Chronicles of cyber Sherlocks

Chronicles of cyber Sherlocks: My quick take on the latest Malayalam movie “Operation java”

Let me start with a confession that these Malayalam movie makers are made up of some different material, they are simply awesome and class apart, when Bollywood is serving you insipid Radhe, these guys have given you Drishyam 2, C U Soon, Nizhal & now Operation Java. To know the real meaning of the phrase “content is king” you have to watch some of these Kollywood classics. It is just unimaginable that a rookie director (Tharun Murthy) who was a professor of Computer science in an engineering college could write and direct such an awesome movie. Like Devon Conway New Zealand’s cricketer who scored a majestic 200 on debut in the recently played test against England, Tharun too scored his century on debut. Take a bow writer Tharun and director Tharun. A movie without the baggage of known ‘Stars’ of Kollywood and big names associated with the movie, yet it turned out to be a riveting must-watch thriller.

The credit states that the movie is based on some real cases which were solved by Cyber cells of Kerala. The plot of the movie hovers around two unemployed (rather ill-employed) B Tech graduates who are doing some odd jobs of delivery boy and courier boys. They offer their services to Cyber cells to solve some classic cybercrimes. It's an eye-opener for most of us on how cybercrime is encroaching into our lives and we fall prey to some ludicrous temptations of raffle draws and in the process how we share all our important information and how this ‘data’ is sold and misused by many.

The entire movie chronicles 5-6 cases which are solved by two interns, all these cases are independent hence the plot would have suited more to a web series rather than a full-length feature film. But credit goes to the talented director and the film's editor who have ensured a smooth flow of the movie despite its episodic nature. I wonder from where this industry gets such wonderful actors, every actor gives us the feeling that he was born to do that role. Balu Varghese and Lukman Avaran, the two interns are simply outstanding and so is the entire police team of cyber cell. One has to learn what ‘natural acting is’ from these folks. There is action, there are chase sequences but it is all very realistically done, absolutely no Singhamgiri or Chulbulgiri.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, though the movie was a bit of episodic nature or the simplistic way the cyber crimes are cracked by the interns (just by visiting social sites), however, the fine editing, fantastic cinematography, outstanding performances, and overall direction will make you overlook these minor blemishes.

The movie along with cybercrime also addresses the problem of unemployment wherein capable youth is deprived of proper job openings. The movie ends with the pathos of interns not getting “confirmed” in their jobs leaves a huge scope for makers to come up with java 2.0 where I would love to see these two interns turn rogues.