Kalam Kaval Review

Kalam kaval released in 2025 with much anticipation as it brought together a strong team led by director Jithin and headlined by Mammootty. The cast included Vinayakan, Gayatri, Rajisha, and others who played certain roles across the layered story, and the film moved forward with the support of music director Mujeeb whose work formed the emotional base of the film. With a team of such calibre the expectations were naturally high.

The film begins with an interesting setup built around a chain of incidents that slowly pull the characters into a world of killings. The first half moves through a series of clues and confrontations that set up a larger conflict waiting in the background. The story leads the audience through a maze of doubt.

Acting wise the cast delivered a decent performance but nothing beyond that. Movements felt dull and emotions lacked conviction, which made many moments feel staged. There was an unusual stiffness in the way scenes flowed and even Mammootty who usually carries strong presence appeared held back. The performances never reached the intensity the film needed and this brought down the overall impact.

The action sequences followed a similar path. The stunt direction did not match the energy expected from a thriller of this kind. The scenes were slow and the lack of sharp execution became evident especially with an actor of Mammootty’s age where planning is crucial. Movements looked strained and the rhythm of fight failed to create naturality. The camera angles added to this problem as they exposed more flaws instead of hiding them.

Cinematography during action sequences struggled to build momentum and the odd framing made the scenes feel even more dragged. However the lighting and choice of locations were solid and created the eerie tone the film wanted to establish. The atmosphere worked well whenever the camera was not tied to movement heavy sequences.

The writing is where the film loses most of its strength. The core idea had strong potential but the screenplay could not shape it convincingly. Scenes felt artificial and extended beyond their need and even if a few were removed, the film would still convey the same story. The arrangement of scenes made the flow confusing as transitions from one sequence to another lacked clarity. A film built on tension requires tighter construction and the writing did not support that.

Music and background score stood out as one of the stronger elements. Usage of vintage songs to elevate the hero and the background score contributed to the tone of the film, and helped build atmosphere where the visuals fell short.

Overall Kalam kaval is a film with potential that never fully materialises. Several important departments held it back and what could have been a good thriller becomes a decent watch. Nothing stays in mind after the movie, since no performance or scene was constructed well.

Rating: 6/10 ⭐️ 

Lust As A Living Truth

It enters human life in a way nothing else does. Since it rises from a place deeper than thought and moves through the body with a beautiful feeling. It is one of the few truths that needs no language and no permission, yet it is treated as something unworthy of open acknowledgment. Love on the other hand receives gentle metaphors, while lust is pushed behind walls, as if it does not belong to the same human heart that seeks warmth.

Every person feels it long before they understand its name, since desire is part of being alive. A living body responds, reacts and reaches for touch, and there is nothing shameful in that response. What turns lust into a forbidden subject is not the feeling itself but the story society builds around it. People are taught to speak of affection and bonding, while treating raw attraction as something that must stay hidden.

Lust, when seen without those fears becomes something remarkably beautiful. It awakens the senses with a clarity that brings the body to life in an instant. It is the moment two people recognise each other without the slow building that love demands. There is depth in that pull since it reveals what the mind avoids and what the heart hesitates to confess. It turns touch into language and skin into meaning. For a short moment the world narrows into something intensely real.

There is poetry in it , when seen without the fear that society attaches to it. It is the slow rise of warmth beneath the skin when two paths cross, the subtle shift in the body that cannot be controlled, the invisible pull that draws one body toward another. It does not promise forever but it offers intensity that many never allow themselves to feel. It does not pretend to be love, yet it shapes human feelings.

Lust and love do not need to stand as opposites. They are two different languages of the same desire to connect. One builds the story and the other ignites the beginning. Both belong to the same body trying to understand itself and the world around it. Treating one as noble and the other as sinful only blinds people to the truth that desire in its purest form, is a natural expression of being human.

Lust is not dirtied by intention and it is not purified by restraint. It is simply a moment where the body speaks with honesty and where two people sense something that needs no explanation. In that moment there is a form of purity, untouched by fear and judgment, a purity that shows how deeply human senses can run.

Twenty Five and Tired

Twenty five is supposed to be the age of building something, an age that has hopes and possibilities. But for him it does not feel like that. It feels like standing in the middle of a crowd that keeps moving forward, while he stays stuck in the same place. There is no excitement and no thrill of adulthood, only a pressure that settles with every passing day.

People around him often forget how their words hit. Some speak casually, some speak sharply, but most speak without thinking. Questions about work, about earnings, about progress, about career gaps come like routine blows. Every conversation points back to where he has not reached. The tone is rarely supportive. It is often a comparison, sometimes a complaint and occasionally a disguised insult. Over time it becomes normal to expect disappointment from people who were once trusted.

