Ouseppinte Osyathu (2025)

Ouseppinte Osaythu is one of those rare Malayalam films that sneaks up on you. What begins as a taut thriller gradually transforms into something more profound, a deeply human story that lingers long after the credits roll.

The movie rides primarily on the shoulders of Dileesh Pothan, who delivers a performance that reminds you why directors-turned-actors are becoming such a compelling trend in Malayalam cinema these days. But this movie isn't a one-man show by any stretch - Shajon, who could easily be considered a co-lead, matches Pothan's energy with a nuanced portrayal that keeps you invested in the story's emotional core.

Director Sarath Chandran R.J. crafts the narrative with remarkable restraint, allowing the thriller elements to breathe without overwhelming the character development. The film's setting across various towns in Kerala's Idukki district becomes almost a character itself, with the mountainous terrain and small-town dynamics providing an authentic backdrop.

What impressed me most was how the supporting cast elevated every scene they appeared in. Vijayaraghavan, as the family patriarch, brings gravitas without falling into the trap of melodrama that such roles often demand. His presence anchors the film's emotional weight beautifully. Lena, Zarin Shihab, and Hemanth Menon round out the ensemble with performances that feel organic to their characters' world.

The film's greatest strength lies in its understanding of pacing. Where many thrillers rush toward their revelations, Ouseppinte Osaythu takes its time, building tension through character interaction rather than manufactured suspense. By the time the thriller mechanics give way to the story's more human concerns, you're so invested in these people that the genre shift feels natural, even inevitable.

The cinematography captures the beauty of Idukki without romanticizing it, presenting these locations as places where real people live real lives rather than picture-postcard destinations. The technical aspects never draw attention to themselves, which in a film like this is exactly what you want.

If there's a minor quibble, it's that the film occasionally feels a bit too measured in its approach, but that's hardly a fault when the alternative is the breathless pacing that mars so many contemporary thrillers.  In a year where Malayalam cinema has delivered some impressive outings, this film stands out as one of 2025's better offerings.

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Joji : A movie review

Joji is an operatic movie about a dysfunctional family, set in Erumely. The director Dileesh Pothan is on his way to becoming the Bard of Kerala's malanadu (the foothills of Western Ghats) - the Kottayam-Idukki border lands.

I was on a K. J. George rediscovery trip during 2020 and Irakal, one of K.G.G's path breaking movies I watched a few months ago is still fresh in my mind. Joji is very similar in setup and composition to Irakal than Macbeth which Dileesh Pothan acknowledged he was inspired by, in his movie announcement poster.

Joji is a 21st century version of the K. G. George's 20th century masterpiece.  Then again, I have not read Macbeth, except as an abridged comic book, thirty some years ago. Pardon my Shakespeare.

If Joji reminded me anything Shakespearean, and it does with its operatically wailing violin BGM, it is King Lear. I had to sit through repeated screenings of Grigoriy Kozintsev's Russian B&W classic Karol Lir from 1970 at an impressionable young age of 8 or 9. All I remember of that King Lear movie is that the King had 3 adult children and they were all plotting/waiting for him to die, much like in this Dileesh Pothan classic half a century later. 

Joji is a socially detached loner, the youngest son of a rubber estate owner. His American equivalent will be the 30 year old son living in his parents' basement, surviving on Cheetos and video-games, without a job in sight. While the youngest no-good son of a rich plantation owner living in a joint family is the common theme in Joji and Irakal (there are more similarities which I am not going to explore as I don't feel like going into thesis mode today), their greatest contrast is in the treatment and exploration of this theme. 

Irakal in 1985 presents you a Gen X-er dealing with his powerless position, taking matters into his own hands and exerting his independence. Ganeshan in his debut role as Baby, the youngest son - engineering college drop-out and black sheep of the family, is very much a product of the turbulent 70s (ref: declaration of emergency in India in the late 70s) when he came of age and is a seething angry young man with some psycho-social tendencies thrown in for good measure.

Joji meanwhile is a millennial and he inhabits a movie reflective of our current times. He is laid-back and lacks focus, but acts too cool to care. The writer, Syam Pushkaran, the master of minutiae, reveals every one of his characters and their psyches through layered yet succinct dialogue. Shyju Khalid's camera is instrumental in capturing the fine nuances of the characters and the location in a film that relies very much on subtlety. 

There are only a handful of characters in the film, and the story and camera are tightly focused on them. There is the iron-fisted patriarch Panachel Kuttappan (V. P. Sunny), who is in better shape than his three sons and does several push-ups, too many to count, every day. He is served by his two older sons - the divorced elder son Jomon (Baburaj) who loves the bottle and the meek second son Jaison (Joji Mundakayam) who manages the family businesses with the trickle of money released each day by the patriarch. Between them is Jaison's wife and the daughter in law of the family, Bincy (Unnimaya Prasad), and finally there is the title character - the lazy dreamer with half-assed plans - Joji (an almost emaciated Fahadh Fazil.) Other significant characters are essayed by Shammi Thilakan as Dr. Felix - Panachel family's friend and physician, Basil Joseph as Father Kevin and Alister Alex as Poppy, Jomon's teenage son.

Joji's transformation from a detached sleep loving loafer who spends endless afternoons with a fishing rod that catches no fish (the fishing rod or the fishless pond might be the problem here) to the person he ultimately becomes is a bit incomprehensible for my Gen X brain. Unlike Baby in Irakal who had all the makings of a psychopath from scene one and whose character arc was predictable, Joji's metamorphosis has shades of implausibility. Despite this flaw, the technical harmonization of all the elements of the film - script, camera, acting and background score makes it a treat to watch.

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Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum

Dileesh Pothan is creating a new genre in Malayalam cinema with his unique story telling style. His main narrative builds up towards a simple event or two, establishing protagonists and their relationships. Nothing special there. What set Pothan apart are the nuggets of micro stories, mined observing the human condition in all its informal familiarity and strung together to aid the natural progression of the narrative. Every scene is like a gem of flash fiction. It almost seems super human that the writer/director could link and insert these vignettes cohesively into an engaging cinematic account.

Pothan's maiden outing as a director, Maheshinte Prathikaram, introduced us to his distinctive technique. In Thondimuthalum Druksakshiyum he hones it further. This film is raw, plucked right off the tree of life, seconds ago. Even the minute traces of glaze in packaging which would have been a prerequisite to hit the box-office bulls-eye for a first-timer have been stripped away in this second movie.


His casting, which has included Fahadh Fazil as his chameleonic cornerstone, has brought some unconventional and promising faces to Malayalam cinema. Aparna Balamurali in Maheshinte Prathikaram is followed by Nimisha Sajayan in Thondimuthalum Druksakshiyum - both offbeat and talented leading ladies perfectly fitting the film's territory.

Suraj Venjaramoottil and Fahadh Fazil have let go of themselves like clay, impeccably molded just as the characters should be at the hands of the director. There is no question that this is exactly how we would find them in real life, had these people really existed. The entire crew at the police station, where most of the action takes place, has given outstanding performance especially considering all of them are not professional actors but real officers of the law (except for Alencier Ley Lopez.)


The treatment of the film is very gritty, like an episode of reality TV if reality TV was not scripted the way it is. LOL. The director also displays a certain trust in the audience's comprehension abilities. There is an absolute lack of spin or manipulation in the depiction of events. The viewer is left with the task of deriving meaning and closure although there is no sense of incompleteness. Life goes on - in real and in reel.

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