Kirumi (Germ) - Brilliantly orchestrated thriller!

I missed this gem during its short theatrical run a couple of weeks back. I’m riddled with guilt for watching it on a pirated copy. My apologies to director Anucharan, who has made a brilliant and promising debut. With a miserly cast, a brilliant screenplay and some fine acting, this film maker has reiterated the fact that script is the real hero. But the sad truth is that any movie worth its salt have to rope in a celebrity or two or at least carry out an aggressive marketing campaign to survive the wrath of the current box-office demand. This movie which is made at a shoe-string budget had to bow before this crazy market buoyancy that is poised at embracing celebrities and big names with flamboyant marketing rather than a spellbinding script.

This movie depicts the lives of police informers who are exploited by the cops for their selfish motives and are left behind to fend for their own lives. Though this was a perfect pitch for carrying out a dark and disturbing tale, the director has skillfully woven a sort of commercially flavored narrative to make it appealing for a larger audience. The casting and characterization were top notch and that was further enhanced by some brilliant acting. The characters looked real and enacted their roles so naturally that one might forget watching a movie and eventually get immersed into the happenings.

The movie opens with a retro number, the setting is a B-grade restaurant wherein a spat erupts over an ‘egg dosa’. The protagonist gets embarrassed by his cronies and leaves the place in a huff. Later he is shown cajoling his friend’s wife for preparing the same ‘egg dosa’. Once again the ‘egg dosa’ comes into contention when he feels that he has a few bucks to flash off. Like this there were more situations that called for praise. Thus the aspirations of a low life lead by the protagonist was laid forth and established with such simple yet effective techniques.

Was there an element of predictability in the narrative? Yes, it was very much there. In fact the imminent danger confronting the characters could be felt right from the start. But the way in which the events were allowed to unfold during the course spelt out the magic. Coming back to the characterization, to put it simply, there was no hero, only a protagonist. There was not a villain, but an inspector who had some dark shades. Kathir as the protagonist was a fine selection for the role that had to be underplayed. Charlie’s role as a seasoned police informer was yet another brilliant stroke. He had that inherent calmness and carried a cold heart throughout the movie. However, my pick from the cast would be David, who enacted the inspector’s role with a reservoir of cool and subtleness. His transformatory arc and various dark shades were used brilliantly by the director. Also the new breed of underlings for the protagonist like Yogi Babu need a special mention as he evoked laughter with some timely one-liners.

These sort of films are hard to come-by. Theater owners and distributors ought to give privileges for such novel attempts. Also the industry bodies should do their bit to fund such ambitious attempts by aspiring movie makers who are desperately seeking to make a mark. My only worry is that if such attempts are made to fail time and again, then such directors might be misled to believe that their next movie must have a hero pulling off punchlines and punches punctuated with some perfunctory item numbers. But I don’t think Anucharan belongs to that breed. He seems to be a breed apart!

Verdict: Excellent!

Rating: 4 / 5