Nna Thaan Case Kodu Review: A hilarious and thought-provoking satire

‘Nna Thaan Case Kodu’ (NTCK) is set in Kasargod, a milieu rarely been explored in Malayalam cinema. There’s a lot of untapped potential in that region, which includes stories and the talents from there. There’s also something innately funny about the dialect and we saw that in Senna Hegde’s ‘Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam’. In ‘NTCK’, director Ratheesh Balakrishna Poduval brings it all together in fine fashion to deliver a brilliant satire on a common man’s fight against those in power.

Rajeevan (Kunchacko Boban) is a small-time thief who ‘accidentally’ lands in the MLA’s house on the night of a local festival. He gets bitten by the dogs and the locals also manhandle him. At the court, Rajeevan says that he had no intentions of theft and reveals the reason behind what happened. It is in this courtroom that most of the action in the film occurs. Rajeevan is determined to prove his innocence and before he knows, the issue snowballs into a huge political issue with the first accused in the case being the State PWD Minister.

The makers have done an excellent job of documenting the courtroom proceedings. The actors, most of them real-life advocates, also help in the authenticity. The actor who plays the role of judge reminds one of Saurabh Shukla’s performance in ‘Jolly LLB’. He is practical, empathetic and at the same time, law-abiding. Credits to casting director Rajesh Madhavan for picking so many fine talents.

Kunchacko Boban, though inconsistent with the dialect, sells the role of Rajeevan wonderfully well. It is great to see the actor’s growth as a performer over the last few years. Rajeevan is yet another addition to Kunchacko Boban’s finest performances ever.

Some brilliant writing and lots of research seem to have gone behind ‘NTCK’. The film is hilarious and thought-provoking in equal measures. It is cathartic to see an underprivileged person standing up against the system and fight for his rights. The resolution part shown in this film might not be possible in a real-world but that’s why we have cinema.