Ayyappanum Koshiyum (2019)

Now that the Corona pandemic has pretty much locked down everyone, there are only a few avenues left to spend the weekends. What I am trying to do is to clear up my play list in Prime and Netflix (which is a challenge itself!) and also to read up on some of the long pending books - in fact, I am reading a lot more these days and so expect a few reviews in the coming days.

We watched 'Ayyapppanum Koshium' sometime last week. The movie is probably a lesson on how stories can be told with the slightest of the premise. The premise is very simple - an SI in a forest area stops a car for carrying alcohol in the forest zone and the guy in the car seems to be a big shot with connections to politicians and all. The SI is also a former convict who doesn't know how to let go.

The confrontation - which starts at the regular checkpost - escalates with both of them unwilling to let go of the, proverbial, tiger's tail they caught. The most interesting thing about the movie is the way it deals with the ego of individuals - how it is easy to escalate small things and de-escalation takes a lot more time and effort.

Ayyappan Nair (Biju Menon) stops Koshy Kurien (Prithviraj) at the border check post. Koshy has a bunch of alcohol bottles in the car and resists to answer anything. He is son of a political influencer and decides to take out his revenge on Ayyappan when he remands him to jail. When Ayyappan loses his job, he decides to take it out on Koshy - till it becomes an ego tussle between them to find out who blinks first.

There are only 4-5 characters in the entire film - the screen play is tightly written to carry the movie forward without feeling bored at all. The sub plots that comes in - the little story of Jessie, the tribal girl who is a constable or the story of Kuttamani or the subtle tribal politics of the area - are all dealt sensibly and there is no overt expression of right or wrong.

Both the leads - Biju and Prithviraj - comes out with grey shades, showing their dark sides and there is no hero in the movie. Both have their yin and the yang, and they both deal with it differently. One with a restrained savagery and the other with nuanced cunning. 

With the forest background, the tribal music is enchanting to hear with the flutes and drums playing all around. The Kummati dance in the start sets up the backstory and the tribal girl who plays Ayyappan's wife is so ruggedly beautiful and the strength she exudes catches up with you.

The only thing that can be said in negative is the length of the movie. It could've been made another 20-30 minutes shorter. As it is, it is an interesting movie to watch and especially the performances of the leads are amazing!

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