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'Iratta' movie review: Joju shines in this emotional, suspense-filled thriller

Malayalam movie 'Iratta' (Twin) hit theatres recently. The film directed by debutant Rohit M G Krishnan and featuring Joju in dual roles revolves around the murder of a policeman in Vagamon police station and the investigation that follows thereafter.

As the crime happened within the police station, the cops are under high pressure to probe and bring out the truth. Who is the murderer? Why did he commit the crime at the police station? Through these questions, the director and the scriptwriter narrate a story that sends chills down the spine of the viewers.

There is also a lot of intrigue since the prime suspects are three policemen. The story develops through Pramod and Vinod, the twin (Iratta in Malayalam) brothers who are cops, their friends and near ones. The film which is a crime investigation story is also a procedural drama. Though 'Iratta' begins as a police crime drama, it gradually takes another track. It is also interesting to see how the director has managed to weave in the early life of the twins, memories their friends have of them, among others, though the film is set in a gap of one day. The film also makes you emotional. The film progresses without hindering the flow of the script.

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'Iratta' stands apart for its extraordinary and unimaginable climax. The ‘twin’ climax is unprecedented in Malayalam cinema and is sure to leave the viewers perturbed.

It is Joju’s dual performance that is the strength of the movie. The twin brothers, Vinod and Pramod, lead completely different lives and also have different personalities. Only a truly gifted actor can transform himself the way Joju does in this movie.

While playing Pramod, Joju has put on a denture. Joju’s performance touches the soul of the character he plays. He has presented two characters who exhibit calmness, empathy, helplessness and mystery, on the screen in a composed manner.

Not just Joju, all artists who have acted in the movie have played their roles exceptionally well. Jithu Ashraf who played a pastor deserves a special mention. The cast includes artists Anjali, Sabu Mon, Sreekanth Murali, Manoj K U, Srinda, Shebin Benson, Arya Salim, Sreeja and Shruthi Jayan.

Debutant director Rohit has showcased the ease and grace seen in an experienced director. The subject dealt in 'Iratta' is not easy for a debutant to take up. Rohit has also done the script for the movie. Manu Antony’s editing, Vijay’s cinematography and Jakes Bijoy’s music have all helped Rohit’s work, rightly complementing it.

Iratta is an emotional journey. It is not like Joju’s earlier cop roles in 'Joseph' or 'Nayattu'. Also, it's remarkable that Joju does not exhibit any of those cop mannerisms from his earlier movies in 'Iratta', which can considered yet another excellent cinema in Malayalam.

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'Iratta' movie review: Joju’s dual act leaves a haunting impression

I measure the quality of an actor by the degree of intensity with which his performance lingers in my mind for a long time. Any actor who does that earns a lot of brownie points in my book. While growing up in the 90s, the two actors who predominantly did that for me were Mammootty (Sukrutham, Thaniyavarthanam) and Mohanlal  (Aham, Sadayam). Who does the same for me today in contemporary Malayalam cinema? I can unblinkingly utter ‘Joju George,’ who can be relied upon to produce many a soul-shattering performance. After Nayattu, here comes Iratta, which brings back some of the names instrumental in realising the former, along with one fresh talent, director Rohit MG Krishnan.

Some films start slow but get more gripping along the way. Iratta gets its hooks deep in us even before the opening credits and never fails to sustain that momentum through its entirety. Who would’ve thought a simple sequence of two boys playing cricket around the premises of a police station would cause a considerable amount of tension and culminate in a jolt-inducing incident—one that would cause tremendous pain to an already-tormented police officer? The demise of someone close to DYSP Pramod (Joju George) plunges him into a whirlpool of morbid emotions and upsetting flashbacks that involve his twin, also a cop, Vinod (Joju George again).

Iratta does two things effectively: 1) keeping us guessing through a Rashomon-style procedural examining the testimonies of multiple suspects, and 2) exploring the backgrounds and personalities of Pramod and Vinod in the hope of finding a crucial clue that could solve the above case. It’s at once a compelling mystery and character study.

