DRISHYAM

Drishyam (transl. Visual) is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language drama-thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It stars Mohanlal and Meena in the lead roles and features Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Kalabhavan Shajon, Asha Sarath, Siddique, Roshan Basheer and Neeraj Madhav in supporting roles. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor for Aashirvad Cinemas. It follows the struggle of Georgekutty and his family, who come under suspicion when Varun Prabhakar, the son of the Inspector-general of police, goes missing after an attempt to physically harass Georgekutty's daughter.

PLOT

Georgekutty is an orphan who had dropped out of school after his 4th grade. Now he is a businessman running a cable TV service in a rural area. He is married to Rani and they have two daughters, Anju and Anu. His only interest apart from his family is watching films. He spends most of his time in front of the TV in his small office.

During a nature camp, Anju gets photographed in the bathroom by a hidden cell phone. The culprit, Varun, is the son of police inspector general Geetha Prabhakar. Later, Varun blackmails Anju to get intimate with him, or else he would put the photographs on social media. When Rani gets to know of this and begs Varun to let go of Anju, Varun says that he would do so one condition: Rani should have sex with him instead. Shocked, Anju accidentally kills Varun in an attempt to save her mother. They hide his body in a compost pit, which is witnessed by Anu. Rani tells Georgekutty about the incident and he devises a way to save his family from the law. He removes the broken cell phone and disposes of Varun's car, which is seen by Constable Sahadevan, who has a grudge against Georgekutty. Georgekutty takes them out on a trip to Thodupuzha to pray in a church, watch a movie and eat at a restaurant. Geetha, seeing that her son has gone missing, starts an investigation.

After a preliminary investigation, Geetha calls Georgekutty and family for questioning. Georgekutty, who had predicted that this would happen, had already taught his family how to change their alibi at the time of murder. When questioned individually, they give the same replies. Georgekutty also presents the bill of the restaurant, the movie ticket and the bus tickets as proof of their alibi. Geetha questions the owners of the establishments they have been to and their statements prove Georgekutty's alibi. However, Geetha realizes later that Georgekutty had faked the evidence and established his alibi on the owners by going on a trip with his family to the same establishments later.

Geetha arrests Georgekutty and family and Sahadevan uses brute force to beat the truth out of them. Eventually, Anu gives in and reveals the place where the body is buried. After digging the compost pit, they find the carcass of a calf, indicating that Georgekutty had moved the body. Anu reports to the media and complains against Sahadevan. The constable is suspended and Geetha resigns from her post.

Later, Geetha and Prabhakar meet Georgekutty to ask forgiveness for their rude and violent behavior. Prabhakar asks Georgekutty if he can tell them about their son. Georgekutty then reveals indirectly that his family has committed a crime. Now in remand, Georgekutty signs a register at the newly constructed local police station. As he leaves, a flashback shows him leaving the incomplete police station with a shovel in hand, indicating that he has hidden Varun's body in the foundations of the police station itself.

REVIEW
Mohanlal owes this film to Jeethu Joseph, completely. His portly frame, his drooping shoulders, his flitting glances find a glowing reincarnation in a character named George Kutty. He plays a father and a husband like a man. He struggles and suffers with his rugged endurance. This is a film that switches genres every second.

It opens up as a sweet-coated family drama, gives a fleeting sense of a social chronicle before evolving, almost magically into a game of truth and lies. Joseph picks the most unlikely setting and people to be hurled into this game.

Drishyam is a deeply layered duel between truth and lie. By placing an uneducated, harmless farmer and his family on the one end and cops at the other, Joseph sets the right tone for a riveting conflict. A family comes face to face with a crisis that could rip them apart. The crisis is sudden, unexpected and shattering. What ensues is not a meek submission to fate.

They choose to fight, to resist and to survive and the battle is brave, arresting and empathetic. George Kutty’s brilliance is shaped from the nights he spent in his cable-TV office keenly watching films. His courage is emboldened by his circumstances. His manliness is empowered by the sheer necessity to guard his kids and his wife.

In this trail of human suffering, every lie they utter is prodded on, every hurdle they cross is cheered. It is as if Joseph lets the viewer share the travails. He slowly turns it into a conflict between parents, two different men and women waging a desperate struggle with each other for their kids. One does it to protect and the other to procure.

While playing a character rooted to earth, Lal grows in stature moment by moment. He takes the suffering of George Kutty upon himself with such resilience that his life depends on it. Sometimes he invokes the warmth of a father and the weariness of a bruised soul with nothing but an almost indiscernible movement of his lips.

It seems Joseph had saved his best for the script. It’s a case of adept story-telling and playing to the gallery. Slightest doubts come from the characters themselves and he lets them answer as though each answer was his token of respect for the viewers.

Even the characters played by Meena and Asha Sarath live up to the demands. Asha pulls out a performance that pitches her strongly for character roles. Drishyam is an elegantly crafted piece of film which Lal and Joseph can proudly hold close to their hearts.