CBI 5 – The Brain Twitter review: Mammootty, K Madhu’s investigative thriller leave netizens divided

The film marked the return of the superstar as Sethurama Iyer after about 15 years and Jagathy Sreekumar who also reprised his role as Vikram in one of his first films since the accident that had left him paralysed.

Malayalam cinephiles were anxiously looking forward to seeing Mammootty grace the screens as Sethurama Iyer again in CBI 5 – The Brain, essaying the role after a period of more than 15 years. Other than Mammootty’s return, fans of the popular CBI film series certainly had a lot to look forward to in the film. The fact that K. Madhu and S. N. Swami, the director-writer team behind the previous instalments in the franchise, returned for the new film also added to the hype and expectations were high among fans indeed. Twitter was rife with fans giving their two cents about the film, and here’s what most of them seemed to think.

Reactions to the investigative thriller seemed to be a mixed bag that covered both extremes. While some fans found it riveting and declared it one of the best films of the CBI franchise, others called it the weakest.

The fans who liked the film hailed its writing and were all praise for Swamy’s screenplay. The film's second half in particular seemed to impress them, as well as the film’s ‘superb’ climax. Swamy was praised by some netizens as a ‘firebrand’ and the ‘real brain’ of the CBI film franchise.

Some users talked about how they went into the film with very low expectations but were pleasantly surprised. While one user called it ‘highly engaging’, another said that they found it to be one of the best films in the CBI franchise.

The film also featured Jagathy Sreekumar who reprised his role as Vikram, in one of his first film performances since the accident that had left him paralysed. Some users thought that his scenes in the film were one of its highlights.

But many users found themselves disappointed with the film and criticised the film’s script. Many users called it strictly below average, and one user even called it the weakest film in the CBI film series.

The film also stars Renji Panicker, Sai Kumar, Soubin Shahir, Ramesh Pisharadi, Anoop Menon, Dileesh Pothen, Ravi Kumar, Harish Raju, Edavela Babu, Sudev Nair, Prasanth Alexander, Ramesh Kottayam, Jayakrishnan, Prathap Pothen, Suresh Kumar, Chandhu Karamana, Azees Nedumangad, Santhosh Keezhattur, Asha Sarath, Kaniha, Ansiba, Malavika Menon and Malavika Nair in pivotal roles.

CBI 5 – The Brain is now showing in theatres.

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