Anweshippin Kandethum --> Seek and you shall find. This Malayalam movie lives up to its title. I saw it on Netflix.
The movie is a police procedural drama. Set in 2 parts, it joins both of them quite well.
SI Anand Narayanan (Tovino Thomas) has always thought differently from other police officers. He is more interested in solving a case correctly than sucking up to his superiors.
Naturally this independent streak gets him into trouble.
Naturally this independent streak gets him into trouble.
The movie starts with him being suspended, and waiting to meet the SP. In between he starts remembering the case that got him suspended.
Anand was the initial lead into a murder of a young girl, Lovely Mathan. He suspected the hand of someone in the nearby monastery, but is prevented by his superiors from going ahead. The superiors frame a history sheeter and try to beat him into confessing. Any suggestions given by Anand are dismissed. He is sent to get biryani for them instead of taking part in the investigation.
But Anand bypasses them, and uses proper police investigation to arrive at who murdered Lovely. He learns some shocking secrets along the way.
Unfortunately, as the team is taking the killer to the court, he/she escapes. After a chase, the killer is run over by a train and dies.
The team bears the brunt of his/her death. They are suspended for negligence. Not only are they branded killers in public opinion, but also they don't get the satisfaction of having proven in court that they were right.
Flashback ends, present begins. The SP (who is sympathetic to them, unlike the previous superiors) gives them a cold case. 6 years old. Another young girl (Sridevi) was murdered. Multiple teams have tried to solve it, including a reputed officer, and failed.
The team takes it because
a) They get something to do
b) If they fail, nobody is going to say anything because others have failed before.
The team goes to the village, which is highly antagonistic to them because the previous police had used heavy handed means while investigating.
But slowly and surely, they make progress. Thread by thread they unravel the mystery. And find the culprit.
Who was the actual murderer comes as a real shock in the end (at least I couldn't guess it).
The cinematography captures the essence of the village in both cases. The lives of ordinary people, the simmering politics, buried resentments, the tension in the air when people have to deal with police, all are presented well.
The movie never develops a fast tempo. But that I think is deliberate. It is a relatively slow, but not at all boring journey. The emotions in the team, their highs and lows, all are captured pretty well.
There is no gore, no extra bloody scenes. Just plain mystery, and the unravelling of it. It makes this a wonderfully different film, and totally family friendly.
All in all, recommended.
