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Kannur Squad Movie Review : Mammootty's police drama gets exciting in second half

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Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive . Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Madhu Vm 286 days ago

CAR ZONE RC COORDINATOR 312 days ago

good casting <br/>also good story and script <br/>improve making and background music <br/>kannur squad is a average movie

VENKATESAN S 339 days ago

This movie is similar to Theeran Athigaram Onu.

monkjjijo 379 days ago

Great movie

aaaa bbbb 379 days ago

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Kannur Squad Review: A Meticulous Procedural Explodes Into A Fun, Balls Out Mass Movie

Director:  Roby Varghese Raj

Story:  Muhammed Shafi

Screenplay & Dialogues:  Rony David Raj & Muhammed Shafi

Cast:  Mammootty, Kishore, Vijayaraghavan, Rony David Raj, Azeez Nedumangad and Shabareesh Varma

The opening sequence of Roby Varghese Raj’s  Kannur Squad  is arguably the only instance in which the film’s hyper-detailing takes you away from the people on screen. Parked in a white Tata Sumo in the middle of nowhere is a team of four undercover officers who appear to be waiting for someone important. The sequence is so meticulously written that you’re constantly grasping more information than you think. Yet in the middle of this near-perfect opening for the film we’re about to see, we hear a song playing in the radio. It’s Ilaiyaraaja ’s ‘Kalyana Then Nila’, in a meta nod to the superstar seated in the front. In a regular star vehicle, this bit of self-referentiality is something you’ve come to expect. But in a film like  Kannur Squad , you feel like you’re being primed for something different. By the end of it, you come out thinking you’ve watched the most gentlemanly mass action movie ever made.

It appears as though the writers have found the perfect balance to make a film that will remain entertaining to the masses without diluting its ambitions to become a “pure” procedural. It’s as though the makers were obsessed with a film like Rajeev Ravi ’s  Kuttavum Shikshayum   (2022)   and set out to retrofit just enough massy elements for the film to reach a wider audience. Even the basic plot remains the same with a tight group of police officers having to scout the entire country in pursuit of two fugitives. But with pages of details poured into each situation, we feel like we’ve become a part of the squad, right down to the everydayness of a week-long chase. 

An example of this comes in the way senior officials depute George ( Mammooty ) and his team to find the murderers in a high-profile politically sensitive case. Considered unsolvable until that point, the seniors give them just 10 days to return with the culprits. But despite this tension and the lack of time, you get a sense of how the system functions when George is asked to take either a train or a bus to reach a godforsaken village in east Uttar Pradesh. The reason is of course the hierarchy that prevents officers below a certain rank from claiming such expenses. Yet it speaks about the actual foot soldiers who get little to no support to do their work, while being commanded by people tucked comfortably away in isolation. 

The film makes an excellent case for this in the way one of the squad members has been portrayed. Played by the film’s co-writer Rony David Raj himself, he is an officer who gets caught for accepting a bribe. In the usual film, you expect this subplot to either lead to Rony proving his innocence or his redemption after accepting his crime. But when you finally get to the payoff for this bit of detail, you understand how deeply they’ve understood each of the central characters in the film. So when a character casually credits George’s bachelorhood for his ability to remain carefree and courageous, you understand how heroism in the life of an ordinary police officer is a luxury item.

It’s this microscopic gaze into each person and event that gives you the feeling that you’re watching a police procedural like this for the first time. And even when the film begins to slow down in its obsessive need to underline every single event, it has a way of surprising you by slowly increasing the fun by throwing in an elaborate fight sequence or by dismantling the tension by adding a bit of comedy. This tonal shift works wonders when it’s done without diluting the realism of the film. But when it goes a tad overboard, including the one instance when Mammooty delivers a complex punch dialogue to two people who only speak in Hindi, you understand that the actor is speaking more to his fans than to the characters.

It also helps that the film’s cinematographer Mohammad Rahil finds a way to keep his work mostly invisible as we see these officers go through the drudgery of their labour. Yet when it comes to sequences that require a bit of style, Rahil’s frames switch effortlessly without making you feel like you’re watching a totally different film. Equally unobtrusive is Sushin Shyam’s music which only supports the tone of the scene we’re watching, without even overpowering its essence. Miraculously, Mammooty manages to find a completely new way to create a new police character even if it may well be his 100th such. When aided by a strong support cast and one seriously menacing villain,  Kannur Squad  develops into a meticulously detailed procedural that is clever enough to go all guns blazing for its superstar when needed. What more can you say about a film in which a Tata Sumo gets you to feel more than actual people do? 

