How ethical are our media? Do they provide a fair system of justice for the people of our country? Media is a powerful tool that can make a large difference in society but the modern media owned by the corporate world are only concerned about the rising TRPs. Naradan helmed by Aashiq Abu is an open book to contemporary media politics and the nasty inside happenings in the journalism world.
Chandraprakash aka CP is a righteous newsreader in a local news channel. Things start to tremble when he is dethroned from this position which leads him into the world of dirty political games. Naradan is an authentic and straightforward thriller focusing on the newsrooms and the flesh-eating media. Like any other Aashiq Abu outing it unravels slowly by introducing us to the various sections of journalists and their constant strive to make any differences and the channel tussles, egos, competitions among them. Unni. R sarcastically mocks a few real incidents and balances the two sides of the media to deliver an edge-of-the-seat thrilling experience even without any quintessential elements of a thriller.
Tovino Thomas is deadly as a morally correct turned opportunistic media reporter. There’s a quick transition the character goes through at a point which the actor tracks well with his menacing screen presence. Tovino easily switches into a narrow-minded, cunning journalist with his body language and dialogue deliveries. Unlike other films on newsrooms, the unfair actions of the protagonist aren’t whitewashed or justified. Kudos Tovino for donning an anti-hero avatar at this peak point of your career. But the pretentious news reading scenes limit the pace of the film which could’ve been better. Naradan for the whole time revolves around CP thus the supporting actors hardly made any impact. Anna Benn, Sharafudheen, Indrans were the only saving grace from the supporting side where Indrans makes a staggering point with his towering performance.
Naradan suddenly shifts its tone into a tight-packed courtroom drama in the final hour though it appears stretched at first the crisp dialogues and the taut presentation quickly earn our attention. Naradan is a reflection of our modern world of journalism where any method of news making is considered legal and ethical. It is uneven in parts yet this highly striking social drama makes its point loud and clear.
Review by©Rahul Babu