'Kerala Crime Files' Season 2 | 'Didn't Want The Crime To Be Shown': Writer Bahul Ramesh

It was after reading an early draft of Kishkindha Kaandam (2024) that director Ahmed Kabeer, director of Kerala Crime Files (2023), reached out to friend Bahul Ramesh to write the series’ second season. After the success of the first season, JioHotstar wanted Kabeer to direct the follow-up, making it the first Malayalam show on OTT to be renewed for a second season. And when Kabeer read the screenplay of Kishkindha Kaandam, he knew Bahul had it in him to write an investigative thriller series based on the Kerala police.

The series, which was released last week, has already become the most-viewed Malayalam show on the platform. Speaking about the writing, Bahul says, “There were absolutely no conditions from Ahmed on how to write the second season. Of course, I needed to include five central characters from the first season, but I had all the freedom to write a follow-up. I also chose to include a lead character played by Arjun Radhakrishnan, who was not in the first season, choosing to use those five characters in supporting roles. I, too, do not believe in relying on pre-set templates to match the earlier season. So, I did not force twists, high moments or cliffhangers, just for the sake of it.”

Bahul admits that he had never thought of writing a series until this offer came to him. “But when Ahmed reached out, I began thinking about a list of elements I did not want to include in a series. For one, I was sure that the whole show should not include the word “post-mortem” anywhere. The second you choose to include a post-mortem, we go into the forensics department [zone] and have a set of scenes we're tired of seeing in our movies.”

He adds, “Similarly, another mandate I had set for myself was the challenge of writing a crime thriller that would never show the actual crime taking place. I knew season 2 would have to be an investigative thriller, but I wanted to write it without a villain or any evil motivations. I also didn’t want to follow the obvious path of beginning the series by showing the crime scene and seeing how we got there.”

After he cracked these mandates, Bahul presented the first draft of the complete screenplay within just ten days. “What I find reassuring is seeing the audience explaining the ending themselves,” says Bahul. “I do not think we need to spoon-feed our audiences, and I got the confidence after seeing the response for Kishkindha Kaadam. When we read those comments and see viewers explaining the order of events and who killed whom, we feel validated. We enjoy it the most when their explanations go above and beyond what we had thought of as possibilities.” 

This, too, he feels, springs from his aim to respect the audience’s intelligence. “If we had shown an obvious ending or had spoonfed an explanation, it’s like insulting their intelligence. After the series is out, we must give them the space for as many interpretations.”

Even as the show continues its run, Bahul has already finished shooting his next film. Apart from writing it, he has also shot the film starring Sandeep Pradeep. It will be directed by Dinjith Ayyathan, who made Kishkindha Kaandam. “It’s a mystery drama, and it should release this year. It’s a script that is more fictional and grounded than the two scripts I’ve written so far."