Joju plays Pramod and Vinod as two diametrically opposite characters. Pramod is the more restrained of the two, a gentleman who once wasn’t; Vinod is the slightly unhinged version, bearing certain distasteful qualities. How to tell them apart? The latter has a generally shabby disposition, a different eye colour, and tends to creep anyone out, regardless of gender, whenever he enters the room. What’s most impressive about Joju’s performance is that, despite having played conflicted, brooding khaki-clad men earlier—Joseph and Nayattu being the prime examples—both Pramod and Vinod have nothing in common with those characters. The actor imbues the twins with many little nuances and mannerisms that it’s not difficult to tell who is who.

Pramod and Vinod have had a fallout, but one thing they have in common is an unpleasant history with women. The world of Iratta is unkind to them—wives, daughters, partners... none of them has it easy, and the men are responsible. A man who rescues a woman from the oppressive and violent clutches of her ex-husband throws her into a different kind of hell, one of his own making. Another man repents, more than a decade later, for treating his wife poorly, with whom he hopes to reconnect, along with the daughter whom he never got to meet. There is a third situation—the most disturbing of all—which becomes inextricably linked to the fates of the two brothers.

There is a reason for these two characters to be twins. This writing choice makes so much sense once we get to the devastating final moments, before which you might wonder what would’ve happened had they been played by two different actors. I don’t know if it’s true, but I recall someone recently telling me that Pramod and Vinod were roles initially envisioned with two non-twin actors; however, later, Joju decided to play them both owing to the immense scope for performance, which the material of this nature affords. I assume this must have caused Rohit, who directed from his own script, to make an appropriate revision. It’s a clever choice because it sets up a hard-hitting finale that, in my book, trumps the one in Nayattu. As for the pivotal, plot-twisting bits of violence, Iratta believes in the ‘less is more’ adage and brings forth complex psychological implications that got me thinking of what K.G. George or Padmarajan once used to do.

Jakes Bejoy’s non-intrusive, relentlessly chill-inducing score is weaved seamlessly into the narrative. Manu Antony’s cuts produce maximum impact. Working in tandem are cinematographer Vijay’s atmosphere-heavy and menace-conjuring visuals. The film shares its overall aesthetic with Nayattu; if you liked how Nayattu looked and sounded, and if it’s the sort of filmmaking that gives you a high, there is a strong possibility that you might dig Iratta too.

Film: Iratta Director: Rohit MG Krishnan Cast: Joju George, Anjali, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Sabumon Abdusamad, Arya Salim, Srindaa Rating: 4/5

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• ENGLISH HINDI MALAYALAM TAMIL TELUGU KANNADA BENGALI  

Iratta Malayalam Movie

Rohit M.G. Krishnan's Iratta (Double) features Joju George as twins, Pramod and Vinod. The film mostly revolves around a police station. A cop is found dead inside the station on the day of a minister's visit there. Three officers are suspected of the crime, and the movie spends a considerable amount of time explaining each of their possible motives for it.

At some point, the focus of the narrative related to the investigation shifts to the twins. This is presented with flashbacks as a part of the narrative involving all the suspects of the crime. According to their narration, Pramod looks more morally upright and sociable, whereas Vinod looks like he is the product of a bad upbringing. The narrators portray Vinod as someone who drinks a lot, picks fights with people just to beat them to a pulp, and treats women as his sex toys. But this could also be a narrative ploy to pull the rug from underneath. As we always say in movies like these, looks can be deceiving. That said, the two characters could not be more different.

What runs parallel to the investigation plot is the track that explains how and why Pramod and Vinod differ a lot, despite being brothers. Childhood trauma is sometimes used as a bit of an excuse for how a character behaves in a movie. It is true that childhood trauma influences a person's character in the future, but the makers of Iratta kind of use it as a lame excuse for how Vinod behaves. The writing is not as clever in these portions of the movie as it is elsewhere, but the acting and the plot are so good that the film is consistently fascinating.

There is a big twist in the plot and an even better piece of narration that gives a whole new dimension to the twin characters and the title of the movie. Iratta is one of those movies that works wonders as a suspense thriller, even though the drama is nothing out of the ordinary.

I wish actors like Anjali and Srinda had better roles. Anjali mostly remains a stoic presence in the film, and Srinda's minister character says the same dialogue over and over. Srinda looks convincing enough as a minister, but the writing is not up to the mark.

The writing for the twin characters is quite good, though. Joju George is so good when it comes to differentiating his two characters here. He makes it believable that these are two different personalities we are watching, with just enough changes in appearance. Some of the expressions of the actor convey deeper implications than what is being conveyed on screen.

