Neerali

Neerali
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ajoy Varma
Screenplay by	Saju Thomas
Produced by	Santhosh T. Kuruvilla Praveen Kattukaran Mibu Jose Nettikadan
Starring	Mohanlal Nadhiya Parvatii Nair Suraj Venjaramoodu
Cinematography	Santosh Thundiyil
Edited by	Ajoy Varma Sajit Unnikrishnan
Music by	Stephen Devassy Ronnie Raphael (score)
Production company	Moonshot Entertainments
Distributed by	Moonshot Entertainments
Release date	13 July 2018 (2018-07-13) (India)
Running time	123 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Neerali (Theatrical title: Nieraali; transl. Octopus) is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language survival thriller film^[1] directed and co-edited by Ajoy Varma from a screenplay by Saju Thomas, with Mohanlal in the lead role. The film was produced and distributed by Moonshot Entertainments. It began principal photography on 9 January 2018 in Mumbai and was completed in February. The film was released in India on 13 July 2018.

Plot

Sunny George is a gemologist, working in Kandy. His wife Molly is hospitalized back in their native place, as she has gone into labour, and they are expecting twins. Sunny hurries to the hospital in an old jeep, with one of his close aides, Veerappan.

Veerappan is driving the vehicle. While driving hastily through a spooky forest area, Veerappan loses control of the vehicle, in an attempt to save a man on the road, he collides with a truck. The jeep glissade, and is on the edge of a cliff, with the front tyres hanging in the air, above a deep sunken valley.

Veerappan is completely broken and is hanging with the help of a seat belt. While a frightened Sunny is unable to do anything. He tries all possible means, but to no avail. Even talking with a monkey and to come face to face with a venomous cobra.

Runs parallel is their personal story. Sunny and Molly are expecting a child after 12 years. Sunny have a connection with office colleague Naina. She is suffering from a psychological problem. She is obsessive about Sunny, while he treats her as his friend. He calls her but Naina deliberately hangs up, because of ignoring her in the past. We also see Veerappan was carrying diamonds worth millions and a few guys were following him during the ride. As he has done some dealing with them, for the sake of money so that he can get back his daughter's medals which was taken away by some goons.

When it nears morning, Veerappan dies and by mistake falls off the clip. Sunny is shattered. When he finds that the jeep is about to fall he jumps and gets hold of a branch. The jeep slides down. After hanging for a few minutes, few police officers rescues him.

Sunny comes to the hospital and learns that he is blessed with twins as expected. He is happy to be back with Molly. We also get to know that Naina was the one who called the Police. Sunny apologizes and thanks her for her selfless deed. In the end, Sunny adopts Veerappan's daughter and hands off her the medals, her dad always wished to give her.

Cast

• Mohanlal as Sunny George
• Suraj Venjaramoodu as Veerappan
• Nadhiya as Mollykutty^[2]
• Parvatii Nair as Naina^[3]
• Dileesh Pothan as Rajan
• Santosh T Kuruvila as Doctor
• Sandeep Narayanan as Sando
• Bineesh Kodiyeri^[4][5][6]
• Nassar as George
• Megha Mathew^{[7][8][non-primary source needed][9]}

Production

Neerali was financed by Santhosh T. Kuruvilla under his company Moonshot Entertainments, and co-produced by Praveen Kattukaran and Mibu Jose Nettikadan. It was written by Saju Thomas. Ajoy Varma makes his directorial debut in Malayalam cinema with this film, having earlier worked as an editor and director in Bollywood. The then-untitled film was officially announced by lead actor Mohanlal on 3 October 2017. Filming was said to begin soon after he finished his work in Odiyan.^[10] When asked, Varma told The Times of India that the film is a "drama-thriller" set in Mumbai, Pune, and Sri Lankan locales, and that principal photography would take place between December 2017 and January 2018. Mohanlal's character and the rest of the cast was not revealed.^[11] The film's title was revealed on 27 January 2018 along with a title poster.^[12]

Mohanlal was approached for the role right after the scripting was finished. Initially it was announced that south Indian actresses Meena and Trisha Krishnan would be playing the female leads but later the casting was changed.^[11] In November 2017, a casting call was released seeking male actors the age groups 50–60 and 30–35, and female actors between the ages of 25 and 30.^[13] Varma offered Parvatii Nair a role after he spotted her on the sets of Nimir.^[14] She was cast only a few weeks before filming began, and plays an urban character. By the start of filming, only Mohanlal, Parvatii, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Sai Kumar, and Dileesh Pothan were cast. The rest of the cast was filled out as filming progressed.^[15] Suraj plays Veerappa, Sunny's chauffeur. Mohanlal and Suraj take up the most screen space in the film.^[16] Nadhiya and Nassar were cast in February 2018. Nadhiya and Parvatii play two of the film's important female characters.^[17] Nadhiya portrays Sunny's wife Molly Kutty.^[18] Megha Mathew confirmed her part in February.^[19]

Principal photography began on 9 January 2018 in Mumbai, India, with Santosh Thundiyil serving as director of photography.^{[20][non-primary source needed]} Director John Matthew Matthan was invited to the first day of filming, and officially performed the switch on of the movie camera. Filming schedules were planned to meet a May 2018 release date (later postponed). Sandeep Narayan and Arun C. Thampi are the executive producers.^[21] Parvatii was present on the first day of shooting.^[15] Mohanlal joined the set by the fourth week of January.^[22][23] He allotted 15 days dates for filming. Stunt scenes were choreographed by Sunil Rodriguez. Serena Tixeria was the make-up artist. Costumes were designed by Himanshi Nijhawan, while Udai Prakash Singh oversaw the art department.^[17] Location filming continued in Mumbai into February in locations including: Bhandup, Powai, and Mira Road.^[24] Nadhiya's scenes were shot in early February after her sudden casting that month.^[18] Filming was completed in 36 days and wrapped in Mumbai on 15 February 2018.^[25][26]

