I, Nobody

Posted on September 1, 2026 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: A vampire has always preferred to remain as anonymous nobody.

Vampire Bat: There are no anonymous people among centuries-old immortals.

Vampire Owl: There is a certain anonymous infinity about us.

Vampire Bat: Infinity is not always equal to immortality.

Vampire Owl: Life which continues in an infinite manner is always immortality.

Vampire Bat: There cannot be a nobody here as there are centuries to discover any identity.

Vampire Owl: Nobody can identify a camouflaged vampire in his spirit form.

Vampire Bat: Uncle Dracula can see through everyone and everything.

Vampire Owl: So did Dr. Frankenstein, once upon a time.

Vampire Bat: Mr. Frankenstein has seen no real truth in his entire life. We are forced to sing that “Frank doesn’t know” every time.

[Gets a chocolate donut and three cups of Yorkshire tea].

What is the movie about? :: Rajeevan (Prithviraj Sukumaran) is a middle-class man with a regular daily job in the Secretariat married to Meera (Parvathy Thiruvothu) and they have two young children – this seems like a very happy family for the people looking from outside. But Meera regularly cheats in their marriage with an unknown man (Rony David) identified only as the Branch Manager of ISFC Bank at its Vanchiyoor Branch. Rajeevan who is fed up with Meera’s attitude with him and his children, as well as her recently discovered secret sexual affair and decides to go the bank and talk to him with a gun during the busy hours. But there, while waiting for a meeting with the man, Rajeevan ends up facing three masked bank robbers who enter the bank with weapons, Peter (Sanju Sivram), Alex (Sudhi Koppa) and Koshy (Khalid Rahman) who also finds the gun with him as it falls down in shock. They feel that he is part of a rival gang or someone sent by someone who got a clue about their plans.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: They decide to take him hostage with a plastic cover over his head as he seems like someone who can harm their cause, and they go on a ride in the van. But on the way, due to Rajeevan creating a ruckus, the car crashes while trying to run him down. CPO Anas Rahman (Hakim Shahjahan) who is also involved in the crime fails to find the stolen money, and everyone else in the police department who looks for the same are also not able to find the same. SP Ajith IPS (Shankar Ramakrishnan) who doubts Rajeevan fails to believe him, while CI Jomon (Madhupal) who has to listen to his superiors, decide not to help him as he is followed by the police and attacked by random goons and people who wish to steal from him after media calls him a suspect. Seeing the crisis that Rajeevan is going through and with her lover also disowning her due to police being involved, she decides to move away to a distant town after getting a divorce from him. Now the question remains if he can go on like this forever.

The defence of I, Nobody :: The movie talks about an almost middle or little above person, and the status of a common man in the food chain is questioned in a brutal manner, even for a man with a government job which had placed him in a safe-future zone. The final moments get the movie into action thriller mode really well, and we also remember that the beginning was so good. The emotional side is pretty much working around here for most of the times. A real-picture of dysfunctional small families of cities is also reflected here, as communication breaks down with not hope, with ego taking over. The final moments with the large amount of cash also proves that money is everything, and it is something that builds broken relations – the reality of humanity is exposed during so many occasions. Then there is the clear reflection of new generation online social media and media as a whole which streams and makes things worse. The movie is a reflection of a hopeless, absurd world of meaningless nihilism which still ends with a happily ever after.

The claws of flaw :: The supporting characters are not dealt with that well. This is too long a work, and it can be seen that the movie suffers from a certain drag, stretching scenes longer than needed, even having some slow motion and repetition in between. One can safely say that this never looked like a movie intended to go above two hours, but we see a very long journey around here. The individual character drama takes over so early that the main elements which we were expecting are always in the backseat. The heist elements die too early, and being an action thriller with this content is rather strange. It also seems to have a climax that lacks the punch for which we waited with so much expectations. The ending seems to be achieved as a deus ex machina or an easy resolution because there were not many ways left to end with such a build-up. There were so many moments in between which did not seem like suiting its world. The side characters also seem to go on a struggle in between, and some of them seem to be pushed right in there. The movie could have been so much more with the common man idea.