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Iratta movie review: Just when you think Joju George cannot get any better, he does

Iratta’s slamdunker of an ending makes it a searing study of consequences, extending far beyond the notions of action and reaction commonly explored in cinema.

Cast: Joju George, Anjali, Arya Salim, Srikant Murali, Manoj K.U., Srindaa

Director: Rohit M.G. Krishnan

Language: Malayalam

Men who are positioned as the protagonists of their stories rarely suffer proportional consequences for their egregious conduct towards women in Malayalam cinema. In Rajesh Pillai’s Traffic (2011), an early herald of the new Malayalam New Wave , a primary character found forgiveness for actually hitting his wife with a car – that forgiveness may have come after his fear of retribution caused him to almost destroy his life, but it came all the same. The more recent Kettiyollaanu Ente Maalakha (2019) is of enormous significance, being that rare Indian film to unequivocally describe sexual violence in the marital bed as rape, yet it must be noted that the culprit in the story ultimately did not meet a fate equal to his crime. Even Kaanekkaane (2021), a thorough examination of momentary lapses of conscience, was kinder to Tovino Thomas’ character than it should have been. What makes these three stand out nevertheless is that the men were held accountable for their acts of omission and commission towards their women partners, which is more than can be said of most mainstream Indian cinema or Malayalam in particular. When viewed collectively though, they do raise a question about the extreme behaviours that these scriptwriters have deemed fit to write into their stories, behaviour for which one would be hard pressed to find women finding absolution in an Indian film. This is the context in which Iratta (Twin) comes to us.

Joju George plays the twins of the title, ASI Vinod and DySP Pramod, who are posted at a police station in Vagamon. Vinod is shot in the very first scene. The government, under pressure from the news media, pushes the police to solve the case quickly.

A team under the SP (Arya Salim) investigates the mystery. As they go about their work, through conversations and flashbacks we learn about the siblings’ childhood, their differing personalities and moral compass. The knowledge of these facts ultimately leads us to the reason for Vinod’s tragic end.

As the police work hums along, the script appears to lag. This is partly due to certain writing insufficiencies – some poorly characterised supporting parts, broad brush strokes in the treatment of Vinod and Pramod’s childhood – but largely, I suspect, because writer-director Rohit M.G. Krishnan wants to lull us into wondering whether Iratta is just another humdrum police procedural, until that slamdunker of an ending bursts in on us. It is not just that the climax contains a massive twist but that everything the film stands for becomes clear then. This is also where Joju George’s brilliance peaks.

Iratta follows a string of performances from Joju that have each rivalled the other in their quality, but this one must rank among his top works, if not the very top. To watch his face when his character in Iratta realises at one point the magnitude of what he has done, to see him as he comes to fully understand a terrible truth about what it means to be a twin, to observe one brother’s conflicted feelings towards the other, is to witness an artiste on top of his game. Joju gives both Vinod and Pramod a tightly wound-up quality, moulding them into barely controlled men constantly on the verge of an explosion.

The script is centred around Vinod and Pramod, and falters in its uneven approach to the supporting players. Manoj K.U. from Thinkalazhcha Nishchayam gets a nicely written small part as a colleague, John, who comes under suspicion for Vinod’s death. But Anjali in the role of Vinod’s lover is stuck with the job of merely looking diffident and distressed. Considering his initially repulsive behaviour towards her, the feelings she develops for him needed to be better examined.

Let it be known though that Arya Salim is not a showpiece in Iratta . Too many Malayalam films in recent years have placed women in leadership positions in their storylines but given them little to do, making it obvious that these female characters were tossed in there as a pre-emptive defence against likely criticism of the marginalisation and erasure of women in the script. One of the most exasperating, demeaning such instances is of Unnimaya Prasad being criminally wasted in Anjaam Pathiraa (2020) in which she played a high-ranking police official who looked like she would matter at the start of the film but turned out to be an incompetent fool doing nothing but screwing up and hanging around while a man tracked down a serial killer. It comes as a relief therefore that the woman SP in Iratta is not a bumbling ass but actually steers the investigation with a firm hand, and deftly balances her force’s difficulties with the unreasonable demands of a state Minister (Srindaa). If the writing of the Minister is inadequate, the issue is less to do with gender than that many characters around Vinod and Pramod are neglected. Malayalam cinema is still a long way from equal representation, but by featuring these women in the script without making a song and dance about their gender identity, films like Iratta will hopefully at least gradually normalise women in power on screen.

