Prasanth Madhavan – Movies of the Soul

Vampire Owl: This is one movie we missed at the theatre despite being interested.

Vampire Bat: Well, it was said to be a political action thrillers and politics is not our thing.

Vampire Owl: Some of those rare Tovino thrillers that we missed.

Vampire Bat: We have never been the people who watched movies for its actors.

Vampire Owl: Yet, we have watched more Tovino movies in the theatre considering the ratio.

Vampire Bat: It is the case of acting in the kind of movies that we like to watch.

Vampire Owl: Yet, we have created no borders in cinema.

Vampire Bat: Well, we have watched almost every kind of movie.

Vampire Owl: Yes, our identity is of people of the true cinema.

Vampire Bat: We will one day be left with nothing more to watch in Malayalam cinema.

[Gets a paneer samosa and three cups of Yercaud tea].

What is the movie about? :: Varghese (Tovino Thomas) has been living a usual small-town life having a lot of time spent with his love from school days, Nancy (Priyamvada Krishnan), despite the disapproval of her father. Varghese has been employed since forever, as he keeps looking for a good job, ending up getting none, while Nancy has been employed in a bank for some time. Along with the same, Nancy’s father is a rich man running a number of business ventures with his influential family members, while Varghese’s family has the history of his father committing suicide due to financial problems, from where they never recovered. This makes the marriage alliance almost impossible between them, and both families are aware of the same. Finally, after being forced by Nancy, he decides to take up the job of a police constable, even though he continues to wish for much more. He thinks that he will study for the Public Service Commission tests while working as a constable in the police force.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Varghese is not at all confident or comfortable at the police camp, but he is supported by Head Constable Basheer (Suraj Venjaramoodu), a senior with whom he forms a bond, as both are forced into this job due to different circumstances. While Varghese is not that popular with his colleagues, things only get much worse as tribal protests erupt in Wayanad demanding land rights under the leadership of C K Shanthi (Arya Salim), Madhu (Prasanth Madhavan) and Thaami (Pranav Teophine), as they seek the fulfilment of promise by the government. DIG Raghuram Keshavadas (Cheran) is assigned the task for suppressing the agitation. Raghuram becomes the hand of the politicians of the state, and with his plans nicely at work, the support of army is also requested. This would mean that Varghese and Basheer would have to face something different from what they were expecting – can they survive the same and come out strong?

The defence of Narivetta :: This one is a bold movie with strong performances that go deep down the list. As the movie focuses on issues like tribal rights, police violence and the abuse of power, with inspiration from the Muthanga Incident, there is a certain amount of realistic touch to some parts of it, with some scars never really fading and some resolutions never really being reached in a world of chaos and absurdity due to human behaviour. The realistic side often takes the front seat, keeping the commercial side to the minimum, and this mode is followed not only by the moments inspired by original events, but also those which come around it to complete the movie. The romantic side is also good, and the “Minnalvala” song is going to remain a favourite for a long period time, even after time passes by a long way. The hero and heroine surely have a fine chemistry between them, and the choice of supporting cast works like a dream. The movie surely has a lasting effect to make the audience think about situation in a chaotic world.

The claws of flaw :: The movie is surely too long, and we are forced to fast forward it as we watch it on the OTT platform, Sony LIV. Even with the less shown romantic side, there is a stretch, and with the serious moments that come later, there is more lag, and we often feel that there is the journey through similar situations and dialogues again and again, with moments also present where nothing much of interest happens. Then, the heroine is mostly lost after the romance seemed to have a role in the beginning. There is a struggle that goes on with the movie, which is not just between the characters, but also to keep the main idea at the core and engaging enough for everyone. The predictable story is surely there, even if we keep the closeness to real incidents away. Some moments just feel like made to keep the whole thing rather comfortable. The antagonist, as a character, could have also had more strength, and just using the government and the system for villainy serves less as a whole.

