A psychological thriller that sets its sights well beyond the benchmark of Drishyam has become the talking point of the Malayalam film circuit, with early audiences describing it as a peak-experience viewing that delivers jolt after jolt. The film leans heavily on two performances at its centre, and it is the work of Asha and Parvathy, alongside Urvashi, that has drawn the loudest applause, with all three said to have earned the kind of claps typically reserved for a film's biggest moments.
The title itself makes a bold claim, openly pitching the film as an experience that sits above Drishyam - a comparison that carries real weight in Malayalam cinema, where that film has long stood as the gold standard for the family-thriller genre. Rather than shying away from the benchmark, the makers appear to have invited it. If the buzz is anything to go by, that confidence is not misplaced. Viewers who have caught early shows describe a narrative that keeps tightening its grip, with the shocks landing not just in the climax but all through the runtime.
What seems to be setting this film apart is its refusal to rely on a single twist. The word circulating is that the thrills are stacked - one after another, each designed to catch the audience off guard. It is a structure that demands precision from its cast, and the film's women appear to have shouldered that burden with distinction.
Parvathy has long been regarded as one of the most fearless performers in Malayalam cinema, an actor who chooses material on instinct rather than convention. Her presence in a film like this signals immediately that the project is aiming for something more than surface-level suspense. Audiences familiar with her range say she brings a controlled intensity here that makes the film's quieter passages as unsettling as its loudest ones.
Urvashi, by contrast, arrives with decades of goodwill behind her. Known for her comic timing as much as her dramatic depth, she has increasingly gravitated toward roles that let her shift gears mid-scene. The word from early screenings is that she does exactly that - turning in a performance that catches viewers off balance precisely because it plays against what they expect from her.
Asha's contribution has surprised many, given that the film's promotional material did not foreground her as heavily as the other two. Those who have seen it argue that hers is the performance that sneaks up on you, and that the film's climactic stretch depends on her in ways that are not immediately obvious from the outset.
The trio's combined impact has become the film's strongest word-of-mouth asset. In Malayalam cinema, where female-led thrillers have historically been a harder sell at the box office than male-star vehicles, a film that gives three women the space to drive the tension is being viewed as a notable shift. Whether it translates into commercial staying power remains to be seen, but the response in the first round of shows suggests the audience is willing to follow these actors into uncomfortable territory.
Comparisons to Drishyam are inevitable and, to some degree, baked into the film's identity. That film's genius lay in its clockwork plotting and its portrait of a family under siege. This new entry seems to be chasing a similar emotional register while pushing harder on the thriller mechanics - trading slow-burn dread for a more relentless series of reveals.
Whether it truly clears the bar it has set for itself is a question each viewer will answer differently. What is not in dispute is that the film has generated the sort of chatter that Malayalam cinema has not seen in some time, driven not by a superstar's name but by three actresses operating at the top of their game.
For now, the verdict from the ground is consistent: go in knowing as little as possible, and expect to be rattled more than once.
Source: Filmibeat Malayalam