It’s not often that a heist movie is made with absolute sensibility, where the makers can connect the dots and take the narrative forward without confusing the audience much. Kasaragold is a part heist and part drama film directed by Mridul Nair that talks about two men and their elaborate plan to not just steal the smuggled gold but also make sure it remains safe with them until it is sold. The title of the movie is a word play based on the name of the town of Kasaragod, which is situated on the state border of Kerala and Karnataka.
Spoilers Ahead
Prologue
Kasaragold begins with a father narrating to his young son the story of two friends who found a tumbler full of gold coins. Both discreetly wanted full possession of the gold for themselves and ended up killing each other in the process. The gold coins went untouched, as neither one could claim ownership of them. This sets the tone of the film, where the gold will play an important role in the overall narrative and how it managed to create a ruckus and divide amongst the characters of the film. The tale of two friends betraying each other is a motif that keeps repeating in Kasaragold in different forms, and it allows the viewers to understand how opulence changes people.
At the beginning of the film, we see a tiff between local party workers and a bunch of rich kids. On the same night, the local party workers are lynched to death by a bunch of men who were hired by the local party leader, Narayanan. The murdered boys worked for his party. The murder is shown as a politically motivated crime; even though it was carried out by the same leader at the behest of his spoiled son. This crime throws light on how people from the same political party are at each other’s throats, and nobody backs anyone. The party leader could have chosen to stay loyal to the boys instead of safeguarding his son’s ego.
How Did The Bag Full Of Gold Get Stolen?
Nancy reaches the town of Kannur, supposedly with her sick mother, and transports her to their home in an ambulance. It turns out the old lady and Nancy are the carriers of smuggled gold, and she is working with Alby, who is supposed to deliver the package to Moosakka, another local political leader. Delivering gold is a long and strenuous process, and their ability to to get past the customs officials proves Alby and his team have been doing this for a while.
Faizal is a mobile shop owner who claims to be heading to another city to get some paperwork done for his wife. The car carrying himself and his friends ends up meeting with an accident with Alby’s, which had the bag of gold. In the scuffle, the bag gets stolen, which sends Nancy and Alby into a frenzy of hunting down the people and the bag. Moosakka and his men help Alby get in touch with the men who were with Faizal, but they claim Faizal is not the kind who would steal. The reason for this confusion and agitation is that the smuggled gold was supposed to establish a business relationship with a UAE-based businessman, Firoz. It is also difficult to understand who is supposed to be believed at this juncture. Everybody had reasons to carry out this robbery, and only as Kasaragold progresses will we get into the depths of this crime. The silver lining is that Moosakka cannot file a case of robbery because this is smuggled gold. A similar narrative was seen in the Netflix original Choona as well.
Where Did Faizal Go With The Bag Of Gold?
We get to see Faizal getting down at Kasaragod station with the bag of gold and checking into a local lodge. It is not established why he stole the gold, but it can be assumed that he had some financial issues, as shown at the beginning of Kasaragold. We assume he will sell this gold and make some extra money to improve his living condition. Faizal is worried about being caught, which is why he remains inside his room for the rest of the night.
Were Alby And Faizal In Cahoots From The Beginning?
It is revealed that Alby and Faizal worked together to make this robbery a success. Alby informed Moosakka that he was headed to Trivandrum to catch Faizal. He was indeed in Kasaragod to meet up with Faizal and head towards Karnataka to sell their gold. The makers take time to explain the friendship these two made over the years and how they meticulously planned to steal this gold as a part of retribution against Firoz.
Through a flashback sequence, we learn of Alby and Mohammadikka, Faizal’s father were embroiled in a robbery of smuggled gold as it reached the wrong hands. This caused mayhem because the gold was worth a lot and was supposed to reach Firoz. Faizal’s father did not have anything on him to pay it back, which is why, out of shame and guilt, he committed suicide.
Faizal was initially under the impression that Alby was a part of the gang that was responsible for his father getting cornered, but the misunderstanding was sorted out. Faizal’s father and Alby became collateral damage in the fight between Firoz and his friend Muhsin, which is reminiscent of the story narrated to the kid by his father at the start of Kasaragold. Gold equates to money, and Firoz and Muhsin, who are friends turned foe, would do anything to get hold of it. To avenge his father’s death, Alby and Faizal plan to steal Firoz’s gold, this time in the hope of giving him back the taste of his own medicine. Alby and Faizal planned everything to the tee in the hope they could make money off of this robbery and get out of this situation without any suspicion. But their plan went awry very quickly because Moosakka was harsh towards people who betrayed him. The men begin a long journey of survival to make sure they are not caught.
Who Is CI Alex?
Circle Inspector Alex is a suspended police officer hired by the local leader Narayanan, who is helping Moosakka get back his gold. There is no reason stated at this point why Alex is not officially working on this case. This secret alliance between Narayanan, Moosakka, and Alex is how politics work. Narayanan may get a cut from the gold that will be procured, which is why he was ready to get Alex rolling to hunt down Alby and Faizal. Alex almost lost his job, and he’s getting this work done to get his way onto the payroll of Narayanan. Alex is not unhinged about this suspension, which proves he is as corrupt as the politicians who hired him. His only aim is to get the gold to Narayanan and probably get his cut for the job completed.
Whom Do Alby And Faizal Meet In Goa?
