22 F Kottayam
22 F KottayamBalcony Seats

The movie title registers in one's mind and the movie too.

A novel and daring attempt in Indian cinema, "22 F Kottayam" is a well crafted story of the plight undergone by a typical Malayali nurse in Bangalore. The scriptwriter has been blunt about the topic and has revealed all possible "dark" secrets in men and women.

The protagonist undergoes the transformation from a simple village girl to being cheated in love to being a rape victim and even a murderer. The suspense has been maintained very well till the end and the climax makes you feel like wanting more.

The rape scenes are quite brutal and leaves one sympathisizing the victim. It takes a lot of effort to sit through the scenes. Lead pair of the film Fahad Fazil and Reema Kallingal have done justice to the role. Prathap Pothan does a camero role as a sexual maniac in which the actor shows his talent as usual.

Except for the music, which seemed a repetition of a previous movie named "Chaapankurishu", everything else seemed new and well crafted. "22 F Kottayam" can be branded in the category of "realistic" and "theme-relevant" movies. Director Aashiq Abu has done his job well.

There are scenes in the movie that gives a "real" look to the movie like the protagonist, in spite of hailing from a village, confesses that she is not a virgin. Hats off to the director for taking such a bold move in Malayalam cinema that is known to value the virginity of its female characters. Then there is the million dollar dialogue when the hero tells the heroine, "F**k you", and she replies," Not anymore" after cutting off his sexual organ.

More than the confrontation of the truth, the projection of the truth in the movie is what makes it special. A girl doing sexual favours for a rich business man in return for money, the sex maniac expressing his desires in a rather crude way and the victim ultimately seeking revenge by surgically cutting of the male sexual organ of the guy who cheated on her, are all powerful examples of how Malayalam cinema has grown up to accept the "reality" in this strange world.

Director: Aashiq Abu

Cast: Reema Kallingal, Fahad Fazil, Prathap Pothen