Mohanlal stayed in pool of blood setup for 30 minutes for ‘Patriot’ scene: Editor Rahul Radhakrishnan

The return of Mohanlal and Mammootty together on screen after nearly two decades was expected to be one of the biggest cinematic events in Malayalam cinema this year. But even as Patriot continues to draw attention for its scale, cast and political thriller backdrop, the film has also found itself at the centre of criticism, with several viewers calling it excessively long and questioning the way Mohanlal’s character was presented.

Now, co-editor Rahul Radhakrishnan has addressed the criticism surrounding the film, suggesting that some of the backlash may not be entirely organic.

“Whenever I come across discussions around the film online, I do notice a lot of mixed reactions and criticism”, Rahul told Onmanorama in a recent conversation.

One particular sequence involving Mohanlal inside a lift has especially triggered debate among fans, many of whom expected a more traditionally heroic portrayal from the superstar. Rahul, however, said audiences may be reacting to the character based on their expectations of Mohanlal’s larger-than-life screen image rather than the character itself. “It is not Mohanlal the star people are watching in that moment, it is the character. He is someone driven by a larger idea of the country and its politics. Some viewers may have expected a more mass, celebratory version of Mohanlal, but that was never the intention.”, he said.

Rahul also recalled Mohanlal’s commitment during filming, pointing to a scene in which the actor had to lie in a pool of blood for an extended period while the crew set up the shot.

“We had initially planned to do parts of that sequence using VFX. But Mohanlal sir insisted on doing it himself. It took nearly half an hour to set up and shoot, and throughout that time he remained there without complaint. That comes from seeing the film as cinema first, not from the mindset of a superstar”, he said.

Addressing discussions around the film’s runtime, Rahul said the duration was always part of the plan and not something that emerged during post-production.

“From the scripting stage itself, we knew the film would run close to three hours. Mahesh Narayanan works with tightly edited scripts, so only what was necessary was shot. Length was never treated as an issue internally”, he said.

He also said there was no intention to shape the edit in a way that gives more weight to one star over another.

“There was never any attempt to prioritise anyone. The film was not approached as a star-driven project during the edit. What was written in the script is what eventually reached the screen”, he added.

He also said that not every viewer is likely to respond to the film in the same way.

“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Some viewers may have felt disconnected at certain points and experienced the film as lengthy. But personally, I never felt that way because the story itself has a massive scale. The film moves across countries, political systems and multiple character arcs.”, he said.

This marks Rahul’s second collaboration with director Mahesh Narayanan as co-editor after Ariyippu. Interestingly, he said he did not initially expect to receive a co-editor credit on the project.

“When the first schedule was happening, I was working on Thalavara. I joined Patriot only later and simply continued contributing to the process. I genuinely did not expect my name to appear as co-editor in the credits”, he said.

For Rahul, however, the experience of working on a film bringing together Mammootty and Mohanlal remains the biggest takeaway.

“I do not know if I will ever again get the chance to work on a film of this scale. The storytelling, the political layers, the experience of seeing both Mohanlal sir and Mammootty sir together in the same film, all of it felt new to me”, he said.

At the centre of Patriot is Dr Daniel James, played by Mammootty, an official with the DRW who becomes the target of powerful forces after exposing the alleged misuse of surveillance software connected to Union minister JP Sundaram and his son Shakti Sundaram, played by Rajiv Menon and Fahadh Faasil respectively. The political thriller follows Daniel as he attempts to stay hidden while uncovering a much larger conspiracy.