Rekhachithram

While many lines are unimpactful, others are nonsensical and lack organic flow.

Asif Ali, who has had some brilliant outings in the recent times, including the intense family drama 'Kishkindha Kandham', is definitely making some good choices in recent times. Anaswara Rajan may not have too much screen time in the movie, but she nails her role and brings in the right conviction needed for her character in the movie. It is interesting to see veteran actors Harishree Ashokan, Jagadish and Indrans come together to be part of this movie. With just a few sentences, Harishree manages to give us some laughs in the film. The songs by Mujeeb Majeed and the costumes by Sameera Saneesh are also a highlight in this movie, which is intense and engaging at the same time.

While Rekhachithram doesn't quite reach the high bar set by those films in terms of narrative ingenuity, it has enough going on to make us pay attention. Perhaps its principal strength lies in the fact that it doesn't have lofty ambitions. Rekhachithram is a straightforward thriller that doesn't pretend to be anything more. There's an old-school quality to the film, and what I really mean by this is that you get the feeling of watching some of the yesteryear Malayalam thrillers like K.G. George's Ee Kanni Koodi or any of the K. Madhu-S.N. Swamy classics. Asif Ali's casting is efficient. He plays a police officer recently suspended for a gambling habit. While this character's past is not the film's primary concern, he is written with sufficient details that come in handy in situations,

The film’s visual storytelling also deserves high praise. Appu Prabhakar’s cinematography effectively captures the contrast between the warmth of the 1980s and the sharper tones of the present. The transitions between timelines, too, feel seamless, thanks in large part to Shameer Muhammad’s editing. However, the first act could have benefited from tighter pacing, as it takes a while to reveal the film’s true USP. Once the story shifts to its film-centric meta layer, the narrative finds its rhythm and never lets go. While Rekhachithram dazzles with its meta brilliance, it isn’t immune to nitpicks. There are moments where the investigative elements rely on convenient coincidences. Also, a couple of action beats seem inserted solely to showcase Asif’s star power—one works, the other doesn’t. But these are minor blemishes in an otherwise compelling narrative.

Rekhachithram, the latest movie from Jofin T Chacko, who previously made Mammootty starrer Priest, had a buzz around it largely because of the alternate history genre assigned to it. But when you look at the movie in its totality, you can see that this alternative history trope is used more as a tool to enhance a generic crime thriller that has a peculiar premise to its credit. With the effective inclusion of one or more real-life elements at the correct points, Rekhachithram is a passable thriller with evident compromises.