Plot Summary – Three police officers are forced to go on the run when they get tangled in the death of a youth, a few days before the election.

Language – Malayalam

Where to Watch – Netflix India (English subtitles)

★★★★★ 

Watched on 10 Jun 2021

2021 is such a good year for South Indian cinema! Nayattu was definitely a film that almost immediately after watching I felt the urge to review it. I find it hard to even describe the film’s genre. Is it a thriller? Is it a political drama? Is it a social commentary piece? It’s somehow all three and pulls it off brilliantly, you never feel overwhelmed and it manages to pace itself rather brilliantly. It has the typical trappings of a thriller with its ticking clock and high stakes. But it also has the first half of a gripping character drama allowing us to get invested in our protagonists. The personal struggles of these characters are what make us invested in their overall well-being and why we root for these characters that have essentially broken the law. On top of these two layers, it has some brilliant commentary about politics in our country and the by-election backdrop works brilliantly in showing the inner machinations of the ties between our country’s legislature and law enforcement. It also has social commentary about casteism and while an immature take I’ve seen online is that it’s “anti-Dalit”, I think that by showing how the system is stacked against them, it shows how they are often tokenized by politicians and end up becoming statistics in the grand scheme of things. The performances are also something to marvel at, especially Joju George who captures each scene he’s in. I also loved the music and the score which made me get absorbed by the atmosphere of the film. The cinematography that captured the beautiful sights of Munnar where a large chunk of the film is set was also highly impressive. There are so many layers to this film that as a privileged Kannadiga I cannot even begin to unravel but the amount of nuance with which Nayattu handles it is something to behold. I was so impressed by this film and I highly recommend it.