''Rasam'' () is a 2015 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 film based on food, tastes, restaurants and catering services. The film was directed and co-written by

Rajeev Nath Rajeevnath is a National Film Award for Best Direction, National Award-winning Malayalam film director. Career Rajeevnath ventured into filmmaking with a short film shot in 16mm camera after finishing his university course. He debuted as a dire ...

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Ma ...

, Rajeev Nath and Sudip Kumar co-written the screenplay of the story written by Sudip. It 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 ...

and

Indrajith Sukumaran Indrajith Sukumaran (born 17 December 1978) is an Indian actor and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Indrajith was born to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran and is the elder brother of Prithviraj Sukumaran. Indrajit ...

in lead alongside Nedumudi Venu, Devan and

Varuna Shetty Varuna Shetty is an Indian actress who has done Malayalam- and Tamil-language films. She has been launched by Ranjith Bajpe in his first directional venture Tulu movie, Nirel. Later she worked under Oru Thalai Ragam Shankar in his UAE based t ...

in supporting roles. 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 a ...

commenced on 8 January 2014 at

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the count ...

. Filming underway at the locations in Doha,

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

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 ...

Ottapalam Ottapalam, (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk and municipality in the Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ottapalam taluk. Ottapalam is located about 36 km from district headquarters Palakkad. ...

and

Thiruvananthapuram 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 populati ...

. ''Rasam'' released on 23 January 2015 and failed to impress the critics.

Plot summary

The film takes place in

where Shekar Menon, a business tycoon arranges his daughter's wedding to be done in a traditional

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 ...

style feast. Actor

invites Valliyottu thirumeni to take up the catering for the wedding reception of the star's close friend Shekar Menon's daughter Janaki. Vasudevan, Balu and team fly to Doha. But circumstances force Balu to take over from his father. As the name suggests, food forms the central character in the film.

Cast

as Bala Shankar *

as Janaki, Menon's daughter *

as Valliyottu Thirumeni *

as Himself (cameo) * Devan as Shekar Menon *

Jagadish P. V. Jagadish Kumar (born 12 June 1955) known mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, television presenter and former politician. He has starred in over 375 Malayalam films and 2 Hindi films. He is best known for his com ...

as Abdhu *

Nandhu Nandalal Krishnamoorthy better known by his stage name Nandu is an Indian actor primarily working in Malayalam films. Although he has been in the industry for more than 30 years, he is acclaimed for his performance in Mohanlal' s '' Spirit'', di ...

as Govindan Nair *

Mythili Brighty Balachandran (born 24 March 1988), better known by her stage name Mythili, is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films. She made her debut in the 2009 Malayalam film '' Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha'' whic ...

as Shahida * Ambika Mohan as Mrs. Thirumeni * Rajesh Rajan as Job * Dileep Shankar * Albert Alex as Josemon * Satheesh Menon as Family Doctor * Nihal Pillai as Manu * Bindu K Menon as Mrs Menon

Casting

was signed in a cameo role as himself. In the film, he appeared as the friend of a leading businessman in Dubai. "Mohanlal has a pivotal role in ''Rasam'' as he is the one who mentors Indrajith in his work at the wedding in Dubai", says Rajeev. Indrajith plays Balu, a Namboothiri cook who runs a restaurant in

. Balu is a B. Tech and

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

degree holder. He follows his father, a popular cook who is invited to Doha to do catering service for a marriage ceremony.

was cast as the heroine, her debut film in Malayalam. She does the role of Janaki, daughter of a Dubai-based business man. It is her wedding which centres the main plot in the film. Her father calls renowned chefs from Kerala to make a traditional Sadya for her wedding.

is the other female lead in the film. Nihal Pillai is playing a villain role in the film.

Filming

The

began on 8 January 2014 at

. The shooting was held in the restaurant ''Spice Boat'', which is indeed the hotel owned by Indrajith's mother Mallika Sukumaran. The crew returned from Doha only by 13 January. The rest of the shoot progressed in

Ottappalam Ottapalam, (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk and municipality in the Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ottapalam taluk. Ottapalam is located about 36 km from district headquarters Palakkad. ...

. A Thiruvathirakkali of 300 artists was shot in

. The film was shot in and around the

Gulf A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...

regions. The shooting in Dubai was wrapped in two weeks and return to shoot in Ottapalam. In May, the film completed its shoot in Doha, Dubai,

, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Music

The soundtrack consists of 3 songs composed by Job Kurian and sung by K. S. Chithra,

Kavalam Sreekumar Kavalam Sreekumar is a classical musician, Malayalam film singer and music composer from Kerala, India. His recitation of Ramayana is also famous. He has also rendered more than 60 famous Malayalam poems. He is the son of the noted Malayalam poet ...

and Job Kurian himself. Lyrics are penned by

Kavalam Narayana Panicker Kavalam Narayana Panicker (1 May 1928 – 26 June 2016) was an Indian dramatist, theatre director, and poet. He has written over 26 Malayalam plays, many adapted from classical Sanskrit drama and Shakespeare, notably Kalidasa's ''Vikramorvasiy ...

. ''Rasam'' makes the debut of musician turned composer Job Kurian. Previously he had co-composed the background score of a Kannada film. K.S Chithra had sung a traditional thiruvathira song and Kavalam Sreekumar sung a fun song on the occasion of a feast. Job Kurian's is a travel track in the drum and base genre with Indian elements.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 4384456 2010s Malayalam-language films 2015 films Kerala cuisine Films shot in Qatar Films shot in Dubai Films shot in Ottapalam Films shot in Kochi Films shot in Thiruvananthapuram Films about food and drink Cooking films Films directed by Rajeevnath