''China Town'' is a 2011 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
action comedy film
Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre.
Film
The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of actio ...
written and directed by the
Rafi Mecartin Rafi may refer to:
Places
* Rafi, Iran, a city in Khuzestan Province
* Rafi, Abadan, a village in Khuzestan Province
* Rafi, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Niger State
Other uses
* Rafi (name), a name of Arabic origin
* Rafi (political party) ...
duo and produced by
Antony Perumbavoor
Malekudy Joseph Antony, better known as Antony Perumbavoor is an Indian film producer, Film distributor, distributor, movie theatre, cinema exhibitor and actor, who works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He began his career as a ch ...
under the company
Aashirvad Cinemas
Aashirvad Cinemas is an Indian film production company based in Kochi, Kerala. It was established in 2000 by Antony Perumbavoor, since then, it has produced over 30 Malayalam films, starring Mohanlal. Since 2009, the company co-operates with the ...
. The film stars
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
,
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...
,
Dileep
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...
and
Suraj Venjaramoodu
Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than 2 ...
with
Kavya Madhavan
Kavya Madhavan (born 19 September 1984) is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 1991 as a child artist in '' Pookkalam Varavayi''. Her debut role as a lead actress was in Lal Jose's '' ...
,
Poonam Bajwa
Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress and model who appears in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2005 with the Telugu film '' Modati Cinema'', after that she was featured in more Telugu film, such as ''Boss'' ( ...
,
Dipa Shah
Ananya Shah, better known as Dipa Shah, is an Indian actress who works mainly in South Indian films, television productions, and commercials.
Career
Shah started her film career in 2009, her debut film ''Ninnu Kalisaka''. In 2010, she acted in ...
,
Pradeep Rawat
Pradeep Rawat may refer to:
* Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Indian diplomat
*Pradeep Rawat (politician) (born 1956), Indian politician
*Pradeep Rawat (actor)
Pradeep Rawat (born 21 January 1952) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu, Hi ...
,
Captain Raju
Raju Daniel (27 June 1950 – 17 September 2018), better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian army officer and Indian actor. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannad ...
and
Shankar Shankar may refer to:
People
* Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name
* Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer
* L. Shankar, Indian violinist
*S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar
* San ...
in pivotal roles.
Jagathi Sreekumar
Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decades. ...
makes a cameo appearance.
Jassie Gift
Jassie Gift is an Indian film music composer and playback singer. He composes songs and sings for Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He became famous after the success of his song "Lajjavathiye" from the film '' 4 The People''.
He won ...
provided the film's music. The film is loosely based on ''
The Hangover
''The Hangover'' is a 2009 American comedy film directed by Todd Phillips, co-produced with Daniel Goldberg, and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. It is the first installment in ''The Hangover'' trilogy. The film stars Bradley Cooper, Ed ...
''.
The plot follows Mathukutty, Zachariah, and Binoy from
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 ...
, who reached
Chinatown
A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
in
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
to claim the ownership of their family’s
Casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
but inadvertently there they get embroiled with local mafia and drug dealers. The film was released on 14 April 2011 in India. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the film was a blockbuster at the box office.
Plot
Four friends, Xavier, Wilson Gomez, Jayakrishnan and David bought a casino and were celebrating the profit with their family when a powerful politician, Gowda , who used to have a monopoly on the casinos in Goa, intrudes. Xavier held out against the don. Although he was killed, he managed to hold off the gang long enough for all of their wives to escape with the children. Wilson Gomez is the only of the friends to survive and he settled in Goa with his daughter, Emily.
Xavier's son, Mathukutty became a local don. His brother had eloped with a girl from the medical college and he lives with Rosamma. He was attending a retreat to get rid of his thuggish ways. Another son of one of the friends was Zachariah, a man thirsty for money. Another was Binoy a lovesick youth who was the victim of six failed loves. Gomez sends each of them a letter stating that he had bought a Casino and wanted to share the profit between the sons of his friends.
The three meet Gowda, who is now a minister in Goa, who places them in prison under a false case. They get out by selling their casino. They meet again on several occasions and finally Gowda is arrested.
Cast
*
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
as Xavier/Mathukutty
*
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...
as Zachariah
*
Dileep
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...
as Binoy
*
Suraj Venjaramoodu
Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than 2 ...
as Chandran Valanjavazhi/CV
*
Kavya Madhavan
Kavya Madhavan (born 19 September 1984) is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 1991 as a child artist in '' Pookkalam Varavayi''. Her debut role as a lead actress was in Lal Jose's '' ...
as Rosamma (dubbed by
Devi S.
