Kooman

Jeethu Joseph has reveled in taking existing thriller archetypes and dismantling them with his scripts that often turn the narrative on its head with completely unexpected twists and thrills. Despite some missteps in his filmography like "Oozham (2016)" and "The Body (2019)", the veteran master of murder mysteries returns to full form in "Kooman", effectively using an excellent Asif Ali to narrate an immersive tale of a deeply damaged investigator hot on the heels of an elusive, psychotic serial killer.

Asif Ali disappears into the character of "Giri", a scheming, near-megalomaniacal police constable, who while excelling in his deductive and investigative skills, often displays psychotic tendencies and a desire to get back at people who he perceives as having wronged him. His mentor, retired CI Somasekharan (an on-point Renji Panicker) tries his darndest to keep him in check and diverts his energies to the search for a ritualistic serial killer who has eluded authorities for decades.

While the first half of the film painstakingly builds up the multifaceted character of "Giri", Jeethu Joseph pulls off a masterful set of twists in the second half that turns the narrative flow on its head, making the audience root for the grey-shaded protagonist. Jaffer Idukki excels in yet another well-written supporting role, while Hannah Reji Koshy, Baburaj and the ever-dependable Pauly Valsan turn in noteworthy performances.

But it is the writing from K. R Krishna Kumar and the mold-breaking directorial prowess of Jeethu Joseph that is the true hero here, utilizing the diminutive Asif Ali to glorious effect, riding on their depiction of the unassuming but observant and intelligent investigator rather than the alpha male, all-conquering superhero detective that mainstream cinema has driven down out throats for far too long. Trust Jeethu Joseph to innovate yet again in a genre that has craved ingenuity for ages now. "Kooman" is a refreshing thriller and a must-watch theatre experience. Highly recommended!

One of jeethu josephs strongest field is investigative suspense thriller. He has made a few good movies and a few bad movies but none of his investigative suspense thriller movies are bad. This one is a really good movie. The strongest point is it's story and writing. I love jeethu Joseph as a writer. He knows how to handle exposition in a amazing way in his suspense thriller movies. The writing is so good as usual in this movie also. Asif ali gave a decent performance. I liked the way his character was treated (gave me a kind of nightcrawler vibes). The background music in few places were nice. The cinematography was decent, liked the way they used dolly zoom in a few places.

Jeethu Joseph usually waves away criticism regarding his making style. His previous movie Drishyam 2 got a lot of praises but a few criticism regarding it's making style. Personaly i think Drishyam 2 is a masterpiece. Even though the movie had very simple treatment, the writing just shines like a star, so the making style never really bothered me. But in this movie it becomes very evident. There needs to be a little upgrading in the making style. So many movies with simple story and basic screenplay just gets enhanced into a nice movie experience with its making style. This movie has a strong base but the movie somehow dosent feel utilised to it's full potential.

A nice one from Jeetu Joseph. First half was a breeze. Asif Ali played to perfection the character of a police officer ably supported by Ranji Panicker,although certain scenes reminds of previous characters played by him. Senior Police officer-Jayaraman was a bit disappointing. Lacked the usual punch expected from a police. Its all about Asif how he potrays different shades of his character. Baburaj has played similiar roles. The second half just pushed the movie to a different direction. Climax could have been shot better. Some of the characters that appear in the tea stall dont add any further value except during the first bit. Jaffer Iduki once again proves his mettle in a short role. What an actor he is.

A decent thriller.

Thoroughly enjoyed another well written, well acted suspense thriller from Jeethu Joseph. Everyone acted so well and it the background score was apt for the mood of the film. Asif Ali nailed the psychological mood of the character and saw some old Mohanlal element in it. The story is different until the interval and completely changed the direction of the movie after that, with the first half is still looming in to the second.

This is a totally different kind of Whodunit suspense thriller which has never been done before. The twist ends 15 minutes before the film but still kept few suspense to the end.

7.5/10 from me.

I would argue Kooman and Memories are the best-directed works by Jeethu Joseph regardless of what someone's personal opinion is about his best film. The protagonist is almost an anti-hero, a regular police constable with a criminal mind. But at the same time, that greyness of the character is treated almost like how Krishna's despicable acts are glossed over as his naughtiness in retellings of Hindu mythology so that even though it's shown like that, there's still space for the audience to perceive the truth of it. Asif Ali fits into this role perfectly and this finally looks like the film that will be successful at the box office which he's in desperate need of right now.

The release of this movie is timed perfectly. The audience can easily relate to the twists in the second half because of recent news and the impact of it, that otherwise would have been considered a little bit far-fetched.