'' Ee Adutha Kaalathu'' ( en, In Recent Times) is a 2012 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

-language

black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discu ...

crime film written by

Murali Gopy Gopynathan Velayudhan Nair Muralikrishnan (born 4 March 1972), professionally credited as Murali Gopy, is an Indian actor-screenwriter, producer, author, singer, lyricist, music composer and journalist. He has written critically acclaimed films ...

and directed by

Arun Kumar Aravind Arun Kumar Aravind is an Indian film director, editor and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Biography Arun Kumar Aravind, was better known as the editor of director Priyadarshan, owns to his credit a span of 10 years' ex ...

. The film marks the second directorial venture by

, after his notable directorial debut '' Cocktail'' (2010).

Kerala State Award 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 Can ...

winning cinematographer Shehnad Jalal handled the camera. The narrative is patterned like a Rubik's Cube; it's a brainy entertainer that mixes various genres. It features the lives of six different persons from different strata of the social life of the city, interconnected due to unexpected events beyond their control. Bengali model and theater artiste Tanushree Ghosh makes her debut in Malayalam cinema with this film. The cast includes Indrajith,

Anoop Menon Anoop Menon (born 3 August 1976) is an Indian actor, director, screenwriter and lyricist. He worked in television before acting in Malayalam films and has acted in more than 75 films. Menon won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Supportin ...

, Nishan,

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 decades ...

and

Mythili Brighty Balachandran (born 24 March 1988), better known by her stage name Mythili, is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films. She made her debut in the 2009 Malayalam film '' Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' whic ...

. The music is composed 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 ...

and the lyrics are by Rafeeq Ahmed. The film was released on 24 February 2012 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 ...

to positive reviews. The film is considered a path-breaker for its bold and realistic narration and the innovative style of weaving story threads together. It was screened at the ''Malayalam Cinema Today'' category of the 17th International Film Festival of Kerala, where it won the

NETPAC The Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC) is a worldwide organization of 29 member countries. It was created as the result of a conference on Asian cinema organized by Cinemaya, the Asian Film Quarterly, in New Delhi in 1990 at the ins ...

Award for Best Malayalam Film. Discussions are underway for the Hindi remake of the movie.

Premise

Vishnu is an unemployed man who makes toys from garbages for the living. He has a wife named Ramani two daughters and mother. Ajay Kurien is a rich businessman who tries to ignore his wife Madhuri, who is a former actress.

Cast

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 Vishnu *

as Ajay Kurien *

as Tom Cherian * Nishan as Rustam Bhai *

Tanu Roy Tanu Roy is an Indian actress and model. A Bengali by birth, she has predominantly appeared in Telugu films apart from some Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali and Kannada films. She is mostly known for her item numbers in films like ''Mass'' and ''Hero' ...

as Madhuri Kurien *

as Ramani *

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 Roopa *

as Bonacaud Ramachandran * Baiju as Watson *

Manikandan Pattambi Manikandan Pattambi ( ml, മണികണ്ഠൻ പട്ടാമ്പി) is an Indian television, stage, and film actor. He's best known for his roles in Malayalam television. He became famous for his character ''Sathyasheelan'' in the si ...

as Sundaram * Miya as Shyleja *

Indrans Indrans is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films.His mentor was Shiyas M S, a law college student. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough in 1994 with the ...

as Babu, House broker *

Krishna Praba Krishna Praba is an Indian actress and professional dancer who chiefly appears in Malayalam films. She made her entry into the film industry with the film ''Madampi'' (2008), directed by B. Unnikrishnan. She played the character Mollykutty i ...

as Bindu * Baby Eva as Minnu, Vishnu's daughter * Baby Vaishnavi as Chinnu, Vishnu's daughter * Ramzan Muhammed as Ayur * KPAC Leelamani as Paatti * Anitha Nair as Ratnam * Manga Mahesh as Ramachandran’s wife *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

as Vishnu's mother * Kalabhavan Haneef as Mammootty *

Sajitha Madathil Sajitha Madathil is an Indian film and theatre actor. Her performance in Joy Mathew's feature film '' Shutter'' (2012) won her the State film award for second best actress. She is the head of the department of Acting at the K. R. Narayanan N ...

as Madhuri's mother * Riza Bawa as Madhuri's father *

Dinesh Panicker Dinesh Panicker is an Indian film producer, actor and TV producer. He entered the film industry in 1989 by producing '' Kireedam'', a critically acclaimed and commercially successful film. He went on to produce different genre films in Mollywo ...

