We discuss the ending of the 2023 film Iratta which will contain spoilers.
Iratta 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 deceased’s life.
He was a violent drunkard and a rapist, and it’s implied that he shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near children—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?
Iratta Ending Explained
Each of the three officers at the scene had a potential motive for Vinod’s murder. Vinod had assaulted inspector John while he was investigating a home disturbance but ultimately chose not to press charges because of how close he was to retiring.
Inspector Sandeep had reasons to believe Vinod was potentially inappropriate with children. The two got into a fistfight after Vinod picked up Sandeep’s daughter from school without her parent’s knowledge.
The third inspector, Bineesh, caught an intoxicated Vinod raping a 17-year-old girl after a disturbance at an inn they were gambling in. Of course, the incident was swept under the rug by Vinod’s colleagues.
When they ask the murdered man’s wife, Malini, who could have hurt him, she quietly points towards Pramod, as the two brothers despise each other.
Why are Vinod and Pramod estranged?
As children, the two twins were raised by a violent and alcoholic father, who also happened to be a police officer. When their mother finally left him, he forcefully kept a young Vinod in an attempt to avoid paying her child support.
Abandoned by his mother and twin brother, Vinod stayed with his abusive father until one day; the man tried to rape an underage girl from the village.
In retaliation, several other men (presumably the girl’s family members) killed him, a crime the young boy witnessed.
When the mother and Pramod returned after the father’s death, it was too late. The relationship between the two siblings was permanently damaged.
Who killed Vinod?
When the investigating officer finally allowed Pramod to help, he spoke to the suspects again. All three had a convincing alibi, even if one tried to hide he was having an affair with a fellow officer.
After taking a closer look at the footage captured by reporters, Pramod notes two children who were playing rugby in the field next to the police station. The boy’s testimony reveals that no one murdered Vinod. Instead, he turned the gun on himself.
Pramod and all the other officers were struggling to grasp the suicide theory. By all accounts, Vinod was a changed man and happy in his new marriage.
Why did Vinod kill himself?
While trying to figure out why his brother took his own life, Pramod learns that, at the time of his death, Vinod was watching the TV show Swetha was competing in. On-screen, he recognized his former sister-in-law in the audience and realized that the 17-year-old girl he raped was his niece.
Unable to live with himself for committing such a horrific act, Vinod shot himself three times. As it turns out, incest was one line even Vinod couldn’t morally cross.
The film ends with a broken Pramod trying to make sense of his brother’s death and actions. When his wife calls him and suggests they meet, the man tells her never to mention him to their daughter and never to call him.
After all, how could he ever have a relationship with his estranged child when he shares the same face as a man who hurt her?
What did you think of the ending of the 2023 film Iratta? Comment below.
