Synopsis: "Ayyappanum Koshiyum" revolves around the protracted duel between Ayyappan Nair (Biju Menon playing the role of a Senior Sub-Inspector of Police who comes from an unprivileged background), and Koshy Kurien (Prithviraj as a retired Army Havildar who belongs to a wealthy & influential family). The seeds of the conflict between these 2 characters are sown within the first few minutes of the movie, and the story goes on to detail the methods these men use to destroy each other, even without caring for the larger consequences of their actions.
Review: This is Sachy's second Directorial venture in Malayalam after 2015's Superhit "Anarkali" that had the same duo of Prithviraj & Biju Menon in the lead. While they were cast as close friends in that film, this film pits them as enemies. And in my personal opinion, for both Prithviraj & Biju Menon the characters of Koshy & Ayyappan are among the most uncharacteristic roles they have ever played, and to their credit they have succeeded at breathing life & blood into both these characters. As the egoistic bigmouth who masks his insecurities and humanity most of the time - Prithviraj is fabulous as Ex-Havildar Koshy. The actions of his character are quite unlikable, but even so Prithviraj manages to make the viewer empathize with him. In contrast, Biju Menon plays Sub-Inspector Ayyappan Nair with superb restraint; though the character appears sober and civilized on the surface, we can also see that he is hiding a raging storm within that can demolish anyone when its lets loose. Its really good to see Biju Menon play such a meaty character that highlights his underrated acting prowess (instead of the usual comic roles he usually does), and let's hope that he gets to play more of such weighty roles. Everyone in the supporting cast has performed their roles to perfection, though the standout is veteran Director Ranjith playing the role of Kurien John (Koshi's father) - an arrogant man of wealth & privilege, with a conceited sense of Male Ego. Also notable are Gowri Nandha as Ayyappan's wife and Anil Nedumangad as Circle Inspector Sathish. The screenplay deserves credit for efficiently spacing out the various conflicts even while allowing us to get a good look into the mindset of the different characters. The story and events are narrated quite realistically, and even though a couple of sequences are not entirely convincing, that does not effect the flow or substance of the film. The Cinematography & Background score ably complement the various hues & tones of the film. As both the Writer & Director of this movie, Sachy has done a commendable job in extracting fine performances from the entire cast, and he has also succeeded in depicting this story of conflict in an extremely engaging manner.
Conclusion: In these times when most people have short attention spans and low patience, Directors naturally find it difficult to keep the audience involved in any movie that is over 2 hours long. However, Writer-Director Sachy has managed to go against the trend and made an extremely engaging movie with a runtime of nearly 3 hours (177 minutes). He deserves all the applause for this cinematic achievement. "Ayyappanum Koshiyum" is an engaging duel of 2 men who are as different as chalk & cheese, and it makes for a highly enjoyable viewing.
Review: This is Sachy's second Directorial venture in Malayalam after 2015's Superhit "Anarkali" that had the same duo of Prithviraj & Biju Menon in the lead. While they were cast as close friends in that film, this film pits them as enemies. And in my personal opinion, for both Prithviraj & Biju Menon the characters of Koshy & Ayyappan are among the most uncharacteristic roles they have ever played, and to their credit they have succeeded at breathing life & blood into both these characters. As the egoistic bigmouth who masks his insecurities and humanity most of the time - Prithviraj is fabulous as Ex-Havildar Koshy. The actions of his character are quite unlikable, but even so Prithviraj manages to make the viewer empathize with him. In contrast, Biju Menon plays Sub-Inspector Ayyappan Nair with superb restraint; though the character appears sober and civilized on the surface, we can also see that he is hiding a raging storm within that can demolish anyone when its lets loose. Its really good to see Biju Menon play such a meaty character that highlights his underrated acting prowess (instead of the usual comic roles he usually does), and let's hope that he gets to play more of such weighty roles. Everyone in the supporting cast has performed their roles to perfection, though the standout is veteran Director Ranjith playing the role of Kurien John (Koshi's father) - an arrogant man of wealth & privilege, with a conceited sense of Male Ego. Also notable are Gowri Nandha as Ayyappan's wife and Anil Nedumangad as Circle Inspector Sathish. The screenplay deserves credit for efficiently spacing out the various conflicts even while allowing us to get a good look into the mindset of the different characters. The story and events are narrated quite realistically, and even though a couple of sequences are not entirely convincing, that does not effect the flow or substance of the film. The Cinematography & Background score ably complement the various hues & tones of the film. As both the Writer & Director of this movie, Sachy has done a commendable job in extracting fine performances from the entire cast, and he has also succeeded in depicting this story of conflict in an extremely engaging manner.
Conclusion: In these times when most people have short attention spans and low patience, Directors naturally find it difficult to keep the audience involved in any movie that is over 2 hours long. However, Writer-Director Sachy has managed to go against the trend and made an extremely engaging movie with a runtime of nearly 3 hours (177 minutes). He deserves all the applause for this cinematic achievement. "Ayyappanum Koshiyum" is an engaging duel of 2 men who are as different as chalk & cheese, and it makes for a highly enjoyable viewing.