''Life of Josutty'' is a 2015 Malayalam-language

family drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms t ...

film directed by

Jeethu Joseph Jeethu Joseph (born 10 November 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also worked in a few Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films. Jeethu made his directional debut with the 200 ...

. The film stars

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...

in the title role along with a supporting cast consisting of Jyothi Krishna,

Rachana Narayanankutty Rachana Narayanankutty is an Indian actress, Kuchipudi dancer, and television presenter who works prominently in Malayalam film and television. She became popular through the television series ''Marimayam'' aired in Mazhavil Manorama. Persona ...

, Renjini Rupesh, Hareesh Perady and Chempil Asokan.

Nayanthara Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...

made a special appearance as 'Swapna' to whom Josutty finally marries in the climax portion of the movie. The story is formatted with commentaries from the protagonist. The screenplay and dialogue are written by Rajesh Varma. The film is co-produced and released by

Eros International Eros International Media Ltd (also known as Eros India) is an Indian motion picture production and distribution company, based and originated in Mumbai, India. Founded by Arjun Lulla in 1977, it is one of the leading production and distributi ...

, it is their debut production and distribution in Malayalam cinema. ''Life of Josutty'' released on 24 September 2015 and met with generally positive reviews.

Plot

Josutty (

) is the son of Joseph and Shoshamma. He belongs to a middle class traditional Christian farmer family in

Kattappana Kattappana is a municipal town in the Sahyadri (or Western Ghats) of Kerala state, India. It is the main urban centre in the high ranges of Idukki district, situated about from sea level. It is the second city to became a municipality in ...

, Idukki. As a child he desired to become a priest. But he falls in love with Jessy (

), his neighbor and childhood friend. Josutty is a sixth standard dropout and from a poor background, the reason why Jessy's dad refuses to marry her off to Josutty. Jessy was ready to go against her father and marry Josutty, but he doesn't want their families to suffer because of them. Later, Jessy married and moved on. Josutty's family was in deep debt and had sister to marry off, yielding to the advice from his friends and relatives he agrees to marry Rose ( Jyothi Krishna), a divorcée nurse settled in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. After the marriage, he travels to

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. The city lies on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authority encompass ...

in New Zealand to join his wife. Upon reaching there, Josutty's life turns upside down. Rose's bipolar character confuses Josutty and later he finds out his wife is pursuing an extramarital life with her former boyfriend. All of a sudden he realizes that he is a "total

square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...

" and that everything he believed to be true throughout life was wrong and he vows to make money. His friend Priya and Devassy helps him to run a restaurant and he slowly grows economically. He falls for Priya and works for nine years in New Zealand. He proposes to Priya once but Priya confesses with grief that still her marriage status with her far staying and

homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

husband cannot be changed. After his father's death he goes back to Kattappana facing repressed realities of emptiness in his life from the passing away of his mother, father and close friend. There he meets a door to door sales woman(

Nayantara Diana Mariam Kurian, known professionally as Nayanthara, is an Indian actress and film producer who is known for her work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam films. She was in the ''Forbes India'' "Celebrity 100" 2018 list, with her total annual ...

) and marries her and vows to have more children than his first love and neighbor Jessy with the intent to "live life to the fullest".

Cast

as Josutty * Renjini Rupesh as Priya *

as Jessymol * Jyothi Krishna as Rose *

Chembil Ashokan Chembil Ashokan is an actor in the Malayalam film industry. He is from Chembu - Vaikom. He has played many notable characters in Malayalam cinema. Filmography Television *Kadamattathu Kathanar (JaiHind TV) *Bhasi Bahadoor (Mazhavil Manorama ...

as Devassy *

Hareesh Peradi Hareesh Peradi is an Indian actor who predominantly acts in Malayalam and Tamil films. Career He is also a well-known theatre artist in Kerala, having made a mark in stage and also in TV and cinema. Even though he has acted in 36 films so far ...

as Joseph * Noby Markose as Geevarghese * Vijayakumari as Soshamma * Aqsa Bhatt as Angel / Devil *

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 Mollykutty *

Suraj Venjarammoodu Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than 2 ...

as Varkey * Reshmi Anil as kochu Rani *

Koottickal Jayachandran Koottickal Jayachandran ( ml, കൂട്ടിക്കൽ ജയചന്ദ്രൻ) is an Indian actor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He started his career as a Mimicry artist. Well known mimicry artist and presenter of shows ...

as Babu *

Saju Navodaya Pappanikunnel Thankappan Saju (born 14 October 1973), better known by his stage name Saju Navodaya, is an Indian actor and comedian who works in Malayalam films, television and stage. He began his career as a comedian on stage shows and later fo ...

as Rameshan * Nandu Pothuval as broker Stephen *

P. Balachandran Padmanabhan Balachandran Nair (2 February 1952 – 5 April 2021) was an Indian writer, playwright, scenarist, director, and actor. He was known for his work in Malayalam literature and Malayalam cinema. Career Balachandran is best known for ...

