Prathichaya Movie Review : At a crucial moment, Kerala Chief Minister John Varghese (Nivin Pauly) looks his rival dead in the eyes and says, “It took me just about 15 minutes to smash your prathichaya (public image), the face of a multibillion empire,” while it took the latter over 20 minutes to tarnish the prathichaya of John’s father, KN Varghese (Balachandra Menon), built over decades with relentless work in politics. While this line is crafted as a zinger, a punch dialogue to be exact, it also reveals the frailty of images and reputations. All it takes is a few minutes of determined effort by someone, and even the sturdiest of images can come crumbling down, no matter how many years or crores went into building them. As director B Unnikrishnan’s political drama Prathichaya arrives in the run-up to the Kerala state Assembly elections, scheduled for April 9, many were doubtful if it’s a propaganda tool. The movie’s promotional materials, such as the trailer and release teaser, further fuelled these suspicions. At a time when propaganda films …