The performers of the soul :: Prithviraj Sukumaran comes up with a strong, but still a restrained portrayal of an ordinary as well as vulnerable everyman caught in extraordinary circumstances – due to his permanent government job nature, one might feel otherwise, but the same feeling is evoked as personal situations involving family also comes into picture, and there is always a food chain however safe one feels to be. Parvathy Thiruvothu has a role with subtle, layered emotional depth which is handled quite well. It is always good to see her in some work that requires a little bit of extra skill. The next one who catches our attention is Ashokan who has done a commendable job even though he gets more to do only later. Hakim Shahjahan’s policeman will also stay with us, while Shankar Ramakrishnan, Irshad Ali and Madhupal do well with lesser police roles. Nishanth Sagar also creates and impression, while Vijayaraghavan brings his fine veteran experience to light in the final few moments.

How it finishes :: The movie just serves the purpose, and that much is sure when we have a close look at it. There is the attempt to blend the genres, which seems to leave parts of the movie with a certain confusion about the possible directions. The inability to maintain its initial strength holds it back from reaching its full potential. A long runtime and the repetition followed by the inability to wrap up things well has it in peril by the end, but still manages to be fair enough. The needed dramatic weight never really comes in here either. It remains an interesting effort with makes the initial impact and brings the divergence, but struggles with the inconsistencies. The case of ordinary citizens struggling due to circumstances having no help from systemic corruption and feeling to activate the unexpected survival instincts was that engaging hook which sets it apart from the usual journeys, but what happens after that might be worth some questioning. Yet, this was enjoyable and thought-provoking for most of its run, especially in the first half. Jio Hotstar had this one releasing for Onam which serves the audience with more options.

Release date: 9 July 2026
Running time: 168 minutes
Directed by: Nissam Basheer
Starring: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Hakkim Shahjahan, Ashokan, Vijayaraghavan, Shankar Ramakrishnan, Madhupal, Nakshatra, Ayra Izra, Nishanth Sagar, Nandu, Ishad Ali, Manoj K U, Jijoy Rajagopal, Sudhi Koppa, Sanju Sivram, Khalid Rahman, Rony David, Beena R Chandran, Sana Althaf, Krishnan Balakrishnan, Dinesh Alappuzha, Noushad Ali, Sudhi Kozhikode, Albin Alex, Jithin Madanan, Lenna Paul, Mahendran

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Thallumaala

Posted on August 22, 2022 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I heard that this movie is all about fights.

Vampire Bat: Yes, the title does signify the same.

Vampire Owl: Do you think that there could be more fights in our realm too?

Vampire Bat: We don’t have such small fights. We have only wars.

Vampire Owl: Maybe the wars could be reduced to smaller fights.

Vampire Bat: The smaller fights are not of relevance.

Vampire Owl: They can help stop the bigger wars.

Vampire Bat: I am sure that zombies and werewolves won’t agree to that.

Vampire Owl: Well, Uncle Dracula might agree.

Vampire Bat: For that, he requires a champion. The protagonist of this movie could serve as one in an undead state.

[Gets a marble cake and three cups of mint tea].

What is the movie about? :: There is a fight between Manavaalan Wazim (Tovino Thomas) and SI Reji Mathew (Shine Tom Chacko), and it is a one on one battle while their friends look on. The reason for this fight goes back by a few years, and there is a score to settle. A long time ago, Wazim was someone who usually got into fights, and after the pandemonium was over, he made friends with those who fought with him – the fights develop into a friends ciricle which includes him along with Jamshi (Lukman Avaran), Sathaar (Swathi Das Prabhu), Vikas (Adhri Joe) and Rajesh (Austin Dan). At the same time, he had also fallen in love with Fathima Beevi (Kalyani Priyadarshan), a famous Instagram and Youtube sensation based in UAE, even though she has her roots in Kerala. Despite her early doubts, she soon becomes assured that he could be the one for her, and manages to convince her parents to let her marry the man, even though none of her relatives have a good opinion about her – some of them even think that he is a useless young man who is of no good to the society.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Wazim’s parents (Johny Antony and Neena Kurup) had already ceased having good opinions about him. They want him to go and do some job in Dubai rather than wander around Ponnani town and pick up fights. After starting a fight with Siyad (Noushad Ali), and after they burn down Wazim’s father’s theatre, he is forcibly sent to the Middle East. But when he comes back, he starts another fight, this time with the group led by Reji – it lands them in the hospital, but hopes for revenge. Reji who wants to make up with them is not accepted with them, as everyone other than him and Wazim seems to be upset whenever the other group is seen around. Kalapurakkal David (Binu Pappu) who was part of Reji’s gang had warned against the two groups seeing each other again, but the situation seems to be in favour of both teams fighting each other again. At the same time, there is also a pending fight with Omega Babu (Chemban Vinod Jose) and Jamshi is depressed about it as he often remembers being beaten up by him. So, can Wazim fight these battles along with being able to marry Fathima?

