Abhyanthara Kuttavali movie review: At a crucial moment in debutant director Sethunath Padmakumar’s Abhyanthara Kuttavali, Sahadevan (Asif Ali) breaks the fourth wall and tells the audience directly, “Don’t bother reacting; after all, it’s a man who died.” He also, during a court hearing, comments on the rising number of suicide cases among men in the country, particularly owing to “marriage-related problems”. While the well-being of every person, regardless of caste, gender, race or creed, is equally important, and many experts have pointed out that patriarchy harms everyone, including men, Abhyanthara Kuttavali positions itself as an attempt to spotlight issues faced by men. Particularly focusing on how “fake cases” are slapped on them without humane consideration. However, in all honesty, the film ends up being a brazen attempt to overlook and invisibilise the harassment and crimes women have faced for centuries, mostly at the hands of men, by reducing it all to three cases (including two subplots) told through a masculinist lens, by completely villainising the female characters.
Although his marriage to Nayana (Thulasi) was a joyous occasion for Sahadevan, his happiness was short-lived. He soon ends up at the Anthikad police station after she files a complaint accusing him of demanding more dowry and physically abusing her. As a result, the police register a case against him under Section 498A of the IPC (now Sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita).
As Sahadevan narrates to the police the “truths” behind the incidents mentioned in the complaint, Abhyanthara Kuttavali cuts to flashbacks, in which we are shown that Nayana, though seemingly happy, has been keeping a distance from Sahadevan since day one. They barely even communicate, let alone have physical intimacy. Nayana soon tells Sahadevan that she wishes to pursue higher studies in the Netherlands, which would help settle there too, and suggests selling the gold ornaments her parents gifted her to fund it. When he objects, she is shown injuring herself. Her parents soon arrive and take her back home, following which she files the complaint.
Once the case reaches the court, Sahadevan meets two other men — Peter (Sidharth Bharathan) and Makkar (Harisree Ashokan) — who are also dealing with unfair cases filed against them by their wife and daughter-in-law, respectively, as the system “only favours the women”. The remainder of the film follows Sahadevan’s efforts to prove his innocence.
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Although Abhyanthara Kuttavali mentions at the start that it is a “work of fiction”, the movie leaves no opportunity to generalise things and give good conduct certificates to men. This is achieved by cleverly portraying the male characters as noble and good-natured, albeit with some flaws like occasional drinking, while most of the women are depicted as apathetic, manipulative and often “gold diggers”. From Sahadevan, his father Menon (Balachandran Chullikkad), and his friends Yudas (Anand Manmadhan) and Deshavasi (Azees Nedumangad) to Peter and Makkar, all the men are portrayed with sympathy, their moral grey areas conveniently omitted. Even Viswanathan (Jagadeesh), Nayana’s lawyer, is ultimately shown in a positive light.
In contrast, nearly all the female characters, except for elderly women who conform to the patriarchal norms of the “ideal mother”, are presented as greedy and lacking compassion. To reinforce this, the film even includes a scene where a woman is shown asking Yudas about his financial assets in detail during a pennukaanal (matchmaking visit), prompting him to give a lecture on how women should fend for themselves. In another instance, one of the few self-reliant women in the film, Anila (Shreya Rukmini), an assistant to Sahadevan’s advocate, is shown sitting silently in court during the only time she appears on her senior’s behalf without speaking up for her client. Although the scene suggests that she is too inexperienced and intimidated to argue in front of Viswanathan, prompting Sahadevan to represent himself, it inadvertently implies that even women who do have a voice choose not to speak up when men are the victims, leaving the latter to fight for themselves.
The film is, in fact, packed with similar stereotypical and misogynistic narrative devices that reduce the complex topic of “issues faced by men” to “women are misusing the laws (and the freedom they have been ‘given’)”. It fails to even acknowledge the structural and systemic challenges men face within a patriarchal and elitist society, where only the rich and affluent wield real power.
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Towards the end, seemingly in an attempt to suggest that the film isn’t anti-women, Abhyanthara Kuttavali shows Nayana and one of her friends briefly addressing their life struggles. ‘Interestingly’, this is one of the few occasions wherein the movie gives the women the chance to narrate their stories. Almost all other times, we are only shown the men’s versions. While Nayana’s friend shares how she lost a hand due to violence inflicted by her father, Nayana herself recounts how harassment by a teacher made her detest men and marriage altogether, prompting the two to decide to move abroad together and live in freedom. Nayana mentions this as the reason why she agreed to marry Sahadevan, as it would give her complete ownership of the gold gifted by her parents, which would help them fund their dream. However, their stories appear only as passing references, quickly dropped after five minutes. Just a (rhetorical) question to the makers: what about the heinous crimes faced by these women? It is certain that these were only the tip of the iceberg of the torments they faced in life, including many forms of daily sexual harassment. Were their sufferings not as important as Sahadevan’s to get more screentime and a bit of empathy?
While the film addresses the issue of false cases being filed against men, which in no way should be encouraged, it conveniently overlooks the many, many, many instances of women facing physical and emotional abuse within their own homes, the vast majority of which go unreported. A low conviction rate in such cases does not automatically imply that all cases are fabricated. It’s high time we acknowledged that reality.
By presenting a one-sided narrative, writer-director Sethunath Padmakumar ensures that Abhyanthara Kuttavali caters to a male audience, particularly those who blindly believe that men’s victimhood exists solely because there are legal protections for the oppressed. The film offers these viewers enough ‘goosebumps-inducing’ moments, especially through quite a few dialogues that denounce alimony. Had men opened their mouths and moved their fingers as diligently and ferociously as they did following the Bengaluru techie suicide of December 2024, the world might have been a better place for all by now.
Although Asif Ali delivers a neat performance as Sahadevan, it can’t be called impactful, largely because the film relies heavily on dialogues to convey his emotions rather than allowing his acting to speak for itself. Nonetheless, there are moments in Abhyanthara Kuttavali where Asif’s strength as a performer in communicating intense emotions through restrained acting shines. Despite limited screen time, Harisree Ashokan makes a strong impression as Makkar. Azees Nedumangad and Anand Manmadhan provide some comic relief, though not all the jokes land consistently.
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Thulasi, as Nayana, is unfortunately underwhelming. There are several moments in the movie, especially those meant to depict her anger or sorrow, where her portrayal comes across as caricatured. Rahul Raj’s background score, however, does manage to elevate Abhyanthara Kuttavali to some extent and prevents it from slipping entirely into preachy territory.
Abhyanthara Kuttavali movie cast: Asif Ali, Jagadeesh, Harisree Ashokan, Sidharth Bharathan, Thulasi, Shreya Rukmini
Abhyanthara Kuttavali movie director: Sethunath Padmakumar
Abhyanthara Kuttavali movie rating: 1.5 stars