Devi S. is an Indian dubbing artist and actress who works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films and television serial (radio and television), serials.
She became popular through the main character ''Kunjipengal'' she played in ''Oru Kudayum Ku ...
)
*
Poonam Bajwa
Poonam Bajwa is an Indian actress and model who appears in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films. She made her acting debut in 2005 with the Telugu film '' Modati Cinema'', after that she was featured in more Telugu film, such as ''Boss'' ( ...
as Emily
*
Dipa Shah
Ananya Shah, better known as Dipa Shah, is an Indian actress who works mainly in South Indian films, television productions, and commercials.
Career
Shah started her film career in 2009, her debut film ''Ninnu Kalisaka''. In 2010, she acted in ...
as Chandini (dubbed by Vimmy Mariyam George)
*
Pradeep Rawat
Pradeep Rawat may refer to:
* Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Indian diplomat
*Pradeep Rawat (politician) (born 1956), Indian politician
*Pradeep Rawat (actor)
Pradeep Rawat (born 21 January 1952) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu, Hi ...
as Gowda, (dubbed by
Shobi Thilakan)
*
Captain Raju
Raju Daniel (27 June 1950 – 17 September 2018), better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian army officer and Indian actor. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannad ...
as Wilson Gomez Emily's father
*
Shankar Shankar may refer to:
People
* Shankar (name), including a list of people with the name
* Sankar (writer) (Mani Shankar Mukherjee), Bengali writer
* L. Shankar, Indian violinist
*S. Shankar, Indian film director commonly credited as Shankar
* San ...
as Jayakrishnan, Binoy's father
*
Shanavas
Shanawas Prem Nazir is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam film . He is the son of legendary Malayalam actor Prem Nazir (Evergreen Hero of Malayalam Cinema). He has acted in more than 50 Malayalam films.
Background
Shanawas was born at T ...
as David Zachariah's Father
*
Jagathy Sreekumar
Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decad ...
as Jaggu Bhai
* Bharat Dabholkar as the Home Minister, Chandini's father
*
Nandhu
Nandalal Krishnamoorthy better known by his stage name Nandu is an Indian actor primarily working in Malayalam films. Although he has been in the industry for more than 30 years, he is acclaimed for his performance in Mohanlal' s ''Spirit'', dir ...
as Fr. Stephen
* Appa Haja as ACP Sandeep Kumar
*
Manoj Kumar
Harikrishan Goswami (born 24 July 1937), better known by his screen name Manoj Kumar, is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, lyricist and editor who worked in Hindi cinema. He is known for acting and making films with patriotic theme ...
as Advocate Daniel
* Indulekha as Binoy's lover
*
Deepu Karunakaran
Deepu Karunakaran is an Indian film director who works in Malayalam cinema. He debuted in direction with movie "Winter", but as the release was late due to many reasons, his first movie came in theatre was in 2008 with the Dileep (actor), Dilee ...
* Priya Roy as Sreedevi, Gowda's daughter
* D'Souza Libor as a
sumotori
*
Ranjini Haridas
Ranjini Haridas is an Indian television presenter, actress, model and YouTuber . She became popular through the Star Singer TV show of Asianet.Throughout 5 seasons of the show, she was the host.
She reacted against the cruelty to animals, s ...
as herself (cameo appearance)
* Wahab Seebu as Joongha
Production
In August 2010, it was reported that
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
,
Jayaram
Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965) known mononymously as Jayaram, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam,Tamil films, along with a few Telugu films. He is also a chenda percussionist, mimicry artist, and occasiona ...
, and
Dileep
Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...
will come together with
Suraj Venjaramoodu
Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than 2 ...
in a film titled ''China Town'' to be directed by the
Rafi Mecartin Rafi may refer to:
Places
* Rafi, Iran, a city in Khuzestan Province
* Rafi, Abadan, a village in Khuzestan Province
* Rafi, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Niger State
Other uses
* Rafi (name), a name of Arabic origin
* Rafi (political party) ...
duo and produced by
Antony Perumbavoor
Malekudy Joseph Antony, better known as Antony Perumbavoor is an Indian film producer, Film distributor, distributor, movie theatre, cinema exhibitor and actor, who works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He began his career as a ch ...
for the company
Aashirvad Cinemas
Aashirvad Cinemas is an Indian film production company based in Kochi, Kerala. It was established in 2000 by Antony Perumbavoor, since then, it has produced over 30 Malayalam films, starring Mohanlal. Since 2009, the company co-operates with the ...
