‘Nayattu’ directed by Martin Prakkat is a coming of age thriller that boldly and realistically portrays the politics of perception in the new age with the Khakhi thrown helplessly in the midst. The movie starts off with introduction of its 3 main characters: Sunitha (Nimisha Sajayan), Praveen (Kunchako Boban) and Maniyan (Joju George), all 3 police officers with Maniyan at the top of hierarchy.
There are movies that shows us where we as a society should be, what we should strive to be through its characters and plot. Then there are movies that portrays realism in a brutal fashion even when it is discomforting and harsh. ‘Nayyatu’ is clearly the latter type of movie bringing to the viewers the operationalization of a flawed democracy at the ground level with battles of perception calling the ballot and lives of its ordinary citizens.
To take this message
to the audience, the movie uses caste-based vote bank politics (in this case
the Dalit vote bank although in Kerala generally there are more organized and
united caste groups). In the opening sequences, the movie sets the stage for a
power packed thriller, a fateful by election where the Dalit vote bank is
crucial and a CM that is desperate to keep his seat of power.
The movie establishes
the political subversion of the police force through a very convincing
narrative and powerful dialogues. The scene where Maniyan laments to Praveen on
his way to frame an innocent man that even gangsters have right to say no to
quotations but alas we policemen don’t have that is quite hard hitting and
telling. Throughout the movie, the entire police hierarchy seems compromised by
the political class and its desires keeping in mind the by election.
However, this does not
seem exaggerated as it could have been, given the earthly portrayal of an age of
democracy where social media is powerful, public pressure is immense and media
glare in election mode is sky high. The design of the system puts officers like
Maniyan in pliable situations whereas he is shown in his masculine self against
the ordinary citizens- the one without power or influence evidenced in a
telling scene where he shows his muscle against his Dalit counterparts for
defacing the police station wall.
The scene, a telling
reminder about the cross-cutting inequalities that are built in a society where
few who have been depressed have progressed and friction is not just between
communities but also within- between those who have achieved and those who have
lagged behind. Here, Maniyan is not a fellow Dalit despite him being so. He is
in a position of power and that has changed the world, he is no longer the
oppressed, he is the oppressor at least in the eyes of the community.
From here, the movie takes off with an unfortunate death of a Dalit man throwing the trio into a runaway drama away from their normal life into the hills of Munnar. Maniyan, separated from his daughter for whom he harbors many a dream. The film movingly portrays the father’s love and pride for his girl child as well as his fears for her given he knows the worst of the world out there. The same protective web flows over to Sunitha who has her own troubles in a ‘manly’ world that wears her down at home and in office.
Like many women, she
finds herself outnumbered by the other gender who are often hostile and
insensitive. Naturally, she keeps to herself the fact that she is bleeding and
in pain finding solace in a torn piece of loin cloth. The director tells this
in an aptly sequenced scene with the host giving back her his mundu and Michael
climbing the hills to get her what she wants even without her telling. The
director creates a feel good narrative here in an otherwise somber film asking
the audience to be empathetic and understanding of the other even when they
feel discomforted to express and share.
The warmth is
momentary as the movie sticks to the cold hands of justice that delays,
frustrates, denies and is illusionary. When Moorthy tells Michael: “Why Police?
They want evidence, documents, witnesses, we want only water”, it embodies the
frustration of how justice delayed is worthless and how the common man would
rather resort to muscle or dialogue rather than the law.
But the defining
moment of Nayattu is the cross roads of justice and democracy. A famous quote
of justice is- “Justice must not only be done, but also seem to be done”. The
movie goes one step further to say- “Justice need not be done, it can just seem
to be done” in the new age democracy where the perception battle through media
is the most crucial. While the trio are apprehended eventually, what matters is
not their innocence or guilt but whether the public anger is quelled, normalcy
is restored and communities pacified especially when the ballot ring strikes.
The director gives
this an incredible metaphoric ending like a crescendo where a blind woman is
led to the voting machine. Her hand held by her son, she casts the vote not
knowing whom she cast it for. This is symbolic of today’s democracy where truth
is secondary to perception that is built on back of narrative, emotion, power
and traditional social bases. The old lady symbolizes all of us, veiled from the
truth, fed perception and hand held to vote by a superior force feeding on the
haves and have nots of power.
