Kasaba (2016 film)

Kasaba
Official poster
Directed by	Nithin Renji Panicker
Written by	Nithin Renji Panicker
Produced by	Alice George Joby George
Starring	Mammootty Sampath Raj Neha Saxena Varalaxmi Sarathkumar Jagadish
Cinematography	Sameer Haq
Edited by	Mansoor Muthutty
Music by	Rahul Raj
Production company	Goodwill Entertainments
Distributed by	Anto Joseph Film Company
Release date	7 July 2016 (2016-07-07) [1]
Running time	137 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹7.8 crore [2]
Box office	est.₹14.37 crore [3]

Kasaba is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film ^[4] written and directed by Nithin Renji Panicker, starring Mammootty, Sampath Raj, Neha Saxena, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and Jagadish played the important supporting roles. ^{[5] [6]} The first day gross was the highest for a Malayalam film. ^[7] The film ended up grossing ₹14.37 crore (US$1.7 million) ^[3]

Plot

CI Rajan Zachariah is a police officer posted at Palakkad district. Though he is somewhat an honest officer, Zachariah is a person who doesn't even give a thought about what people think. He is very close to IG Chandrasekhar who understands him and his son Arjun. Arjun and his fiancée get murdered in a blast mysteriously in Kaliyoor – a place located on the Kerala-Karnataka border. As per the police reports the deaths were due to Maoist attacks, but Chandrasekhar and Zachariah refuse to believe it. Being the godfather of Arjun, Zachariah asks Chandrasekhar to post him at Kaliyoor to find out the truth, who arrives at Kaliyoor and tries to solve the mystery behind deaths of Arjun and his fiancée and finds that the couple's death are connected to the death of 6 cops and CI Raghavan. Zachariah finds that the village head Parameshwaran Nambiar, along with Kamala, the in-charge of the brothel along had killed Raghavan.

Arjun and his fiancée witness a murder committed by Nambiar and flees. While escaping from Nambiar's goons, Arjun and his fiancée get into a police van asking help by introducing himself as I.G.'s son. Nambiar instructs his goons to attack the police van thereby killing Arjun and his fiancée, along with the 6 cops. Nambiar who is contesting district level elections, finds the caretaker of Kamala's brothel Thankachan, as a possible liability and kills him through his goons under the guise of a Maoist attack. It is later revealed in a letter (written by Thankachan before his death) that Kamala is Thankachan's daughter. Enraged, Kamala kills Nambiar with the help of Zachariah, and later calls Zachariah to thank him for helping her and she intends to finish him off to wipe the slate clean. Zachariah tactfully arrests her for killing Raghavan and Nambiar by acting friendly, where he also rescues the workers from the brothel and in the end he helps Susan who was a sex worker at the brothel to come out of her immoral life and accepted her as his wife since she loved him and they move back to Kerala together.

Cast

• Mammootty as Rajan Zachariah aka Kariyachan, Circle Inspector of Police
• Sampath Raj as Parameshwaran Nambiar
• Neha Saxena as Susan Rajan Zachariah
• Jagadish as Sub-inspector (S. I.) Mukundan
• Varalaxmi Sarathkumar as Kamala
• Maqbool Salmaan as Jagan
• Sandeep Narayanan as a Goon
• Shaheen Siddique as Arjun
• Siddique as IGP Chandrashekhar IPS, Arjun's father and Zachariah's superior officer
• Rakendu as Professor Jacob
• Alencier Ley Lopez as Thankachan, Kamala's father
• Biju Pappan as C.I. Raghavan, a corrupt and cruel cop
• Jennifer Antony as Pavizham, S. I. Mukundan's wife
• Abu Salim as Pazhani
• Sasi Kalinga as Linguswamy
• Chinnu Kuruvila

Production

In January 2016, it was reported that Mammootty would star in Nithin Renji Panicker's directorial debut, the son of Malayalam screenwriter Renji Panicker. ^{[6] [8]} Raai Laxmi was earlier reported to be as the heroine, ^[9] but later Varalaxmi Sarathkumar was confirmed to be part of the film.

The filming commenced in February 2016,^{[ citation needed ]} and the unit filmed in locations of Kozhikode, Kolar Gold Fields and Pazhani. The filming ended in April. ^[10]

Release

The film was scheduled for an Eid release, on 7 July. ^[11] The film's teaser has become one of the most viewed Malayalam film teaser, by completing 5.1 Lakhs (510,000) "real-time" views in 24 hours. ^{[12] [13]} At the time, the Kasaba teaser was the fastest Malayalam teaser to cross the 1 million mark, doing so in four days. ^{[14] [15]}

The film is available to stream with English subtitles on Sun NXT. ^[16]

Controversies

On 19 July 2016, Kerala Women's Commission sent court notices to actor Mammootty, director Nitin Panicker, and producer Alice George for allegedly portraying women in poor light in the film. ^[17] Commission chairperson, K C Rosakutty Teacher, said that the film used dialogues which were "insulting to womanhood in general". She added, "In the name of freedom of expression, women cannot be insulted whether it is for character or else". When an actor like Mammootty involves in such projects, it may lead to a "dangerous acceptance" of such actions and remarks in the society. The Commission also sent a report to AMMA and Malayalam Cine Technicians Association with a request to revise the film's certification. ^{[18] [19]}

In one of the most controversial scenes in the film, the rogue police officer character portrayed by Mammootty, walks over to a female police officer, pulls at her belt and tells her that he can make her miss her menstrual cycle. This scene came under severe criticism right from the film's release. In December 2017, specifically referring to this scene, actress Parvathy criticised the film as having misogynistic dialogue. She faced threats by a section of Mammootty fans, after which she filed a police complaint on 26 December. ^{[20] [21] [22]} Several people came in support of Parvathy and the controversy sparked a discussion on misogyny in the entire film industry of Kerala, with several actresses mainly under the aegis of Women in Cinema Collective, came to the front questioning the male dominance in Malayalam cinema. ^[23]