. The duo themselves wrote the screenplay, which was initially meant for Mohanlal alone, but as the plot developed it required two more actors in the lead roles and Dileep and Jayaram was approached. ''China Town'' began production on 20 December 2010. Filming began in
Ooty
Ooty (), officially known as Udhagamandalam (also known as Ootacamund (); abbreviated as Udhagai), is a city and a municipality in the Nilgiris district of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north west of Coimbatore and so ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
.
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 ...
took place mainly at the
Ramoji Film City
Ramoji Film City is an integrated film studio facility located in Hyderabad, India. Spread over 1,666 acres (674 ha), it is the largest film studio complex in the world and as such has been certified by the Guinness World Records. It was estab ...
,
Hyderabad
Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
. The set was made by art director Boban. Some parts were filmed in
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
and
Ernakulam
Ernakulam () is the Central Business District of the city of Kochi in Kerala, India and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Many major establishments, including the Kerala High Court, the office of the Kochi Municipal Corporation a ...
.
Reception
Critical reception
Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film 2/5 and said "Despite the spectacular star cast ''Chinatown'', is yet another comedy from Rafi Mecartin. It's a mishmash of second hand ideas that have long had their run in movies."
Paresh C. Pallicha of
''Rediff'' also gave the film a 2/5 rating and said, "The film virtually piggybacks on the stars to get the momentum as there is no script to speak of. The duo Rafi Mecartin that was known for their comical writing in the nineties has now reached a stage where they borrow dialogues from email forwards. That's the sorry state of the film. It will be futile to dwell on the performance of the actors as there is no solid material to back them. This one's a no-brainer and can be watched if you are not looking for thought-provoking stuff." The reviewer of ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
'' said, "''Chinatown'' works fine, if you leave your brains back home. It belongs to the 'don't think too much about what is happening' kind, which defies logic but leaves you in splits at times.". ''
The New Indian Express
''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naid ...
'' wrote that "The movie has a good sense of pacing in the first half, but fails to up the ante" and that Mohanlal is "quite impressive", Jayaram is okay, Dileep with his comedy numbers, is "the live element in the movie", and concluded that "Overall, ''Chinatown'', which could have been a lot more, in absence of genuineness, ends up being a 'fan' carnival than a fun carnival".
Box office
The film was made at a budget of .
The film which had 500 shows per day, covered its production cost in just two weeks run.
It got a distributor's share over . And grossed within one month. ''
The Economic Times
''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. It is owned by The Times Group. ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961. As of 2012, it is the world's second-most widely read English-language bus ...
'' called it a "blockbuster film".
Soundtrack
The film's music was then composed by
Jassie Gift
Jassie Gift is an Indian film music composer and playback singer. He composes songs and sings for Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu films. He became famous after the success of his song "Lajjavathiye" from the film '' 4 The People''.
He won ...
. The lyrics were by
Anil Panachooran
Anil Panachooran (20 November 1969 – 3 January 2021) was an Indian lawyer, poet and lyricist, who worked in the Malayalam film industry.
While undergoing treatment for COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, he died on 3 January 2021, f ...
and Santhosh Varma. The audio release function was held at Kadavu Resorts,
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...
, on 2 March 2011. Jassie reused his tune "Gaganave Baagi" from the
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
film ''
Sanju Weds Geetha
''Sanju Weds Geetha'' is a 2011 Indian Kannada-language romance film directed and written by Nagashekar and produced by Pramod Narayan, starring Srinagar Kitty and Ramya in the lead roles. Jassie Gift composed the soundtrack, while Sadhu Kokila ...
'' for the song "Arike Ninnalum".
"Sanju Weds Geetha audio released on 17-Nov-2010 by Puneet Rajkumar"
Sanju Weds Geetha audio released on 17-Nov-2010 by Puneet Rajkumar
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chinatown
Indian comedy thriller films
2011 films
2010s Malayalam-language films
Indian black comedy films
Films scored by Jassie Gift
Aashirvad Cinemas films
Films shot at Ramoji Film City
Films shot in Telangana
Films shot in Goa
Films shot in Kochi
Films directed by Rafi–Mecartin