Officer on duty - movie review

Malayalam movie world has always been blessed with great looking actresses. But in recent years, they've churned out several good actors who are not just stars but fantastic performers as well. In the past decade or two, their lineup has been one of the best in the country which no other "wood" can boast off, right from Nivin Pauly to Fahadh, Dulqur, Kunchako, Tovino and in the recent years the list has only grown with the former lot holding steady. Basil thomas, Vineeth  srini are my latest favorite and looks like the general audience loves their movies as well. The more recent addition being that Gafoor boy who starred in Premalu and I am Kathalan. They seem to have the right set of actors for every age category with Mammooty and Mohan lal still going strong alongside Prithiviraj and co. And their way of storytelling has started to change as well, adapting to mainstream trends of other states. They were already master story tellers and melody still rules their songs, with stunts being their major area of weakness. With OTT, there is an explosion of thriller genre movies and Malluwood has taken the march in this genre to say the least, over their counterparts. If Drishyam set the scope of perspective different, the Covid and post covid releases have firmly set the path for thriller genre as the domain of Malayalam cinema. 

This movie, in particular, i felt worthed a mention for it showed how much their way of storytelling has changed and how they've evolved to cater to pan-India mode. With all due respect, Hari (Saami, Singam series director) would've been proud of the screen play. The pace that is set from the first scene, almost goes at an Un wavered speed. The ending could've been much better with the climax fight dragging on for almost 20 minutes. That apart, the story goes at breakneck speed. Infact the second half has a "Vantage point" kind of situation where the same bus journey is narrated from different passengers' perspective, leading to the climax. It was an interesting take to reveal the motive behind those killings and on why the villain gang where on their spree. The first half has very strong melodramatic content that balances the thrill elements. What starts as an otherwise simple looking case of chain snatching in a bus, snowballs into a serial murder investigation, involving several suicides that turn out to be murders. The personal tragedy of the inspector fits in well with the set up adding to interesting angles towards the second half as to where it all started. Kunchako boban gives tough competition to any and many famous actors who've donned the khakhi costume in several famous blockbusters. Priyamani is in a role that seems to be place her all throughout the movie and has her moments. The villain gang seems to be an improvisation on "Vettaiyaadu vilayadu" . Overall a very fast and quick movie and good entertainment for thriller movie fans. The ease with which they show drugs being used and distributed makes one really scared of the society we are living in and possibly heading towards. Abusing the internet and taking advantage of girls has been depicted as a common place occurrence in many movies. Every single day we witness news of physical abuse irrespective of the age and there seems to be a sudden spurt (either in reporting such news, which makes it all the more scarier for it has been the case much longer or such incidents have been on the rise in recent past, which question where we are going wrong as a society) of such incidents. Begs a repeat of the age old question -  are movies mirroring the society or is it other way round!!