Kasargold

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Kasargold
Kasargold 2023 Malayalam film poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMridul Nair
Written by
  • Mridul Nair
  • Sajimon Prabhakar
Produced by
  • Vikram Mehra
  • Siddharth Anand Kumar
  • Suraj Kumar
  • Rinny Divakar
Starring
CinematographyJebin Jacob
Edited byManoj Kannoth
Music byScore:
Vishnu Vijay
Production
companies
Release date
  • 15 September 2023 (2023-09-15) [1]
Running time
137 minutes [2]
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Box officeest. 2.10 crore [3]

Kasargold is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Mridul Nair and produced by Yoodlee Films. It stars Asif Ali, Sunny Wayne and Vinayakan in the lead roles.

Contents

Principal photography began in September 2022 in Payyanur. [4] The film has music composed by Vishnu Vijay and Niranj Suresh, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Jebin Jacob and Manoj Kannoth.

Kasargold was theatrically released on 15 September 2023 and received mixed reviews from critics. [5] [6]

Plot

The movie starts with a man telling his son a bedtime story.

The scene shifts to a town in Kasaragod, where a few men are enjoying on a beach. One of them stays inside the car with his girlfriend, and they start engaging in sexual activities. A boy from the area captures a video of them on his phone, and when they find out about it, they confront the boy. The boy's friends show up, and they get into a fight with the men. The men fail to get a hold of the phone. Later that night, his father, Narayanan, who is the local party secretary, sends his men over and gets the boys killed at their home to stop the video from circulating in the media.

Alby, a short-tempered man, and his girlfriend Nancy smuggle gold to Kanhangad via Kannur International Airport for Moosa Haji, a jewelery owner. On the way back, they meet with an accident as they hit a jeep driven by Faizal. They get into a fight, and Nancy gets out of the car to stop them. They eventually part ways and go their own way. As they're driving, Nancy notices that the gold is missing. Alby gets angry at the missing gold and tells Moosa about the situation. He sends his men with Alby, and they search for Faizal. They find Faizal's house and ask his mother where he is, to which she replies that he has gone to Trivandrum to get his wife's certificates. Meanwhile, Faizal gets on a train and gets down at Kasargod along with the missing gold, which his aides had stolen earlier from the car. He plans to take a bus to Sullia and sell the gold over there, but he finds out that it's a harthal day and there are no buses available, so in the meantime, he books a room in a lodge and stays there. Over there, he is attacked by a few people at night, but they find nothing and leave him alone. The next day, someone knocks on his door. When he opens it, he finds Alby standing in front of him. Alby goes inside the room, and instead of attacking Faizal, he acts friendly with him. It is revealed that the entire operation was planned by Alby and Faizal together, and Faizal is Alby's friend.

In a flashback, it is shown that Alby was ordered to pick up a man named Mohammed from the airport. Mohammedikka had been working in Dubai, but he wasn't able to save anything and was returning to India the same way he had left for Dubai. However, he was carrying gold worth ₹80 lakhs, and he was supposed to sell the gold to Moosa and take the money. Alby was sent to help Mohammedikka with that. However, two other people sent by Firoz take the gold from Mohammedikka by posing as Moosa's men. When Mohammedikka gets to know that he has been cheated, he gets out of the car and goes to the police station to file a complaint, and Alby loses track of him. Later, Firoz finds Alby and gets into his car. Then, he tells Alby to go where he tells him to go and points a gun at Alby. Alby fears for his life and follows Firoz's instructions. They stop at a shop on the roadside and ask the owner whether he saw Mohammedikka. The shop owner says that Mohammedikka had committed suicide by jumping in front of a train sometime earlier. Firoz gets scared and tells Alby to leave the place. Later, they attend Mohammedikka's funeral, where his son Faizal finds out that Alby had a role in the death of his father and attacks him. He makes Faizal understand that it's Firoz and his men who are behind this, and since then, they've been plotting revenge against Firoz together.

Meanwhile, Moosa finds out that Alby is behind everything, and he consults with Narayanan and sends CI Alex to find and bring back Alby and Faizal. Meanwhile, Alby and Faizal try to sell the gold in Kanhangad, but they almost get caught and escape from there. Then they leave for Goa until everything cools down. There, they meet Vishnu and his friends. Alby introduces himself and Faizal as James and Muneer and soon starts partying with them. Vishnu tells Alby that his father owns jewelery in Kasaragod. Alby discusses selling the gold to Vishnu's father, but Vishnu tells Alby that his and his father's views about business don't match and rejects the idea. In the meantime, Alex tracks them down and reaches Goa. He breaks into their room and attacks them, but they manage to escape from there as well. Then, Alby and the gang go to a hotel and chill over there, but a few thugs arrive there and try to attack them. They all manage to escape, but Vijayan, Vishnu's friend, gets attacked in the fight. They hope Vijayan will join them later, and Vishnu takes all of them to a small hideout in a secluded forest. Vishnu and the others tell Alby and Faizal that he had decided to start a resort there, but the project never took off. Vishnu finds out that they are out of kerosene to start a fire, so Faizal goes to a nearby house to get some kerosene. Over there, he sees in the news that Vishnu and his gang members are not who they claim to be. In fact, Vishnu is actually Suresh, Narayanan's nephew, who killed those boys earlier.

