Key Takeaways
- • Pradhama Drishtiya Kuttakkar, a Parvathy Thiruvothu-led Malayalam thriller, arrived on OTT on October 9 after a successful theatrical run in September, according to The Indian Express.
- • The film centres on four police officers, led by Aleena, who conceal the accidental death of a suspect at a police station, inverting the Drishyam premise in which a civilian covers up a crime.
- • The review judges the four officers' plans as reactive and fearful, lacking the composure and meticulous planning that made Georgekutty in Drishyam formidable.
- • Viewers have raised specific plot questions on OTT, including the ease of cheating a narco test, the depiction of ballistic examination, and the source of a replacement bullet.
- • Director Shahad Nilambur said the team deliberately avoided spoon-feeding the audience and admitted it had misjudged how much detail viewers expected.
Summary
Pradhama Drishtiya Kuttakkar, a thriller led by Parvathy Thiruvothu, arrived on OTT on October 9 following a successful theatrical run in September. The film's premise echoes Drishyam: a crime must be concealed and the law is kept one step behind. Here, however, the person concealing the crime is police. Aleena, a Crime Branch-linked figure who takes her cue from a book by Harris Meeran, and three other officers are in trouble after a suspect dies accidentally at a police station while they are trying to control him.
According to the review in The Indian Express, the four officers attempt to stay ahead of the investigation by anticipating the moves of those pursuing them, but they appear frightened and at one point even confess that the death was accidental before trying to outsmart the investigating officer. The reviewer contends that the echoes of Drishyam are evident in the premise and in attempts to outwit investigators, but the twists land more softly and the characters lack the confidence and meticulous planning that defined Georgekutty in Jeethu Joseph's first two Drishyam films. Their knowledge of the system, the review notes, makes their actions easier to question.
Since the OTT release, viewers have pointed to specific loopholes. They have asked whether a narco test is really that easy to cheat, whether the investigating officer would not know the trick, whether ballistic examination works as depicted, and where Aleena obtained the new bullet used to replace the one in the gun. The review argues that a second viewing is unforgiving for a thriller, though it distinguishes between deliberate ambiguity and gaps in logic.
In an interview with Onmanorama, director Shahad Nilambur said the team deliberately avoided explaining every development to avoid spoon-feeding audiences, and acknowledged that they misjudged how much detail viewers expected. He maintained that the questioned points are addressed within the film, and said that on the ballistics scene the team chose to bring the relevant characters together in one place rather than spread the proceedings across several scenes. Responding to comparisons with Drishyam, he described them as a form of recognition given the film's impact on Indian cinema.
According to the review in The Indian Express, the four officers attempt to stay ahead of the investigation by anticipating the moves of those pursuing them, but they appear frightened and at one point even confess that the death was accidental before trying to outsmart the investigating officer. The reviewer contends that the echoes of Drishyam are evident in the premise and in attempts to outwit investigators, but the twists land more softly and the characters lack the confidence and meticulous planning that defined Georgekutty in Jeethu Joseph's first two Drishyam films. Their knowledge of the system, the review notes, makes their actions easier to question.
Since the OTT release, viewers have pointed to specific loopholes. They have asked whether a narco test is really that easy to cheat, whether the investigating officer would not know the trick, whether ballistic examination works as depicted, and where Aleena obtained the new bullet used to replace the one in the gun. The review argues that a second viewing is unforgiving for a thriller, though it distinguishes between deliberate ambiguity and gaps in logic.
In an interview with Onmanorama, director Shahad Nilambur said the team deliberately avoided explaining every development to avoid spoon-feeding audiences, and acknowledged that they misjudged how much detail viewers expected. He maintained that the questioned points are addressed within the film, and said that on the ballistics scene the team chose to bring the relevant characters together in one place rather than spread the proceedings across several scenes. Responding to comparisons with Drishyam, he described them as a form of recognition given the film's impact on Indian cinema.
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