Mammootty and Vinayakan in ‘Kalamkaval’.
What does one have to look forward to when a filmmaker lays almost all the cards on the table right at the beginning? At no point in Kalamkaval, a police procedural in pursuit of a serial killer, are we, the audience, required to wonder about the ‘who’, which remains hidden only from the investigators. As rumoured, the film is inspired by the real-life story of the dreaded serial killer Cyanide Mohan, and by now almost everyone knows that Mammootty plays the antagonist.
But, unfurling all the surprises at once can be a useful trick to kill such expectations when the intention of your film is not just to serve one twist after another. For that matter, Kalamkaval has one interesting surprise at the halfway point, which opens up a whole new world of possibilities. This is the one major deviation the film takes from the real-life story. Kalamkaval is equally concerned with the mindspaces of the cold-blooded killer and the sharp-thinking police officer in his pursuit.
Kalamkaval (Malayalam)
Starring: Mammootty, Vinayakan, Rajisha Vijayan, Jibin Gopinath, Shruti Ramachandran, Dhanya Ananya and Gayatri Arun
Director: Jithin K Jose
Runtime: 139 minutes
Storyline: A serial killer targeting vulnerable women is on the loose, with a sharp-thinking police officer close on his trail.
Mammootty’s antagonist role has always been the USP of the film. Yet, debutant director Jithin K. Jose, who wrote the story for Dulquer Salman’s Kurup, takes a marked non-commercial approach compared to Kurup, which was also based on a real-life criminal. Thus, the serial killer never gets a scene that casts him in a heroic or even favourable light, despite a star playing the role. The chewing of cigarettes and Tamil songs with a 1980s vintage touch (composed by Mujeeb Majeed) that accompany the killer’s spine-chilling acts appear as details of the character rather than attempts at glorification.
Our first brush with this character’s psychopathy comes in a thoughtfully written scene in a hotel room, which takes off from a conversation about a random news item, building tension with every line uttered and culminates in the inevitable. In yet another sequence, meant to convey his modus operandi and the number of victims, a different actress is used in the succeeding step of the same sequence. Such intelligent touches are at times missing in the latter half, except in a few instances. In those closing phases, much of the intrigue rests on the performances of Mammootty and Vinayakan, rather than on the staging or writing.
For a story that alternates between Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Mammootty brings easy shifts in speech and demeanour. But one can find no trace here of his Tamil-Malayali character in Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam. Vinayakan, with his easy restraint, matches the superstar in every step. Giving him the nickname of ‘Nathu’, in a seeming nod to Mammootty’s character in Kanalkkattu (1991) and the background story behind that name revealed in the last sequence, was impressive.
Kalamkaval could have become just another slow-burn serial killer despite some of its original takes, but Mammootty and Vinayakan elevate it to the next level through the force of their performances.
Kalamkaval is currently running in theatres
Published – December 05, 2025 05:26 pm IST
