''August Club'', also called ''August Club Since 1969'',
[ is a 2013 ]Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
romantic drama film
Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion (emotion), passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typica ...
directed by K. B. Venu.It tells the story about the nuances in marital life. The film's screenplay is written by Anantha Padmanabhan and is based on his novelette titled ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal''.[ ''August Club'' marked the debut of both K. B. Venu and Anantha Padmanabhan. The film was produced by V S Atheesh.
]
Plot
''August Club'' is a woman-centric film told from the point of view of Savithri, a young upper middle class housewife. She is the unrivalled chess champion of a nearby local club. She shares a loving and sensual relationship with her husband Nandan, who is a busy business executive. A new member Shishir joins the club and defeats Savithri in the game of chess. Shishir, also a lover of music and poetry like Savitri, is drawn to her.
Cast
* Rima Kallingal
Rima Kallingal is an Indian actress and film producer who mainly appears in Malayalam films. She made her Malayalam film debut with '' Ritu'' (2009). She married to the Malayalam film director Aashiq Abu in 2013.
Early Life and Career
Born in Th ...
as Savithri
* Murali Gopy
Gopynathan Velayudhan Nair Muralikrishnan (born 4 March 1972), professionally credited as Murali Gopy, is an Indian actor-screenwriter, producer, author, singer, lyricist, music composer and journalist. He has written critically acclaimed films ...
as Nandagopan
* Thilakan
Palappurathu Kesavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appearan ...
as KPT Menon
* Praveen Anidil as Shishir
* Sukumari
Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, Tam ...
as Bhagavati Amma
* Mala Aravindan
Mala Aravindan (15 January 1939 – 28 January 2015) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his work as a comedian and character artist in Malayalam films. He has acted in over 500 films.
Early life
He was born in Vadavucode, Ernakulam d ...
as Lazar
* K. P. A. C. Lalitha
Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in Malyalam. She started her acting career with K. P. A. C., a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a caree ...
as Nandan's Amma
* Rakendu
* Sunil Sukhada
Sunil Sukhada is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He debuted in a small role in the film '' Best Actor''. His first full length role was as the supermarket manager in '' Chappa Kurishu'' (2011). He won a special mention in the Kerala state ...
as Lona
* Monisha Sagar as Leena Zacharias
* Sasi Kalinga
V. Chandrakumar, better known by his stage name Sasi Kalinga, was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in '' Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' (2009), ''Pranchiyettan & the Saint'' (2010), ''Indian Rupee ...
as Cheru
* Unni Thrippunithura as Appan
* Arun as Kishore
* Ganapathi S Poduval
Ganapathi S. Poduval is an Indian actor who entered the Malayalam film industry as a child actor. He is well known for his roles in the movies ''Vinodayathra'' and ''Pranchiyettan & The Saint''. He also played a major role in the movie ''Chit ...
as Benny
* Esther Anil
Esther Anil is an Indian actress who works primarily in the Malayalam-language films. She debuted her career as a child artist through the film '' Nallavan'' in 2010. She is best known for her role as Anumol George (Anu) in the 2013 drama-thril ...
* Krishna
Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...
* Cherthala Lalitha as Reetha
* Tovino Thomas
Tovino Thomas (born 21 January 1989) is an Indian actor and film producer who prominently works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film ''Prabhuvinte Makkal''. His breakthrough roles were in the films ''ABCD'' (2013), '' 7t ...
as Mahesh (Cameo appearance)
Production
The film is journalist-turned television personality K. B. Venu's directorial debut. It is also the debut attempt at screen-writing for Anantha Padmanabhan, son of writer and filmmaker Padmarajan
P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, a ...
.
The film is based on the novelette ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal'' which was published in the ''Malayala Manorama
''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...
'' ''Vishuppathippu''. "When I wrote ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal'', I never thought of converting it into a movie. It was Lal Jose
Lal Jose is an Indian director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Direc ...
, my friend, who discovered an inherent cinematic probability," says Ananda Padmanabhan. Though the film is true to the original story, minor modifications have been introduced to broaden its cinematic scope. While the story begins in an urban setting, the narrative meanders to a village of chess players. The inspiration is from Marottichal
Marottichal Waterfalls is a popular tourist attraction located in Puthoor Panchayat in Thrissur district of Kerala.
