Kooman

Jeethu Joseph has reveled in taking existing thriller archetypes and dismantling them with his scripts that often turn the narrative on its head with completely unexpected twists and thrills. Despite some missteps in his filmography like "Oozham (2016)" and "The Body (2019)", the veteran master of murder mysteries returns to full form in "Kooman", effectively using an excellent Asif Ali to narrate an immersive tale of a deeply damaged investigator hot on the heels of an elusive, psychotic serial killer.

Asif Ali disappears into the character of "Giri", a scheming, near-megalomaniacal police constable, who while excelling in his deductive and investigative skills, often displays psychotic tendencies and a desire to get back at people who he perceives as having wronged him. His mentor, retired CI Somasekharan (an on-point Renji Panicker) tries his darndest to keep him in check and diverts his energies to the search for a ritualistic serial killer who has eluded authorities for decades.

While the first half of the film painstakingly builds up the multifaceted character of "Giri", Jeethu Joseph pulls off a masterful set of twists in the second half that turns the narrative flow on its head, making the audience root for the grey-shaded protagonist. Jaffer Idukki excels in yet another well-written supporting role, while Hannah Reji Koshy, Baburaj and the ever-dependable Pauly Valsan turn in noteworthy performances.

But it is the writing from K. R Krishna Kumar and the mold-breaking directorial prowess of Jeethu Joseph that is the true hero here, utilizing the diminutive Asif Ali to glorious effect, riding on their depiction of the unassuming but observant and intelligent investigator rather than the alpha male, all-conquering superhero detective that mainstream cinema has driven down out throats for far too long. Trust Jeethu Joseph to innovate yet again in a genre that has craved ingenuity for ages now. "Kooman" is a refreshing thriller and a must-watch theatre experience. Highly recommended!

Kooman is a testament to Jeethu Joseph's skill in crafting seat-edge thrillers. It also extracts an insanely good performance from Asif Ali - playing a fairly intelligent cop named Giri, who also decides to embark on a series of burglaries as a means to get back at his superior officer. The first half shows his ruthlessness at exacting revenge on people who shame or ridicule him at the slightest, and Asif's subtle expression changes during these stretches are fantastic to watch. The screenplay (by KR Krishna Kumar) is also good at tapping into the vulnerable side of a steadfast policeman, and we as viewers are driven to get behind his criminal choices.

In Kooman, we actually get two films instead of one - it's a tale of two halves. While the first focuses on his nightly shenanigans which itself keeps you interested, it further dives into a series of murders happening in the area, and Giri finds himself tied to one of them in unexpected ways. Giri's obsession with robbing people just for kicks is what gets him embroiled in this issue. The film then moves ahead from its initial central conflict and starts to revolve around Giri's unofficial investigation on finding the murderer. If not for the recent events that unfolded in Kerala, the climax would have come across as rather absurd and unbelievable in this day and age. But kudos to the writer and director in their ability to prophesize a ghastly incident, and for executing it in a sufficiently thrilling way.

The villain reveal (and the extended climax) do not fetch any points, mostly since it became rather obvious in the scenes preceding it. The action set-piece is also pretty tame, and the mere mention of a character's queerness (as an excuse for villainy) takes away ½ a star. All said and done, I'll recommend the appropriately-titled Kooman to those who relish thrillers. Special mention to Jaffer Idukki for his wicked performance as a semi-retired thief, especially in that scene where he elucidates the "high" he gets from thieving. Vishnu Shyam's score is also top-notch. Give Asif Ali more such roles, please!

Thoroughly enjoyed another well written, well acted suspense thriller from Jeethu Joseph. Everyone acted so well and it the background score was apt for the mood of the film. Asif Ali nailed the psychological mood of the character and saw some old Mohanlal element in it. The story is different until the interval and completely changed the direction of the movie after that, with the first half is still looming in to the second.

This is a totally different kind of Whodunit suspense thriller which has never been done before. The twist ends 15 minutes before the film but still kept few suspense to the end.

7.5/10 from me.

Movie starts off well with excellent acting by Asif and others.. however, the second half of the movie is a bit of a let down and feels rushed and written quite poorly.

The background score and cinematography is top notch as usual for Malyalam movies. It captures the mood quite well, something similar to Drishyam. I love how they captured the small town Kerala feel.

The first half of the movie is really quite well made, but the second half it felt like the writer was just trying to finish the script. I would've gone for a higher rating of they had just stuck to the story of the first half instead of making it a mystery thriller.

I would argue Kooman and Memories are the best-directed works by Jeethu Joseph regardless of what someone's personal opinion is about his best film. The protagonist is almost an anti-hero, a regular police constable with a criminal mind. But at the same time, that greyness of the character is treated almost like how Krishna's despicable acts are glossed over as his naughtiness in retellings of Hindu mythology so that even though it's shown like that, there's still space for the audience to perceive the truth of it. Asif Ali fits into this role perfectly and this finally looks like the film that will be successful at the box office which he's in desperate need of right now.

The release of this movie is timed perfectly. The audience can easily relate to the twists in the second half because of recent news and the impact of it, that otherwise would have been considered a little bit far-fetched.