Restraint is the most notable quality of B. Unnikrishnan's latest feature — and his filmmaking, too. He breaks so many of his own rules here when it comes to thriller filmmaking. This is a film where brains matter more than brawn. "Prathichaya", starring Nivin Pauly, is the classiest work from a filmmaker who, in his past work, has been either known for being prone to self-indulgence or tonal inconsistency, or a misguided attempt at aiming for different things and not landing on either. But this one caught me by surprise. It's not without its flaws, but those are far less negligible when compared to his earlier work. I'll get to them in a while.
First things first. If you're looking for a wholly original concept, "Prathichaya" may not offer you anything. But since when has using pre-existing templates stopped many a filmmaker from doing some of their best work by putting a fresh spin on them?
"Prathichaya" has that old-school charm found in some of the iconic 80s and 90s Malayalam political thrillers. It has emotional and thematic commonalities running the gamut from "The Godfather" to "Bhoomiyile Rajakkanmaar" to "Narasimham" to "Jacobinte Swargarajyam" to "Lucifer". Some may have scoffed at the idea of casting Nivin Pauly in a political thriller that, conventionally, always required someone of Mohanlal's or Suresh Gopi's stature.
But after an hour into "Prathichaya", I knew exactly why Nivin was the right casting — and it's not because he played a son trying to clear his father's debt in a feel-good drama like "Jacobinte Swargarajyam". There are character traits and situations that Nivin shares with his character, John Varghese.
One, that light-hearted, trademark Nivin Pauly touch comes in handy in a few places — except for one awkward alteraction scene, which was understandably included to provide a crucial character detail about his political ideology. Two, it needed a tech-savvy actor — Nivin comes from an IT background — who also once took the initiative to rubbish claims of a MeToo allegation, an allegation that was eventually proven false. Three, the actor's involvement in various humanitarian causes is another common factor. All these character details eventually become integral to the plot, especially some of the twists we encounter later.
But then, "Prathichaya" isn't just about John Varghese. It starts and ends with John's father, the Kerala Chief Minister, played by Balachandra Menon. This character is easily the best thing the veteran actor and filmmaker has done in ages. I couldn't help but see him as the older version of the vibrant and flawed school teacher from "Sasnesham". You see, that's the other admirable quality of B. Unnikrishnan's writing in "Prathichaya" — even the "good guys" aren't painted as purely white, idealistic, or flawless characters. Even they admit, on more than one occasion, to their flaws and why sometimes they have to stand by certain decisions that are disagreeable to even their loved ones.
Menon's CM is one such character. John, too, has his weaknesses. But all these so-called flaws are basically what make not just him, but the rest of us... human. There's a dialogue about how it's all about someone's "brand" or "image" being more important than the person themselves. Anyone who has spent a lot of time working as a journalist or studied how marketing and social media algorithms function will nod their heads in agreement at many of the lines spoken in the film. This is a decently researched film, I must add.
And research is essential for a film that draws judiciously from true events. Anyone who has been living in Kerala for a long time and in touch with many of the sensational headlines would instantly recognise which real-life event was the basis for "Prathichaya". And when you remember the filmmaker’s own political background, you'll notice how impartial Unnikrishnan is here when it comes to portraying certain political figures.
Aside from Balachandra Menon, I liked several other casting choices. To start with, it’s good that Unnikrishnan didn’t go with an extremely popular actress to play Nivin’s wife. Or casting another woman against type (Megha Thomas as the cop is one example). The choice of casting Nivin as the Communist son of a Congress leader was a welcome touch. The same goes for Sai Kumar as John's Communist father-in-law, who also happens to be a staunch critic (constructive) of his father — something which John doesn't have an issue with.
I'm not sure, however, if Sharafudheen was the right guy to play the chief antagonist. But when you really start remembering how most corporate guys have bland and shallow personalities, Sharafudheen's casting seems apt. If there's one guy who gets more slo-mo sequences than Nivin, it's Sharafudheen's Ravi Madhavan, who has fingers in many pies (sectors). Again, if you keep in mind that there are corporate honchos who insist on cringe-inducing slo-mo walks in their personal Instagram and YouTube videos promoting themselves or their brand, you would see why Sharafudheen would get all those "stylish" shots. Have you attended one of those corporate meetings and seen how a CEO talks? Except for the fact that they speak good English, they lack the charm. They basically sound like machines. Cold, detached. (Or maybe I’ve only seen those kinds mostly.) If that's what Unnikrishnan was going for, it makes perfect sense. Another convincing performance comes from Vishnu Agasthya as the chief editor of a news channel who would do anything to please his employers, which means doing anything to boost the TRPs of his channel.
Film: Prathichaya
Director: B Unnikrishnan
Cast: Nivin Pauly, Balachandra Menon, Maniyanpilla Raju, Sharafudheen, Vishnu Agasthya, Sai Kumar
Rating: 4/5
