''Kasaba'' is a 2016 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
action
Action may refer to:
* Action (narrative), a literary mode
* Action fiction, a type of genre fiction
* Action game, a genre of video game
Film
* Action film, a genre of film
* ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford
* ''Action'' (1980 fil ...
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
Nithin Renji Panicker, starring
Mammootty, along with
Neha Saxena as his pair, while
Varalaxmi,
Sampath Raj, and
Jagadish
P. V. Jagadish Kumar (born 12 June 1955) known mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, television presenter and former politician. He has starred in over 375 Malayalam films and 2 Hindi films. He is best known for his com ...
played the important supporting roles.
The first day gross was the highest for a Malayalam film.
The film ended up grossing
Plot
Rajan Zachariah is a
cop posted at
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 ...
district. Zachariah is a person who doesn't give a thought about what people think, and is very close to
IG Chandrasekhar and his son Arjun. Arjun and his fiancée die mysteriously in
Kaliyoor – a place located on the
Kerala-Karnataka border. As per the police reports the deaths were due to Maoist attacks, but Chandrasekhar and Zachariah refuse to believe it. Being the godfather of Arjun, Zachariah asks Chandrasekhar to post him at Kaliyoor to find out the truth, who arrives at Kaliyoor and tries to solve the mystery behind deaths of Arjun and his fiancée and finds that the couple's death are connected to the death of 6 cops and
CI Raghavan. Zachariah finds that the village head Parameshwaran Nambiar, along with Kamala, the in-charge of the brothel along had killed Raghavan.
Arjun and his fiancée witness the murder and flees. While escaping from Nambiar's goons, Arjun and his fiancée get into a police van asking help by introducing himself as I.G.'s son. Nambiar instructs his goons to attack the police van thereby killing Arjun and his fiancée, along with the 6 cops. Nambiar who is contesting
district level elections, finds the caretaker of Kamala's brothel Thankachan, as a possible liability and kills him through his goons under the guise of a
Maoist
Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Ch ...
attack. It is later revealed in a letter (written by Thankachan before his death) that Kamala is Thankachan's daughter. Enraged, Kamala kills Nambiar with the help of Zachariah, and later calls Zachariah to thank him for helping her and she intends to finish him off to wipe the slate clean. Zachariah tactfully arrests her for killing Raghavan and Nambiar by acting friendly, where he also rescues the workers from the brothel.
Cast
*
Mammootty as C.I Rajan Zachariah
*
Neha Saxena as Susan Rajan Zachariah
*
Jagadish
P. V. Jagadish Kumar (born 12 June 1955) known mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, television presenter and former politician. He has starred in over 375 Malayalam films and 2 Hindi films. He is best known for his com ...
as Sub-inspector (S. I.) Mukundan
*
Sampath Raj as Parameshwaran Nambiar
*
Varalaxmi as Kamala
*
Maqbool Salmaan
Maqbool Salmaan is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films.
The son of television actor Ibrahimkutty and the nephew of actor Mammooty, Maqbool made his acting debut by playing a short role in A. K. Saajan's '' Asuravithu'' (2012). ...
as Jagan
*Sandeep Narayanan as a Goon
*
Shaheen Siddique
Shaheen Siddique (born 21 February 1989) is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. The son of film actor Siddique, Shaheen made his debut with the Malayalam film ''Pathemari'' (2015) directed by National Award winner Salim Ahamed. He ...
as Arjun
*
Siddique as Inspector-general (I.G.) Chandrashekhar IPS, Arjun's father
*Rakendu as Professor Jacob
*
Alencier Ley Lopez as Thankachan, Kamala's father
*
Biju Pappan as C.I. Raghavan
*Jennifer Antony as Pavizham, S. I. Mukundan's wife
*
Abu Salim as Pazhani
*
Sasi Kalinga
V. Chandrakumar, better known by his stage name Sasi Kalinga, was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in '' Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' (2009), '' Pranchiyettan & the Saint'' (2010), ''Indian Rupe ...
as Linguswamy
*Chinnu Kuruvila
Production
In January 2016, it was reported that
Mammootty would star in Nithin Renji Panicker's directorial debut, the son of Malayalam screenwriter
Renji Panicker
Renji Panicker (born 23 September 1960) is an Indian actor, scriptwriter, director, film producer, and journalist best known for his Malayalam films. He made his debut as a director with '' Bharatchandran IPS'' in 2005.
