Chaappa Kurishu

Chaappa Kurishu
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Sameer Thahir
Screenplay by	Sameer Thahir Unni R.
Story by	Sameer Thahir
Produced by	Listin Stephen
Starring	Vineeth Sreenivasan Fahadh Faasil Roma Asrani Remya Nambeesan Nivetha Thomas
Cinematography	Jomon T. John
Edited by	Don Max
Music by	Rex Vijayan
Production company	Magic Frames
Distributed by	Central Pictures
Release date	15 July 2011 (2011-07-15)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹ 25 lakhs

Chaappa Kurishu (Malayalam: ചാപ്പാ കുരിശ്, English: Heads or Tails (slang^[1])) is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film co-written and directed by Sameer Thahir and starring Vineeth Sreenivasan, Fahadh Faasil, Roma Asrani, Remya Nambeesan, and Nivetha Thomas in the lead roles.

The film started production in April 2011 at Kochi and was released on 14 July. It is the directorial debut of Thahir. The film was remade in Tamil as Pulivaal with Vimal and Prasanna.

The film is an unauthorized remake of the 2009 South Korean film Handphone,^[2] along with its reported structural similarity to the 2002 American film Changing Lanes.^[3]

Plot

Arjun, a wealthy builder who owns a big construction business in Kochi, is having an affair with his subordinate, Sonia, even though he is preparing to be engaged to his family friend's daughter, Ann. Ansari, a poor supermarket worker frequently mocked for his appearance, is crushing on his co-worker Nafiza.

Arjun is shown to be regretful of having taken advantage of Sonia's trust in him when she allowed him to record them. Sonia too finds out about the leaked video, and after making a call to Arjun, is shown to be preparing for suicide.

A chase follows when Arjun tries to find Ansari. The confrontation between the two is vicious and bloody before finally settling down and resignedly going their separate ways. Sonia decides to leave town instead of killing herself. Arjun finds out and is seen seeking her out at the airport. He is all bruised from the fight, and the film leaves them at that point and ends with Ansari standing up to people who mock him.

Cast

• Vineeth Sreenivasan as Ansari
• Fahadh Faasil as Arjun Samuel
• Roma Asrani as Ann
• Remya Nambeesan as Sonia
• Nivetha Thomas as Nafiza
• Jinu Joseph as John
• Sunil Sukhada as Store Manager Martin
• Dinesh Panicker as Samuel

Production

Title

"Chappa Kurishu" means Head or Tail in Malayalam. Sameer Thahir chose the title based off of the two male leads, saying "I knew that they were the two sides of the same coin." He chose the colloquial term used in Chochin, owing to his own locality.^[4]

Filming

Chappa Kurishu was launched by actor Kamal Haasan at the 100th day function of Traffic. The film was produced by Listin Stephen who also produced Traffic. It was director Anwar Rasheed who introduced Sameer Thahir to Listin.^[4] The film started production in April 2011 at Ernakulam. The film was shot entirely with a Canon 7D DSLR camera.^[5][6][7]

Controversies

The release of Chaappa Kurishu's trailer itself had kick-started controversies. There is some similarities between trailer title insets of American drama film 21 Grams directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, released in 2003.^[8] Moreover, the film has been accused of stealing the idea from the Korean movie Handphone.

Reception

Keerthy Ramachandran of Deccan Chronicle gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 stars saying "The film is a dark riveting account of the lives of two men who lead extremely contrasting lives."^[9] Veeyen of nowrunning.com rated the film 2.5/5 and said "It's a brave and genuinely heartfelt directorial effort from a young director, who has clearly won the toss this time around."^[10] Rediff.com gave the film a score of 2.5 out of 5 saying "Chaappa Kurishu, Samir Thahir's debut as a director holds promise but leaves us with a feeling that it could have been better."^[11] Sify on its review said that "Chappa Kurishu shocks the viewers for sure, but sadly for all the wrong reasons."^[12] Indiaglitz rated the film 5/10 and wrote: "The generous dose of skin show sequence, violent action and the need for a more tighter scripts will tell on its business and restrict its appeal further to limited audiences."^[13]

