''Ezra'' is a 2017 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
supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
horror thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
written and directed by Jay K. starring
Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of rol ...
,
Priya Anand
Priya Anand (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam films. After pursuing higher studies in the US, she began a career in ...
,
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 ...
,
Sujith Shankar,
Vijayaraghavan Pillai, and
Sudev Nair
Sudev Nair is an Indian actor and model working in Malayalam films best known for his performance in the 2014 film '' My Life Partner'', for which he was awarded the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in 2014. He also starred in the 2019 ...
in the leading roles.
Principal photography began in late-June 2016. Major filming locations were
Fort Cochin
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 for ...
and
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
.
The movie grossed 50
crore
A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
at the box-office.
It was remade in Hindi in 2021 as ''
Dybbuk
In Jewish mythology, a (; yi, דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished ...
''.
The film was inspired by hollywood horror film
The Possession
''The Possession'' is a 2012 American supernatural horror film directed by Ole Bornedal and produced by Sam Raimi, Robert Tapert, and J. R. Young, and written by Juliet Snowden and Stiles White. It stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Kyra Sedgwick, Nat ...
(2012).
Plot
The film opens with the death of the last
Malabar Jew in
Cochin
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 ...
. An antique seller steals antique items including a strange looking box with Jewish inscriptions from the Jew's house. An unseen force from the box mauls and kills a worker in his shop at night.
A.C.P Shafeer Ahammed (
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 ...
) is assigned the case but is unable to reach a lead.
Ranjan Mathew (
Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of rol ...
), a
nuclear waste management
Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. Radioactive waste is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, rare-earth mining, and nuclear weapons ...
specialist based in
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- ...
, is transferred to
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 ...
with wife Priya Raghuram (
Priya Anand
Priya Anand (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam films. After pursuing higher studies in the US, she began a career in ...
). Being both a
Marathi
Marathi may refer to:
*Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India
*Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people
*Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece
See also
*
* ...
and a
Malayali
The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...
, Priya finds it hard to adjust to the shift from Mumbai to Kerala. On a
retail therapy, Priya buys the strange box from the antique shop. Upon opening it, paranormal experiences begin.
Ranjan's uncle Father Samuel (
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 ...
), who had looked after Ranjan as an orphan, is invited to Ranjan's house. Samuel feels that something is amiss and he tells Ranjan that the box from the antique shop is a
Dybbuk
In Jewish mythology, a (; yi, דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished ...
box, with the name “Abraham Ezra” written on it in Hebrew. At his behest, Ranjan finds more about the Dybbuk from a
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
David Benyamin (
Babu Antony
Babu Antony (born 22 February 1966) is an Indian-American actor and martial artist, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese, Hindi and English films. He started his career doing a ...
) in Mumbai. He tells Ranjan that the Dybbuk only possesses people with
mental instability or children under 3 years, and whoever exorcises the Dybbuk becomes its worst enemy. The next day, Rabbi Benyamin dies and Ranjan learns that Priya is pregnant and realizes his child will be possessed by the dybbuk. Ranjan requests Rabbi Benyamin's son, Rabbi Marques (
Sujith Shankar) for help. Marques arrives in Kochi and finds the Dybbuk is named Abraham Ezra.
Ranjan and Marques find an ex-Jew named Joshua Yehudi, a former friend of Marques' father, and get a historical book from him, which reveals the story of Abraham Ezra in 1941 in
Thiru-Kochi. The film moves to the historical era, where a rich
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
boy Abraham Ezra (
Sudev Nair
Sudev Nair is an Indian actor and model working in Malayalam films best known for his performance in the 2014 film '' My Life Partner'', for which he was awarded the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in 2014. He also starred in the 2019 ...
) and a poor
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
girl Rosy (Ann Sheetal) fall in love during Ezra's visits to
Thiru Kochi, and eventually Rosy becomes pregnant. Rosy is not able to tell Ezra that she is pregnant. Ezra's father Yakoob Ezra refuses to let him marry Rosy, since she is not a Jew, and that marrying a woman of a lower social status is unacceptable. Rosy does not reveal to her father nor Yakoob that Ezra is her unborn child's father. Months later, a depressed Ezra writes to Rosy telling her to end the relationship and Rosy commits suicide in heartbreak. Rosy's father finds Ezra's letter and he with the villagers confronts the father-son duo when they arrive in Thiru Kochi. In the ensuing scrimmage, Rosy's father is killed and Ezra is left paralysed. When the doctors said that Ezra will be in this state for the rest of his life, Yakoob decides to take revenge on the town using
black magic
Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 145 ...