Marottichal is about 20 km away from Thrissur town. There are two popular waterfalls in this area, one is named as Olakkayam Wa ...
, a village in Thrissur
Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...
, which is famous for its chess-playing population. The scenarist says, "Though the subtleties of chess were not fully utilised in my novel in order to make it simple for the readers to comprehend, some shrewd complexities have been introduced to the script."
The film was initially titled ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal'' itself but was later renamed as ''August Club'' which in the movie is a club where the main protagonists meet. K. B. Venu says, "We felt it created bit of a confusion. When the title was written in English, the meaning was altered. Though the name is poetic, we felt it didn't communicate well to the public. So, we decided to change. August Club is a club in the movie where the main protagonists meet. We felt it's catchy and does connect to the movie."
The film was launched on 21 May 2012 with a pooja ceremony which was attended by the crew members along with other actors and major filmmakers including K G George, Mohan, Lal Jose, Murali Gopi, Priyanandan, K. P. A. C. Lalitha
Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha, was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in Malyalam. She started her acting career with K. P. A. C., a theatre collective in Kayamkulam, Kerala. In a caree ...
and B. Unnikrishnan
Unnikrishnan B (born 14 August 1970) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, distributor and exhibitor who works in the Malayalam film industry.
Early life
Unnikrishnan. B. was born on 14 August 1970 in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala, I ...
. Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
for the film started in June 2012 and took place entirely at Alappuzha
Alappuzha or Alleppey () is the administrative headquarters of Alappuzha district in States and territories of India, state of Kerala, India. The Kerala Backwaters, Backwaters of Alappuzha are one of the most popular tourist attractions in Indi ...
in Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...
.[
]
Music
The film's music was composed by the music director duo Bennet Veetraag with lyrics penned by Rafeeq Ahmed
Rafeeq Ahmed (born 17 December 1961) is a Malayalam poet, lyricist and novelist. He has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry and is a five-time winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics. With more than 600 songs in his cr ...
. "It's gonna be a different feel altogether in this movie," said Veetraag of the duo. There were three songs and Bennet sang two songs. The other singers include Shreya Ghoshal, Srinivas Srinivasa (Sanskrit ) is a Hindu name. The term Srinivasa is Vaishnava in origin, the combination of two Sanskrit words, ''Shri'' (श्री) and ''nivasa'' (निवास).
It is a name for males in India as well as a family surname. Shriniv ...
, Vijay Prakash
Vijay Prakash (born 21 February 1976) is an Indian Playback singer and also a Music Composer from Karnataka. He has given his voice for predominantly Kannada and Telugu language films. In addition, he has also sung in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam an ...
, and Veetraag. Thilakan's son Shobi Thilakan has sung a few lines for Thilakan. Jaya Kerr, who just won the worldwide singing competition, sang in this movie for song of "Vaathil Charumo" along with Srinivas Srinivasa (Sanskrit ) is a Hindu name. The term Srinivasa is Vaishnava in origin, the combination of two Sanskrit words, ''Shri'' (श्री) and ''nivasa'' (निवास).
It is a name for males in India as well as a family surname. Shriniv ...
.
Critical reception
K. Padmakumar of ''Malayala Manorama
''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...
'' gave the film a 2/5 rating, and said, "The limitations of stretching a small story into a full length movie is always visible" and that "No curiosity is generated till late after half time". Paresh C Palicha writing for Rediff.com
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
said that the film is "rich in subtext and distinctive characters, hichmakes for an interesting watch", but was disappointed with a predictable climax. Unni R. Nair of Kerala9.com stated that "''August Club'' stands out as a well-made and well scripted film, with neat, excellent performances by the key players." He labelled the film's screenplay as a "striking" one, background score as "one of the highlights of the film" and the songs as "too good", rating the film 3 of 5.
References
{{reflist
2013 films
2010s Malayalam-language films
Films based on Indian novels
Films shot in Alappuzha
2013 directorial debut films
Films scored by Bennet Veetraag