Romans (2013 film)

''Romans'' is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film directed by Boban Samuel. The film is produced by Arun Ghosh and Bijoy Chandran under the banner Chand V Creations. The film stars Kunchacko Boban, Biju Menon and Niveda Thomas.
The core plots were inspired from 1989 American comedy film '' We're No Angels'', directed by Neil Jordan.

The film released on 17 January 2013, and received positive response from critics. The film was all time blockbuster at the box office.

Plot

Akash and Shibu are two convicts. They are being transported to another jail with another convict via train. Shibu and the other convicts beats the cops and Shibu jumps out of the train with Akash in tag.

Meanwhile, not so far away is a village called Poomala, which is on the Kerala - Tamil Nadu border. Poomala is the home to a famous centuries old Latin Catholic church which has been closed for many years now. Thommichan is the only prominent and wealthy man in the village and is respected highly by the townsfolks. He manages to get two priests to come and reopen their church (But the men were saying that they cannot come. Thommichan misheard it as they will come). He begins to start the preparations to welcome them.

As fate has it, Akash and Shibu reach Poomala. They end up reaching the church and they find themselves surrounded by the townsfolk. Soon, they realize that the people have mistaken them to be priests. The men begin to masquerade as priests to avoid being captured. Akash becomes Fr.Paul and Shibu becomes Fr.Sebastian aka Sebu.

The men find luck on their side as their doings end up having a positive effects and strengthening the belief of the townspeople. Some examples include the time when Shibu causes the old and unused church bell to become good again while he was trying to steal it. Another example is when they are to cure the insanity of the mother of Mathukutty, a tailor and friend. The woman attacks them and unknowingly hits a socket and gets electrocuted, which cures her. But the event leaves Geevarghese, a preacher who does not like the new priests to unknowingly get shocked and become insane.

The men constantly hear the people telling that 'the men came even after knowing everything'. The duo have no idea what the people mean by that. They ask Achankunju, the sexton, about the truth and he tells the truth.

A priest named Fr.Rodriguez was the priest of the church years ago. A girl fell in love with him and committed suicide after revealing the truth to him. When the townsfolk heard the news, they came to question Fr.Rodriguez, who by then had hung himself. It is said that his ghost has been killing all the priests who come to the church and perform rituals during the Perunal or holy day.

Akash and Shibu become scared and plan to escape. Moreover, Akash finds out that he knows Thommichan's daughter Eleena and she knows who Akash is. Akash was a magician who was a friend of Eleena. He was arrested for cheating and robbery. She at first threatens to expose the men but later forgives them after knowing the deeds they did.

The men's attempts to flee end up failing as they circle back and end up back in Poomala. Finally, Shibu plans to steal some ornaments and escape. But Akash opposes leading to a fight. Shibu locks him in a room and runs away, but Achankunju frees Akash (initially believing that it was a ghost). Akash finds that Shibu has not run away and they reconcile.

Later, they perform the ritual where the priests are said to die. Akash tells that the Fr.Rodriguez is the cause of the curse and moves to destroy his gravestone. But just before he makes his move, he seemingly bleeds and dies. When the townsfolk blame Fr.Paul, Fr.Sebu insults Fr.Rodriguez. This invokes Pappichayan an elderly photographer who is highly respected, and he shouts that the church should be destroyed and a new church in Fr.Rodriguez's name should be built.

Just then, the seemingly dead Fr.Paul gets up and reveals that he faked his death to reveal the truth to the townsfolk. He reveals that Pappichayan is actually the father of Fr.Rodriguez. He blames the town for killing his son and has been killing every priest who comes to the church. He poisons a food item (Vayanayappam) which the priests eat during the ritual, thus making it look like a curse or clueless death. It is revealed that Shibu saw Pappichayan poisoning their Vayanayappam the night he tried to run away with the loot. This prompted him to return and reveal the facts to Akash. To avoid exposing Fr.Sebu, Fr.Paul lies that Fr.Sebu had a vision in which he saw the truth and the townsfolk blindly believe them (owing to the fact that the townsfolk believe the priests have mystical powers). Pappichayan is subsequently arrested.