If Iratta is to be seen as an extension of the nature versus nurture debate then it appears to be taking the stand that neither a person’s circumstances nor their upbringing can be held entirely accountable for who they turn out to be. (Spoiler alert for the rest of the paragraph) The film’s attitude to domestic abuse is particularly worth noting. The abuser’s treatment of a woman would not be considered violence by large sections of society. Yet he later apologises to her. It is rare enough for a male protagonist in Indian cinema to say sorry to a woman, rarer still for the sorry to come for something that would not be as widely condemned in real life as it should be. (Spoiler alert ends)

To describe Iratta as a police procedural or crime thriller would be inadequate although it is both of course. But it is also a searing study of consequences and how our most casually committed wrongs can ruin us in ways that extend far beyond the notions of action and reaction or sowing what you reap that are commonly explored in cinema.

Rating: 3.5 (out of 5 stars)  

Iratta was released in theatres in February 2023. It is now streaming on Netflix.  

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial

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Iratta Review – a well-executed thriller let down by blatant misogyny

We review the 2023  film Iratta, which does not contain spoilers.

The Malayalam-language whodunit thriller, Iratta , marks Rohit M.G. Krishnan ‘s directorial debut. Since it premiered, the film starring Joju George in a double role has been making waves among critics and global Netflix audiences. 

Iratta Review and Plot Summary

The film starts at the police station in the Keralan village of Vagamon, where the officers and members of the press and public are preparing for a local politician’s visit. Three gunshots, followed by the discovery of Assistant Sub-Inspector Vinod’s (Joju George) dead body, abruptly interrupt the festivities.

Following the unexpected murder, the police stop anyone from leaving the station, remove any recording devices from the reporters, and are under a tight deadline to figure out what happened to Vinod. 

Vinod’s estranged twin brother, the Deputy Superintendent of Police Pramod (also played by George), is in the hospital getting treated for a panic attack when he hears the news about his brother’s death. Pramod is a recovering alcoholic whose wife, Sreeja ( Sreeja Ajith ), had left him with the infant daughter 17 years prior because he was abusive.

For all those years, she refused to allow him any contact with his now-teenage daughter, Swetha ( Meenakshi Dinesh ), whose talents landed her in the finals of a reality TV singing competition. But the man still hasn’t lost hope for a reconciliation. 

Pramod heads to the station where his brother died and sits in on the investigation. Three fellow officers were in the vicinity when Vinod was shot.

A series of flashbacks paint a grim picture of the life the deceased led. He was a violent drunkard and a rapist, and it’s even implied that he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near children.

All in all, not exactly what we’d like to call a model citizen. But who hates him enough to murder him in broad daylight at a public event, no less? 

There’s no denying this is a very well-made movie with a talented director at the helm. The non-linear style of telling the story works well, and it’s pretty easy to follow.

Rohit M.G. Krishnan effectively uses sound to enhance the drama presented on screen. And the giant twist revealed at the end was brutal but not exactly unexpected, as the audience is let in on the secret very early on. 

It’s hard to praise or enjoy a movie about a character as horrid as Vinod is portrayed to be. Iratta makes it even harder by presenting the story from the man’s point of view and even giving him an unearned redemption in the form of his wife, Malini (played by Anjali), who he treats like one would a beloved prized pig. (The guy’s idea of romance is to promise never to rape her again .)

His actions are portrayed as the result of a man who suffered horrific childhood abuse at the hands of his father. But why does Vinod gets a voice when his victims are barely in the script as anything more than pretty ornaments?

While Pramod is shown as the “good” twin for being sober and more honorable, we don’t learn enough about him to care. He isn’t treated with the same thoroughness as his dead twin, he barely appears in any of the flashbacks, and there are too many holes in his story to be compelling in any way. 

Is the 2023 movie Iratta good?

I found Iratta an extremely hard-to-watch feature. While well made, the blatant misogyny and depiction of violence against female characters who aren’t even given a hint of individuality make this a very infuriating movie.

The men in the story get a backstory, a feeble attempt at redemption, and, dare I say it, are treated with grace and compassion. All the talented actresses who signed up for this movie were reduced to playing terrified props.

