Narivetta (Jackal Hunt) is an emotionally overwhelming film. The injustice we watch in it — the scale and its impact — leaves one with a heavy heart. Despite the disclaimer, the ‘resemblance to actual events’, is more intentional than claimed. As the name suggests, it is a hunt. The movie opens with a chase, which is more of a hunt — cops hunting one of their own. The roles of the hunter and the hunted keep changing. 

The face-off between the tribal people led by a firebrand woman activist CK Shanti [ring a bell?] at a reserve forest in Cheeyambam, Wayanad, is reminiscent of a similar one at Muthanga village in 2003. The strike by the tribal people protesting the delay in allotting land promised to them, the subsequent police action, and the aftermath, are all there, albeit fictionalised, in Anuraj Manohar’s sophomore film. His debut film, Ishq (2019), explored the dynamics of gender and society’s take on romantic relationships.

A still from Narivetta
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With a subject like this, there is the danger of a film assuming a docu-film-like flavour. Still, the script by Kerala Sahitya Akademi Yuvapuraskar winner Abin Joseph avoids that trap. There is no sugar coating, how can there be?

Anuraj has maintained a delicate balance, walking the tightrope that the subject would have demanded. At times, the weight shifts toward the commercial aspect, like the time spent on a love story, which slows the tempo.

Narivetta, despite its shortcomings, works given its subject. The casting is apt, but the talent feels under-utilised. Arya Salim ‘becomes’ CK Shanti in a firecracker performance. Pranav Teophine, who essays Thami Adiyar, one of the tribal people, also deserves a special mention.   

A still from ‘Narivetta’
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The film is a coming of age of a very grown-up Varghese Peter, who, despite being unemployed, is unwilling to take any government job that comes his way. When it comes to a job in the police force, nothing less than an inspector will do. Tovino Thomas does justice to the role as he evolves from a petulant young man forced to take up a job he despises to a determined whistleblower. The character is well-etched, giving an insight into why he behaves the way he does. 

Waiting to be appointed to his state government job, Varghese is the only son of his widowed mother. He depends on her and his high school sweetheart Nancy (Priyamvada Krishnan) for money. When push comes to shove, with Nancy asking for a break, realisation dawns that it is time for adulting aka getting a job.

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The first half is slow with the action picking up pace half an hour before intermission. The second half moves quickly in comparison. The story moves back and forth, between the past and the present. Placed parallel to each other, the evolution of Varghese is plain to see. Kuttanad and Wayanad form the backdrop, the locations serve as metaphors for what Varghese is going through — the flowing waters of the Vembanad lake are calming while the forest and the unfamiliarity unleash the nastiness in him.

While at the Reserve Police Camp, Varghese meets an older cop, Basheer Ahmed, who becomes a mentor. Their bond deepens when they head to Wayanad for their assignment at Cheeyambam. At this stage of his career, any role would be effortless for Suraj Venjaramoodu, and he impresses as the quiet, low-key Basheer with his restrained performance.

Arya Salim in Narivetta
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Tamil actor Cheran makes his Malayalam debut as the cop, Raghuram Keshavan, in charge of handling the strike. As Basheer tells Varghese, he cannot understand whether he is good or bad. That said, Cheran is very good at being very bad. Anuraj has tried to show the life of cops, often bordering on police procedural-level details. Does it work for the larger picture? Not sure.

The presentation of tribals and their way of life is realistic, not exoticized or caricatured, especially their language, and their interactions. We also get a glimpse of the poverty they live in and the way they are treated.

One hard-hitting scene is a reminder of the case where a tribal man Madhu was beaten to death for allegedly ‘stealing’ food. These scenes are uncomfortable because of the manipulation that each of the stakeholders — the cops and the tribal people — face at the hands of political interests. So what if everything is a big lie and cover-up? For instance, rather than face their role in the situation at hand, the powers-that-be insert a lie into the narrative — Maoist-backed terror. Human lives have no value, a fact emphasised often in real life.

Tovino Thomas in ‘Narivetta’.
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The songs in the background underscore what owning a piece of land means to a tribal person whose everything is the forest. A line from one of the songs, ‘they drift through their dreams with no land of their own’, is haunting. The point of view is that of an outsider because anything else would seem pretentious and presumptuous at best.

The face-off between the tribal people and the State police unravels and descends into chaos, which neither Varghese nor we can wrap our heads around. When the movie ends, it leaves one questioning the status quo!

Jakes Bejoy’s music deserves praise, as do cinematographer Vijay and editor Shameer Muhammed.

To conclude, this story needs to be told. Anuraj has done it. Was there a comfortable way of saying it? No. And just for that, Narivetta works.

Narivetta is running in theatres