as Minister Kunjananthan *

Prem Prakash Cheriyan Joseph, popularly known as Prem Prakash is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam television serials and a renowned producer in Malayalam movies. He is mainly known for supporting roles and character roles. He has produc ...

as Santhosh Kumar, Psychiatrist * Gopalji as S.I. Somashekaran * Felix Kuruvilla as Suleiman Bhai * Biju Varkey as Vicar *

Shine Tom Chacko Shine Tom Chacko (born 15 September 1983) is an Indian actor and former assistant director who works in Malayalam cinema. After working as an assistant to director Kamal for about 9 years, he forayed into acting through the film. ''Gaddama''. ...

as Serial killer * Dinesh as Trichur goon

Production

The film started the shooting on 12 September 2011 at

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

. The official teaser was released on 5 September, even before the commencement of shooting. The teaser has been highly appreciated for its originality, the use of

words and for the background score. The second schedule of shooting started on 28 October. Almost the whole movie was shot at

except for few scenes which were shot at

Nagercoil Nagercoil, also spelt as Nagarkovil ("Temple of the Nāgas", or Nagaraja-Temple), is a city and the administrative headquarters of Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu state, India. Situated close to the tip of the Indian peninsula, it lies on an ...

. The theatrical trailer was released on 27 January which became a hit in

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

and social networking sites.

Music

The background score of the film has been composed by Gopi Sundar. The sound track was released by Manorama Music.

Reception

The film was released on 24 February in 63 centers inside Kerala. The film received positive reviews from the audiences and critics alike and has become a hit. It was mostly welcomed by the youth. The positive critical response from the viewers shows the thirst of viewers for varied films, rather than star, action oriented masala films.

Critical response

Malayala Manorama ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

'' called the film "A must watch movie" and commented that "By the loud, standing ovation at the end, when the lights are on, Arun Kumar can rest assured that he has established himself as a director who has once again successfully brought about the phenomenal change Malayalam cinema has ever been thirsting for". Indiaglitz.com rated the film (3.5/5) and said that "'Ee Adutha Kalathu' is one movie that is a definite prescription for a demanding viewer. A well-made film that works for its powerful plot and structuring, engaging script, and super performances." Metromatinee.com rated the movie as "Excellent" and said "'Ee Adutha Kalathu' is a remarkably refreshing and sensitive movie making a candid statement of life in the cities". Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film (3/5) and said, "Arun Kumar Aravind's 'Ee Adutha Kaalathu' is an emotionally bruising film that is oxymoronic to the core; it's the kind of film that is pleasingly depressing, casually engrossing and placidly terrorizing. A must-watch in short!" 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 movie a (3/5) rating and said that "Ee Adutha Kaalathu shows the life of six different people living a city, in a very entertaining manner".

Accolades

;Mohan Raghavan Foundation Awards * Best Script -

;Asiavision Movie Awards * Outstanding Movie * Best Editor –

* New Sensation in Script –

* Best Anti-hero –

* Outstanding Performance – Indrajith * New Promise in Singing – Anna Katharina ;

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

(

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

) *

Award for Best Malayalam Film ; Nana Film Awards * Second Best Movie * Best Script Writer -

* Second Best Actor - Indrajith * Second Best Actress -

; P. Bhaskaran Foundation Awards * Best Story -

; Sathyan Award * The Best Actor -

;

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 ...

* The Best Editor -

* The Best Villain -

;

Vanitha Film Awards The Vanitha Film Awards are presented annually by ''Vanitha'', an Indian magazine from the ''Malayala Manorama'' group in the south Indian state of Kerala. The awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence i ...

* The Best Anti-Hero -

;

South Indian International Movie Awards South Indian International Movie Awards, also known as the SIIMA Awards, rewards the artistic and technical achievements of the South Indian film industry. It was launched in 2012 by Vishnu Vardhan Induri and Brinda Prasad Adusimilli to appre ...

* Pending— Best Actress in a Supporting Role -

* Pending— Best Actor in a Negative Role -

References

External links

* {{ArunKumarAravind 2012 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Indian black comedy films Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films scored by Gopi Sundar Hyperlink films Indian nonlinear narrative films Films set in Kerala Films shot in Kerala Films with screenplays by Murali Gopy Malayalam films remade in other languages Films directed by Arun Kumar Aravind 2012 black comedy films