Certain movies touch the deepest corners of our hearts. It is mostly because they portray the twisted truths about humans and their ways of life. Investigative dramas usually have a way of delivering uncomfortable and disturbing truths; thereby, they leave a prominent mark. David Fincher’s “Seven” or “Gone Girl,” Christopher Nolan’s “The Prestige,” or Jeethu Joseph’s “Drishyam” had us raptured in them for a long time. Over the past few years, Malayalam cinema has been coming up with groundbreaking and commendable films that are redefining the face of the industry. A few films that won our hearts last year include Vineeth Sreenivashan’s “Hridayam,” Sarath Menon’s “Veyil” and Vipin Das’s “Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey.” This year, a film that deeply penetrated the depths of our psyche and projected darkness on the silver screen is “Iratta.” The film was released on February 3 and is now streaming on Netflix.
“Iratta” means twins, which gives away the film’s primary characters. Rohit M. G. Krishnan, the debutant director, has wonderfully crafted the tale of two siblings as he unravels the nuances and complications that have separated the brothers. At the same time, he highlighted how childhood traumas play a vital role in shaping us into who we are today. Although we cannot deny that police officers are shown stereotypically – they drink, their material life is shattered, and they often lie. However, that does not tarnish his vivid portrayal of how women often fall prey to deeply psychologically disturbed men. It shows how “false masculinity” feeds on treating women as objects or second-class citizens. There is no scene in “Iratta” that we would want to edit. “Iratta” is aptly disturbing, and the twists are exactly what makes it a great film. Here is everything you need to know about the two brothers, the antagonists who will antagonize you.
Spoilers Ahead
Joju George As DySP Pramod
We are introduced to DySP Pramod while he was admitted to the hospital due to a panic attack. We see his doctor calling his wife Sreeja (Sreeja Ajith) and requesting her to meet Pramod for the last as he is repenting and suffering from panic attacks. Shortly after that, we see Pramod watching a reality show on TV, where he sees his wife talking about their daughter, who soon performs; this brings back a flood of memories for Pramod. He has been verbally abusive to his wife, even while she was pregnant with their child. Pramod used to be a heavy drinker, and he was absent during the birth of his daughter. All of these failures on Pramod’s part made Sreeja take their infant and leave. However, after seventeen years, Pramod felt the need to reconcile with his family and wanted Sreeja to tell their daughter about her father. In the meantime, another call for Pramod comes to the forefront, carrying the message of his twin’s death. Pramod rushes to the police station while memories of their childhood flash in front of them.
Pramod seemed to be a man with a calm demeanor as he patiently listened to everything that the suspects had to say about the death of his brother. Furthermore, he kept himself away from the case, for he was deeply involved. But, when the leads were taking the investigation nowhere and he knew that he was also considered a suspect, he requested the investigating officer to allow him to investigate the case. Upon investigating, when he found out the truth about his brother’s death and the reason behind it, we saw him make a very firm decision. The decision, however, cannot be measured as good or bad. However, if we study his behavior, were able to assume amount of guilt, hatred, and loneliness he will carry forever. These behaviors had a lot to do with his upbringing. For the most parts of their lives, the twins were abused and saw their mother being thrashed and tortured by their father. As a child, this trauma was dangerous; thus, he was abusive towards his wife too. However, when their mother wanted their father to just pay for childcare while she raised them, the father took Vinod away, and he was stuck with his mother. A lot of his behavior shows how deeply the childhood trauma has affected him. However, probably because he was raised by his mother, Pramod grew up to be much different from Vinod, as we shall find out.
Joju George As ASI Vinod
Vinod was a short-tempered, drunken thug who was professionally a policeman. As the father separated the two brothers and the mother took Pramod away, Vinod was jealous and hated his brother. The three suspects had prior tiffs with Vinod for different reasons. However, they collectively thought Vinod was not a safe person. Bineesh was the first on the list of suspects, for his gun was found beside Vinod’s body, covered in blood. But, he said that he left his gun and hat on Vinod’s table and went to use the washroom. Also, it was not just the gun; there was a disagreement between the two owing to a brawl at a lodge between a couple and a man who apparently was videotaping them. While Bineesh was trying to mitigate the fight, a drunken Vinod appeared and got involved. Furthermore, under the influence of alcohol, he ends up raping the young girl. Although no official complaints had been launched, Bineesh was perpetually upset with Vinod. The other suspect, SCPO Sandeep, was concerned about the children when Vinod was around them. To agitate him, Vinod dropped John’s daughter at their home after school. This infuriated him, and a fight broke out between the two. The third person was ASI John, who had a fight with Vinod for harassing a witness.
In a nutshell, Vinod was a man who used the power of his profession to harass and cause chaos. He had no respect for women; he only thought of and treated them as commodities that would satisfy his desires. His former wife had left him for the same reasons. However, after rescuing Malini from her abusive husband, there was a visible change in his behavior that we noticed. Nevertheless, he tried to force Malini into sex as well on the first night. We also learned that, based on Pramod’s complaint, Vinod was suspended. The difference between the brothers did not fade away with time, and there was always a cold war. This is why Malini asked the officer in charge of the investigation to look into Pramod as well.
Finally, when the truth is revealed, we learn that a part of Vinod knew he was guilty of something that is beyond any punishment. The decision that he took was rushed and not well thought out, or maybe the guilt was so strong that it clouded his every judgment. It, however, remains a mystery why a man who has been all thuggish and cruel has repented his actions. Is it because, despite all those trifles and differences, he still had a soft corner for his brother, or he actually loved children, or has Malini influenced him to be a better person?
The film brings us face-to-face with the poignant issues of modern society. We keep judging people as black and white; however, quite a few are gray as they have been through their fair share of trauma. Vinod is someone we can tag as a crooked man; Pramod, on the other hand, is a man of gray with patches of black and white. After in depth analysis of the twins’, we would be shocked to realize that we do have such characters roaming freely around us. Scary, isn’t it?