Aattam - 12 men and 1 angry woman

Aattam

Malayalam - Drama

139 mins 

Prime Video  

This movie recently won the National award for Best Film, Editing and Screenplay. 

It starts one evening, with a theatre group of 13, readying for a performance.  There is one lady Anjali, among the 12 men. We are introduced to Hari, the male lead.  He seems the most recent entrant to the group, much to the jealousy of Vinay, who has been around for a while and is an aspirant for the lead role. Anjali and Vinay are in a relationship, unaware to the group.

The performance is a success. One of the patrons, as a gesture of appreciation - invites the entire group to stay over at a Home stay to celebrate the night. Drinks flow, revelry follows. Anjali leaves early in the morning, while the others disband later in the day, told that . Anjali reveals to Vinay that she was groped by someone and she strongly believes it was Hari. 

Vinay takes this matter to one of the senior members of the group. A meeting is called, with a consensus on Hari's explusion, when the story starts to unravel. Did Hari really do it or was it someone else, knowing they could get away? Does Anjali get justice? Is the group disbanded? ...

If you have watched the classic 12 Angry Men , you will see the similarity of the premise. That said. the screenplay and editing allow this dialogue heavy movie to deservingly stand alone. The last 20 minutes of the movie are stunning , beautifully threading many thin shades of gray between the black and white.