“Identity”, the recent Malayalam action thriller from the Forensic duo Akhil Paul and Anas Khan is streaming on Zee5. With its many twists, does it keep you engaged? Let’s check it out.
Storyline
Haran Shankar has an obsessive perfectionist personality due to a traumatic childhood, living a quiet life in his apartment in Kerala with his partial family. His peaceful world is disrupted when CI Allen Joseph from Karnataka investigating a gruesome murder of a serial rapist, moves a key witness, Alisha into an apartment (coincidentally, Haran’s building) for her safety. The police decide to leverage Haran’s artistic skills to create a sketch of the suspect based on Alisha’s memory. But when the sketch is revealed, it shocks everyone—and that’s just the beginning.
As more and more layers get peeled and revealed, new twists emerge and take the narrative into different directions. Will the murder mystery get solved? Is there something bigger at play?
Our critique
Akhil Paul and Anas Khan are no strangers to creating interesting thrillers, but “Identity” feels like a case of too many twists, which result in lost focus. The film tries to explore the concept of identity on multiple levels but succeeds only in a few. Besides the perfectionist bug, we see someone with a rare medical disorder, a corrupted witness protection programme and fights in the air.
The first 90 minutes hook you with an intriguing mystery, but then on, as the plot unfolds, it feels like the filmmakers decided to cram too much. What starts as a sharp, suspenseful thriller quickly spirals into chaos with some “kuchh bhi?” moments, especially the coincidence of everything happening in a single building. Also, the action sequences, especially the car chase and the aircraft fights are well executed, they seem too long.
Cinematography is fantastic and background music keeps up with the narrative.
Screen Performances
Tovino Thomas, as always, delivers. His portrayal of Haran—a mysterious, talented, brooding artist —is spot on, taking you along. Vijay Rai as CI Allen Joseph brings authority to his role, with his shades. Trisha as Alisha, though not bad, is let down by a character that only appears shaken and nods at everything. Mandira looks good but is wasted, just for a couple of scenes. Would have liked to see a more significant role for her. The rest of the supporting cast adds to the narrative.
Overall opinion
“Identity” has its moments but its pace issues and complexity bring down its appeal, making it just about OK. Of course a must-watch if you are a Tovino fan, but can be skipped for a better option if you want to watch a thriller.
Our rating
