Naradan

With the spread of media sensationalism conjoint with the growth of social media and the unchecked growth of 'news' platforms, a commentary on the same was the need of the hour and when a director of Aashiq Abu's calibre picked up such a topic, I was keen on what he would come up with. Unfortunately, "Naradan" falters with its insipid screenplay and tepid narrative style that neither entertains nor provokes thought requisite of the important subject matter it attempted to shine a light on.

Tovino Thomas stars as a Machiavellian news anchor, who resorts to sting operations and covering sensationalistic, clickbait news when his career reaches a crossroads. While it is refreshing to see him take up an anti-hero role after the rousing success of "Minnal Murali (2021)", he is given precious little to work with, with the character development happening in jarring flashes and the audience not getting any deep insights into his thought process, motivations, or antecedents.

Anna Ben makes good use of the little screen time she gets, as a steadfast lawyer fighting the good fight and Sharaf U Dheen also makes his mark, as the other side of the coin, a journalist focused on the facts rather than 'dirt'. However, it is Indrans who lingers in the mind with a deeply impactful, searing performance that is another testament to his growing stature as a character actor in Malayalam, after blowing us away with his turn from comedy to more serious roles in earlier films like "Aalorukkam (2018)", "Veyilmarangal (2019)", "Anjaam Pathiraa (2020)" and "Home (2021)".

"Naradan" had its heart in the right place and attempts to tell an important story-that of the dangers of an unchecked media culture running roughshod over citizens' rise to dignity and privacy in today's day and age. With rabble-rousers like Arnab Goswami and Sudhir Chaudhary continuing to bring in the highest ratings despite the jingoistic, sensationalistic drivel they peddle as news, it is time Bollywood also called out these practices.

Ultimately, despite having such a strong, relevant subject, "Naradan" fails to engage beyond a superficial level and falters in its attempts to cover these issues with any real conviction. Not recommended!

Having watched the thriller, it must be said, there are elements in it that are captivating, thought-provoking and powerful, and at the same time, the plot did lack the punch to convey the intended message. Especially, towards the end, the story lost its depth. Casting someone else as judge or an alternative cause to ground CP would have been much better.

Nevertheless, it doesn't bore you.

The movie discuss about the yellow journalism which exaggerates the half truth news or tends to make their own one just to get the rating

Tovino's yet another brilliant acting Its sucha bold move by him to choose this dark character

Anna ben performance was inversely proportional to her screen time

The story is very socially releavant The movie contains a great combination of visuals and background music The team really gave a great shot

Great work!

Naradan was a spectacular story, very thought-provoking!

Sadly, sadly, the directing and screenplay punctured its great potential.

If Naradan were a plane, it took soooooo long to take off and we only got to engage with the lead stewardess toward the landing

DELICIOUS

-Photography and color grading were massive! Beautiful shots taken and the colorist accentuated each frame, grabbing our attention from the beginning

-Tovino Thomas needs no mention. Such a stellar performance going from the quiet to the aggressive man he became. Sir, you are more than a gem 👏🏾

Always a great joy to see Indrans, he had such great composure in the way he delivered his lines

-The screenplay gave us an in-depth insight into who Chandraprakash was, this was very crucial to understanding where he was coming from and going.

Naradan revealed the nature of man, how far he's willing to go to achieve fame and glory even if this means stomping on societal values

BLAND

-When we say that Naradan took a long time to take off, this is not figurative but literal. The narrative started warming up at around 40 minutes😖

-Anna Ben appears on Naradan's poster but we only saw her for a few seconds in the beginning and then towards the end. We completely forgot about her during the movie

-We have a big pet peeve for excessive smoking in movies unless necessary, which in this case it added nothing. Almost felt like witnessing a smoking show...

Time pass movie but not upto the Aashiq Abu benchmark.

It is a linear narrative with no twists and turns : story revolves around the usual media affairs seen in other movies. Thanks.