Film review of ‘Thalavan’: Biju Menon, Asif Ali’s thriller, has an intriguing plot but wastes its potential

In the current social media atmosphere, people can easily be branded, often making it difficult to break out of the image imposed on them. Filmmaker Jis Joy, whose series of feel-good films made him a frequent subject of memes, has been trying in earnest to break that image in recent years. Inland Waters, his first attempt to make a dark thriller failed. In his latest project ThalavanJoy seems to have learned some lessons from this misstep, but he still has a long way to go.

Thalavan begins with a narrative that revolves around an ego clash between two cops, Jayashankar (Biju Menon) and Karthik (Asif Ali), before slowly moving into the direction of an investigative thriller. While Jayashankar, the superior, does not tolerate disobedience, Karthik has often spoken his mind and is frequently transferred. Surrounding them is a group of cops, each with their own personal agenda and animosity that ends up driving the two even further apart. When a dead body turns up under mysterious circumstances, all of these past events and departmental dynamics come into play.

Screenwriters Anand Thevarkkat and Sarath Perumbavoor manage to keep us guessing about the killer's identity and motive almost until the end. This is achieved in part by constantly introducing characters and situations designed to mislead us. Amidst these red herrings, the one event from the past that is connected to the murders is also thrown in, but it's easy to miss in an already crowded field.

Although the plot is quite exciting, Thalavan is burdened by all these situations and characters designed to distract us. Suspicion constantly swings between people inside and outside the police force. Much of this is handled in a fairly boring way, almost as if they are biding their time to keep pushing the revelations further towards the film's ultimate ending. The mystery, when it is revealed, makes some of that wait worthwhile with its ingenuity.

At the same time, however, you can't help but wonder what could have been achieved with this material if it had been stripped of all the baggage and edited less harshly. The reveal at the end deserved a much more interesting path. The idea of ​​having another cop narrate the whole case to an online channel seems a little redundant in the end.

Both Biju Menon and Asif Ali get roles with some scope for acting, while Kottayam Nazeer makes an impression in the few scenes he gets. Miya George and Anushree's roles are merely functional.

Considering the potential of the plot, Thalavan doesn't quite hit the mark, but Jis Joy proves to some extent that he feels comfortable outside of his comfort zone.

Thalavan is currently in cinemas