Officer on Duty opens with hints of a well-structured movie, including the protagonist’s freshly printed name plate and his allusions to a character who isn’t there. However, as unsettling characters begin to appear, they wind up being half-baked buildings. The prose seems to deteriorate and revert to antiquated clichés. Strong performances (especially Kunchacko Boban’s portrayal of a troubled police officer) and Jakes Bejoy’s music keep the movie interesting, but they are unable to cover up the occasional problematic scene.
Director Jithu Asharef makes his debut in the police story, which is another one written by Shahi Kabeer, a former police officer who is now a screenwriter. Asharef also plays a significant part in the story. The movie opens with him composing a note in a dark room while wearing an odd outfit—a police officer’s shirt and boxer shorts—with sweatdrops collecting on his balding scalp. Later, Kunchacko Boban is introduced, and danger starts the moment he turns his face.
Without understanding what the script has in store, you might allow his undesirable behavior, which is problematic. Just because he is playing the lead doesn’t mean that he has to be an angel; he might be the complete opposite and not the good cop. However, the screenplay seems defensive of this police officer’s aggressive behavior, aside from acknowledging that he is a troublemaker.
Clearly this man, Hari, had issues. You come to learn of it, not in the easy way, the director leaving clues and vaguely putting them together, not quite pulling off the non-linear storytelling. When clever filmmaking allows viewers to infer meanings or deduce what is not stated, it’s a completely different story. This is not the case for the Officer on Duty.
It’s an intriguing premise. A seemingly trivial instance of fake jewelry turns into a web of crimes, including drug use, sexual assault, and theft. The expansion of the script into a package and the creation of the “bad” characters are where it falls short. The “villain” gang’s appearance on screen immediately makes you realize that the movie has traveled back decades, reviving long-forgotten clichés of wrongdoing by virtue of their appearance, actions, and vices.
After some pacey storytelling in the earlier half, when Hari and his men follow the leads one after another, the film takes the tone of a stretched revenge drama, adding heavy doses of violence, unruliness, stunts and chases. With what appears to be some hasty writing, the backstory, which should have been incredibly effective considering that everything fits together with it, loses impact. The way it makes the connections and lends some agency to underdeveloped characters like Priyamani’s is nonetheless commendable.
In his telling part, Jagadish excels. Bravo to Vishak Nair’s youthful crew, which includes fresh talent like Leya Mammen, for all the action—and there’s a lot of it. Kudos to Kunchacko Boban for not only skillfully capturing the range of his multifaceted character, but also for voluntarily taking on the role of father to a teenage girl—something that even the most successful male actors in Malayalam are not used to doing in their later years.
