User reviews

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.

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.

Kooman is a testament to Jeethu Joseph's skill in crafting seat-edge thrillers. It also extracts an insanely good performance from Asif Ali - playing a fairly intelligent cop named Giri, who also decides to embark on a series of burglaries as a means to get back at his superior officer. The first half shows his ruthlessness at exacting revenge on people who shame or ridicule him at the slightest, and Asif's subtle expression changes during these stretches are fantastic to watch. The screenplay (by KR Krishna Kumar) is also good at tapping into the vulnerable side of a steadfast policeman, and we as viewers are driven to get behind his criminal choices.

In Kooman, we actually get two films instead of one - it's a tale of two halves. While the first focuses on his nightly shenanigans which itself keeps you interested, it further dives into a series of murders happening in the area, and Giri finds himself tied to one of them in unexpected ways. Giri's obsession with robbing people just for kicks is what gets him embroiled in this issue. The film then moves ahead from its initial central conflict and starts to revolve around Giri's unofficial investigation on finding the murderer. If not for the recent events that unfolded in Kerala, the climax would have come across as rather absurd and unbelievable in this day and age. But kudos to the writer and director in their ability to prophesize a ghastly incident, and for executing it in a sufficiently thrilling way.

The villain reveal (and the extended climax) do not fetch any points, mostly since it became rather obvious in the scenes preceding it. The action set-piece is also pretty tame, and the mere mention of a character's queerness (as an excuse for villainy) takes away ½ a star. All said and done, I'll recommend the appropriately-titled Kooman to those who relish thrillers. Special mention to Jaffer Idukki for his wicked performance as a semi-retired thief, especially in that scene where he elucidates the "high" he gets from thieving. Vishnu Shyam's score is also top-notch. Give Asif Ali more such roles, please!

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.

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!

A well made story with a brilliant screenplay by Joseph who doesn't disappoint when it comes to quality cinema.... Asif Ali does have a meaty role and a milestone in his career....being an intellectual cpo shows some matured performance all over the movie but jaffer Idukki is a show stealer though his time space is short he does score even in a voice over scenes...Renji panicker sublte performance may give u an impact in enjoying a perfect cinema...but the movie takes a wrong turn towards the climax which forms a major draw back,doesn't do proper justification in concluding the movie,jeethu should have thought something offbeat or a unfinished climax would have better....but forget last 30mins this movie will give an above average satisfaction coz of poor climax execution.

What a Movie !

What a performance your time.

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!

4 out of 4 found this helpful.

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.

**** Kooman : The Night Rider Malayalam Movie Review***

One Word Review.... Thriller Experience 🔥

Directed by Jeetu Jospeh , the master craftsman of Drishyam series , penned by Krishna Kumar starring Asif Ali, Baburaj, Renji Panicker, Hannah Reji Koshy, Jaffar Iddqui in lead role

Plot of the Movie

Asif Ali who is a CPO have a great intellect in solving the case but being CPO he has no value.. 1 incident changes his life.

Analysis of the Movie

1) The interval block gave a thrill to wait for the second half.

2) Well made story backed by strong screenplay thereby which not a single moment, lagness experienced

3) Asif Ali's filmography one of the best character and performance.. He not only lived in the character but he proved that talented people will fail many times but cannot be vanished forever.

4) Renji Panicker, Baburaj , Hannah Reji Koshy had performed well

5) Jeetu Joseph, he just proved that when there is a thriller movie directed by Jeetu, 💯 assurance the movie will deliver less than a goosebumps impact.

6) The subject chosen which is a very social relevant subject but with a perfect blending of thrill " Kooman : The Night Rider" delivers a thrilling theatrical experience.

Film Review: Kooman (The Night Rider) Streaming on Prime Video!!

(English subtitles available)

This is a 2022 Malayalam language suspense film directed by Jethu Joseph!!

The story is about a young police officer in a small village in Kerala who suffers from a mental disorder in which he feels a compulsive urge to respond to any dare or humiliation thrown across to him and will go to any length to come up on top. In this foolhardy quest he unwittingly enlists the help of a retired thief and carries out a series of daring thefts in order to discredit his boss !!

The twist in the tale comes when a series of suicides start happening in the village and our protagonist is captured fleeing the scene of the crime !! Are these simple suicide cases or is there something else behind these occurrences! What is our hero's connection to all this ?

All I can say about this film is ' Brilliant Jeethu sir.. absolutely brilliant!! . The twists in the story have been so intricately woven that you can't just help but feel amazed at the director's ingenuity!! The plot moves from a spate of simple robberies, sometimes shown in humorous light in the first half to something totally different & sinister in the second . The investigation and the final reveal are truly mind-blowing !!

