WHO Malayalam Movie

Feature Film | 2018 | Drama
Critics:
Like the mystery behind the deaths in the film, 'Who' is a tough nut to crack, thanks to the modes of interpretations it offers. Set in a valley, some characters experience a dream at 6 am and they see same people in it. While you laboriously try to interpret their dreams, there crops up the urgent need for a discerning mind.
Oct 30, 2018 By K. R. Rejeesh


Written and directed by Ajay Devaloka, 'Who' is an extremely unconventional film with heavy doses of magical realism and mystic elements. It's a hard task to connect the time of the incidents/dreams with your understanding since the film is a sequel to yet-to-be-released 'Isabella'. Ajay creates myriad moments to keep you in amazement; be the dreams or the murder mystery.


In a beautiful valley in Mercada, strange things happen every year on Christmas day. People, who were born on April 8 of different years, are found dead under mysterious circumstances. The wild beauty of the dream sequences and the thrilling milieu of the investigation by two police officers -- Shahul Hameed (Gopu Padaveedan) and Britto (Srikanth Menon) --- lend a unique surrounding to the film.


First, you see a visibly upset John Luka, played by Shine Tom Chacko, who is haunted by a consistent dream at 6 am every day. Like other characters, Luka too is baffled by his dream as it has no continuity. This familiar frame of dream sequence appears again in the dream of a couple of other people, including Dolores, essayed by Pearle Maaney. These dreams happen in different years and dates. Once she comes across a person called Hector (Rajeev Pillai), whom she had met in her dream. When she approaches him, Dolores realizes that he is Vinod Barve. This meeting happens in 2013. She also sees his wife Neena (Angana Roy) in her dream at dawn.


Two mysterious murders that happen in the valley disturbs Dolores as she experiences telepathy about them. She approaches dream interpreter Arunima (Shruthy Menon) to solve her mentally disturbed problems. Meanwhile, a couple of people visit criminal psychologist Dr Samuel (Prashanth Nair) to find out the meaning of their dreams in which they too see same people. But no one could solve this enigma of the shared dream.


There are shocking revelations towards the climax, which leaves a riveting space for the answers in the upcoming parts of 'Who'. Pearle Maaney powerfully exhibits her acting calibre as a mentally-annoyed youth due to her recurring bizarre dreams. In fact, her character gives some hints to the viewers to arrive at a conclusion regarding the reality in the film to an extent. Still the task is not easy.


Like the mystery behind the deaths in the film, 'Who' is a tough nut to crack, thanks to the modes of interpretations it offers. Set in a valley, some characters experience a dream at 6 am and they see same people in it. While you laboriously try to interpret their dreams, there crops up the urgent need for a discerning mind.


With a top-notch presentation in all departments, 'Who' has a mesmerizing background score by Catharsis and Manikandan Ayyappa. Cinematography by Amith Surendran is captivating in sharing the mysterious layers of the dreams of the characters.


'Who' is astonishingly powerful, serious and mysterious to make you rack your brains to unravel the interpretations it puts forward.

K. R. Rejeesh

   

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