Values that were raised carefully start slipping away. He grew up believing that respect was something earned with character, discipline and honesty. But the world he faces now seems built on something else entirely. Pretence gets praised and Money gets respected. And he stands there with everything he thought mattered, watching it mean nothing in the eyes of others.

Being without a job at twenty five is treated like a shame. People do not ask what went wrong. They do not ask what he needs. They do not ask how he feels. They only ask why he is still where he is. Every question holds judgement. Every attempt to explain gets overshadowed by the simple fact that, society has no patience for uncertainty.

Disrespect becomes something he gets used to. The way people speak as if he has failed at life already. Family members whisper concerns, relatives compare him to someone else’s child, friends move ahead and slowly drift away. Nobody intends to break him, but each small moment contributes to the slow erosion of confidence.

Most days he does not feel twenty five. He feels older. Not in wisdom, but in exhaustion. There are mornings when he wakes up with a heft he cannot explain. Nights where he lies awake wondering what went wrong and why the world feels so unreachable, even when people are right beside him. The pressure of starting a life, building a future, proving worth and meeting expectations sits on his chest putting pressure.

He is not lazy. He is not unambitious. He is simply uncertain, confused. He is trying again and again, but nothing seems to move. Every attempt feels like pushing against a wall. And the worst part is pretending. Pretending to be fine. Pretending to be hopeful. Pretending that the future looks bright when the present feels suffocating.

Life at twenty five does not feel like youth. It feels stagnant. A place between what was planned and what is happening. A point where dreams feel distant and reality feels unforgiving. A stage where everything seems slipping just a little faster than he can hold.

But he wakes up because there is no other choice, and he gets through the day moving from one room to another, answering questions he does not want to, nodding at comments he does not agree with and just trying not to lose control. with no rush of motivation and no spark of inspiration, just a tired routine he follows because stopping would create problems he is not ready to face, even when the world disheartens him, even when confidence slips away and even when respect is nowhere to be found.

Twenty five does not feel wasted in an overt way, it feels empty in a draining way, as if something inside him is slowly fading without anyone noticing. He does not search for a way out with hope, instead he simply moves through the smallest possibility that might keep him from sinking further, and continues because that is all he can do through days that feel unsteady and unsure if anything ahead will ever truly change.

When A Knee Decides To Stop

There comes a point when the body simply refuses to continue the way it used to. For a rider who never questioned his strength, that moment came without any drama. One morning the knee could handle long distances and heavy machines, and the next it could not even manage a simple jump during badminton. The diagnosis came later. A high grade ACL tear. Not from the game, but from years of riding, the constant pressure, the weight of the bike that slowly pushed the ligament past its limit.

Life changed immediately after hearing that. Movements that used to be instinctive now required planning. Getting out of bed, sitting down, climbing a few steps, even shifting weight from one leg to the other, everything demanded extra care. There was no comfort in routine anymore. Nothing felt stable. The knee acted on its own terms, and he had no control over how long it would behave. People spoke casually about recovery, about patience, but none of them understood what it meant to live with a leg that could collapse at any moment.

Meanwhile a fall came out of nowhere. A small slip on a smooth floor. The knee buckled instantly. The pain was so sharp that he had to grab onto whatever he could find just to keep himself conscious. It was the kind of pain that empties the lungs, that makes the world fade for a moment. After that fear settled in. Every step felt risky. Every corner felt unsafe. The second fall was worse. It happened on a wet patch of floor he did not notice. One small step, one slight shift, and his foot slid out. The knee collapsed instantly, sending him crashing down before he could react. The pain spread so fast that he could not speak for a few seconds. He just stayed there on the cold ground, holding his leg, trying to breathe through the shock. That moment stayed with him forever, because it showed how quickly the body can leave a person helpless.

Waiting for surgery only stretched everything further. No improvement, no relief, just long days of managing pain and long nights where the knee pulsed for no clear reason. The bike remained parked. People kept asking when he would ride again. He had no answer. He did not even know when he could walk across a room without feeling nervous of slipping or hitting an object. 

Some days he tried to act normal. He tried to stand a little longer, walk a little faster, or pretend the pain was manageable. But the knee never let him forget. It forced him to slow down. It showed him that even basic movements could not be trusted anymore. He felt stuck, not just physically but also mentally, watching the simplest tasks become challenges he never imagined facing.

Strength stopped mattering. The only thing that mattered was getting through each day without another fall, without another wave of pain that made the room spin. It became a daily test of staying steady, staying calm and staying upright.

