Mammootty & Mohanlal’s Patriot
Mammootty & Mohanlal’s Patriot (Photo Credit –Facebook)

Patriot, a major spy action political thriller written and directed by Mahesh Narayanan, is a globe-trotting, big-budget venture starring Mammootty, Mohanlal, Fahadh Faasil, Kunchacko Boban, Nayanthara, and Revathi. Despite featuring some of Malayalam cinema’s most prominent A-listers, it didn’t live up to the expectations of the Malayali audience. Let’s take a look at some of the real-life incidents that inspired the world of Patriot.

 

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1. NSO Pegasus Spyware

In the film, Periscope is essentially a fictionalized version of the real-world Pegasus spyware developed by Israel’s NSO Group. Sold exclusively to governments worldwide, Pegasus can target both iOS and Android devices. At one point, it reportedly relied on sophisticated zero-click exploits to infiltrate certain versions of iOS without any user interaction. In India, the spyware was allegedly used to surveil prominent journalists, opposition leaders, and several influential figures linked to the opposition, as per Scroll.

 

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2. Chinese Social Credit System

The film briefly references a social credit system designed to monitor the online activities of Indian citizens and assign them a score that could determine access to government services, even essentials like ration supplies. This concept appears to be inspired by widespread Western media coverage during the mid to late 2010s and early 2020s surrounding China’s Social Credit System.

 

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Many reports at the time described it as an all-encompassing AI-driven surveillance network that would rank every citizen in real time using a three-digit score, potentially affecting employment opportunities, travel privileges, and even where their children could study. However, the reality was far less extreme than many of those reports suggested.

According to publications like PolyMatter, for most ordinary citizens in China, the system functioned more like a financial credit rating framework tied to transactions and trustworthiness, somewhat comparable to credit reporting systems such as TransUnion, CIBIL, or Equifax, rather than the all-powerful dystopian system often portrayed in international media.

3. Exploitative Fringe Credit Lending Apps

In Patriot, Shakthi Corporation, run by Fahadh Faasil’s character Shakthi Sundaram, is shown engaging in predatory lending practices. The company also secretly installs spyware on laptops distributed to underprivileged children through a government-backed welfare program. Later, the data collected from those devices is used to pressure families into repaying loans.

The film’s depiction is not far removed from real-world controversies surrounding exploitative instant loan apps in India, a topic widely covered by the media in recent years. Many of these apps target financially vulnerable individuals by offering small loans with minimal credit checks or proper verification. Since the business model itself is highly risky, companies often compensate by charging exorbitant interest rates and hidden fees.

According to Al Jazeera, loan amounts are typically relatively small, ranging from INR 10,000 to INR 25,000, but borrowers may face monthly interest rates as high as 30 percent, along with additional processing fees that can exceed 15 percent.

What makes these apps especially controversial is the level of access they demand from users. Many collect extensive personal data from smartphones, including photographs, videos, call logs, contact lists, and, in some reported cases, even screen recordings. When borrowers inevitably default, recovery agents allegedly resort to harassment and blackmail. Manipulated photos or private information are sometimes sent to friends and family members in an attempt to shame borrowers into repayment.

Reports have linked several such loan apps to Chinese individuals or organizations operating through complex networks. The aggressive recovery tactics, public humiliation, and financial pressure associated with these apps have also been connected to multiple cases of mental trauma and suicide not only across India, but beyond our borders as well.

4. The Assassination Of Kim Jong Nam

In Patriot, a scene shows two social media influencers attempting to assassinate Dr. Daniel (Mammootty) by smearing a toxic substance on his face. The sequence appears to draw inspiration from a real-life incident involving the killing of Kim Jong Nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In the real-world case, according to The Guardian, Kim Jong Nam was attacked at an airport in Kuala Lumpur by two young women, one from Vietnam and the other from Indonesia. Much like the events depicted in the film, the women reportedly believed they were participating in a harmless online content prank and were unaware of the true nature of the attack.

The substance used in the real incident was VX, a highly dangerous nerve agent. Unlike the film, however, the attack in reality resulted in Kim Jong Nam’s death.

Following the incident, the two women faced legal action, though later developments in the case reduced or dropped several charges against them. The North Korean operatives allegedly involved in orchestrating the operation reportedly managed to leave the country before they could be prosecuted.

5. Nissan Chief Escape From Japan & The Consulate Assassination Parallel

In Patriot, Mammootty’s character, Dr. Daniel, is attacked with a nerve agent at an airport before disappearing inside a restroom. He is later secretly transported out in a large musical instrument case and flown back to India. This sequence appears to take inspiration from the dramatic escape of former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn from Japan, where he was allegedly smuggled out of the country hidden inside an equipment case, as reported by the BBC.

The film also borrows elements from another major real-world incident involving journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In the movie, a man resembling Dr. Daniel, dressed in identical clothes, is seen leaving the airport restroom and walking through another terminal in front of security cameras, creating the illusion that the real Dr. Daniel had safely exited.

Coming to the real-life incident in detail, journalist Jamal Khashoggi went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Türkiye, where Saudi officials killed him and disposed of his body. Reports stated that one of the individuals involved wore clothes similar to Khashoggi’s and exited through another entrance, creating the illusion that he had left the consulate safely without facing any issues. CCTV cameras captured the individual leaving the building, helping create evidence that Khashoggi had safely exited the premises. His Turkish fiancée, Hatice Cengiz, who was waiting for him outside the consulate, was the first person to raise concerns after he never came out, and the subsequent investigation found that the man seen in the footage was not actually Khashoggi.

According to the BBC, the Saudi government initially denied knowing anything about the fate of Jamal Khashoggi but later confirmed that the negotiation team sent to bring him back had killed him, while reports also stated that his body was dismembered into pieces before being disposed of.

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