A nd the only two female characters with more than two lines between them are a police officer and a politician whose parts could have been played by male actors without changing the narrative in the slightest. 

What did you think of the 2023 film Iratta? Comment below.

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Lori Meek has been a Ready Steady Cut contributing writer since September 2022 and has had over 400 published articles since. She studied Film and Television at Southampton Solent University, where she gained most of her knowledge and passion for the entertainment industry. Lori’s work is also featured on platforms such as TBreak Media and ShowFaves.

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Iratta Movie Review: An unpredicted ending is brilliant writing by Radha Krishnan

Thrilling and suspenseful stories have been the demand of the day in recent times from the audience. When such stories revolve around cops and crimes, they are more valued in the market.

Hyderabad: Thrilling and suspenseful stories have been the demand of the day in recent times from the audience. When such stories revolve around cops and crimes, they are more valued in the market. Iratta is one such film by Rohit MG Krishnan, which marks his directing debut in Malayalam . Joju George, the lead actor of the film, brings real life to this film with his dual performance as twins.

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Iratta Movie Story:

Deputy SP Pramod Kumar (Joju George) and Assistant SI Vinod (Joju George) are twin brother cops at the Vagamon police station. Pramod and Vinod were separated in their childhood itself, with a disrupted past among their family. Vinod gets murdered at the police station, leaving multiple suspects to investigate, including his brother Pramod and his wife Malini (Anjali). Who is the murderer? What might be the reason behind Vinod’s death? All these interesting elements unfold as the story progresses with the police procedural and investigation.

Iratta Movie Review:

Iratta is mainly based on the strong story told in between the lives of twin brothers, Pramod and Vinod. The film also has a thrilling screenplay to maintain suspense among the audience when each of the suspects reveals their back stories and issues with Vinod in the past. Well, the climax of the film will be totally unexpected by the audience, and not even a guess can be made as to who the real murderer is. This is some brilliant writing from Rohit MG Krishnan. Rohit is also very professional in his direction skills, despite making his debut in the department. His setup of the film is substantial, and his use of the lead actor, Joju George, in dual roles is appreciable. Well, there are also a couple of sequences in the film that feel like they are stretched a bit longer (Vinod’s childhood trauma and his love story with Malini) during the course of the story. But when the suspense gets broken in the climax and the real murderer is revealed, all these established elements get paid off completely.

Joju George is exceptional in bringing out the different exposure and exhibition of the two characters (twin brothers). While Pramod is completely professional and sticks to his duty with honesty, Vinod is quite the opposite, a wild police officer who values nothing in life except his decisions. Joju George showed the difference between two characters in every minute element, including body language, dialogue delivery, tone, attitude, and everything else. Joju George can be seen as both arrogant and emotional in the course of the story, in two different roles. This exhibition of multiple shades in his acting is truly appreciable.

Anjali is the only one who shines in the film other than Joju George. Though she doesn’t get much dialogue to utter in the film, her silence and grief-filled role add weight to the film. Anjali gave a noteworthy performance as Malini.

The other characters in the film don’t have much prominence. The audience can only notice Arya Salim worthy a couple times in the film.

Iratta is also technically strong, besides having a well-written and suspense-filled story. Jakes Bejoy’s background music maintains the tension in the screenplay and also adds that edginess to the narrative. Vinod’s cinematography is also good.

Iratta is a film that mostly runs on police procedurals, with a vivid screenplay by Rohit Krishnan in the process of revealing a murderer. Joju George’s performance in a dual role is the heart and soul of the film. The ending of the film leaves you outraged and makes you satisfied after watching a worthy suspense story.

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Iratta (2023) Review: A Gripping And Emotional Whodunnit With A Sour Climax

The sudden rise in the popularity of Malayalam cinema in the past few years is commendable. They have been redefining the idea of mainstream movies. Adding another movie to this list is Iratta (Twin). The storyline will bowl the audience over. It is original and remarkable. Debutant director Rohit M G Krishnan’s Iratta skilfully unravels a complicated and nuanced story of twin brothers. Joju George is praise-worthy in his double role. The characters are completely different from one another, and the actor has managed to nail them to perfection. 

