10 years of ‘Mumbai Police’: The Twist that Shook Malayalam Cinema

If breaking the stereotypes in thrillers is the topic of discussion among the cinephiles, the Prithviraj Sukumaran starrer ‘Mumbai Police’ always takes the lead as it is one of a kind movie that has its own existence and the storytelling pattern has a unique quality that is hardly followed by any directors after. Ranging from the perfect use of overshadowing to a dark climax, let’s take a look at why Rosshan Andrrews's directorial film ‘Mumbai Police’ is an underrated gem of Mollywood as the movie clocks 10 years.

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‘Mumbai Police’ opens with a brilliantly shot and written sequence where ACP Antony Moses is on a phone call with his brother-in-law (Commissioner of Police) Farhan Aman. Antony reveals that he has found the culprit and the investigation has come to an end. This scene is exactly a reference material on how to open a sequence, especially in a thriller movie by not revealing too much and also keeping the audience hooked. Even though the whole twist is almost revealed in this sequence, the director Rosshan Andrrews ensures that the audience knows very little about it and makes them move forward without losing interest in the plot.

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It’s a hard task for any writer who pens a thriller script to look from the point of view of the audience and divert their thoughts from figuring out the ending. Coming to ‘Mumbai Police’, the writers Bobby and Sanjay have used the method of the ‘show, don't tell’, and have brilliantly put forward the set pieces that make them reveal the dark side of the lead character Antony Moses along with hiding the climax in plain sight.

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One can definitely say that the character ACP Antony Moses is one of the brilliant characters played on-screen by the actor Prithviraj Sukumaran and all thanks to the terrific script penned by Bobby and Sanjay. Starting as a protagonist, as the story slowly unfolds, the audiences start to feel agitated at the actions of Antony Moses and can definitely feel that there are shades of an antagonist in him. The use of brilliant overshadowing in many sequences makes the viewers slowly adjust and accept the dark twist in the end.

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This is where ‘Mumbai Police’ completely broke the stereotypes of a thriller in Mollywood (even in Hollywood) and also the main reason why it stands unique among the other movies that came under the same genre. The sequence where Antony realizes that he is homosexual and is the one who killed ACP Aryan John Jacob is so brilliantly executed along with the magnificent performance of Prithviraj Sukumaran. With the climax, ‘Mumbai Police’ perfectly follows the Eight point arc story structure that ends with a resolution.

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