. He euthanises and puts his son's soul into a Dybbuk box, which on opening will release Ezra's spirit that will possess and destroy. A wooden dummy is buried in place of Ezra's body. Yakoob takes the corpse and dumps it in the sea. Thus is created the Dybbuk box which eventually finds its way to Ranjan.
The story comes back to Ranjan. Marques and Samuel take Shafeer into confidence, both confirm that Abraham Ezra's story is true by exhuming the wooden
mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. Pr ...
.
The film then takes a
twist
Twist may refer to:
In arts and entertainment Film, television, and stage
* ''Twist'' (2003 film), a 2003 independent film loosely based on Charles Dickens's novel ''Oliver Twist''
* ''Twist'' (2021 film), a 2021 modern rendition of ''Olive ...
when it is revealed that it is not Priya, but Ranjan who has now been possessed by the spirit when Ranjan would be searching for Priya one night. Fr. Samuel tells them that Ranjan, as an orphan, had mental problems. Hence he was probably vulnerable to the Dybbuk. It is understood that the spirit left Priya and possessed Ranjan when it noted that Ranjan handles nuclear waste and he could be controlled into using that to destroy the city. At last, Ranjan is exorcised and the dybbuk is sent back into the box by Marques, using
Jewish exorcism rituals. The box is then taken to the ocean by Marques and Shafeer and dumped, just as Ezra's body was disposed.
Later, Priya gives birth to a healthy baby and she and Ranjan share the news with Marques. In a
mid-credit scene, the Dybbuk box is found by two young men along the seashore in Mumbai. They carry it away, planning to open it.
Cast
*
Prithviraj Sukumaran
Prithviraj Sukumaran (born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, director, producer and playback singer primarily working in Malayalam cinema. He has also done Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. He acted in more than 100 films in a variety of rol ...
as Ranjan Mathew
*
Priya Anand
Priya Anand (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian actress and model who predominantly appears in Tamil films. She has also appeared in Telugu, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam films. After pursuing higher studies in the US, she began a career in ...
as Priya Ranjan Mathew (
voiceover
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...
given by
Angel Shijoy)
*
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
A. C. P. Shafeer Ahammed IPS
*
Sudev Nair
Sudev Nair is an Indian actor and model working in Malayalam films best known for his performance in the 2014 film '' My Life Partner'', for which he was awarded the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor in 2014. He also starred in the 2019 ...
as Abraham Ezra
*
Sujith Shankar as
Rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
Marques (
voiceover
Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non-diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations. ...
given by
Sunny Wayne)
*
Vijayaraghavan Pillai as
Fr. Samuel
*
Pratap K. Pothen as
Colonel
Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations.
In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...
Nambiar
*
Babu Antony
Babu Antony (born 22 February 1966) is an Indian-American actor and martial artist, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He has also acted in several Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhalese, Hindi and English films. He started his career doing a ...
[ as Rabbi David Benyamin
* Sandeep Narayanan as Ranjan's friend and colleague
* Reina Maria as Lekha
* ]Bharat Dabholkar
Bharat, or Bharath, may refer to:
* Bharat (term), the name for India in various Indian languages
** Bharata Khanda, the Sanskrit name for the Indian subcontinent (or South Asia)
* Bharata, the name of several legendary figures or groups:
** Bh ...
as Ezra's father Yakoob Ezra
* Alencier Lopez as Moosa
* Ann Sheetal
Ann Sheetal is an Indian model and actress, who works in the Malayalam and Tamil film industry.
Career
She made her debut as Rosy in Prithviraj's Malayalam film ''Ezra''. She played the lead role as the heroine in a Malayalam love based fi ...
as Rosy
* Rajesh Sharma as Sabatti
* Thara Kalyan
Thara Kalyan (born 1 November 1967) is an Indian classical dancer and actress in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in mainstream Malayalam films, telefilms and television serials. She is also a professional dancer in Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam ...
as Priya's mother
* Manikandan R Achari
Manikandan R. Achari is an Indian actor who has appeared in many Malayalam films and theatre productions. He made his film debut in the 2016 film ''Kammatipaadam''.
Personal life
Manikandan was born in 1980 at Thrippunithura, Kerala. He marr ...
(cameo)
* Balu Vargheese (cameo)
* Indrajith Sukumaran
Indrajith Sukumaran (born 17 December 1978) is an Indian actor and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Indrajith was born to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran and is the elder brother of Prithviraj Sukumaran.
