Aarkkariyam

Aarkkariyam (transl. Who Knows) is a Biju Menon show through and through. A shaky, half-baked script with not enough depth is held together and made watchable purely due to his compelling performance as an ageing patriarch.

Sharaf U Deen and Parvathy star as a down-on-their-luck couple who relocate from Mumbai to Kerala due to their financial woes. The trials and tribulations they face as they try to sell off their ancestral property forms the rest of the story.

While the first half is a fun, aesthetically pleasing watch with enough intrigue, the second half reduces to a damp squib due to poor writing, leading up to a mediocre conclusion.

Much like Manju Warrier in the Priest, Parvathy's role is barely noticeable and criminally under-written. More screen time for Biju Menon and a tighter, edgier screenplay could have made this interesting premise into a thrill ride.

Watch it for a top performance from Biju Menon. He plays an aged man with grace and nuance, nailing the mannerisms, body language and even the tonality of a stereotypical 'Pala achayan'.

The movie overall, however, is very average.

It is the solid attention to details and the lack of spoon-feeding that impressed me in Aarkkariyam (Who Knows), a slow-burning drama with a hint of mystery thrown midway. Biju Menon one-ups (as he seems to be doing after every other film) as he shines in a character at least two decades more than his real age, playing a father to a daughter who he loves to the moon and back. Both Sharafudheen and Parvathy play their parts really well, and together the performances enhance the overall appeal, not to mention the vivid shots. 7 stars.

Shirley(Parvathy Thiruvothu) and Roy(Sharafuddin), a married couple, move to her hometown in Kerala ahead of a nationwide lockdown. They face several challenges and try to overcome their personal issues.

The usual style in crime films - add some twists, there should be a villain who makes everything so tense, and finally the hero overcomes it. Or, solve a murder case, find the culprit.

But in this film - there's a cliche break, the conflict is shown in a very subtle way, there's no villain, and everything goes in a very slow pace. When you hear about the pacing being slow, you may consider not to watch the film, if you do that - you're doing a mistake. Because, here the slow-pace won't bring any lag. Not just the slow-pace, nothing tense is shown on the screen, but still you would feel engaged - How?, This film proves that tension, unsolvable-like conflict, fast pacing - all these are not necessary to make a viewer feel engaged. The question "How?" Is still here in the context, it is done by showcasing the mental state and the internal conflict of the character. In such scenes, Usually a loud and high-toned background music will be used, but here the director chose low-toned music which are not loud at all, by doing this the overall slow-pace, natural and realistic mood of the film was protected.

This film will be well-worth of your time, a different but good experience, a crime-drama which will not increase your heartbeat but something which may keep you engaged.

Personal Recommendation.. Go for it.. Detailed genuine drama.

Acting by all the actors is on point

I only wanted to know the backstory of Roy.

The change of languages between Malyalam, Hindi & English was too confusing for me. Although I got the concept behind it that it was set in Mumbai, but Roy's friend who himself was a Malyali was speaking in fluent HIndi.