Sometime later, the priests ask the townsfolk to close their eyes for prayer. When everyone is praying, the men escape. While running, Akash sees Eleena, who tells him to keep running. But they soon are caught by the police. The police inspector Vetrimaaran, who has been hunting the duo since their escape, tells the men that he knows what they did in Poomala and as a reward, their punishment will be reduced. Akash smiles and winks at Eleena, as the cops take him and Shibu.

It is shown that the people of Poomala still have not learned the truth about the priests and consider them to be god's angels. The end credit scenes shows two men in Santa costumes celebrating Christmas with some elderly women. The men are later revealed to be Akash and Shibu, who have once again escaped.

Cast

* Kunchacko Boban as Akash / Fr. Paul
* Biju Menon as Shibu / Fr. Sebastian also known as Fr. Sebu
* Niveda Thomas as Eleena
* Lalu Alex as Thommichan
* TG Ravi as Pappichayan
* Vijayaraghavan as Fr. Gabriel
* Arun Ghosh as Fr. Rodriguez
* Akanksha Puri as Annie aka Annamma
* Nelson Sooranad as Geevarghese
* Kalabhavan Shaju as Mathukkutty
* Kochu Preman as Achankunju, the sexton
* Jaffar Idukki as Durai Raj
* Joice Nadakapadom as Joy
* Gayathri as Thommichan's wife
* Devu Krishnan as Reena
* Shalu Kurien as Gracy
* Santhakumari as Pappi's wife
* Swati Verma as Kathreena
* Jayan Cherthala as police sub-inspector Eanashu
* Thomas Unniyadan as the MLA (Cameo)
* Geetha Salam as Aravindan, the oracle
* Kalabhavan Haneef as Andrews, lottery salesman
* Shivaji Guruvayoor as Bishop Idachal
* Lishoy as Akash's father
* Kakka Ravi as C.I. Vetrimaran
* Ponnamma Babu as Mathukutty's mother
* Joy Pallassery as Jose
* Sreekala Thaha as Jose's wife
* Sreelakshmi as Jose's daughter
* Vimal Raj
* Venu Machad

Release

''Romans'' released on 17 January 2013 in 74 cinemas across Kerala, receiving positive response from critics. The film was a notable commercial success at the box office and ran for over 100 days in theatres. Satyam Audios released the Blu-ray, DVD and VCD of Romans on 20 May 2013.

Critical reception

Some critics noted that the plot was similar to the 1989 Neil Jordan film '' We're No Angels''.

Smitha of ''One India'' gave the movie 3.5/5 stars, stating that "''Romans'' is a comic caper and you will have plenty of reasons to laugh your heart out!"

''IndiaGlitz'' gave the movie 6.5/10 stars, concluding that "''Romans'' is targeted at the massive number of spectators who relish zany capers. If you are a member of this group, it's double the fun and guffaws this time; almost sure in leading to another commercial hit."

Box office

The film was commercial success. The film was made at a budget of 4.5 crore, including print and publicity cost. The film ran for over 125 days in theatres and grossed a total of over ₹15 crore from the Kerala box office.

Soundtrack

References

{{Reflist, refs=
{{cite web, title=Romans Movie Review – It's a comic caper, url=http://entertainment.oneindia.in/malayalam/reviews/2013/romans-movie-review-102733.html, author=Smitha, publisher=One India, date=18 January 2013, accessdate=19 January 2013{{Rating, 3.5, 5
{{cite web, title=Romans – These 'Romans' are just url=http://www.indiaglitz.com/channels/malayalam/review/16962.html, website=IndiaGlitz, date=18 January 2013, accessdate=19 January 2013{{Rating, 6.5, 10
{{cite web, title=Movie Review: Romans, url=http://www.sify.com/movies/romans-review-malayalam-15018106.html, archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130322065648/http://www.sify.com/movies/romans-review-malayalam-15018106.html, url-status=dead, archive-date=22 March 2013, publisher=Sify, date=18 January 2013, accessdate=19 January 2013

2013 films
2010s Malayalam-language films
2010s comedy thriller films
Indian comedy thriller films
Indian remakes of American films
2013 comedy films
Films scored by M. Jayachandran
Films about Catholicism
Films about Christianity
Catholic Church in India
Films directed by Boban Samuel