Manoj K U – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: How many officers do you know?

Vampire Bat: Not many vampire officers.

Vampire Owl: We would need to appoint a few.

Vampire Bat: You think that an increase in vampire officers can solve ongoing crisis.

Vampire Owl: I do not see why not. The numbers do matter.

Vampire Bat: Not in all cases, for quality is also needed.

Vampire Owl: You can teach quality to the numbers.

Vampire Bat: There is a limit to what we can teach.

Vampire Owl: Not for the immortals. They have an eternity to learn.

Vampire Bat: There is no eternity that we do not know well enough.

[Gets a vegetable cutlet and three cups of Sikkim tea].

What is the movie about? :: It is seen that CI Joseph Chembola (Jithu Ashraf) commits suicide in Bangalore under the influence of a group of drug addicts and dealers, much to the dismay of the police force. The case does not seem to reach everywhere even though a certain mystery seems to go through the same. A few months later, back in Kerala, former DYSP and demoted into CI R Hari Shankar (Kunchacko Boban) gets back to action in the Aluva Police Station. He has not been himself since the death of his elder daughter Nila Harishankar (Meenakshi Anoop), a case of suicide which had sent him to a long period of depression. He remains very angry, and ready to beat up goons, or anyone who breaks the laws. His wife Geetha Harishankar (Priyamani) and younger daughter Minnu Harishankar (Eithal Evana Sherin) are very much concerned about his behaviour but can do nothing about him.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: It is then that Chandrababu (Jagadish), a KSRTC Conductor, has a complaint, but this particular problem related to an imitation gold chain seems to have further implications, and gets things more complicated enough to make it personal for Harishankar, contributing to the tension of his friends in the police force including DYSP Shahul Raj (Vaisakh Shankar) and his other friends like Advocate Rekha Chandrasekhar (Muthumani). It seems that these situations will remind him of a few things from the past he does not want to remember and can lead to those kinds of twists that nobody wants to see happening. But it is too late, as Harishankar finds out that Chandrababu’s daughter had replaced the gold chain with an imitation after being sexually exploited by an unknown man to prevent any further blackmailing over her nude video.

And what complicates things further within chaos? :: As Harishankar asks Chandrababu and his daughter to file a POCSO case as she is a minor, she responds by committing suicide and Chandrababu blames Harishankar for the same. As media also blames him, he is taken off the case but decides to keep searching for answers. He meets ASI Thomas (Manoj KU) who was in prison for the murder of the man who sexually exploited his daughter, and it is revealed that it was Harishankar who murdered the man, and Thomas only took the blame on himself as his daughter was also drugged and raped by the same person. Harishankar is unable to connect the links, but on the same night, Thomas is visited by Christy Savio (Vishak Nair), Celine Joan (Leya Mammen), Anna Louis (Aishwarya Raj) and Sathya Mithiran (Vishnu G Varrier), who claim to have studied with his daughter. But soon, it would seem that they have other intensions – where would this lead Harishankar with a new twist?

The defence of Officer on Duty :: It can be seen that Officer on Duty is one movie that stands tall with its realistic approach and some wonderful performances, led by Kunchako Boban himself in a role we do not usually see him working with. He remains solid within the movie as the police officer on a mission. Jagadish’s return to serious roles like he did in Garudan, Neru etc once again leaves us with something to remember. Vishak Nair’s entry into the antagonistic role feels like something that we would remember for a very long time. Among the rest, it is the debutant Aishwarya Raj who impresses like no other, and the sinister feeling that her character provides has no match among female villains of our industry. Leya Mammen matches the evil up to an extent, even though the character is focused more on an emotional vengeance. Priyamani and Meenakshi Anoop have less to do but manages to be of significance.

Positives and negatives :: The ending might feel forced but is justified well enough to finish the whole thing. It might not feel as something entirely new, but with the technical superiority, it scores like no other. The presence of some strong and interesting antagonists keeps the movie get to an even higher level. The movie also leaves as message against drug abuse, something which have been in the main news and having all schools and colleges forced to do some awareness campaign against the substance abuse which has been turning into bigger problems. Even though there are clear antagonists, it is to be known that the true villain is the drug abuse itself. This might be one of those movies which can be shown during drug awareness campaigns in parts. This is also that kind of a movie which deserves a sequel.

How it finishes :: It is not that easy to find a performance-driven thriller like this one. We still had some fine investigative thrillers last year in the form of Ozler, Anveshippin Kandethum, Thalavan, Anand Sreebala and others which have kept us very much interested in more. This year, we have this particular flick which follows the fine seriousness of Rekhachithram with ease. This year also needs to be a year of the thrillers, as Malayalam cinema has always provided the best of them. The world needs its Memories and other movies with imperfect and troubled police officers. The quality of thrillers like this one will stay with us for long for sure. The movie does seem to have come to the OTT too early, and one wonders if it is the release of Lucifer 2: Empuraan that led to that early entry to the theatres of home.

Release date: 20th February 2025 (Theatre); 20th March 2025 (Netflix)
Running time: 137 minutes
Directed by: Jithu Ashraf
Starring: Kunchacko Boban, Vishak Nair, Jagadish, Priyamani, Aishwarya Raj, Leya Mammen, Meenakshi Anoop, Amit Eapen, Eithal Evana Sherin, Vaisakh Shankar, Vishnu G Varrier, Srikant Murali, Manoj K U, Ramzan Muhammed, Arun Raj, Jithu Ashraf

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

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