The project was announced on 19 May 2023. Principal photography began on 20 May 2023. The film was shot across locations including Thrissur, Palakkad, Coimbatore, Idukki and Wayanad. The filming wrapped up on 14 November 2023. The music was composed by Midhun Mukundan while cinematography and editing was handled by Theni Eswar and Shameer Muhammed respectively.
Abraham Ozler was initially set to be released on 25 December 2023, but the release date was postponed to 11 January 2024. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for its acting, cinematography, direction, and musical score, but criticism for its script. The film earned ₹40.05 crore worldwide, becoming the highest grossing film of Jayaram's career.[6][7][1]
Past: ACP Abraham Ozler is on vacation with his wife Anisha and daughter Jenny. He receives a call that requires him to investigate a double murder, and promptly leaves in his car. Mid-journey, he realizes that the call was faked and rushes back to find both Anisha and Jenny missing. Later Vineeth, a drug addict, admits to kidnapping both of them, hacking them to pieces and burying the pieces in a forest to take revenge on Ozler for arresting him in a narcotics case. However, Vineeth claims that he had taken a large dosage of prescription drugs that night and consequently does not remember where the pieces were buried.
Present: Three years later, Ozler is chronically depressedinsomniac who experiences hallucinations due to lack of sleep. He never received closure and remains distraught and miserable, as he cannot find his wife's and daughter's remains in spite of regularly visiting and questioning a now convicted Vineeth. He is also investigating a series of murders with his subordinates SI Divya Sreedharan and Sijo T Venu. The killer leaves birthday cards at each murder scene, and the cards all have parts of the Latin quote, "Let conversation cease. Let laughter flee. This is where death rejoices to help the living". The killer is dubbed "The Birthday Killer" by the media. As the team unravels the connections, they discover Krishnadas, a man using an artificial larynx, as a key suspect. They also learn that he was a prodigious singer as a teenager, and lost his voice due to a surgery mishap.
Delving into the past, Ozler discovers a shared history among the victim's parents: Shivakumar and Selvaraj. They were postgraduate medical students at Kozhikode Medical College in 1989. Shivakumar, Selvaraj, Xavi Punnoose (a retired police surgeon) and Alexander Joseph (now living in Dubai) were all found to have been friends and batchmates. They were recorded as having gotten into an accident, after which they parted ways. Meanwile, Krishnadas breaks into Alexander's house and attempts to abduct him but is thwarted and arrested by Ozler. But even as Krishnadas is in custody, Xavi is kidnapped. Ozler then discovers that the Alexander in Dubai was a fake all along and that the real Alexander was still active and had abducted Xavi. The real Alexander attempts to kill Xavi in the same manner as the previous victims, but is arrested by Ozler and his men at the last minute. While in custody, he reveals his true motives.
1989: Alexander was a dedicated postgraduate student at the surgery department of Kozhikode Medical College. Xavi, a fellow student of surgery, was inept compared to Alexander, and was consequently jealous as the professors favored the latter's skill. Shivakumar, a student of General Medicine, developed hatred towards Alexander for starting a relationship with first year MBBS student Suja Jayadev, whom Shivakumar had been pursuing relentlessly. Selvaraj, a student of Anesthesia and a drug addict, was expelled after Alexander caught him getting high and reported the latter to the faculty.
During this time, Krishnadas was admitted to the Medical College due to a tumor in his throat, which affected his voice. Alexander was designated to assist in the surgery and he chooses Xavi to help him. During the surgery, Alexander was unexpectedly required to take the lead and he requested Xavi to cut the tie inside Krishnadas's neck. Xavi, fueled by jealousy and bitterness, cuts Krishnadas's vocal cord - which is why he lost his voice.
Alexander reported Xavi's intentional act to the faculty, Xavi is blacklisted and both are suspended due to Alexander being the first assistant. Under the influence of drugs and alcohol, the enraged and bitter Selvaraj, Xavi and Shivakumar brutalized Alexander, putting him in a coma. Once sober, they fabricated an accident, faked injuries on themselves and told everyone that a drunk Alexander took them for a drive and crashed the car. Suja becomes depressed after this. One day, doctors suggested that Alexander's life support be removed and he be allowed to die peacefully. A heartbroken Suja lost all hope after overhearing this and committed suicide by jumping in front of a moving bus. In a fateful twist of irony, Alexander awakened on the day of her suicide. After years of nursing care, he regained movement but loses most of his postgraduate memories due to dissociative amnesia, including Suja, Xavi, Shivakumar and Selvaraj. 3 years ago, Alexander saw a TV program featuring Krishnadas, where some old videos of the latter singing are shown. This triggered his memories and Alexander slowly recollected his past. He learned about Suja's death and met up with a then wayward Krishnadas, and they planned the murders together.
Present: Xavi meets Alexander and Krishnadas in Ozler's custody and shows no remorse at all. Ozler regrets saving Xavi and tells him plainly that he deserved death. Astonishingly, Xavi dies on stage of cardiac arrest at the release ceremony of his autobiography. Seconds before this happens, Ozler receives a call where the forensic surgeon reveals that Alexander had poisoned Xavi and all the victims with methylene blue and agar-agar, a lethal bacteria-infected surgical ink before making cuts on their bodies. Later, it is shown that the truth gets revealed - Shivakumar committed suicide in his car, while Selvaraj's wife leaves him, realizing that he caused their son's murder.
