Thalavan

Retired DYSP Udayabhanu narrates the Cheppanamthotta case for a tv series, after being compelled by the reporter. It was a sensational case as it involved CI Jayashankar as the prime accused in the murder of a woman and his subordinate SI Karthik was made the investigation officer. With all the evidences directly pointing at Jayashankar, it is upto Karthik who actually has a rocky work relationship with Jayashankar to be neutral in order to solve the case. In the meantime, Jayashankar gets out on bail to parallely investigate the case. What do the duo reveal in their follow up, forms rest of the story.

Thalavan is indeed a captivating thriller and the investigative procedural has a neat screenplay. The first half starts with introduction of the two main characters and establishes their conflict. The murder is revealed only after this and the director succeeds in maintaining the suspense with Jayashankar getting arrested. It is pretty much an intense first half without any deviation. The second half is where the drama shifts gear with the conspiracy angle setting in and despite their differences, both Jayashankar and Karthik are made to work together. The reveal however did feel stretched too far but then that comes down to the expectations I had, after the first half. I still find it as a compelling watch due to the performances and the entire investigation segment till the third act.

The narrative is skillfully crafted, particularly in the first half where homicide investigation unfolds, creating several gripping moments.

However, as we transition into final segment, the plot begins to lose clarity and focus. As more details start to emerge and significant revelations surface, the storyline becomes increasingly convoluted.

This convolution is further complicated by the two main protagonists, with whom I found it difficult to connect.

This disconnect stems not only from their actions, but also from the insufficient exploration of their personal backgrounds and mental states!

Well written investigation thriller ; good performances of all the actors , especially Asif Ali is fierce and Biju Menon also gave strong performance!

Script by newcomers Anand Thevarkkat & Sarath Perumbavoor with sharp direction by Jis Joy is the backbone of the movie with splendid BGM work by deepak dev, cinematography is nice and other technical department done a neat work !!!!

Solidly crafted twist and turns and engaging narration from thew start to a very good ending make Thalavan is must watch movie in theatre!

Go for this if you love good crime investigative Movies !!!

My rating 8.8.

A very neat investigation thriller that is able to be well made with nuanced while being pretty commercial. What I loved the most about the movie other than the perfect pacing of this movie is the theme that all policemen start thinking like criminals. That could raise a lot of questions but it is truly a way of thinking that would help understand and help police in general too. The way the film starts with a "Charithram Enniloode" style show and how the main story is started may not seem the best way to start the movie at first, but it works out great later. The way the film was able to move through so many characters while slowly revealing the small connections throughout was really fun to watch. The intensity brought out by the actors helped a lot too, the acting was really great across the board. The way the movie ended would've made me think they were setting up an unnecessary sequel if they hadn't started the movie they did. Because of how it began and was set up before the actual story began, it was convincing to me that there must be something more to the story even though seemingly everything was tied up. The song felt unnecessary and didn't feel like it matched with how the rest of the movie was going because it directly stood with that character at that point instead of being a spectator. There were a couple of scenes where the editing seemed off, maybe they didn't shoot it keeping the 180 rule, I just noticed that the editing seemed jarring for no reason in those scenes. But these small issues didn't really affect my enjoyment of the film. It's the better investigation movie of the year in Malayalam and I'd be interested in the sequel.

Other than the 2 good characters played by Biju Menon and asif Ali , there is nothing good about this movie.

The writing is bad , shows so many complex twists and build ups to a disappointing conclusion. How ever have to say that as if Ali looks so convincing in the role of rebel sub inspector and he is proving to be a good actor

5 of us , belong to 3 generations watched this together in theater and no one was impressed.

Now sure how the promotions was so hyped that the movie is good , recent thrillers in Malayalam like Garudan was so much better.

When it released in OTT, I bet all this perspective that the movie is good will change.