Prathichaya Movie Review : At a crucial moment, Kerala Chief Minister John Varghese (Nivin Pauly) looks his rival dead in the eyes and says, “It took me just about 15 minutes to smash your prathichaya (public image), the face of a multibillion empire,” while it took the latter over 20 minutes to tarnish the prathichaya of John’s father, KN Varghese (Balachandra Menon), built over decades with relentless work in politics. While this line is crafted as a zinger, a punch dialogue to be exact, it also reveals the frailty of images and reputations. All it takes is a few minutes of determined effort by someone, and even the sturdiest of images can come crumbling down, no matter how many years or crores went into building them.As director B Unnikrishnan’s political drama Prathichaya arrives in the run-up to the Kerala state Assembly elections, scheduled for April 9, many were doubtful if it’s a propaganda tool. The movie’s promotional materials, such as the trailer and release teaser, further fuelled these suspicions. At a time when propaganda films are reaping gold and being hailed somehow as cinematic marvels of sorts, Prathichaya comes with its own agenda — but against the corporatisation of journalism and media, which directly affects the political landscape and, in turn, the lives of commoners.Don’t Miss | Aadu 3 movie review: Jayasurya and Midhun Manuel Thomas’ snoozefest comes across as amateurish fan-fiction, despite a fascinating climaxKerala CM Varghese is no saint; nor does he claim to be one. However, for every 100 wrongdoings, he says he also does 100 good deeds. Yet, the movie doesn’t position him as a beacon of righteousness. He is flawed and proudly tainted, but not a devil. “In politics, individuals don’t exist; there are only public images,” he firmly believes. This is why, when he is accused of rape by a woman, he collapses emotionally. “One can make a comeback even after facing the biggest corruption charges, but not after facing a sexual misconduct allegation,” he tells John. It’s unfair that Unnikrishnan chose Balachandra Menon of all people to portray the character of Varghese when the actor himself faced a sexual misconduct allegation in 2024.Unable to bear the humiliation, Varghese passes away soon after. In the aftermath, Varghese’s party appoints John, a tech professional with no political experience but who has suddenly risen to fame, as CM until the upcoming elections, sidelining his brother, Tobin (Nishanth Sagar), an active party member. As CM, John locks horns with media mogul and tech baron Ravi Madhavan (Sharaf U Dheen) and slowly realises that the latter had a hand in the scandal against Varghese. The rest of the movie follows John’s efforts to prove his father’s innocence to the public and expose Ravi.From the very beginning, Prathichaya doesn’t try to hide that it has drawn liberally from the events that happened in the last decade of the late former Kerala CM Oommen Chandy’s political career. From the bar bribery allegations and the sexual assault accusation, levelled against him by a woman purportedly involved in the 2013 solar panel scam, to his Jana Samparka Paripadi and the injuries he sustained on his forehead from stone pelting, several real incidents from Chandy’s career have been fictionalised for Varghese’s characterisation.However, Prathichaya doesn’t portray Varghese as a virtuous man. Instead, John is the faultless one here, evoking a déjà vu of director Joshiy’s Lion (2006), which had then faced criticisms for being made to elevate the image of KB Ganesh Kumar over that of his political heavyweight father, R Balakrishna Pillai. Yet, Prathichaya doesn’t attempt to give anyone an out-and-out good conduct certificate. Instead, it tries to shed light on how the political landscape works and the impact of corporate entities on it.Story continues below this adPrathichaya is basically a retelling of Bharathan’s Thevar Magan (1992), sans the caste politics angle, with both movies’ roots firmly in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. Much like Thevar Magan — where the father, Periyasamy Thevar (Sivaji Ganesan), passes away with a broken heart after facing humiliation, and his son, Sakthivel Thevar (Kamal Haasan), steps in not just as his successor but also to bring his father’s name back to the top — John’s ambitions are also similar. Like The Godfather, the characters here also have shades of grey but aren’t outright evil. Inspired by the crime saga, Unnikrishnan has also incorporated power dynamics within the central family and the fort (crime world there; political party here) that holds it.Must Read | Masthishka Maranam movie review: Krishand, Rajisha Vijayan’s cyberpunk comedy is more than a spectacle for the sensesAlthough Prathichaya’s visuals have the depth and sharpness found in today’s Malayalam cinema to an extent, thanks to Chandru Selvaraj’s cinematography, the writing never actually hits the mark and hovers around the middle, rendering the movie an old wine in a new bottle. While its overall visual fabric is serviceable, the frames aren’t always impressive, as the sheer number of tight and canted-angle shots is unnecessarily high.While Prathichaya’s opening sequence could remind one of that of Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Mohanlal-starrer Lucifer (2019), where multiple sequences were cross-cut to give a 360-degree early glimpse of the film’s world as well as the narrative, Unnikrishnan fails to execute it well here. As a result, Prathichaya’s opening act feels far too confused, jumping from one point to another without properly establishing anything.Story continues below this adCinema Anatomy | The Drishyam trap: How Jeethu Joseph tricked us into rooting against Georgekutty before the ultimate April 2026 finaleThe script’s inability to pack a punch only exacerbates the situation. Although Justin Varghese has composed loud and massy BGM that is slipped into almost every frame in these portions, the vigour present in the music is entirely missing in the writing, leaving the two disjointed. In fact, Prathichaya’s music becomes counterproductive at certain junctures and ends up highlighting just how half-cooked and incomplete many scenes are. Although Unnikrishnan has typically excelled when he has written his own directorial ventures, this time he falls short.Despite being an action thriller in spirit, the way the first 40 minutes of Sibi Malayil’s August 1 (1988) have been crafted stands as a masterclass in writing political dramas, mainly because screenwriter SN Swamy framed it like a play unfolding atop a chessboard. Not just the individual characterisations, but even the way the battles between them were envisioned and presented contained a superior level of brilliance. Prathichaya, on the other hand, is almost entirely in-your-face, devoid of nuance, and its uninspired dialogues only make matters worse.Also Read | Dhurandhar 2 Movie Review: Ranveer Singh’s 4-hour marathon lacks the ‘mazaa’ of the original despite blood and bazookasStory continues below this adOne of the major factors that added to the brilliance of August 1’s opening acts was the stellar performances, particularly by Sukumaran, Prathapachandran, and KPAC Azeez. The actors’ ability to own their characters made the power struggle incredibly believable. However, Prathichaya is marred throughout by poor performances from the main cast. While Balachandra Menon’s portrayal feels too dated and lacks subtlety, Nishanth Sagar’s stoic performance during emotional moments could lead one to facepalm. Sharaf U Dheen, as the antagonist, appears too trapped in a role that clearly was not meant for him. Aside from the buildup in visuals, the script offers nothing more to the character, leaving one to feel like Sharaf’s sole purpose here is to deliver a few lines.Even though Nivin Pauly’s screen presence is strong, the character of John Varghese is far too one-dimensional, although he is, for the longest time, portrayed as a reserved person who is anything but a blabbermouth. In fact, the character is developed in an extremely inept manner, to the point where he almost appears like the lite version of Lucifer’s Khureshi Ab’raam (Mohanlal) towards the end.Prathichaya movie cast: Nivin Pauly, Sharaf U Dheen, Balachandra Menon, Neethu Krishna, Vishnu Agasthya, Harisree Ashokan, Ann Augustine, Maniyanpilla RajuPrathichaya movie director: B UnnikrishnanPrathichaya movie rating: 2 stars