Lokpal A Lokpal ( sa, लोकपाल ''lokapāla'', "defender of people" or "People's Friend") is an anti-corruption authority or body of ombudsman who represents the public interest in the Republic of India. The current Chairperson of Lokpal is Pra ...

'' is a 2013 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

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a person who ...

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 by

S. N. Swamy S. Narayana Swamy alias S. N. Swamy is a screenwriter and actor who works in the Indian film industry predominantly in the Malayalam cinema. Having born in Kochi, Kerala Swamy is particularly known for scripting films in the thriller genre. ...

and directed by Joshiy."Mohanlal is the ‘Lokpal’"
''Khaleej Times''. 4 November 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2013. The film stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically app ...

as chef Nandagopal who leads a double life with an alter ego named Lokpal, a vigilante fighting against corruption.

Kavya Madhavan Kavya Madhavan (born 19 September 1984) is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 1991 as a child artist in '' Pookkalam Varavayi''. Her debut role as a lead actress was in Lal Jose's '' ...

Meera Nandan Meera Nandan is an Indian actress who appears mainly in Malayalam films. She also appeared in a few Tamil and Telugu films. Early life Meera Nandan was born as Meera Nandakumar on 26 November 1990 as the daughter of Nandakumar and Maya at P ...

, Manoj K. Jayan,

Thambi Ramaiah Thambi Ramaiah is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works in the Tamil film industry. He has also worked occasionally as a lyricist. He directed three films, ''Manu Needhi'' (2000), '' Indiralohathil Na Azhagappan'' (2008) and '' Mani ...

, and Sai Kumar plays supporting roles."Lokpal – Malayalam Online Movie Database"
''MOMDb.com''. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 1 February 2013. The soundtrack was composed by

Ratheesh Vegha Ratheesh Vega ( ml, രതീഷ് വേഗ) is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. His debut as a film music composer was in the 2010 hit film ''Cocktail''. Career Ratheesh completed his degree in music from Madra ...

. The film was released on 31 January 2013.

Plot

Chef Nandagopal, while publicly known as the chef of the popular Nandu's Food Court, is also 'Lokpal' (Peoples' Protector), who fights corruption. The film does a flashback to Nandagopal's backstory which involves "attempted murder, a juvenile home and unrequited love"

Cast

as Nandagopal / Baljeet Singh/ Ramaswamy Iyer/ Rockstar Alex Jackson/ Gangster Williams *

as Dr. Geetha *

as Jain * Manoj K. Jayan as SP Vijayan *

as SI Ramdas * Sai Kumar as Manuel Ittyera *

T. G. Ravi T. G. Ravindranathan (born 16 May 1944), popularly known as T. G. Ravi, is an Indian actor, mainly noted for his roles as a villain in Malayalam cinema. He along with Balan K. Nair played most of the negative roles in Malayalam cinema during t ...

as Sathyanweshi Mukundan Menon *

Thalaivasal Vijay Thalaivasal Vijay is an Indian actor and dubbing artist. He was born on 4 August 1962 in Kanyakumari, Tamil Nadu, India. He has acted predominantly in numerous Tamil and Malayalam films. Career Vijay's debut film was '' Thalaivaasal'' (1992) ...

as P.K.Ramabhadran / PP *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.Shammy 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 Vidhyadharan *

Sivaji Guruvayoor Shivaji Guruvayoor (born 28 May 1961) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam cinema. He started his film career with the film '' Arabikkatha''.He is known for his negative roles and character roles. Personal life He is married to Lilly and ...

as Muraleedharan * Baiju V.K. as Adv. Somasundaram * Krishna Kumar as Kishore * Balachandran Chullikkadu as Ashraf * Mahesh as Tomichan *

Pradeep Chandran Pradeep is a Diya lamp, used in Puja (religious ceremonies) in Hinduism, Jainism, & Buddhism. It is related to the name Pradip. Notable people with the name include: Pradeep Dahal* Pradeep (actor) * Kavi Pradeep * Vidya Pradeep * Pradeep Kumar ...

as CI Sunil * Baiju Jose as Sajan, Security Police *

Kalasala Babu Kalasala Babu (1950 14 May 2018) was an Indian actor who performed on stage, and in television serials and films. On stage Babu had been acting in radio plays while at college. Following his graduation in 1973, Babu acted in ''Paanchajanyam ...

as Moideen Sahib *

Shafna Shafna Nizam (born 15 June 1990) is an Indian actress who is active in Malayalam films and television serials. She made her acting debut as a child artist in Malayalam with ''Chinthavishtayaya Shyamala'' (1998). She played the lead role in tele ...

as Neethu * Asha Jose as Dr. Elizabeth * Reena Basheer as Nandagopal's mother

Production

The film is produced by S. L. Vimal kumar, Balan Vijayan and M. Vijayakumar, under the banner of Happy & Ruby Cinemas. The film was launched on 10 September 2012 with a pooja ceremony organised at the

Holiday Inn Holiday Inn is an American chain of hotels based in Atlanta, Georgia. and a brand of IHG Hotels & Resorts. The chain was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson, who opened the first location in Memphis, Tennessee that year. The chain was a division ...

Hotel in

Kochi, India Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part ...

. The movie was filmed in Kochi.

Release

The film was released on 31 January 2013 in 80 screens across

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 distribution rights for ''Lokpal'' were bought by Maxlab Cinemas and Entertainments. Lokpal's premiere was held on 22 January 2013 in Kalabhavan theatre,

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populatio ...

, Kerala.

Critical reception

The film received negative reviews from critics. Paresh C Palicha of ''

Rediff 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 ...

'' gave the movie 1.8/5, commenting that "It is hard to believe that ''Lokpal'' is the work of the director Joshiy who has given some good films in the past, which is a huge letdown." Moviebuzz of ''

Sify Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...

'' gave the movie a verdict of "''Pathetic''", stating that "''Lokpal'' is the kind of film that has been made with some kind of arrogance, without even scant regard for the viewer. Watch some of the yesteryear gems from Mohanlal instead of wasting time on this one." Unni R Nair of ''Kerala9'' gave the movie 2/5, saying that "''Lokpal'' is unimpressive, just because the script plays foil. Is watchable for the sake of Mohanlal.""Lokpal Kerala9 Review"
''Kerala9''. 1 February 2013. Retrieved 2 February 2013. Parvathy Nair of ''SansCinema'' gave the movie 1/4, commenting that "''Lokpal'' is a missed opportunity, with the only highlight being the presence and performance of Mohanlal."

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by

, with lyrics by

Rafeeq Ahmed Rafeeq Ahmed (born 17 December 1961) is a Malayalam poet, lyricist and novelist. He has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry and is a five-time winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics. With more than 600 songs in his ...

. The album consists of six songs and was launched on 26 January 2013 at

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. The event was attended by

, Joshiy,

, Manoj K. Jayan,

along with the technical crew and cast of ''Lokpal''.

References

External links

*
''Lokpal''
at the Malayalam Online Movie Database {{S. N. Swamy 2013 films 2010s Malayalam-language films 2010s political thriller films 2010s vigilante films Indian vigilante films Indian political thriller films Films shot in Kochi Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films directed by Joshiy