Dridam TamilYogi Review: All I can see was little children running around and laughing in my theatre, right before Dridam took its last breath, and even after the credits rolled. The narrative finally shows its true face and the film no longer appears to be just a village police procedural. The film starts to look disturbing once the narrative finally reveals itself. It’s a Martin Joseph film, and features a lot of tropes you’ll recognize from Jeethu Joseph films – where the slow burn effect accumulates and finally explodes in the finale.
There’s some bad acting, yes, but some terrible moments are oddly accentuated by their awkwardness, and the filmmaking isn’t always that strong, although there are definitely some moments that aren’t. Shane Nigam’s character is believable and vulnerable, and Dridam brings some emotional and violent punch to the end of the film and eases the audience out of the theatre in complete silence.
The film is a debut effort directed by Martin Joseph, an associate of Jeethu Joseph and it is undeniably in the same genre. Both Jomon John and Linto Devasia have written the story, screenplay and dialogues. It stars Shane Nigam, Shobi Thilakan, Nandan Unni, Dinesh Prabhakar and Saniya Fathima in prominent roles.
It tells the story of Vijay Radhakrishnan, who is apppointed a Sub Inspector in the serene small village near in Idukki, where serious crimes are almost unheard of. The daily posting finds itself slowly turning into an uneasy investigation, with an escalating series of misadventures and surprises.
The film’s treatment of its story was very interesting. Rather than dive into action, it slowly constructs its world with common individuals, normal behavior, and common police-station dynamics. That’s one of the film’s strongest points; the grounded feel.
In the beginning, I saw a couple of points I didn’t like in the filmmaking. A few dramatic stretches are amateurish in staging and execution and some scenes have a serial-like texture. At times, the characters speak in the same tone and others join in the dialogue as they walk in the frame. These are technically called “weak” zones because they are the areas that weaken the flow. However, by the end of the story many of these faults turn into a blessing. The raw presentation actually enhances the realism of the investigation scenes, and bolsters the effect of the climax reveal.
The great strength of the film is its screenplay. The story progresses in the same way as the title implies, slowly until it all comes to a head in the climax. The screenplay is brimming with little clues and hints throughout. If you watch carefully, you’ll see how that information becomes relevant later in the story. Even back then, I don’t believe that most will easily guess the twist. I saw parts of it halfway through because I have seen many thrillers and crime shows and the execution still didn’t disappoint when the truth came out.
The investigation parts at the start were enough to keep me entertained, even with the slow pace. The character development parts are not that interesting, but once the mystery kicks into gear the movie becomes gradually intriguing. I loved the “interval block”! The film has a very emotional connection to Vijay Radhakrishnan which it builds up from the beginning and for that, the motivation for his life to continue and how he struggles with his mind throughout the climax are very well placed. There were some pay off moments in the end that were actually quite good.
I enjoyed how the police station itself was so much of a character in the story. The interior of the station, the dynamics between the officers and the grounded village environment, provides a believable space. Although the story takes place in Idukki, much of the landscape was familiar to me, which added to the realism of the story.
Shane Nigam’s performance as Vijay Radhakrishnan is acceptable. He is able to convey the impression of a young officer, who has recently joined the service after passing their exams, through his body language, facial expression and mannerisms. I found the vulnerable and nervousness in his character to be a perfect fit for me.
Shobi Thilakan makes a good impression with his portrayal of the senior officer Krishnettan. At some points, the dubbing style was like a TV serial but in certain shots, I could distinctly hear the presence and voice of the legendary Thilakan.
The supporting cast performs well. Vijay Radhakrishnan is seen as a policeman with Dinesh Prabhakar, Nandan Unni, Kottayam Ramesh playing policemen and Krishnaprabha playing Vidya, the cop. They are the characters that are relevant to the investigation and help to keep the movie grounded. Other actors feature Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Prashanth Murali and Joji K. John.
Overall, the film is pretty decent technically. Director P. M. Unnikrishnan’s grasp of the rural vibe is fairly good and editor Vinayak keeps the tension level at a decent level despite the slow pace. Sreerag Saji’s music is to be praised for consistently elevating the thriller vibe and concealing a couple of flaws in staging and performance. I also liked the sound design in the more tense moments.
The thing that impressed me the most in the film are the quality of the screenplay that makes up for its shortcomings. The climaxes of many thrillers are either disappointing or take too long to pay off; not so with Dridam, which warrants its slow burn approach with a very effective payoff. The fighting in the final scene is so disturbing that I would strongly recommend against sending kids to see this movie on the basis of what I saw.
Put simply, Dridam is a flawed but captivating crime thriller that works well primarily due to the well-crafted screenplay and cathartic ending. There are some moments where the film isn’t as well-paced, and not everyone may be into some of the acting, but I found myself watching the film from beginning to end for the tension, the grounded setting, and the reveal. I personally enjoyed the film, but you can understand why some people might not have been that impressed by it’s pace or rough presentation.
Rating: 3.5/5
