One confusing factor is the link between Malayalam and Malaysia (known as Malaya in colonial times). Malayalam is spoken in the part of India called Kerala which was where Vasco da Gama first touched on India after being the first European to go around Africa. Malaya is another British colony across the Bay of India? They are fairly far apart, but it is claimed sea trips between the two were common from historical times. The attraction in the film is a dog trainer who was pursuing a breed found in Malaya that could be trained to be a better protector.
In the current time we meet an old woman, known as Mlathi Chedathi and a young man Peeyoss who acts as a sort of caretaker. In flashbacks we learn that the woman had originated in Malaya at the time of World War II and had married the dog trainer, Kuriachan who brought her and the dog back to a remote area of Kerala. We come across two other men who are interested in the trained dogs. Soon Kur disappears and we are told had died. The two men try to help Soyi but the dogs stop them and they inflict some bite marks preventing her from approaching. One of the men takes a gun and kills all the protective dogs.
Years pass and we become aware of dogs running loose in the area (from a litter that had been born before the mature dogs had been killed). Some other men believe Kuriachan had not been killed and was hiding in the area. Part of their proof was the dogs appeared to be well trained. There appears to be a revenge motive (while claiming to want to understand the unique dogs) for something that happened in Malaya many years before.
There is violence. Not everyone is as they appear. We are set up for an ambiguous resolution. If anything really is explained, it can be predicted. Even so, the mystery catches most of us off guard and I predict most of you will very surprised.
Of course all mysteries depend upon careful plotting and compatible presentation to be enjoyable. Here are some of those responsible.
Dinjth Aryathan was the director. He graduated with a Fine Arts degree. At first he was involved in animation projects. He has 3 directing credits.
Bahul Ramesh was the writer and also cinematographer. An odd combination, but he turned the visuals to one of the outstanding features. The script started with one sentence "Sometimes protection and restriction look like the same thing" and from there he developed a plot. He has 3 writing credits and 7 for cinematography
Mujeeb Majeed was the composer. He has 19 composer credits, 3 for the music department and 1 for soundtrack.
Sooraj E.S. was the editor. He has 25 editor credits and 1 for the editorial department.
Jijesh S was the dog trainer. They selected the dogs in nearby Tamil Nadu. Most of the owners insisted on the dogs being rented, but the most promising dog Kurumbi had to be bought and has since moved in with Jijesh. e started by feeding the dogs only by hand. The dogs were a critical part of the cast.
Sandeep Pradeep played Peeyoos. During Covid he worked with VFX. He has 9 acting credits.
Biana Momim played Mlaathi Chedathi. She studied English literature and went on to become a professor and principal. At age 70 she just has the one acting credit.
Saurabh Sachdeva played Kuriachan, the dog trainer. He has been an acting coach and has helped train Anushka Sharma and Dulquer Salmaan. Saurabh has 27 acting credits, 1 for directing and 1 for writing including "Sacred Games" (2018-2019) and "Pushpa: The Rule Part 2" (2024).
Vineeth played Mohan Pothan, one of the men pursuing Kuriachan. He was a classically trained dancer who won awards. He has 122 acting credits including "Bhool Bhualiyaa" (2007), "Sarvam Thaala" (2019) and "Mukundan" (2022).
Sim Zhi Fei played Soyi, She was a model in Malaysia. This was her only credit.
Binu Pappu played a lorry driver. Before getting into acting he had been an animator for 13 years. He has 44 acting credits, 6 for assistant directing and 1 for writing including "Helen" (2019) and "Virus" (2019). See http://www.therealjohndavidson.com/2021/03/how-i-discovered-malayalam-cinema-and.html that has a paragraph on "Virus" and some interesting Malayalam films"
It is early in the year, but I have to say this is a particularly good one which can be seen subtitled on Netflix.
As usual I have bolded the first mention of films I have seen that I generally found worth my time. Check out the link to learn of some excellent films.
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