Two Countries

''Two Countries'' is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written by Rafi and directed by Shafi. The film stars Dileep and Mamta Mohandas in the lead roles, with Suraj Venjarammoodu, Mukesh, Aju Varghese and Jagadish appearing in supporting roles. The film was released on 25 December 2015.It Became A Commercial Blockbuster at Box Office. It grossed 10 crores in just 2 days. The film was remade in Telugu as same name with Sunil and in Kannada with Sharan titled '' Adyaksha in America''.

Plot

The plot of the film revolves around Ullas, a cunning procrastinator in his late 20s who makes a living by deceiving people in his hometown. Money is the only motivator that works for him and he wants it without any risks. He decides to marry a disabled woman, Simran, who is the sister of a Maarwadi Patelar, from whom he had borrowed some amount of money. Patelar agreed as he wanted nothing but put a smile on his sister's face. But Ullas' motivation behind the marriage was the assets in favour of her. A name coincidence, resulted in bring Ullas a proposal from an Indo-Canadian rich Malayali woman Laya. He immediately agreed the proposal, and told Patelar that he has left his interest in marrying her sister, who in turn, was furious and became violent. Immigration to Canada and easy money allures him. Only later does Ullas comes to the knowledge that Laya is a chronic alcoholic. The knowledge of funds deposited in her name, that Laya cannot claim due to her alcoholism, and the possibility of access entices him however and he adjusts with the troubles.

In time Ullas falls in love with his alcoholic wife, and the call of a husband makes him care for Laya even in troubles. Laya learns of Ullas's original plan through Avinash, Ullas's friend, accidentally.
This leads to a divorce case. Initially Ullas gains the upper hand from the court, citing his wife is an alcoholic and she needs treatment and that the divorce case is resistance towards it. Laya gets treated through a de-addiction center.

By the guidance of the doctor, Ullas goes with the divorce process to help Laya. Ullas returns and decides to marry Simran again. Patelar reluctantly agreed as Ullas promised he won't change his mind again. Later, Laya understands about the role of Ullas for her wellness and decided to fly back to India to meet Ullas. Ullas on meeting her, requested to never disturb him again in his life as he is planning to marry a woman, whom he deceived before and cannot do the same again. Ullas, regretfully, dresses up and leaves for marriage. On arrival, he discovers that it was all a play by Patelar, as Ullas is deceived by him, for his past activity towards Simran. Ullas, cried mockingly, as things went good as he is reunited with Laya.

Cast

* Dileep as Ullas Kumar
* Mamta Mohandas as Laya Ullas
* Aju Varghese as Avinash Kumbalachottil, Ullas's best friend
* Mukesh as Simon Varghese/ Achayan, Ottawa Malayali Samajam President.
* Jagadish as Ujwal, Ullas's elder brother
* Asokan as Mukundan Kurup, Laya's stepfather
* Suraj Venjarammoodu as Jimmy Chokliyil
* Vinaya Prasad as Revathi, Laya's mother
* Rafi as Daniel, Laya's father
* Isha Talwar as Simran, Patelar's sister
* Sajitha Betti as Reshmi Ujwal, Ujwal's wife
* Srinda Arhaan as Jessy / Jessica, Laya's stepmother
* Lena as Adv. Susan, Simon's wife
* Vijayaraghavan as Kochachan, Ullas's uncle
* Riyaz Khan as Kiran
* Makarand Deshpande as Patelar
* Kalasala Babu as Sukumaran, Ullas' father
* Shobha Mohan as Radhika, Ullas' mother
* Kalyani Nair as Usha, Avinash's wife
* Ajmal Ameer as Ullas Kumaran, a politician
* Hareesh Kanaran as Sajan Koyilandy
* Balachandran Chullikadu as Kanaran Master
* Dinesh Prabhakar as Bus Driver (cameo)
* Saju Kodiyan as Chellappan (cameo)
* J. Pallassery as Politician
* Nandu Poduval as Politician Rameshan

Production

Originally, the film was entitled ''Canadian Tharavu'', but this was later changed to "2 Countries" in August 2015. Principal photography started in July 2015 in Canada by CanEast Films Ottawa (Biju George and Satheesh Gopalan) ., Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod and Ottawa Film Commission actively helped the Team. Team Fondly remembers Lisa's help all through during the shoot. About 80 per cent of the film was shot in Ottawa at locations like ByWard Market, Rideau Canal, Almonte, Manotick, Brockville and Niagara Falls. Filming in Canada was completed on 6 August 2015. A large part of the film was shot in Ottawa, Montreal and a song sequence was filmed at Niagara Falls, becoming the second Malayalam film that shot Niagara, after I. V. Sasi directed ''Ezham Kadalinakkare'' in 1979. Filming took place over the course of a month. The second schedule for filming held in Kochi, Kerala. The filming was finished in November 2015.Namitha Pramod signed into play second female lead but was replaced by Isha Talwar.

Release

The film was released in Kerala on 25 December 2015 in the Christmas day. It released in theatres outside Kerala from 22 January 2016, and released in 63 screens in the United Kingdom on 29 January.

Critical reception

''The Times of India'' rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and stated "Packaged with umpteen laugh-out-loud moments, ''Two Countries'' is definitely what one would expect from a Dileep movie. The screenplay by Rafi is clean, situational humour with clever quips and the actors hit the ball out of the park with their comic timing".

Box office

The film received a good opening at the box office, grossing from theatres within five days. It grossed in twenty days from the Kerala box office. After 40 days, the film had collected more than from Kerala alone and the worldwide gross would come in much higher after adding the earnings from the rest of India and overseas markets. By this time, film already achieved the status of being one of the highest-grossing film in Malayalam. It grossed an estimated sum of with a net amount of from 60 theatres in Kerala after 44 days, with a worldwide collection of . After 60 days, worldwide gross was over .

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack contains 3 songs, all composed by Gopi Sundar and Lyrics by B. K. Harinarayanan.

References

External links

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{{Rafi Mecartin
2010s Malayalam-language films
2015 films
Indian romantic comedy films
Films scored by Gopi Sundar
Films shot in Ottawa
Films shot in Toronto
Films shot in Kochi
Malayalam films remade in other languages
Films directed by Shafi
2015 romantic comedy films