We have seen various interpretations of time loops in various movies and series. Dark was one of the most talked-about creations of the last decade, and movies like Edge of Tomorrow and Maanadu, from Tamil, entertainingly utilized the loop idea. Jithu Satheesan Mangalathu’s first film, Sambhavam Adhyayam Onnu, has a fascinating concept set around the backdrop of a mysterious jungle. While the improvisations made on the concept keep us interested in the movie, the lack of faith in the audience makes the director design characters in an explanatory way, and that sort of diminishes the charm of this concept.
Anand is a CPO who is about to join duty in a new police station after getting a punishment transfer. On his way to join the station, Anand happens to get involved in a road accident near a forest, where he saves the life of a police officer from Tamil Nadu Police. Things take a dramatic turn for Anand and the policemen with him when they decide to go and save one more policeman who was trapped inside that forest. What all happens in that forest is what we see in this movie.
Spoiler Alert! To talk about this movie, I may have to get into certain concepts that aren’t revealed in the trailer. So this movie was actually a short film directed by Jithu Satheesan Mangalathu, which was released almost a year ago. That 15-minute short film was like the introduction to the concept of this movie, and in this feature film, the climax of the short film acts like an interval point. Usually, when they make a movie out of a short film, a lot of stretching happens. In the case of Sambhavam, that stretching mostly happens in the first half. In the second half, they explore the various possibilities associated with that theme. Even though it is inspired by many Western films and shows, there is fun in the way the hero figures out how the whole setup works and tries to crack a solution.
The visual design of the movie is very much an extension of the short film. However, since they have a bigger budget, the scale has gone higher, and we can see them broadening the scope of the movie by going to a timeline deep in the past. The way it underestimates the viewer in certain patches is what makes the movie slightly underwhelming. You want the characters to act more sensibly in various key situations. I am emphasizing this because when I saw the short film after seeing this movie, the amount of explanations was considerably less. It was one of those scenarios where I thought if they had hired Bahul Ramesh as a creative director for this movie, he would have told them to tighten the script. Rather than going after VFX-heavy methods, the movie uses techniques like changing the color palette or exploring the sound design to achieve the desired dramatic impact on screen.
Askar Ali’s character, Anand, is a new one that wasn’t there in the short film, and they are trying to use this character to set up a new POV for the story. His performance hasn’t really evolved from whatever we have seen from him in the past. There is a scene in the movie where, after he realizes how the whole forest maze works, he reveals a major plot detail to a character, and the reaction on Askar’s face has no regard for the gravity of that situation. Assim Jamal, as the SI Ashokan, is somewhat overdoing the supportive police role. And some of the responses of that character in certain key moments are laughably bad. Vineeth Kumar is given the role of a police officer with temper issues. The scope to perform is minimal, and I feel that if the second part of this movie happens, there is a possibility that his character may appear in that. Among the Tamil Nadu police officers, the actor who played the part of Stephen George did a neat job.
The tail end of the movie is designed in a way that some of the logical questions one may have about the final reality we see in the movie are addressed in that part. Yet, there are certain elements you feel are not answered convincingly. As I said in the beginning, the concept here is fascinating, and I will be very much interested in seeing a second part to this movie. But I sincerely hope they will try to refine the writing so that people will indulge in the story rather than observing it. If you know anyone who feels Eko should have had a shot that shows Kuriachan in the cave, and it also should have explained what Kuriachan did to all those characters who came in search of him, I would say Sambhavam might work bigly for such people who don’t like the idea of taking an effort.
