Kishkindha Kaandam

<p>Appu Pillai, a retired soldier in the known for his authoritarian conduct, lives with his younger son Ajayachandran alias Ajayan close to a reserve forest, which is infested with a huge population of monkeys. Ajayan was previously married to Praveena, who passed due to cancer two years ago and Chachu, their son, went missing a year before she died; however, Ajayan continues his search for Chachu with Shivadasan, a cop and his relative, and Prasobh, Praveena’s brother. Ajay marries Aparna while Appu Pillai finds his licensed pistol missing. Aparna moves in with Ajayan, leaving behind a job in and helps him in his pursuit of Chachu. However, she notices Appu Pillai’s strange demeanour and tells Ajayan that he might be suffering from memory loss issues; Ajayan confirms her suspicions and reveals that Appu Pillai was sent out of the army due to his ailment but he chose to keep it a secret to maintain his pride and developed his own techniques to function normally; Ajayan tells Aparna that his father furiously refrained from visiting a doctor and cautions her not to discuss it with him. Amrith Lal, apparently a colleague of Appu Pillai, visits him like he frequently does and Appu Pillai, who recognizes him from their photograph together on the wall, retrieves small notes he made on Amrith during his previous visit and engages in conversation with him accordingly but he grows dubious when his notes caution him against trusting Amrith and that the latter doesn’t seem to be a former soldier. Appu Pillai accuses Amrith of manipulating him and they get into a heated exchange until Aparna and Ajayan intervene and thereupon, Appu Pillai forgets what has happened and Amrith departs as if nothing has happened. One day, two wildlife photographers roaming in the forest capture an image of a monkey holding a pistol and report to the authorities, who suspect that it might belong to Appu Pillai and summons him for investigation. He asserts that the pistol is his and the locals are warned to be careful; elsewhere, a skeleton is discovered during an excavation in their neighbouring property, which Appu Pillai had sold off two years ago. Though the skeleton is initially suspected to be of Chachu, it is revealed to be of a large and the forensics reveal that it has died of a bullet shot and the bullet’s size matches the size of bullets used in Appu Pillai’s missing pistol. Appu Pillai is taken in for investigation while Aparna and Ajayan visit Sumadathan, their family friend. The latter reveals that three years ago, when Ajayan and Praveena were engaged with the latter’s session, Chachu stole Appu Pillai’s pistol at home and fired it, inadvertently killing the ape; Sumadathan buried the ape to cover the crime and Apu Pillai had subsequently forgotten the events but frequently visits Sumadathan, asking him the same thing about what has happened on that day. Elsewhere, due to his amnesia, Appu Pillai fails to give rational answers during the investigation and breaks down. Ajayan intervenes, revealing to the police about his father’s condition and presents a document which proves that he was fired from the army due to his health condition. The police, fearing repercussions for issuing a licensed gun to a mentally unstable person, let him go. Amrith Lal is revealed to be a psychiatrist hired by Ajayan and he frequently visits Appu Pillai to take a note on his health condition under the guise of his colleague. Aparna, who has earlier witnessed Appu Pillai putting some notes and documents on fire and involved in an altercation with him in order to resist him, breaks into his room and finds a hidden collection of notes he has been making on his personal investigation on Chachu’s missing case and finds one such note stating that two bullets are missing from his pistol; one is used in killing the ape and the whereabouts of the other bullet remains unknown. She also discovers Appu Pillai’s “missing” revolver in the secret compartment of his cabinet. Appu Pillai arrives and fumes at Aparna for breaching his privacy; the latter later confronts Ajayan, disclosing her discoveries. Ajayan reveals that three years ago, Praveena had caught Chachu playing with the pistol and asked him to hand it over but when he refused to give it, a scuffle ensued and Praveena unintentionally pulled the trigger, killing him. When Ajayan returned home, he found Praveena mourning Chachu’s death; he realized that Praveena consumed an overdose of her medicines in agony and rushed her to the hospital, leaving behind Chachu’s corpse in hurry. When he returned home, he found Chachu’s dead body missing, the floor was cleaned and Appu Pillai was having his dinner, implying that he had disposed of Chachu’s body but eventually forgot the incident. Days later, Ajayan saw Appu Pillai burning his collection of notes and evidence; Appu Pillai told Ajayan that he came to knew through his investigation that Chachu was killed due to his gun but he doesn’t want to know because of whom it occurred, claiming that he can’t envision of his family members as murderers through out his life. Since then, they have maintained that Chachu has gone missing. Ajayan further tells Aparna that however, Appu Pillai repeatedly forgets the occurrences, investigates the missing pistol, realizes the truth and again burns his findings to conceal it. Aparna and Ajayan, in the end, travel to to search for the “missing” Chachu while Appu Pillai is engaged with his investigation once again, reflecting the never-ending cycle and the misery Ajayan has to go through throughout his life. , the fourth book of the epic , tells and ‘s hunt for , leading them to the realm of . However, director Dinjith Ayyathan said that, there is no direct connection to the epic. The story which is set in a reserve forest centers around lives of its inhabitants. The characters are surrounded by . The film’s title has the tagline however the film is not on them. During the in , Dinjith and cinematographer Bahul Ramesh were in search for ideas. According to Dinjith, ” We initially considered a script which was written by Bahul first, but later he narrated a different idea and completed the draft in eight days. That draft immediately excited me and made me decide that it should be my second film.” The film was announced in September 2022 that would feature and . It has story, dialogues, and screenplay written by Bahul Ramesh. He has also handled the cinematography. Sooraj E S will be editing the film. was reported as the music composer during the announcement. Later was the composer for the film. The film is produced by Kaka Stories and Joby George’s Goodwill Entertainments. While beginning the pre-production work, one of their challenge was to locate a house set in a dense forest, where the characters reside. They rediscovered Olappamanna Mana in Vellinezhi near and finalised that house for shooting although the story is set near . The film marks the second collaboration of Director Dinjith Ayyathan and after (2019). plays the female lead role who reunites Asif Ali after (2023), (2022), , (2018) , (2017) and (2017). , , , , Vyshnavi Raj, , , Kottayam Ramesh, Bilas Chandrahasan, Master Aarav and Jibin Gopinath were cast in significant roles. who had appeared in one Malayalam film back in 1982 was cast to play a role in the film. commenced in July 2023 with a puja function. The shooting was wrapped up after 40 days of filming in and in August 2023. The film released on 12 September 2024 worldwide, coinciding with . The digital and satellite rights of the film are acquired by and reportedly for an amount of 12 crore. The film began streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from 19 November 2024. In the first three days of its release the film collected 4.85 crore worldwide. The film grossed ₹7 crore at the KBO in five days. The film grossed ₹14.73 crore in Kerala in 8 days earning ₹25 crore at the worldwide box office. By the end of its second weekend (11 days), it grossed ₹46 crore worldwide, of which ₹27.30 crore came from India while overseas gross was USD 2.22 million. The film grossed ₹55.75 crore worldwide in two weeks. The total worldwide gross collection reached ₹65 crore collecting ₹34 crore from Kerala, ₹4 crore from ROI and ₹25 crore from the international locations in the 18 days of its release. In its theatrical run it grossed 77 crore worldwide. The film received positive reviews from critics. S. R. Praveen of wrote: “A flawless screenplay drives this intriguing mystery drama”. Anandu Suresh of rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and reviewed “Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali-starrer is a brilliantly written, skillfully crafted mystery drama”. Vivek Santhosh of rated the film 4/5 and wrote: “A sublime and poignant mystery bolstered by terrific performances”. Anjana George of rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote: “Asif Ali and Vijayaraghavan bring depth to this intense psychological drama”. Sanjith Sidharthan of the rated 3.5/5 and wrote, “This Asif Ali-starrer might be a dark horse during the Onam season. The performances and writing will surely keep you engaged, and if you are a fan of slow-burn thrillers, then it’s a greatly rewarding experience.” Cris of wrote, “The film thrills in an icy sort of way, keyed as it is by a very smooth script and packed with some smart direction. The mysteries of this story lie among the living.” Manjusha Radhakrishnan of wrote, “This film, smartly written, is also a masterclass in taking its own time to come into its own. The unhurried pace of storytelling packs a punch toward the end, is a testament to Dinjith Ayyathan’s direction.” The film contains one song “Vaanara Lokam” composed by with lyrics by Shyam Muraleedharan, sung by and Jmymah. at</p>