Dridam

Posted on June 16, 2026 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: We have been looking for similar police investigation movies.

Vampire Bat: Malayalam surely has the best investigation thrillers.

Vampire Owl: If this was in any other language, the twist would be to mass masala.

Vampire Bat: If it was Bollywood, there would also be special item dance too.

Vampire Owl: That would be as far away from reality as possible.

Vampire Bat: Well, Bollywood and reality never really come together.

Vampire Owl: I guess that they are very much against reality.

Vampire Bat: Their audience also has that kind of a taste, it seems.

Vampire Owl: I would give away my eternity to save myself from things like Singham franchise.

Vampire Bat: It is one franchise that I would never wish to remember.

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

What is the movie about? :: Vijay Radhakrishnan (Shane Nigam) gets his first posting as Sub Inspector in a rural area where there are usually not many problems and DYSP Alex Jacob (Mathew Varghese) feels that it is a good place to begin due to the peaceful atmosphere and wishes him all the best. A civil police officer there, Vidya Jayachandran (Saniya Fathima) becomes immediately romantically interested in him, and the same love interest is supported by a little more senior officer Remya Surendran (Krisna Prabha), as they attempt to get into his good books and gain a marriage alliance for Vidya. Due to Vijay’s lack of experience, the senior police constables Krishnan Kurup (Shobi Thilakan) and Balan Nair (Kottayam Ramesh) are there to help and advise him. The other supporting policemen in the station are Sathyan M (Dinesh Prabhakar), Anand Manoharan (Nandan Unni) and Bibeesh A (Vinod Bose) who are locals and going through usual problems of the village. Vijay starts off well in the village well with some simple problems.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: Vidya who is a karate black belt, manage to get the attention of Vijay, and the police station seems like a happy place in the beginning days. But soon, problems begin to show up. People discover a severed hand followed by the rest of the corpse which shocks the villagers who face such a situation for the first time. Then there is a robbery in the nearby finance company and a number of people have also gone missing, and they are all suspects and those who have been holding a grudge against the company for a long time. The situation does not seem to be ideal for Vijay as the media as well as the superior officers call for the change of investigation lead, as he seems to be too inexperienced and a junior by all means. It is during the same time that more dead bodies are found, while Vijay and Balan are also attacked while discovering a body in a remote area. As Vijay finds himself in further trouble every day, the locals also turn against him, there are protests to the police station. Can he solve this mystery in time or will he be suspended or transferred?

The defence of Dridam :: The movie takes on a realistic path throughout its journey despite deviating in the last few moments. The whole journey follows an interesting pattern while never really trying to overdo the procedure of investigation despite chances being always present. Until the movie nears the last few minutes one never really has a real clue about the grand plotting behind all of these, and the suspense is indeed nicely maintained and the twist works, as it is not just one turn of events related to a person or two, but is really much more. What lies beneath is more than what people usually guesses with these kinds of movies. The visuals are really good, and as we had seen in Sambhavam Adhyayam Onnu, the setting really plays a major factor here too, and if that was about how forest plays along, this is about a small town surrounded by greenery goes on with the strange situation; in both situations, one police station and its people remain more important than anything else. The cinematography and background score supports this mood despite that initial feeling that there is so much good around here.

The claws of flaw :: The beginning stages spends quite some time in establishing characters and the setting, and the mood is never brought there. The movie seems to go full action in the last few moments, and despite how realistic they try, we feel that it is an impossible flight in the end, and that there has been a little too much of freedom taken with the same. There is that certain change with comes and seemingly struggling to manage that transformation as one might feel that it is not the same movie in the beginning and the end. Sometimes in between, the audience might feel that this is just going on and on without any major clue being followed, with the thought that this investigation might reach nowhere with repetitions seemingly happening too often and without attempts to think beyond limitations. Some of the characters can also be seen not being that developed, and a few seems to be there just for the sake of being there. There are also some situations which are not that explored. Some moments seem to be there to stretch the movie, as not much is gained there.

