Revisiting 'Mukham', the Mohanlal investigative thriller on a serial killer

'Mukham' doesn’t stick to the traditional murder mystery narrative as its focus isn’t just restricted to solving the crime or mystery.
Revisiting 'Mukham', the Mohanlal investigative thriller on a serial killer
Revisiting 'Mukham', the Mohanlal investigative thriller on a serial killer
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The year is 1990. And there is a cop movie without Mammootty or Suresh Gopi. It’s called Mukham. Directed by Mohan (whose portfolio boasts of dramatic and emotionally charged tales), Mukham stands out as a one-of-its-kind subdued, tense yet non-theatrical murder mystery that doesn’t shy away from shining a light on the ties that bind human beings.

The film opens at night. A woman nervously opens the door for a visitor. She goes inside, walks around the bed and peeks at her little girl sleeping peacefully next to a doll. Simultaneously a gun is getting loaded by a gloved pair of hands. A shot is fired through the glass window inaudibly piercing the woman’s forehead as she falls on the bed. The title credits roll as the cops enter the scene.

Mukham, directed by Mohan, is a deftly written murder mystery centred around a series of murders where the victims are always women.

ACP Hariprasad (Mohanlal), who has been deputed to the case is a calm, no-nonsense cop. When a journalist smirks at the police’s inefficiency, though his superior Commissioner (Nassar) seems more tolerant, Hariprasad isn’t amused. From the beginning, there seems to be an air of discontentment on the Commissioner’s face and he appears to have a lot of information about the victims. Even at the dinner hosted for Hari and his wife at the Commissioner’s home, he smiles without any joy.


Nassar and Mohanlal in Mukham

The women in Mukham typically provide the trigger and they are either black or white. When the cops reach the venue where there was an attempt to kill another woman, the camera lingers disapprovingly over the liquor bottles and a half-filled whiskey glass. The cops on duty nod at each other—they have already formed an opinion about the morals of the woman in question. And the guard on duty doesn’t hide his sneer as he speaks about the frequent visitors at the lady’s apartment. This is further reiterated when the woman derides her husband for judging her lifestyle — the implication being that his current position and power is all her doing.

Even when Hari questions her, she swings her legs with insolence — “I can hire you to be my bodyguard” to which the former replies — “I didn’t take up this job to guard a whore.” It’s a distasteful exchange of words and also doesn’t show the otherwise composed Hari in a positive light. But, it’s an interesting lead to an unpleasant event in Hariprasad’s life.

His wife, Usha (Ranjini), is a homemaker who is also a curio collector, a fairly harmless occupation. When the Commissioner’s wife — she is that modern stereotype, who is always seen in sleeveless blouses and sarees and seems to be freer than a typical homemaker—offers Hariprasad’s wife a drink, she opts for a glass of wine. Even that makes her pass out, much to the amusement of the husband. Meanwhile, the Commissioner’s wife is a constant source of gossip between the cops— when Hari’s wife socialises with her, his subordinate (Sukumaran) warns him to steer clear of her — “she is bad news.”


Mohanlal and Ranjini in Mukham

Mukham doesn’t stick to the traditional murder mystery narrative as its focus isn’t just restricted to solving the crime or mystery. Nor is there a series of red herrings, instead, as the investigation progresses, the story suddenly drifts into Hari’s personal life, casting aspersions on his wife’s fidelity. And here, Mohanlal brilliantly underplays the conflicts between his personal and professional space.

As Hari finds himself suspecting his wife and tormenting himself over the possibility of his spouse’s infidelity, the investigation, as planned by the person who plotted this, loses track. The killer’s psychological motive to put Hari through the same mental trauma he went through because of his partner’s ‘immoral’ activities cannot be discounted here. At a restaurant, when Hari sees a couple feeding each other soup, he smirks at their “exhibitionism” and hints to the quiet wife that the more you are dishonest with your partner, the more you resort to such shenanigans. That Hari is biding his time, waiting for her confession than subjecting her to his embarrassing questions is evident here.

Once that part of the mystery unravels, the narrative quickly picks up momentum. Hari has already marked his culprit midway into the film. It’s only a matter of connecting the dots. What makes it an engaging watch is the complete lack of drama in the proceedings. Even when Hari catches him red-handed, both of their reactions are measured as the Commissioner walks away. The next day at the office, even as the man loads his gun and Hari walks in, there is no scope for histrionics. While Hari struggles to remain calm, his unperturbed senior holds Hari’s wife in captivity and negotiates the execution of his final murder.

Mukham throws light on misogyny that has been historically linked to patterns of homicide. For decades, the patriarchal societal structure has been proved to be linked to a majority of such cases. Victim blaming, obsession with purity, and sexism are the norm. In the Commissioner’s case it’s even a modern-day version of moral policing. While he had the option to walk out of the marriage, like a true guardian of patriarchy he chose to kill his wife’s paramours’ wives.  Mukham thus makes for a relevant social commentary.

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