In a maverick ridden age of Malayalam cinema, Krishand is perhaps one to surpass them all in quirky brilliance. His ‘Aavasavyuham: The Arbit Documentation of An Amphibian Hunt’ was my first foray into his weirdly brilliant eco-aware filmmaking and it was quite an unexpectedly brilliant experience to say the least. The series ‘The Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang’ (the titles themselves are always a small event) was another impressive addition to the ouevre.


But this cyperpunk near-dystopian vision of the future has to be his coming of age in the commercial space. Difficult to pen down, this is one that needs to be immersively experienced; a wacky, deliberately over the top fusion on virtual reality, the excesses of online culture and star worship as well as a treatise on an AI aware future, with a remarkable comeback central performance from the always capable Rajisha Vijayan. Krishand repeats a lot of his actors from previous ventures, including a meaty protagonist role for Niranj Maniyanpilla Raju, an actor I always felt carried a quiet gravitas (though here he is anything but quiet).


This is one of those films which could polarize opinions though, either love or hate depending on ones cinematic preferences. Personally, I thought it was riveting, with a Nolan-esque trick ending.