Gumasthan Review | A Mundane Revenge Thriller With a Mere Backdrop Change

Gumasthan, the latest Malayalam thriller that has Jaise Jose in the title role, is an exaggerated thriller that tries to amplify the usual beats. The script written by Riyaz Ismat has plans to surprise the viewer by planting a lot of decoys in the story. But because of the bloated heroism from the beginning, at no point we feel that urge to know what exactly is happening in the movie.

Pallipadan, a Clerk (Gumasthan) of a prominent advocate, is the central character of our movie. He has a lot of experience in this field as he started the job at the age of 16 and has been with this advocate and his father. At one point, the servant at Pallipadan’s house happens to see him beat his wife. The next day, when she came there, the wife was missing, and the premise made her sense some foul play. The events that happened in that house after the police came for an investigation are what we see in the movie Gumasthan.

So, the first scene of the movie has a man who killed his wife visiting our hero along with his advocate for legal advice. And the criminal later asks his advocate, why should I pay you for being the intermediate? Can’t he just take my case? The lawyer replies, “To argue in court, he is not a lawyer, he is a…” and the title card appears as “Gumasthan.” The movie feels more like a desperate effort to elevate a very basic plot based on revenge rather than an attempt to tell a compelling story. The entire first half is based on a hasty police decision, and some of the dramatic moments in that episode are blown out of proportion to just have some drama.

In the second half, once a major reveal is done, we are getting teased about a particular character. Director Amal K. Joby and Riyaz Ismat are trying to build some intrigue by showing the audience that their prediction is wrong. Actually, that’s the only portion in the movie where you would feel that the movie has the possibility to deliver something different. But then the film shifts to a typical flashback story, and when you eventually know who did the crime, whatever bit of excitement was there gets lost. Kunjunni S Kumar’s cinematography definitely helps the movie in having the attire of a thriller. The background score is excessive, and it feels like a rehash of the popular BGMs.

Jaise Jose has done the part of the lead character, Pallipadan, and for most of the runtime, he is this stiff guy with only one attitude. Towards the end, there are a few shots that have the character in a vulnerable state, but the dialogue delivery in those portions is not that great. Dileesh Pothan and Bibin George are pretty much doing extended cameos to increase the poster value of the movie. Shaju Sreedhar is the only actor who has a role that has some significant space in the film. But even that character gets ignored when the movie reaches the second half.

Rather than working on delivering something different, Gumasthan just repeats the same old story with a backdrop change. Even the “Gumasthan” angle to the story, that he can execute a crime perfectly, because he knows the legal loopholes, is not properly utilized. With a very usual revenge pattern just getting delayed due to some hero buildups, I wouldn’t even say Gumasthan is a wasted opportunity.