Asif Ali as police officer Giri , the protagonist has given a restrained performance. Others like Renji Panikar, Giri's empathetic ex boss and Jaffer Idukki as Giri's mentor who teaches Giri the expert art of robbing houses have both essayed their part very well !!

All in all , a very different investigative suspense thriller!! Highly recommended.. don't miss it !!

Going with 3.5/5 for this one ... Adios 🙂!!

#sanjuzzreviews #kooman #AsifAli #PrimeVideo #JeethuJoseph #JeethuJospehFilm.

Kooman (2022)

The story is about a strict police officer who relocates to a hilly village on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Few normal incidents that take place suddenly appear to be abnormal.

The story is completely different and unexpected 2nd half... All are acted soo well.. Must watch movie..!

Kooman (2022)

The story is about a strict police officer who relocates to a hilly village on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Few normal incidents that take place suddenly appear to be abnormal.

The story is completely different and unexpected 2nd half... All are acted soo well.. Must watch movie..!!!!

First half was engaging. The second half took the movie to next level.firsthalf was normal the story was going slowly and there are a lot of twist .there was one scene were I got really scared of giri getting caught.second half is not the continuation of first half it is entirely different. I had to say something about the camera work because it was excellent there was a chasing scene in a field in that part the camera work was on next level next coming to bgm the bgm was fire .the bgm on the chasing scene was next level .Next coming to Asif ali .He was just living the charector.jeethu Joseph direction was brilliant and I have a dout wheather the person who wrote this movie is a time traveller or not.

I went in to watch Kooman and Jeethu Joseph did not disappoint. This is not the run of a mill detective movie where an upright police officer investigates a string of murders and unmasks the culprit.

The protagonist has a lot of complexities and this is also well explored in the movie. The first half is stupendous. The investigation truly starts in the second part of the movie and there is an expected twist in the culmination which is a trademark that is expected of Jeethu Joseph movies.

The movie is based off contemporary events and i am in awe of the foresight of the writer/director for taking up the subject. Overall, this movie is definitely a good one to add to Asif Ali's filmography.

Kooman Malayalam Movie: Jeethu Joseph quivers us; begets out the best in Actor Asif Ali palpitations. Review by M. Siraj

Auspicious Director Jeethu Joseph's camera rolls into the mind of a common man veiled in the darkness of primitive consciousness, garnering positive trend to watch the film again and again because of its neat script and making.

The film revolves around the revenge of Policeman Asif Ali, in a tiny village Police Station on the Tamil Nadu Kerala Border, finally reaching an impossible psychological and incredible moments that follow, it is still doubtful for me if anyone else can match this tailor-made roll perfectly matching to Asif Ali. The selection of characters were done perfectly, each scenes scripted adequately suspenseful to take the audience to the peak of excitement. Viewers will not miss the horror and silence of the night which are beautifully captured supported with good background music. For every Jithu Joseph film the Tea shop and Police Station are very much eminent, here too he used Tea Shop to get Asif Ali best ideas, as it's like a doorway that gives him the most crooked notions.

Director clearly portrayed the emotions of normal Policeman when he has been snubbed by superiors in front of others, when things cross the breaking point, he wants to react against them without any loose ends. Asif Ali brilliantly express the shame and embarrassment, compel him to become protege to a local thief played by Jaffer Idukki, who activates the other side of the Hero's personality, gradually Jithu Joseph shifts to top gear and we get an experience that makes us lean forward in anticipation, moreover Jithu's Kooman manages to excite with a unique, psychology-obsessed story pivoting around a fascinating character in the form of Giri and a perfectly-cast Asif Ali playing him, which was not tried before by him.

Usual film shows the psychiatric dis order happens to a Hero because of some of his Childhood mental disorder or accident something like, but in this movie, Director opens a new definition validated by Anoop Menon's psychiatric counsellor in a nicely done expository scene and the entire investigation also provides an opportunity for Asif Ali, who has yet to overcome his demons, to redeem himself, ending scene vouch that.

While watching one may raise, do these things happen even in this modern age, but the recent headline grabbing incidents in Kerala proves that it is happening. The title Kooman meaning something like night traveller, or a witness to the events of the night perfectly matches to the focal story point of a Policeman. Asif Ali, a mere civil police Constable, has intelligence, vision and a willingness to take on challenges beyond ordinary people, so he sees many things as unusual which could not be digested by his senior officers.