Alby and Faizal are in Goa to relax for a bit just before heading to Mumbai to sell the gold. They change their names to Albert and Muneer to avoid getting caught. They get acquainted with Vishnu, Vinod, and Vijay, who claim to come from rich families, something that intrigues Alby. Alby may be under the impression that these rich men will be able to help him and Faizal out of the mess. He keeps them around and becomes quick friends with the entire group. It is intriguing to see Alby getting along quickly with this group. Faizal keeps his distance because he is safeguarding the gold in a bag that he keeps close to himself at all times. He gives the impression of a recluse, which helps keep new friends at bay.
Alex locates the two of them, but they barely escape, brutally injuring the man. They seek help from Vishnu, Vinod, and Vijay in the hope they can help them sneak into Mangalore and then Kerala. Alby hopes his friendship with these men will end up being beneficial. He blindly believed the men when they claimed to be from a family of means. So far, there is nothing that would encourage the viewers to believe the words of these men or any reason why they would want to help Alby and Faizal out of nowhere. Both groups had no reason to trust each other, but somehow they did.
Were The Men Planning To Help Alby Faizal?
On reaching Mangalore, all of them are attacked by a bunch of goons, from which everyone barely escapes. Alby and Faizal are confused about whether the men came for them or these three friends are part of a network they weren’t aware of. Faizal is still in two minds about trusting them because they might be hatching an elaborate plan to steal the gold and kill them. There is still no clarity on why they were attacked in Mangalore, which made them leave the city immediately and head to Kasaragod.
As Alby and the three men are preparing dinner in a dilapidated home in Kasaragod amidst heavy rainfall, Faizal learns from a news broadcast that Vishnu, Vinod, and Vijay are the most wanted criminals who were accused of the murder of the two boys whom we saw were lynched to death in the beginning. These three men were important to Narayanan, who took Alex’s help to get them out of the state.
Narayanan had hired these men to find Alby and Faizal and bring them back. There is no clarity on why these men were hired to finish the job if Narayanan asked Alex to follow Alby and Faizal to Goa. Narayanan might have put in motion a backup plan in case Alex was unable to find them. Narayanan was a politician, and he could not afford to trust only one person to get the job done. As suspected, these men were here to eventually take the gold away and possibly kill Alby and Faizal. Both the groups’ covers are blown, and they are at each other’s throats to protect gold. Alby and Faizal end up killing all of them.
Faizal is consumed by guilt because he became an accomplice in a murder, which is a one-way ticket to prison. Faizal was already struggling financially. He feels he has let down his wife and daughter, who trusted him in every capacity, which is why he always remained cautious. Alby, on the other hand, was blindly believing everybody, which nearly cost them their lives. In the pursuit of robbing the gold and the dream of selling it, they lost practically everything.
Are Alby And Faizal Dead Or Alive?
After they were done burying the bodies, Alex caught up with them. Alex was asked by Narayanan to end his search for the men. It is not made clear how Alex found them. Unless he had put some tracking devices on Alby and Faizal, there was no way Alex would have been able to find them. Since this is commercial cinema, these scenarios are plausible. Faizal, out of guilt, wants to surrender, but Alby stops him because he is in no mood to head to prison after getting this close to their goal.
Amidst the tussle, Alex ends up killing Faizal. He also shoots Alby, and it seems like he is dead as well. Alex was probably on an ego trip because these men beat him black and blue earlier. Alex wanted to get to these men before anyone else could kill them off. Moosakka and Narayanan wanted Alby and Faizal alive, but Alex made sure these men were killed just because he wanted them dead.
Kasaragold ends with the father and son, who we had seen at the beginning of the film narrating the story. It is in their house that Faizal learned of the news of the murderers who accompanied them. The father and son duo find blood stains at the dilapidated house, implying that something terrible has happened here. The neighbor was an honest man who did the right thing by informing the police. He did that because he did not want anyone to suspect him or his family. He directs the police to the spot where Alex is seen and the dead body of Faizal is found.
Epilogue
A few months into this incident, it is implied that Alex was fired and arrested for the murder of Faizal and the men who were killed and buried by the duo. This led to the arrest of Narayanan and Mossakka as well. We assume Alex spilled the beans about the gold smuggling racket that was happening under their supervision. Alex probably had nothing to lose, as he would be in prison for the foreseeable future. The politicians getting arrested is meant to demonstrate that nobody is above the law. They might suffer Alex’s fate, though they might be given bail, for both are highly influential and politically connected people.
Alby wakes up at the scene of the crime, which proves that he did not die of the bullet injuries. Alex also receives a note from Alby stating that suggests Alby will definitely try to kill Alex and seek revenge for Faizal’s death. Alex seemed to have disappeared and may have anonymously given the police proof of Narayanan and Moosakka’s involvement in the gold smuggling racket. Alby kills all of Moosakka’s men who have harassed everyone related to him, including his girlfriend, Nancy. Moosakka’s men had gotten hold of Nancy, and they most likely tortured her until she gave up information about Alby. This was Alby’s way of getting back at them. It is implied that either Alby became a murderer, or he and Nancy sold the gold and left the country as they had previously planned.
Faizal’s wife, Divya, receives a gold biscuit via courier. It is revealed that Faizal, well in advance, sent a part of the gold they stole to his wife to protect her. Faizal was under a lot of stress due to his wife’s constant worry about their daughter’s health. Sending the gold to his wife before his untimely death was his way of showing that he cared. Sadly, Faizal’s death was also like his father’s. Both involved a bag full of smuggled gold. It is unsettling to see that both members of the same family had a similar fate, but this time Faizal left them with something to hold on to.
