Start the week with a film: Why ‘Kishkindha Kaandam’ is all the rage
Dinjith Ayyathan’s Malayalam thriller, written by Bahul Ramesh, is out on Disney+ Hotstar.
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Join our WhatsApp Community to receive travel deals, free stays, and special offers!
- Join Now -
Rhapsodies have been composed around Malayalam movie star Fahadh Faasil’s eyes. After Kishkindha Kaandam, might odes be written for Asif Ali’s peepers too?
Ali’s expressive eyes have rarely been put to better use than in Kishkindha Kaandam. Ali marvellously plays a character stoically shouldering emotional burdens almost too heavy to bear. Much of Ali’s performance is conveyed through eyes that have seen more than they should have.
Dinjith Ayyathan’s thriller, based on a devilishly intricate script by Bahul Ramesh, has been all the rage since its release in Kerala in September. The box office hit is now out on Disney+ Hotstar, allowing non-Malayalam viewers to take in its slow-burning pleasures.
Like a Matryoshka doll, Ramesh’s story-screenplay is stacked with secrets and surprises. The film’s title refers to the mythic monkey kingdom in the Ramayana epic. Incidents from the past ricochet through the present in Kishkindha Kaandam. The simians in the forest near where the characters live play a role in the events involving the Pillai family.
The 125-minute film begins with the loss of a gun that belongs to Appu Pillai (Vijayaraghavan). An irascible ex-Army officer, Appu is harsh on his son Ajayan (Asif Ali) and Ajayan’s bride Aparna (Aparna Balamurali).
Ajayan has a back story that includes a former wife and a missing son. Aparna...
