Nizhal

RATED 7/10 Language: Malayalam Source: Amazon Prime

One time watchable thriller...The first half of the movie was good and the thrill factor is totally lost when the reveal the reason... its so silly and total movie looks so lazy after that....

Despite a smooth, flowing and aesthetically pleasing narrative style from debutant director Appu N Bhattathiri and an earnest lead performance from Kunchacko Boban, a simplistic, unsatisfactory climax reduces Nizhal to a below-average watch.

Kunchacko Boban stars as a judge who takes interest in a strange case while recovering from a bout of PTSD following an accident. Nayanthara's character comes into his life as a stereotypical single mom who in desperate need of a saviour for her troubled son,

In a criminally underwritten role, an actor of Nayanthara's stature is reduced to a one-dimensional caricature and it makes you wonder why she even opted for this movie.

What promises to be a psychological thriller loses itself slowly as it delves into the supernatural, due to half-baked and unconvincing writing.

While there have been many success stories of murder investigations clubbed with elements of the supernatural (Pretham, Ezra etc), this isn't one.

In the new Golden age of Malayalam thrillers of the likes of Anjaam Paathiraa, Operation Java and Drishyam 2, this is just a pale, uninspiring attempt.

Not recommended.

A weak attempt at creating a psychological thriller, Nizhal feels drab from its very first shot - doused in bizarre-looking CGI. The core plot does intrigue, but there's an entire act dedicated to the protagonist's PTSD which gets conveniently ignored and has zero payoffs in the end. What was even the point? The mask, the rains, the atrociously loud background score - all of it feels gimmicky as hell. Nayanthara is criminally underutilized here - there's nothing in Nizhal that truly challenges the actor in return for a nice, fat paycheck. The script contains psychological thriller elements but the way they're visualized on-screen is lacklustre. I'm disappointed by Appu N Bhattathiri's directorial debut - this is clearly no edge-of-the-seat thriller.

First of all, the story line is very much different from what we have seen all these days in such kinda movies.

When it comes to execution, the technical department has done exceptionally well and the suspense is maintained till the very end.

Climax is a bit disappointing.

Give it a watch for the cinematography, BGM and the story line. And of course for the performances of lead cast and the kid needs a special mention.

How does a 7 year old, innocent schoolchild know the specifics of crimes which transpired 25 years ago? Has someone been feeding him these stories? Does his dead father communicate with him? Why does a man wearing a 'batman' like mask befriend the boy? Malayalam movie #Nizhal is supposed to be a whodunit, but the slow pace is a downer. Running time should be reduced by 20 minutes. Cinematography n performances r good. Rating 2.5/5.