''Big B'' (short form of ''Big Brother'') is a 2007 Indian

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 ...

-language

neo-noir Neo-noir is a revival of film noir, a genre that had originally flourished during the post-World War II era in the United Statesroughly from 1940 to 1960. The French term, ''film noir'', translates literally to English as "black film", indicating ...

action thriller film Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...

co-written and directed by

Amal Neerad Amal Neerad (born on 7 October 1976) is an Indian film director, cinematographer and Film producer, producer who mainly works in Malayalam Cinema. He attended the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata (first batch). He was awarded ...

, starring

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

in the lead role with an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

including Manoj K. Jayan, Bala, Sumit Naval,

Mamtha Mohandas Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer of Cinema of Kerala, Malayalam film industry, she has also worked in Tamil cinema, Tamil and Cinema of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu productions. She has acted in more than 50 f ...

Nafisa Ali Nafisa Ali (born 18 January 1957) is an Indian actress and politician from All India Trinamool Congress and a social activist. Early life Nafisa Ali was born in Kolkata, the daughter of Ahmed Ali, a Bengali Muslim man and Philomena Torresan, ...

Pasupathy Pasupathy (born 5 September 1967) is an Indian actor. He appeared in critically acclaimed roles in many noted films in Tamil cinema, playing supporting, antagonistic, comedic as well as protagonistic roles. His performance in '' E'' (2006) ear ...

Shereveer Vakil Shereveer Vakil is an Indian actor and gym trainer. Vakil had worked in many films such as '' James'' (2005) and ''Welcome'' (2007) and he had played a villain role in the Malayalam movie '' Big B'' (2007). Besides, Vakil has worked earlier as ...

Innocent Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is to the lack of legal guilt of an individual, with respect to a crime. In other contexts, it is a lack of experience. In relation ...

and

Vijayaraghavan Vijayaraghavan (born 20 December 1951) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is popular for his character roles. He is the son of popular drama and cinema artist N. N. Pillai. He got his break by playing the icon ...

in supporting roles. The cinematography was done by

Sameer Thahir Sameer C. Thahir ISC (born 7 November 1976) is an Indian cinematographer, screenwriter, and film director and producer who works mainly in the Malayalam cinema while also having worked in a few Tamil films. He is a graduate of Maharajas ...

, songs were composed by

Alphonse Joseph Alphonse Joseph is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Alphonse Joseph Georges (1875-1951), French army officer * Alphonse Joseph Glorieux (1844–1917), Belgian missionary Roman Catholic bishop See also * Alphonse (disambi ...

and background score by

Gopi Sundar Gopi Sundar C. S. (born 30 May 1977) is an Indian music director, programmer, playback singer, songwriter, actor and performer who works prominently in Malayalam, Telugu and Tamil film industries. He started his career composing music for tele ...

. It is heavily inspired from the 2005 Hollywood film '' Four Brothers''. Big B is considered as a pathbreaking film in the history of Malayalam cinema, which introduced a new style of making and has later attained a huge

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

. A sequel titled ''Bilal'' was announced by

on 17 November 2017 and is in pre-production.

Plot

The plot begins with the cold-blooded murder of Mary John Kurishingal. Her adopted sons arrive for her funeral from various places: Bilal John Kurishingal- a gangster, Eddy John kurishingal- a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

owner, Murugan John Kurishingal – an action choreographer in

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

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 Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

to receive information about the killers. They piece the evidence together and find out that the murder was committed by two professional assassins from

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

. Balaji Shakthivel, an upright ACP, along with CI George are put in charge of Mary's murder case, who begins the investigation, but cannot fetch any evidence to prove anything related. They soon find out that the murder was one of the many meticulously planned operations, aimed to check the teacher's intrusions into unlawful exporting of children from

