Kaapa movie review: Prithviraj Sukumaran, Asif Ali’s gangster-drama lacks emotional heft to be engaging enough

3/5

Story: After young couple Anand (Asif Ali) and Binu (Anna Ben) move to Thiruvananthapuram, the former unexpectedly finds out that his wife’s name is the list of criminals under Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, thanks to a crime tabloid. In his efforts to clear her name, Anand becomes aware that he must first prove that she’s innocent of the crimes propagated under her name by the tabloid, to the city’s gangster Kotta Madhu. How he gets involved in the city’s gang wars and its ramifications form the plot of the film.

Review: In a scene that reveals the emotional side of Kaapa’s protagonist Kotta Madhu, director Shaji Kailas presents his chance meeting with a youngster, who was elemental in making turning him from a goon to a feared gangster. The sequences that follow has Madhu tripping on guilt, revisiting his past and also sharing why the stain of using a boy’s hunger to commit a heinous crime would never wash away. We even get to see his wife asking Madhu to stop drinking alcohol – because that’s what he does every time he sees the boy. 

Also read: Prithviraj Sukumaran: Kaapa is a cinematic adaptation of Shankhumukhi, not a line-by-line depiction 

These scenes work, mostly because it shows a different side of Madhu, who is presented as a larger-than-life figure throughout the movie. But the disappointing part is that, apart from this sequence, you hardly ever get to know the man who chews the majority of the scenes in Kaapa, which relegates its stellar supporting cast such as Asif Ali, Anna Ben and Aparna Balamurali to minor characters.

Contrary to his previous directorial Kaduva, Shaji Kailas keeps the mood of Kaapa grim and even in scenes that are intended to play to the gallery, he holds back. Madhu’s dialogues – which sometimes seem more forced than what a goon would spew at the peak of his rage – are again ‘massy’ in a way, if it had been the ‘90s. But the character itself is so dark and unsentimental that you never side with him. This becomes the major impediment in a film because Madhu as a character drives the narrative and the audience is almost always disconnected with him. It would have been better if Asif Ali’s Anand, who is always wearing puzzled look on his face, would have been the audience’s perspective through and through, instead of the script starting off with him and then tagging mostly with Madhu.

Madhu’s flashback sequences, except for the one involving the boy, doesn’t quite plot his rise and only serves to connect the characters’ pasts. Shaji Kailas hits a meter from the first scene of the film and maintains this till the end, which is a tough aspect to do and this makes the movie watchable. Even the twist in the end is something that many would guess. So, Kaapa never quite hits a high point. That said, the writing is tight, even though the movie lacks the emotional heft required to string the audience through its characters’ journey. And that is a missed opportunity.

Though Kotta Madhu is a feared gangster, one does feel he is too refined in his ways, and that comes from how he is presented. Apart from Prithviraj, it’s Jagadish who makes a mark, in a role as his cohort named Jabbar. Dileesh Pothan’s arc, especially in the second half, makes you doubt whether your assumptions are right, but the makers never see it through. Aparna Balamurali and Anna Ben only get limited screentime in the film.

Jomon T John’s cinematography keep in tact the grim, sombre mood of the film throughout and Dawn Vincent’s music helps in stylishly presenting its (anti)hero.

Verdict: Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Kaapa is a decent watch, thanks to the actor’s performance. However, it does seem to be a missed opportunity because of the ample talent involved in the movie.