On his routine visit to Vineeth in prison, Ozler encounters Alexander and Krishnadas. Alexander cryptically utters "Bone Residue", hinting at an unresolved truth about Ozler's family. Ozler realizes that if a bladed weapon is used to hack flesh, bone residue will always be present on the blade even after chemical washing. Ozler confronts Vineeth about this and the latter, unrepentant, challenges Ozler to dig deeper for the truth.
After the success of Anjaam Pathira (2020), Midhun Manuel Thomas wanted to direct a film featuring Kunchako Boban. However, the commencement of shooting didn't occur due to various reasons. It was during that time that director John Manthrikkal narrated a story to Midhun which was written by ortho surgeon Dr. Randheer Krishnan. He liked the story and decided to direct the film.[8]
In an interview with Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express, Midhun revealed that the film's titular protagonist was named after the Canadian physician William Osler, regarded as the 'Father of Modern Medicine'. He also revealed that he had initially included a backstory, explaining that Abraham Ozler's father, a doctor, named his son after his favorite physician with the hope that Abraham would also become a physician like his father.[9] The film marked Midhun's return to direction after a four-year hiatus. Meanwhile he had penned the screenplay for Garudan (2023) and Phoenix (2023).[10]
Casting
Midhun approached Jayaram to play the titular role.[11] Initially, Jayaram was hesitant to commit to the project as he believed that it was unlike any film he had done till now. He believed it was a heavy character and had to appear in two timelines with different looks.[12] However, he agreed to play the role as Midhun convinced him. In preparing for the role, Jayaram put in some weight and grew a long beard with a tired look to fit the character. Abraham Ozler marks Jayaram's second Malayalam venture since 2019. [13]
There were reports that Mammootty would have a 15-minute cameo appearance in the film which was denied.[14] Reports suggested that Mammootty would have a screen-time of over 45 minutes in the film, and it was also reported that he would be playing a negative role, which was unconfirmed.[15] Regarding Mammootty's cameo, Jayaram revealed that Mammootty was not the first choice to play the role of Alexander. The makers approached actors Sathyaraj, R. Sarathkumar, Prakash Raj, and others.[16] Midhun said that, when he narrated the story of Abraham Ozler to Mammootty, he liked the script and asked him if he could play the antagonist.[17] Midhun was apprehensive about casting Mammootty. However, Jayaram convinced him to give the role to Mammootty.[16] Midhun met Mammootty again, who consented to play the role of Alexander.[18]
The film was initially scheduled to release on 25 December 2023, on the occasion of Christmas.[26] The release date was postponed to 11 January 2024 to avoid a clash with other major Christmas releases.[27] The film was released in North America on 12 January 2024.
Abraham Ozler received mixed reviews from critics.
Gopika IS of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Jayaram starrer Abraham Ozler turned out to be an interesting watch and can undoubtedly be seen as a new phase in the actor's career."[29] Sara Anna Eepan of The Week gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Abraham Ozler is worth a watch on the big screen for those interested in an investigation drama with medical thriller elements."[30]
Sajin Shrijith of The New Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Abraham Ozler doesn't lack the ability to hook us, but it made me wonder whether it would've worked better as an airport novel than a film."[31] Nikhil Sebastian of Pinkvilla gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Abraham Ozler falls into the category of another half-baked thriller, relying on the performances of the actors and a brilliant original score."[32] Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "Midhun Manuel Thomas' film can be dubbed as a crime thriller that meets the essential criteria for the genre. However, determining whether it has done a good job requires more than a simple yes/no answer."[33]
S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "The Jayaram-starrer is marred by generic treatment to the serial killer genre, with a cameo from superstar Mammootty offering only a temporary relief."[34] Vishal Menon of FIlm Companion wrote "By reinventing Jayaram as an actor and by infusing so much information into a stereotypical thriller, Abraham Ozler remains fairly engaging even if you've seen it all before."[35] Princy Alexander of Onmanorama wrote "The initial feeling of repetitiveness affects the thrills in the first half. However, true to the expression "to end with a bang," Midhun employs the right tactics in the second half to provide viewers with a more than satisfactory conclusion."[36]
Box office
Abraham Ozler grossed ₹28.8million from Kerala and ₹60million worldwide, on its opening day.[37] The film grossed ₹2.34 crore on its second day, with worldwide gross exceeding ₹10 crore.[38]Abraham Ozler grossed ₹2.9 crore on its third day and ₹3.19 crore on its first Sunday. The film grossed around ₹11.31 crore in its first four days from Kerala.[39] The film grossed ₹22 crore worldwide in its first weekend.[40]
The film grossed a total of $61,616 from the North America in the first weekend.[41] The film grossed ₹1.4 crore on its fifth day from the Kerala.[42] The film grossed a total of ₹150million in its first 8 days from Kerala. The film grossed a total of ₹31million in its second weekend at Kerala. The film grossed a total of $1.36 million (approx ₹ 113million) from 11 days at the UAE and GCC box office, while it grossed ₹17million from ROI circuits in 11 days. In North America, the film grossed $130K in UK and Europe it grossed $150K and in Australia $17K in 11 days at the box office.[43][44] In 16 days, the film grossed more than ₹20 crore from Kerala and became the first commercially successful Malayalam film of 2024.[45] The film made a total collection of ₹40.05 crore from the worldwide box office in first 30 days of its release and also emerged as the all-time highest grossing solo film in the career of its leading man Jayaram within its lifetime run at the theatres.[46]
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