The performers of the soul :: As expected, the highlight of the movie is the performance of Tovino Thomas who comes up with a strong performance as the main character like he always did from Minnal Murali to 2018, Thallumala, ARM and Anveshippin Kandethum, nicely portraying the character’s change from a careless young man to someone who stands for justice against all odds, bringing a dynamic character to life. He scores with the emotional side, whether it is the romantic side or the hopelessness that comes later when facing injustice. He further scores through the “Minnalvala” song with Priyamvada Krishnan who comes up with a responsible performance in a character that sticks more to the loyal romantic side, but with determination. The song surely has her best appearance ever. Suraj Venjaramoodu once again comes with a performance that strikes, a matured one that will stay with us for long too – as a mentor, big brother figure to the main character, he remains a character who brings maturity to the scene, while keeping close to doing the right thing. Arya Salim is extraordinary in her work as she brings a character to perfection while Cheran brings villainy nicely to the scene.

How it finishes :: This is a movie which is worth a watch for how it progresses with a content that needed some fine attention, and keeps it working without deviating from the main thing which it seems to be seeking towards the climax – the final justice. The progress is not that smooth though, and even when scratchy, it is surely going in the right direction. There was a little bit too much of expectations with this movie, and it does not seem to progress in the way the posters and the superhit song were seemingly pointing to. A bigger scope was surely expected of this one. But the movie gets many things right, with its focus on the need to do the right thing even when against some of the most powerful forces, and on having faith even when there seems to be not much of a chance for hope. The ending is achieved well in a realistic manner, rather than going through those mass-appeal moments when hero just takes what he wants – it is the kind of idea which would increase the gross in other states and those languages, but not with this one, as it seems to have faith in the realistic, and that has served well.

Release date: 23rd May 2025
Running time: 138 minutes
Directed by: Anuraj Manohar
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Cheran, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Jithin Eden Mathew, Priyamvada Krishnan, Pranav Teophine, Prasanth Madhavan, Rini Udayakumar, Nandu, Sudhi Kozhikode, Srikant Murali, Badusha N M, Appunni Sasi, Kumar Sethu, Vijesh Lee, Shahi Kabir

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Vampire Owl: I have heard about a man named Ace Ventura being a pet detective.

Vampire Bat: He is quite a different person even from a distance.

Vampire Owl: Why do the pets even need detectives?

Vampire Bat: Don’t you know that animal lives are more important than human lives these days?

Vampire Owl: I have heard so much related to the strange love towards dogs.

Vampire Bat: Yes, so much that they abandon the dogs in the street and let them bite humans.

Vampire Owl: It is indeed some strange love.

Vampire Bat: Humans even hate each other so much. Strange people.

Vampire Owl: Have you ever met a good human in life?

Vampire Bat: Well, I do not know that many humans.

[Gets a Paneer Patty and three cups of Nuwara Eliya tea].

What is the movie about? :: Tony Jose Alula (Sharaf U Dheen) is a jobless young man who inherits his Mexico-returnee father Jose Alula’s (Renji Panicker) failing private detective agency, and in the process, also hopes to impress his childhood sweetheart Kaikeyi Menon (Anupama Parameswaran) and her disapproving strict father CKP Menon (Major Ravi) who has returned from military service. Rajath Menon (Vinay Forrt), the local police officer is also after Kaikeyi to earn her love, but she does not show that much of interest in him. Meanwhile, Tony and Kayikeyi keeps their relationship with a lot of fighting in between, but they get back to each other every time. But time keeps running out for Tony who really need to get a good job to get a chance to be married to his lady love. Tony and his loyal assistant at the detective agency, Sanoop (Joemon Jyothir) get the first big case in the form of a missing dog, which they are able to solve with relative ease due to some strange turn of events. As they get one lakh rupees from the owner who value the dog a lot, they begin to call themselves Pet Detectives, trying to solve more of similar cases.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: But there are lots of things happening in the background and everything is happening due to some grand evil schemes which have its roots in Mexico and other states of India. There is a criminal racket involved in the smuggling of some exotic aquatic species, with fish worth lakhs of rupees gone missing, and then there are little kids being kidnapped. A mafia leader from Hyderabad named Yaqat Ali (Vinayakan) has also arrived in Cochin, and has brought his own team of goons who are ready to do anything at his request. Tony is forced to take the help of his old school friend Thinkal Thomas (Shyam Mohan), but both are kidnapped along with Kaikeyi. Now, it is still to be seen about what step is to be taken for them to escape from these people who are looking out for them as they have also become entangled in this series of problems. Will the gangsters get what they want, and will the biggest crime lord of all-time come to Cochin from Mexico?

