The principal photography commenced in October 2023. Coimbatore, Idukki and Chennai were the filming locations. It was wrapped up on 18 February 2024. The music was composed by Christo Xavier, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Vishnu Sarma and Shameer Muhammed respectively.[4]
Turbo was theatrically released on 23 May 2024 to mixed reviews from critics. It was criticised for its formulaic plot and screenplay, however the direction by Vishakh, music and background, action sequences and cast performances drew praise.[5] The film was a commercial success as well as tenth highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year.[6]
Plot
Aruvipurathu Jose aliasTurboJose, a jeep driver from Idukki with a habit of getting involved in fights, learns that his best friend Jerry, a bank manager in Chennai, was attacked by henchmen sent by the family of his girlfriend Indulekha, who is also a bank manager of a different bank. Jose arrives at Indulekha's house and stops her engagement, where he takes Indulekha to Jerry's house. However, Jerry refuses to accept Indulekha due to fear of his family and Indulekha goes to Chennai for her job.
Jose learns that Indulekha's family have filed a case against him, where he leaves for Chennai and persuades her to return home. However, Jose decides to stay at Chennai after learning that he will be imprisoned. On Jose's request, Indulekha helps him find a job at Andrew, a rich car dealer, and Jose works as Andrew's bodyguard. Jose manages to reunite Indulekha with her family.
Meanwhile, Jerry gets informed by her colleague Sithara that an anonymous person from the bank had used Jerry's passkey to transfer a huge amount of money to inactive accounts registered under other people's names. Jerry begins the investigation with Sithara, where he learns about the real mastermind behind the scam: Vetrivel Shanmugha Sundaram, a ruthless and charismatic kingmaker, who has been manipulating the banking system to provide money to ruling party MLAs in order to shift their loyalties.
Jerry learns that Vetrivel's main bank account is in Indulekha's bank, where he tries to inform and warn Indulekha about the scam, but Indulekha doesn't listen to him as she hasn't forgiven his rejection. Vetrivel learns that Jerry has learnt about his scam and soon kills Jerry. Jerry's death is termed as suicide in the autopsy report by Vetrivel. Later, Indulekha and Jose learn about Vetrivel's scam and his involvement in Jerry's death.
Indulekha complains to the police, but the police are under Vetrivel's payroll and tries to kill her. However, Jose rescues Indulekha by thrashing the cops and they escape, where a cat and mouse game ensues in which Jose and Indulekha manages to save their family, consisting of Jose's mother Rosakutty and Indulekha's sister Niranjana, with the help of Auto Billa, Andrew, and Dilli Babu. Jose and Indulekha exposes Vetrivel's scam and Jose kills Vetrivel using a fish-slicing machine at Vetrivel's fishery factory.
in a post-credit scene, Jose, Indulekha, Rosakutty and Niranjana return to Idukki. They receive a parcel containing Andrew's severed head with a letter sent by Vetrivel's business partner, who wages a war against Jose for Vetrivel's death.
