Kuttavum Shikshayum: "Realistic but with a rather tame culmination !!!"

Last weekend saw the release of quite a few Malayalam flicks among which the one that I was most eager to check out was Rajeev Ravi's "Kuttavum Shikshayum". Well I'm pretty sure that most would have felt along similar lines after all whenever this cinematographer/director par excellence showcased his celluloid creations it was both critically & commercially acclaimed. Incidentally due to the COVID crisis, two of his directorial ventures will be hitting the screens within the span of a week. The trailer & poster conveyed that it is rooted in reality like his previous flicks but does it manage to engage the audience???

CI Sajan Philip (Asif Ali) was entrusted with the task of nabbing the culprits behind a jewellery store heist in Idukki. Soon enough, Sajan & his team zero down on the people behind the crime who happened to be immigrant workers from Rajasthan. They decide to pursue the offenders & bring them before justice which leads them to embark on a journey to a land quite alien to what they have ever come across. With the police force in the region also reluctant to venture into the village where the criminals resides, it turned out to be a task which was much tougher than what they have envisioned. 

Unlike Rajiv's previous ventures, this was scripted by CI Sibi Thomas & Sreejith Divakaran and apparently this was a real crime event that had occurred during the professional career of the former. In terms of the way the story is set up, it reminds one of Vinoth's "Theeran Adhigaaram Ondru" but the similarity ends there. It is a deglamourized & realistic presentation of the procedures that the officers employed and that in itself certainly builds up the anticipation. Unfortunately that is where many (I certainly was) are likely to be disappointed as there is no grand reveal or thrilling culmination. Even the hype regarding the notoriety of the region expressed in dialogues never actually got shown on the screen. On the technical side, it was pretty impressive as Rajiv's style of picturization which was captured in a raw & authentic manner by Suresh Rajan. 

Among the various artists that had lined up, Asif Ali & Alencier were the only ones who were given some sort of a backstory and both of them have done justice to their roles. Asif was spot on as the officer who suffered from post traumatic trauma while the rest of the cast also did their parts aptly be it Sunny Wayne, Sharafudeen, Senthil etc. 

Verdict: With regard to the way that the movie was narrated in a minimalistic manner, it certainly keeps the audience engaged for a significant part. However, the slow pace & a rather cold climax will turn out to be a damp squib for quite a few. It certainly had scope for much more if more attention was paid to the latter half of the movie. Despite that it is still worth a try!!!

Rating: 2.5/5

Regards...Ben