Faizal goes back and informs Alby. Suresh and his gang attack Alby and Faizal, but Alby and Faizal manage to hit them back, and they end up killing Vishnu and his gang. As the sun rises, Alex arrives at the location and shoots both Faizal and Alby. But the police arrive at the scene and arrest Alex, as he is a suspended official. Faizal dies in the shootout, but Alby manages to survive and sends a note to Alex in jail saying that he's coming for him.

Cast

Production

Development

Kasargold is Asif Ali and Mridul Nair's second collaboration after B.Tech. [7] [8] It is also the third Malayalam project of Yoodlee Films, a Saregama subsidiary, following Padavettu and Kaapa . [9] [10] According to director Mridul Nair, the film was originally scheduled to shoot during the second COVID-19 lockdown phase, but it was later pushed back due to pandemic restrictions. [11] [12]

Filming

The principal photography began with a switch-on ceremony performed by MLA T. I. Madhusoodanan in Payyanur on 26 September 2022. [13] [14] The first clap was given by Ratheesh Balakrishnan Poduval, who is the director of Nna Thaan Case Kodu . [15] [16]

Marketing

During Asif Ali's birthday on 4 February 2023, Dulquer Salmaan revealed the film's motion poster featuring Asif Ali, Sunny Wayne and Vinayakan through social media. [17] The official teaser of the film was unveiled by Prithviraj, Tovino Thomas and Unni Mukundan through their social media handles on 14 July 2023. [18]

Music

Kasargold
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedMarch 23, 2023 (2023-03-23)
Venue
Studio
  • K7 Studios
  • 2 Bar Q Studios
Genre Feature film soundtrack
Length10:26
LanguageMalayalam
Label Saregama
Producer
  • Vishnu Vijay
  • Niranj Suresh

The songs are composed by Vishnu Vijay and Niranj Suresh, and the background score is composed by Vishnu Vijay. [19] On 23 March 2023, the first single titled "Thanaro" was released, composed by Niranj Suresh and written by Vaisakh Sugunan. [20] [21]

No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Thanaro"Vaisakh SugunanNiranj SureshNiranj Suresh & Thankachan Abhi4:01
2."Alaye"Mu.Ri.Vishnu Vijay Benny Dayal & Vishnu Vijay3:32
3."I'm A Gold" Vinayak Sasikumar Niranj Suresh Arjun Ashokan 2:53

Release

Theatrical

Kasargold was censored with a U/A certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification. [22] The film was released on 15 September 2023. [23] [24]

Home media

The digital rights were obtained by Netflix and began streaming it on 13 October 2023. [25] [26]

Reception

Critical response

S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "Filmmaker Mirdul Nair, who debuted with B. Tech more than five years back, is content with exploring paths which have already been trodden several times by other filmmakers." [27] Anna Mathews of The Times of India gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kasargold is engaging with a thrilling story and excellent acting, but you can't help feeling that it could have been gold, but isn't quite 24 carat." [28] Cris of The News Minute gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Perhaps, if the writing had left a few stones unturned and been clearer of its stand, Kasargold could have been more enjoyable." [29]

Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote "Though Kasargold had enough to create a memorable actioner, the film disappoints due to sloppy writing." [30] Swathi P. Ajith of Onmanorama wrote "While Kasargold may not feature the typical mass scenes, it successfully captivates the audience, largely due to the evocative score by Vishnu Vijay. The film adheres to the characteristic aesthetics of a new-gen movie, with a distinct, eye-catching set design in numerous scenes." [31] Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTPlay gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Mridul Nair's Kasargold works because the makers seem to have been clear about what they wanted to accomplish with a movie like this – provide a theatrical experience to the audience by never letting the pace of the film slack. For most parts, they succeed." [32]

Sajin Shrijith of The New Indian Express gave 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote "Kasargold is a fairly gripping, anxiety-inducing thriller that succeeds at creating a sense of claustrophobia, despite being set outdoors, by the time it gets to the closing credits." [33] Arjun Ramachandran of The South First gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Kasargold is a story that's inspired by the gold smuggling cases reported in Kerala. Brilliant action sequences and Asif Ali's swag make it a worthy watch." [34] Vishal Menon of Film Companion wrote "Without committing entirely to its otherworldly pitch or its tense starting point, Kasargold remains stuck somewhere in the middle." [35]

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Navya Nair is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Malayalam cinema along with Kannada and Tamil language films. She is the recipient of two Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress, the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam and the Kalaimamani Award for her contribution to Tamil cinema. After making her debut in the film Ishtam (2001), she went on to star in several successful films including, Mazhathullikkilukkam (2002), Nandanam (2002), Kalyanaraman (2002), Kunjikoonan (2002), Pattanathil Sundaran (2002), Chathikkatha Chanthu (2004) and Pandippada (2005) establishing herself as one of the leading actresses of Malayalam Cinema in the 2000s.

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