''Kolumittayi'' (English: ''Stick Candy'') is a

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

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

children's film A children's film, or family film, is a film genre that contains children or relates to them in the context of home and family. Children's films are made specifically for children and not necessarily for a general audience, while family films are ...

directed by Arun Viswam. The film set in the 1980s, tells the story of Unni (Gourav Menon) and his three friends Abu, Lalu, and Varkey. Others in the cast includes

Saiju Kurup Saiju Kurup (born 12 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and occasionally in Tamil cinema. He is credited as Anirudh in Tamil movies. He debuted in ''Mayookham'' (2005) by Hariharan. As of June 2021, he h ...

Dinesh Prabhakar Dinesh Prabhakar, also known by his birth name Dinesh Nair, is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films. Early life Dinesh was born as the second child of Prabhakaran Nair and Sarojini Amma at Pulluvazhi, Perumbavoor, Ern ...

Sohan Seenulal Sohanlal.P.S (born 18 December 1978), better known by his screen name Sohan Seenulal, is an Indian film director, screen writer, and actor who works in Malayalam cinema . He is known for his character roles in Mammootty films. Career He start ...

, Dr. Roney, Kalabhavan Prajod, Gokulan,

Devi Ajith Devi Ajith (born 28 March 1973) is an Indian actress, dancer and a television personality in the Malayalam film industry. She is known for her roles in ''Trivandrum Lodge'' and ''Immanuel''. She is also seen in a short film named ''Virgin Road ...

, Krishnaprabha,

Priyanka ''Priyanka'' is a popular female given name in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. It is a name derived from the Sanskrit word 'Priyankera' or 'Priyankara', meaning someone or something that is amiable, lovable, or makes you happy and the one who has lov ...

and 30 other child actors.

Synopsis

The film opens to the life of Unni and his friends. After having a blast of a

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

, they move to the 6th grade after the new

academic year An academic year or school year is a period of time which schools, colleges and universities use to measure a quantity of study. School holiday School holidays (also referred to as vacations, breaks, and recess) are the periods during which sch ...

opens. The life in school brings lot of joy to Unni because of the presence of his crush Riya (

Baby Meenakshi Anunaya Anoop better known by her stage name Meenakshi Anoop, is an Indian actress who works primarily in the Malayalam film industry. She is best known for her role as Fathima (Pathu/Pathumma) in the 2015 comedy film '' Amar Akbar Anthony ''and ...

. Unni feels threatened by the newcomer in his class – Roney (Master Naaif), who happens to be talented in various disciplines of art. Soon they lock horns and are in competition. Unni and his friends with their happy go lucky nature get into odds with their teacher (Anjali Upasana).

Cast

Gourav Menon Gourav Menon, also known as Master Gaurav Menon is an Indian actor from the Malayalam film industry. Making his acting debut with '' Philips and the Monkey Pen'' in 2013, Gourav later won the National Film Award for Best Child Artist and the Ker ...

as Unni * Aakash Santhosh as Abu *

as Riya * Sidharth as Lalu * Naif as Ronny *

as Satheeshan Puzhakkara *

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 in ...

as Molly * Anjali Aneesh Upasana as Daisy * Kalabhavan Prajodh as Sudheer * Bineesh Bastin * Devi Ajith as Unni's Mother

Production

Arun Viswam who was assisted

Abrid Shine Abrid Shine is an Indian film director, screenwriter and fashion photographer in the Malayalam film industry. He made his directorial debut in 2014 with the film ''1983'', which won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Debut Director. Personal ...

in the projects, '' 1983'' and ''

Action Hero Biju ''Action Hero Biju'' is a 2016 Indian Malayalam-language police procedural comedy film directed by Abrid Shine. The film stars Nivin Pauly, Anu Emmanuel, Saiju Kurup, Joju George, Alexander Prasanth , Kalabhavan Prajod, Rony David and Sohan S ...

''. 30 child artists were selected through an audition conducted in co-operation with

Kochu TV Kochu TV () is a Malayalam children's (pay) television channel from Sun TV Network, Chennai. The channel is based in Cochin, Kerala. Kochu TV is the only children's channel in Malayalam (excluding Malayalam & English audio feeds in pan-India c ...

. The music and background scoring was done by Sreeraj Sahajan, mixing and mastering by Ramu Raj. The choreography was by K. P. Sreejith and costumes by Steffy Zaviour

Critical reception

Sarath Ramesh Kuniyl from ''

The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...

'' rated 4 in a scale of 5, and said: "''Kolumittayi'' cannot, and should not, be dismissed as a children's film with dollops of nostalgia. There is a lesson or two for the grown-ups as well".

References

External links

* * https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6198840/reference 2016 films Films set in 1980 2010s Malayalam-language films {{2010s-Malayalam-film-stub