Ayyappan Koshiyum review

Introduction

Ayyappanum Koshiyum,sometimes referred to as 'AK Ayyappanum Koshiyum', is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller movie that Sachy wrote and directed. The movie, starred by Biju Menon and Prithviraj Sukumaran, is produced by Ranjith and P. M. Sasidharan.

With a worldwide revenue of 52 crore, Ayyappanum Koshiyum, one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of 2020, wasreleased on February 7, 2020. Four prizes were given out at the 68th National Film Awards: Best Direction for Sachy, Best Supporting Actor for Biju Menon, Best Female Playback Singer for Nanjiyamma, and Best Stunt Choreography by Mafia Sasi, Supreme Sundar, and Rajasekhar. On February 25, 2022, the Telugu version of the movie, Bheemla Nayak, starring Pawan Kalyan and Rana Daggubati, was released.

Plot cast

Several big names are attached to this movie that are enough for the audience to know that script is going to be a good one. The main stars of the movie are Biju Menon and Prithviraj. Other actors include Sukumaran, Anil Nedumangad, Gowri Nandha, Ranjith as Kurien John, Anna Rajan as Ruby, Ramesh Kottayam as Kumaran, Anu Mohan, Dhanya Ananya, Aji John, Nandu Anand, Sabumon Abdusamad, Alancier Ley Lopez, Pazhani Swami, Deepu G Panicker, Johny Antony, Shaju Sreedhar, Saleesh N. Sankaran, Benzi Mathews, Renith Elamadu, Vinod Thomas, Muhammad Musthafa

Story

The story of the movie is not a complex one but rather simple to understand. Five days before Christmas, Koshy, a retired havildar, is arrested under the supervision of SI Ayyappan Nair at Attappadi. Koshy promises Ayyappan Nair before entering jail that he will respond to him as soon as he receives bail.

Plot

With his driver Kumaran, Koshy Kurien, a former havildar in the Indian Army, is traveling from Kattappana to Ooty. With a box of booze that they have bought from the military canteen, Koshy is inebriated and on the verge of passing out in the backseat of the automobile. They had chosen to go through the Attappadi Hill road rather than the usual route through Coimbatore and they were unaware that the area of Attippadi Hill was an alcohol-free zone. On a monthly traffic check, which is a joint effort of the police, forest, and excise departments, the automobile is stopped and thoroughly checked. Excise authorities handle Koshy roughly when they discover booze in the vehicle. Angered by this, Koshy attacks excise officer Faizal. When SI Ayyappan Nair notices this, he intervenes and holds Koshy in place. Koshy is brought to the neighborhood police station, where an FIR is filed against him. The names of well-known political and media figures appear on Koshy's cell phone's contact list within minutes, shocking the cops. Koshy shows himself to be a former soldier who now resides in Kattappana. He is also the son of Kurain John, a powerful and cunning political figure known for his straightforward demeanor.

Ayyappan frets over this and talks it over with his CI Satheesh Kumar before deciding to play it safe. He tells Koshy that he is a local and has three years left before retiring. Koshy begs Ayyappan to let him go home for five days so he may celebrate Christmas and swears to return for prison sentence some other time. Still, Ayyappan refuses, saying that since he was arrested for non-bailable offenses, he is not allowed to go. Soon after, Koshy starts faking his poor health and requests booze claiming that he has a drinking problem. Ayyappan pours him some from the seized stock against his better judgment with the assistance of a female cop named Jessy. On his phone, Koshy covertly records this.

Koshy is remanded for 12 days at the sub-jail in Palakkad, where he receives visits from his loved ones. Koshy is granted bail after 12 days, requiring him to sign at Attapadi station once each Monday and Thursday. After being freed, he uses video evidence to have Ayyappan and Jessy suspended for violating the law. Ayyappan is taken into custody, and his police awards are taken away. Satheesh released him on bail the next day after striking a deal with Koshy's buddy, MLA George. Koshy agreed to forgo giving original video evidence before the inquiry against Ayyappan in exchange for signing all future bail terms at once.

Koshy breaks his promise after signing at the station, and his attorney presents video evidence of this during the inquiry. Despite preserving Jessy's employment, Ayyappan is convinced that his career is lost because he has no answers to the DSP Cheriyan George's investigation. In an apparent attempt to apologize to him, Koshy meets him outside the DSP office and takes the bus to Attapadi. However, because of ego, they both confront one another, and Koshy drives away. Furious at this egregious display of arrogance, Ayyappan brutally beats Kuttamani, a minor felon helping Koshy, in front of Koshy and knocks down Mani's unauthorized structure.

Satheesh gets frightened by Ayyappan's display of wrath at Mani and tells Koshy that 25 years ago, Ayyappan was a cruel communist leader who had killed 43 men as they were being hired by the landowners to eliminate union workers during the Kummatti festival in Mundoor. He had become quite meek and calm since MLA Master Chathan captured him and forced him to join the police. Koshy learns that Ayyappan went by another name Mundoor Maadan during those times of crime. Koshy starts drinking in Anaikatti out of frustration. On his way back to Attapadi, Kumaran is stopped, and his automobile is seized. Without a phone, purse, or car, having no other choices, Koshy begins the walk his way to Attapadi.

He gets picked up by Ayyappan on his bike and they start to taunt and threaten to kill each other. Koshy gets off Ayyappan's bike and travels kilometers to Attapadi, where he is told not to stay because of direct orders given by Ayyappan. Ayyappan receives Koshy's phone unlawfully from a young cop and immediately calls Kurain John and alerts him of the impending threat to his son. When Kurian John learns of this and becomes concerned for his son's safety, he secretly sends professional assailants and Koshy's cousins to help him.

