Purusha Pretham

Krishand, the upcoming promising director once again mesmerized me with his new outcome, Purusha Pretham (Male Ghost). Unlike Vrithaakrithiyilulla Chathuram, Aavasavyooham Krishand changes his path into a neo-noir like crime, drama, or comedy thriller. I love the way of his narrative style and storytelling pattern. The movie talks about the life of a policeman named Sebastian (not only about his own story but also there lies the lives of entire police officers) who is on an investigation or quest to find out the traces and background of an unidentified dead body. Initially, that was not his intention but when the character of Darshana Rajendran comes he was insisted on doing so. The film also projects the inefficiency of the police departments while carrying such kind of issue. Great applause for the wonderful performance from Alexander Prasanth who did the role of Sebastian. Along with him, I love the acting of Jagadeesh who is well fitted in the character of a civil police officer, Dileep. Not only these two guys all the other characters justified their roles pretty well. When it comes to the technical side of the movie I feel strange about the disparate framing of the shots. The character is placed at one corner of the frame and other areas are completely vacant. I feel awful at the initial moment but when the movie goes nothing bothered me at all. The background score comes at regular intervals and feels some kind of rap mode in me. Comic scenes are not used intentionally but the humor revolving around those characters makes me laugh at some points. I like the film because of the disparate way of portrayal. A good, experimental one and surely a study material for the novices who are about to come to the industry.

Director Krishand outdoes himself once again in his third outing which centres around a loophole within the justice system. Purusha Pretham is such an outstanding package of a film - it has incredible performances, unique shots and camera angles, a fantastic score (by Ajmal Hasbullah), humour that arises organically within the screenplay, and even elements of a procedural thriller. In a style that worked wonders in Aavasavyuham, Krishand his writer Ajith Haridas put together a biting satire on the police and judicial systems, delivering comedy, thrills, and drama in equal measure. Purusha Pretham marks Krishand's direct entry into the commercial side of cinema, and without a doubt, this would have absolutely worked in theatres, probably emerging a sleeper hit.

I can't help but the laud the ENTIRE CAST - special mentions to Prashant Alexander, Jagadeesh, Jeo Baby, Darshana, and Devaki - for delivering brilliant performances. Those quick cuts (of hospital reports & bills, FIR copies, engagement invites, and newspaper clippings) were a nice touch, adding important details in such a diminutive way. The green and red colours (as seen on the poster) are prominent especially in the night shots, giving the film a neo-noir treatment. There's also the unconventional placement of characters on either edges of the frame. The attempt to create a distinct audio-visual palette is quite evident and the hip-hop & synth-infused music, I thought, was a terrific decision. I look forward to the day Krishand decides to collaborate with one of the Big Ms.

Krishand's working style is difficult to attribute to just one particular genre. I am hyped for his works and he is one of my favourite working Malayalam filmmakers alongside Prathap Joseph, Rahman Brothers, Sanju Surendran, Rohit M. G. Krishnan, Sajin Babu, Abhinav Sunder Nayak, Lijo Jose Pellissery, Rajeev Ravi, Amal Noushad, Krishnendu Kalesh and Sruthil Mathew. Maybe few early works of Don Palathara but not his banal 2021 outing Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam and i still dislike Sanal's S Durga which one of the worst Malayalam films ever made with the recent addition 'No Mans Land' by Jishnu Harindra Varma.

Coming back to Krishand, i really loved his previous film "The Arbit Documentation of An Amphibian Hunt: Aavasavyuham" a mind-bending spectacle about a frogman with socio-political background. His latest 'The Male Ghost' also follows the same pattern and doesn't fit in a single genre. I suggest not be fooled by the title of this film. Because both the trailer and the name of the film itself are very deceiving. I expected to see something like a murder mystery, a bit of home invasion and psychological horror. What a stunt! It was a good tease and the film was much more than i assumed. This film is like a cocktail of genres bordering sometimes as a musical.

The movie begins with a quote "The dead teach the living," - Lars Kepler. In the local bar, it starts with a sequence leading to the intro of Super cop Sebastian (Prasanth Alexander), known for his, let's say, narcissist views, a bully to his juniors. He is also a good storyteller and as the movie unfolds, we get a glimpse of his life, a failure and that's all about him when the film highlights his relationship with his mother. A bully with behavioural issues and there is such an abyss of charm that his insecurity seems to be just an accident with some cinematic liberty and situational humours.

As we get know by his colleague that Sebastian gets only Movie-like unusual cases, enter an unidentified corpse which leads to a series of trouble in which Sebastian and other characters are tied by chance. He gets involved in all the bustle and chase with his department and the government. There is an affair angle which rings a bell in the end, literally a ring and also the racist brawl with a Tamilian bartender. As the plot progresses, the director through Sebastian reveals other characters and touches upon casteism, social commentary without going too much in details. I liked most of the characters in the film, special mention to the mother, maid, the old man who is in charge of burial, junior cop who is always bullied by Sebastian and the Senior police who also plays an actor and ends up losing his beard. The last stop for Sebastian is to investigate Susan (Darshana Rajendran) and the build up to the climax is engaging as circumstances are popping up. And all this is framed by some kickass neo-noir drenched black humour, the gags are organic in here.

Final note, the plot is engaging with a wacky style to it, which is both very unique and subtle in its texture. And also, we have a missing/washed up corpse but it plays a frankly secondary role and stands out in post-credit scene to voice out an important message.

Malayalam cinema is reaching new heights with its recent releases, such as Romancham and Purusha Pretham. It's becoming increasingly clear that a movie's success depends on a combination of strong performances, a compelling script, and exceptional background scores, rather than just relying on the presence of a superstar.

One of the most underrated actors in Malayalam cinema is Prasanth Alexander, who has been a familiar face to Malayalees for some time but has not been given the chance to play lead roles until now. His performance in this movie is truly sensational, and credit goes to the director for choosing him to play the lead character.

It's also worth mentioning the exceptional background score of the film, which leaves the viewer speechless.

All in all, this movie stands out as one of the best releases in Malayalam cinema this year.

Found it to be very hilarious. The black humour in it really worked out for me. I was LOLing in many scenes and dialogues. All the performances were good especially the guy who played the lead police character, the leading lady and the other policeman. The frames and all were very unique kind. Also the background music and songs of the movie. It elevated the film to next level. There is everything in the film. Comedy, twists, romance, songs. It is a complete entertainer to watch together with your friends. There is lot of laugh if you connect with the type of humour in the movie. Must watch definitely.