Debut writer-director Anand Ekarshi presents a gem of a film that's equal parts engaging, thrilling, reflective, tragic, and (spontaneously) funny. What starts as members of a drama troupe in Kerala casually spending a night partying at a patron's guesthouse quickly turns into a whodunnit crime drama with solid attention to detail. Stories are often just that.. stories. Lies are built upon lies. Selflessness gradually turns into pretense and selfishness. The crime happens to the only female member of the troupe. A version of her story is conveyed to all the remaining male members. There's so much intricacy in the storytelling, so much candidness. The writing (dialogues, especially) is superlative.

The decision to cast a bunch of (fantastic) newcomers except for the three (or four) main characters turns out to be a masterstroke. This way, it's easy to perceive each one of them objectively, along with their perspectives of what happened that night. Amongst the menfolk of the troupe, we see almost every variant of men there is. Or at least, fascinating shades of it. Some are old-fashioned, some are suspicious of their female colleague's demeanor, some find it hard to believe her story, and some have selfish motives. They exhibit differential shades of misogyny without even realizing it. The wronged woman (Zarin Shihab) continues to be at the receiving end of it all. She silently takes it in; there's no outburst or excessive display of emotion. Shihab is spectacular, and I liked the writer-director's choice to end the film purely from her perspective.

All the performers have done a wonderful job, pushing their respective roles to even greater heights. Vinay Forrt, especially, is amazing as the conflicted boyfriend with his own set of personal and professional dilemmas. The screenplay was so immersive that I didn't pay a lot of attention to the other departments (cinematography, music) and I'm going to rewatch this for the complete package when it becomes available to stream digitally. For now, Malayalam cinema couldn't have asked for a better start to 2024.

Aattam is an eye opener. Probably the best movie I've seen in years put together. The movie and its direction has mastered the subtle art of tugging your inner conscience. One of those movies that you keep thinking about long after you've seen it. It has definitely changed me as a person. A classic for all times. The scenes in the movie are just so original, it's hard to think of it as a movie than real life itself. The lead actors, all 13 of them, have showed so much justice to their characters. The uniqueness in their individualism is a testimony to world class writing. Aattam is a must watch by everyone, not just Malayalis. Everyone.

Aattam (The Play) blew my mind and gave me so much to think about that I don't have to watch any movies for the rest of the year. I caught this at the 2023 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival yesterday and I'm still thinking about the irony of the plot where 10 men get together to discuss an incident befallen their sole woman colleague of a theatre troupe. It starts by building tension and giving us a peek into the characters and their idiosyncrasies and dynamics. Then it pulls you in with what seems like a group discussion with lots of talking and arguing. I don't know about you, but conversations in films always have my full attention and Aattam, above all, succeeds in doing that. It's so well written and directed that you feel you are part of the discussion. Absolutely seamless, that it also reminded me of Everybody Loves Sohrab Handa, another film with the same vein at the fest. It's basically a study of the feeble human nature. The final 30 minutes are sure to blow your mind too. Watch it.