User reviews

Kurup is classy. Kurup is tremendously cinematic rather a true story. Kurup is worth the wait. Kurup is fine with me though I avoid regional movies. Not a documentary style of story telling as some of the fans anticipated. The first half would have been reduced by 25 mins. Second portion is fast paced, well directed and acted by all nicely.

Only one glitch. If you ask me how to pronounce Cheriyanad it will be 'Chernaad' and majority of the locals and family call it "Chernaad" and not Cheriyanad as the writer/director stuck with correct written pronunciation which is not natural. Some sequences in Air Force part is exaggerated and ill conceived.

Also the head of the investigative officers did a tremendous job of trying to nab the real culprit. Then in 1984 till 2005 was a well known figure of the family which the director or the research team is missing or they refused to show it in the film.

There is a scope for a sequel and I call it Alaxander!

So many characters missing. Neither detail about Suresh Kurup who is brother of GK nor the whereabouts of GK's family (wife& kids) after the incident is missing!!

DQ did a tremendous job as a producer and main actor so is Shine who was depicted more of a villain than GK of real story.

Also the murder, investigation and subsequent media frenzy on the family took place when we were just 16. That's almost 38 years ago.

Go and watch it if you missed theatre for two long years👍🏻🙏🏻

Background scores and sound engineering of the movie has been exceptional, albeit allegedly inspired from hollywood originals. Keeping that judgement aside, Sushin Shyam has done top notch work in the sound space. The songs are also good.

Cinematically, the movie scores on multiple fronts. Color grading is excellent. Period set designs have been nicely done. Costumes have been good. Cinematography has been excellent. At the start of the movie, there were a few jerky edits but did not feel any further issues after the titles rolled in. Title work has also been good.

Dulqar's screen presence has been great while the performances of pretty much all the actors have been flawless. Shine Tom Chacko's performance stands out for the convincing portrayal of a deranged.

There are a few points where the director's earlier movie "Second Show" plays in.

Writing has been pretty good. The structure has been carefully built out and makes for an entertaining watch from a story line perspective. A slow burner, the story draws you in nicely and takes you to nice twists. The script does not blow your mind - but nicely done. To some extent, a predictable line.

Making scores over the script.

The movie is a stylish anti-hero slow burner best enjoyed in a theatre.

Script - 7/10 Direction - 8/10 Acting - 8/10 Cinematography - 9/10 Bgm -10/10

A good entertainer that is a one time watch. Its nothing close to a "masterpiece" or a "cult classic" as the advertisers and the teen kids want you to believe. And its nothing close to a third rate movie as some degraders want you to believe.

As far as the story is concerned its a mix of realilty and fiction. Anyway the overall outline of the story is around 70% real. Do we get to the real Kurup? To some extent, yes we do.

The romantic song is really good. It gets better with each time you listen. The background music is "cult" level. In fact the BGM did a great role in hiding the imperfections in Script and Direction.

The lead lady did a fine job along with Shine Tom Chacko and Indrajith. Dulquer act was the usual, nothing out of box. He still has to go beyond his comfort zone. That doesnt mean he hasnt got his charms. Boy, the guy is extra charming. All I say is he has miles to go ahead in terms of acting.

The pre release over-advertisement of the movie will create many expectations for the audience. So it wouldn't be a surprise if this movie would get mixed reviews.

Overall verdict - A good entertainer for 170rs.

First half is class and second half is next level one . BGM is the soul of the movie . Dq's career best movie. Outstanding casting , indrajith done his role flowlessly . Watch it on theatre only. Extra ordinary theatrical experience , don't miss it.

Movie making is very good Technically very sound. But first half lags big time until the pre-interval ,The neo noir sceenplay didn't help much but rather its confusing to many. Second half is racy , finishes in no time with more commercial appeal to it. Its a good watch on the whole but if the makers have more concentrated in screenplay of first half with little more detailing with case rather than his love interest it would have been a great watch.

Dulquer salmaan's best movie,,no offense.. just awesome.

Excellent acting, beautiful story,, Beautiful choreography, direction.

Sobita's acting Also good, happy watching.

