Pradhama Drishtya

Posted on October 15, 2026 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I had some hope about this movie even before watching it.

Vampire Bat: Yes, the actors chosen here point to the same.

Vampire Owl: We were very close to watching this in theatre and not OTT.

Vampire Bat: Yes, but then we got vampiric sadness and decided not to go out.

Vampire Owl: I would say that sadness is a basic trait of vampire nature.

Vampire Bat: What can centuries-old vampires do other than being sad?

Vampire Owl: Watching humans do all the nonsense makes anyone sad.

Vampire Bat: They still having their civilization makes me wonder.

Vampire Owl: They would only have a few years left till extinction; I am sure.

Vampire Bat: I am checking on the time left for human extinction already.

[Gets a paneer uthappam and three cups of Sikkim tea].

What is the movie about? :: Aleena (Parvathy Thiruvothu) who had lost her husband Abraham (Asif Ali) during an operation which was executed without enough backup, opts for the same job despite a safe, desk job offered to her by the Kerala Police. As she decides to follow the path of her husband, she faces difficulties, but passes the training camp overcoming all struggles. She gets her first appointment at a police station which seems to have lesser number of troubles than one would expect, and her fellow officers CPO Sreenath (Mathew Thomas), ASI Dasan (Sidharth Bharathan) and CPO Divya (Unnimaya Prasad), with whom she becomes good friends. But their superior officer SI Xavier (Azeez Nedumangad) is more of an angry and frustrated man who is facing divorce from his wife due to his behaviour and alleged relation outside marriage. Meanwhile, the station is led by a more respectful and dignified, but often confused Circle Inspector Prathap (Vinay Forrt) who is fasting as he is getting ready to visit Sabarimala.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: The four officers also struggle with their own problems, as Sreenath has his relationship in trouble due to caste and status differences, Dasan wishes to marry a teacher whom he met while on duty and Divya is hoping to finally have a child after years of marriage. A textile showroom manager Jayaprakash (Sirajudheen Nazar) who seems to be leading a normal life with his wife Shilpa (Jayashree Sivadas) is secretly targeting and robbing homes at night with the help of his partner Meera (Catherine Maria) who works at the same showroom. On a night when both Prathap and Xavier are not at the station, Dasan, Sreenath and Aleena who are on night patrol, Jayaprakash in a car tries to evade the officers, only to end up being caught and taken to a police station where Divya is almost ready to leave duty. He tells them that he was only trying to avoid getting caught for drunk driving, making them uncuff him, but when they try to check the boot space, there is a fight during which Jayaprakash gets hold of Divya’s gun and is fatally shot. This leads a situation of custody death, from which they wonder how to escape.

The defence of Pradhama Drishtiya Kuttakkar :: The central conceit works like a dream here, as the group of cops trying to cover up evidence from their own department creates even higher stakes than Drishyam, which can be considered as having a less risky journey in comparison to this one. The fear and tension are so much there, never restricted to the background. The visuals are too good and we see the same elevate the tension during key procedural moments as well as the cover-up sequences. The moments are nicely arranged and the narrative strikes gold with ease. The movie’s best moments come out of nowhere when we least expect the same. While many sequels forget to keep the same level as original, this one brought some classic thrills which never goes down in level. The fights, when present, are also shown in a realistic manner, and we see the incidents unfolding in a believable manner. The assurance of a realistic journey can be seen at all times, and the success in achieving this much of twists and thrills with the same needs to be appreciated.

Positives and negatives :: The movie can feel like a little lengthier than needed, but as soon as the inciting incident happens, the same can be forgiven. There might be the feeling that too many liberties are taken, and the reliance on luck seems to be guiding the characters so much. There are moments when one feel that Drishyam-mode is activated, as even with finding of the corpse, there are more twists to follow, as the protagonist is as much well-planned as that particular family hero who has so much in mind. It is not easy to bring twist based on a twist, but that has been achieved. The emotional side also stays strong with the movie, and we stay in support of the main characters, even though the whole thing revolves more or less around one specific female character. Despite all of these, the movie has its own dose of humour. We also see dual-faced characters here who are not uncommon in any part of the world, and they remain the reflection of the society which keeps taking in pretenders as their champions.

