''June'' is a 2019 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
coming-of-age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...
-
romantic comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
film co-written and directed by Ahammed Khabeer. The film stars
Rajisha Vijayan
Rajisha Vijayan is an Indian actress, who primarily appears in Malayalam films, in addition to a few Tamil films. She hosted several television shows in Malayalam before making her acting debut in the 2016 film '' Anuraga Karikkin Vellam,'' fo ...
,
Sarjano Khalid
Sarjano Khalid is an Indian actor who mostly appears in Malayalam and Tamil films. He is known for ''June'' (2019), ''Adhyarathri'' (2019), '' Big Brother'' (2020), '' Enniver'' (2020) and '' Cobra'' (2022).
Career
Khalid made his film entr ...
,
Arjun Ashokan
Arjun Ashokan (24 August 1992) is an Indian actor working in the Malayalam film industry. Known for his roles as a supporting actor, he is the son of a Malayalam actor called Harisree Ashokan.
Making his debut with ''Orkut Oru Ormakoot'', alo ...
,
Joju George
Joseph George, better known as Joju George (born 22 October 1977) is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in Malayalam films and worked on Tamil projects as well. In 2015, he won the ...
,
Aswathi Menon
Aswathi Menon is an Indian actress who is known for her work in Malayalam films. She made her acting debut in the 2000 Malayalam film '' Sathyam Sivam Sundaram''.
Early life
Aswathi was born in Ernakulam, Kerala, India, to Jaygopal Menon an ...
and
Sunny Wayne
Sujith Unnikrishnan (born 19 August 1983), known by his stage name Sunny Wayne is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based ...
. Produced by
Vijay Babu
Vijay Babu (born 14 May 1976) is an Indian film producer, actor, and businessman, who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is the founder of the film production company Friday Film House.
Vijay Babu is best known for producing and starring ...
through his production company
Friday Film House
Friday Film House is an Indian film production company based in Malayalam film industry owned by Vijay Babu who is an actor as well as a producer and is one of the most talked about production houses in the south. Friday Film House has won 7 of ...
.
The film also features 15 new comers as their debut acting.
Plot
The movie starts with June walking to a beach pub in
Varkala
Varkala, is a major coastal municipality situated in the northern suburb of Trivandrum, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the headquarters of Varkala Taluk and important government institutions such as the taluk office, court ...
town to have a drink. The scene shifts to the past where June Sarah Joy who is the only child of her parents Panama Joy and Mini Joy is getting ready for the first day of her XI class. She wants to look chic but her mom is pretty strict though loving. Her father gives her advice that it is a turning point in her life and need to study hard.
It rains when she got into the school and she sees a handsome boy Noel taking video of the students. He comes to her and asks where the XI class room is. Both of them belong to the same class and she takes him to the classroom. Most of her friends are from the old class except for a few new students. When the teacher asks the students to perform a self introduction all students do it well except for Noel and June. Noel was recording the whole introduction session on his handcam and later tells June of his aspiration to be a filmmaker some day. The class teacher appoints Noel and June as the class leaders because she wants them to be smarter. Noel and June start to like each other. We get familiarised with June over the time and we see she is a happy-go-lucky girl with a creative streak. Meanwhile the school youth festival happens, the commerce department wins the championship due to the right plan by Noel. As time progresses, June makes new friends and the whole class bonds together, and her Plus Two batch of 2007 is finally able to become a batch to remember not just for the students, but also for the teachers. Noel, her newfound best friend is now elevated to the level of her boyfriend. They get to connect well with each other as they are both considered to be lagging with their talents. Towards the end of Plus two, when June's mother find out about Noel, she decides to end their relationship. She joins a nearby college while he travels to Mumbai to stay with his parents and to continue his studies. She spends her college life in misery, after which she goes to Mumbai, gets a job and stays there with a friend and finds and meets Noel and they start dating. But they breakup after a while because of his arrogant father and his attachment to him. Heartbroken, June returns to Kerala and goes to the pub in Varkala shown in the beginning. There she hits a guy for harassment and ends up in the police station where she meets Anand, a guy from a nearby school which she was in. He takes her home for breakfast and later drops her to the bus stand. On the way he explains how he liked her for years. He ends up accompanying her till her home bus stop. They bond over the journey. It is implied that they date and eventually breakup. The film ends with June becoming an event management company owner and entrepreneur, and choosing to marry Alex whom she meets through her parents and feels an instant connect with, and her friends from schooltime, including Noel and Anand, coming together to celebrate her wedding reception.
The movie also traces the friendship, love, aspirations and lives of June's classmates as well, through various stages.
