I Am Kathalan

In an era where Malayalam cinema has been consistently pushing boundaries, "I am Kathalan" emerges as a refreshing addition to the genre of techno-thrillers. This film, directed by the talented Girish A. D., offers a unique blend of suspense, romance, and a deep dive into the world of cybercrime. Naslen, the lead actor, delivers a stellar performance as Vishnu, an ordinary young man who finds himself embroiled in an extraordinary situation. Vishnu, a tech-savvy individual with a heart of gold, is portrayed with such authenticity that it's easy to empathize with his struggles and triumphs. His journey from an underachieving college student to a skilled hacker is both inspiring and thrilling.

I Am Kathalan (I Am Lover) is a cool film to spend an afternoon on. Naslen assumes the titular role as he gets on with his cyber shenanigans to get back at a person who wronged him. This is a typical anti-hero film where you'll naturally root for the guy but it's the small pockets of humour and believable tech happenings that elevate the film into an enjoyable watch. Naslen is in his calm demeanour here (as last seen in Premalu) but I also like the other actors who put up a good show. Dileesh Pothan is as good as he gets but I'm starting to feel Anishma Anilkumar plays the same role in every film.

When talking about authentic hacking in films, something like Mr. Robot or Blackhat might come up but even those are of a big scale with so much at stake where just the methodologies or tools are authentic and then it goes into the realm of cinematic liberties for the time and impact of it. But here, from the scale to the impact everything stays grounded along with stuff that has to do physically for the hacking to happen. Even though I haven't done things like that, I have used Kali Linux and done some mock workshops to identify almost everything that Vishnu does in this film, so that was really refreshing to watch.

Even though not as good as Girish AD's previous films, this also works greatly due to the small moments that add a lot to the film's soul. The main problem with this film is that it never really becomes a full-on thriller even when the story demands it to be. It's mostly a coming-of-age drama with some revenge angle that centers around hacking. Since this was shot before Premalu, some things that were more refined or effectively used in that film are not as good here. The subtle development and impact of minor characters with respect to the main characters without affecting the main story was done almost perfectly in Premalu but here, it needed a bit more work. The ending was a bit too early for the story since there were definitely possibilities left which usually would have had space for a climatic act. There were a few things that could've been done that would've made this more impactful overall.

But despite all that, this still has the relatability factor I found in Premalu, even if it is in smaller doses. There were a lot of places where I found myself relating hard with Vishnu, which also made me think about how different Girish's characters are from me, and yet they are still some of the most relatable characters I've seen in movies. He really showed me how much of the relatable heroes of the past were more like the perceived and normalized version of such characters in Malayalam cinema rather than actually feeling it.

I am Kathalan

A small fun to watch entertainer set on the backdrop of a potential hacking threat to a corporate entity.

The plot of the story revolves around a young hapless guy who sets out to take a small revenge over a personal ego hurt he underwent.

Good story narration by Girish through Sajin's debut writing and has provided the casts with platform for performing through their vivid mannerisms and light humour moments.

Naslen has effortlessly performed the character role portraying the frustration and emotions of a failed job aspirant. Impressive performances by Dileesh Pothen,Lijomol,Anishma & Vineeth Vasudevan. Vineeth Vishwam,ZhinzShan,Kiran Josey & Arshad Ali made notable performances.

Kudos to Akash Joseph Varghese for giving a crisp and short fun to watch entertainer.

A decent attempt by Girish & team that gives a laid back experience to the viewers.

Rating - 3.25/5.

Nasleen gave a wonderful performance as the workshop boy next door, and also portrayed the break up pain very convincingly.

On the other hand, Dileesh Pothan gave a very convincing performance as the local entrepreneur. The girl also gave a convincing performance as the young and confused student just getting into career and life.

A reasonable script - brings out convincingly the technical aspects with easy enough terminology. The portion where the dad says do whatever you want with this but do only good was the scene of the movie for me.

Tech is usually seen in the backdrop of heavy million dollar heist movies. This was a refreshing change in how it can play into a script as grass roots as this.

Takes the pomp out of tech. Nice watch. A Nasleen movie.