Kochaal was influenced by films I loved: Shyam Mohan

One always experiences a feeling of regret when a solid but overlooked Malayalam movie misses one’s radar. Debutant director Shyam Mohan’s Kochaal, streaming now on Zee5, is one such example—an investigative thriller that draws its influence from the most iconic classics in the genre from Malayalam cinema. The film revolves around a young man of short stature struggling to get into the police force, mocked for his failure, and eventually landing the job after a tragic development. 

Krishna Sankar is effective as Sreekuttan, a vulnerable civil policeman looking for his big break; Murali Gopy is stellar as Simon Thomas, a senior police official in charge of a murder investigation central to the plot. The latter’s distinct quirks and unpredictable sense of humour are a delight to watch. And one waits with bated breath to see how the considerable friction created between Sreekuttan and Simon through the course of the film gets resolved. 

Kochaal came out of Shyam Mohan’s urge to do a film that evokes the mood of the mainstream Malayalam movies he grew up watching, such as Oru CBI Diary Kurippu. “We were very aware that we wanted to do a genre piece, something that we would like to see on screen,” says Shyam, who also professes his love for the classics of Padmarajan, KG George, and SN Swamy. “Kochaal, in some way, reflects elements of some of the films I consumed.” 

Having spent his pre-high school days in Kenya, Shyam discovered movies the same way most 90s kids did, through television and VHS tapes. When the filmmaking bug eventually bit him, Shyam enrolled in a three-year film studies course in Australia. Later, a chance interaction with a popular family friend, Navya Nair, led him to an opportunity to assist cinematographer Manoj Pillai, with whom he enjoyed a long, fruitful association. The decision to go independent, with his directorial debut, was inevitable. 

It is, he admits, a challenge to make your debut with something like a crime thriller. “When I was studying in Australia, most of my fellow students were into zombie films. Remember how Edgar Wright started with Shaun of the Dead? That was the genre with which most aspiring filmmakers hoped to make a breakthrough.” 

Being a filmmaker who spent most of his life abroad, Shyam feels his experience working with veteran Malayalam filmmakers like Padmakumar helped him acclimatise himself with the working process here.

“The script of Kochaal came through writers Midhun and Prajith, associate writers on Red Wine. And since Kichu (Krishna Sankar) was a colleague when we were working under Manoj Pillai, I didn’t have to look elsewhere for a leading man apt for essaying a protagonist of Sreekuttan’s physique. He used to be vocal about acting, and Sreekuttan was a character tailor-made for Kichu,” recalls Shyam, who landed a producer in late 2018 after a fairly taxing journey considering his newbie filmmaker status. “Sreekuttan is a very vulnerable protagonist prone to making mistakes. He is not a typical hero. It’s only around in the last 45 mins that he gets opportunities to score. I couldn’t think of a better option than Kichu.”

Shyam describes his experience with Murali Gopy as an enriching one. “Not many people know that he played a cop in Kochaal first before Drishyam 2. We started shooting in 2019 by December end, and then later the pandemic hit us. In the midst of it, he went to do Drishyam 2. He is very selective when it comes to roles. We wrote this character as someone trying to quit cigarettes and how that habit engenders feelings like frustration and anger. There is also the implication that once upon a time, he might have been a ‘kochaal’ too. When we first see Simon Thomas, he is a hero figure to Sreekuttan, but, as they say, meeting your heroes in person can prompt a different perspective. We envisioned their conflict as a David vs Goliath type thing.”