Movie: Drishyam
Director: Jeethu Joseph
Cast: Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba, Esther, Kalabhavan Shajon, Siddique, Asha Sharath
Rating: ***1/2
Note: Drishyam, the Malayalam film starring Mohanlal and Meena, directed by Jeethu Joseph is being remade into 4 languages-Hindi,Telugu,Tamil and Kannada. While only two of its versions, Telugu and Tamil have its lead actors confirmed as Venkatesh and Kamal Hassan respectively, details regarding the other ones are yet to be official. This is a special review in the sense that it has been written for readers who wish to get a peek-into the story of the original before they get to witness the regional releases.
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
Making a film whose tone takes a dramatic leap from the first half to the post-intermission phase needs to have a director who is in supreme control of his story and can convince a viewer with regard to the sudden shift. Drishyam’s director Jeethu Joseph is undoubtedly one of them while doing little initially to suggest that he is to execute a thriller with not-so dramatic characters by his side. One extreme situation and a smart cover-up episode are aspects he constantly toys with, in his non-linear narrative and he succeeds for the major part, as the tension weaved gets you curious of the actual happenings at the right times.
Adding up to the list of surprises, it actually has only a single character explored to the fullest extent titled Georgekutty (Mohanlal), a class IV dropout and an avid movie watcher who owns a direct-to-home television service. The magic surrounding cinema and storytelling allures him sans any barriers as he rarely visits his home during the nights, an excuse to watch movies in his close-to-desolate office and is visible in a nearby cafe only twice in the day when he sips his cup of tea. In spite of fathering two girls, one being an 18 year old and the other a 10 year old, he comes across as a uncompromising miser who doesn’t find it necessary to please his wife Rani (Meena) whose plea for a 2 time shopping plan annually, he considers as a luxury of sorts.
He is shown to be a man of righteousness when he doesn’t quite encourage his confidantes to bribe cops for a speedy investigation. His film knowledge updates him to an extent of giving others legal advices in an interesting scene when he asks certain helpless victims to file a Habeas Corpus order in the court. This happens at the cost of his uncomfortable equation with Sahadevan, a corrupt cop who later opens up major twists in the story. These little shades make the character-development interesting and sets up another dimension of his to be witnessed in the other half where he out-of-nowhere becomes the look-up-to-man in the family who swears by their beloved regardless of the situation.
An unfortunate murder at his house, but he promises them all that they wouldn’t have to be jailed at any cost. He is no more the strict law-abiding citizen though. That facet of his pales away in front of his family-dignity. We aren’t in a mood to disagree either when he says the lines of right and wrong are diminished if it involves our beloved.
Disposing the victims car in the water, throwing his phone away in a national-permit lorry and dismissing all possible doubts from an investigator’s perspective to avoid any risk by generating proofs for their absence that very day, he does it all with great ‘cinematic’ wile. He prepares himself so well that not even a third degree treatment from the police can unlock that. The actress playing an IPS officer especially does a great job here in addition to one essaying Sahadevan’s character who decode every clue behind the cooked-up story and make the truth-revealing sessions all the more intriguing.
Mohanlal’s gifted screen-presence is an asset for the film, as his composure in a character of variegated shades gives him all the scope to show his class as an underplaying actor. While Meena’s presence is visible throughout the running time, her role is rather underwhelming. Confessed by many as an inspiration from Akira Kurasava’s 1950 release Rashomon, Jeethu Joseph with just about two songs in the entire narrative gives Drishyam the best possible push in an Indian context and manages to end a suspense-saga on a strong note, even though you might feel tempted to watch a film with better production values.
What to expect of regional versions ?
- A pacy, better first half
- Quality visuals, production values
- Improvised conflict point
Review by Srivathsan N, who had originally written it for IANS news wire.
