Kurup

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.

Kurup (2021) : Brief Review -

An ugly story told beautifully. Dulquer conquers everything possible in this gripping tale of mastermind criminal. When it comes to gangster films, I always have one star reduced from the final rating already. These stories may entertain you sometimes they don't even to that, I have that specific hatred (deserving, i believe) for such films. I have bashed many known Hollywood classics for the same reason. Kurup didn't work there for me because the story isn't really important enough to be told. What do you gain by telling such stories? What do you learn from it? Nothing. That's why I have that specific hatred in my mind. On the other side, I love watching films that have motives, that teaches you something. Ustad Hotel was one such Dulquer Film, even Kaarwaan and so many others. Well, Kurup really isn't a bad film, it's a great one. It's just that I don't like to watch the stories led by negative people. Hardly few of them, i mean such films, have impressed me. This one is based on the life of wanted criminal Sukumara Kurup, a classic criminal. True Mastermind. Srinath Rajendran's impeccable direction makes his story look interesting. His skilful methods to handle a simple story have made this one special. The only problem I found was the pacing in the first half. It takes too much time to show the generous side of that character when you already know he is not that kind of person. That's where you even predict the climax which was supposed to be a shock, but does not remain a secret. Dulquer Salmaan is phenomenal as Kurup/GK. That style, attitude and his looks everything is perfect. Rest of the cast is good too. Kurup has very simple dialogues, that hurts because gangster films are known for some dhaansu dialogues. Overall, a very good film and surely recommendable for the performances and direction, if not for story.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest_

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.

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.

I'M AWARE OF THIS INCIDENT AS IT'S BASED ON A TRUE STORY, THE HUGE CHALLENGE HERE IS HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP THE AUDIENCE WHO KNOW THE ENTIRE STORY, ENGAGED.

MUST SAY THE FILM SURPASSED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS AND TURNED OUT TO BE A GREAT CRIME THRILLER.

THE STORY WAS MUCH BEYOND ALL THAT I KNEW, PERSONALLY I FOUND THE FIRST HALF TO BE INTERESTING WHILE SOME AUDIENCE FOUND IT A BIT LAGGY BUT WHEN IT COMES TO SECOND HALF THE FILM IS PHENOMENAL, ESPECIALLY WHEN EVERYTHING FROM THE FIRST HALF RELATES AND MAKES SENSE.

A MUST WATCH FILM, AND THIS IS HIGH TIME THAT WE SUPPORT THE INDUSTRY.