In a revealing, self-aware moment early on in Kurukkan, Dinesh (Vineeth Sreenivasan), the police officer protagonist, blames true-crime television shows for suspects quite easily tackling his rather intelligent questions. That passing comment reveals as much about the movie as it does about the character. The whole investigation part gets a light, almost humorous treatment, and this also becomes an excuse to not have too many intriguing or gripping elements to drive the plot.
Keeping you on the edge of the seat is not one of the stated purposes of Jayalal Divakaran’s Kurukkan, scripted by Manoj Ramsingh. But it also does not succeed much in its stated purpose of making people laugh, which it manages only once in a while, despite trying a little too hard. Part of Dinesh’s character of the blundering policeman is evidently drawn from the likes of the old comic Shikkari Shambu, but unlike that harmless character who solves cases accidentally, Dinesh almost always gets it wrong. Also, framing innocent persons is not beyond him, if it would fetch him positive media attention. In a movie with a different tone of treatment, he is perfect for a villainous police officer, although here he is a laughing stock for most parts.
