Kooman Review: Asif Ali is at his best in this fascinating thriller

Jeethu Joseph has time and again proven his mastery in thrillers. Right from his debut film ‘Detective’ to his last release ‘Bro Daddy’, the director has a special skill set when it comes to helming thriller stories. ‘Kooman’ is one more addition to Jeethu’s list of brilliant thriller films. It follows the story of Giri Shankar, a civil police officer who not your everyday hero.

Giri, stationed at his hometown, is a grey-shaded character who carries with him a lot of inferiority complex. The moment someone pricks his ego, his thirst for vengeance begins. Giri is a deftly sketched character that needed someone like Asif Ali to pull off. The actor is excellent in his portrayal of this ordinary cop, who has no real likeable qualities apart from the fact that he is extremely efficient in his job.

It is hard to write anything about Kooman without getting into the plot. But sharing the spoilers would be unfair on those who couldn’t watch the film yet, so let’s just stop at that. One thing that has to be spoken about is the relevance of this film. It is unusually strange that a major element in Krishnakumar’s script is a raging topic in Kerala today.

Krishnakumar, who has earlier collaborated with Jeethu in ’12th Man’, has come up with an intriguing storyline for ‘Kooman’. The film has two contrasting halves, with the first half having an upper hand. This is where we learn about Giri Shankar and his psyche. This part is convincingly presented and the interval block is a spot-on in piquing the curiosity. From there, the film takes the route of a generic investigative thriller with some twists and turns. Jeethu, who is usually known for his brilliant climaxes, comes up with a rather ordinary one in Kooman, but the tail-end is again intriguing.

Among the supporting cast, Jaffer Idukki gets the best role and he nails it. In tailor-made role, the actor delivers a terrific performance. Renji Panicker, Baburaj and Meghanthan also get meaty roles in the film. Vishnu Shyam’s music and Satheesh Kurup’s cinematography is apt for Jeethu Joseph-style thriller.

In short, ‘Kooman’ is definitely worth watching in theatres. Just like Jeethu’s hugely-popula ‘Drishyam’ series, this one also has immense potential to be a franchise.