At a crucial point in the initial half of Officer on Duty, Kunchacko Boban’s character Harishankar witnesses a horrific sight of a hanging dead body. It triggers in him flashes of his traumatic past, leading to a severe panic attack. When was the last time we saw a police officer experiencing a traumatic breakdown? Not sure.
But if you notice, most of Shahi Kabir’s works have one such disturbing scene. In Joseph (2018), the protagonist is never able to return to normal life after witnessing his ex-girlfriend’s half-decomposed body. Something similar happens to Sunitha and Praveen in Nayattu (2021) and Madhu in Shahi’s directorial debut Ela Veezha Poonchira (2022), as well.
Malayalam cinema, which once celebrated its foul-mouthed, macho police heroes, is gradually slanting towards more realistic portrayals. And Shahi, a cop himself, has been at the forefront of this remarkable evolution. Through cops of different characteristics and shades, he has often shown a special interest in exploring their mental health.
In Officer on Duty, his protagonist Harishankar is introduced as a hot-headed and haughty police officer, who returns to duty after being demoted. We get a hint about his traumatic past through a phone conversation where his wife asks him about taking medicines.
Harishankar’s aggressive nature is underlined in his very first scene when he stomps a woman, who claims to be pregnant, on her stomach. Kunchacko Boban is terrific here, easily a few notches higher than his underappreciated police performance in Allu Ramendran (2019). The actor comes across as intimidating with his commanding body language and ruthless aggression in his dialogue delivery. As the narrative progresses, we also see him ably handling the character’s guilt, angst, and perseverance.
Debutant director Jithu Ashraf shows great urgency with how he sets up the initial half of the film. Harishankar’s investigation into a petty chain case leads him to a series of grave crimes that also involve his family. Unlike Shahi’s usual works, the screenplay here is racy without offering much of a breathing space, neither for the characters in it nor for the viewers. Things come to a sudden jolt with the aforementioned suicide scene. The terrifying shot and the build-up towards it are superbly choreographed by the makers, enabling us to feel the tension and claustrophobia.
Shahi, despite his affinity for police stories, doesn’t always glorify the force. Even in Officer on Duty, he doesn’t shy away from exposing the weeds in the system. In fact, it is a cop’s inhuman act that sets off a chain of heinous crimes in this story. Similarly, Harishankar is also not portrayed as a flawless character. Though there’s a feeble attempt, in the end, to wash him of the sins, it’s undeniable that it’s his impulsive and violent behaviour that leads to an unfortunate death.
The writing, however, is not always this effective, particularly after the introduction of the villain gang and the familiar routes traversed to nab them. The film resorts to the stereotypical portrayal of hoodie-wearing, tattooed druggies, hailing from... where else but Bangalore. The substance abuse portions are filmed with hardly any novelty; just repeated close-up shots of a white powder, its snorting, and the dash of ecstasy it offers.
The performances of the actors cast as the gang members are also typically one-note, with Ramzan managing to stand out. Vishak Nair, as the gang’s leader, does well with the stunts but fails to invoke the terror his character is supposed to.
Despite these missteps, the film has enough in it to keep one engaged. The action sequences, especially the ones in a mortuary and rubber shed, are filmed with the right intensity. You know a stunt sequence is well thought out when you see characters grabbing whatever’s available in their vicinity to fight and protect themselves.
With the characters being eccentric, there’s also a crazy energy evident in the choreography.
With a formulaic second half that’s more into action and thrills, it seems like the makers were keen to ensure Officer on Duty doesn’t face the same box office fate as Nayattu and Ela Veezha Poonchiria. Both these films, despite their overall excellence, were criticised for being ‘too slow’. With Officer on Duty, Chaman Chakko’s racy cuts offer hardly any time to sit back and rethink about the loopholes.
As a result, it trades tension for pace, and the characters, except for Harishankar, don’t have much depth. It would have been nice to know a little more about his wife Geetha (Priyamani) and how she coped with the loss of a dear one.
Officer on Duty could have been among the riveting cop thrillers in recent times, if not for the ‘commercial compromises’ it settles for.
Film: Officer On Duty
Director: Jithu Ashraf
Cast: Kunchacko Boban, Vishak Nair, Priyamani, Jagadish, Vishnu G Warrier, Leya Mammen, Aiswarya Raj, Vaisakh Shankar, Amit Eapen
Rating: 3/5