Kurup

Movie making is very good Technically very sound. But first half lags big time until the pre-interval ,The neo noir sceenplay didn't help much but rather its confusing to many. Second half is racy , finishes in no time with more commercial appeal to it. Its a good watch on the whole but if the makers have more concentrated in screenplay of first half with little more detailing with case rather than his love interest it would have been a great watch.

For those of you are not familiar, the movie is loosely based on the life of a fugitive from Kerala, Sukumara Kurup.

To be honest, although I have heard of him several times (mostly through Malayalam movie references), I really had no idea who he was or why he became so notorious.

Enter the movie Kurup, threw some light on my ignorance and then more. The real circumstances surrounding Sukumara Kurup and his crimes in itself is so mysterious and curious that any form of portrayal of this story will spike your interest.

Now, coming exclusively the movie, one cannot call it an ultra realistic plot, there is a lot of cinematic liberty used in it. However, in the context that it's presented, it was quite engaging.

Acting wise, Shine Tom did a brilliant job, DQ, Indrajit and Shobita played their parts convincingly. Screenplay wise, the second half was much more fast paced and interesting than the first half. The first half could have benefited from some editing and cuts. Songs were kind of forced and unnecessary.

Overall, it is an interesting watch, and more than the movie itself, the premise, which is the mystery of Sukumara Kurup will haunt you for while after you leave the theatres (or switch off your TV).

Background scores and sound engineering of the movie has been exceptional, albeit allegedly inspired from hollywood originals. Keeping that judgement aside, Sushin Shyam has done top notch work in the sound space. The songs are also good.

Cinematically, the movie scores on multiple fronts. Color grading is excellent. Period set designs have been nicely done. Costumes have been good. Cinematography has been excellent. At the start of the movie, there were a few jerky edits but did not feel any further issues after the titles rolled in. Title work has also been good.

Dulqar's screen presence has been great while the performances of pretty much all the actors have been flawless. Shine Tom Chacko's performance stands out for the convincing portrayal of a deranged.

There are a few points where the director's earlier movie "Second Show" plays in.

Writing has been pretty good. The structure has been carefully built out and makes for an entertaining watch from a story line perspective. A slow burner, the story draws you in nicely and takes you to nice twists. The script does not blow your mind - but nicely done. To some extent, a predictable line.

Making scores over the script.

The movie is a stylish anti-hero slow burner best enjoyed in a theatre.

Kurup tries hard not to glorify its lead - Sudhakara Kurup - based on real-life fugitive Sukumara Kurup but ends up occasionally doing that and more! While the idea of digging into a fugitive's details by sifting through the pages of a crime memoir is a neat storytelling idea, the non-linearity acts as more than just a dampener in the film's slickly paced second half. The protagonist (also the antagonist) is a grey-shaded human. Still, even with lengthy flashbacks that take us through his days in the IAF, later as an entrepreneur in the Middle East, and as a wanted criminal in 1980s Kerala, we just don't understand Kurup at all. The dialogues are appalling except for the Kerala portions, where the focus is on the murder conspiracy and subsequent execution. Much of the applause in this act should go to Shine Tom Chacko, who's terrific.

The entire IAF portion (with Sunny Wayne), the romance with Sharadamma (a beautiful Shobita Dhulipala, who has nothing worthwhile to do; not even a single memorable line of dialogue), and the super-expository and over-the-top climax all wear the film down several notches. The best parts are bang in the middle, no doubt! Though fiction overrides reality for the most part, the makers seem to have taken cinematic liberties that exalt a con-man to near-mythical levels in the same fashion as Mohanlal's Lucifer. The only thing left was for him to join Illuminati and a have a drink with Khureshi Ab'ram. Nonetheless, Sushin Shyam's score is top-notch (but is the film deserving of it?), Banglan's production design recreates the era convincingly, and DOP Nimish Ravi's frames ooze visual flair.

The writers deserve a hard whack on their bottoms for using the non-linear trope only to completely undo even the tiniest bit of ambiguity, especially given that very little public information is available on Kurup. Why didn't they spend time telling us why Kurup was so greedy in the first place, or why his stances kept changing with time, or what the last words to his family were.. each of these could branch out into exciting plots of their own, so let's not even go there! Kurup is "all-style, messy plot, but technically solid." As one of the most anticipated films of the year, we begin to wonder at what point the makers lost that equilibrium in the first place.

Good Start,the middle of the movie slow, mixed not clear, somewhat not intersting as movie started at the beginning..and ending is not upto the mark .... Over hyped movie ... failed to impress audience,expectations.. My rating 7/10 ..for dq acting.