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Nayattu movie review: An honest and intense film by Martin Prakkat and team
As the credits roll at the end of Martin Prakkat's movie Nayattu , the viewer may feel dryness in the throat for the film stands too political and speaks of high sounding idealism. What one experiences by watching the movie is the realities in society.
Though the open-ended climax may raise further questions, the Kunchacko Boban, Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan-starrer has its moments throughout and that's what makes it worth a watch.
The film can be described as intense, gritty, real, brave and most of all, honest. It depicts the degradation of politics by people in power and tries to analyse who is hunted in society - justifying the tagline ‘the hunt.'
It all begins with a tug of war between two teams, each trying to drag the other across a centre line, perhaps, implying a game between the weak and the strong.
A conversation between the organizing committees introduces us to Praveen Michel (Kunchacko Boban). In spite of being a member of the police force, Praveen plays against the cop team and his team wins. Taking care of an ailing mother, Praveen has his own share of family responsibilities.
Similar is the case with two other cops Maniyan and Sunitha played by Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan. Maniyan's wife, who complaints that he would turn out a better person if, and only if, he would leave the police job. Sunitha with her mother is building a house and her relatives seem to be giving her headaches. Despite the troubles in their family, all are content with serving in the police force.
Things take a toll as the trio gets involved in an accident case and the course of life is altered.
The movie opens with a tribute to late director Sachy and actor Anil Nedumangad and one can't help but sense a touch of their last outing Ayyappanum Koshiyum . Ego over a silly matter creating a mess and taking an ugly turn in the movie looks similar to the one in Nayattu .
By the first half, the mood perfectly shifts to a survival game as the three get framed in a murder case.
Martin Prakkat smoothly sets the tone of a survival thriller but Shahir Kabir's honest writing brings forth harsh realities depicting the political scenario. He has given us an idea about each character through the script which is quite strong. The script carries a good rhythm but half way through it loses the survival strain and takes the route of what can be labelled as a serious film. Shyju Khalid's visuals and Vishnu Vijay's scores add a more intense feel to the movie.
A script that never plummets and the power-packed performances of the leading cast are the big takeaways of Nayattu .
Every actor is top-notch regardless of the screen time they get. Kunchacko Boban as the simple and naive police officer does score a few more brownie points. He doesn't mind washing the clothes of his mother and caring for a helpless colleague. He gets the most sensible and composed lines in the film which he portrays to perfection. Joju George brings out well his character’s tenderness and at the same time projects a disposition of anguish. The future he dreams for his daughter and the present that he experiences are neatly etched out by him. Nimisha Sajayan has limited dialogues but they have depth and substance and she manages to evoke a sense of empathy the character demands. There are many other characters who do manage to leave an impression.
The movie begins with a disclaimer that says the film is non-judgemental, but it would be hard to take it as it is, for it passively picturises the events we see in the media. The hard-hitting scene delivered with the election scenario at the end makes us wonder on our judgements. Nayattu , to sum up, is a realistic thriller that openly discusses a lot of politics. It may force the viewer ponder over the law and order system in the country and raise several questions.
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After Midhun Manuel Thomas, Nayattu finds another filmmaker moving away from light-hearted entertainers to something more grounded, cynical and brutal.
After the crowd-pleasing Charlie, Martin Prakkat has teamed up with Shahi Kabir, the screenwriter whose maiden effort Joseph became a runaway hit. Shahi has conjured up something more haunting this time around. Nayattu is a soul-stirring film that leaves you shaken by the time the end credits roll.
Martin and Shahi don’t take long to get the ball rolling, and when they do, they do a fantastic job. The central conflict involves the death of a young Dalit man, and it’s a problem increasingly complicated by the events preceding it.
Three police officers — the senior Maniyan (Joju George), the juniors Praveen Michael (Kunchacko Boban) and Sunitha (Nimisha Sajayan) — get trapped in a situation that forces them to go on the run. The hunters become the hunted.
Nayattu is about the butterfly effect created by the misuse of power across ranks. Every character in the film is a walking pressure cooker. The pressure is applied from the uppermost echelons of power, trickling down slowly to each layer and causing havoc.
When they finally vent, the wrong people bear the brunt.It is also quite bold when presenting some of its statements, like how the troublesome members of a minority group can get away in certain situations because of their caste. Some will find these portions problematic, but one can’t disregard the argument with absolute certainty.
