RONTH (Patrol) 2025
by
Shahi Kabir
Shahi Kabir had written Nayattu, Joseph and Officer on Duty. He was himself a cop before he turned creative. The experience shows in his writing. But that also makes him a tad more sympathetic towards cops than is warranted. Long backstories take away the focus from the present and hurt the tautness of the film. Dileesh Pothan and Roshan Mathew play cops on a nightly patrol. Roshan, being younger, drives, while Dileesh, much senior, habitually abuses and sermonizes. They bond over shared experiences but some lapses during the night come back to haunt them in the morning.
Although too much happens during a single night, and a scene or two could have been curtailed, but I loved how the eventual trouble just dawns upon them, without them realizing that something was going to go wrong. They had finished their shift to their satisfaction and went back to their families, little realizing that a storm was coming!
Malayalam films really have a way of incorporating realistic elements in their narratives. The viewer is himself a patrolling cop during the runtime. A moving Bolero, two cops, their mutual tension, deserted streets, the cover of darkness, heaviness of ennui- you are actually with them when they pour rum and down it!
#shahikabir #ronth #malayalam #jiohotstar #dileeshpothan #roshanmathew
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