Mammootty's Kasaba is not a cop cliche; it's rash in its violence, rare in its sensitivity and raw in its humor. In fact, the sins of all buddy cop comedies can be forgiven, for Kasaba pays an honest tribute to police on the line.
Here's a genre, which has been used and abused so many times that by all rights, it should have been exhausted of fresh possibilities long ago - but Mollywood's wisecracking gunplay is alive and well. Thanks to Nithin Renji Panicker for providing us with the latest evidence.
Kalipuram is a remote village on the Kerala-Karnataka border, where people worship Kali, the goddess. Just like the deity, the village is abode to some ferocious Homo sapiens. And for the very first time, a candidate from the village has been chosen for the upcoming elections.
No, our hero is not this candidate. He is Rajan Zachariah, a circle inspector from the Palakkad Kasaba police station. And he's not your run-of-the-mill action hero. So, here we give an insight into his character.
♦ Rajan is a womanizer who stands up for women.
♦ He doesn't believe in formal salutes, but has big respect for his superiors.
♦ For him, relationships are 'temporary', but relations, the most precious thing in life
Coming back to our story, CI Zachariah decides to get himself transferred to the infamous village of Kalipuram to investigate a murder case. Kasaba is Zachariah's journey through the investigation.
Over the years, be it Inspector Balram or Ramanadhan IPS, megastar Mammootty has excelled in police roles. In Kasaba, he has easily managed to maintain his mass avatar. Perhaps, no one else, other than Mammootty could have handled this gritty role in this visceral story. The superstar switches between his thug life and cop avatar with much ease. The mass hero he is, Zachariah's every dialogue was greeted with loud cheers and slogans in the cinema hall. The actor, who is getting younger by age, looked absolutely dashing with his hop-skip walking style and neon-green shades.
Also read: Mammootty's 'Kasaba' FDFS report
Varalaxmi Sarathkumar as Kamla would be Nithin's best find. The wide-eyed beauty with her powerful voice has proved her mettle alongside the superstar. Sampath Raj as Parameshwaran Nambiar takes away the cake for the perfect villain. Maqbool Salmaan as Jagan, Shaheen Siddique as Arjun, Alencier Ley as Thankachan, Neha Saxena as Susan and Jagadish as sub-inspector Mukundan too have done justice to their roles. Although the screen time is less, they all leave quite an impression on viewers.
With Kasaba, debutant Nithin Renji Panicker has proved that he is here to stay. Being the son of popular writer-director-actor, Renji Panicker, and the former assistant of Shaji Kailas, Nithin's script and execution might remind you of the legendary directors' Mammootty films.
Rahul Raj's heavy background music gels well with each scene and proves to be a plus point for the emotional tale.
With Kasaba, CI Rajan Zachariah fulfilled every Mammootty fan's dream. The execution and on-screen treatment makes Kasaba a must-watch.
Onmanorama Rating: 3.5/5
