With the web series 4.5 Gang, Malayalam filmmaker Krishand continues his interest in playing with genre conventions. Krishand’s show for Sony LIV follows the exploits of four men and their friend with dwarfism (hence the .5 in the title) as they try to wrest the spoils of Thiruvanchipuram (modelled on Thiruvanthapuram).
Is the half-point reference politically correct, wonders the author Maithreyan, who is writing the memoir of the gang’s leader, Arikuttan (Sanju Sivram). Maithreyan (Jagadish) is also given to florid prose and embellishment, adding his own spice to an already heavily flavoured tale.
The six-episode series moves back and forth between the present and the days when Arikuttan, Moonga (Sachin Joseph), Kanji (Sreenath Babu), Maniyan (Sambhu) and Althaf (Niranj Maniyan Pilla Raju) were pretending to be students. Keen on yanking themselves out of poverty, the friends, aided by corrupt police inspector Suresh (Rahul Rajagopal), challenge the dominance of the hoodlums Bruce Lee and Pyelakuttan.
Bruce Lee isn’t the only colourfully nicknamed racketeer. There are many more lurking around, such as Airport Saji and Cracker Unni.
The gang’s money-making activities range from pilfering milk to capturing Thiruvanchipuram’s flower-supply business. The adversaries include the Tamilian bus conductor Senthil (Vigneshwar Suresh) and the flower king Valsan and his wife Ramani (Darshana Rajendran). Chaos is the only constant as best-laid plans come unstuck, friends turn foes and enemies prove to be formidable.
On the surface, 4.5 Gang is a classic concoction brewed in a city’s underbelly. There is ample disregard for morality, a warm embrace of nihilism, a comic-book quality to the gang’s antics, evident in the generous use of split screens.
The collective and individual journeys of the main characters are peppered with salty humour, macho swagger and songs. But irreverence undercuts the usual gangland mythos. Questionable decisions are made in the heat of the moment. The men are quite different from the way they see themselves.
The presence of the postmodern theory-loving Maithreyan brings out the distance between gangland lore and a more prosaic reality. Maithreyan puts a positive sheen on Arikuttan’s life story, reframing his relationship with his father Balachandran (Indrans) and his lover Kingini (Santhy Balachandran). But Maithreyan’s hagiography is contrasted with the horrific treatment meted out to Senthil.
4.5 Gang is densely written, leisurely paced and self-consciously messy. The show often finds itself rooted to a spot, unable to move on from its capitalised quirkiness.
Some scenes go on forever, such as the one in which an injured comrade has to be hospitalised. However, this longueur does lead to a hilarious exchange between the cop Suresh and his street-smart wife.
The series finds ways to pull itself back into circulation. Sharply etched characters, who are beautifully performed by the cast, help maintain investment in an underdog saga that soon becomes a shaggy dog tale.
While the focus is on Arikuttan, who is superbly played by Sanju Sivram, the other characters are memorable too, especially the lovelorn, music-loving Maniyan. Jagadish is a hoot as Arikuttan’s smug, frequently self-congratulating Boswell.
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