Kishkindha Kaandam (transl. Kishkindha Chapter) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language mystery thriller film directed by Dinjith Ayyathan and written by Bahul Ramesh. The film stars Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali and Vijayaraghavan. The story takes place in the monkey-inhabited Kallepathi reserve forest where ex-military officer Appu Pillai and his son Ajay Chandran, a forest officer, reside. Principal photography began in July 2023 and was wrapped up after 40 days of filming in Kerala and Hyderabad in August 2023. The film's music was composed by Mujeeb Majeed while the editing and cinematography was done by Sooraj E. S. and Bahul Ramesh respectively. The film released on 12th September 2024 to critical acclaim gaining praise for the story, screenplay, background score, the performances of the lead cast and became a commercial success at the box office. It is the highest grossing film of Asif Ali's career in a leading role. It also emerged as the 9th highest grossing Malayalam film of 2024.

Plot

The movie begins with the wedding of Ajay, a dedicated forest officer, and Aparna. After their wedding, they move into Ajay’s family home, where he lives with his father, Appu Pilla, a retired army officer. The house is located near a dense forest reserve known for its population of wild monkeys, which frequently cause trouble for the local residents. Appu Pilla is portrayed as a strict and regimented man, possibly due to his past military career. Early on, it is revealed that Appu Pilla’s licensed pistol went missing two years ago, and ever since, he has been persistently searching for it, regularly inquiring with authorities about its whereabouts. Ajay, too, is burdened by a personal tragedy—his son with his deceased previous wife, Chachu, went missing three years ago under mysterious circumstances. Despite numerous efforts, Ajay has been unable to find any trace of his lost child. The emotional weight of this loss is evident, and Ajay still pursues every lead that might help him locate Chachu, even traveling to distant places in his quest. Aparna learns about this tragedy and even accompanies Ajay on journeys to search for his missing child. As Aparna settles into her new life in Ajay’s home, she begins to notice strange and unsettling behaviors from her father-in-law, Appu Pilla. His mood swings, secretive nature, and obsession with the missing pistol raise her suspicions. When she shares these concerns with Ajay, he dismisses them, reassuring her that Appu Pilla’s behavior is merely a product of his old age issues. Later however, he explains that his father has been suffering from memory loss for years, but has developed his own coping mechanisms to function normally. However, Ajay warns Aparna that Appu Pilla becomes furious when questioned about his condition or urged to seek medical help, and it’s best not to confront him about it. A man named Amrith Lal, who appears to have a long history with Appu Pilla, visits the house. Appu Pilla tries to recognize the visitor from the photographs on the wall, and secretly retrieves notes from his room before engaging in conversation with Amrith. Though the two were army colleagues, Appu Pilla grows suspicious of Amrith, recalling that his previous notes he prepared advised against trusting him. Their exchange turns tense when Appu Pilla accuses Amrith of lying about their past, to which Amrith offers no clear response. As they argue, Ajay and Aparna return home, and Amrith hastily departs, having secretly taken away some of Appu Pilla’s notes. Appu Pilla’s growing suspicion of Amrith only deepens the mystery surrounding him. One day, a group of wildlife photographers in the nearby forest capture a shocking image of a monkey holding a pistol. The news spreads quickly, and it is suspected that this is the very same pistol that Appu Pilla lost two years ago. The local police become involved, and Appu Pilla confirms that the weapon seen with the monkey is indeed his. This odd incident only adds to the tension in the household. Not long after, a shocking discovery is made by the neighbors—during excavation work on their property, they uncover a skeleton. When the police and forensics team arrive, Ajay and Aparna rush to the site. Initially, it is thought that the remains might belong to Ajay’s missing son, as the land previously belonged to Appu Pilla. However, upon further investigation, the forensics team reveals that the skeleton is not of a human, but that of a large ape or monkey. Even more troubling, the ape was killed by a gunshot, and the bullet matches the size of the ammunition used in Appu Pilla’s missing pistol. This new twist complicates the investigation, as killing wild animals is a serious offense in India. Appu Pilla is brought in for questioning, but due to his memory loss, he is unable to provide any coherent answers, breaking down in frustration. Ajay steps in to explain his father’s condition, and the visitor Amrith was not an army colleague, but a doctor whom Ajay secretly hired to treat his father’s memory loss without Appu Pilla’s knowledge and shows the police documentation confirming that Appu Pilla had been fired from the army due to his memory problems. The police, now realizing that they issued a gun license to someone with such a condition, become concerned about their own accountability and releases Appu Pilla from their custody. As the mystery deepens, Aparna spots Appu Pilla burning a box of papers outside the house the next day. She attempts to salvage some of the documents, leading to a physical altercation between the two. Ajay intervenes, but once again, Appu Pilla's memory fails, and he forgets the entire incident. Aparna grows more determined to uncover the truth, and secretly investigates Appu Pilla’s room and discovers a hidden collection of notes and evidence he has been compiling in his personal investigation into the missing gun, 2 missing bullets and the disappearance of Chachu. To her shock, she also finds the missing pistol locked away in Appu Pilla's secret compartment . Appu Pilla, meanwhile, returns home and realizes someone has been in his room, becoming enraged and accusing Ajay and Aparna of invading his privacy. In the aftermath, Aparna confronts Ajay, demanding to know the truth and if he hids anything from her. Ajay finally reveals the dark secret he has been hiding: Three years ago, Chachu while still alive, discovers Appu Pilla’s memory loss and snuck into his room, finding the pistol. Despite being warned by his grandfather, the child continues to frequently play with the pistol and one day shot and killed a monkey. Appu Pilla, along with his old friend Sumadathan, secretly buried the monkey’s body, which was the skeleton recently discovered by the neighbor. Shortly after, tragedy struck again—Ajay returned home one day to find Chachu dead, accidentally shot by the pistol while his mother, Pravina was trying to take the gun away from him. In her grief and guilt, Pravina who was also a cancer patient, overdosed on her prescription medicines and attempted suicide. Though Ajay rushed her to the hospital, when he returned home to get her chemotherapy documents, he found that Chachu’s body had disappeared. Appu Pilla, in a shocking act of self-preservation, is assumed to have removed the body and later forgotten where he has buried the body. He tells Ajay he knows the gun killed Chachu accidentally, and told him he doesn't want to know if the accident happened through Chachu, Ajay or Pravi. He insisted that no one should ever know the truth that Chachu died, claiming it was for the family’s own good. Since then, they have maintained the story that Chachu went missing. Due to his worsening memory loss, Appu Pilla now constantly forgets about the hidden gun and Chachu's death, reliving the investigation in endless cycles only to rediscover the truth. Each time he reaches the end, he destroys the findings and forgets everything, only to start all over again. The film ends with Ajay and Aparna on a train alongwith Pavi's brother, going to Nagpur following yet another lead that claims their missing son was spotted there, a tragic reflection of the never-ending act and unresolved guilt that Ajay would have to put up with until the very end.

