Kooman

Film Review: Kooman (The Night Rider) Streaming on Prime Video!!

(English subtitles available)

This is a 2022 Malayalam language suspense film directed by Jethu Joseph!!

The story is about a young police officer in a small village in Kerala who suffers from a mental disorder in which he feels a compulsive urge to respond to any dare or humiliation thrown across to him and will go to any length to come up on top. In this foolhardy quest he unwittingly enlists the help of a retired thief and carries out a series of daring thefts in order to discredit his boss !!

The twist in the tale comes when a series of suicides start happening in the village and our protagonist is captured fleeing the scene of the crime !! Are these simple suicide cases or is there something else behind these occurrences! What is our hero's connection to all this ?

All I can say about this film is ' Brilliant Jeethu sir.. absolutely brilliant!! . The twists in the story have been so intricately woven that you can't just help but feel amazed at the director's ingenuity!! The plot moves from a spate of simple robberies, sometimes shown in humorous light in the first half to something totally different & sinister in the second . The investigation and the final reveal are truly mind-blowing !!

Asif Ali as police officer Giri , the protagonist has given a restrained performance. Others like Renji Panikar, Giri's empathetic ex boss and Jaffer Idukki as Giri's mentor who teaches Giri the expert art of robbing houses have both essayed their part very well !!

All in all , a very different investigative suspense thriller!! Highly recommended.. don't miss it !!

Going with 3.5/5 for this one ... Adios 🙂!!

#sanjuzzreviews #kooman #AsifAli #PrimeVideo #JeethuJoseph #JeethuJospehFilm.

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.

A nice one from Jeetu Joseph. First half was a breeze. Asif Ali played to perfection the character of a police officer ably supported by Ranji Panicker,although certain scenes reminds of previous characters played by him. Senior Police officer-Jayaraman was a bit disappointing. Lacked the usual punch expected from a police. Its all about Asif how he potrays different shades of his character. Baburaj has played similiar roles. The second half just pushed the movie to a different direction. Climax could have been shot better. Some of the characters that appear in the tea stall dont add any further value except during the first bit. Jaffer Iduki once again proves his mettle in a short role. What an actor he is.

A decent thriller.

A well made story with a brilliant screenplay by Joseph who doesn't disappoint when it comes to quality cinema.... Asif Ali does have a meaty role and a milestone in his career....being an intellectual cpo shows some matured performance all over the movie but jaffer Idukki is a show stealer though his time space is short he does score even in a voice over scenes...Renji panicker sublte performance may give u an impact in enjoying a perfect cinema...but the movie takes a wrong turn towards the climax which forms a major draw back,doesn't do proper justification in concluding the movie,jeethu should have thought something offbeat or a unfinished climax would have better....but forget last 30mins this movie will give an above average satisfaction coz of poor climax execution.

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!