Mahesh Narayanan’s Patriot, starring Mammootty, Mohanlal and Fahadh Faasil is a grounded, stylistic thriller with ace performances, observes Sreeju Sudhakaran.
Key Points
- Mahesh Narayanan’s Patriot explores the dark side of digital surveillance when exploited by power-hungry corporates and politicians.
- The film centres on Daniel (Mammootty), a government adviser who uncovers a defence intelligence programme being misused to spy on civilians.
- Mohanlal enters in the second half as Colonel Rahim Naik in an extended cameo that complements Mammootty’s central role.
In C U Soon, Mahesh Narayanan makes Fahadh Faasil’s character use technology and surveillance in a positive manner to find a missing girl.
In Patriot, the director flips that lens, using Fahadh’s character in an antagonistic manner to show how the same online surveillance can be weaponised against civilians for far more nefarious purposes.
That is quite an arc within a filmmaker’s body of work.
What’s Patriot About?
Patriot is a spy thriller centred on the rise of digital surveillance and the targeting of whistleblowers, often branded as traitors.
Daniel (Mammootty) works as a scientific adviser for the government body DRW and shares close ties with Prime Minister Nalini (Revathy). Nalini is wary of her Cabinet colleague J P Sundaram (Rajeev Menon) and his entrepreneur son Shakti (Faasil), who are misusing a defence intelligence programme meant for national security to spy on civilians. She seeks Daniel’s help to stop them.
Before he can act, Nalini dies under mysterious circumstances.
Daniel, who uncovers Sundaram’s use of spyware against her, is forced to flee and is branded a dissident. Escaping to the UK, he adopts a pseudonym and begins posting vlogs to expose Shakti’s operations.
When Michael (Kunchacko Boban), a close associate of Shakti, reaches out with potentially damning evidence, Daniel is drawn back into the conflict, seeking justice for those affected by the corporation’s malpractice.
Bringing Together Mammootty and Mohanlal
Patriot generated considerable buzz for bringing Mammootty and Mohanlal together after more than a decade.
It is important to note that this is a Mahesh Narayanan film, which means it consciously sidesteps conventional star-driven expectations.
The film firmly belongs to Mammootty, while Mohanlal, who enters in the second half as Colonel Rahim Naik, has an extended but controlled presence that never overshadows the central narrative. Narayanan is a filmmaker who prioritises the integrity of the subject over tailoring sequences to appease fanbases.
That is not to say Patriot is devoid of such moments; there are a few once Mohanlal makes his entry, with the highway chase standing out as an entertaining highlight. But if one expects goosebump-inducing slow-motion shots and lengthy monologues, there is a fair chance of disappointment.
Both characters are presented as battle-scarred warhorses. Daniel is an ageing alcoholic, while Mohanlal’s Colonel Rahim Naik is a physically-impaired officer with a black mark in his career record.
Their conversations about mortality carry an added poignancy, particularly when viewed in the context of Mammootty’s health during the shoot.
Patriot, then, is less about feeding front-bench expectations and more about grounding its stars within the emotional and thematic weight of the story. In fact, I felt Mahesh Narayanan’s grip on the narration wavered slightly whenever he indulged in ‘superstar’ presentation.
The pre-interval mid-air sequence is a case in point. Mammootty gets a mass entry moment, but the fight that follows undercuts the grounded realism the film otherwise strives to maintain. There is a slight lack of conviction in seeing an ageing man with health issues take on trained officers. The reliance on rapid cuts and shaky camera work further feels like a conscious attempt to make the action appear more convincing than it actually is.
Tackling The Plot’s Political Elements
Look past these ‘indulgences’, and Patriot aligns itself with cerebral Hollywood spy thrillers such as The Insider, Snowden and Body of Lies in the way it structures its chain of events around a high-profile political scandal in a a grounded manner.
There is a considerable amount of stuff happening from the very first scene, yet the narrative unfolds with enough dynamism to keep you engaged.
The themes are clearly drawn from real-world controversies, with the central spyware plot echoing the Pegasus spyware scandal.
Unlike L2: Empuraan, the film packages its political commentary with restraint, avoiding overt ideological markers while still delivering pointed observations.
A telling moment comes when Daniel remarks that his time in London has made him healthier, not because of the country he left, but because of the people running it.
While online surveillance is not a new subject, even within Indian cinema, the scale of this film and the presence of major stars give the narrative a wider reach.
Importantly, Patriot is not anti-technology. Daniel himself uses vlogs to connect with his audience and is comfortable with digital tools.
The film’s intent is to highlight the unsettling implications of compromising personal privacy in the name of safety, and it largely succeeds in conveying that cautionary message within the conventions of the genre.
The screenplay, within its spy-thriller framework, occasionally leans on convenient leaps of logic. For instance, it is unclear why the antagonists assume Daniel would willingly attend a summit they organise, especially when he only shows up after being contacted by Michael. It is equally puzzling that such a summit would not vet what a participant, particularly someone openly critical of the organisers, intends to present.
In the second half, there are further moments where Daniel moves around far too freely for a fugitive, and even the health risks attached to his character are brushed aside in favour of maintaining narrative pace.
Apart from these contrivances, Mahesh Narayanan presents the events in a thrilling manner, and even injects suspense where needed. The airport kidnapping sequence was one such moment, with more such moments in the second half.
The Technical Execution
For a three hour film, Patriot inevitably carries the weight of its runtime. There are stretches where the pacing slackens, particularly when characters resort to exposition to spell out developments, and one does feel that a more economical approach could have conveyed the same information.
That said, there are also moments that initially seem superfluous but gain relevance later. An early flashback involving a MiG-21, which initially feels indulgent, later proves integral in shaping character motivations.
Technically, the film boasts a grand visual texture without slipping into pure showmanship.
Manush Nandan’s camerawork is striking in several places, particularly the sequence where Kunchacko Boban stands at a railway station as the camera executes a smooth 180-degree movement around him.
At the same time, there are instances where the stylistic flourishes felt a tad excessive. The car conversation between Daniel, Rahim and Michael, for instance, might have benefited from a more straightforward setup that allowed the performances to take centre stage, rather than relying on a revolving camera to grab the attention. Sushin Shyam’s score may not be his best work, but I didn’t have much to complain either.
A Mixed Bag Approach in Handling The Ensemble
Another challenge for Patriot is balancing its sizeable ensemble while keeping the focus firmly on Mammootty, followed by Mohanlal, Fahadh Faasil and Kunchacko Boban. As a result, the rest of the cast is left with limited screen time. Some make strong impressions within those confines, notably Zarin Shihab and Darshana Rajendran, while others, particularly Nayanthara and Grace Antony, feel extremely underutilised.
This may not be a one-man show, but it is undeniably a Mammootty-led film. The actor is, as always, excellent in the effortless restraint he brings to the role, never tipping into excess. Mohanlal’s arrival lifts the film in the second half, and despite his character’s physical limitations, he is given a couple of well-staged action moments. The hospital lift sequence, in particular, is tense and effectively executed.
It is always a pleasure to see these two legends share screen space, and the film finds a quiet poignancy in their interactions towards the end, a placement that once again reflects Mahesh Narayanan’s thoughtful handling.
Fahadh Faasil stands out as the principal antagonist, especially in the climactic stretches, while Kunchacko Boban delivers a decent performance in a role that operates between two sides.
Patriot Review Rediff Rating:
