''King of Kotha'', also known as ''KOK'', is an upcoming 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
gangster film
A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...
directed by Abhilash Joshiy, written by Abhilash N. Chandran and produced by
Wayfarer Films
Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...
in association with
Zee Studios
Zee Studios is a film production and distribution studio established in 2012, as a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited. Known to include a library of productions under its predecessor banners Zee Motion Pictures and Zee Limelig ...
. It stars
Dulquer Salmaan
Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...
,
Shabeer Kallarakkal
Shabeer Kallarakkal is an Indian actor, best known for his role in Tamil-language films and as "Dancing Rose" in'' Sarpatta Parambarai'' (2021).
Career
Shabeer appeared in an uncredited role in ''Aaytha Ezhuthu'' (2004). He later became a th ...
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
is composed by
Jakes Bejoy
Jakes Bejoy (born 27 May 1984) is an Indian film score composer, music producer, and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, but has also worked in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages.
He started his film musical career as a singer, i ...
while the songs featured in the film are composed by
Shaan Rahman
Shaan Rahman (born 30 December 1979) is an Indian composer and singer, best known for his compositions in the Malayalam cinema. Shaan made his debut as a music director in the 2009 film ''Ee Pattanathil Bhootham'' directed by Johny Antony. He g ...
and Jakes Bejoy.
The film was announced in July 2021 with principal photography beginning in September 2022 near
Karaikudi
Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...
,
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 ...
.
Cast
*
Dulquer Salmaan
Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...
*
Shabeer Kallarakkal
Shabeer Kallarakkal is an Indian actor, best known for his role in Tamil-language films and as "Dancing Rose" in'' Sarpatta Parambarai'' (2021).
Career
Shabeer appeared in an uncredited role in ''Aaytha Ezhuthu'' (2004). He later became a th ...
Chemban Vinod Jose
Chemban Vinod Jose is an Indian actor, film producer, and screenwriter, who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He is a physiotherapist by profession.Prasanna (actor), Prasanna
*
Shammi Thilakan
Shammi Thilakan is an Indian actor and dubbing artist who is active in Malayalam films. He is the son of veteran actor Thilakan. He lent his voice for Napoleon in ''Devasuram'', Prem Nazir in ''Kadathanadan Ambadi'' and for Nassar in ''Ghaza ...
as Kotha Ravi
*
Nyla Usha
Nyla Usha Gopakumar is an Indian actress, television host, and radio jockey from Trivandrum, Kerala. After working for nearly a decade as an RJ at Hit 96.7 in Dubai, she made her acting debut in 2013 with ''Kunjananthante Kada''.
Early life
...
*
Shanthi Krishna
Shanthi Krishna is an Indian actress known for her leading roles in Malayalam and Tamil films. As a star in the 1980s and 1990s, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sharadammini in ''Chakoram'' (1994), th ...
*
Sudhi Koppa
Sudhi Koppa is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his film debut in 2009 with an uncredited appearance in ''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' (2009).
Personal life
Sudhi hails from Kochi. His father, who was a government offic ...
*
Senthil Krishna
Senthil Krishna is an Indian actor known for roles in Malayalam films and Television. He had the lead role in the film Chalakkudykkaran Changathy.
Personal life
He married Akhila from Calicut on 24 August 2019 at Guruvayoor Sreekrishna Temple. ...
Ritika Singh
Ritika Mohan Singh is an Indian actress and former mixed martial artist, who predominantly appears in Tamil films in addition to Hindi Telugu and Malayalam Language films. After competing for India at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games and then parti ...
(cameo appearance in a song)
Production
Development
The film along with its title was announced on 28 July 2021 on the occasion of
Dulquer Salmaan
Dulquer Salmaan (born 28 July 1986) is an Indian actor, playback singer and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films, in addition to Telugu and Hindi films. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management ...
's 35th birthday. Salmaan who portrays a gangster in the film stated: "''King of Kotha'' will be having all these elements (perfectly timed clap points, catchy songs, and elevation sequences) that could satisfy the audience." He also added that this is a dream project with his childhood friend Abhilash Joshiy, son of veteran filmmaker
Joshiy
Joshiy (born 18 July 1952) is an Indian film director and producer from Varkala in Kerala who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with ''Tiger Salim'' (1978) and has directed over 80 films. He has also directe ...