Every night ended the same way. The knee throbbed. The body felt drained from doing almost nothing. And the mind drifted through thoughts that were painful than the injury itself. Some days felt manageable. Most did not. And through all of it, he moved forward in the only way he could, slow and unstable, trying to stay functional in a body that refused to cooperate.

A life balanced on one unstable knee held together by discomfort, fear and the stubborn need to survive the day. A life that continues forward even when everything feels as if it is barely holding on. A life.

Dies Irae Review

"Dies Irae” arrives as one of the most anticipated Malayalam films of the year, bringing together a strong cast led by Pranav Mohanlal along with supporting performances from Sushmita bhat, Ghibin, Jaya kurup, Arjun and others. The film is directed by the talented Rahul Sadasivan with music composed by Christo Xavier and cinematography handled by Shehnad Jalal. The writing has the director’s signature touch, and the film released this month with expectations already high among fans and critics who follow Rahul's craft.

The story begins with a slight unease that slowly spreads through a small community, as strange events begin to take shape around them. A sense of dread grows through the eyes of Pranav’s character who gets pulled into something larger darker and much older than he can comprehend. The film builds its mystery step by step without revealing too much at once and halfway through the tone shifts into something more intense. 

Acting wise the entire cast delivers a fantastic performance. Pranav Mohanlal rises above all his previous work, and truly stands out with a controlled expressive and mature portrayal that shows how far he has grown as an actor. Sushmita, Ghibin, Jaya and the rest of the cast contribute solid performances that hold the film together.

The writing, screenplay and cinematography are where the film shines the most. The plot may not be unfamiliar, but the way it is executed makes it feel fresh. The locations the sets and the prosthetics add an eerie authenticity to the world. The frames feel alive with detail and the visual tone pulls you into a surreal and almost dreamlike experience. The horror sequences and the moments involving blood or tension are executed with stunning realism, and the craft behind each of these scenes shows a team working at the top of their game.

The music and sound department elevate the film even further. The background score stays in your head, and the sound design is sharp atmospheric and extremely effective. Every distant knock, every step and every rising note adds to the fear. For a horror film sound plays a major role, and the team clearly understood that. The limited use of songs also works well as it keeps the tone steady and prevents any shift in mood.

Even though the film is technically brilliant it does not completely justify the horror genre. The number of jumpscares is low and the plot feels familiar even with its strong execution. There is a presence of fear, but it does not fully grip the viewer the way one might expect, especially when compared to the director’s earlier films which set a different standard altogether. As a result the film falls slightly short in terms of pure horror impact.

But overall it remains a decent and well crafted watch with strong performances and exceptional technical work.

Rating: 7/10 ⭐️

EKO Review

"EKO" brings together an amazing cast led by Sandeep Pradeep and Biana Momin with powerful support from Vineeth, Narain, Saurabh Sachdeva and Binu Pappu. Directed by Dinjith Ayyathan and written and shot by Bahul Ramesh the film continues the same team’s creative run after Kishkinda Kandam. Mujeeb Majeed handles the music and Sooraj E S takes care of the editing. The film got released on 21 November 2025.

The story begins in a village where Kuriachan known for his bond with dogs suddenly disappears. The tension rises as Mlathi, a woman who carries an air of mystery starts showing an unnatural control over the animals. Peeyoos moves through a world where fear suspicion and half truths blur together. The film slowly shifts into a space where no one is sure what is real and what is imagined. Beyond this point the plot opens up in layers best experienced directly without knowing too much ahead.

The acting holds the film steady. Sandeep gives Peeyoos an honest vulnerability that makes his fear and confusion feel real. Biana Momin plays her role with strength and conviction. Vineeth, Narain and Saurabh Sachdeva deliver grounded performances that add weight to every scene. Mlathi becomes centre of the film, and the absence of Kuriachan creates a tension that the actors communicate without emotion.

The cinematography by Bahul Ramesh builds the entire mood of the story with its Alluring frames and slow movements. The House and the location feels alive yet distant, as if holding secrets in every empty space. The screenplay stays intact and confident never rushing a moment and allowing the silences to shape the fear. The world feels controlled and carefully crafted, which gives the film its distinct edge.

The music by Mujeeb Majeed blends into the narrative without overpowering it, and the sound design creates an atmosphere that is both calm and chaos. The footsteps, the distant barks and the silent hum of the environment work together to make the tension feel organic. The score slowly tightens around the viewer and becomes one of the strongest parts of the film.

Eko stands out because it trusts its pace and its world. It does not spoon feed explanations and it does not treat the viewer lightly. The film grows in silence, builds fear through suggestion and gives space for interpretation. It has the confidence of a team that understands atmosphere and emotions and rewards anyone who watches with patience.

Rating: 9/10⭐️