. The unlawful operations are actually handled by

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

and his henchman, an underworld don called ''Sayippu'' Tony. Bilal and his brothers takes up arms to avenge the murder. Meanwhile, Bilal makes Tommy accept the relationship between Murugan and Rimy. One night, Bijo gets killed by Tony's henchmen. However, Bilal shoots one of the henchmen and learns that Tony is the brain behind the series of crimes. Later, Tony kills Shakthivel and warns the Mayor to obey his instructions. Bilal orders Eddy and Murugan to talk to Tony for knowing his demands. Pandi Asi, one of Tony's men joins Bilal and his brothers as he seeks vengeance on Tony, where they also become successful in keeping George (who was Tony's sidekick) on their side. Bilal threatens Mayor that he will expose his corruptive plans to the whole media, which causes the Mayor to shoot and kill himself. George files this as a suicide in order to save Bilal from the case. Eddy and Murugan are called up to an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

by Tony and his henchmen drops them there. Tony arrives and opens up to Eddy about his plans to kill Bilal and 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 under the 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

as Bilal John Kurishingal *

Manoj K Jayan Manoj Kadampoothramadom Jayan also known as Manoj K.Jayan is an Indian actor of Malayalam and Tamil films. He has also done a few Telugu and Kannada films and has also acted in a Bollywood film. Manoj has won three Kerala State Film Award for ...

as Eddy John Kurishingal * Bala as Murugan John Kurishingal * Sumit Naval as Bijo John Kurishingal *

as Mary John Kurishingal *

as ACP Balaji Sakthivel IPS *

as Sayip Tony *

as Tommy Parekkadan, Rimi's Father *

Mamta Mohandas Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer of Malayalam film industry, she has also worked in Tamil and Telugu productions. She has acted in more than 50 films and won several accolades including two Filmfare Awar ...

as Rimi Tommy, Murugan's love interest *

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

as Celina, Eddy's wife *

as CI George *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

Venu * Manasa as Bijo's love interest and Venu's daughter * Ramesh Varma as Mayor * Vinayakan as Pandi Asi, Tony's henchman *

Santhosh Jogi Santhosh Jogi ( 1975 – 13 April 2010) was an Indian film actor and singer who acted in more than 30 films in Malayalam cinema. He marked his debut in a 2004 Malayalam movie, ''Two Wheeler''. His most memorable roles were in ''Mayavi'', in wh ...

as Felix, Local goon and Tony's henchman *

Sreejith Ravi Sreejith Ravi (born 19 May 1976) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Malayalam films and also in Tamil films. He is the son of actor T. G. Ravi. Early life Sreejith is the son of actor and industrialist T. G. Ravi and V. K. Subhad ...

as Anthakaram Babu *

Paris Laxmi Myriam Sophia Lakshmi Quinio (born 16 July 1991), known professionally as Paris Laxmi is a dancer and actress born in France and settled in Kerala, India. With her husband Kathakali dancer Pallippuram Sunil, she runs the Kalashakti School of Arts ...

as Dancer in the song "Oh January" *

Jinu Joseph Jinu Joseph (born 21 December 1975) is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He is better known for his roles in ''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'', ''Chaappa Kurishu'', ''Bachelor Party'', ''Ustad Hotel'', ''Iyobinte Pusthakam'', ''Rani Pa ...

as Killer 1 * OG Sunil as Killer 2 *

Jaffar Idukki Jaffar Idukki is an Indian actor, impressionist, and comedian, who predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. Started his career with the 2007 film ''Kaiyoppu'', he has acted in about hundred films and has performed in a number of comedy sta ...

as Dog Shamsu * V. K. Sreeraman as Advocate * Master Govind Nambiar as Abu * Veena Nandakumar

Release

The film was released on 13 April 2007. The director announced a sequel to the film titled as ''Bilal'' in 2017. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''Manik Baasha''.

Reception

Though the film was an average grosser at the box office, it received critical acclaim and became a

trendsetter ''Trendsetter'' is the debut studio album by American rapper and singer Coi Leray. It was released through Uptown Records, Republic Records and 1801 on April 8, 2022. The album contains guest appearances from Nicki Minaj, Yung Bleu, Fivio Foreig ...

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

for its cinematography and making, along with the use of few dialogues, dark color tone and extensive use of slow-motion and

background score A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to e ...

, which redefines that an age-old mass

action drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-gen ...

can be converted with a unique and fresh style.

gained lot of appraisal for his portrayal as ''Bilal'', which remains one his most memorable characters. He received the Best Actor award in the 10th

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artis ...

for his role in the film.

Soundtrack

The songs were composed by Alphons Joseph, with lyrics penned by Jophy Tharakan and Santhosh Varma. The background score was composed by

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...

sang her first song in Malayalam through this film. The song 'O January' is an unofficial cover of Shakira's Ojos Así.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Big B (Film) 2007 films 2000s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Alphons Joseph Films scored by Gopi Sundar Films shot in Kochi Indian gangster films Films directed by Amal Neerad Indian action thriller films