''Mike'' is a 2022 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

coming-of-age film Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

directed by Vishnu Sivaprasad and wriiten by Ashiq Akbar Ali. It was produced by

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies ...

with his company

JA Entertainment John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor, film producer, writer and former model working in Hindi films. He has won a National Film Award and received five Filmfare nominations. After modelling for advertisements and companies ...

, marking his debut production in Malayalam. The film stars

Anaswara Rajan Anaswara Rajan (born 8 September 2002) is an Indian actress who works mainly in Malayalam film. She made her acting debut in the Malayalam short film ''Globe''. Her first feature film was ''Udaharanam Sujatha'' (2017). Anaswara gained populari ...

in the title role along with a debutant Ranjith Sajeev. The music was composed by

Hesham Abdul Wahab Hesham Abdul Wahab (born 14 October 1990) is an Indian music director, music producer, singer and audio engineer. Best known for his compositions for the soundtrack of the 2022 Malayalam film ''Hridayam'' and the music album ''Qadham Badha'' ( p ...

. The film was released in theatres on 19 August 2022.

Plot

Sarah, a free spirited young girl is looking to surgically reassign her gender. Antony is a once exuberant but now a hopeless young man. Sarah aka Mike is on her gender transitioning journey. She meets Antony, an youngster with alcohol use disorder. The quick camaraderie developed persuades the duo to travel ahead together.

Cast

Production

The marks the debut production of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

actor-producer

in Malayalam cinema, with his company J.A. Entertainment. Filming began on 20 October 2021 in

Mysore Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...

, shooting also took place at

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 ...

Vaikom Vaikom, , is a municipal town and a capital town of Vaikom Taluk, situated in the northwest of Kottayam district in the state of Kerala, India. The town is also noted for its role in the Indian independence movement for being the venue of Vaikom ...

, and

Dharamshala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

Release

The film was released in theatres on August 19, 2022.

Music

The original background score and songs were composed by

. Music album was distributed by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Critical response

The Times Of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' gave it a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "On the whole, peripherally it could be a one time watch but the regressive thoughts in it would definitely influence the public opinion on gender roles, gender inclusivity and sensibility". '' Onmanorama'' wrote that "Empathy is at the core of this Anaswara Rajan film."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt15760250 2022 films Indian drama films 2022 drama films 2020s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Hesham Abdul Wahab Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Idukki