''Shutter'' is a 2012 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 ...

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 and directed by theater actor and playwright

Joy Mathew Joy Mathew (born 20 September 1961) is an Indian film and theatre actor.He is also a film director, playwright and screenwriter.He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Career Joy Mathew is best known for playing the lead role in John Abra ...

in his directorial debut. The film set and filmed in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

, stars

Lal Lal ( fa, لعل, hi, लाल, bn, লাল, ur, لال, ps, Lāl) is an Indo-Iranian surname and given name, which means "darling", "precious", or "beloved", from the Sanskrit ''lala'' ("cajoling").''Dictionary of American Family Names''F ...

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ' ...

Vinay Forrt Vinay Kumar, professionally credited as Vinay Forrt is an Indian film and stage actor. He hails from Fort Kochi, Kerala and is a theatre activist with more than a decade's worth of experience in the theatrical field as well as a postgraduate in ...

Sajitha Madathil Sajitha Madathil is an Indian film and theatre actor. Her performance in Joy Mathew's feature film '' Shutter'' (2012) won her the State film award for second best actress. She is the head of the department of Acting at the K. R. Narayanan Na ...

and

Riya Saira Riya Saira is an Indian actress and dubbing artist in the Malayalam film Industry. She made her debut in 2012 through the Malayalam film '' 22 Female Kottayam''. Saira was spotted by Aashiq Abu Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indi ...

Renganaath Ravee Renganaath Ravee is an Indian sound designer, sound editor and documentary filmmaker Biography Renganaath Ravee is an Indian sound designer/ supervising sound editor based in Mumbai who has worked in over 100 plus feature films (extending to ...

does the sound design, Hari Nair cranks the camera. The film notably features a poem by

Pablo Neruda Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto (12 July 1904 – 23 September 1973), better known by his pen name and, later, legal name Pablo Neruda (; ), was a Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature. Nerud ...

, set to music and sung by Shahabaz Aman. Biby Sam and Jacob Panikker composed the background score for the film. Claimed to be a part of the new-wave in

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

, the film is a

satire Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming ...

about Indian laborers in 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 bodie ...

and is set within two days and a night in the city of Kozhikode. The film portrays unexpected incidents happening in two days and a night in the city of Kozhikode. The story centers around the mess created by three men — a

Gulf Malayali The Kerala Gulf diaspora refers to the people of Kerala living in the West Asian Arab states of the Persian Gulf. In 2008, they numbered more than 2.5 million. Nearly 80 percent of Indians living in Kuwait are from Kerala according to the 2008 sur ...

, a film director and an auto driver — after they meet a strange woman in bizarre circumstance. The film is a moral suspense thriller and according to the director it is "poetical violence on celluloid". The film had its Indian premiere at the 17th

International Film Festival of Kerala The International Film Festival of Kerala (abbreviated as IFFK) is a film festival held annually in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of Kerala, India. This film festival started in 1996 and is hosted by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy ...

and international premiere at the 9th

Dubai International Film Festival The Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF, ar, مهرجان دبي السينمائي الدولي) is the leading film festival in the Arab region. The 12th edition of DIFF took place from December 9 – 16, 2015. In 2018, the DIFF announce ...

. It won the Silver Crow Pheasant Award for Best Feature Film (Audience Prize) at the 17th

. The film was a critical and commercial success, which led to its remakes '' Shutter'' (2014) in Marathi and ''

Oru Naal Iravil ''Oru Naal Iravil'' () is a 2015 Indian Tamil language thriller film edited and directed by Anthony in his directorial debut. A remake of Joy Mathew's successful Malayalam film '' Shutter'' (2012), the film stars Sathyaraj in the lead role. The ...

'' (2015) in Tamil. It was also remade in

Tulu Tulu may refer to: People *Derartu Tulu (born 1972), Ethiopian long-distance runner *Walid Yacoubou (born 1997), Togolese footballer nicknamed "Tulu" India *Tulu calendar, traditional solar calendar generally used in the regions of southwest Kar ...

in 2016 as ''Shutterdulai''.

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

remade the movie into Kannada-Telugu bilingual called ''

Idolle Ramayana ''Idolle Ramayana'' () in Kannada, shot simultaneously in Telugu as ''Mana Oori Ramayanam'' (), is a 2016 Indian comedy drama film directed by Prakash Raj. The film was produced by Prakash himself with Ramjee Narasiman under Prakash Raj Produc ...

'' in Kannada and ''

Mana Oori Ramayanam ''Idolle Ramayana'' () in Kannada, shot simultaneously in Telugu as ''Mana Oori Ramayanam'' (), is a 2016 Indian comedy drama film directed by Prakash Raj. The film was produced by Prakash himself with Ramjee Narasiman under Prakash Raj Product ...