Kurup (2021) : Brief Review -

An ugly story told beautifully. Dulquer conquers everything possible in this gripping tale of mastermind criminal. When it comes to gangster films, I always have one star reduced from the final rating already. These stories may entertain you sometimes they don't even to that, I have that specific hatred (deserving, i believe) for such films. I have bashed many known Hollywood classics for the same reason. Kurup didn't work there for me because the story isn't really important enough to be told. What do you gain by telling such stories? What do you learn from it? Nothing. That's why I have that specific hatred in my mind. On the other side, I love watching films that have motives, that teaches you something. Ustad Hotel was one such Dulquer Film, even Kaarwaan and so many others. Well, Kurup really isn't a bad film, it's a great one. It's just that I don't like to watch the stories led by negative people. Hardly few of them, i mean such films, have impressed me. This one is based on the life of wanted criminal Sukumara Kurup, a classic criminal. True Mastermind. Srinath Rajendran's impeccable direction makes his story look interesting. His skilful methods to handle a simple story have made this one special. The only problem I found was the pacing in the first half. It takes too much time to show the generous side of that character when you already know he is not that kind of person. That's where you even predict the climax which was supposed to be a shock, but does not remain a secret. Dulquer Salmaan is phenomenal as Kurup/GK. That style, attitude and his looks everything is perfect. Rest of the cast is good too. Kurup has very simple dialogues, that hurts because gangster films are known for some dhaansu dialogues. Overall, a very good film and surely recommendable for the performances and direction, if not for story.

RATING - 7/10*

By - #samthebestest_

I'M AWARE OF THIS INCIDENT AS IT'S BASED ON A TRUE STORY, THE HUGE CHALLENGE HERE IS HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP THE AUDIENCE WHO KNOW THE ENTIRE STORY, ENGAGED.

MUST SAY THE FILM SURPASSED ALL MY EXPECTATIONS AND TURNED OUT TO BE A GREAT CRIME THRILLER.

THE STORY WAS MUCH BEYOND ALL THAT I KNEW, PERSONALLY I FOUND THE FIRST HALF TO BE INTERESTING WHILE SOME AUDIENCE FOUND IT A BIT LAGGY BUT WHEN IT COMES TO SECOND HALF THE FILM IS PHENOMENAL, ESPECIALLY WHEN EVERYTHING FROM THE FIRST HALF RELATES AND MAKES SENSE.

A MUST WATCH FILM, AND THIS IS HIGH TIME THAT WE SUPPORT THE INDUSTRY.

At first we may not be that attracted to the movie but the second half and the climax 🔥. It was just awesome. They promoted the movie at a very large scale. And the movie has it.(I dont think this is a spoiler, because the creators of the film already said this)But I feel, Kurup wasn't characterized as a villain that much. I mean, yeah they show him as a villain, but that guy deserved even more,I think.

Nice movie. This movie tells the fiction or scripted version of KURUP eventough the real KURUP is still missing and longest wanted criminal in indian history. The movies direction was awesome. My negative is about this movie is, the movie points KURUP as a hero. However I liked the film.

The film is an average one at best. Focused so much on star power marketing rather than good entertaining cinema. Laggy first half. The murder is glorified, despite the fact that the promoters said it's not. Although some of the performances are good as you would expect, the ending left more wanting.

The rating here is skewed by at least 4 points (by fan brain / bots). So that's gone into this lower rating of mine to balance it out. I would otherwise give it 6. It's high time more people started rated fairly, after actually watching the movie. There is a trend now of bumping up IMDB numbers right around film's release, jobless busy body fake raters like these are perhaps the new gen employees of Malayalam cinema. It may be good for money making but really not great for the future of good cinema in Kerala.

For those of you are not familiar, the movie is loosely based on the life of a fugitive from Kerala, Sukumara Kurup.

To be honest, although I have heard of him several times (mostly through Malayalam movie references), I really had no idea who he was or why he became so notorious.

Enter the movie Kurup, threw some light on my ignorance and then more. The real circumstances surrounding Sukumara Kurup and his crimes in itself is so mysterious and curious that any form of portrayal of this story will spike your interest.

Now, coming exclusively the movie, one cannot call it an ultra realistic plot, there is a lot of cinematic liberty used in it. However, in the context that it's presented, it was quite engaging.

Acting wise, Shine Tom did a brilliant job, DQ, Indrajit and Shobita played their parts convincingly. Screenplay wise, the second half was much more fast paced and interesting than the first half. The first half could have benefited from some editing and cuts. Songs were kind of forced and unnecessary.

Overall, it is an interesting watch, and more than the movie itself, the premise, which is the mystery of Sukumara Kurup will haunt you for while after you leave the theatres (or switch off your TV).

First half is slow and dragging (the b/w hero and heroine scenes) and some of the scenes were lagging at times But, second half lifts up to the better way

DQ (Stylish performance) Music 👌 And BGM 🔥 Sets Second half to some extent

Overall, it's a "Not Bad" Movie.

I understood why they waited to release this movie in theatres. It's a great cinematic experience. Acting, screenplay, art work, background score everything is top class. Surely i can tell it's one of the best movie made this year.

Good Start,the middle of the movie slow, mixed not clear, somewhat not intersting as movie started at the beginning..and ending is not upto the mark .... Over hyped movie ... failed to impress audience,expectations.. My rating 7/10 ..for dq acting.

Don't keep Mixed presumption of the story before you watch it - Just watch it and get entertained.

