Rorschach

RORSCHACH - Malayalam Movie

"I will hurt you for this. I don't know how yet, but give me time. A day will come when you think yourself safe and happy, and suddenly your joy will turn to ashes in your mouth, and you'll know the debt is paid." -George R. R. Martin, A Clash of Kings

When rage consumes you at an extremely disastrous point in your life, when everything you loved and depended on is at stake or lost, when you feel you have no reason to go forward in life, revenge raises its ugly head. It is a deeply satisfying thought, but a tragedy waiting to happen and a point of no return. Unless...!

The Rorschach test, or Inkblot test, is a psychological personality test where the subjects' responses to the inkblots are evaluated. It was specially designed to look for patterns of thought disorder in schizophrenia by Swiss psychiatrist Hermann Rorschach.

Rorschah (the movie) is a psychological thriller in the Neo-noir genre. A Masterclass article on this genre says that "Neo-noir films build off classic genre tropes and update them for a new generation." This is exactly what director Nissam Basheer did for the audience of this generation, which proves why Rorschach is a global success. The whole movie is like an experiment, if you look back at it that way once the end credits start rolling. It attacks your senses in such a way that each person will perceive the movie in a different way. And that is exactly what happens in an Inkblot test! A simple story told with decent pacing goes beyond all realms of the human imagination, resulting in quite shocking revelations, jump scares, and what not! It sucks you into its whirlpool of a story pretty soon, provided you are invested and alert. If you don't, you could be swimming near the border in shark-infested waters, unsure whether the sharks or the whirlpool were a better option! Now, am I sounding conflicted?

Here, Mammootty is Luke Antony, a sombre man with a dark and mysterious past. An NRI from Dubai? With haunting and sombre English songs playing in the background, he drives into a small town in a Ford Mustang. Even that grey-colored Mustang is a character with a broody and ominous look! Mammootty is incredible. He's on fire. His recent outings like Bheeshma Parvam, Puzhu, etc. Have brought out more new faces of his that we haven't seen before. As an actor, at 71, the way he manages to always stay relevant in the industry, choosing unique scripts and giving chances to new and young directors, shows his thirst for acting that can never ever be quenched! As he himself said in an interview, it's his greed for good roles and not the money that keeps him going.

A seemingly ordinary accident that Luke gets into; Luke's missing pregnant wife and related investigation; certain questionable town folk that include an overbearing mother and her obedient sons, one of whom died and left a grieving but emotionally strong wife whose eyes convey mysteries of her own; a cop on his own personal quest into Luke's history; another person who doesn't believe a word Luke says and is out to prove his back story wrong; and many more. Such are the characters in this movie. The lines between good and bad are blurred here, and it is up to us, the audience, to figure out who is good, bad, innocent, and guilty! Luke walks into the lives of these people. Does he have an agenda? Do they all have agendas? As Luke gets to know each of the main characters in this small town, the story unravels slowly, showing us their true colors!

The movie is a trip into your psyche. Once you are in, it hooks you and won't let go until the shocking climax! And yes, that climax definitely jolted me in my seat! A certain character's transformation was astounding! Along with the psychological elements, the director plays around with a little bit of horror as well. Or did he?

By now, I believe everyone knows who the masked person is, and as Mammootty himself said, congrats to that actor for donning such a role where all you see are his two eyes! And it's his eyes that give out his identity to the audience!

Rroschach is written by Sameer Abdul, with outstanding and haunting cinematography by Nimish Ravi. It's superb writing and an excellent choice of shots. Set pieces in the classic Neo-Noir style. The music and BGM by Midhun Mukundan elevate the mood of this thriller to a whole other level. His choice of electronic music for fight scenes gave it all the more juice. Using English songs was a new and innovative thought. It sets the mood for the scenes and the movie as a whole. This is Mithun Mukundan's debut Malayalam movie and he rocked! Previously, he has primarily worked in Kannada films.

The movie is edited by Kiran Das, who has previously worked on Ishq, Joji, Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum, Joseph, and Ambili. His choice of editing decisions, along with the director, made way for a near perfect thriller. The movie boasts some brilliantly choreographed high-voltage action sequences by stunt choreographer Supreme Sundar. It is mesmerizing to watch Mammootty indulge completely in the action scenes. Shaji Naduvil is the art director, and the set pieces for the movie are something to marvel at. Some odd, some strange, but all adding up to the grand scheme of things.

Standout performances all around.

Mammootty is on his A-game. His eerie smile was enough to give you goosebumps. It confuses you into thinking whether he is actually the protagonist or the antagonist! Everything is an act or borderline psycho! This man never ceases to shock and surprise us!

But it is Bindu Panicker as Seetha who steals the scenes, apart from Mammootty. Both were brilliant performances as masters of misleading the audience. Bindu Panicker's cold demeanor at times will give you the chills.

Grace Antony's Sujatha is awesome. She gives a stellar performance as a widow who doesn't give up on life and stands her ground in front of her mother-in-law, Seetha, as well as Luke. Her scenes with Mammootty are simply brilliant. Grace will go a long way towards entertaining us in every way, be it comedy, drama, or extremely serious roles like this one.

Jagadish, as the police officer who smells something fishy about Luke and gets the ball rolling for his own investigation, is in a different ball game altogether. This is a new and unique Jagadish and I would love to see him in these kinds of roles more often.

A nosey Sharaffudin, with a different get-up and look, is very convincing as someone who is steadfast in exposing Luke as he feels everything about him is mysterious. He is a very good actor. Sanju Sivram, who plays Anil, is excellent as Seetha's hot-headed but obedient son. Someone who is ready to go to any length for their mother. Sometimes too far!

Nazeer gets to do a rare and memorable performance as Shashankan. He is also a man with a motive, but struggling within as he borders between good and evil.

Mani Shornur as Balan gave a natural performance and I'm glad to see him in this movie.

Directed by Nissam Basheer, this is his second movie after the successful "Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha." There too, he has some definite messages for us. In terms of plot and genre, these two films are diametrically opposed. That itself shows his immense talent and capability as a director. Congrats to Nissam. I'm looking forward to his next.

Produced by Mammootty under the banner of Mammootty Kampany, Rorschach is a must watch. Give it your attention for the first few minutes, and then you're in for the ride. An awesome theatre experience. But if you missed it in the theaters, then definitely watch it when it comes on OTT.

Such rare gems from the Malayalam film industry shouldn't be overlooked!