''Kaattu'' () 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

period film A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romances, adventure films, and swas ...

directed and produced by Arun Kumar Aravind. It was written by Ananthapadmanabhan based on the short story by his father

Padmarajan P. Padmarajan (23 May 1945 – 23 January 1991) was an Indian film maker, screenwriter and author who was known for his works in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. He was the founder of a new school of film making in Malayalam cinema, a ...

. The film is set in late 1970s, it stars Asif Ali,

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 ...

Varalaxmi Sarathkumar Varalaxmi Sarathkumar (born 5 March 1985) is an Indian actress who appears in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films. She made her debut with the Tamil film ''Podaa Podi'' (2012). Early life and family Varalaxmi w ...

and

Manasa Radhakrishnan Manasa Radhakrishnan is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. Personal life She was born in Ernakulam district, Ernakulam, Kerala to Radhakrishnan V. K. and Sreekala and was raised in Dubai. She stu ...

. ''Kaattu'' was released in India on 19 October 2017 on the occasion of

Diwali Diwali (), Dewali, Divali, or Deepavali ( IAST: ''dīpāvalī''), also known as the Festival of Lights, related to Jain Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Tihar, Swanti, Sohrai, and Bandna, is a religious celebration in Indian religions. It is ...

Cast

* Asif Ali as Nuhukannu *

as Chellappan *

as Muthulakshmi *

Shebin Benson Shebin Benson (born 27 November 1995) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam films. Shebin made his debut in Aashiq Abu movie ''Idukki Gold'' in 2013, Later he appeared in Mammootty starrer Varsham. His first movie as a male l ...

as Afsal *

as Ummukkulsu * Unni P. Dev as Pauly * Pankan Thamarassery as Moopan * Saritha Kukku as Kochuparvathi * Shikha as Pauly's lover *

N. Santhanam N. Santhanam is an Indian actor and producer who mainly works in Tamil cinema. Beginning his career as a comedian on television, he rose to fame through his performances in STAR Vijay's ''Lollu Sabha'' enacting the lead role in spoofs of Tamil ...

as Nunkalaisangamam

Production

The film scripted by Ananthapadmanabhan is based on his father

's short story. The filming commenced in April 2017. The story happens in the

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 ...

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 ...

border set in late 1970s. The film was shot in

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

, Kerala. According to Aravind, the film is "a mix of many genres". Ali plays the character Nuhukannu, "we happened to make a few sketches to shape the look of Nuhukannu and it's the face of Asif Ali that came to our mind, once they were complete", said Aravind. Gopy plays the role of Chellappan, which he describes as "unapologetically characterised and has an intricate nature of its own". Varalaxmi plays Muthulakshmi, a village belle. Manasa plays the role of Ummukkulusu, "a chirpy and energetic Muslim girl" as she describes.

Release

''Kaattu'' was released in India on 13 October 2017. It was released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on 1 August 2018.

Reception

Meera Suresh of ''

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: "Arun Kumar Aravind proves he is good at his craft, making this drama a treat." S. R. Praveen 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 treads the thick line between outdated and refreshing, taking detours to both sides, but managing to finish on a strong note". Veeyen rated the film as "Good" and said: "A primitive allure that had been long lost makes a revisit through ‘Kaattu’, and it's a peculiar combo of the dismal and the lyrical that Arun Kumar Aravind comes up with in his new film. It's a complex character drama that is tonally and visually notable; a foreboding and dark tale that makes for austere viewing and told with an uncanny grace." Sanjith Sidhardhan of ''

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 ...

'' gave the movie three stars out of five and stated that "It is a lesson in classical filmmaking and storytelling that develops its characters, narrates a good story and has a satisfying denouement, all without the use of any modern gimmicks."

References

External links

* {{Padmarajan 2017 films 2010s Malayalam-language films Films shot in Palakkad Films directed by Arun Kumar Aravind