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Review | No experiments, 'Kannur Squad' is a pure Mammootty cop show

In the recent past, Mammootty's exploration of different roles such as the vengeful Luke Antony in Nissam Basheer's 'Rorschach', or James and Sundaram in Lijo Jose Pellissery's 'Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam', or the stylish Michealappan in Amal Neerad's 'Bheeshma Parvam', has prompted many critics to note that he is undergoing a process of reinvention.

However, Roby Varghese Raj, in his 'Kannur Squad', presents a familiar Mammootty who always shines in cop roles. Be it the mild-mannered cop in 'Unda' or the no-nonsense CBI officer Sethurama Iyer, Mammootty's performances have always been top-notch as a law enforcement officer. In 'Kannur Squad' too, it is the performance of the lead star and his gang that lead the movie forward.

The screenplay by Muhammed Shafi and Rony David has potential but doesn't attempt to break new ground, which affects the film in places. However, Roby Varghese Raj skillfully masks this with good execution. The internal conflicts between the cops seem to be inspired by 'Unda', but unlike the Khalid Rahman directorial, it feels a little artificial. The latter half of the film is more captivating than the first half, which is plagued by a few cliches.

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The Kannur Squad is a task force within the Kerala Police known for its ability to deliver breakthroughs when everyone else fails. It has integrity and resilience, but an incident threatens to question the team's goodwill. Amidst that, they are tasked to nab the culprits who are accused of killing a businessman in Kasaragod.

The investigation, the journey that leads to the arrest of the criminals and the challenges they face form the crux of 'Kannur Squad'. Despite no major twists, the performances of all the actors and the action-oriented sequences in the second half of the movie, make 'Kannur Squad' engaging. Rony David, who is the film's co-writer, also doubles up as a cop in the movie. Shafi and Azeez Nedumangad deliver good performances as squad members, though their character arcs could have been explored better. After all, cops are also people with emotions and their personal stories also need to be told, just like how Ahammed Khabeer handled it in 'The Kerala Crime Files'.

Kannada actor Kishore Kumar G whose previous Malayalam film was 'Djibouti' plays IPS officer Manu Needhi Choolan with conviction. The film is a blend of commercial and realistic cinema. George and his team travel the breadth of the country to bring a few culprits to justice. Such cops make up 20 per cent of the police force, says Choolan in the film, which is also a tribute to those hardworking, dedicated law enforcers in the country.

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Kannur Squad review: Mammootty’s thriller treads between heroic and grounded

Kannur Squad (Malayalam) ( 3 / 5)

The first glimpse of Mammootty in Kannur Squad , behind a foggy windshield and in the company of men, grows spectacular as the wiper clears the mist away and reveals his face, calculatedly still. Uplifting music flows into the semi-darkness of dawn the car parks in. It is not exactly a ‘mass’ entry, just momentarily awesome. The mood of the film is more mass-lite, treading somewhere between heroic and grounded. Roby Varghese Raj, the director, gives a few cinematic strokes, minimal and essential, to the real story of a police squad in Kerala, played by Mammootty and his team of three men. At more than 160 minutes, the film stays engaging and almost unapologetically violent, while trying to show the human element in tragedy.  

Roby’s brother and actor Rony David Raj has scripted the film and plays a member of the dream squad. Shabareesh Varma and Azeez Nedumangad play the other two. Together they are George, Jayan, Shafi, and Jose (Mammootty, Rony, Shabareesh, and Azeez in that order). Their personal lives, sparing George who is said to have no family, are fleetingly shown, a testimony to the little time they have for themselves. All four are on the road, risking lives and travelling far, with very little power in their hands. It takes a little getting used to, seeing Mammootty play a subordinate to many, taking orders and hardly talking back, a contrast to his popular police characters.