as Peelipose, Jessy's Father *

Santhakumari Santha Kumari (born Vellaala Subbamma; 17 May 1920 – 16 January 2006) was an Indian musical artist and actress. She was married to the Telugu film director and producer P. Pullayya. Early years Vellaala Subbamma was born in Proddatur town, ...

as Geevarghese's Mother *

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 Rupee ...

as Narayanan Master *

Sunil Sukhada Sunil Sukhada is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He debuted in a small role in the film '' Best Actor''. His first full length role was as the supermarket manager in '' Chappa Kurishu'' (2011). He won a special mention in the Kerala state ...

as Fr. Gabriel *

Sudheer Karamana Sudheer Karamana (born 24 May 1971) is an Indian actor who appears mainly in Malayalam cinema. He is the son of veteran actor Karamana Janardanan Nair. Personal life He is the eldest son to actor Karamana Janardanan Nair and Jaya, at Karamana, ...

as Mathews *

in a cameo *

as Swapna (Cameo) * Gaurav Menon as young Josutty * Nandana Varma as young Jessy

Marketing

The teaser of ''Life of Josutty'' released on 31 August and featured all actors in the film.

's share value surged by 3.98% at the stock market, immediately after the announcement of this film. The trailer of film released on 2 September, telling that there is no twist or suspense in the film. Film's audio is released on 4 September. First video song "Mele Mele" released on 10 September.

Reception

Critical reception

Upon release it received positive critical response. ''

Malayala Manorama ''Malayala Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew; it was first published as a weekly on 22 March 1888, and currently has ...

'' rated 3.25 out of 5 stars and concluded "Josutty inspires, and in more ways than one, makes for a good structured story; something that is largely eclipsed by mass entertainers". ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City. , it had more than 300 e ...

'' rated 3 out of 5 stars and called it "impressive" and concluded "On the whole, with Life of Josutty, director Jeethu Joseph carries on his good form that he showed in Drishyam giving Dileep one of the best characters of his career". ''

Bangalore Mirror ''Bangalore Mirror'' is a daily English-language newspaper published in Bangalore, India. It is a deputed newspaper and is the second-largest circulating English newspaper in the city ''Vijay Times'' ''Vijay Times'' was an English newspaper st ...

'' rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "It is to Joseph's credit that in today's changing times he has gone ahead and presented us with a simple, slice of life tale, managing to emerge a winner to a large extent". ''Indiaglitz'' awarded 3 out of 5 stars and said "Jeethu Joseph has once again come up with a good cinema. The makers' repeated warning that there is no twist of suspense is very much true. Its life - slow and steady like the beat of the heart". '' Filmibeat.com'' rated 3 out of 5 stars and said "The movie falls into the slow pace with the excessive load of emotional elements and unnecessary scenes. The climax looks forced; but it may satisfy the audience who insists on a happy ending. But in a whole, Life Of Josutty makes a perfect family movie". ''

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 ...

'' stated "The film is monotonous till the end. The flow is smooth in the first half which is made interesting with comic sequences. In the second half, it takes more time to narrate the story, hence lags".

Box office

The film released on 24 September, grossed from all over India in 15 days, of which was collected from

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 ...

. The satellite right was bought by Surya TV for an amount of .

Music

The soundtrack is composed by

Anil Johnson Anil Johnson ( ml, അനില്‍ ജോണ്‍സണ്‍) is an Indian film score, film composer and record producer who works in Malayalam cinema. Besides feature films, he has composed for commercials, documentaries, corporate films ...

which comprises five songs. The singers include

Shreya Ghoshal Shreya Ghoshal (born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer and television personality. One of the highest-paid and most well-established playback singers of Indian cinema, she has received four National Film Awards, four Kerala State Film Awar ...

Vijay Yesudas Vijay Yesudas (born 23 March 1979) is an Indian playback singer and actor. He has sung over 1000 film songs. Vijay works predominantly in the South Indian film industry, mostly in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi. He is the son of ...

Najim Arshad Najim Arshad (born 8 June 1986) is a state award-winning Indian playback singer and music director, sung more than 500 songs in the Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi film industries. In 2007, he won the reality show ''Idea Star Singer''. He ...

and Sangeetha Prabhu. The first video song "Mele Mele" sung by Shreya Ghoshal was released in September first week. The song shows the transition of Josutty (Dileep) and Jessy (Rachana), from their childhood days to adulthood. It is penned by lyricist Santosh Varma.

Awards and nominations

;

Filmfare Awards South Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...

* Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer – Malayalam -

References

External links

* * {{Jeethu Joseph 2010s Malayalam-language films Indian family films Indian drama films Films shot in Munnar Films shot in New Zealand Films set in New Zealand