I Am Kathalan Review: Gireesh AD, Naslen Characters Need Psychological Treatment
If Gireesh AD and Naslen were in academics, their major area of research would have been how badly men treat the idea of dejection. Because, their recent projects, both Premalu and I Am Kathalan, are mostly about how men respond to dejection in love with certain psychological patterns in all characters. They experience intense feelings of sadness, frustration, or even anger, as the loss of a romantic relationship is seen challenging their sense of identity and self-worth with the social conditioning (of the characters and the writers) encourages them to suppress emotional vulnerability, leading them to mask their pain with distraction, denial, or avoidance, rather than seeking emotional support.
If Vishnu of I am Kathalan and Sachin of Premalu had proper emotional support rather than men in guise of good friends promoting their vulnerabilities, the lives of the women in the movies and also the viewer would have been different.
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Gireesh AD’s characters have text book behavioural issues connecting them with various traits of toxicity and misogyny. Instead of focusing on their life, hobbies, or socialising as a way to regain a sense of control and autonomy as individuals when they are faced with hurdles in relationships, both Sachin and Vishnu, in a way, after the dejection stalk the women emotionally and physically and make their lives hell. Many, who are denied love or continuity in a relationship, finds introspection and solitude as healing mechanism, though it risks prolonged isolation if not balanced with social support, Gireesh’s characters would never do that as well. They find revenge or emotional torture as the only coping mechanism. They don’t take no as answer.
Ultimately, Gireesh and his characters need personal coping strategies, social support network, and emotional resilience, shaping how they process pain and moves forward with renewed self-awareness.
I Am Kathalan looks like a project which was built on the heels of the humongous success Premalu witnessed in the entire South India. The movie, as a whole, offers nothing new. In its true execution, it begins where Premalu started and ends clueless, for both characters and the viewer.
As I mentioned above, the Kathalan (lover) here is a dejected, clueless and ignorant social being who finds ways to take revenge as his ex’s father attacks him. Then the Kathalan transforms himself into another avatar in which he seeks vengeance with a trick he knows and makes the empire of the father tremble.
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For sure, I am Kathalan is no Premalu. The February release had many positives that had worked for the larger appeal it created; the geographical setting, the ensemble cast, powerful female characters, logically flawed but steady screenplay – to name a few. In the latest movie, writing is shaky, direction is directionless, thread is repetition and there was nothing as acting performance as the script demanded the minimal.
Timeline verdict: I Am Kathalan is avoidable if you had watched the first half of Premalu. The project seems like it was made to cash in on the momentum Premalu had created, and fails to match on the better plot the viewer anticipates.
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I Am Kathalan Crew
Director: Girish AD
Writer: Sajin Cherukayil
Cinematographer: Sharan Velayudhan
Editor: Akash Joseph Varghese
Music: Sidhartha Pradeep
Cast: Naslen K Gafoor, Anshima Anilkumar, Lijomol Jose, Dileesh Pothan
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