There has been mixed opinion about Patriot, director Mahesh Narayanan's film, starring Mammootty, Fahadh Faasil, Kunchacko Boban, and Mohanlal in an extended cameo, among others. However, actor R Parthiban praised the film wholeheartedly.
In a lengthy post, the actor appreciated the film's technical aspects, performances, and so forth. "The people around me are the actors in this film… I am the one who became the audience. The two big “M”s are in this movie… But they didn’t come as stars. They came as experience," Parthiban wrote, referring to Mammootty and Mohanlal.
About the performances in Patriot, he added, "Mammootty Sir doesn’t perform dialogue… he releases weight through silence. Mohanlal Sir, he is simply existing inside the frame. That ease cannot be learned. It can only be lived. Fahadh Faasil once again proves..... Fear, confusion, intelligence… everything passes through him like electricity. And Kunchacko Boban… what a graceful surprise. Softness outside… storm inside."
Commending the cast on the whole, he wrote, "The people in this movie are not acting. They are living. No performance looked performed."
Parthiban also opined that the making of the film is of international standards. "This is not a Malayalam movie… In the name of a Malayalam movie, they have quietly taken an English movie! But the director didn’t simply “take” a film… he took us inside the film. The making of Patriot deserves a separate applause. Nowadays, technology is available for everyone… but taste is not. This film has taste in every frame," he said.
The actor also reserved special praise for director Mahesh Narayanan. "The director has handled the subject with maturity and control. No scene tries too hard to impress, yet every scene stays with us."
Patriot cinematographer Manush Nandan also received appreciation from the actor for his work. "And the cinematography… the camera didn’t merely capture faces, it captured fear, tension, and silence too. And the cameraman… not camera-man… “care-man”! Because every frame was handled with care," he wrote.
Parthiban also weighed in on what makes the film work overall. "Nowadays, many films want us to watch. Very few films make us feel watched. Patriot did that. That is the real success of cinema."
