Saw Jana Gana Mana recently on Netflix --> https://www.netflix.com/title/81477034 (Original Malayalam, English subtitles).
Seldom does it happen that a movie is so out of the ordinary that it feels as if it belongs to some other realm altogether. This is one of them. What starts off as one thing swirls into something else altogether, taking you along for the ride.
The brutal rape and murder of a lady Muslim college professor (Mamta Mohandas as Saba) shocks everyone. As students start protesting, they are brutally beaten on campus by police. People are enraged - nationally via Social Media. Law and order threatens to spiral out of control. A cop (Suraj Venjaramoodu as Sajjan Kumar) comes in, and promises justice to the dead lady's mother.
The cop cracks the case, and 4 people are arrested. But then before the case is to go to trial, all 4 are gunned down by the same ACP.
Story over, right? Wrong.
A human rights case is filed against the extra judicial killings. Public sentiment is firmly on the cops side, esp. the ACP who "delivered justice". But the lawyer (Prithviraj Sukumaran as Aravind Swaminathan) "representing" the 4 dead men gives a major twist to things. Now things go topsy-turvy.
The movie paints a picture of the state of the eco system that we all live in. How the media manipulates us, how we never know what goes on in the name of law and order, and how nobody has time for the actual truth.
The movie touches on the rampant casteism in our society, esp. educational institutions (remember Rohit Vemula?), handling of various rape cases, to encounter killings (that bring cheer in the short term but can be grossly misused in the long term), to "they can be identified by the clothes they wear" (if you know, you know).
Suraj as Sajjan Kumar does a fantastic job of showing all the emotions that he goes through. Anybody who can act with silence is a good actor.
On the other hand, Prithviraj has all the "seeti maaro" dialogues - "we all want instant coffee, instant justice". But his character raises pertinent questions about what kind of a society we live in, and do we want to continue like this?
Those two together make for a great film.
The movie has flaws. Prithviraj's back story gets a rushed treament. Other characters are not as well developed.
None of the lower caste characters uplift themselves - the others have to do the uplifting. Also there are multiple taunts on the BJP - something that could have been avoided, but Kerala is Kerala :-).
Setting aside these minor flaws, a must watch.
Not family friendly - not because of the physical content but because of the emotional level. If you show it to your kids be ready for multiple deep discussions.