The performers of the soul :: Dridam has Shane Nigam leading in a police role, and it is not something new to him, but this might be the one where he has to lead more, considering the overall cast. He excels in the role of a young police officer who is placed in a situation from where problem-solving is too difficult. The performance here is restrained, and as the role demands, showing no overdose in a matured performance which could make even some senior actors feel the need to play a police officer in control. The character’s simplest characteristics are brought to light really well by him, from determination to frustration and the sides of the person and professional. Shobi Thilakan’s police role here is something to be admired, as he manages a seemingly usual, but multiple layered role with ease. Krishna Prabha has a smaller, but notable role which is managed well. Nandan Unni, Dinesh Prabhakar and Kottayam Ramesh perform their parts without any complication. Bitto Davis, Prashant Murali and Mathew Varghese come up with dependable supporting performances as they seem to blend into this world really well. A special mention goes to Saniya Fathima who is a lovely surprise and contributes so well to the situation.

How it finishes :: Dridam has a rather lesser known presence in the theatres during its release, as it never really managed to catch the attention of the common audience, and I remember never really hearing about the movie when it released, unlike those other police investigations from Memories to Anjaam Pathiraa and Forensic, all of them releasing with some fine hype; even John Luther which was a surprise entry had everyone talking about it, and Abraham Ozler had nicely followed the lead. In between, there was Kooman. Unlike those other movies, this one has to depend a lot on the main actor, and Shane Nigam makes sure that a certain strength is maintained here. We can call this one a well-crafted investigative thriller that moves on as an engaging mystery with grounded performances and more of realistic portrayal of police work, with twists also added. But the slow pace and the strange changes to the journey by the end might not satisfy everyone. It required to do better in moments, and appeal to the audience more with situations to remember, but there is not that much around here as this one goes on without trying to take the risk with big variations beyond the procedure. Jio Hotstar makes sure that you give this one a try.

Release date: 8th May 2026
Running time: 128 minutes
Directed by: Martin Joseph
Starring: Shane Nigam, Saniya Fathima, Shobi Thilakan, Krishna Prabha, Nandan Unni, Dinesh Prabhakar, Kottayam Ramesh, Bitto Davis, Prashant Murali, Mathew Varghese.

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

The Pet Detective

Posted on December 2, 2025 by Dr. Tennyson

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

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@ Cemetery Watch
✠ The Vampire Bat.

Pendulum

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Dr. Tennyson

Vampire Owl: I have heard a lot about this movie being different.

Vampire Bat: One of the most divergent movies in Malayalam indeed.

Vampire Owl: I earlier had the feeling that this would be horror.

Vampire Bat: A mystery thriller need not be horror in any way.

Vampire Owl: Nothing would be better than a combination of all of these.

Vampire Bat: When it comes in Malayalam, there is a special feeling.

Vampire Owl: We need all the variety that we can have.

Vampire Bat: Let us thrive on such variety like never before.

Vampire Owl: The acceptance of audience would remain a question though.

Vampire Bat: The best movies would not be accepted well by our audience.

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

What is the movie about? :: A truck driver named Antony (Shobi Thilakan) finds a strange man named Amir (Binoj Villya) on his vehicle, and despite his best attempts, the man does not get down, and seems to be mentally challenged and without most of his memories. Alex (Sunil Sukhada), the owner of the warehouse to which the truck supplied the goods tells them to keep him with them, and let him get down where he wanted to. Antony is surprised to find a number of snails around when Amir is there. Amir also predicts a number of things which would happen including heavy rains and hitting a dog on the way. Antony becomes more careful as Amir continues to reveal more. At the same time, Dr. Mahesh Narayan (Vijay Babu), a reputed surgeon returning from Australia after many years of service, joins a famous hospital in Kerala. He is accompanied by his wife Shwetha (Devaki Rajendran) and daughter Thanmayi (Aavani) who are happy to be back home from the concrete jungles of Australia’s cities. One day, he meets an old man in the hospital who tells him to find out where his son is, a case which he refers to the psychiatrist, feeling that the man is crazy.

