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''Chotta Mumbai'' 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 action comedy film directed by
Anwar Rasheed Anwar Rasheed is an Indian film director and producer who works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2005 with ''Rajamanikyam''.He continued to do successful action-comedy films, such as '' Chotta Mumbai'' (2007) and '' Annan Thambi'' (20 ...
, written by
Benny P. Nayarambalam Benny P. Nayarambalam is an Indian screenwriter who works in Malayalam films and theatre. He wrote his first theatrical play ''Athyunnathangalil Deivathinu Sthuthi'' at the age of 19, for the production company owned by Rajan P. Dev, in which ...
, and co-produced by Maniyanpilla Raju. 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 ...
in the lead role with Siddique, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kalabhavan Mani, Indrajith Sukumaran,
Manikuttan Thomas James better known by his stage name Manikuttan or 'MK', is an Indian actor who prominently works in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for his role as Kayamkulam Kochunni in the famous TV serial of the same title broadcast by Sur ...
,
Bijukuttan Biju Kuttan (born 13 May 1976) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Malayalam films. As of June 2021, he has acted in more than 70 Malayalam films. Biju Kuttan is born in North Paravur, Ernakulam . He completed most of his schooling ...
, Sai Kumar and
Bhavana ''Bhāvanā'' (Pali;Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Chicago" a Sanskrit: भावना, also ''bhāvanā''Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā", retriev ...
in supporting roles.
Rahul Raj Rahul Raj (born 17 March 1978) is an Indian music composer. He has composed and produced Film score, scores and soundtracks for Malayalam language, Malayalam, Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil movies. He is an alumnus of the pr ...
composed the score and songs of the film. The plot follows Vasco da Gama (Thala) and his gang of friends, all unemployed and leading a happy-go-lucky life until they encounter a corrupt police officer and gangster, Nadeshan. The film released on 7 April 2007 opened to positive reviews and was a great success in box office.


Plot

The film starts in a street in
Fort Kochi Fort Kochi, Fort Cochin in English, Cochim de Baixo ("Lower Kochi") in Cochin Portuguese creole, is a neighbourhood of Cochin (Kochi) city in Kerala, India. Fort Kochi takes its name from the Fort Manuel of Cochin, the first European fort ...
where Vasco da Gama (
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 ...
), the son of a wrestler named Michael ( Sai Kumar), lives. Vasco and his gang of five – "Mullan" Chandrappan ( Siddique), Susheelan (
Bijukuttan Biju Kuttan (born 13 May 1976) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Malayalam films. As of June 2021, he has acted in more than 70 Malayalam films. Biju Kuttan is born in North Paravur, Ernakulam . He completed most of his schooling ...
), Sainu (
Manikuttan Thomas James better known by his stage name Manikuttan or 'MK', is an Indian actor who prominently works in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for his role as Kayamkulam Kochunni in the famous TV serial of the same title broadcast by Sur ...
), "Padakkam" Basheer ( Jagathy Sreekumar) and cousin Tomichan ( Indrajith Sukumaran) are small-time goons, involved in petty offences and as the movie progresses, these characters turn out to be more endearing than bad. Vasco goes by the nickname Thala (head) since he is the gang leader. Though Michael rebukes his son time and again for his lifestyle choices, he loves him and has big dreams for him. The plot progresses when a marriage broker contracts a wedding between Vasco and auto-rickshaw driver Latha (
Bhavana ''Bhāvanā'' (Pali;Rhys Davids & Stede (1921-25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Chicago" a Sanskrit: भावना, also ''bhāvanā''Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā", retriev ...
), the only daughter of Pambu Chakochan (
Rajan P. Dev Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu ...
) who is a heavy drinker and a longtime friend of Michael. Vasco likes Latha, but she pleads with him to tell her father that he does not like her, because she plans to elope with her boyfriend. Overjoyed at having discovered a fellow drinker in Vasco, Chakochan does not even let him voice his opinion. Vasco decides to help Latha out, but her plan to elope fails when she discovers that her boyfriend Suni (
Suraj Venjaramood Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage pla ...
) is involved in human trafficking. She returns to Vasco. Later when Vasco, Michael, Chandrappan and Latha travel in her auto-rickshaw, they clash with a gang that has been on the run after stabbing a honest police officer called Mohandas (
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 iconic ...
) Vasco and his father were witnesses to the murder which was committed by Satheesan (
Vinayakan Vinayakan T. K. is an Indian actor, playback singer, and composer who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also appeared in some Tamil language films. He started his career with a cameo appearance in the 1995 film ''Maanth ...
), the younger brother of a corrupt circle inspector called Nadesan ( Kalabhavan Mani). This leads to complications.


Cast


Production

Jayasurya was cast in a role, but he had to opt out from the film due to scheduling conflicts with ''
Kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...
'' (2007 film).


Music

Composer
Rahul Raj Rahul Raj (born 17 March 1978) is an Indian music composer. He has composed and produced Film score, scores and soundtracks for Malayalam language, Malayalam, Telugu language, Telugu and Tamil language, Tamil movies. He is an alumnus of the pr ...
made his feature film debut through this film. The songs ''Thalaa'' and ''Vasco da Gama'' became chartbusters.


Release

The film was released on 7 April 2007.


Critical reception

The film was well received by critics. Unni R. Nair, in his review for Nowrunning.com said, "An out and out entertainer, it's a film that you would like to just sit back and enjoy, pushing all logical thinking to the background. Chotta Mumbai is a film that cashes in on Mohanlal's superstar image and its aim is merely to entertain and enthrall." () Paresh C Palicha of
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 ...
gave the film a rating and positively reviewed the film's script, Mohanlal's lead performance, Anwar Rasheed's direction as well as the performances of the supporting cast.
Sify.com 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 ...
also published an extremely positive review and said: "What makes the film tick is Mohanlal's at the heart of this mad, mad, mad world with his impeccable sense of comic timing. Clearly, he is at home playing this type of character- for him, it is the equivalent of an old pair of Hawai slippers. If laughter is the best medicine then Anwar Rasheed has earned his stripes yet again."


Box office

The film was a blockbuster at the box office and became one of the top five highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. It ran for over 101 days in theatres.


References


External links

* {{Anwar Rasheed 2007 films 2000s Malayalam-language films Indian crime comedy films Indian action comedy films Indian black comedy films Films scored by Rahul Raj Films directed by Anwar Rasheed 2007 action comedy films 2007 black comedy films 2000s crime comedy films Films shot in Kochi