Early life
He did hi ...
.
Raai Laxmi
Raai is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include:
* Raai Laxmi (born 1989), Indian film actress and model
*Seba Al-Raai
Seba Al-Raai (born 25 June 1982) is a Syrian road cyclist. In 2011, she represented her nation at the ...
was earlier reported to be as the heroine, but later
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 ...
was confirmed to be part of the film.
The filming commenced in February 2016, and the unit filmed in locations of
Kozhikode
Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...
,
Kolar Gold Fields
Kolar Gold Fields (K.G.F.) is a mining region in K.G.F. taluk (township), Kolar district, Karnataka, India. It is headquartered in Robertsonpet, where employees of Bharat Gold Mines Limited (BGML) and BEML Limited (formerly Bharat Earth Mov ...
and
Pazhani
Palani ( or ''Palni'' as in British records, is a town and a taluk headquarters in Dindigul district of the western part of Tamil Nadu state in India. It is located about south-east of Coimbatore and north-west of Madurai, from Kodaikanal ...
. The filming ended in April.
Release
The film was scheduled for an
Eid release, on 7 July. The film's teaser has become one of the most viewed Malayalam film teaser, by completing 5.1 Lakhs (510,000) "real-time" views in 24 hours.
At the time, the Kasaba teaser was the fastest Malayalam teaser to cross the 1 million mark, doing so in four days.
Claims of misogyny
On 19 July 2016,
Kerala Women's Commission
The Kerala Women's Commission is a statutory body constituted under Section 5 of The Kerala Women's Commission Act, 1990. According to the Act, the commission was constituted to improve the status of women in the State of Kerala and to inquire ...
sent court notices to actor Mammootty, director Nitin Panicker, and producer Alice George for allegedly portraying women in poor light in the film. Commission chairperson,
K C Rosakutty Teacher, said that the film used dialogues which were "insulting to womanhood in general". She added, "In the name of
freedom of expression
Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
, women cannot be insulted whether it is for character or else". When an actor like Mammootty involves in such projects, it may lead to a "dangerous acceptance" of such actions and remarks in the society. The Commission also sent a report to
AMMA and Malayalam Cine Technicians Association with a request to revise the film's certification.
In one of the most controversial scenes in the film, the rogue police officer character portrayed by Mammootty, walks over to a female police officer, pulls at her belt and tells her that he can make her miss her menstrual cycle. This scene came under severe criticism right from the film's release. In December 2017, specifically referring to this scene, actress
Parvathy criticised the film as having misogynistic dialogue. She faced threats by a section of Mammootty fans, after which she filed a police complaint on 26 December. Several people came in support of Parvathy and the controversy sparked a discussion on misogyny in the entire film industry of Kerala, with several actresses mainly under the aegis of
Women in Cinema Collective
Women in Cinema Collective (abbreviated as WCC) is an organisation for women working in the Malayalam cinema industry.
Formation
The organisation was formed following harassment of a Mollywood actress. The organisation aims at the welfare of wome ...
, came to the front questioning the
male dominance in
Malayalam cinema.
Box office
The film received mixed reviews from the critics and was declared an ''average venture'' at the
box office. The movie collected in Kerala on its first day. The film collected from first four days, and from first five days of release at the Kerala box office. The film collected in nine days of its theatrical run in Kerala, and in its final run.
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 5642720, Kasaba
2016 films
Films scored by Rahul Raj
2010s Malayalam-language films
Films about human trafficking in India
Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police
Films shot in Kozhikode
Films shot in Palakkad
Films shot in Karnataka
Films shot in Palani