The performers of the soul :: Parvathy Thiruvothu as Aleena Abraham serves as the one emotional and intellectual anchor to the proceedings, and we would remember her for a full-lead performance after a very long time here. Playing a junior police officer thrown into highly complicated situation, she goes from panic to stabilizer of the situation in no time. She blends into the situation like no other, and this might be the character we would remember her the most from now on, as works in movies like Ennu Ninte Moideen and Uyare pales in comparison. Vijayaraghavan stands tall on the other side, and instead of going through an aggressive mode following the usual cliches, he moves forward as a weary investigator whose patience is far more intimidating than anger. The slow, methodical dialogue delivery and classic observation rises above the rest with ease. Vinay Forrt plays the witness to all of these very well, while Sidharth Bharathan remains a fine likable character. Mathew Thomas plays his character in a convincing manner while Unnimaya Prasad could have had more to do in proceedings. Azees Nedumangad shines again in a police role different from that remarkable Kannur Squad.

How it finishes :: Pradhama Drishtya Kuttakkar is that kind of a thriller which has a crime coverup thriller very well done. While its overstretched total run-time and reliance on convenience keep us wondering if more could have been done, the film remains consistently watchable with strength in performances. Focusing on Parvathy Thiruvothu’s restrained intensity and Vijayaraghavan’s quiet menace, it deals with institutional guilt as much as survival panic, bringing twists and thrills as it keeps moving forward. Coming out of nowhere to get to that fifty-crore mark, this one can be counted as the silent assassin on low-budget rising above those higher budget thrillers which seemingly have tried more. One thing about the later Malayalam crime thrillers is that they have remained realistic, with or without a serial killer, and there are some of those investigations which surely deserve sequels. One cannot be sure about this particular movie which seems to have come to a fine end though.

Release date: 11 September 2026
Running time: 158 minutes
Directed by: Shahad Nilambur
Starring: Parvathy Thiruvothu, Mathew Thomas, Sidharth Bharathan, Vijayaraghavan, Vinay Forrt, Unnimaya Prasad, Azees Nedumangad, Balaji Sharma, Catherine Maria, Sirajudheen Nazar, Jayashree Sivadas, Midhun Venugopal, Suparna S, Jaya Shankar, Vrindha Menon, Bibin Joseph Vettukattil, Rini K Rajan, Jayarajan Kozhikode, Anusha Aravindakshan, Kalabhavan Niyas, Nandini Gopalakrishnan, Salman Kuttikode, Dinesh Prabhakar, Lal Jose, Praveen Selvam, Shifa Badusha, R Parthiban, Asif Ali (cameo)

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Kannur Squad

Posted on December 31, 2023 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: We have taken a little too much of time to watch this one.

Vampire Bat: Well, as people say, better late than never.

Vampire Owl: I have heard that this is among the best of the year.

Vampire Bat: We have all heard a lot about this movie in a positive manner.

Vampire Owl: I hope it is not from some fan boys.

Vampire Bat: We do not talk to the human fan boys anymore.

Vampire Owl: It could be a vampire fan boy, like the Vampire Penguin.

Vampire Bat: None of the vampires are fans of any human.

Vampire Owl: I am sure that there are exceptions.

Vampire Bat: This movie itself is an exceptional one.

[Gets a Kadai chicken pizza and three cups of cardamom tea].

What is the movie about? :: ASI George Martin (Mammootty) and his team of CPO Jayakumar P. Vasu a.k.a. Jayan (Rony David Raj), CPO Jose Skaria (Azees Nedumangad) and CPO Muhammed Shafi T A (Shabareesh Varma), popularly known as Kannur Squad go on a search for some political goons in the forests of border area between Kerala and Karnataka, only to find a partially decayed body hanging from a tree. Even though the first idea is to leave it as a suicide, George is not ready to leave it behind. His idea is that this not a random suicide. They are able to find the culprit with ease, but is struck by the allegation against Jayan for working with sand mafia, seemingly ending the Kannur Squad with a certain amount of unexpected dishonour. But when an NRI businessman from Kasaragod named Abdul Wahab (Manoj K U) is murdered with no clue to be found, the police officers are forced to bring them back, as the other team of Kannur Squad is on a mission in North India.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Krishnalal T K IPS (Vijayaraghavan) finally agrees to have them investigate the case in ten days as SP Manu Needhi Cholan IPS (Kishore) also supports them after reading about them. By tracing the calls, they get to Riyas (Deepak Parambol) who had supplied the sim cards on his name. They understand his role in the robbery and murder, while also figuring out that there is involvement from people outside Kerala. But the other people involved could not be found out as they seem to have reached safe havens in the north of India. Farha (Afsana Lakshmi), Wahab’s daughter who was brutally beaten up and sexually assaulted, provides them with better details of what happens during the night and one of the assailants in revealed to be Ameer Shah (Arjun Radhakrishnan) who gave his name before strangling her father in front of her. Kannur Squad also gets an image of Ameer from social media and the search leads them to Mumbai. But it is still to be found if the investigation can be finished in ten days.