The movie will remind you of Agatha Christie’s locked room mysteries like And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. In Iratta, a policeman is gunned down inside the police station. The prime suspects are three policemen. Since the crime happened inside the police station, the authorities are under extreme pressure to find out the murderer.

Joju George plays Vinod and Pramod. The former has a bad reputation as a cop, whereas the latter is known for his professionalism. One thing that’s common between them is that they are both lonely. One is a recovering alcoholic, and the other is still brazen in his ways. They are both loveless and live alone. 

Vinod is shot dead. He is lying in a pool of blood. Pramod arrives at the crime scene and is heartbroken by the death of his brother. We see their childhood in flashbacks, which wasn’t happy. They are victims of a loveless father and were separated in childhood because of their father’s selfishness and debauchery. 

The movie then proceeds to find out the murderer and the intent behind killing the infamous policeman. The character growth is incredible. Vinod goes from a barbaric alcoholic to a stable man who falls in love with a divorced woman. Pramod quits his alcohol addiction and is on the path to recovery. He has a wife and daughter who no longer live with him. 

The three policemen who are suspects in this murder have a personal vendetta against Vinod, and coincidentally they were the ones first to reach the crime scene. All three of them have secrets to hide, and they have one thing in common. They hated Vinod. It’s clear from the beginning that none of them would have done this crime. 

Vinod’s character arc is praise-worthy. He restarts his life after being hopeless for so long. The woman he falls in love with is a little hesitant in the beginning, but soon she sees how he is transforming into a better man for her. The director has done an excellent job of giving both characters distinct personalities and temperaments.

Their suffering is highlighted, and that’s why this movie isn’t just a fast-paced thriller. It smoothly modifies into an emotional family drama without altering the theme of the movie. The movie subtly points out the flaws in human beings without pointing fingers at their character.

Malini, the woman Vinod falls in love with, stands out the most. She is a victim of domestic abuse and has nowhere to turn to after leaving her husband. Vinod offers her that she can stay with him, and the two of them live under the same roof. They aren’t married yet. Malini’s silence, resilience, and subtlety say a lot about the movie’s writing. She barely says a few words in the movie yet manages to deliver the strongest performance out of the lot. 

On the other hand, Pramod’s wife leaves him because of his alcoholism. He doesn’t really care about his wife, even after she gives birth to his daughter. She leaves him, and he doesn’t move an inch to convince her to stay back. However, he soon realizes his mistake and tries to get his life together. 

Every actor in the film has done an incredible job. Iratta stands apart in the way it reveals who the killer is. It shows the characters’ journey through their childhood and how they reached this point in life. Vinod’s wrongdoings are what got to him in the end. The women aren’t just housewives here. They play strong roles and are inspiring. 

This movie will draw you in and keep you hooked until the climax. You will feel for the characters’ misery and want good things to happen to them. The climax was a bit disappointing, but that’s one thing that can be overlooked because locked room mysteries aren’t easy to crack on the first attempt. The clever plot and subplots are absolutely worth watching.

Read More: 25 Greatest Malayalam Movies of All Time

Iratta (2023) movie links – imdb iratta (2023) movie cast – joji george, anjali, manoj k.u, where to watch iratta, trending right now.

Simra Sadaf has pursued her Master’s in English Literature. When she is not writing, she is watching movies and petting stray cats. Literature, art, and movies drive her spirit and words churn her soul.

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• User reviews

After a cop is found dead, a policeman's investigation starts a chilling search for the truth connected to his estranged twin and their fraught past. After a cop is found dead, a policeman's investigation starts a chilling search for the truth connected to his estranged twin and their fraught past. After a cop is found dead, a policeman's investigation starts a chilling search for the truth connected to his estranged twin and their fraught past.

• Rohit M.G. Krishnan
• Joju George
• 50 User reviews
• 10 Critic reviews

• DySP Pramod …

• Geetha Rajendran

• DySP Satheesh Chandran
• (as Sreekath Murali)

• SP Savitha Sathyan

• SCPO Sandeep
• (as Sabumon)
• CPO Bineesh
• (as Abhiram R)

• WCPO Amrutha
• Samson Wilfred
• Cricket Playing Boy 1
• Cricket Playing Boy 2
• Prafulla Kumar

• SI Arun Nath
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Soundtracks Enthinaadi Poonkodiye Written by Manikandan Perumpadappu Music by Manikandan Perumpadappu Performed by Benedict Shine and Joju George

User reviews 50

• Mar 5, 2023
• How long is Iratta? Powered by Alexa
• March 3, 2023 (United States)
• Official Facebook
• Appu Pathu Pappu Production House
• Martin Prakkat Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 1 hour 52 minutes

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2023 ‘ഇരട്ട’ Directed by Rohith Krishnan

After a cop is found dead, a policeman's investigation sparks a chilling search for the truth connected to his estranged twin and their fraught past.

