Drishyam 2: The Resumption

This is a review of the Malayalam Language feature film of the said title.

This review has been written and edited by Anoop Prathapan

This review does not contain spoilers.

Category - Entertainment, Movie Review

Indian Language Malayalam Feature Film

Amazon Prime Release date 19/2/2021 – exclusive release on Amazon Prime

Written and Directed by Jeethu Joseph

Original Song and Background Score by Anil Johnson

Produced by M.J. Antony for M/s Aashirvad Cinemas

Feature Film Running time 154 minutes

Drishyam was a Malayalam language feature film that hit theatres all over the country on the 19th of December 2013. Though initially garnering mixed reviews, the film went on to become the biggest ever hit of that time and the most spoken about feature film in the history of Malayalam filmdom. It was remade into many languages – Indian and foreign. Celebrated actors Mohanlal and Meena played the lead couple Georgekutty and Rani while Ansiba Hassan and Esther portrayed the roles of their children Anju and Anu respectively.

The plot of Drishyam whirled around a cinema-buff middle-class man, Gerogekutty who runs a Cable TV business who, quite unexpectedly, got embroiled in the most unforeseen circumstances of having to cover up a murder that his elder daughter Anju committed in self-defence. The police team, led by the Inspector General, who also happens to be the mother of the victim, though certain that Gerogekutty is involved in the crime, fails to book him, for lack of material and/or other evidence. The 155-minute whodunnit concludes by making a thrilling revelation that Georgekutty had buried the dead body of the victim under the basement of the police station in the vicinity, that was being constructed at the time of the murder.

Exactly 86 months later, on another 19th, releases the sequel titled Drishyam 2: The resumption, this time exclusively on Amazon Prime Videos, the video-on-demand platform of the e-commerce giant, Amazon® Inc.

The lead “family’ reprises their roles in the sequel. The story details what the family goes through six years after the crime. Now Georgekutty has flourished and he owns a movie theatre in addition to his Cable TV enterprise. He is also in the process of producing a film. Rani is the anxious, tensed, but still over talkative housewife who tries her best to keep up a charade but falters big time. Anju suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and concomitant episodes of seizures after the incident in 2013 and Anu is a teenager in high school now and she seems to be the one least affected by the tragedy.

The suffering that each of these members go though, is elegantly sketched taking ample time, to kick off the proceedings. Moreover, the public opinion on Georgekutty's prosperity and how the village folk gossips about the 2013 event are all well narrated at the start. Altogether, by the time the movie gains momentum, 54 minutes since start, we get to know how each of the characters shown until then perceives the entire series of events that happened in Georgekutty's life, past and present.

Much cannot be divulged about the story here as it could be spoilers. All I wish to state here is that Georgekutty had not left any loopholes in the way he salvaged his family in 2013. But God did, and those come to light, six years later. How the uncompromising Georgekutty faces those, whether he gets detained for his crime or whether he manages to secure his family once again, forms the story of the sequel. Jeethu has packed a few twists and surprises in the script even in this outing as well and those are what makes the much anticipated Drishyam 2, an exciting flick to watch. There might be a couple of (technical) situations where certain portions of the script could be professionally questioned. Nevertheless, this is a fit sequel to the original.

I wish to applaud writer-director Jeethu Joseph for churning out a near-perfect and believable script to make a sequel to a movie that broke all collection records in 2013. His patience and hard work has paid off. In my opinion, Drishyam 1 and 2 should be made available as course content to students of cinema learning scripting and direction, for it is a perfect example of what a great script can do to a film. I am sure this devoted gentleman must have spent almost a year, or maybe even more, to think, write, re-write, discuss and plan what we had seen in the last 45 minutes of the film.

Murali Gopi is the best performer in Drishyam 2. He executes his character with effortless fluency whereas Asha Sarath, reprising the role of Geetha Prabhakar over-emotes on many occasions. Mohanlal and Meena are at their usual best and so are the younger ones, Ansiba and Esther. The prodigious capacity of Mohanlal to emote through his eyes is simply marvelous.

Technical aspects of the movie are all good and in tunes with the intentions of the director. Subtitles were just average and in may scenes, just thoughtless translation of the Malayalam dialogue spoken on screen. For those who do not understand spoken Malayalam, it might read good, for those who know, it is just an average fare.

Another man worth a cartload of compliments is Anil Johnson, the music director of the movie. I had become a big fan of his, through the songs and background score of the movie “Life of Josutty”. This is yet another one where he proves his calibre. The background score is top notch and the one song rendered by newbie Zonobia Safar gets you hooked to it after maybe just five times of listening. Anil Johnson is a virtuoso who needs to be explored more by directors like Shyamaprasad and Renjith who makes such tremendous movies with subtle storytelling. Felicitaciones Señor Johnson.

Altogether, the film is a must watch for anyone who embraced the prequel, for it will not disenchant you. Watch it for the devotion of the filmmaker Jeethu Joseph, Georgekutty’s impregnable commitment towards his family and for the soulful music of Anil Johnson.

My rating 8/10.

text copyright : 2021, Anoop Prathapan

anoop.prathapan@gmail.com