Mammootty's masterful evil turn towers over the film

MAMMOOTTY in the post-pandemic era has been a different beast.

- VIGNESH MADHU

Though he has always embraced unconventional roles, the last few years have seen him consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s expected of a superstar-actor. The latest example: Kalamkaval. The film’s premise already offers enough promise for an actor of his stature, but it becomes even more compelling when he opts for a complete role reversal. And make no mistake—he isn’t playing a circumstantial villain or a misunderstood man with sympathetic motives. This is pure, unfiltered evil.Kalamkaval is unmistakably inspired by Cyanide Mohan, the serial killer. But writer-director Jithin K Jose and co-writer Jishnu Sreekumar aren’t interested in a biographical retelling. Though the real incidents unfolded on the Kerala-Karnataka border, the film shifts its geography to a Kerala-Tamil Nadu belt. The plot begins with a missing-woman case in rural Thiruvananthapuram, which soon spirals into a near-communal flareup. As the police dig deeper, they detect a chilling pattern: several women on either side of the border have disappeared over the years under the pretext of eloping. Jayakrishnan (Vinayakan), a police officer revered