Soundtrack

Chaappa Kurishu
Soundtrack album by Rex Vijayan
Released	11 July 2011
Genre	Feature film soundtrack
Length	9:02
Label	Satyam Audios
Producer	Rex Vijayan
Rex Vijayan chronology
Kerala Cafe (Segment:Bridge) (2009) Chaappa Kurishu (2011) 22 Female Kottayam (2012)

The music of the film was composed by Rex Vijayan with lyrics penned by Engandiyur Chandrasekharan.

Chaappa Kurishu original motion picture soundtrack^[14]

No.	Title	Artist(s)	Length
1.	"Oru Naalum Kaanathe"	Resmi Sateesh, Rex Vijayan	4:09
2.	"Theeye Theeye"	Sayanora Philip, Saju Sreenivas	4:53

Awards

Award	Category	Result	Recipient	Ref.
Kerala State Film Awards 2011	Second Best Actor	Won	Fahadh Faasil	[15]
Ramu Kariat Memorial Cultural Forum Awards	Best Second Film	Won	Chaappa Kurish	[16]
Film Guidance Society of Kerala Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won	Remya Nambeesan	[17]
Vayalar Ramavarma Chalachitra Television Award	Best Actress	Won		[18]
Asianet Film Awards	Best Character Actress	Nominated
Asiavision Movie Awards	Trendsetter Award	Won	Listin Stephen	[19]
Vanitha Film Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Won	Remya Nambeesan
Mathrubhumi Kalyan Silks Film Awards	Best Path Breaking Movie of the Year	Nominated	Chaappa Kurish	[20]
Amrita Film Awards	Best Film	Won
Kochi Times Film Awards	Best Youth Film	Won		[21]

References

1. "Chappa Kurish – curious!!!!!!". vineeth sreenivasan's Blog. 1 May 2011. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
2. "Malayalam film 'Chaappa Kurishu' a copy? YouTuber flays India's 'inspired' directors". The News Minute. 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
3. "Row over Kerala State Films Award". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
4. "Behind The Camera: Chappayum Kurishum Screenil" Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Yentha.com. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
5. "Life and Style". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013.
6. "Malayalam directors usher in a new cinematic language". Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
7. "..:: Magic Frames ::". magicframes.in. Archived from the original on 7 June 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
8. "Chaappa Kurish trailer, a rip off of Hollywood flick 21 Grams" Archived 24 June 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Sanscinema.com. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
9. "Chappa Kurishu: Engrossing thriller". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 September 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
10. "Chappa Kurishu: Review". nowrunning.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2022. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
11. "Review: Chappa Kurishu has it moments - Rediff.com Movies". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
12. "Movie Review:Chappa Kurishu". Sify. Archived from the original on 8 January 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
13. "IndiaGlitz - Chappakurisu Malayalam Movie Review". IndiaGlitz. Archived from the original on 18 May 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
14. "Chaapa Kurish (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Songs Download: Chaapa Kurish (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) MP3 Malayalam Songs Online Free on". Gaana. Retrieved 23 August 2022.
15. "Kerala State Film Awards". Nowrunning.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
16. "Ramu Kariat Memorial Cultural Forum Awards". Kerala.com. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
17. "Film Guidance Society of Kerala Film Awards". Entertainment.oneindia.com. 15 February 2012. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
18. "Vayalar Ramavarma Chalachitra Television". Yentha.com. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
19. "Asiavision Movie Awards". Asiavisionawards.com. Archived from the original on 25 January 2012.
20. "Mathrubhumi Kalyan Silks Film Awards". Mathrubhumi.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2012.
21. "The Kochi Times Film Awards 2011". The Times Of India. 23 June 2012. Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Retrieved 23 June 2012.

External links

• Chaappa Kurishu at IMDb