Kaanekkaane (2021)

Language : Malayalam

Director : Manu Asokan

Writers : Bobby & Sanjay

Cast : Suraj Venjaramood, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Tovino Thomas, Sruthi Ramachandran

Genre : Drama, Thriller.

IMDb: Kaanekkaane (2021)

Streaming on Sony Liv.

Kaanekkaane, the second directorial venture of Manu Asokan after the commendable ‘Uyare’ is a slow burn emotional drama that explores the vulnerabilities of the human mind. At its core, the film focuses on a hit and run case and how the lives of 3 characters connected to the incident shape up, post the event.

Of late Malayalam cinema has been moving away from the general format of placing its characters under a good or evil tag. These new films are more interested in presenting each of them as individuals who have their own set of flaws where the good and bad becomes an outcome of only the situation. In Kannekkaane, writers Bobby and Sanjay use this grey space of the characters to drive forward the core conflict. The film explores the repercussions of certain actions that we humans take while placed in an emotionally/morally challenging situation. It eventually becomes a movie about realizations, forgiveness, redemption and a deep dive into human conscience.

On the flip side, the movie gets predictable once the thriller aspect of the script gets sorted. The climax is predictable given how the character arcs are established well within the first half even though the performances keep you invested. The moral side of Allen (Tovino Thomas) and whether the last act from Paul (Suraj Venjaramoodu) can be used as a tool to drive forgiveness and realization towards Allen is debatable.

Suraj Venjaramood, as always is outstanding as the grief-stricken father who is unable to move on or accept the ill fate of his daughter. He truly internalises the pain and with subtle mannerisms and expression shifts, becomes the cynosure of the film. One just hopes that Suraj doesn’t get typecast into these serious roles that always comes with an emotional baggage, like the ones in Action Hero Biju, Oru Yamandan Premakatha and Finals. Tovino gives his best as Allen who is both morally flawed and emotionally fragile. He is especially good in the emotional sequences where you as an audience will empathise with the plight of Allen. He needs to be appreciated for taking up such interesting characters one after the other, devoid of any typical heroic qualities. Aishwarya Lekshmi as Sneha puts up a good show post-Appu in Mayanadhi and the actress is very convincing as the confused yet loving wife. Sruthi Ramachandran was memorable in her brief appearance.

Technically the film seems to have been shot keeping the OTT route in mind and it’s evident in the cuts and total packaging of the film. Overall Kaanekkaane is an appreciable second venture from the team that gave us Uyare and is definite to connect with the audience on an emotional level. A good debut by Sony Liv in the Malayalam space.

Verdict – 4/7 stars.