Responding to the criticism, Panicker remained undeterred and felt the sequence in question was misinterpreted. He claimed this was a needless controversy, and if he were to direct the film again, he would not change anything, and definitely not the said controversial sequence. ^[24]

Box office

The film received mixed reviews from the critics and was declared an average venture at the box office. ^[25] The movie collected ₹2.43 crore (US$290,000) in Kerala on its first day. ^{[26] [27] [28]} The film collected ₹7.35 crore (US$880,000) from first four days, ^[29] and ₹8.18 crore (US$980,000) from first five days of release at the Kerala box office. ^[30] The film collected ₹10.44 crore (US$1.3 million) in nine days of its theatrical run in Kerala, ^[31] and ₹14.37 crore (US$1.7 million) in its final run. ^{[3] [32]}

Possible sequel

Four years after the film's release, the film's producer Joby George hinted at a possible sequel. ^[33]

References

1. "Mammootty's Kasaba Gets A Release Date". Filmi Beat. 24 May 2016. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
2. "Top 10 highest grossing Mollywood movies of 2016". OnManorama. 5 December 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
3. James, Anu (8 August 2016). "Kerala box office collection: 'Vismayam', 'Ann Maria Kalippilaanu' and 'Guppy' perform well". IB Times. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
4. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (12 March 2016). "Mammootty is busy filming Kasaba". The Times of India . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
5. "#CatchExclusive: Neha Saxena (actress) to debut in Malayalam films with Mammootty's Kasaba Police" . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
6. "'Kasaba': Mammootty's next with Renji Panicker's son starts rolling" . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
7. James, Anu (8 July 2016). "'Kasaba' first day box office collection: Mammootty-starrer breaks Dulquer Salmaan's 'Kali' record". International Business Times, India Edition.
8. George, Anjana (2 January 2016). "Mammootty in Nithin Renji Panicker's debut directorial". The Times of India . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
9. "Home". metromatinee.com Lifestyle Entertainment & Sports.
10. "Mammootty's Kasaba shoot wrapped up. Movie set for Ramadan release" . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
11. "Mollywood big Eid clash: Mohanlal's Pulimurugan and Mammootty's Kasaba Police set to fight at Box Office" . Retrieved 17 June 2016.
12. "Mammootty's 'Kasaba' teaser breaks record of Mohanlal's 'Pulimurugan' in 24 hours". International Business Times . 27 June 2016.
13. "റെക്കോർഡുകൾ സൃഷ്ടിച്ച് കസബ ടീസർ..." Malayala Manorama . 27 June 2016.
14. "റിലീസിന് മുന്‍പേ റെക്കോഡുകള്‍ വാരിക്കൂട്ടി മമ്മൂട്ടിയുടെ കസബ..." 30 June 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
15. "മമ്മൂട്ടി കാക്കിയിട്ടപ്പോള്‍ കസബ കസറി, യൂട്യൂബില്‍ പുതിയ റെക്കോര്‍ഡ്". Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
16. "Watch Kasaba (Malayalam) Full Movie Online". Sun NXT .
17. "Women's Commission issues notice to Kasaba makers, Mammootty". Hindustan Times. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
18. "Mammooty receives Women's Commission notice over 'Kasaba's' poor portrayal of women". Firspost. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
19. "Mammootty pulled up for 'Kasaba' remarks". The Times of India. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
20. "Parvathy Hits Back at Mammootty Fans Who Trolled Her For Criticising Kasaba". News18. 14 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
21. "Dear Malayalam film industry 'uncles', 'Kasaba' is terrible and Parvathy is right". The News Minute. 15 December 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
22. Ghosh, Samrudhi (30 December 2017). "Parvathy on Mammootty's response to Kasaba row: I leave it to him to decide what works for him". India Today. Retrieved 31 December 2017.
23. "Trapped in boxes drawn by misogyny, when will women in Malayalam cinema break free on screen?". The News Minute . 22 March 2017.
24. "I Wouldn't Change A Thing About 'Kasaba': Nithin Renji Panicker". Film Companion . 23 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
25. "It's confirmed! Suresh Gopi and Gokul Suresh join hands for Lelam 2". International Business Times . 3 March 2019. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
26. "'Sultan' vs 'Kasaba': Here's the box office collection report of Eid releases at Kochi multiplexes". International Business Times . 11 July 2016.
27. "Rajinikanth smashes box office records in Kerala as 'Kabali' scorches screens". Malayala Manorama . 24 July 2016.
28. "Jomonte Suvisheshangal Kerala box office: Dulquer Salmaan-starrer surpasses Kasaba first day collection; Pulimurugan still on top". International Business Times . 20 January 2017.
29. "'Kasaba' box office: Here's the first weekend (4 days) collection report of Mammootty-starrer". International Business Times . 12 July 2016.
30. "Kerala box office: 'Anuraga Karikkin Vellam,' 'Karinkunnam 6's' and 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' continue run". International Business Times . 14 July 2016.
31. "Kerala box office: 'Kasaba', 'Shajahanum Pareekuttiyum' biggest grossers among Eid releases". International Business Times . 18 July 2016.
32. "Mollywood 2016". International Business Times . 29 December 2016.
33. "Mammootty's Kasaba completes 4 years, makers hint at sequel". India Today . 7 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.

External links

• Kasaba at IMDb