The defence of Thallumaala :: This is the one movie which you might want to watch if there is the need for seeing a lot of fighting on the big screen. The movie also remains colourful throughout its run, and the visuals are really good. The humour works well during most of the time, and they have really added some fine doses of comedy in between to elevate the level of the film. There is the reminder of masculine ego which is hurt, as it was in Maheshinte Prathikaaram, where two women do talk about the madness of the major male characters who decide to go on an unnecessary fight. The audience will keep getting fights over fights, and in the end, they will have the feeling of having watched a big adventure with fists and legs as the main character never stop thinking about fights even if they cease to believe in love and the other common things in a movie. Some of the songs remain very notable, especially for the different kind of treatment. There are those dance moves which were already seen in the released songs. The world becomes different with this movie, and there is no need to have any outside interference related to this.

The claws of flaw :: Thallumaala‘s trailer had already given the feeling that this was going to be about fights, but it takes a lot of steps towards meaningless fights starting out of nowhere. The trailer itself was indeed confusing up to an extent. The first half takes some time get to be interesting, and most of the engaging moments can be seen as happening in the second half. The romantic side is rather strange around here, as there seems to be no real reason for the incidents to happen and turn the hero and heroine to marriage, especially for the lady who is very rich and remains an Instagram sensation who is adored by so many people all around the world. The story is not that strong, with most of the incidents in the film having not much of a meaning. The show of the sequence of events in also everywhere, and we don’t see anything occurring straight enough. In the first half, the tale keeps moving through different timelines as if they have a time machine – everything is basically everywhere to keep the audience confused. There were many things which could be added and also removed around here as there is struggle to be overcome.

The performers of the soul :: It is indeed great to see Tovino Thomas in a different avatar around here. His roles in Vaashi, Naaradan, Minnal Murali, Kaanekkaane, Kilometers and Kilometers and Forensic were all different, as he played superhero, lawyer, journalist, forensic expert and many others in a short period of time, and he has done the same with some fine skills. This role will be something to remember for him, as he also seems to get younger with this one, as this reckless youth is also of variety. Shine Tom Chacko indeed shines in this work, and he seems to perfectly suit the character. It would seem like the right thing to have him Soubin Shahir who dropped out of the film, as a character like this one requires Shine. Kalyani Priyadarshan, even though becomes the leading actress, has much less to do for the progress of the tale, and in between the fights which are supposed to happen at all times, would be happening with or without her presence in Kerala. Among the friends, it is Lukman Avaran who stands out, as he seem to blend in here like no other. In the other gang, Binu Pappu remains notable – in both gangs, all of them are indeed of relevance. Johny Antony’s father role is lovable, and Shafi Kollam of Star Magic fame gets a fine role to perform. Chemban Vinod Jose is there but with not much to do.

How it finishes :: Among the releases set around Independence Day and a week beyond, this particular movie seems to have the advantage over the others. It cannot be considered as the better film among these choices, but is surely the one flick that seems to attract the young audience to the theatres more than any other. The film makes us wonder if the only thing that the new generation does is to fight, and whether everything is solved by fighting with each other, a disappointing trend for a movie which has Mahatma Gandhi as the father of the nation, and after seventy five years post getting independence. Yet, there is the assurance of entertainment, and the funny side often makes sure that the fighting does not feel too cruel around here. It is to be noted that Shine Tom Chacko brings this movie back to life so well, and we end up wanting his character to win in the end. Well, this variety for sure, and it is not in the story, but in what surrounds it, as we are introduced to the one real fight movie in the Malayalam film industry. It is also realistic if we consider the number of random fights which have broken out in the state for no reason, and adorn the news.

Release date: 12th August 2022
Running time: 148 minutes
Directed by: Khalid Rahman
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Shine Tom Chacko, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Chemban Vinod Jose, Lukman Avaran, Binu Pappu, Johny Antony, Neena Kurup, Gokulan, Swathi Das Prabhu, Adhri Joe, Austin Dan, Assim Jamal, Shafi Kollam, VP Khalid, Noushad Ali, Bhanumathi Payyannur, Ann Salim, Mashar Hamsa, James Elia, Unni Raja, Mohammed Eravattoor, Anand Bal, Satheesh Kumar, Balan Parakkal, Babu Annur, Nasar Karutheni, Salim Kumar (cameo)