Cast
*
Rajisha Vijayan
Rajisha Vijayan is an Indian actress, who primarily appears in Malayalam films, in addition to a few Tamil films. She hosted several television shows in Malayalam before making her acting debut in the 2016 film '' Anuraga Karikkin Vellam,'' fo ...
as June Sara Joy, Noel's and Anand's love interest, Alex's Wife
*
Sarjano Khalid
Sarjano Khalid is an Indian actor who mostly appears in Malayalam and Tamil films. He is known for ''June'' (2019), ''Adhyarathri'' (2019), '' Big Brother'' (2020), '' Enniver'' (2020) and '' Cobra'' (2022).
Career
Khalid made his film entr ...
as Noel, June's 1st love interest
*
Arjun Ashokan
Arjun Ashokan (24 August 1992) is an Indian actor working in the Malayalam film industry. Known for his roles as a supporting actor, he is the son of a Malayalam actor called Harisree Ashokan.
Making his debut with ''Orkut Oru Ormakoot'', alo ...
as Anand, June's 2nd love interest
*
Joju George
Joseph George, better known as Joju George (born 22 October 1977) is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in Malayalam films and worked on Tamil projects as well. In 2015, he won the ...
as 'Panama' Joy, June's father
*
Aswathi Menon
Aswathi Menon is an Indian actress who is known for her work in Malayalam films. She made her acting debut in the 2000 Malayalam film '' Sathyam Sivam Sundaram''.
Early life
Aswathi was born in Ernakulam, Kerala, India, to Jaygopal Menon an ...
as Mini Joy, June's mother
*
Sunny Wayne
Sujith Unnikrishnan (born 19 August 1983), known by his stage name Sunny Wayne is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based ...
as Alex, June's Husband
*Vaishnavi Venugopal as Abhirami Narayanan ("Abi") / Mottachi, June and Noel's best friend
*
Aju Varghese
Aju Kurian Varghese (born 11 January 1985) better known as Aju Varghese is an Indian actor and producer who appears in Malayalam cinema. He made his debut in 2010 in ''Malarvadi Arts Club'', directed by his college classmate Vineeth Sreenivas ...
as Binoi Varkkala, the man at Varkkala pub
*
Nayana Elza as Kunji, June's best friend
*Jishnu Sathyan as Antony / Bruce Lee, Kunji's husband
*Fahim Safar as Sankar Das / Harry Pottan, June and Noel's best friend
*Sanju K. S. as Arjun
*Akhil Manoj as Suraj
*Harisankar as Rahul
*Sruthy Suresh as Sreelakshmi
*Margret Antony as Ann Mary
*Raveena Nair as Fida
*
Sruthy Jayan
Sruthy Jayan is an Indian actress who works predominantly on Malayalam cinema. She is also a trained classical dancer.
Filmography
Films
*''All films are in Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian st ...
as Maya teacher
*Shiny T Rajan as Anand's mother
*Manoj Kumar as Alex's father
*
Jolly Chirayath
Chirayath Lona Jolly, better known as Jolly Chirayath is an Indian actress who acts predominantly in Malayalam films. Chirayath made her acting debut with the film Angamaly Diaries directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery
Early and personal life
C ...
as Alex's mother
*
Kalesh Kallakoddu as Binoi Varkkala's Friend, the man at Varkkala pub
Production
''June'' marks the directorial debut of Ahammed Khabeer. The film was shot in reverse order of the screenplay from the end to the beginning, allowing actors to undergo physical changes to look younger, along with filming. Rajisha Vijayan lost and cut her long hair for portraying teenage June. The film was shot mostly in
Pathanamthitta
Pathanamthitta (), is a municipality situated in the Central Travancore region in the state of Kerala, India, spread over an area of 23.50 km2. It is the administrative capital of Pathanamthitta district. The town has a population of 37 ...
, Varkala, Mumbai and Kottayam. The school scenes were shot in Believers Church Residential School, Thiruvalla and Catholicate College,Pathanamthitta.
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack was composed by Ifthi.
Reception
Critical response
Anna Mathews from ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
'' said, "Debut director Ahammed Khabeer goes all out to jog the viewers’ memories of the best of school days when you are in a rush to grow up and he does a good job of it. ‘June’ will appeal to the wide demographic of pre-teens, teens and all those who were teens".
A critic from
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...
wrote, "The film is a winner for its earnestness, its non-judgmental approach towards the female".
Box office
The film was a commercial success and completed 100 days theatrical run.
References
External links
*
{{Friday Film House
2010s Malayalam-language films
Indian coming-of-age comedy films
Films shot in Mumbai
Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram
2010s coming-of-age comedy films