Music

The film features songs composed by Stephen Devassy; the score was by Ronnie Raphael. Mohanlal sings a duet, written by P. T. Binu, with Shreya Ghoshal.^[27][28] Nieraali, the soundtrack album was released on 5 June 2018 by the label Manorama Music. It consists of seven tracks that runs for 25:23 minutes all together.^[29]

Nieraali (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Azhake Azhake Aadyamayi"	Mohanlal, Shreya Ghoshal	3:57
2.	"Kannane Kannalane"	M. G. Sreekumar, Syam Prasad, Suraj Venjaramoodu	3:49
3.	"Neeralippidutham"	Vijay Yesudas	3:57
4.	"Azhake Azhake" (Female Version)	Shreya Ghoshal	3:53
5.	"Neerali Reloaded"	Sreeraj Sahajan, Tojan	3:12
6.	"Azhake Azhake" (Male Version)	Mohanlal	3:52
7.	"Kadhanam"	Baburaj Menon	2:43

Release

Neerali originally scheduled to release on 14 June 2018^[30] was moved to 15 June, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr.^[31] It was later rescheduled to 12 July 2018^[32] and was again pushed to 13 July.^[33]

References

1. Shrijith, Sajin (6 June 2018). "Directing Mohanlal was the best part: Ajoy Varma". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
2. "Neerali movie review: This Mohanlal-Nadhiya thriller is a winner". The Indian Express. 14 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
3. "Parvatii Nair says working in her upcoming film 'Neerali'". The Times of India. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
4. "'Neerali': Five reasons to watch Mohanlal starrer". The Times of India. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
5. "Mohanlal's Neerali postponed to July 12". Retrieved 11 July 2018.
6. "'Neerali' gets clean U, release on July 13". Archived from the original on 12 July 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2018.
7. നിലമ്പൂര്‍, സിബി (12 July 2018). "നീരാളിയുടെ അതിജീവനം; ഒരു തോപ്രാംകുടിക്കാരന്റെയും". Malayala Manorama (in Malayalam). Retrieved 12 July 2018.
8. Neerali (3 July 2018). "The risk he bears results in a joy both for others and him..." Facebook. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
9. R., Manoj Kumar (21 May 2018). "Neerali trailer: Mohanlal's film is all about survival". The Indian Express. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
10. James, Anu (4 October 2017). "Mohanlal on a roll: After Odiyan, superstar announces his next biggie". International Business Times. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
11. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (4 October 2017). "Mohanlal teams up with Bollywood filmmaker for a thriller". The Times of India. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
12. Akash (27 January 2018). "Mohanlal's next titled Neerali". Behindwoods.com. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
13. Prakash, Asha (10 November 2017). "Casting call for Mohanlal's untitled movie". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
14. Aiyappan, Ashameera (25 January 2018). "Mohanlal appreciated my performance in Nimir: Parvatii Nair". The Indian Express. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
15. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (11 January 2018). "Parvatii Nair: I'm nervous about acting with Mohanlal". The Times of India. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
16. Manu, Meera (23 February 2018). "Into the fresh woods". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
17. "No heroine for Mohanlal in Ajoy Varma's 'Neerali'". Malayala Manorama. 5 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
18. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (8 February 2018). "Nadiya Moidu: I still consider myself a newcomer". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
19. Mathew, Megha (9 February 2018). "My first film of 2018 in Malayalam with the complete actor mohanlal sir". Instagram. Archived from the original on 25 December 2021. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
20. Mohanlal (9 January 2018). "Principal photography". Twitter. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
21. സ്വന്തം ലേഖകൻ (10 January 2018). "ഈ മോഹൻലാൽ ചിത്രത്തിന് പ്രത്യേകതകൾ നിരവധി". Malayala Manorama (in Malayalam). Retrieved 26 May 2018.
22. HT correspondent (23 January 2018). "Mohanlal's look in action-adventure film directed by Ajoy Varma revealed, see pic". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 4 February 2018. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
23. Kumar R., Manoj (23 January 2018). "Mohanlal promises a lot of action in his next film, see photo". The Indian Express. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
24. സ്വന്തം ലേഖകൻ (13 February 2018). ചടങ്ങിൽ മോഹൻലാൽ; വിശ്വസിക്കാനാകാതെ ആരാധകർ [Mohanlal at the ceremony; fans stunned]. Malayala Manorama (in Malayalam). Retrieved 13 February 2018.
25. Digital Native (17 February 2018). "Mohanlal's 'Neerali' wrapped up in just 36 days". The News Minute. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
26. Suresh, K. (13 March 2018). "'നീരാളി' പൂര്‍ത്തിയായി". Nana Film Weekly. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
27. "Mohanlal turns a playback singer again for Neerali". The New Indian Express. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
28. "ലാലേട്ടൻ വീണ്ടും പാട്ടുപാടുന്ന; ഒപ്പം ശ്രേയാ ഘോഷലും". Deepika (in Malayalam). 23 February 2018. Retrieved 26 May 2018.
29. Manorama Music (5 June 2018). "Nieraali (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) by Stephen Devassy". iTunes Store. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
30. R., Manoj Kumar (21 March 2018). "Mohanlal's Neerali gets a release date". The Indian Express. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
31. "നീരാളിയുടെ റിലീസിംഗ് തിയതി മാറ്റി". Deepika (in Malayalam). 27 May 2018. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
32. Express News Service (12 June 2018). "Mohanlal's Neerali postponed to July 12". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
33. Express News Service (4 July 2018). "'Neerali' clears censors; gets new release date". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 5 July 2018.

External links

• Neerali on Facebook
• Neerali at IMDb