Joju George Srikant Murali Arya Salim Manoj K U Sabumon Abdusamad Abhiram Radhakrishnan Sreeja Ajith Anjali Srindaa Meenakshi Dinesh Shebin Benson Sarath Sabha Jithu Ashraf Pooja Mohanraj Deepu G Panicker James Eliya Sruthy Suresh Sruthi Jayan Kichu Tellus Dhanesh Anand

Director Director

Rohith Krishnan

Producers Producers

Martin Prakkat Joju George Sijo Vadakkan

Writer Writer

Editor editor.

Manu Antony

Cinematography Cinematography

Art direction art direction.

Dileep Nath

Title Design Title Design

Stunts stunts, composer composer.

Jakes Bejoy

Songs Songs

Muhsin Parari Anwar Ali

Sound Sound

M. R. Rajakrishnan Charles Fx

Costume Design Costume Design

Sameera Saneesh

Makeup Makeup

Ronex Xavier

Appu Pathu Pappu Production House Martin Prakkat Films

Alternative Titles

Thriller Drama

Thrillers and murder mysteries Suspenseful crime thrillers Intriguing and suspenseful murder mysteries Intense political and terrorist thrillers Twisted dark psychological thriller Gripping, intense violent crime Show All…

Releases by Date

03 feb 2023, releases by country.

• Theatrical UA

110 mins   More at IMDb TMDb Report this page

Popular reviews

Review by Michael James ★★★½

It starts as a crime investigative thriller and treads along with solid dramatic proceedings with decent suspense and twists, until it hits you with an unexpected emotionally gut wrenching climax. Even the few dull portions during the non linear jumps make perfect sense at the end, as it sets up its world quite cleverly and holds the characters in a non judgmental zone. The cast performances are solid with Joju George standing out with his terrific dual performances. Recommended watch.

Review by MK ★★★½

Iratta's major positive is its finale. Its brilliantly written and executed. Till that point, eventhough its not really blowing you away it gets your attention,but it is the finale that really makes the impact.. If you are a fan of Procedural dramas, don't miss it.

Review by Nakul ★★★

Iratta is a pretty good whodunit thriller that goes to some very dark & unexpected places. Joju George gives a really terrific performance as twins who are polar opposites, a masterclass of physicality and emotional subtlety.

Review by cinema_made ★★★½

Genre crime and suspense thrillers that entertain the audience from the first scene to the last. The film succeeds as long as the identity of the murder or murders is kept under wraps. However, if the mystery is kept for too long, it becomes boring rather than exciting. Moreover, if the reason for the murder is not strong, the audience watching the movie will be speechless. But, if each puzzle is unraveled in the case of Iratta the suspense of who did that murder will continue till the end.

It is Joju’s dual performance that is the strength of the movie. The twin brothers, Vinod and Pramod, lead completely different lives and also have different personalities. Only a truly gifted…

Review by 𝘿𝙤𝙤𝙛𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙢𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙯 ★★★★ 3

Review by Ashwin Dev ★★

Ah, looks like all those people who grew up watching international films from the 2000s are finally becoming filmmakers. So, yeah, you pick a haunting ™ ending, and then work your way back to the beginning no matter how contrived the whole thing is. To the mix, half-heartedly add just enough socially relevant themes to make it look like there's depth to the whole affair, but you will discard those anyway to serve the haunting ™ climax. Had the writer jumped in front of the camera at the end and danced around naked, that would have been just as shocking, but way more dignified.

PS: It's so funny to me that the film relies on the misguided idea that you-know-what is more disgusting than you-know-what.

Review by Mystic River ★★★½ 4

Joju George killed it. Amazing performance. And I guessed the climax and even had a more fucked up and devastating climax thought out in mind.