Not that George is not a fighter, just rooted and extremely committed. He rarely expresses emotion, except sparks of impatience when one or the other of his men does something rash. Protective without making a scene about it, he guides the men through one of their most challenging assignments to date – catching a few criminals who killed a rich businessman, brutally attacked his family, and remain untraceable. The difficulty comes not in finding the identities but in nabbing the men who appear to spring up in new and faraway districts across the country every few days. Superintendents of Police Cholan (Kishore Kumar G) and Krishnalal (Vijayaraghavan) give the squad 10 days.

The script might have been longer, cut short to make it engaging, for some of the earlier sequences are left vague and have you guessing what might have passed. It could also be the film trying to stay realistic, while the stunts – often impossibly leaving the men alive – look unreal, and sometimes unimpressive. Mammootty on the ground, fighting off a multitude of men, is a contrast to the rooted policeman he played in Unda , who’d sometimes fall. Both the characters have Mammootty play an ordinary cop and lead a team of men in strange terrains. But Kannur Squad has him play the textbook hero in fight scenes, often singlehandedly taking on hordes of armed men, even as his younger teammates look defeated. Not that it takes away from the film’s honesty in telling the true story of a few brave men, who accomplished lots with little means.

More than their personal lives, what is saddening is the lack of respect these men get – belittled without acknowledgment of their efforts, unprivileged enough not to be able to take a flight to chase a criminal (falling below a certain rank), and so on. It seems only fair that in a film about them, they get to be superheroes, albeit with a few cinematic exaggerations including the enlivening music of Sushin Shyam.

Director Roby, who has been a cinematographer, lets Rahil take the camera in his film and pan over vast expanses of city roads and rural areas the film’s script takes you to. In one way, it is also a travel movie of sorts, where men bond. The camera also repeatedly begins with the shoes of men, as they turn corridors and walk ahead, highlighting their togetherness in every which way. Sadly, women are altogether missing in the film, save a few faces here and there as a survivor, a gun-yielding villager, and a doctor. Still, the way it is written, the absence is accounted for.

Rony, a talented actor, might consider writing more scripts. And Roby appears to have a taste in telling police stories, even though this is his debut.

Disclaimer: This review was not paid for or commissioned by anyone associated with the series/film. TNM Editorial is independent of any business relationship the organisation may have with producers or any other members of its cast or crew.

Kannur Squad Movie Review: Roby Varghese Raj's 'Kannur Squad' is a very satisfying police procedural that plays like a massier version of 'Kuttavum Shikshayum'

• 02 Oct 2023
• Release Date: 28 Sep 2023

Kannur Squad Movie Cast & Crew

Masked men enter a house, commit a heinous crime, and escape. This is what a screenwriter would call the "inciting incident" of  Kannur Squad . But by this point, the film has already been incited. We have already seen George (Mammootty) and the rest of his squad working on another case. We have already seen them pursue one set of criminals, stumble on another crime, and follow up clues. This long-ish prelude helps us learn something about each member of the Kannur squad, and it also tells us how meticulous they are. Would the film have still worked without this prelude? Probably, yes. But it's nice to get two cases for the price of one movie. And it's nicer to get a psychological profile of these policemen, who say: "We are not just human beings. We are cops."   They cannot, they will not be swayed by emotion, however valid that emotion is.

Kannur Squad,  directed by Roby Varghese Raj, is a solid procedural – as opposed to a great one like  Kuttavum Shikashayum . But the writers Muhammed Shafi and Rony David give a masterclass on how to craft a star vehicle that pleases fans of the star while also not making him a superhero. George needs another cop's help in order to break down a wall. But he also gets his "mass" moments, the best of which involves a finger. These moments aren't standalone bits. They are woven into the narrative. Even the reference to ' Kalyana thenila ' is nicely done. After all, this Tamil hit is hardly the first Mammootty song that comes to mind in the context of a Malayalam Mammootty movie. And the man is magnificent, expertly straddling the line between slo-mo walks and intense showdowns with his seniors.

After the prelude, we get the incident with the masked men. The brutality is hard to watch, especially when a father is dragged away like a corpse while another member of the family is being brutalised. George's team is put on the case. The chase takes them from Kasaragod to Uttar Pradesh and beyond. But because they are not of a particular pay grade, flights cannot be sanctioned for their travel. It's a beautiful screenplay touch that tells us a couple of things. One: our police have to battle many odds. Imagine having to spend days on the road, driving, when the criminals are getting farther and farther away. No wonder George tells his team that he has spent more time with them in this van than at home with his family.

