Kattalan review: Antony Varghese’s actioner feels like a series of reels disguised as a film

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Aanakolli, a hamlet located in the woods adjoining the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, is known for its wild elephant population. As the tuskers start posing a threat to the villagers’ lives, they seek the help of notorious hunter, Maari (Sunil). Pretending to offer a helping hand, he enters the territory and slowly takes control of Aanakolli, and eventually becomes the head of a cartel involved in ivory trafficking.

Years later, Maari faces a new challenge in his business after the cartel’s fallout with Eddy (Kabir Singh Duhan). In his effort to fight back, he ropes in Antony Varghese (Antony Varghese Pepe), a smart, courageous, and strong ruffian. However, as time passes, it becomes evident that Antony has his own agenda for joining Maari’s gang.

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While there are scores of movies with poor, shoddy writing, Kattalan might be the first Malayalam film that gives the feeling that no writing went into it. My point is not that its script is bad or that the setup, conflict, and payoff are underwhelming, but rather that there’s hardly any writing in it. Instead of adding action sequences at regular intervals in the narrative, director Paul George and his team have essentially added some story as filler between the numerous action sequences.

Even before establishing the world or the characters, Kattalan quickly jumps into the conflicts. Although we see Maari’s flashback (played here with sharp menace by Raj Tirandasu) and how he took over Aanakolli and the cartel, even his character remains on the surface. Pretty much every time we see Maari, he is engaged in some massive illegal activity or planning one, with the focus solely on the crime and never on him. The only time we see him otherwise is in a lamely choreographed item song.

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In no time, we are picked up and dropped off in the middle of the battle between Maari and Eddy, where pretty much nothing happens other than fights and shooting. Although Action Sandhosh and Kecha Khamphakdee’s stunt choreography is sleek and the action set pieces are stylish overall, they just aren’t enough to uplift the movie beyond a certain point.

Even after Antony’s entry, there’s essentially no change in the way the story progresses. While one could argue that omitting his backstory and not sharing more details about him are a means to keep his character a mystery, this is pretty much the case with everyone else, and none of the characters possesses any real substance. Hence, one can only dub this lack of depth a major shortcoming in the script by Paul, Joby Varghese, and Jero Jacob.

Either the writers thought a skeleton of a story was enough to make a feature film, believing the rest would be handled by action choreographers, or the movie has been injudiciously butchered at the editing table, resulting in key portions of the narrative being lost. Whatever the reason, it has only ravaged Kattalan.

Belonging to a shared film universe that includes director Haneef Adeni’s Nivin Pauly-starrer Mikhael (2019) and the Unni Mukundan-led Marco (2024), Kattalan had the potential to be what its predecessors weren’t: a decent movie. While Mikhael was plagued by silly writing, Marco was hollow to its very core, making it seem as if it was created solely for the title of “most violent Indian film ever.” Both films centred around the feud between a few characters and offered little space or scope for further exploration.

In contrast, Kattalan revolves around a populace, their oppression, and the exploitation of forest resources. However, the makers never delve into any of this and focus solely on the stunt sequences, which, unfortunately, don’t provide an adrenaline rush. Kattalan serves as definitive proof that no amount of electrifying background score and slow motion can create mass appeal that isn’t already present in the script. Worse still, most moments in the movie feel as though they were designed solely with the intention of being cut into short reels for social media after Kattalan’s OTT release.

What further detracts from the experience is author-screenwriter Unni R’s dialogues, which sound better suited for a literary work than a movie. Also, the film’s blatant normalisation of the radicalisation and weaponisation of children is disturbing.

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Although Kattalan features many characters, not even Antony’s role is meaty. When unveiling character posters earlier, the movie’s makers had revealed that Kattalan would feature two characters, Malik (Hanan Shaah) and Mano (Shon Joy). While they both make frequent appearances as Antony’s henchmen, we don’t even hear their names properly in the movie, let alone see them having any identity. Similarly disappointing is Dushara Vijayan’s Lucy and Hipzster’s (from Aavesham fame) Alokah, who get nothing more than initial buildup.

While Antony exudes swagger and executes the action sequences with panache, his acting comes across as artificial in every other scene. Most often, we see a smile on his face, which appears to be placed there to imply that he’s composed and confident. However, this smile seems rather awkward, undermining the character’s strength.

Although Kattalan features many characters, not even Antony Varghese’s role is meaty. (Credit: Instagram/@cubesentertainments)

Aside from the tiring number of slow-motion sequences, Renadive’s cinematography is overall impressive as he manages to capture the depth of the forest at times at least. Shameer Muhammed’s editing is also commendable, particularly for the seamless transitions in the action scenes, which add to the tension. While loud at times and occasionally playing spoilsport, Ravi Basrur’s music is what keeps the crime thriller afloat for most of the time.

Kattalan features more than one post-credits scenes. If post-credits scenes are the most exhilarating parts of a movie, then the makers and the work itself have truly bombed, and that stands true in the case of the Antony Varghese-starrer.

Kattalan movie cast: Antony Varghese Pepe, Sunil, Kabir Duhan Singh, Dushara Vijayan, Parth Tiwari, Jagadish
Kattalan movie director: Paul George
Kattalan movie rating: 1.5 stars