The film begins in a very low tone with the lives of a beautiful hilly village. The fast-paced scenes take the viewer to new levels of investigation or crime, the usual bench mark of Jithu Joseph. Even though it carries out a strong awareness against customs and superstitions, the movie finally reaches it through many events and leaves it to the audience to judge. The heroine changes into a surprising costume in a sudden last scene without giving any clues to the viewer whereas Jaffer Idukki utilised the opportunity well as an old thief to train Asif Ali the techniques of theft. It is also excellent that the audience does not feel that the background music is separate from the film, simultaneously camera has also managed to capture the story taking place in a beautiful village even more beautifully.

In short, Jithu Joseph proves again he is the unchallenged creator of Crime movies, Kooman is presently streaming in Prime OTT Platform.

I rewatched the scenes to guess the. Climax before it ends. And suspected the many , like swami, girl's father, (went to tamilnandu) through the clues and he came for the funerals at the beginning. But one scene made me confuse to the conclusion is : the hero chasing a tall, slim guy from the forest through form and he pushed hero into the paddy field mud and escaped, that is not swami, who is fatty. Then who is that guy (no relation in any other scenes) , Can you guess ?

And i feel too much long scenes with torch lights and many scenes made us to distract and suspect many peoples like ( The other constable, the loan lender, in the first half we suspect due to money repayment issues, but then the story moved to tamilnadu and women died, made us to get confused.

But nice twist and thrills . I enjoyed.

Jeethu Joseph is one of a kind director, after watching Dhrishyam and Dhrishyam 2, this movie is yet another police related investigation thriller. The movie moves on like any other Malayalam movie, with slow building up of tension and picking up of pace towards the end. But I never expected the twist at the beginning. It talks about what a man would do to satisfy his ego. Every actor did their part well, especially Asif Ali. After watching Ayyappanum Koshiyum, Action Hero Biju this movie gives indepth coverage into the lives of Police officers and how ego could be an important aspect of a police officer .

So Kooman starts off as a story about an egoistic policeman named Giri and a few incidents happening in and around his village, how Giri's abilities and respect in the society is challenged and how he reacts to it. The second half takes a completely different turn and turns into a murder mystery thriller.

This is another masterpiece from Jeethu Joseph, the twists in the second half will keep you on the edge of the seat. What adds value to the movie is the BGM. It is outstanding and complements the movie. The climax was a bit stretched but man what a reveal in the end! It will blow up your mind. Can't believe it is rated so low, it should be much higher.

Krishna Kumar & Jeethu Joseph have created a superb masterpiece with Kooman! The plot begins with a story of an ordinary, egoistic cop with shades of grey and then evolves into the story of a serial murder. And then begins a game of cat & mouse between the cop and the killer. A very well made plot with amazing performances from Asif Ali, Jaffar Idukki, Renji Panicker and Hannah. The locations and cinematography were amazing! The final twist in the end has truly made the movie a treat to watch. Kudos to the makers and all the artists who made this movie a truly remarkable treat to watch. Hats off to all.

Movie started off well. Made my expectations go up a la Drishyam. First half was totally believable and set the ball rolling as a thriller. But then gradually the movie starting falling into a pit or possibly a black hole and towards the end became irretrievably disastrous.

No logic, no rationale, anyone can appear anywhere, capture another person's video howsoever dark or unapproachable the location could be. And suddenly a temple in the middle of a forest with so many lamps, lanterns and a lever pulley mechanism. I could guess post interval who the antagonist was and the path the movie would take. So no surprise or shock element there.

Never expected this from the director of Drishyam. Commercial compulsions possibly.

Movie starts off well with excellent acting by Asif and others.. however, the second half of the movie is a bit of a let down and feels rushed and written quite poorly.

The background score and cinematography is top notch as usual for Malyalam movies. It captures the mood quite well, something similar to Drishyam. I love how they captured the small town Kerala feel.

The first half of the movie is really quite well made, but the second half it felt like the writer was just trying to finish the script. I would've gone for a higher rating of they had just stuck to the story of the first half instead of making it a mystery thriller.

Watched the movie. Worth watching it. The casting, the story, the presentation all are performed well.

Asif Ali delivers a standout performance as Giri, portraying the character's transformation from a disgruntled constable to a man grappling with guilt and redemption.

Jaffer Idukki shines in his role as Maniyan, a veteran thief who mentors Giri, adding depth and nuance to the narrative. Wikipedia +5

The supporting cast, including Renji Panicker, Baburaj, and Hannah Reji Koshy, contribute effectively to the film's tension and emotional weight.

For fans of psychological thrillers and character-driven narratives, "Kooman" offers a compelling cinematic experience that explores the complexities of human behavior and morality.