Who is his family? While the other cops are fleshed out with mothers and daughters, George's personal life remains a mystery. It works. What also works is that none of these cops is seen with family. The interaction with family is always through a phone call or some such thing. These cops are only seen with each other. This sharp sense of "isolation" helps greatly to de-sentimentalise the narrative. Anyway, let's return to the second thing about the lack of flight permission. The road trip allows the writers to put these cops in the middle of constant danger, like in a superb action stretch in a north Indian village that keeps going on and on, even when you think it's all over. There's a third payoff to the lack of flight permission. Jayan (an excellent Rony David) has been accused of accepting a bribe, and when he says that they can pool in money for flights even if the supervisors don't sanction anything, it comes to be seen as proof that he did accept the bribe for selfish reasons. Another cop loses no time in pointing this out.

There is a reason Jayan did what he did. There is a reason the masked men did what they did.  Kannur Squad  shows us that good, thoughtful writing can exist in hero-centric mainstream filmmaking. And also that small, human touches aren't out of place in such a movie. Kishore plays a senior officer whose decency is so thoroughly established that his single explosion to George makes us feel his frustration. It's almost like he's saying: "If I am doomed to be part of this heartless State machinery, I might as well behave like a heartless robot." The bits where the police are praised don't come off as simple heartstring-tugging. At the end of this film, they feel earned. Mammootty may be the star, but like with the police,  Kannur Squad  is pure teamwork. Every single department pitches in, and the result is thoroughly satisfying.

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Baradwaj Rangan

National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, former deputy editor of The Hindu and senior editor of Film Companion, has carved a niche for himself over the years as a powerful voice in cinema, especially the Tamil film industry, with his reviews of films. While he was pursuing his chemical engineering degree, he was fascinated with the writing and analysis of world cinema by American critics. Baradwaj completed his Master’s degree in Advertising and Public Relations through scholarship. His first review was for the Hindi film Dum, published on January 30, 2003, in the Madras Plus supplement of The Economic Times. He then started critiquing Tamil films in 2014 and did a review on the film Subramaniapuram, while also debuting as a writer in the unreleased rom-com Kadhal 2 Kalyanam. Furthermore, Baradwaj has authored two books - Conversations with Mani Ratnam, 2012, and A Journey Through Indian Cinema, 2014. In 2017, he joined Film Companion South and continued to show his prowess in critiquing for the next five years garnering a wide viewership and a fan following of his own before announcing to be a part of Galatta Media in March 2022.

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Home » Reviews » Malayalam Movie Reviews

Kannur Squad Movie Review: Mammootty Bowled Me Over In Rorschach, This One’s Too Routine To Be Appreciated!

Roby varghese raj jumped from being a cinematographer to directing his debut movie with this, and that clearly states why this film looks good more than why it feels good.

Star Cast:  Mammootty, Rony David Raj, Azeez Nedumangad, Shabareesh Varma, Kishore Kumar G, Vijayaraghavan

Director: Roby Varghese Raj

What’s Good:  The look (& not the feel), the metal-esque BGM letting us forget Anirudh for once

What’s Bad:  The cliched treatment of the script in the guise of being ‘authentic’

Loo Break:  It’s close to 3 hours and isn’t as intriguing to make you hold your patience for so long

Watch or Not?:  For Mammootty on OTT or if you’ve already watched Rajeev Ravi’s Kuttavum Shikshayum & H Vinoth’s Theeran Adhigaaram Ondrun

Language: Malayalam

Available On: Disney+Hotstar

Runtime: 2 hours 42 minutes

Before getting into the main course, the makers start with an appetizer; just like a teaser to the film, we’re introduced to the relentless ASI George (Mammootty) and his team that contains Jayan (Rony David Raj), Jose (Azeez Nedumangad), Shafi (Shabareesh Varma) and a Sumo which is also labeled as a ‘policeman’ because it helps the team to do a multi-city tour as flights cannot be afforded by the government for Policemen below the DySP rank (as narrated by a policeman in the film).