And having Maniyan and Sunitha come from the same community add more weight to the narrative. In the middle of all this is Praveen, who enters the job with much idealism but has to accept the painful fact that idealism has no place in a system looking for more people to corrupt. If it can’t do that, it simply chews and spits them out, leaving them with psychological trauma for the rest of their lives.
And as characters with plenty of emotional baggage, Kunchacko, Joju and Nimisha ace their parts with much conviction.
Though the events in Nayattu are put in motion by the men, it’s the women who left the most indelible impressions. At several points, we are shown female characters experiencing varying degrees of pressure.
A senior female cop, Arundathi (an impressive Yama Gilgamesh), takes a discreet smoke break before giving instructions to her team. Sunitha suffers a nervous breakdown while witnessing two men get into a fight.
On the other side, Sunitha’s mother has to co-operate with the cops who are on the trail of the three, and the school-going daughter of a male cop has to live the rest of her life with a devastating story. But the film’s most telling image is that of a visually impaired woman casting her vote.
There, too, pressure is applied, but of a different kind. We don’t get to know who she wanted to vote for, and we don’t get to know if her son placed her thumb on the right button either. It’s a scene positioned at the right moment, and it speaks volumes.
The extreme cynicism of Nayattu brought to mind the films of Italian filmmaker Francesco Rosi, who, during his time, made similarly disturbing political thrillers.
Nayattu achieves the same effect in its final moments, which convey the futility of fighting injustices and darkness in the world. The image of powerless characters is not a pleasant one, but it makes for powerful cinema.
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Home » Review » Nayattu movie review: An intense look into the systemic corruption of police »
Nayattu movie review: An intense look into the systemic corruption of police
Through this narrative in which the hunters become the hunted, Shahi Kabir and Martin Prakkat focus on telling a story filled with layers that reveal the futility of a system that is supposed to protect the people and how truth and duty matter less when confronted by hierarchy
- Sanjith Sidhardhan
Last Updated: 12.00 AM, May 09, 2021
In a gripping scene from Nayattu, police officer Maniyan (Joju George), who along with constables Praveen Michael (Kunchacko Boban) and Sunitha (Nimisha Sajayan) are being chased by their own, explains how the system is going to twist the truth for political gains and how they will end up paying the price for it. Maniyan is distraught and helpless because he too has been the doing the same thing – as a previous scene would indicate – and is fully aware, just moments into the chase, that their attempt to escape their dire predicament would be futile. The scene potence lies in the fact that Maniyan being the most experienced among the three, is the first to lose hope.
The story of director Martin Prakkat’s thriller is set just days ahead of the elections in the State. The mood in the trio’s police station is already tense because of the work and their personal problems. Amid this, Praveen and Maniyan get into a scuffle at the station with Sunitha’s unruly relative, who is also a member from a caste-based party. Things, however, take a serious turn when they get into an accident later that day and are forced to go on the run.
Through this narrative in which the hunters become the hunted, Joseph scriptwriter Shahi Kabir and director Martin Prakkat focus on telling a story filled with layers that reveal the futility of a system that is supposed to protect the people, how truth and duty matter less when confronted by hierarchy and how dispensable each selflessly-serving cog is to the machinery. Shahi’s script is the strength of the film, and the research done keeps the film rooted to reality, unlike Prakkat’s previous movies such as Charlie and Best Actor.
Kunchacko Boban plays the role of the newly-joined CPO, an idealist who is constantly bossed around, with restraint at the start. This makes his few bursts of anger throughout the film all the more effective and intense. Joju George shines again as the senior officer, who is on the edge and is caught between the thoughts of how the twisted system would seal their fates and the realisation of how he got his priorities between family and work wrong. It’s through his role as Maniyan that the makers drive home the points of systemic corruption, again and again. Nimisha essays Sunitha in a subdued manner, adding emotional heft to the story, while Yama Gilgamesh, as IPS officer Anuradha Sriram who chases the trio, ably shows the pressures that cops have to face.
Cinematographer Shyju Khalid’s visuals lend the sombre mood to this hard-hitting political thriller, where Prakkat uses every minute effectively to shed light on issues plaguing the system and the people. What makes Nayattu a must watch is its relevance especially at a time when truth is often tampered with by those in power, without being held accountable.
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