Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi is a Malayalam-language horror-thriller movie directed by Sooraj Tom and starring Vishnu Unnikrishnan, Saniya Iyappan and Vijilesh Karayad, alongside other cast members.
Unnikannan barging into Beatrice’s isolated home while she is alone with her bed-ridden grandfather is the perfect setting to get me on edge. However, what I expected Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi to give us in this setting isn’t really what we got. Does that mean it lives up to our thriller/horror expectations? Well, maybe and maybe not.
Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi is a mish-mash of different genres, with revenge thriller in there as well. The last part is surprising since what I just said above is how the movie opens up and what we follow for the entirety of the first half. Sure, both Unnikanna and Beatrice seem like crazy people, but you actually doubt him more than her. Well, not so much in the second half though.
First and foremost, Unnikannan is a real creep and is despicable. He’s sleazy and is really into bullying people covertly, like the horrible person that he is. So, after creating such a horrible first impression, you kind of want him to be put in his place and stuff his superiority complex somewhere dark and private.
Beatrice, on the other hand, starts off all naïve and you feel scared for her. Such a huge place where she is alone with this strange man – you can’t help but think the worst. And the movie, too, wants you to think so. Everything that takes place, you can feel that Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi wants you to feel very concerned for the girl. However, Beatrice isn’t really who we thought she was.
It might be Unni’s story about Krishna Kutty or something else, but Beatrice becomes a different person as the day turns into night. Although there aren’t any moments where you’d feel genuine fear in the movie, it’s still a creepy experience to go through. The background score is great and does a lot to keep the creep factor on. The house itself is quite the place and its sheer expanse creepy.
Now, the second half of Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi is something else entirely. Whatever idea you got from its half first doesn’t even cover the shit-storm that will come and hit you in the second half. There’s a whole can of worms that it opens that will overwhelm you and kind of disgust you to a certain extent. Unfortunately, the anguish and hell that Beatrice goes through in the movie, which we get to know mostly with the help of a large amount of exposition, just seems like another device to only push the story forward.
It is, however, horrifying and surprising to me that Beatrice is surrounded by either creeps or people without any backbone. That thought alone is horrible to think about.
Summing up: Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi
Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi isn’t a perfect film and it’s not a supernatural horror film either. It’s a thriller that holds on to the mystery for long enough and is interesting enough to watch on a sitting. However, it doesn’t provide much else and the ending, for me, is kinda disappointing.
Mad props, however, to Saniya Iyappan who is wonderful as the beautifully deranged Beatrice. For most of the movie, she has a face as flat as granite but her delicious unhinge-ness is wonderful and provides a striking contrast. The other cast members are great as well and if for nothing else, watch Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi for its performances and the haunting background score that the movie gives us.
Krishnankutty Pani Thudangi is streaming on Zee5.
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