Kayamkulam Kochunni Review: An Impressive & Engaging Tale On The Robinhood Of Kerala!

Historical movies don't come that often in Malayalam movies, but whenever such movies have been released, they have made it a point to make a mark. Kayamkulam Kochunni, the much-awaited movie, which narrates the tale of the legend, has marked a big arrival. The expectations are bound to be sky high and has the movie managed to live up to that? Read Kayamkulam Kochunni review here to get the answers.

The story of Kayamkulam Kochunni revolves around the legend of the same name. The movie takes us through the life of the Robinhood of Kerala, his transformation from a naive person to a revolutionist, his fights against the malpractices in the society and much more.

As mentioned by the makers, Kayamkulam Kochunni has its own share of cinematic elements and the writers Bobby-Sanjay have embedded the fictional elements in the right dosage. Hence, there are some surprises for the audiences who have earlier read the story of Kayamkulam Kochunni. Such elements, in the form of some additional characters as well as situations, have been added with care without losing out the essence of the core plot. A proper research has also been done by the team to unveil more details about Kayamkulam Kochunni on screen. While the setting up of the movie is quite impressive in the first half, which has been neatly layered, the writing lacks the required impact in some of the portions in the second half and in these portions, the grandeur and the technical quality rule the roost.

However, Rosshan Andrrews, the captain of the ship has steered forward the ship in the right direction. The film-maker takes his own time to set up the things, especially in the first half, which narrates the early tales of Kayamkulam Kochunni. The two halves of the film have been duly designed by the film-maker and second half is more about the Kayamkulam Kochunni that we have heard, with his heroics coming into foray. Rosshan Andrrews has convincingly carved these two variations on the big screen. Moreover, it was impressive to see how he placed Ithikkara Pakki's portions in the narrative pattern. At the same time, he could have dealt with care some of the dramatic portions in the movie, especially in the second half. However, that doesn't take anything away from the fine experience that Kayamkulam Kochunni has to offer.

To do historical characters is not an easy task and Nivin Pauly has come up with an impressive performance in one of the most demanding roles of his career so far. The various stages as well as the transformations in Kayamkulam Kochunni's character has been portrayed to perfection by the young star. The efforts that the actor has put in could be seen on screen and special mention to his performance has to be made in the action sequences. Sunny Wayne makes a big mark with his portrayal of Keshavan. Babu Antony steals the show in many portions with his portrayal of Thangal. Priya Anand has done a decent job. The film also features a host of other actors in important roles

Well, Kayamkulam Kochunni would indeed be incomplete without talking about Mohanlal as Ithikkara Pakki. His special appearance is one of the biggest highlights of the movie and his energetic portrayal of Ithikkara Pakki is nothing short than phenomenal. The energy that he imparts to the film is indeed priceless and we get to see both mass and class in Ithikkara Pakki.

The songs are decent and at the same time, BGM deserves a special mention, as it gels well with the genre and time period. Cinematography by Binod Pradhan and Nirav Sha is top notch and we get to see some never-seen-before kind of visuals. The art department deserves a big mention for authentically recreating Kerala of the past. Editing is pretty good but still, they could have made the film a bit more crisper.

Kayamkulam Kochunni, with the rich performances, the grandeur and impressive making style, has everything in to tag it as a magnum opus. This one indeed is a big-screen experience that shouldn't be missed.