In a banal sequence that turns ludicrous, a police jeep arrives in a remote area in Kottayam with a convict accused of double homicide of a child and his grandmother. The deceased kid’s father waits there with bated breath. The cops let the convict out of the jeep, without even handcuffs, to face off with the revenge-thirsty father. Heated verbal exchanges quickly escalate into a physical altercation, while the senior cop stands unconcerned.
Just as the viewers are about to dismiss the scene, a striking moment occurs. It seems the writer and director, in a moment of self-awareness, inject a line for one of the constables observing the confrontation. He voices concern to the senior cop about the situation spiraling out of control.
In response, the superior nonchalantly remarks that both men deserve a beating and leaves it to them to determine who deserves it more. He also goes on to state the obvious that since our hands are tied, this is the least we can do, alluding to cops taking law into their own hands. This is one of the many vacuous stretches in Abhayakumar K’s directorial debut, Secret Home, a murder mystery sans interest or intrigue, despite having a fairly minimal runtime of under two hours.
The film opens with a newly married couple returning to the groom’s home, where the bride gets a warm welcome, followed by the title cards. Notably, these cards, adorned with illustrations, efficiently utilise their time to depict the couple’s troubled marriage. They outline significant life events of the couple, Saran (Chandhunadh) and Sarika (Sshivada), over the subsequent four years, which also involve their son.
The basic premise of the film is based on a true crime that garnered attention in Kerala about a decade ago. It had the potential to be a gripping procedural, but Anil Kurian’s writing choices leave you high and dry. Despite the recurring portrayal of Saran’s abusive conduct towards Sarika, their dysfunctional relationship lacked resonance because there is hardly anything fresh in their one-note characterisations. Also, you have a young woman, Ayana (Aparna Das), with unexplained psychic visions to solve the following mystery instead of the cops, who are mostly shown to be lackadaisical in their job.
The major gripe would be in terms of how the characters evolve inconsistently. By the time the makers gloriously squander around Ayana’s underwhelming visions and Sarika’s redundant flashbacks, you are pretty much zoned out of the narrative that is supposedly preparing you for its big reveal in the end. While Sarika’s character seems to have some semblance of an arc, it is short-lived despite Sshivada’s impactful performance. Chandhunadh is in his usual self while portraying a perverse husband, and Aparna Das gets the most weakly written character of the lot.
Adding to its woes, Secret Home’s screenplay felt like it was written backwards after finalising on its derivative plot twist. Even the technical aspects don’t come together to help mask the flaws of a film that is confused on what it ultimately wants to convey. One can only wonder whether it is a cautionary tale against adultery or an examination of a broken marriage.
Film: Secret Home
Cast: Sshivada, Chandhunadh, Aparna Das, Anu Mohan
Director: Abhayakumar K
Rating : 2/5