So, what happens with the events here as we just keep looking? :: As Mahesh and his family goes on a short trip to Marayur, he gets a feeling of déjà vu for no reason, and Thanmayi locks the key of the car inside the trunk while they were having tea on a roadside shop. They decide to stay there, and while he was trying to get signal for his mobile phone, gets hit by a truck, and this is proven to be the one driven by Antony with Amir in it. Shweta finds him unconscious on the side of the road, and only he remembers that he was hit by a truck. Just before he was hit, he had found him in a dream of Amir and his friend Angel without invitation, and the old man had also asked him to find his son again. There seems to be something strange about all of these, but only he feels that all these have actually happened. His friend Dr. Jain Joseph (Ramesh Pisharody) seems to have some belief in what he has been saying. He asks Mahesh to talk to a man named John Master (Prakash Bare) who has had some interesting explanations for strange events which have happened all around the world. But as the incidents of the dreams have happened with a huge time gap in between, can there be an actual solution and a chance to extract what is required from the dreams?

The defence of Pendulum :: The ideas of time travelling and lucid dreaming come as new concepts to Malayalam cinema, and they have been used with effectively to create an impact like never before. This entry of the elements of science fiction into our movies with quality is to be remembered for long, as we hope for more of similar movies after watching this one. We should always be looking for experimentation here, and hope that this is only the beginning of some fine variety which is to follow soon enough. Maybe such movies will be made in big budget instead. The quality of making is also to be noted here as we move forward. The dreams are presented very well, and nice visuals support them. The mystery that prevails in this movie keeps us going, like no other similar film. After all, we are all set in a series of time loops in our own lives, and there seems to be no end or chance to escape – the realities that we create do not come to our help. The film often feels like a reflection of our meaningless lives which seem like busy realities. The music serves the purpose well enough as the mystery only gets sharper and thicker as we move forward.

Positives and negatives :: There is no doubt about the fact that the movie could have used more refining as some more of attention to details would have helped this one to connect to its audience better. There are times when the film seems to be confused about where it is heading. After all, there was the need for more explanation as the concept is new for the audience – we do have a lot of explanation here for sure, but not in the way that there is a perfectly defined conclusion to things. As time is not linear in this movie, such an explanation could have done a lot of good to the non-complicated, unsuspecting viewers. There is still the need to understand how the main character is involved in all of these, and how things have actually turned out in the end. It leaves us with the feeling that we have watched something special, but the chance to become a classic movie is not there because of the absence of some focused writing in relation to the complication between time and dreams in a world that walks on a bridge between real and unreal.

The performers of the soul :: Vijay Babu nicely leads a complicated movie with twisted characters all around. The sinister and seemingly unsolvable problems faced by the character is nicely shown by Vijay Babu who seems to blend in to the doctor facing unexpected terror. He has to go through an Inception-like world living through magically created world, and at the same time, relive his life multiple times like in Edge of Tomorrow. The helplessness is displayed really well by the actor. Ramesh Pisharody comes up with an interesting role here, as a doctor and support. Devaki Rajendran plays the main lady character here, and keeps us hoping to see her more around. Anumol is playing the other lady character of relevance, and handles her moments really well with a touch of mystery following her. Prakash Bare has another strong role well played here as we go deep into a world of mystery. Indrans plays a strange character without enough attention provided to characterization, but it is nice to see him in another classic role. Shobi Thilakan also has a strong presence here. Sunil Sukhada and Neena Kurup also have some small, but notable roles.

How it finishes :: With lucid dreaming and time travelling making its way nicely in here, this becomes a landmark movie in Malayalam movie industry. It is just strange that it had gone unnoticed among the common audience – one can blame the absence of the required kind of advertisement and also the missing superstar at least in the form of a leading lady for the same. The cast that we see here is surely able to hold the movie universe together, but we needed that special ingredient which could have appealed better to our audience, and in its absence in advertising has left this film mostly unwatched, which is rather disappointing. Maybe some people still fail to understand the basic idea behind this movie. Yet, it is brilliant as the attempt, and I would say that this is a fine New Year movie which one could watch with the presence of what seems to be a blend of science fiction and magic. So, we go on and watch this one and wish each other a Very Happy New Year. May this new year bring the best moments in your life, as world never ceases to have enough to offer.

Release date: 8th December 2023 (Saina Play); 16th June 2023 (Theatre)
Running time: 106 minutes
Directed by: Rejin S Babu
Starring: Vijay Babu, Ramesh Pisharody, Devaki Rajendran, Anumol, Prakash Bare, Indrans, Shobi Thilakan, Deepu Navaikulam, Sunil Sukhada, Neena Kurup, Jolly Chirayath, Aseem Ibrahim, Biju Sopanam