Once we get to know how this squad works, George and his ‘brutal’ team get a case to investigate, which revolves around the death of a person of influence, Abdul Wahab (Manoj K. U.). Owing to public pressure, George is given ten days to find the culprits with minimal help from the government. How he executes this cat-and-mouse chase with restricted resources is what the film is all about.

Kannur Squad Movie Review: Script Analysis

The shades of “Police doesn’t get required help despite a lot of hierarchical pressure” in the narrative will remind you of Rajeev Ravi’s Kuttavum Shikshayum & H Vinoth’s Theeran Adhigaaram Ondrun. Still, it stands out (for good or bad) due to Mammootty’s aura. In fact, his 2019 film Unda was also in a similar zone.

It’s based on true events, and that proves to be the film’s biggest weakness because many films have shown these events already over a gazillion times. An influential person gets killed, an imperfect squad is appointed to investigate, and they investigate and hunt down the killers with little to no help in the end. It waters down the investigation to CID-level “confess upon getting slapped” kind of tropes, which evokes zero excitement.

The only thing that stitches this routine plot with some thrills is Mohammad Rahil’s cinematic cinematography. From the beautiful ariel shots to trying to maintain a suspenseful aesthetic throughout, Rahil manages to steer the ordinary script by Rony David Raj and Muhammed Shafi in the right direction. However, due to the long-a** route taken, thanks to Praveen Prabhakar’s lazy editing, things don’t manage to grab your attention for too long.

Kannur Squad Movie Review: Star Performance

Mammukka bowled me over last year with a mind-bending performance in Rorschach (which I recommended Ajay Devgn to watch in a conversation I had with him during Drishyam 2 & if he remakes that in Hindi, then kindly give me some credit). But here, Mammootty comes across as generic as a generic performance could be. There are some superb ‘fan service’ sequences written only to make his fans worship him, but those don’t elevate the script in any way.

Rony David Raj, as Jayan, does good as the officer living through the guilt of accepting a bribe for a heartbreaking reason, and he’s the only side character whose backstory is established correctly till the end. Azeez Nedumangad as Jose & Shabareesh Varma as Shafi get a couple of scenes for the viewers to connect with them for the people they are, which isn’t really enough to accomplish the task.

Kannur Squad Movie Review: Direction, Music

Roby Varghese Raj jumped from being a cinematographer to directing his debut movie with this, and that clearly states why this film looks good more than why it feels good. Roby relies too much on making the film look authentic only to sacrifice things like fast-paced, proper character development, and more.

The best piece to this messy puzzle is Kannur’s own blue-eyed boy Sushin Shyam (Keyboards, Backing Vocals) from the thrash metal band TDT (The Down Troddence). It’s a band known for mastering Metal, Rolling Stone India’s favorite & all of that is reflected in the pumped-up BGM of the film. Without going over the board, Sushin proves it doesn’t need to be always loud to express aggression.

Kannur Squad Movie Review: The Last Word

All said and done; this Mammootty-led cop film gets stuck in its method, getting hampered by a done-to-death narrative exceeding only technically, which might not be enough reason to spend close to three hours on something for many of us.

Two and a half stars!

Kannur Squad Trailer

Kannur Squad releases on 17th November, 2023.

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Home » Review » Kannur Squad movie review: Mammootty’s police procedural is an engaging, expertly-crafted crime drama »

Kannur Squad movie review: Mammootty’s police procedural is an engaging, expertly-crafted crime drama

Despite being his debut directorial, Roby also ensures that the film’s entertainment quotient never slags. This usually comes from its emotional sequences or the action scenes

• Sanjith Sidhardhan

Last Updated: 02.26 PM, Sep 28, 2023

Kannur Squad story: After a murder in Kasargode leads to state-wide protests, a team of police officers, Kannur Squad, are assigned the task of tracking and apprehending the culprits in 10 days. Though they have cracked some of the toughest cases in the past, this mission is not as easy as it seems, especially with some of the team members themselves at odds. How ASI George Martin rallies his team as they pursue the criminals from Kerala to Maharashtra and beyond form the plot of Kannur Squad, which is inspired by real-life events.  