, and have been waiting for the past few years to find a perfect project to collaborate. It is written by Abhilash N. Chandran, who had earlier worked on ''
Porinju Mariam Jose
''Porinju Mariam Jose'' is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language period action thriller film directed by Joshiy and written by Abhilash N. Chandran. Joju George, Nyla Usha, and Chemban Vinod Jose portrays the titular characters, and also features Vija ...
'' (2019). In October 2022, Salmaan stated in an interview that, "It is an action gangster genre, noir film set in a fictional town. It’s interesting because I generally tend to veer away from this type of cinema quite a bit. But I found a bit of a balance. I feel like it has content, it has great writing, but it’s also a very commercial gangster drama."
Filming
The
principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began on 27 September 2022 at
Karaikudi
Karaikudi is a Greater municipality in Sivaganga district, Sivagangai district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 21st largest urban agglomeration of Tamil Nadu based on 2011 census data. It is part of t ...
, while additional filming occurred in
Rameswaram
Rameswaram (; also transliterated as Ramesvaram, Rameshwaram) is a municipality in the Ramanathapuram district of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is on Pamban Island separated from mainland India by the Pamban channel and is about 40 kilo ...
and
Ramanathapuram
Ramanathapuram (), also known as Ramnad, is a town and a municipality in Ramanathapuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the administrative headquarters of Ramanathapuram district and the second largest town (by population) in ...
. Nimish Ravi joined as the film's cinematographer. After rumours of
Samantha Ruth Prabhu
Samantha Ruth Prabhu (formerly: Samantha Akkineni; born 28 April 1987) is an Indian actress who mainly works in Telugu and Tamil film industries. She is a recipient of several awards, including four South Filmfare Awards, six South Indian I ...
being approached for a role, it was reported that Aishwarya Lekshmi was signed to play Salmaan's pair.
Shabeer Kallarakkal
Shabeer Kallarakkal is an Indian actor, best known for his role in Tamil-language films and as "Dancing Rose" in'' Sarpatta Parambarai'' (2021).
Career
Shabeer appeared in an uncredited role in ''Aaytha Ezhuthu'' (2004). He later became a th ...
was roped in to play the main antagonist. Actor Gokul Suresh was cast to play a pivotal role and actors
Chemban Vinod Jose
Chemban Vinod Jose is an Indian actor, film producer, and screenwriter, who predominantly works in Malayalam films. He is a physiotherapist by profession.Sudhi Koppa
Sudhi Koppa is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his film debut in 2009 with an uncredited appearance in ''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' (2009).
Personal life
Sudhi hails from Kochi. His father, who was a government offic ...
were also added to the cast.
Nyla Usha
Nyla Usha Gopakumar is an Indian actress, television host, and radio jockey from Trivandrum, Kerala. After working for nearly a decade as an RJ at Hit 96.7 in Dubai, she made her acting debut in 2013 with ''Kunjananthante Kada''.
Early life
...
and
Shanthi Krishna
Shanthi Krishna is an Indian actress known for her leading roles in Malayalam and Tamil films. As a star in the 1980s and 1990s, she won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance as Sharadammini in ''Chakoram'' (1994), th ...
were also cast in key roles.
Zee Studios
Zee Studios is a film production and distribution studio established in 2012, as a subsidiary of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited. Known to include a library of productions under its predecessor banners Zee Motion Pictures and Zee Limelig ...
associated with Dulquer Salmaan, Wayfarer Films for the film's production and marked its maiden feature film production venture in Malayalam. It was reported that, a major schedule in Karaikudi was interrupted due to the rain, and the team took a brief break.
Ritika Singh
Ritika Mohan Singh is an Indian actress and former mixed martial artist, who predominantly appears in Tamil films in addition to Hindi Telugu and Malayalam Language films. After competing for India at the 2009 Asian Indoor Games and then parti ...
joined the production in early-November 2022 and shot for an item song. In December 2022,
Shammi Thilakan
Shammi Thilakan is an Indian actor and dubbing artist who is active in Malayalam films. He is the son of veteran actor Thilakan. He lent his voice for Napoleon in ''Devasuram'', Prem Nazir in ''Kadathanadan Ambadi'' and for Nassar in ''Ghaza ...
announced his addition to the cast through his Facebook page. In January 2023, Prasanna (actor), Prasanna confirmed being cast in the film.