Indrajit ...
as the narrator
Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the a ...
Production
In February 2016, Jay K, who was an associate director to Rajeev Ravi
Rajeev Ravi is an Indian cinematographer, director, and producer from Kochi, Kerala. He's best known for his work in Hindi and Malayalam films.
After graduating from Film and Television Institute of India, Pune in 1997, he started his career ...
, announced that he will make his directorial debut through a film called Ezra. It was announced that the film will be a horror thriller involving a love story and will explore the history of Jewish culture
Jewish culture is the culture of the Jewish people, from its formation in ancient times until the current age. Judaism itself is not a faith-based religion, but an orthoprax and ethnoreligion, pertaining to deed, practice, and identity. Jewi ...
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 ...
. Jay K said that the film is not made to frighten the spectators, but has a strong plot. He also confirmed that the film will be dubbed in Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
and Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
languages. Mukesh R. Mehta, C. V. Sarathy and A. V. Anoop produce the film under the banner of E4 Entertainment and AVA Productions. 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 ...
and Tirru
S. Thirunavukarasu (born 21 July 1966), better known mononymously as Tirru, is an Indian cinematographer who has worked in multiple languages across India. He won the National Film Award for Best Cinematography for '' 24'' (2016).
Personal ...
were roped in for the music and cinematography respectively. But both of them left the project for reasons unknown. While Tirru left in the early stage of production, Rahul Raj left after giving the song ''Lailakame''.
Box office
The film grossed 1.6 crore in the opening day and 2.5 crore on second day from Kerala box office. It grossed 15.02 crore in its first week from Kerala . The film grossed around 40 crore
A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
from Kerala box office. It grossed 50 crore
A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
from worldwide box office.
Reception
Critical reception
K R Rajeesh of nowrunning has given a 3.5/5 and praised it for the extensive paranormal research and visuals.
Indian Express rated it at 3/5. Ezra not only tries to frighten the audience but it has got an extraordinary storyline, too.
It also tells the history of the Jews who once lived in Kerala. The remarkable flashback stays as a feeling of sorrow in the audience. It describes how the caste system and discrimination of the society spoils the relationships between people.
Music
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 ...
was signed as the composer of the film. He composed the song ''Lailakame'' and left the project for reasons unknown. Sushin Shyam
Sushin Shyam is an Indian music composer who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He is also the keyboardist of the Indian folk metal band The Down Troddence. He started gaining popularity in 2018 with the films ''Varathan'' and ...
, who had worked in ''Sapthmashree Thaskaraha'' was then selected to compose the background score in addition to two songs ("Thambiran" & "Irul Neelum").
The song ''Lailakame'' became a smash hit, prompting several cover versions, including one by Rahul Raj himself.
An album containing the background score for the film was released separately by Muzik247
Muzik 247 based out of Chennai, acquires music rights for South Indian Cinema films, mainly Tamil, Malayalam and Tulu. The company was founded in 2012 by Naveen Bhandari, and has achieved a large market share of the Malayalam film music.
About ...
in 2017. It contains instrumental pieces by Sushin Shyam backing the narrative horror of the film.
Remake
In April 2019, it was officially confirmed that the Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
remake of the film ''Ezra'' has been commissioned by the production company Panorama Studios
Panorama Studios is an Indian film production and distribution company established by ''Ajay Devgn'' 's exclusive manager Kumar Mangat Pathak. Along with its subsidiaries and associates, is a diversified film studio with various business segm ...
and has signed Emraan Hashmi to star in the lead role. Jay K. was signed to direct the remake as well. The film started shooting in Mauritius
Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...
on 18 July 2019. The film titled as ''Dybbuk
In Jewish mythology, a (; yi, דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished ...
'' premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 29 October 2021.
References
External links
Ezra Movie Audience Responses, Critics Review
*
* {{IMDb title, 5892746
2017 films
Films scored by Sushin Shyam
2017 horror films
2010s Malayalam-language films
2017 horror thriller films
Films scored by Rahul Raj
2010s supernatural thriller films
2010s supernatural horror films
Indian horror thriller films
Malayalam films remade in other languages
Films about exorcism
Dybbuks in film
Indian supernatural horror films
Indian pregnancy films
Indian supernatural thriller films
Films about Jews and Judaism
Films about Christianity
Films shot in Sri Lanka
Films shot in Kochi
Films set in Kerala
Films set in Mumbai
Films about nuclear technology
Cochin Jews
Indian Jews
Judaism in Kerala
Jews and Judaism in India