Kannur Squad review: Ever since the trailer of Kannur Squad had dropped, people were quick to point out the similarities between the film and director Rajeev Ravi’s Kuttavum Shikshayum, which also revolved around a group of Kerala police officers travelling to unfamiliar terrain to apprehend culprits who had committed a crime and fled to another State. In a way, the similarities start and end there.

Director Roby Varghese Raj’s film is a police procedural, which has elements seen in recent Malayalam cop thrillers such as Operation Java, Nayattu and even Thankam and that’s only because all these films tried to realistically portray the workings of a police team. But what makes this movie stand out, is that the makers are aware that they have got a superstar essaying the lead in the film while also having to ensure that the movie’s narrative never strays too far from the authentic nature of the plot, which is inspired by true events and cases investigated by the real-life Kannur Squad of Kerala Police.

Also read: Kannur Squad 2023: Release date, trailer, plot, cast, real-life events, OTT partner and more  

Instead of straightaway plunging the audience and its characters the main investigation, Roby along with the film’s writers Rony David Raj and Muhammed Shafi first introduces ASI George Martin (Mammootty) and his team (Azeez Nedumangad, Rony and Shabareesh Varma) in the middle of a probe, just as they are set to catch a group of criminals from their hideout.

In this prelude, the writers also explore the dynamics of each of these characters, for instance, a police officer casually remarks that George doesn’t have a family and there’s a pivotal scene where Rony’s Jayan gets into a heated argument about a loan. Though these traits are subtly mentioned, they play huge roles as the story evolves; even when the focus shifts to the pursuit of the elusive criminals, it’s these humane and flawed personas of the four cops that make the audience connect with their trials and tribulations.

Also read: Mammootty wasn’t the first choice for Kannur Squad, writer Rony David Raj explains why  

The script is interspersed with instances of how challenging it can be for a police officer, but they never come across as preachy. The cops here aren’t portrayed as ramrod straight, duty-bound men; they have their issues but they prioritise the mission – even when they have to use methods that’s now frowned upon.

Despite being his debut directorial, Roby also ensures that the film’s entertainment quotient never slacks. This usually comes from its emotional sequences or the action scenes. One particular sequence, where the cops get trapped in a chamber, surrounded by a mob of murderous flame-wielding villagers, hooks the audience with them trying to figure a way out. The scene is smartly crafted, while also playing to the gallery – both for Mammootty fans and for Kerala police.

Except for one twist, the one in the end, most of these are unpredictable and that takes you on a gripping ride with the cops as they traverse from Kerala to Maharashtra to UP to Orissa and Indo-Nepal border.

Mammootty continues his brilliant run, post-pandemic, with Kannur Squad. George Martin is a far cry from SI Manikandan in Unda, but there are still traits that make him a leader without superpowers. While there are ‘mass’ moments where the star gets to steal the spotlight, Mammootty ensures this is balanced by a nuanced and grounded portrayal of Martin. For instance, his voice quivers when he is proudly defending his team to his superiors when they don’t seem to comprehend the ground reality, and he is also the voice of reason to his teammates.

Out of the other three cops, Rony gets to put on his best performance till date as Jayan, a tainted cop who is given a chance to redeem himself. Azeez Nedumangad and Shabareesh Varma, who are known for their comedic chops, showcase matured and restrained portrayals in Kannur Squad. The film’s antagonist, Arjun Radhakrishnan, also catches the eye. Kannur Squad also has a few cameos by noted actors.

The writing also makes use of Kannada actor Kishore, an IPS officer who upholds ideals instead of justifying the systemic failures. This narrative also helps in establishing the various aspects of being a police officer across the country.

Given that Roby is a proven cinematographer himself, the visual language of the film was never in doubt. Rahil, who has cranked the camera for the film, ensures that the movie doesn’t share anything similar to the previous films of the genre and also has frames that would stay in the audience’s mind, much after the movie is over. Sushin Shyam also deserves the credit for this; his background score keeps the film engaging throughout. Praveen Prabhakar’s cuts are crisp and that the film travels from one State to the next, helping its pace even further.

Kannur Squad verdict: All departments fire in equal measure in making Mammootty’s police procedural a gripping theatrical watch. Kannur Squad also serves as a reminder of the challenges faced by duty-bound police officers, while keeping the audience hooked to the engaging narrative as a team of four cops chase four elusive criminals across the country.

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