In March 2017, a Malayalam news channel made its debut with a “breaking news” about a state minister. Their opening news bulletin was based on an audio clip that allegedly involved sexually explicit remarks of the minister to a woman who had approached him to make a complaint. The channel had edited out the voice of the woman. The clip was aired with the scroll: 'A minister who is an insult to the ministry'. Within a few hours after the telecast, the minister stepped down, but after declaring that his resignation is to “uphold the integrity” of his party and the coalition government.
The scandal caused a huge uproar. For a few days, the channel CEO defended the clip, claiming that it was not part of a sting operation or a honey trap. However, after the case was transferred to the crime branch, the channel changed its position and announced that the clip was part of a sting op and the woman who had called the minister was a channel employee. Soon, the channel CEO and four other journalists were arrested.
Aashiq Abu’s new film Naradan, starring Tovino Thomas in the lead, seems to be inspired by this sleazy episode, and many other such incidents in Indian journalism. The film follows the rise and fall of a news anchor, Chandra Prakash aka CP. The first half of the film explores how Chandra Prakash, an unmotivated news anchor, transforms himself to ascend the ladder of career success. This part of the film also tries to show how things work on a channel floor, and explores the dark side of news business. Unfortunately, the film is too bland and melodramatic. The worst part of the first half is Chandra Prakash’s transformation scene—a “life coach” who would speak in a special kind of Malayalam (read it weird kind) transforms him into a charismatic news anchor. In the second half, the film become more preachy and pretentious.
The problem with Naradan is that it attempts to say a lot of things but fails to articulate any of them. Aashiq Abu’s lazy filmmaking should be blamed the most for it. Unni R.’s script tries to talk about the saffronisation of media rooms, moral policing and trial by media, and issues ordinary journalists, especially women, face in the industry. But the script fails to wrap these issues and incidents to offer a compelling watch.
Tovino Thomas also fails to come up with a decent performance as the anti-hero. His dialogue delivery is awful. The film features Anna Ben, Sharafudheen, rapper Fejo, Joy Mathew, Vijayaraghavan, Balachandran Chullikkad, Raghunath Paleri, Indrans and Jaffer Idukki in supporting roles.
On the technical side too, the film fails to impress— the background score is loud and monotonous, and editing is insipid. Overall, Naradan is a film that makes too much noise but offers very few moments to remember.
Movie: Naradan
Directed by: Aashiq Abu.
Starring: Tovino Thomas, Sharafudheen, rapper Fejo, Joy Mathew, Vijayaraghavan
Rating: 2/5