'' in Telugu. It was also remade in Punjabi in 2016 as ''

Lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

''. This is the only movie to have a version in all five South Indian languages. With six remakes, it is one of the most remade movies in India.

Plot

Rasheed is an NRI working in the Gulf. He comes to his hometown Kozhikode on a vacation for his daughter's engagement. Rasheed has invested in a commercial property next to his house which he has let out to store owners, except for one room. During his holiday, he meets his friends here and they bond every night over a few peg of drinks. During one of these days, Rasheed's friend Nanmarayil Suran, an autorickshaw driver, locks him with a prostitute in a garage from the outside to let the two have some fun. He fails to turn up as promised and the two end up spending two nights and one day together in the garage. The rest of the narrative revolves around the embarrassing plight of these two and the lives of Suran, Thankam and Manoharan.

Cast

as Rasheed *

as Director Manoharan *

as Nanmayil Suran *

as Thankam, the prostitute *

as Nyla, Rasheed's daughter * Nisha Joseph as Rasheed's wife * Augustine (actor), Augustine as Prabhu * Prem Kumar (Malayalam actor), Prem Kumar as S.I. Subhashchandran * Vijayan Karanthoor * Appunni Sasi

Production

The film marks the directorial debut of

, who is a well known face in the Malayalam drama industry and shot to fame in films by portraying the central character in John Abraham (director), John Abraham's classic film ''Amma Ariyan''. Noted theatre actor Sajtha Madathil plays the female lead in the film while ''Apoorvaragam'' fame

plays the role of an autorickshaw driver. The film includes about sixty experienced theatre actors from Kerala and Gulf countries. Academy Award-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty was initially approached for the film's sound recording. When he opted out, another noted sound designer

was chosen. The sound mixing was done by M. R. Rajakrishnan. National Film Awards, National award-winning cinematographer Hari Nair wields camera for the film. A longtime friend of Joy Mathew, Nair is making his comeback to Malayalam cinema after quite a long gap with this film. The film was completely shot from Kozhikode and was completed by July 2012.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the film features three songs. The first is a translation of ''Veinte poemas de amor'' by

, written, set to music and sung by Shahabaz Aman. A teenage school student from Kozhikkode, Zubin Imtiaz, was approached to provide a bilingual song, "Kyun". Along with Jacob Panikker, he penned the Hindi lyrics while Joy Mathew provided the Malayalam verse. Zubin and Biby Sam composed the music for the song. The third song which is briefly heard sung by Joy Mathew in a cameo appearance in the film, is played during the ending credits. The lyricist of this old folk song is not known.

Release and reception

Film festival screening

The film had its Indian premiere on 9 December 2012 at the 17th

where it was screened in the International Competition Section. The film's international premiere was at the 9th

where it was screened on 10 December at the Cross Section of Indian Films section. The film had won the Silver Crow Pheasant award for the best movie in the Audience Choice section.

Theatrical release

The film had its theatrical release on 22 February 2013. Gold Coin Motion Pictures, owned by ace film director, Ranjith Balakrishnan, and Seven Arts pictures has taken the distribution rights.

Critical response

Veeyen of Nowrunning.com stated that "Joy Mathew's directorial debut reinstates your faith in fine cinema, and has already made it to my list of the most gratifying films of the year." He also added that "''Shutter'' is a keenly observed drama on human predicament that appears delectably funny at times and palpably poignant at others." Paresh Palicha of Rediff.com says "Shutter which has already won critical acclaim deserves to be successful at the box office too." Rating the film 3 stars out of 5, Dalton L of Deccan Chronicle says "Joy Mathew’s drama, through an act of trust, forces open the shutters of the conservative eyes of a moralist with double standards, humbles him, and sets him free from the shackles of his sinful thoughts." The Times of India called Lal's performance "stunning" and said that "Vinay pulls off a performance that overshadows Lal, Sajitha and Sreenivasan." The Hindu said the film "celebrates the sights and smells of Kozhikode" and while "the twist comes a bit too delayed", the film "fully taps the curiosity factor, making the audience feel for each well-shaped character". film fare awards, *

(International Film Festival of Kerala#IFFK 2012, 2012): Silver Crow Pheasant Award (Rajata Chakoram) for Best Feature Film (Audience Prize)

Remakes

''Shutter'' has been remade in several languages and is set to be remade in Hindi.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 2522328 2012 films 2010s Malayalam-language films 2012 thriller films Films set in Kerala Films scored by Shahabaz Aman Malayalam films remade in other languages Indian thriller films Films shot in Kozhikode 2012 directorial debut films