Kappela

Kappela
Image source: Google

Ratings: 3/5

Duration: 1 Hr 51 Mins

Director: Mustafa

Genre: Drama

Language: Malayalam

Release Date: 6th March 2020

Streaming On: Netflix

Star Cast: Anna Ben, Roshan Mathew, Sreenath Bhasi, Sudhi Koppa, Nisha Sarang, James Elia, Tanvi Ram, Vijileesh, Navas Vallikkunnu, Sudheesh, Sudhi Koppa

Plot: The film Kapella is about an academically weak young girl Jessy (Anna Ben) from an orthodox, lower middle class family, and living in a village that spends her days helping her mom with stitching. It’s when her mother asks her to dial a customer; she accidentally calls on a wrong number - Vishnu, an auto driver (Roshan Mathew - the Choked movie actor).

Hearing the voice of a young girl on the line, Vishnu, pursues Jessy by calling her back incessantly over many days. While she reacts with annoyance initially, she soon softens to his attempts. And the wrongly dialled call leads into friendship that slowly bloomed into love - the ‘love over the phone’ with a man she hasn’t even met.

However, a surprise marriage proposal makes Jessy desperate to meet her lover Vishnu and they decide to meet.  What happens next forms the rest of the story.

Review: Muhammad Mustafa, National award-winning actor's debut directorial throws light on one of the most serious issues young girls and women have been facing in society - sex trafficking.

Although the film Kappela received a theatrical release on March 6th 2020, it had to be cut short due to the coronavirus pandemic. Thus, later was released on Netflix.

With the ‘mobile phone’ playing an important role, the filmmaker has managed well in crafting a thrilling story. As with the plot twist, we learn that it’s Vishnu who has lured Jessy as part of a sex trafficking plan. And it’s when a stranger named Roy (Sreenath Bhasi) walks into their lives, the drama begins.

 

 

The film maker has shown great calibre in bringing the actors together. When it comes to performances, the major highlight of the movie is Sreenath Bhasi who plays Roy, though a jobless troublemaker; he is attached to a local group that works to empower girls by training them in self-defence and in recognising predatory men.

And with a character of a desperate unemployed graduate who is complicated, short-tempered, vulnerable and mysterious, Sreenath Bhasi has given an amazing performance in the film with subtle expressions, mature characterisation and controlled mannerisms.

 

 

While Anna Ben, who plays a ‘small-town’ girl makes Jessy believable. Also, Roshan Mathew, with his subtle performance, makes Vishnu a lovable auto driver. With an interesting chemistry on screen, the trio has jointly made the movie an engrossing watch.

Even the rest of the star cast including Sudhi Koppa, Nisha Sarang, James and Mushtafa need to be commended for their performances as well.

Additionally, Sushin Shyam's music and Jimishi Khalid's cinematography are an integral part of the narrative. The duo has definitely added weightage to the story by treating each terrain of the movie in different tones. The action sequences look realistic too.

Overall, the plot is not something new, but the unexpected twist reveals the dark side of life, of what people are capable of doing, and of humanity that still prevails in society. The let down in the end is when Jessy is convinced by an educated girl to not go in for legal options, which the well-intentioned makers might have accidentally provided as a ‘respectable tool’ for the moral policing gangs.