What happens when the system that you have been an indelible part of, and often bent to suit your own means or at the diktat of your seniors, goes south on you in the blink of an eye? It translates into a survival story that effortlessly packs in an edge-of-the-seat thriller, a pitch-perfect police procedural and a scathing socio-political commentary on the times we live in. A time where speaking truth to power is unacceptable — and often punished — and where instant ‘justice’, without giving space to procedural fairness, is the order of the day, pandering to the political regime of the time.
The Malayalam film Nayattu, billed as a ‘social tragedy thriller’, is an indictment of everything that we see and hear around us today. Nayattu means ‘hunt’, with the film being a portentous commentary on what happens when the hunter becomes the hunted, helpless in the face of a merciless system.
Directed by Martin Prakkat, Nayattu — that has quickly climbed the charts ever since its release on May 9 to become number one on Netflix — takes time to establish its premise and the background of its principal characters, but once the action starts rolling — brought on by the unfortunate events of a particular night — the film metamorphoses into a compelling cat-and-mouse game, in which political ramifications and distorted media narratives play a dangerous role in quickly and conveniently pronouncing the innocent as guilty.
Early on in Nayattu, we see senior cop Maniyan (played by Joju George) reluctantly manufacturing evidence against someone, on the orders of a prominent politician. “Even goons have the freedom to not take up work they don’t want to. The police do not have that freedom,” he helplessly tells new recruit Praveen Michael (Kunchacko Boban). Little do the two know that these words will come back to haunt them — as well as fellow cop Sunitha (Nimisha Sajayan) — soon enough.
One night, on the way back from a wedding, the three find themselves in the middle of a crime they didn’t commit. It’s election season in Kerala with every political player — including the ruling party, facing a strong wave of anti-incumbency — looking to consolidate its voter base. The three cops, with circumstantial evidence stacked against them, quickly find themselves becoming political pawns and have no choice but to go on the run. What unfolds thereafter is a tragic look at a system that spares not even its own.
Prakkat, skilfully peeling away at the layers, shows how vulnerable and open to manipulation our law and order machinery has become today. Depending on hierarchy and which side of the political spectrum one finds oneself thrust at, almost everyone ends up being a puppet. As Prakkat crafts an uncomfortable but deeply necessary look at how individuals are irrelevant in the face of political machinations, even as a thriller, Nayattu remains extremely engaging.
As the trio go on the run, fueled in turns by anger, helplessness and fear, Shyju Khalid’s compelling camerawork brings the diverse topography of Kerala alive, particularly verdant Munnar. The film’s emotional moments — Praveen being sensitive to Sunitha’s needs even in the middle of the mess they find themselves in, Maniyan’s realisation that the very system he was loyal to for decades and which has now become his nemesis, kept him away from his family for so long — work as effectively as its ticking time-bomb of a premise.
The only misstep in the film is possibly its representation of the Dalit community, showing them as misusing the laws that are supposed to protect them. Misstep we say because in this country, the community is still at the receiving end of gory crimes that make it to newspaper headlines almost every other day.
With the three leads — Nimisha Sajayan shines once more after her stellar act in The Great Indian Kitchen — packing in powerful acts, Nayattu is a prickly reminder of the fact that we are in the middle of a system that constantly looks for a scapegoat and where a witch-hunt automatically garners gleeful front-row spectatorship.
