The other day, Kayadu Lohar took to her Instagram Stories to laud the Malayalam film Narivetta, which recently dropped on SonyLIV after its theatrical run. “Watched Narivetta. Mind blown. Beautiful film. It agitates you! Moves you!” wrote the Dragon star. She also praised Tovino’s performance in the film’s central role. Saying that she liked how the Anuraj Manohar directorial told its story from the point of view of Tovino’s constable character Varghese, Kayadu wrote that the actor “brought the arc of the character to life with such honesty and range.” She also appreciated the innocence, emotional intensity and moral urgency inherent in the character played by Tovino. “How beautifully it’s written,” shared Kayadu as she praised the film’s screenplay.
Narivetta tells the story of a police officer’s experiences in an area of conflict between tribals and the law enforcement system. The film also stars Cheran in his Malayalam debut, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Arya Salim, and Priyamvada Krishnan. In CE’s review of the film, Vignesh Madhu wrote, “Social justice cinema is a genre unto itself, which the neighbouring Tamil film industry has been acing quite well lately, bolstered with the arrival of distinct voices like Vetrimaaran, Pa Ranjith, and Mari Selvaraj. In Malayalam, though, the movement is yet to flourish properly. Narivetta could have been a bold step in that direction, but the film, unfortunately, merely scratches the surface. It is primarily because of the (deliberate) choice to narrate it from the perspective of a cop, who is a victim of systemic oppression, and not the traditionally marginalised.”
Kayadu Lohar has been cast in a film with Tovino Thomas. The film, titled Palli Chattambi, is a period drama set in the late 1950s, directed by Dijo Jose Antony. Production on the film is underway in Idukki. The film marks Kayadu’s comeback to Malayalam cinema after playing Nangeli in Vinayan’s Pathonpatham Noottandu, opposite Siju Wilson, and Payal opposite Vineeth Sreenivasan in Oru Jaathi Jaathakam.
