Review: Season 2 of ‘Kerala Crime Files' is more ambitious, busier and meatier
The first season of Kerala Crime Files was a slow-and-steady police procedural revolving around a sex worker's murder. Some of the actors from the 2023 Malayalam series – Aju Varghese and Lal among them – are back for a second round that is more ambitious, busier and meatier.
Ahammed Khabeer also returns as director, relying this time on a deliciously intricate script by Bahul Ramesh, the writer-cinematographer of Kishkinda Kaanadam (2024). The lingering effects of loss – the main theme in Kishkindha Kanadam – is one of the ideas driving the six-episode show on JioHotstar.
Kerala Crime Files: The Search for CPO Ambili Raju begins with the police sniffer dog Terry's strange antics during a robbery investigation. Terry is prematurely retired from the police force for his misbehaviour.
Ten months later, Noble (Arjun Radhakrishnan) takes up a new posting at a police station in Trivandrum. Noble's very first case under Kurian (Lal) is the disappearance of the policeman Ambili (Indrans).
Ambili is reputed for his honesty and problem-solving skills. Ambili is also something of a maverick, maintaining close ties with his first wife's new husband Ayyappan (Harisree Asokan). Ambili's vanishing foxes his colleagues, especially since Ayyappan appears to be missing too.
The investigation spans the length and breadth of Kerala and spills over into neighbouring states. Suspicion about Ambili's true nature opens out to a larger examination of the complexities of human behaviour.
The links between Terry and Ambili's fate emerge gradually. Despite some unnecessary padding, the second season is gripping, suspenseful and remarkably detailed in revealing how the police go about their work.
From poring over CCTV footage to following a stray dog's trail, Nobel and his colleagues hunt high and low for Ambili and Ayyappan. The rigour in Bahul Ramesh's writing and Ahammed Khabeer's direction of his sprawling cast is in lockstep with the efforts of the characters to dot every I and cross every T.
Unfussy, focused on the task at hand, and committed to cracking the mystery – the new season is a big improvement on its predecessor. The well-researched script finds ways to bring back Aju Varghese's Manoj into the story. Co-operation between police stations and teamwork across the hierarchy ensure that attention is paid to even minor characters.
The cast is uniformly good, with Arjun Radhakrishnan especially strong as the low-key hero whose bold punt leads to a breakthrough in the case. Apart from the humans, dogs too play a role in the proceedings. The closing credits name the canines who instigate actions that are stranger than fact and memorably explored through fiction.
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