“Either a fool or remarkably clever” is how a character describes fugitive Sukumara Kurup, played by Dulquer Salmaan, in Srinath Rajendran’...
“Either a fool or remarkably clever” is how a character describes fugitive Sukumara Kurup, played by Dulquer Salmaan, in Srinath Rajendran’s Kurup.
For 37 years, the Kerala Police has not managed to find Sukumara Kurup. He is accused of murdering a man named Chacko in 1984, using Chacko’s corpse to fake his own death, and claiming insurance money. While Kurup’s accomplices were caught, the ringleader’s disappearance turned him into an “urban legend”, Rajendran told Scroll.in. “Everyone’s attracted to someone who has managed to fool the police.”
Kurup stars Indrajith Sukumaran as the cop on the killer’s trail. Sobhita Dhulipala plays Kurup’s wife. The cast includes Sunny Wayne and Shine Tom Chacko. Filmed in Malayalam, Kurup has been dubbed into Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu and will be released in theatres on November 12.
The Chacko murder case inspired the Malayalam films NH 47 (1984) and Pinneyum (2016). The plot of the Hindi thriller Moh Maya Money (2016) too has parallels with the case. Earlier this year, director Jeethu Joseph told Scroll.in that like Kurup, the protagonist of his Drishyam films could continue to evade detection.
What is new then in Rajendran’s telling of the Kurup saga? “Not the story, but the narration,” Rajendran said. “It was Chuck Palanhiuk’s...
