Writers: Bobby, Sanjay
Cast: Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Rahman
Language:Malayalam
ACP Antony Moses finds the killer of his friend ACP Aryan Jacob and just before revealing it, he meets with an accident which leaves him with amnesia. Days later, he is forced to investigate the murder once again by retracing his steps.
The film was good commercial success and received positive reviews for its slick execution and the ending that could be termed as bold and shocking for an Indian film. I couldn't watch it when it hit the screens but was aware about the basic plot through a friend of mine, Daivd Lazar, whose review of it is as follows: http://reviewreels.blog.com/2013/05/04/mumbai-police-review/
I am gonna spoiler the film since the plot holes largely relates to the twist itself. The basic gist of it is that Antony Moses is a homosexual and his friend discovers about his sexuality and threatens to report it to higher officials so that he is not dangerous to society. This prompts Antony to kill his friend and subvert the subsequent investigation. The main problem I had with it was that Antony Moses seems to have forgotten about his sexuality after his amnesia causing accident. The ever reliable internet tells me that it is not possible since Amnesia affects only parts of memory whilst sexuality is based on how the brain is wired. Lets leave that plot-hole aside (suspension of disbelief) and concentrate on the next one which really lets the film down. The homophobic reaction by his friend Aryan is very unrealistic and Antony's reaction to the video which prompts him to confess is also unrealistic. They could have easily done a better fist of it by making it either a case of cheating in a love triangle or just by eliminating the third person and making it a case of misinterpretation of relationship between the two main characters Antony and Aryan. Either of this would have justified the motivations behind the murder and confession. The confession relies very much on Antony seeing that video which shows that Aryan had changed his mind. But the recording of the video and him threatening Antony is supposed to have happened during the same night before the shooting which is also not credible. All this changes if Aryan was also secretly gay and was let down by seeing Antony with another man. Clues for this is also given in the earlier part of the film and if that is the case then it is really brilliant. But I think it is a case of them kind of compromising on the twist and making a hash of it.
The execution of the film is very good and even though I knew about the plot which relies very much on a twist, it was a great watch since it is done in a nuanced way giving us sufficient clues about the twist. The jumping between the timelines is done seamlessly and the expositions are also done very neatly unlike most other Malayalm film thrillers. The Antony Moses prior to the accident is portrayed as a very rough character giving credibility to the plot and I liked Pritviraj's performance despite his ever present smugness which is quite suitable for this role. It is very good watch and could have been a a great one had it not been for those plot-holes.
Rating: 3.5/5
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