Investigative dramas do get intense, and as the film goes deep into the narrative, there are plenty of uncomfortable truths that come out about the killer and their motive for committing the crime. There is something very special about films that mess with your head as the investigation reaches the tipping point. “Memories,” directed by Jeethu Joseph; “The Usual Suspects,” by Bryan Singer; “Shutter Island,” by Martin Scorsese; and the list is endless. “Iratta,” which means twin, is a tale of two brothers who have been on the opposite side of the spectrum for years, when one of them suddenly dies. How will the brother cope with the death of an estranged sibling, and while being a police officer, will he investigate the death or not get himself involved? Directed by Rohit M.G. Krishnan, this Malayalam-language film is a thorough look into the life of a man who has led a difficult life, and one fine day, is found dead in a public place. The movie was released on the big screen on February 3, 2023, and is now streaming on Netflix.
Spoilers Ahead
DySP Pramod And ASI Vinod Are The Infamous Twins Working For The Kerala Police
The movie begins with a public function that is being held at the premises of the police station, where the public and the police are waiting for the chief guest, a state minister. There is a good crowd at the event, and the media are invited too to make sure this event gets enough coverage. As the preparations are in full swing, there are two kids playing cricket on the other side of the police compound. The kids, along with the public and media present at the event, hear three gunshots and rush to the scene of the crime to find out what happened. There has been complete chaos since the gunshot was heard, and there is utter confusion as to what just happened, who was killed, or whether this was just a gunshot fired into the air by some extremist elements.
DySP Pramod Kumar is admitted to the hospital after another panic attack engulfed him, and he is being treated briefly. Pramod has been estranged from his wife, Sreeja, for decades, and they still haven’t reached the end point of their relationship because Pramod has not agreed to the divorce. His wife moved away just months after their daughter was born due to his erratic, controlling behavior. Sreeja has made it clear that she will not let Pramod be a part of her life or her daughter’s. Pramod, though, has made it clear that he would want to be part of his daughter’s life and requests Sreeja to start talking to their daughter about him so that their daughter will have the option to be with her father sometime down the line. Pramod is keen on getting to know his daughter because he feels apologetic for what he put his wife through years ago. He is repenting the mistakes he has made, and his first step towards doing that is requesting Sreeja let their daughter know about him. Sreeja is not sure if that is a good idea, because all this time, she has stayed away from him and kept her daughter away too. She believes keeping a distance would be the right thing to do, and she is not keen on breaking any news to her daughter.
It is during this conversation that Pramod is made aware of the incident that happened at the police station, and he rushes to the scene of the crime, only to see his twin ASI Vinod shot dead. Pramod is shaken to the core to see the dead body of his brother lying in front of him in the pool of blood. There is utter chaos inside and outside the station. ASI Vinod was known to everyone in the police station, and everyone knew he did not have good relations with his brother. There is a chance that Pramod will be under suspicion, but for the time being, the three main suspects are Vinod’s colleagues who have had a tiff with him in the past, and all three of them were in the vicinity when the actual gunshots were fired. The gun used on Vinod belonged to Bineesh, who had left the gun on the table. All three of the usual suspects are questioned about what led to a rivalry between them. One of them, ASI John, had a tiff with Vinod over harassing a witness, which led to a physical fight between them. The other colleague, SCPO Sandeep, had an issue with Vinod because Sandeep not only had a misconception about Vinod not being the right person to be hanging out with children, but Vinod had also dropped Sandeep’s daughter back home. The third colleague, CPO Bineesh, had an encounter with Vinod at a lodge where he was drunk and he got into a tiff. Bineesh tried to stop a fight between a lodge employee and the couple staying in the lodge when Vinod, in his drunken stupor, got involved in the fight. Under the influence of alcohol, he ends up raping the young girl. Though the case was not pursued by the station and deemed a false case, Bineesh and Vinod had several arguments regarding the same.
All three of them are possible suspects; they have reasons and motives to end his life. But would they kill him in a public place and event? This is what is bothering the investigation team, who are at it to make sure this case is closed as soon as possible. Pramod is disturbed to know the kind of nefarious activities Vinod involved himself in, and while Pramod never stopped him. It is just their faces that match, but their personalities and outlook toward life were dramatically different. Vinod’s partner, Malini, is also brought in for questioning and identifying his body. Malini also reveals that Vinod and Pramod were always at loggerheads, which implies that there is no reason not to suspect Pramod of killing his brother. Pramod, though he has little to no information about what his brother has been up to, is slowly opening a chapter of his brother’s life that he had never come across. Vinod comes across as a man who has no regrets for what he did in the past, and being a police officer, he behaves more like a thug than a man who is supposed to safeguard people. Vinod, so far, has no redeeming qualities that would paint him to be someone who was a man of good deeds. All he did was create chaos, break the rules, and take advantage of the fact that he was a cop.
‘Iratta’ Ending Explained – Was ASI Vinod’s Death, A Murder Or A Suicide?
With the investigation looming over the entire station’s head, the people caught inside the station are making a hue and cry about why they cannot be let go. The police also gather the footage taken by journalists and use it to collect evidence to find out who killed Vinod. Vinod and Pramod were never in touch with each other to learn more about their lives. Pramod grew up with his mother, while Vinod was raised by their father. Vinod and Pramod had a difficult childhood where their abusive father made sure to make their life hell. Being a police officer himself, he made sure to use his power on his kids and their mother. The mother leaves home with both when the father forcefully takes Vinod away. Vinod is scared by the way his father lives, which involves bringing women to their home and, at one point, sexually exploiting a minor girl. Vinod looks for his brother and their mother, only to discover they left the town without him. This particular feeling of abandonment stems from the fact that the mother and Pramod did not think of him before leaving the town, knowing how harmful his father is. This plants the feeling of abandonment even after the mother shows up at the funeral of their father. Vinod decides not to join his brother and mother and carve his own destiny. The thought that his mother and brother did not fight for him left a deep impact on him and made him realize that he was better off without them.
