'Kalamkaval' Pre-Release Teaser: Mammootty’s Evil Smile And A Dreaded Serial Killer

In an eerie new teaser for Kalamkaval, all of 55 seconds, we get voiceovers of several family members asking the police if they will ever get to see their missing family member. Over these voiceovers are dozens of images of what appear to be missing women, all victims of a dreaded serial killer. Vinayakan, who plays the cop, struggles to come to terms with the scale of the investigation he’s being asked to work on. It’s only after that do we see Mammootty’s introduction as his character speaks about how the greatest enjoyment in life is the “pleasure of killing a human being”, to the sight of a creepy half smile.

Speaking exclusively to THR India, the film’s director had spoken about the experience of Mammootty reinterpreting a scene with an expression that’s unseen in his 400-film career. Speaking about his smile in the teaser, he said, “Of course, we had written that scene very clearly on paper,” says Jithin, who was in the thick of finishing the last few hours of work on the film’s final sound mix during a recent interview. “We had worked a lot on his [Mammootty's] look as well. But on that day, as we narrated the entire sequence and mood of the scene, we still had no idea what Mammukka would give us in terms of an expression. We feel we’ve seen this man do it all before, and then he surprises you with a look that is so perfect for the shot that you couldn't have imagined it.”

Produced by Mammootty Kompany, the film stars Mammootty and Vinayakan in the lead roles, with the hard-hitting suspense thriller raising anticipation ahead of its release. Kalamkaval also marks Mammootty’s return to the silver screen after an eight-month break.

Jithin K Jose, who is known for writing the story for Kurup, has written the script for the film along with Jishnu Sreekumar. The cast also includes Jibin Gopinath and Rajisha Vijayan. The distribution rights for Kerala are held by Dulquer Salmaan’s Wayfarer Films, and the technical crew of Kalamkaaval includes cinematographer Faisal Ali, editor Praveen Prabhakar, composer Mujeeb Majeed and production designer Shajie Naduvil.