Dulquer Salmaan sheds his romantic hero image to embrace an all-out action hero persona in Malayalam-language film King of Kotha, directed by newcomer Abhilash Joshi. Written by Abhilash N. Chandran, it’s a run-off-the-mill gangster movie that explores friendship, love and betrayal against the backdrop of conflict between two gangsters.

Set in the mid-1990s, the story follows police officer Shahul Hassan (Prasanna) who is transferred to Kotha, a fictional town on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. His mission is to eliminate a drug-dealing gang led by Kannan (Shabeer Kallarakal). But Hassan doesn’t have much success as Kannan has a strong hold over the residents of Kotha.

Hassan learns about Kotha Raju (Dulquer Salmaan), who was the underworld kingpin of the area a decade ago. Raju and Kannan, who were best buddies once, fell out over a misunderstanding, following which Raju disappeared without a trace. Hassan devises a plan to draw Raju out of his hideout and use him to bring down Kannan’s empire.

An extended flashback shows Raju being shunned by his parents who thought his criminal activities were a bad influence on his sister, who he loved a lot. The large-hearted Raju, on his part, spent all his money on the people around him. Dulquer’s anti-hero oscillates between ruthlessness — he doesn’t bat an eyelid before chopping off his enemies’ body parts — and tenderness for his sister, friends and girlfriend Tara.

The dynamic between Raju and Kannan is at the heart of the narrative with the two actors sharing compelling on-screen chemistry. Kannan is introduced as Raju’s timid lackey with lofty ambitions of his own. Raju treats him like a brother, while Kannan secretly wants to rule Kotha.

Opportunity presents itself when Raju is at an emotional abyss after being spurned in love. Kannan doesn’t think twice before joining hands with Raju’s archrival Ranjith (Chemban Vinod). The betrayal ends their friendship and Raju leaves Kotha forever. While Dulquer embodies Raju’s recklessness and vulnerabilities, Shabeer holds his own against Dulquer’s star power.

The first half of King of Kotha is intense. A lot of time is spent on constructing the gritty world in which the two former friends turned enemies. In the second half, the story toes the predictable line and leads to an overly prolonged conclusion.

The romantic angle between Raju and Tara (Aishwarya Lekshmi) doesn’t help enrich the plot. Apart from dissuading Raju from getting into the drug business, there’s not much for Tara to do. She looks mostly lost and it’s unclear whether she actually loved Raju or not.

Among the other actors, Nyla Usha grabs attention as Kannan’s wife Manju. The climax hints at the possibility of a sequel, teasing Nyla Usha as a potential antagonist. Chemban Vinod offers comic relief as Ranjith, Raju’s rival who loves to speak in English but struggles to construct grammatically correct sentences in moments of crisis.

The film’s technical elements play a crucial role in immersing one in the 1980s setting. Cinematography by Nimish Ravi, set designs by Nimesh Thanoor, costumes by Praveen Varma and makeup by Ronex Xavier recreate the era and the fictional town of Kotha, with authentic recreation of advertisements and posters in the background.