A Good Movie welcoming public to theaters after a short period - Must watch in Theater.

Accolades and Highlights:

1. Script: A cinematic experience rather than a documentary.

2. Casting: Selections made wise

3. Direction: Acclaimed Story Recreation.

4. Background Score: Remarkable

Rest of the department's and teams: Hard work that has really paid off to bring out a good movie.

Review By Kamal K

KURUP is a stylish crime drama filled with above average performance of the lead actors , brilliant cinematography, electrifying bgms ,stylish coustumes ,and overly beautiful locations mostly signifying the 80's timeline gave an head-on to the overall experience.

A crime thriller based on real incidents which was said to be a perfect blend of fact and fiction was somehow met ,but the ratio of fact to fiction felt a bit low value.

The main drawback in the narration was the excessive use of flashback within flashback to provide detail to the original flashback !!! That got quite confusing at times and could have been made slicker.

Overall it was a nice movie, as a viewer I really enjoyed it. I won't say it's a must watch , but it is worth to watch for sure.

Postive -

Brilliant Cinematography

Bgm

Stylish Coustumes

Negative -

Narration And Flashbacks.

Kurup an excellent crime drama based on the life of the notorious Sukumara kurup . Top notch direction 'superb bgm ,editing and excellent performances from the actors made this one of the best crime drama recently released in malayalam.

Do as the title character along with shine tom chavko who did a splendid job as the criminal. Insrajith as the police officers is convincing enough . The movie revolves around the life of kurup from his early days in air force to the days of his absconding as criminal kurup.

The director has done a splendid job .art director deserves a special mention since the set pieces are done so brilliantly.

Overall kurup is one of the best crime dramas seen in malayalam recently.

The movie explores the heroic attire in one of the sensational crime incident happened in kerala. I personally enjoyed the movie and it was engaging. Rather exploring the negative deeds of the crime,the movie tries to explore the heroic deeds of 'kuruppu. I started to watch the movie as the depiction of real life incidents but the movie disappointed me. At the end I was shocked to see that the crew is planing to go with second part of this film showing 'Kuruppu' as highly brilliant hero who never get caught.

Kurup tries hard not to glorify its lead - Sudhakara Kurup - based on real-life fugitive Sukumara Kurup but ends up occasionally doing that and more! While the idea of digging into a fugitive's details by sifting through the pages of a crime memoir is a neat storytelling idea, the non-linearity acts as more than just a dampener in the film's slickly paced second half. The protagonist (also the antagonist) is a grey-shaded human. Still, even with lengthy flashbacks that take us through his days in the IAF, later as an entrepreneur in the Middle East, and as a wanted criminal in 1980s Kerala, we just don't understand Kurup at all. The dialogues are appalling except for the Kerala portions, where the focus is on the murder conspiracy and subsequent execution. Much of the applause in this act should go to Shine Tom Chacko, who's terrific.

The entire IAF portion (with Sunny Wayne), the romance with Sharadamma (a beautiful Shobita Dhulipala, who has nothing worthwhile to do; not even a single memorable line of dialogue), and the super-expository and over-the-top climax all wear the film down several notches. The best parts are bang in the middle, no doubt! Though fiction overrides reality for the most part, the makers seem to have taken cinematic liberties that exalt a con-man to near-mythical levels in the same fashion as Mohanlal's Lucifer. The only thing left was for him to join Illuminati and a have a drink with Khureshi Ab'ram. Nonetheless, Sushin Shyam's score is top-notch (but is the film deserving of it?), Banglan's production design recreates the era convincingly, and DOP Nimish Ravi's frames ooze visual flair.

The writers deserve a hard whack on their bottoms for using the non-linear trope only to completely undo even the tiniest bit of ambiguity, especially given that very little public information is available on Kurup. Why didn't they spend time telling us why Kurup was so greedy in the first place, or why his stances kept changing with time, or what the last words to his family were.. each of these could branch out into exciting plots of their own, so let's not even go there! Kurup is "all-style, messy plot, but technically solid." As one of the most anticipated films of the year, we begin to wonder at what point the makers lost that equilibrium in the first place.

Testing your patience . First half of the movie was too slow , you should really be patient to watch it , but Second half is totally opposite to first half , it really keeps you engaged . Tamil dubbing wasn't convincing for me . Dulquer Salmaan performance was good , not only him other cast also done great job with their performance . Technical team contributed very well , Cinematography and Art work were great . Music was good . There are some surprising cameos in movie . Overall with this crime thriller story they could've done better and interesting , but atlast a decent movie . Don't expect much . A good treat for DQ fans .

This movie is a worth watch first of all it's a based on true story of fugitive sukumara kurup the movie shows very well of negative side of him.technical side of this film is excellent especially bgm and vfx works good making and casting overall it's a worth watch.