Garudan

Garudan is a new movie directed by debutant Arun Varma. Written by Midhun Manuel Thomas of Anjaam Paathira fame with Suresh Gopi and Biju Menon playing the lead characters. Jakes Bejoy scored the music. Simply put, Garudan is a satisfying crime investigative thriller with some twists that I have never seen before.

To delve into the story, a college student is raped on a rainy night in an under construction building. The culprit barely gets a glimpse by a drunk construction worker under the flash of a lightning. However, the police fail to nab the culprit and seven months pass by. Finally, the police get a breakthrough and make an arrest. The court sentences the culprit to life imprisonment. After 7 years, the culprit is released early from jail due to good behavior. In the meantime, the police who handled the case is getting ready for retirement. The culprit files a petition in court to reopen the case to prove his innocence after serving his sentence. Why did he do that? Was he really the culprit? If not, who was? What happens to the police who handles the case and his retirement? Will the system ever find out who the real culprit was? All of these questions will be answered in the remainder of the movie.

Suresh Gopi played the cop who investigates the case and Biju Menon plays a college professor who has a PhD in finance and who gets blamed and goes to jail for rape. They are supported by Siddique, Abhirami and others. This is a Biju Menon show through and through. Suresh Gopi is at his usual best as playing a cop is nothing new to him. But it is Biju Menon who steals the show with his act.

Jakes Bejoy scored the music for this movie and it is apt and feels organic and contributes to the suspense. It is good.

The real star of the movie is Midhun Manuel Thomas. The screenplay keeps you engaged from start to finish. You become part of the narrative and you know you have a winner when this happens. The first half ends on a high and you feel the energy is dipping in the second half. However all of this is justified in act 3 which is about 20 minutes long. The pay off is worth the wait. You will probably guess who the real culprit is but you will convince yourself you are wrong because of the emotional connection to the characters. And yet something happens in the end that you couldn't have guessed.

Very rarely do you feel like rewatching a suspense thriller because you know what the suspense is. This is one of those movies. I will gladly rewatch Garudan.