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!

I really enjoyed watching the movie. In fact its thrilling and exciting aspects were appreciable. I think it has got a very strong and grippy scripting which could have slipped if handled carelessly. Casting is one of the perfect things in the film. From Cp to mudiyan all have done their part very well. Sharafudheen and Annaben actually nailed it. Also the usual pattern of depicting journalists with one hand on the top of the desk and reporting in a very unrealistic tone are brilliantly replaced. I also noticed the same thing for the court scenes also. Often the court scenes are very dramatic in our films with mass dialogues and undefeatable superiority of the leading actor. But here it is very carefully and realistically executed. And there was where I felt, 'oh the director is Ashiq abu'. When coming to its plot its a very sensitive and sensible one which must be spoken in the present days. Even the layman can understand that there is a clear division among journalists when it comes to the matter of ethics. It is very well conveyed. But at certain times certain slips and lag was felt and also we had some questions remaining in head especially regarding the opening issue of Narada channel. So there I felt if those aspects where also cleared out it would have become an ultimate one. And I'm glad that mollywood is very forward from the time of depicting an invincible hero even if he is a no. 1 criminal. Neglecting certain aspects of continuity at certain points, I enjoyed watching it. The opinions may vary among audience as it is a very tough topic to handle... Anyway I liked it!!!

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...

This movie aptly shows how news media and journalism works currently . In the ego and competition battle between channels, somewhere integrity of true news is missing in most cases. Worth a watch.

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.