As the investigation progresses, there is absolutely no lead on who must have a bigger motive to eliminate Vinod. At this point, Pramod is also under suspicion, as his call records are being investigated. Pramod asks for Vinod’s call records to be investigated when he is informed that no one will be informed of any information regarding Vinod. Vinod’s partner, Malini, was also brought in for questioning. She has had a difficult past, and her ex-husband can also be considered one of the suspects. Malini was married to a pastor who constantly physically abused her. Malini had been in a bad mental state when Vinod came to warn the pastor not to harass her further.
Minutes after he and his people had left the premises, he received a distressed call from Malini’s neighbors. The pastor is deemed mentally unstable, and he was forced to move to a mental hospital, which left her raw from the trauma of being physically abused. Vinod was attracted to her, but Malini resisted his moves because her trauma is yet to be healed, and she cannot let another man get close to her unless she was sure that this human being will never hurt her. Vinod understood her boundaries and started helping her rebuild her life from scratch. Malini slowly and steadily had started trusting him and letting him get closer to her. They eventually fall in love but have no intention of getting married. Malini and Vinod love each other’s company and the friendship they share. Vinod was on the verge of becoming a better human being when the untoward incident happened, with him being shot dead.
The investigation team is unable to find any leads, but the postmortem report clearly states that Vinod was shot point-blank. Pramod requests that his boss let him be a part of the investigation. Now that he is a part of the case, he questions all the suspects, and there is no change in their statements, which leads Pramod to a dead end. Until he scans through the footage shared by one of the television channels, where he notices in the footage two kids and a dog playing cricket on the other side of the police wall. Pramod asks for the kids to be summoned for questioning. He is sure there is some breakthrough he will come across by questioning the kids. Pramod is as agitated as the rest of the team at the station to solve the case as soon as possible without letting it affect the investigation process. Pramod finally makes a statement that Vinod committed suicide because the postmortem report suggested that the bullets were fired from close range, and the kids on the other side of the wall also saw the same. Though the reason behind his suicide is yet to be revealed, Pramod takes it upon himself to resolve the matter. The narcotics supplier caught in the same police station reveals he tried to get out of jail, and for a brief second, he caught a glimpse of Vinod looking at something, and he seemed fine. Pramod and the rest of the investigation are yet to find one last piece of the puzzle, which is the motive behind Vinod’s sudden plan to kill himself.
Pramod is given the footage of the video that Vinod was watching on television before he decided to shoot himself to death. The video is of Pramod’s daughter singing at the reality television show and his estranged wife talking about the struggles with which she raised her daughter. Vinod was watching this footage when he recognized his sister-in-law and joined the dots to realize the girl he raped in the lodge was his niece, Pramod’s estranged daughter. Knowing he will not be able to live his life the way he wants, knowing the sin he has committed under the influence of alcohol along with rage, Vinod makes the quick decision to kill himself. Vinod had adored the girl as a child and always wanted a child for himself, but now that a crime has happened, he will never be able to live a content life knowing he sexually assaulted his kin. Pramod, knowing his brother too well from the stories he has heard of him in the last few hours, shows the photograph of his daughter to Bineesh and asks if this is the girl he saw at the lodge. Bineesh confirms it was the same girl. Pramod is shaking because his instinct was right. Vinod raped Pramod’s daughter, not knowing his relationship with her, under the influence of alcohol and his ego. Pramod, who was on the verge of making amends with his wife and letting his daughter know about him, now knows this plan will not work because of the twisted fate he carries, bearing the face of the man who raped his daughter. Vinod escaped all the pain by killing himself, but Pramod will have to live with the fact that his daughter will hate him forever. He will have to carry Vinod’s face till the end of his life. Pramod will never get in touch with his daughter, for he cannot put her through the trauma of being reminded of the man who violated her. Pramod will be in constant pain, and he will have to live with it.
Final Thoughts
“Iratta” ends in such a deviant fashion that it almost reminds us of “Shutter Island,” where the final twist takes place just minutes before the film comes to an end. There is no epilogue for the viewers to understand more, just the fate of the lead character, who must now fend for himself from here on, knowing there is no other way out. Pramod, though, tried to do the right thing by making up before meeting his wife and daughter after years apart. But the fate of him sharing the face of his brother, who committed such an unspeakable crime, is that Pramod will have to go back to living all alone just for the sake of his daughter. The screenplay is tightly written because there is no room for any subplots to swoop in and derail the pacing of the film. Rohit M.G. Krishnan’s screenplay does wonders here because the story keeps moving forward, and at no point does it feel dragged. The editing of the film is smooth, and the story keeps jumping between what happened in the past and what the state of the investigation currently is. If only the writers had given more insight into why the relationship between Vinod and Pramod went from bad to worse with no hope of reconciliation. Their hatred for each other was not explored deeply. The film only concentrated on Vinod, and there was not much light thrown on Pramod’s life. Pramod’s character made sense in the end. The direction is seamless, and the performances of everyone, especially the lead, Joju George, are exceptional as Vinod and Pramod. We get to see one actor playing two different characters even though they share the same face. Joju George effortlessly brings out arrogance, anger, ego, pain, resentment, and hope for change, and one starts empathizing with both Vinod and Pramod. “Iratta” is one of those films that will haunt me for some time. It was reminiscent of the Oor Iravu segment of “Paava Kadhaigal” on Netflix. Emotionally charged and disturbing.
