TIYAAN STORY : The lives of a vedic scholar Pattabhiramagiri and his family come under threat after a godman and his goons try to displace him from his centuries-old ancestral home as part of building an ashram. The “curse” that befalls Pattabhiraman in the face of opposition leaves him broken, till a mysterious ally lends him his support. Their fight against the evil forces forms the rest of the plot.
TIYAAN REVIEW : Director Jiyen Krishnakumar’s Tiyaan hit the theatres high on expectations, and the chief reason being its scriptwriter Murali Gopy’s previous films included Left Right Left and Ee Adutha Kaalathu. And as expected, for the most part of Tiyaan – Murali delivers with an intense script packed with potent dialogues, not just in Malayalam but in Hindi and Sanskrit too.
The movie revolves around a fictional North Indian village named Shankar Ghat, located a few hundred kilometres from Badrinath. Vedic scholar Pattabhiramagiri’s (Indrajith) family has inhabited the land for centuries. However, his life soon comes under threat when he opposes a godman named Mahashey Bhagwan (Murali Gopy) who wants to setup an ashram, by occupying his land. The “curses” that befall him leave Pattabhiraman a broken man, till a mysterious ally named Aslan Mohammed (Prithviraj) comes to his rescue. Their fight against the evil forces of Mahashey forms the plot of this socio-political drama.
Murali Gopy had promised a gender-bender of a film and the movie has thumping action scenes, thought-provoking dialogues, political undertones and a story that is set in multiple periods and realities. The initial half wraps a relevant take on the current socio-political scenario of the country as an entertainer set in a hamlet, inhabited by people of various sects, religions and languages.
The hero of the movie is undoubtedly its script, which however seems to be toned down in the second half to play to the gallery, and is reduced to a fight between good and evil. And from the powers of the heroes, Mahashey’s character never seems daunting enough to challenge them, let alone win a battle.
Indrajith has always brought his A-game for Murali’s scripts and this film too shows off his range as an acting powerhouse when given the right role. He ably portrays the internal conflict when having to choose between what he has learnt from the vedantas and what he has to do to survive. Prithviraj as Aslan Mohammed puts on a restrained performance in two time periods, and he is at ease mouthing the Hindi dialogues. The backstory of his character though brings a lag to the proceedings, immediately after the first half. Murali shines as the egotistical godman, who gets scared stiff once his past starts to catch up.
The film has an ensemble star cast with Ravi Singh as Khorpade, the chief henchman of Mahashey, Suraj Venjaramoodu as the opportunist neighbour and Ananya as Pattabhiraman’s wife Anba putting up noteworthy performances. Cinematographer Satheesh Kurup must be lauded for the colour tone and expansive frames along with its art director Mohandas, who has erected massive sets for the movie.
Meanwhile, its filmmaker Jiyen can be proud of helming a film with big notions. For the viewers, the movie is a good one-time watch with a few great scenes featuring Indrajith and Prithviraj that would appeal to the audience.
