Review: Season 2 of ‘Kerala Crime Files’ is more ambitious, busier and meatier

The first season of Kerala Crime Files was a slow-and-steady police procedural revolving around a sex worker’s murder. Some of the actors from the 2023 Malayalam series – Aju Varghese and Lal among them – are back for a second round that is more ambitious, busier and meatier.

Ahammed Khabeer also returns as director, relying this time on a deliciously intricate script by Bahul Ramesh, the writer-cinematographer of Kishkinda Kaanadam (2024). The lingering effects of loss – the main theme in Kishkindha Kanadam – is one of the ideas driving the six-episode show on JioHotstar.

Kerala Crime Files: The Search for CPO Ambili Raju begins with the police sniffer dog Terry’s strange antics during a robbery investigation. Terry is prematurely retired from the police force for his misbehaviour.

Ten months later, Noble (Arjun Radhakrishnan) takes up a new posting at a police station in Trivandrum. Noble’s very first case under Kurian (Lal) is the disappearance of the policeman Ambili (Indrans).

Ambili is reputed for his honesty and problem-solving skills. Ambili is also something of a maverick, maintaining close ties with his first wife’s new husband Ayyappan (Harisree Asokan). Ambili’s vanishing foxes his colleagues, especially since Ayyappan appears to be missing too.

The investigation spans the length and breadth of Kerala and spills over into neighbouring states. Suspicion...

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