character has some semblance of a redemption arc, the rest of the team (played by Alencier Lopez, Sunny Wayne, Senthil Krishna, and Sharafudheen) has none. The script by Sreejith Divakaran and Sibi Thomas (a cop in real life) focuses almost entirely on the finer details of the procedural. For instance, the film features multiple scenes of the team members taking turns to withhold a suspect in a hotel room.

Your enjoyment levels depend on how you take to realistic procedurals in cinema. There aren't any mass moments, punchlines, or a bombastic score. I liked the film more in the second half when the setting shifts from hilly green Kerala to rustic Rajasthan. Both scenes set in a village are particularly chilling. The unfamiliarity of faces, languages, cultures, and intents is put across in a way that someone like Rajeev Ravi truly excels at. The film has a bit of a weak, forgettable conclusion, as I didn't feel like the writers wanted to offer closure to what I'd watched for over 2 hours. Performances are uniformly good, and I wouldn't mind if Rajeev Ravi brings this team back together for a more compelling case in a sequel.

A very realistic but engaging police procedural movie. The lack of commercial elements and the "Charithram Enniloode" episode where the real-life officer narrating the event being more thrilling made people dislike this, but to me, this was a very well-directed movie that engaged me throughout it. When the investigation moves to North India the pacing does slow down but it clearly reflects what the characters are going through and is perfectly in sync with the flow of the movie.

Narratively there are a few thematic confusion in this that I can't fully wrap my head around. I understand that the outlook is that of a non-judgemental look at the events and people while following the police who are leading the investigation. But the way a lot of the events are weaved into this, especially the last twenty minutes makes it weird. When you spend the whole movie on one side and again including a lot of elements that can be mistaken as police glorification in a realistic way, such a subtle way of showing the reality of the world is not really enough. The main characters knows their world, they know how fragile they are with their body as well as their egos but all of it is subtle details and not pronounced enough. The criminal world of these villagers is ruled by the rich, but after all this effort, that is just thrown into the conversation like nothing. So, the way the film handled its themes is lacking the power it needed to convey it properly. The ending would've worked much better if it communicated those themes better.

Technically also I had issues with some editing choices and dubbing issues were very pronounced throughout the film.

Despite all my issues with the film, I did love the way it showcased the investigation process realistically but still making it engaging and thrilling enough without any commercial elements that are usually seen in such Indian films. The use of music was perfect throughout the movie, without going overboard or underscoring. The acting was solid but felt the difference in scenes with firm direction on it and seeing some usual selves of actors in others.

Overall, loved the way the movie went on and what it set out to do but got a tiny bit disappointed at how it got realized at the end. Still a very good movie.