The defence of Kannur Squad :: The movie goes through an interesting set of proceedings from the beginning itself, and some fine music supports the same at all times. There is no moment in the movie which is not interesting, and we become part of the whole thing as the journey proceeds from one place to the other, from one end of the nation to the other. All of the performers seem to be perfectly chosen for their respective roles, including those who do not speak Malayalam – the choice of cast is one of the best things about this particular movie. There are moments that we remember, and some of them are there to stay for a longer period of time. As the fans of the mass masala avoids this movie, we can watch this one in peace, and hope for more of similar films to come. The emotional side do appeal to us, even though there is no overdose of emotions to make melodrama come forward. The movie focuses on the essential, and not the exaggerated, and it is the beauty of the world that has been created here – you feel that the police universe here is real, and not the unreal chaos that we see in Bollywood. Among the best of realistic police works, Kannur Squad is here to stay.

Positives and negatives :: The movie could have surely had more interesting moments in between in relation to the villains and their journey, but we have the police officers’ journeys nicely documented through some fine visuals. The determination of the righteous police officers and the difficulties that they come across on the way can be seen in a realistic manner rather than in the exaggerated ways which are often preferred by industries like Bollywood. A little bit of mass moments is added only in the end, but that would also be limited to suit the realistic nature of the film. The ending nicely finishes all things well. Maybe, they could have added some moments from back home by the end, but they have done well without it. The idea of the squad itself is inspired by a real-life police team of the same name, which makes the investigation even more interesting. The real-life police officers who investigated similar cases were also contacted. The shooting locations also stay close to the incidents and the journey feels very much real.

The performers of the soul :: Mammootty leads another fine team of police officers, and he does the job with ease, as he has always done, whether it was about brutal power as shown in Christopher or something classic in nature. His character would remain an iconic one here to be remembered for long, along with the squad itself. Rony David Raj plays another fine police officer here, as he continues the good form in similar roles. It is also nice to see Azees Nedumangad in a serious role, and he does his police role incredibly well – coming out of the usual in Star Magic, he has been doing so well in films these days. The team from that show of Flowers will have our attention at all times. Shabareesh Varma makes the next police officer really well, and blends into the team nicely. Kishore’s police role is also notable, while Vijayaraghavan plays the veteran police officer job with ease. Sunny Wayne and Shine Tom Chacko has small cameos to add to it. The women do not have much to do in this film, but the notable performance here is from Afsana Lakshmi who surely has a bright future in front of her. The villains led by Arjun Radhakrishnan and Dhruvan leave a mark with their remorseless and brutal presence with villainy.

How it finishes :: When talking about police investigations which keep close to a realistic mode, Operation Java is the only other film that seems to bring some comparison as relevant. Related to Mammootty and his team of policemen, that would be Unda that would call for the comparison. The visuals keep us going as much as the controlled emotional side and procedure of investigation. The movie’s journey to one of the highest grossers in Malayalam movie industry is very much justified, and as 2018 and RDX: Robert Dony Xavier have already done so well, the year has been a fine one. As we welcome the new year, we look forward with hope for an even better 2024. As of now, I wish you a very happy new year, and hopefully, this will be the one grand year to look out for. Maybe we are hoping for no reason, but that is what we do for every new year. Then we also wish to watch more movies which will stay with us for long.

Release date: 17th November 2023 (Hotstar); 28th September 2023 (Theatre)
Running time: 161 minutes
Directed by: Roby Varghese Raj
Starring: Mammootty, Rony David Raj, Azees Nedumangad, Shabareesh Varma, Kishore, Vijayaraghavan, Sunny Wayne, Arjun Radhakrishnan, Dhruvan, Sarath Sabha, Afsana Lakshmi, Manoj K U, Resh Lamba, Nalneesh Neel, Ankith Madhav, Sivadas Kannur, Mullai Arasi, Sajin Cherukayil, Shebin Benson, S P Sreekumar, Manohar Pandey, Susmita Sur, Saraswat Pandey, Gibin Gopinath, Benzi Mathews, Seju K Eapan, Anoop Trivedi, Avinash Pandey, Catherine Maria