The following day, Koshy and Ayyappan enter a brawl inside the police station. The CI intervenes and stops them and orders two officers to watch over Koshy at all times, but when those policemen tell Ayyappan about Koshy's personal assailants, Ayyappan beats those people up. Due to Ayyappan's wife Kannamma's prior affiliation with a Maoist organization, she is likely to be a target. Kurain John uses his connections to obtain an arrest warrant for her and in turn, their little son. Koshy approaches Kurain John at his house in Kattappana and tells him to quit meddling with their argument. Koshy's wife Ruby confronts both of them and begs Koshy to resolve the conflict calmly. Koshy agrees to resolve this conflict amicably after realizing that his family's comfort comes before his ego. He formulates a strategy to save Ayyappan's employment by taking the help of his attorneys and his poster cousin.

The arrest warrant arrives while Koshy is helping Ayyappan, and Ayyappan refuses to turn up Kannamma. They are thus forced to leave Attapadi. Before Ayyappan can drop her off to safety with his son, the cops take her into custody. Ayyappan travels to Koshy's home in Kattappana to look for him after failing to find him in Attippadi. Following a brief confrontation with Kurian, Ayyappan returns to Attapadi to face Koshy. In retaliation for the confrontation at Kattappana, Koshy destroys Ayyappan's home, and Ayyappan sets fire to Koshy's automobile with gunpowder. Both of them reject making a complaint against the other, so police protection is given to Koshy while they keep an eye on the tense situation.

Kurian follows Ayyappan to Attapadi, where he warns Koshy that he is going to kill Ayyappan in a day. Koshy tells the police that Kurain John, who dispatched thugs to assassinate Ayyappan previously, is in Attapadi. Kurien gets detained and locked up. When Ayyappan eventually challenges Koshy, Koshy offers an option, suggesting that the fight occurs in Anaikatti town, outside of Kerala Police's supervision.

Ayyappan obtains the upper hand and imprisons Koshy in a lethal bear grip after an epic confrontation that included trading punches, bear grips, and throwing each other over water bodies. While secretly observing the altercation, Cheriyan George, Satheesh, and the other cops break up the brawl. Satheesh explains to Ayyappan that Koshy made up the lie that he was an alcoholic. Ayyappan then poured alcohol during a medical emergency to maintain Koshy's blood alcohol level at the level he needed to function. All charges against Ayyappan get dismissed, and he gets restored to the police service. The IG also revokes Kannamma's detention, and she gets released the next day.

Later, Ayyappan is taken to the police station and held there for a day while waiting for the rejoining order. After asking to be moved to Kattappana a year later, Ayyappan visits Koshy and shakes his hand.

Review

Koshy, a retired havildar, travels from his hometown of Kattappana to Ooty carrying bottles of alcohol across the alcohol-free district of Attappadi. He is taken into custody by Ayyappan Nair's men, and then anarchy breaks out.

Koshy, the son of Kurian John (Ranjith), a typical toxic macho Achayan from the maximum range, is humiliated by the arrest. Koshy told his wife and girls that he would spend Christmas with them at home, but he has been imprisoned without bail for about two weeks. As soon as Koshy is released on bond, he starts planning his retaliation. The movie's core is how things change when his actions cast doubt on Ayyappan Nair's impeccable service record, who was expected to receive the police medal from the chief minister. Ayyappan and Koshy are generally at odds with one another, and Kurian and Kannamma (Gowri Nanda), Ayyappan Nair's wife, are adding fuel to the fire. The kurain father and son battle as Ayyappan fights for existence out of pride and honour. The filmmakers succeeds in maintaining that gripping atmosphere throughout the whole film.

The three-hour film's writer and director, Sachy, cleverly crafts a plot that details the trials of a good police officer who puts the welfare of others above all else and shows how he changes a wealthy, spoilt child by bringing him down to earth. Even though we have films like Driving Licence and Vikram Vedha, it's refreshing to have a mainstream film depict current sociopolitical events, whether it's Maoism or the sufferings of the underclass. The conflict in the movie is not just between Ayyappan and Koshy and their masculinity but also between social classes, racial groups, and mindsets.

Despite the toxic masculinity and machoism, the women in the movie get the ability to express their thoughts and ideas. With their life experiences, they speak for both themselves and the people around them. The fact that Koshy smacks his wife in one moment suggests that it's always a man's world. But we also get the impression that the author purposefully set up scenarios where female characters respond to male characters, possibly to get applause in these feministically sensitive times.

Jakes Bejoy's music perfectly complements Sudeep Elamon's images in the movie, supporting Mohandas' creative art direction that depicts the Attapadi's flora, light, and shadows. The folk components of the BGM should be highlighted. The casting is a plus, in addition to a well-written storyline with compelling character development. Ranjith brings Kurian John to life, while Prithviraj and Biju Menon bring in the new decade with excellent performances. Kannamma is a powerful character who Gowri Nanda excellently portrays. Characters by Kalanilayam Rameshan, Anil P Nedumangad, Sabumon Abdusamad, Dhanya, and Anu Mohan have also been noteworthy.

From a humanistic perspective, one could question if the two are clashing for any other reason than to stroke their egos. It can be challenging for viewers to pick sides and forecast their subsequent actions. We are reminded of the famous line from Kurosawa's Rashomon, "In the end, you cannot understand the things men do," as we are on the tip of our seats.

Conclusion

Two men and their egos are the subject of this film although there are many undertones of caste and class differences that work together towards the justification of the conflict that arises between the two male leads. For someone who is an adrenaline junkie, this movie is a must-watch. Considering the huge success of this film and the number of awards it has received, people must watch this movie and appreciate the hard work behind it after seeing larger-than-life pictures that indulge our animalistic cravings. For this day and age, it is an excellent watch.