Nayattu is a compelling thriller; but wait, is it a thriller?

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Nayattu premiered on Netflix on 5th April and it has reached straight at No. 2 amongst the most watched in India. It is a compelling thriller and leaves the audience on the tenterhook right till the end and then you are left wondering whether it was a social message that was being passed or was it still the thriller genre. Three cops on the chase by the cops because of a series of mis-happenings that was happening since morning. All this in the backdrop of pitched election fervor and eventually it all leads to a major fiasco at the end of the day. And three cops, brilliantly underplayed by Kunchacko Boban, Joju George and Nimisha Sajayan (in a completely different avatar after the fantastic Great Indian Kitchen) are spot on. The main protagonist of Nayattu remains the context which is politics and its under current and the antagonist perhaps are these three characters. 

Nayattu starts with the lives of these three characters and the challenges they face at home and at work. Yet they are juggling work life. Kunchacko's character has an ailing mother, he has to take care; Joju character is a domineering father who wants or rather is desperate to see her girl shine in dance and drama and finally, Nimisha as the sole girl in the family with an ageing mother has to ward off the necessary evils; her brothers and the coterie of goons who are constantly harassing them. The ordeals and the stress that each of them face and that often drains at the work place is indeed something that director Martin Prakkat brings out in the first 40 minutes of the narration. Prakkat has a very tight screenplay and a run time that ensures that those 40 minutes are enough to build the three lead characters. And then for the next hour and 20 minutes it is a cat and mouse game. 

Limited conversations and a lot of visualisation with tight close-ups and distant locales of Coorg, Idukki and the adjoining areas leaves viewers to appreciate the beauty of the place yet you cannot as you are too immersed and invested in the plot. And that is the plight of the three antagonist too. On the run they pass through picturesque local and yet they cannot soak in it. Nayattu's pace is brisk and with limited dialogue a lot of it relies on the narrative and the pace in which the context changes. Once the three are on the run, we are only exposed to the other side of it through the mob frenzy which is being whipped up by the Dalit leaders in the election backdrop (and they want a piece of head of the cops on the run) and the scheming CM of the state that are subterfuges in the plot. 

And, finally when it all ends as viewers you start to question about the message, medium and the plot. It all gets summed up in an extremely intense moment which is casually played out, where a blind old lady escorted by a family member goes to the EVM machine to press the right (or maybe not) button. That scene is enough to bring a closure to the whole 100 minutes of run time that we as viewers were witness to. While the film is gradually closing, one is hoping for some miracle to happen or perhaps one drop of luck for the cops on the run. But, Martin Prakkat has no such plans and keeps the viewers on the pan. The end is where the start is; and there is no way out of the system.  

Nayattu has some stellar casting and alongside the three leads it has an excellent support cast and leading that is Jaffar Iduki as the scheming Chief Minister. He paces himself so well and in a small moment where he takes his medicine and has a glass of water and takes his own time to wipe his hand with the towel held by his lackey. And all this time the whole city and the state is on the burn. Unfazed and dissolute to the proceedings his single minded agenda is to win this election and he is willing to sacrifice everything that comes in the way. The police are a mute spectator and at times a concierge to the way. The hapless guy at the top of the police post or his deputy and right down to the last constable on the value chain are only reporting to the top authority and that is the party in power. In a moment of retrospection, Anil Nedumangad's character spells it out to his superior, that he has seen the system enough to understand where and how power flows and he will like to adhere to the defined norms. And that maybe said in a matter of fact way, yet it had helplessness and a catharsis of the system so visible.

Nayattu's technical finesse with cinematography and minimal music makes up for intensity in the plot. The camera is constantly moving with the three leads and brings in the urgency. And Martin Prakkat nails it with a brilliant plot, screenplay and casting. And yes if you are looking for some relief mid way then it has a wacky number, Appalaale as a wedding song. It brings in the right nuance and the cheeky romance that is a brief interlude to an otherwise hectic proceeding.

Nayattu is an essential view for those looking to understand what is happening around us and how often sitting in our cozy homes and through arm chair discussions we take stands or have opinions on things about which we often have no idea. 

It premiered on Netflix. Go watch!  

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