Review by Deepak Chazhoor ★★★★ 2

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

A layered character study packaged as an engaging whodunit, more or less in the same mould of classics such as  Kariyilakkattu Pole  and  Utharam . Joju George delivers yet another show-stealing performance in a double role, which, by now, goes without saying. The final reveal left me completely wrecked. Would make a perfect double feature with a recent Malayalam release.

Now, that’s another winner this weekend, along with  Romancham .

P. S.  I’m sure there are many more layers/details in this crime thriller yet to be unscrambled/unravelled. Loved the screenwriting.

Review by Aravind S Kannoth ★★★★

Traumatic thriller. Ended up watching with a broken soul. Belongs to less seen category in Indian cinema. Finest performance from joju as usual. Another box office failure in Malayalam which actually deserve high recognition.

Review by Varghese ★★★★

Joju George is an actor who keeps getting better and better with each film! What a performance! Deserves to be in the trilogy of haunted policemen along with Joseph and Nayattu!This might the first film in Indian cinema which has used the "twins" tactic so damn effectively without making it look like a gimmick!

Review by Radha Krishna Ogirala ★★★★ 3

We have our own version of Old Boy...

Review by ash ★★★½ 1

Guilt is the worst pain someone can go through once they realise what they have done.

Well not all art is perfect and shouldn't be that good so I deliberately like to believe they casted Srinda . Kannu vekkathe irikan aayirikum.

Again I love this kind of movies as these are closer to reality as all is not sunshine and butterflies in life. There is guilt, grief and remorse.

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Iratta (2023) review – A solid whodunit set inside a police station, elevated by its gut-wrenching climactic twist

The police station in the Keralan village of Vagamon is getting ready to host a distinguished guest, a local politician. The police officers are making all the arrangements, there is a media presence outside the station, and the crowd has begun to arrive. In a small field adjacent to the police station, two young kids are playing a cricket match. Suddenly, a gunshot is heard, and everything comes to a standstill. DYSP Pramod (Joju George) is in a hospital on the other side of the village for a checkup for panic attacks. As soon as he learns of the incident, he heads to the police station, where he finds out that his twin brother, ASI Vinod (Joju George), has been shot three times, setting in motion a highly publicized investigation. The best part about Iratta is that director Rohit M.G. Krishnan does not waste the film’s intriguing premise but instead executes it effectively, which most Indian movies sadly fail to do, especially when it comes to genre films.

Upon discovering vinod’s body, iratta turns into a whodunit mystery set inside a police station. the suspects are three police officers and vinod’s colleagues, who harbored deep animosity toward him. through flashbacks, the characters of the twin brothers are established in detail. vinod was a vile person who drank excessively, was violent toward others, slept around, and raped women. he also had profoundly serious childhood trauma issues. on the other hand, pramod and his wife split up 17 years ago because of his alcoholism. she moved to mumbai and raised her daughter alone, who is now a talented singer and sings on reality tv shows. pramod is desperately trying to reconnect with his ex-wife and their daughter, who is unaware that her father is still alive. as for their sibling bond, the brothers despise one another for reasons that stem from their traumatic upbringing. their father was an alcoholic and abusive cop who regularly beat their mother while intoxicated. one day, he brings a strange woman and kicks the three of them out of the house. as his superior orders him to start paying child support to his wife, he reluctantly takes one of the brothers (vinod) with him to save money. one day, vinod flees the house and discovers that his mother and brother have abandoned him with his abusive father, at which point things between the brothers deteriorate and never improve..

The makers take a tremendous risk by adding a subplot in the form of a romantic love story smack dab in the middle of the murder investigation. Vinod meets a woman and falls in love with her, changing him as a person from the guy he once described as “Filth.” The main objective of this subplot is to give Vinod a redemption arc and make us empathize with him, which plays a pivotal role during the film’s climax. While the subplot feels stretched, it is just enough to make the climactic twist efficient and poignant.

The film’s final twist hits you like a gut punch, breaking your heart and leaving you empty on the inside. it is easily one of the best twist endings in recent times. the film also deals with themes like childhood trauma, abuse, and alcoholism with seamless brilliance. joju george gives a terrific dual performance, but his portrayal of vinod was especially laud worthy. he towers above others and dominates the screen when the worst traits of his character are on display. and yet he shines in small moments and is adorable, especially while attempting to impress the woman he loves. the movie is now available on netflix..

Iratta movie link: IMDB

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