Oru Kuprasdidha Payyan (A Notorious Youngster) is a crime thriller directed by actor/director Madhupal. He has acted in more than 100 films beginning with Kashmeeram in 1994. He turned to direct movies in 2008 with Thalappavu and followed it with Ozhimuri in 2012. Both his films won many accolades including Kerala state awards and was also selected for screening at many film festivals.
Oru Kuprasidha Payyan has a large star cast including Tovino Thomas, Nimisha Sajayan, Saranya, Anu Sithara, Nedumudi Venu, Siddique, Alencier, Sujith Shankar, Balu Varghese, Dileesh Pothan, Shwetha Menon and Suresh Kumar in pivotal roles. Written by Jeevan Job Thomas, the film has been produced by V Cinemas.
Chembakammal (Saranya) is a 52-year-old lady living alone in a small house in Vaikom. She is the regular supplier of Idli to the Paradise Hotel run by Ashraf in town. As the hotel will remain closed in morning hours during Ramzan, Chembakammal has made plans to go somewhere. She is murdered the night before the day of her travel. The case is handed over to the crime branch as the local police fail to find the murderer even after a year. Succumbing to the pressure of closing the case within fifteen days, the crime branch decides to frame Ajayan (Tovino), an orphan who was close to Chembakammal. The court appoints Hannah Elizabeth (Nimisha Sajayan), a young advocate as Ajayan's defence lawyer. Hannah's fight to get Ajayan justice is the soul of the film.
Saving an innocent man framed by the crooked Police, by fighting in Court is not a fresh or novel theme in Malayalam. Hence the screenplay of Oru Kuprasidha Payyan has many predictable sequences in it. The direction is good and Madhupal has succeeded to bring what has been written on paper, to the screen successfully. But the lack of substance in the screenplay backstabs the film. While watching a crime thriller every viewer dons the role of either an advocate or a police officer. Thus it is very important to place shreds of evidence and witnesses in a perfect way. In Oru Kuprasidha Payyan, Crime Branch's framing of Ajayan is very amateurish. They and the Prosecution present a clearly weak case. The fabricated witnesses and pieces of evidence do not stand a chance when viewed logically.
Performance wise Nimisha Sajayan steals the show. Her performance is convincing and praiseworthy. Even though Adv. Sathya Narayanan (Nedumudi Venu) ironically makes foolish statements despite being a highly successful lawyer, Nedumudi Venu's acting is superb. Tovino is moving in right direction but he has miles to go before he can take rest. Saranya, Suresh Kumar (Keerthy Suresh's father), Siddique, Sujith Shankar and Balu Varghese play their roles to perfection.
The music and background and the cinematography fit in well with the mood of the movie making it a decent watchable film.