Kalamkaval (and the perks of being a leading man who doesn't age)

I liked Jithin K Jose’s Kalamkaval a great deal (though it was a bit surprising to see that a couple of 5/6-year-old kids were in the hall for this serial-killer film). I had gone in worrying that it would be another of those self-consciously “slow-burn” or existential thrillers that get fetishised a lot these days (nothing against that mode – I have enjoyed many such films, especially Malayalam films, in the past few years – but I wasn’t in the mood for something like that on the day). Was glad to find that it was stylish, moved at a good pace, and found interesting ways to cross-cut between the (past and present) activities of the psychotic protagonist and the cops on his trail. This jigsaw puzzle-like structure could have become convoluted, but they kept it clean and easy to follow. Some very good lighting in the indoor scenes (which have an incongruously warm texture even when the protagonist is doing creepy things). And Mammootty and Vinayakan were both terrific.

Even as a big Mammootty fan, I have sometimes felt that in this very productive recent phase of his career, he (and the writers-filmmakers working with him) might be trying a little too hard to tick every possible box: from playing a “respectable” family man trying to come out of the closet in a conservative social environment in Kaathal, to the monstrous glowering chathan in Bramayugam (a horror film I had high expectations of but couldn’t stay invested in), to the childlike but also paranoid and dangerous Kuttan in Puzhu. Some of the choices can start to feel contrived at times. But all that goes out the window when he is on the screen, giving a solid performance in a well-written and structured film, and that was the case with Kalamkaval.

P.S. yes, that inter-title *does* say “The Perks of Being a Subjective Nihilist”, but don’t worry – the chapter heads are mainly playful ones.

P.P.S. I have probably said this a few times in conversations, on my film group etc - but it is extraordinary how Mammootty can so easily pass off as being three-plus decades younger than he is. He is completely plausible as a 45-year-old, and this isn't so much because of boyish features or a super-fit-seeming physique (obviously he isn't a Tom Cruise), but just because of his movements and gestures and body language - all of that belongs to a much younger man. I can't think of anyone else who can pull this off in quite the same way. (Someone like Robert De Niro is very fit and alert, but it was discomfiting to watch him play a character half his age in The Irishman, notwithstanding the "de-aging" CGI used there. With Mammootty, on the other hand, it is currently hard to imagine what a believably 75-year-old version of the man would be like.)