Sukumara Kurup. Kerala’s most famous fugitive over the last five decades. A man who is now part of folklore. And the bane of the state police force. “Where is Kurup” is now part of the popular slang in Malayalam. And yet when fact becomes fiction on celluloid, the question to be asked is whether “Where is Kurup?” is good enough. Should the film focus equally on “Who is this Kurup?” And that's the debate I came back with after watching the film.
The remote has gone missing like the fugitive. Pass_Me_The_Remote reviews the new #Kurup, the stylish #DulquerSalmaan film now streaming on #NetflixIndia. Director #SrinathRajendran’s film is already courting controversy with people accusing him of glamourising a cold-blooded murderer for the sake of big screen entertainment. It was in 1984, that Kurup was accused of murdering a man named chacko and using the corpse to fake his own death to claim insurance money. A lot of Malayalis still believe that he is alive and kicking in some part of the world even today! #Kurup is produced by #WayfarerFilms and #MStarEntertainment.
#Kurup traces the story of Gopi Krishan Kurup (played with aplomb by #DulquerSalmaan). He fails class 12 but does not think much of forging his certificates, gaining entry into the Air Force but using his time there to try his hand at bootlegging and even selling off arms at the store in the wake of the India-Pakistan war in 1971. He then jumps ship, transforms to Sudhakara Kurup and lands up in the Gulf where he settles down with wife and children and seems to be doing quite well. He returns to Kerala where he colludes with his brother-in-law Bhasi Pilla (#ShineTomChacko in a superb performance) to commit murder to claim 8 lac rupees as insurance. The plot then focuses on DYSP Krishnadas who has been assigned the job of tracking down the notorious criminal. Krishnadas (#IndrajithSukumaran) makes it his life mission to track down Kurup and the story is often told from his perspective.
One of the issues with #Kurup is that the focus of the film in general and the screenplay in particular is the chase and not the motivations of the characters. Krishnadas, the cop is obsessed with finding the criminal but one never gets a sense of what drives the man. You see him at his astute best but you do not see him leading a chase, or break a sweat in anger or frustration ever. It is almost always a reaction to Kurup’s ingenuity that drives the character.
Then there are two key characters who have potential but sort of get stymied in the narrative. #SunnyWayne’s Peter is Kurup’s friend at the Air Force. One does not understand his role apart from being the narrator of the story. #SobhitaDhulipala plays the love interest in Kurup’s life and goes on to become his wife. But she simply vanishes from the script once the second half starts and that is quite disappointing. As for Kurup himself, there is nothing new that the movie has to offer in terms of insights, theories or even hypotheses.
What #Kurup does offer is a hugely stylish period film. The sets, costumes and art stand out as does the panache which #DulquerSalmaan brings to his performance. The recreation of the period of the 70s/80s and 90s is done brilliantly. The transformation of Kurup from the small-town criminal to the big league is fascinating to watch. Along the way, you can see that his wife and his friend are expendable commodities. “I want to succeed (at any cost)” says Kurup. The art by #Banglan and the amber lighting frames by #NimishRavi stand out. So does the music by #SushinShyam. The cast also includes #TovinoThomas, #MayaMenon and #VijayRaghavan.
What stood out for me though is the non-linear screenplay. The story is told from multiple points of view. You see a scene playing out . Then you are told this from Peter’s point of view. The screenplay does a great job of then showing you the perspective from Krishnadas and finally from Kurup’s own point. This makes for interesting viewing and is quite a departure from the ordinary.
#Kurup has style and heft. #Dulquer provides the star value. It does not do justice to its potential. What it does in ample measure is ride on the myth of the man; for a movie to succeed that’s not quite enough!
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