Chettayees

''Chettayees: Lovable Rascals'' is a 2012 Malayalam comedy film written by Sachy and directed by Shajoon Kariyal. The film is produced under the banner of Thakkaali Films, a production house launched by a group of friends – actors Biju Menon and Suresh Krishna, cinematographer P. Sukumar, writer Sachy, and director Shajoon Kariyal.

The film tells the story of friendship. The story is centered on an eventful New Year celebration of five friends and the sequence of events following it in the next few days. It stars Lal, Biju Menon, Suresh Krishna, P. Sukumar, Sunil Babu and Miya in pivotal roles.

Plot

The whole story happens over two days, when five friends get together to celebrate New Year's Eve. The friends are John (Lal) a lawyer, Kichu ( Biju Menon) a percussionist, Roopesh Krishna ( Suresh Krishna) an actor, Bava ( P. Sukumar) a chef and Babumon (Sunil Babu) a government employee. They are having a blast at John's apartment on the last day of the year. John, who is not in good terms with the apartment association goes to the new year party and ruins the party. The apartment owners who were looking for a way of taking vengeance, finds that a lady was staying at their apartment overnight and calls the police to charge them against immoral trafficking.

The girl turns out to be Kichu's wife Merlin ( Miya), who was there to spoil her husband's New Year party. She was unhappy about the friendship of John and Kichu and was upset that Kichu spends more time with John than her. After the police leaves, John and Kichu ends up in a fight and they both part their ways. It turns out that John acted that way to rebuild Kichu's married life and that plan works. They keep their friendship going without Merlin knowing about it but in the final scene we understands that she knew about it all the time and she has no issues with it anymore.

Cast

* Lal as Advocate John Pallan
* Biju Menon as Krishnakumar (Kichu)
* Suresh Krishna as Roopesh Krishna
* P. Sukumar as Bava
* Sunil Babu as Babumon
* Miya as Merlin, Kichu's wife
* P. Sreekumar as Mathew Villangadan, Flat President
* Sadiq as Satheesh, Flat Secretary
* Anil Murali as Inspector Keshavan
* Ponnamma Babu
* Geetha Vijayan
* Praseetha Menon as Judicial Magistrate Indumathi, Babumon's wife
* Sajitha Betti as Gracy, John's ex-wife
* Deepika Mohan
* Manju Satheesh as Roopesh's wife

Production

It was in the sets of 2007 film ''Chocolate'' that script writer Sachy approached Shajoon Kariyal with an interesting thread. Shajoon who was busy in the talks of ''Raman Police'' with Gireesh Puthenchery rejected the offer. (''Raman Police'' never took off and Sachy's story was later directed by Joshiy as '' Run Babby Run'' in 2012). Shajoon, in the meantime, was also in the pre-production works of ''Talkies'', a film planned by him with Mohanlal in the lead. This project also did not go into floor and this is when Sachy came up with the story of ''Chettayees''.

Biju Menon, Shajoon, Sachy, Suresh Krishna, P. Sukumar and Sunil Babu used to get together in a flat in Kochi very often. It was during one of those evenings that Sachy came up with a thread that talked about friendship. Sachy says: "Some of my friends were spending more time with me and after a while, their wives started saying that actually their husbands should have married me. That prompted me to come up with the storyline. Some of the characters’ traits have been adapted and inspired from the habits of some of our own friends." Everyone liked the story and Shajoon, who was in search for a good script, immediately decided to direct the film. The friends decided to find a producer but in vain. Eventually they decided to launch a new production house named Thakaali Films and to produce the film under this banner.

Principal photography for the film commenced on 18 August 2012 and was completed in October. The film was mainly shot inside Navodaya Studio at Kakkanad, where the interiors of the apartment was set up.

Reception

Critical reactions to the film were mixed to negative. Rating the film 1.5 stars out of 5, Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com commented that the film "is too loud, with a lot of overacting." Sify.com's critic concluded his review stating, "''Chettayees'' hits the extremes, good and bad that is, and mostly fails to keep a healthy balance. It's almost like a lazy effort that can leave you wanting for more." Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film 1.8 stars out of 5 and said: "''Chettayees'' could have made interesting material, had the makers added up to the very limited resources available at their disposal. But it makes no efforts to tide over these restraints and remains adamant that the ultimate effects produced are nothing above mediocre. This film sadly has a theme that could be discussed in ten minutes sharp; and that it has been stretched to a couple of hours is what makes the movie tiresome." IBN Live rated the film 6 in a scale of 10 and concluded their review saying, "''Chettayees'' is an average fare, that could have hit big, if handled with a little more sensitivity and aplomb.""'Chettayees' Review: This Malayalam film is dragged and lacks conviction"
IBN Live. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.

References

External links

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{{Sachy
2012 films
2010s Malayalam-language films
2012 comedy films
Indian comedy films
Films shot in Kochi
Films directed by Shajoon Kariyal