Big B (film)

Last updated

Big B
Big B film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Amal Neerad
Written by Unni R.
Produced by
  • Shahul Hameed Marikar
  • Anto Joseph
Starring
Cinematography Sameer Thahir
Edited by Vivek Harshan
Music by
Production
company
Marikar Films
Distributed byMarikar Films
Release date
  • 13 April 2007 (2007-04-13)(India)
Running time
130 minutes
Country India
Language Malayalam

Big B (short form of Big Brother) is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language neo-noir action thriller film directed by Amal Neerad in his directoral debut. It stars Mammootty, Manoj K. Jayan, Bala and Sumit Naval. The cinematography and editing were handled by Sameer Thahir and Vivek Harshan, while the music was composed by Alphonse Joseph and Gopi Sundar.

Contents

Despite being an unofficial remake of the 2005 Hollywood film Four Brothers , Big B is considered a pathbreaking film in the history of Malayalam cinema due to its stylish making and also introduced a new style of filmmaking, thus attaining a huge cult following. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] The film is widely regarded as one of the defining films of the Malayalam New Wave. [6]

Plot

Mary John Kurishingal gets killed under mysterious circumstances, where her adopted sons arrive for her funeral: Bilal- a gangster and hitman in Mumbai, Eddy John Kurishingal- a hotel owner, Murugan – an action choreographer in Malayalam cinema, and Bijo- a student. The brothers take it upon themselves to unearth the mystery behind Mary's murder. Murugan is in love with Rimy, the daughter of Tommy Parekkadan, a happy-go-drunkard, who is against their relationship. Bilal starts meeting his old friends and contacts in the Kochi underworld to receive information about the killers.

The brothers piece the evidence together and learns that the murder was committed by two assassins from Mumbai. ACP Balaji Shakthivel and CI George are assigned to investigate Mary's murder case, where they begin the investigation and learns that the murder was one of the many meticulously planned operations aimed at checking Mary's intrusions into the unlawful exporting of children from Kochi. The unlawful operations are actually handled by the Mayor and Sayippu Tony, a notorious gangster.

Meanwhile, Bilal makes Tommy accept Murugan and Rimy's relationship. One night, Bijo gets killed by Tony's henchmen. However, Bilal shoots one of the henchmen and learns that Tony is behind the series of crimes. Later, Tony kills Shakthivel and warns the Mayor to obey his instructions. Bilal orders Eddy and Murugan to negotiate with Tony to know his demands. Pandi Asi, Tony's henchmen, joins Bilal and his brothers as he wants to seek revenge on Tony, where they also become successful in keeping George (who was Tony's sidekick) on their side.

Bilal threatens the Mayor that he will expose his corrupt plans to the whole media, which causes the Mayor to shoot himself. George files this as a suicide in order to save Bilal from the case. Eddy and Murugan are called to an island by Tony and his henchmen. Tony arrives and opens up to Eddy about his plans to kill Bilal and the brothers, but Tony learns that his henchmen were bribed and are now against him. Asi reveals his grudge against Tony. Bilal arrives at the spot and kills Tony after a long fight. Tony is buried in a ditch by his men. After their mission, Eddy lives a happy and peaceful life with his family. Murugan spends time cheering with Rimy, while Bilal is seen helping the poor kids of their colony.

Cast

Release

Big B was released on 13 April 2007. [8] Amal Neerad announced a sequel to the film titled Bilal in 2017. It was dubbed in Tamil as Manik Baasha. [9]

Reception

Big B initially received mixed to negative reviews from the critics as family films were dominant back then. Later on, it received critical acclaim for its cinematography and making, along with the use of few dialogues, dark color tone, and extensive use of slow-motion and musical score, which redefines that an age-old mass action drama can be converted with a unique and fresh style. Mammootty gained lot of appraisal for his portrayal as Bilal which remains one his most memorable characters. [10] [11]

Soundtrack

Big B
Soundtrack album by
Alphons Joseph
ReleasedJuly 25, 2007
Recorded2006
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length31:05
Label Divo TV Pvt Ltd.
Producer Alphons Joseph

The soundtrack album was composed by Alphons Joseph with lyrics penned by Jophy Tharakan and Santhosh Varma. While the musical score was composed by Gopi Sundar, Shreya Ghoshal sang her first song in Malayalam through this film. The song 'O January' is an unofficial cover of Shakira's Ojos Así .

Big B (Original motion picture soundtrack)
No.TitleLyricsSingersLength
1."Hip Hop"Santhosh VarmaShirdhin Thomas, Shelton Pinheiro03:23
2."Muthumazha"Jophy Tharakan Vineeth Sreenivasan, Jyotsna 04:27
3."O January"Jophy Tharakan Sayanora Philip 05:17
4."Oru Vakkum [M]"Jophy TharakanAlphons Joseph04:01
5."Oru Vakkum [Version 2]"Santhosh VarmaAlphons Joseph, Mridula Warrier 04:03
6."Theme Song" Alphons Joseph05:06
7."Vidaparayukayano"Santhosh Varma Shreya Ghoshal 04:45
Total length:31:05

Sequel

A sequel titled Bilal was announced by Amal Neerad on 17 November 2017 and was set to start principal photography in March 2020 but was postponed indefinitely owing to COVID-19 pandemic and has been in pre-production due to script changes and scale. [12]

Awards and nominations

Date of ceremonyAwardCategoryRecipient(s) and nominee(s)ResultRef.
7 October 2008 Asianet Film Awards Best Actor - Male Mammootty Won [13]

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References

  1. ↑ Sunday, December 03, 2017 - 12:12 (3 December 2017). "Mammootty's 'Big B': Revisiting Malayalam cinema's cult action film". The News Minute.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ↑ "Mammootty's Bilal: Here's An Exciting Update On The Star Cast Of The Project!". www.filmibeat.com. 13 February 2020.
  3. ↑ Yesudas, Richy (13 April 2017). "10 years of Big B".
  4. ↑ "Big-B". Sify . Archived from the original on 24 November 2017.
  5. ↑ "10 Years Of Mammootty's Big B: Here Are The Film's Big Contributions To The Industry!". www.filmibeat.com. 13 April 2017.
  6. ↑ "10 Years Of Mammootty's Big B: Here Are The Film's Big Contributions To The Industry!". filmibeat.com. 13 April 2017. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  7. ↑ K. Pradeep. "Theatrics in cinema". The Hindu . 21 April 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  8. ↑ "2007's Top Malayalam hits so far". Rediff . Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Mammootty is Manik Baasha now". 12 December 2008.
  10. ↑ "'Big B' to 'Devadoothan': Flop movies that became cult classics". The Times of India. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  11. ↑ "10 Best Mammootty Films To Watch Online". HuffPost. 21 November 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
  12. ↑ "Bilal first look: Mammootty and Amal Neerad join hands for sequel of Big B named Bilal". Hindustan Times.
  13. ↑ "Asianet Film Awards". asianetfilmawards.com. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
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