'Thrayam' is a decent thriller which could have been exceptional with a solid intense plot.
A poster of the film 'Thrayam'. (X)
Thrillers as a genre is regaining its niche audience with the advent of OTT platforms. Meanwhile, keeping the audience engaged in theatres has become a challenging task.
The Malayalam Thrayam, touted to be a thriller released with good expectations, with the trailer promising an entertaining watch.
Despite anticipation, the movie directed by debutant director Sanjith Chandrasen didn’t match audiences’ expectations. It is a decent thriller with young actors giving great performances.
The question, however, is if Thrayam is capable of keeping the audience engaged and giving them something different from the wide range of thriller web series they have access to.
A crime— murder that happens at night in the bustling city of Kochi forms the crux of Thrayam.
The film boasts an ensemble cast, which includes Sarayu Mohan as a sex worker and Aju Varghese as an auto driver.
‘Thrayam’ has an ensemble cast. (X)
Among others, Elsa played by Preethy Gino, Ashiq played by Dhyan Sreenivasan, and Jokuttan played by Gopikrishnan are the main roles.
Elsa honeytraps Ashiq and Jokuttan, and records their intimate videos. Which she later uses to blackmail them and exhort money.
However, conflict arises when a gang of young men mess with Elsa and a tragedy befalls her. In the meantime, Aashiq and Jokuttan are trying to get rid of Elsa by giving her money. There are other characters such as Hary (Sunny Wayne) a carrier of black money who is also related to Elsa. A key character is also killed in the film.
The film is presented in a non-linear format, with multiple storylines woven together. The filmmakers have tried to craft the story interestingly, but it loses that intriguing factor that’s much needed in a thriller.
With Elsa at the centre of Thrayam, it categorises men as —Men of mess, Men of the moment, and Men of mistrust.
To know more about these hints, you will have to watch the movie.
Dhyan Sreenivasan in ‘Thrayam’. (X)
Arun Gopinath, the scriptwriter has previously written God’s Own Country (2014). Similar to his previous works, Arun creates a mesh of interlinked stories, however Thrayam needed to be paced better.
The characters of Sarayu and Aju Varghese could have been developed better, by giving them more powerful scenes.
With the whole movie being shot at night, the cinematography by Jiju Sunny did most of the heavy lifting. The frames and lighting of various scenes have come out well in the movie.
Music by Arun Muraleedharan has also worked, with a melody also getting place in the movie.
Preethy Gino as Elsa is the key character in the movie and the events in the movie are mainly related to her. She appears as a woman who needs money and takes a difficult route to get it. Her character was convincing and her performance was also good.
Dhyan Sreenivasan as Ashique was also a good character for the actor who has this time taken a serious role. Chandunath as Vincent, brother of Elsa, Dain Davis, Shalu Rahim, Niranj Maniyanpilla Raju, and Surabhi Santosh also had good roles to play.
The only disappointment was with the role of Anarkali Marikar, which the audience expected to be longer and more prominent.
Thrayam is a decent thriller which could have been exceptional with a solid intense plot.
(Views expressed here are personal)
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