Cast

Production

= Development

= Kishkindha Kaandam, the fourth book of the epic Ramayana, tells Rama and Lakshmana's hunt for Sita, leading them to the vanara realm of Kishkindha. However, director Dinjith Ayyathan said that, there is no direct connection to the epic. The story which is set in a reserve forest centers around lives of its inhabitants. The characters are surrounded by monkeys. The film's title has the tagline A Tale of Three Wise Monkeys, however the film is not on them. During the COVID-19 lockdown in Chennai, Dinjith and cinematographer Bahul Ramesh were searching for ideas. According to Dinjith, " We initially considered a script which was written by Bahul first, but later he narrated a different idea and completed the draft in eight days. That draft immediately excited me and made me decide that it should be my second film." The film has story, dialogues, and screenplay written by Bahul Ramesh. He has also handled the cinematography. Sooraj E S will be editing the film. Sushin Shyam was reported as the music composer during the announcement. Later Mujeeb Majeed was the composer for the film. The film is produced by Kaka Stories and Joby George’s Goodwill Entertainments. While beginning the pre-production work, one of their challenge was to locate a house set in a dense forest, where the characters reside. They found an old mansion near Cherpulassery and finalised that house for shooting although the story is set near Nilambur.

= Casting

= The film marks the second collaboration of Director Dinjith Ayyathan and Asif Ali after Kakshi: Amminippilla. Aparna Balamurali plays the female lead role who reunites Asif Ali after B Tech, Sunday Holiday, and Thrissivaperoor Kliptham. Vijayaraghavan, Jagadish, Ashokan, Nishan, Vyshnavi Raj, Major Ravi, Shebin Benson, Kottayam Ramesh, Bilas Chandrahasan, Master Aarav and Jibin Gopinath were cast in significant roles. Nizhalgal Ravi who had appeared in one Malayalam film back in 1982 was cast to play a role in the film.

= Filming

= Principal photography commenced in July 2023 with a puja function. The shooting was wrapped up after 40 days of filming in Kerala and Hyderabad in August 2023.

Release

= Theatrical

= The film released on 12 September 2024 worldwide, coinciding with Onam.

= Home media

= The digital and satellite rights of the film are acquired by Disney+ Hotstar and Asianet reportedly for an amount of ₹12 crore. The film began streaming on Disney+ Hotstar from 19 November 2024.

Reception

= Box office

= On the first weekend of its release the film collected ₹4.85 crore worldwide. The film managed to gross ₹7 crore at the KBO in five days. By the end of the eighth day, the film’s India net collection had reached ₹14.10 crore, and its worldwide collection grossed ₹20 crore. The film grossed ₹14.73 crore in Kerala in its first extended week of 8 days earning ₹25 crore at the worldwide box office. By the end of its second weekend it grossed ₹46 crore worldwide, of which ₹27.30 crore came from India while overseas gross was USD 2.22 million. As of 25 October 2024, the film grossed over ₹75 crore worldwide.

= Critical response

= The film received positive reviews from critics and audience. S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote: "A flawless screenplay drives this intriguing mystery drama". Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express rated the film 4 out of 5 stars and reviewed "Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali-starrer is a brilliantly written, skillfully crafted mystery drama". Vivek Santhosh of The New Indian Express rated the film 4/5 and wrote: "A sublime and poignant mystery bolstered by terrific performances". Anjana George of The Times of India rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote: "Asif Ali and Vijayaraghavan bring depth to this intense psychological drama". Sanjith Sidharthan of the OTT Play wrote, "This Asif Ali-starrer might be a dark horse during the Onam season. The performances and writing will surely keep you engaged, and if you are a fan of slow-burn thrillers, then it’s a greatly rewarding experience." Cris of The News Minute wrote, "The film thrills in an icy sort of way, keyed as it is by a very smooth script and packed with some smart direction. The mysteries of this story lie among the living." Manjusha Radhakrishnan of Gulf News wrote, "This film, smartly written, is also a masterclass in taking its own time to come into its own. The unhurried pace of storytelling packs a punch toward the end, is a testament to Dinjith Ayyathan’s direction."

References

External links

Kishkindha Kaandam at IMDb