Cast
Mammootty as Aruvipurathu Jose / Turbo Jose (Josettayi)
Vijay Sethupathi as Vetrivel's business partner (post-credits; voice role)
Production
Development
The film was officially announced on 24 October 2023, titled Turbo as the fifth production venture under Mammootty's banner Mammootty Kampany.[7]Turbo marks Vysakh's third film with Mammootty after their successful collaboration of Pokkiri Raja (2009) and Madhura Raja (2019).[8] This is the fifth film for Mammootty's home banner, following Rorschach (2022) Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2022), Kaathal - The Core (2023) and Kannur Squad (2023). The film is written by Midhun Manuel Thomas reuniting with Mammootty after Abraham Ozler (2024).[9]
The film will be edited by Shameer Muhammed while cinematography will be done by Vishnu Sarma. The action director will be Phoenix Prabhu. There were reports that Turbo would be a sequel of Mammootty's action comedy film Kottayam Kunjachan (1990) and the film would be titled Adi Pidi Jose. However, Mammootty in an interview with Asianet News said that it is not the title of the film and neither it has any connection with Kottayam Kunjachan. Justin Varghese was the composer during the announcement, but he replaced was by Christo Xavier. Dulquer Salmaan's Wayfarer Films will distribute the film in India.[10][11]
Casting
Anjana Jayaprakash was cast as the female lead in the film who takes on the role of Indulekha. The film would focus around her character.[12] In November 2023, Kannada actor Raj B Shetty was cast to feature a significant role in the film marking his debut in Malayalam cinema.[13] Telugu actor Sunil was cast in his Malayalam cinema debut.[14] In May 2024, Kabir Duhan Singh was announced to be part of the cast.[15] The cast of the film also includes Shabareesh Varma, Dileesh Pothan, Bindu Panicker, Amina Nijam, and Niranjana Anoop among others.[16]
Filming
The principal photography commenced in October 2023 on the occasion of Vijayadashami and was planned for a shot of 100 days.[17] Initial filming took place in Coimbatore.[18] Mammootty joined the shoot on November 3, 2023.[19] The shooting was shifted to the scenic locales of Idukki in December 2023.[20] The final schedule happened in Chennai.[21] The filming was wrapped up on 18 February 2024.[22]Turbo was made on a budget of around ₹70 crore.[23][24][25]
Music
Initially, Justin Varghese was signed in for the music and background score for the film. Later, some schedule issues led to the signing of Christo Xavier as the music and the score composer. The lyrics was written by Vinayak Sasikumar, Vaisakh Sugunan and SVDP. The track "Turbo Trailer Theme", which released on 12 May 2024.[26] The first single "Burnout The Engine" was released on 29 May 2024.[27] The second single "Maayika Maname" was released on 5 June 2024.[28]
The digital streaming and satellite rights were bought by SonyLIV and Zee Keralam.[31][32] The film was premiered in Sony LIV on 9 August 2024.[33]
Reception
Box office
On its opening day Turbo earned ₹6.25 crore from Kerala. The film grossed ₹3.40 crore in India on 23 May 2024.[34] On its second day, the film grossed ₹8.1 crore worldwide, making a total of ₹15.50 crore.[35] In its first week, the film grossed ₹58 crore worldwide, ₹29.5 crore from India and ₹28.5 crore from overseas.[36] The film ended its box office run by earning around ₹72.50 crores worldwide.[3]
Critical response
Anna Mathews of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Mammootty, like Malayalam cinema, is at an energetic high. There is a clue about a part two and this is a sequel that audiences will be waiting for."[37] Goutham S of Pinkvilla gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "The 2-and-a-half-hour flick would surely satisfy many movie lovers who are craving an out-and-out action movie. On a side note, for anyone who is a fan of Jawan or Tamil cinema in particular, make sure to stick around for the tail-end for a surprise, potentially leading to a sequel."[38]
Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTplay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Mammootty aces the five action scenes in Vysakh's directorial, but it doesn't rise above that. The generic script and a weak villain robs Turbo off the power to deliver a knockout punch."[39] Janani K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "'Turbo' is a predictable action drama with a few quirks in the bag that make it a watchable affair."[40]
Arjun Menon of Rediff rated 2.5/5 stars and wrote "While Turbo may not break new ground, it serves as a testament to Mammootty's unwavering allure, captivating audiences across generations."[41] Anandu Suresh of The New Indian Express rated 2/5 stars and wrote "Even as the script drags on endlessly, Vysakh's movie is predominantly salvaged by Mammootty's no-holds-barred performance, operating in top gear, complemented by Raj B Shetty's remarkable presence as the villain."[42]
Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "The movie uses an interplay of comedy and fights to move from one situation to the next. Unfortunately, most of the comedy falls flat so it's up to the fight sequences to save the day".[43] S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "Vysakh's ‘Turbo’ will be remembered for recycling all the old tropes that have been part of its genre since time immemorial and for its reluctance to try anything new."[44]
Lakshmi Priya of The News Minute wrote, "Credit to the stunt and VFX teams and to cinematographer Vishnu Sharma, some of the stunt and chase sequences in Turbo are exhilarating, with Mammootty once again in his element as an action hero. Despite the occasional letdowns, the music and background score by Christo Xavier also live up to the film's energy for the most part, amping up the thrills that the stunts seek to deliver."[45] Arjun Menon of Film Companion wrote, "The action entertainer holds much promise through its leading man's charisma but the meandering writing fails to impress. "[46]
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