Oru Kattil Oru Muri Movie Review: An incoherent film that suffers from a lack of focus

Shanavas K Bavakkutty's latest film, Oru Kattil Oru Muri (OKOM), is a multi-narrative story centred around a bed and its three occupants. The film opens with Rugmangadan (Hakim Shahjahan) waking up in his car, only to spot some goons approaching. He narrowly escapes, only to encounter them again later. Throughout the film, we see him repeatedly pursued by different sets of goons without delivering any tension. Even though we’re given fragmented details about why these goons are after him, the clumsy exposition fails to engage and the weak writing never takes off, inducing boredom.

Director: Shanavas K Bavakutty

Cast: Hakim Shahjahan, Poornima Indrajith, Priyamvada Krishnan, Shammi Thilakan, Vijayaraghavan

Next, we meet Tripura Sundari, popularly known as Akkamma (Poornima Indrajith), the original owner of the bed. She is a Tamil-speaking woman still in love with her estranged husband and is deeply attached to the bed they once shared. Akkamma keeps on lamenting the loss of her husband and goes gaga about the bed to everyone around her, as though her entire existence revolves around these two things. Unfortunately, none of it registers enough to form a connection. The current occupant of the bed is Madhumiya (Priyamvada Krishnan), a woman in her late twenties, who is searching for a job and renting a room in Akkamma's house. The film also explores Madhumiya’s family and her strained relationship with her father. In fact, the only moments where this incoherent film shows some promise are during the depiction of the dysfunctional family dynamics, largely thanks to Shammi Thilakan's compelling performance as the patriarch in an extended cameo.

OKOM's primary flaw is its random and fragmented storytelling with little character development, making it difficult to invest in any of the protagonists. Rugmangadan, now an Uber driver, experiences a series of misadventures with passengers that are presented in disjointed episodes. These scenes neither advance the plot nor contribute to character development. For example, there’s a stretch where a husband knowingly lets his wife elope, but Rugmangadan ends up safely returning her home after the plan goes awry. Another short segment involves an elderly couple visiting their son's house, only to find it locked, prompting them to return to their ancestral home. Rugmangadan drives them back without accepting his taxi fare. While these scenes may be intended to illustrate his virtuous nature, they come across as irrelevant distractions that slow down an already tedious film. Despite its relatively short runtime of two hours, OKOM feels overlong and underwhelming.

The second hour of the film becomes increasingly pointless, particularly with a subplot that strikingly echoes another underwhelming film that came out this year, Pavi Caretaker. In OKOM's latter half, Madhumiya and Rugmangadan share the same room, taking turns at night and day according to their work schedules. By the time the film comes up with a plot twist and reaches its somewhat contrived happy ending, you may find yourself zoning out due to its overall inertness. To give credit where it's due, Eldhose George's cinematography is commendable, particularly in the way the camera pans within the confines of buildings and rooms, showcasing tight framing. Varkey's background score is mostly soothing and subtle, while Ankit Menon's composition 'Nenjile' stands out with its beautiful arrangements and soulful rendition.

Even though the performances of Hakim, Priyamvada, and Poornima are functional enough, the characters fail to evoke empathy or make us root for them, particularly due to veteran scenarist Raghunath Paleri's confused screenplay that suffers from a lack of focus. Even the presence of seasoned performers like Vijayaraghavan and Janardanan feels wasted. Despite their ability to embody their roles convincingly, there is nothing of substance for them to contribute. OKOM could have been a better affair as a coming-of-age story if it had delved deeper into the protagonists' motivations and stayed focused on its core plot, avoiding unnecessary digressions such as the redundant goon sequences.