Thalavan - Behind the Badge

Thalavan

Malayalam / Crime / Drama

131 mins
SonyLiv

I happened to catch two very different cop films this weekend. One was Rebel Ridge , a solitary hero against corrupt cops, while this movie features a disjointed bunch of cops which muddles an already complicated investigation. 

A retired DySP Udayabhanu (Dileesh Pothan) reluctantly signs up to narrate a case story for a true crime TV show. The case story is the investigation that happened five years back under his watch, featuring an upright and respected Jayashankar (Biju Menon) the senior reporting officer and SI Karthik (Asif Ali) who is infamous for being transferred 5 times in 1.5 years of service.

The story kicks in right away showing Jayashankar and Karthik not seeing eye to eye,  with Udayabhanu trying to convince them to work together, given that they are both great at their job. One fine morning, a dead body is found in Jayashankar's balcony. Jayashankar is arrested for the alleged murder of the woman, who is the wife of a convict whom he locked up.

Jayashankar and Karthik (and their own group of men) investigate in their own paths, which expectedly converge at a point where the men at loggerheads are forced to work with each other to resolve an intricately planned and meticulously executed crime.

The movie maintains the pacing (no fluff, no songs or un necessary characters). The "whodunit" stayed right till the very end, coming as an unexpected surprise. The writing is very good,  though my only grouse was the climax, which was a little bit of a letdown, given all the solid lead up to the moment.

That aside, the movie is a good police procedural, solid acting by Biju Menon ( though this isnt his first cop role!) and Asif Ali is earnest and ticks the right boxes. Another good offering from Malayalam cinema this year, after a very quiet 2023.