Kishkindha Kaandam

KishkindhaKandam, undoubtedly I can say this is an amazing Mollywood as it is not easy to convey this subject. Asif’s and Vijayaraghavan’s dream role together with directors conceptualisation of this film has turned this to a different level. I would rather say this is rare and consider it as an opportunity and rush to the theatre’s to taste this classic in theatres. It did have traces of Rebecca  a 2020 British romantic thriller film directed by Ben Wheatley from a screenplay by Jane Goldman, Joe Shrapnel and Anna Waterhouse. Based on the 1938 novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and the music especially towards the end was from Interstellar. 

Kishkindha Kaandam 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 VijayaraghavanThe 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.

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 insisted that no one should ever know the truth, 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, following yet another lead that claims their missing son was spotted in a distant city, a tragic reflection of Ajay’s never-ending hope and the unresolved guilt hanging over the family.