Arata movie review: Jojo George’s double act and a gut-wrenching climax redeem this police procedural

A still from ‘Iratta’

One can’t be sure, but it could be the confidence a filmmaker gets from finally having something solid that contributed to some of the slower writing stages. ArataRohit MGkrishnan’s directorial debut. Rohit, who has also written the film’s script, cannot be faulted for that extra confidence, as what he has is something that is more than enough to redeem what has come before.

Most of the action Arata Stationed at the police station. A public event, attended by a minister, is scheduled to take place in front of the station. Three gunshots ring out, and a policeman is found dead. Three police officers turned out to be the main accused. With political bosses breathing down their necks, the police are under pressure to zero in on the culprit. But, this is only a part Aratathe investigation itself revolves around the lives of twins Vinod and Pramod (Jojo George in a double role), both police officers, who are polar opposites.

Childhood trauma, and its subsequent effects in shaping a person’s attitude towards life and fellow human beings, is one of the central concerns of the film. It keeps returning to the theme through the present lives of the twins, one of whom had to go through such trauma and isolation at a young age. But such experiences cannot always be used to explain heinous crimes committed by past victims. Returning to the slower stages mentioned earlier, this childhood flashback bit is one such, with a loud sequence.

Much of the focus seems to be on writing the characters of the twins, especially Vinod, so much so that many others around them are either ignored or given poorly written lines. For example, the forest minister (Sarinda) is heard repeating the same line of dialogue about the CM’s pressure and police officers demanding quick results. That’s all he has to do in one sequence through the film. Anjali, another capable actor, gets only two lines to speak, while for the rest of the scenes, she only has to maintain a troubled expression. A man who is locked in a cell on a ganja case, while the shooting takes place, gets the more carefully defined character of the two.

But, all this is made up of the twins, who are written with a certain depth. Jojo expands the characters by interpreting both the characters in his own way. He manages to make us feel that we are watching two different human beings, through some careful changes in gait, body language and dialogue delivery.

There is little novelty when it comes to the investigation, with scenes reminiscent of recent police procedurals, many of which have taken place in Malayalam. It floats on the strength of several sequences featuring Vinod and Pramod’s characters. Still, it’s that final revelation that holds back. Arata From being just another average procedure.