The defence of The Pet Detective :: The movie does focus on the comic side more than anything else. There is the effort to make it feel big, almost in that CID Moosa mood, with complications getting solved due to situations with a touch of humour, and the main characters are able to carry the same well on their shoulders as there is the full-fledged support of veterans. The performances here are energetic and the light feeling never really leaves the movie – the darkness never engulfs the film despite having a Mexican drug lord and gangster in the background ready to make an attack. The silly chaos mode has been activated very well too. The movie’s beginning is of top quality, and has us interested in the proceedings early. There is a certain amount of quality related to the visuals around here too. The movie’s good box-office collection reflects the response of the family audience here, as one feel that there is something for all kinds of audience, with this one being a clean entertainer. The arrival at OTT has also made sure that it will have more fans around.

The claws of flaw :: The inability to get on to the provided opportunities can be seen here. It tries to go big too, but never really reaches that level. The movie did begin with that promise which is only partially fulfilled by the end. There is a certain loss of interest which seems to have come in the middle due to the fact that there does not seem to be enough of an effort from some characters that seem to just wander along. Some characters are just everywhere, and the focus is never really one the right place during times. There are moments which could have been so much funnier, but the movie holds back at times, and keeps on adding complications, but the funny side does not get added there. The ending also feels a little bit too rushed and the final running around in confusion feels amateurish. The ending seems to have been forced to add a happy finish, and one would wonder if it could have just finished normally.

The performers of the soul :: Sharaf U Dheen has already displayed the strength to carry this type of movies on his shoulders, from that antagonist in Anjaam Pathiraa to the horror comedy combination in Hello Mummy. This time, when dealing with action comedy, he shows the skill to carry the whole thing mostly in his own style which works. Anupama Parameswaran makes her way here nicely, even though one would have felt that she deserved more, from how she began here. Vijayaraghavan carries the side of humour so well, and leads to the twists nicely. Shyam Mohan’s avatar keeps us interested as he did in Premalu. Vinayakan handles the negative role with a touch of humour without any difficulty. Vinay Forrt does well, but required more to his particular character here. Joemon Jyothir’s comic side works nicely and adds to the overall humour. Nishant Sagar also adds nicely to the fun while Bhagath Manuel and Jinu Joseph could have had bigger roles to play in here over these contributions.

How it finishes :: The Pet Detective seems to be aimed at heights, but that much is never reached despite opportunities being presented. Just a few months earlier Sahasam had achieved what the chaos comedy thrillers had dreamed of, and the chaos comedy was always best done through movies like Adi Kapyare Koottamani and Kunjiramayanam. If one is still in the mood for some light comedy without using that much of brains, this one provides an energetic and engaging journey, with never going down with its pace. But looking for believable plots, strong story-telling and memorable moments would not be the right choice to here as you need to enjoy the fun and move away, with no questions asked. After all, these kinds of movies are also the need of the times, for not everyone needs the most powerful investigation thrillers with twists that bends the mind to find a terrifying serial killer – for them, there are always movies like John Luther, Anjaam Pathiraa, Forensic, Paappan, Abraham Ozler, Anveshippin Kandethum and others.

Release date: 16th October 2025
Running time: 116 minutes
Directed by: Praneesh Vijayan
Starring: Sharaf U Dheen, Anupama Parameswaran, Vinayakan, Vinay Forrt, Shyam Mohan, Joemon Jyothir, Bhagath Manuel, Renji Panicker, Shobi Thilakan, Nishanth Sagar, P P Kunhikrishnan, Praseetha Menon, Sanju Madhu, Jai Vishnu, Jinu Joseph, Major Ravi, Amey Wagh, Maala Parvathi, Nileen Sandra, Prasanth Madhavan, Sonam Singh