PROFILBARU.COM

Hallo
Hallo
Soundtrack album by Alex Paul
Released	2007
Genre	Film
Length	27:36 mins
Label	Satyam Audios
Producer	Joy Thomas
Alex Paul chronology

Hallo
Hallo
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rafi Mecartin
Written by	Rafi Mecartin
Produced by	Joy Thomas Shakthikulangara
Starring	Mohanlal; Parvati Melton; Siddique; Jagathy Sreekumar; Saiju Kurup
Cinematography	Sanjeev Shankar
Edited by	Don Max
Music by	Alex Paul
Production; company	Jithin Arts
Distributed by	Marakar Release
Release date	5 July 2007;
Running time	146 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Hallo is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language comedy thriller film written and directed by the Rafi Mecartin duo. It stars Mohanlal and Parvathy Melton (in her Malayalam debut), with Siddique,Jagathy Sreekumar,K. B. Ganesh Kumar, Madhu, and Saiju Kurup in important roles. The music was composed by Alex Paul. The film received positive reviews from critics, with critics particularly praising Mohanlal"s performance.^[1]^[2] It was also a major commercial success.^[3]

It was remade in Telugu as Naa Style Veru (2009) and in Kannada as Manjunatha BA LLB (2012). The plot of the movie was reported to have been partially borrowed from the 2004 movie Cellular.^[4]

Plot

Sivaraman is a once-brilliant criminal lawyer who now seems to be in a self-destructive mode. All the time he is portrayed in a highly intoxicated state. His clients had abandoned him a long time ago. But he has a very devout follower, Chandy. Whenever Sivaraman gets into one of his drunken brawls, it is Chandy who rescues him.

Strangely, that doesn't diminish Sivaraman's public relations skills. After one particularly bad fight, he ends up becoming good buddies with three notorious rowdies in the area: Vadakkancherry Vakkachen / 'Vedakku' Vakkan, Bathery Bappu / Kolakolli, and Pattambi Ravi / 'Chattambi' Ravi. Soon, they too join his gang of loyalists.

The reason why this once-hotshot advocate had hit the bottle is revealed later. He was in love with a girl named Priya and his father and brother weren't happy about it. They come up with a very cruel way of ending the relationship. They lock Sivaraman in a room in the house on the day Sivaraman and Priya decide to elope. Priya, unaware of this happening, waits for Sivaraman. A group of gangsters sees Priya waiting late into the night, molests her, and then kills her. When Sivaraman finds out, he is devastated and reacts by becoming an alcoholic.

One day, he receives a phone call on his mobile phone from a stranger named Parvathi. She reveals that she is the daughter of a local Marwari banker. On the phone, she tells him that her life is in grave danger and begs him to rescue her.

Parvathi is the daughter of Bada Bhai, the owner of a very successful bank - Dalal & Dalal. The bank is jointly owned by him and his brothers and relatives. They want to take control of the bank by killing Parvathi. When Sivaraman finds out that the threat is from her family, he takes her home and pretends to be her husband.

Then begins the battle of wits and muscles with her greedy relatives. Slowly, Parvathi gets impressed by his brilliance and ends up falling in love with him.

Cast

Mohanlal as Advocate Sivaraman Nambiar / Sivan
Parvati Melton as Parvathi
Siddique as Mahesh Bhai
Jagathy Sreekumar as Chandykkunju / Chandy, Sivaraman's Friend
Madhu as Bada Saab, Parvathi's Father
K. B. Ganesh Kumar as ASP Sudheesh Nambiar IPS, Sivaraman's Younger Brother
Janardhanan as Advocate M. N. Nambiar, Sivaraman's and Sudheesh's Father
Bheeman Raghu as Bathery Bappu aka Kolakoli, Sivaraman's Friend
Spadikam George as Vadakkancherry Vakkachen aka Vedakku Vakkan, Sivaraman's Friend
Mohan Raj as Pattambi Ravi aka Chattambi Ravi, Sivaraman's Friend
Kundara Johny as City Police Commissioner
Jagadish as Advocate Thomas Jacob
Rizabawa as Dinu Bhai / John Samuel
Suraj Venjaramoodu as S.I. Stephen
Salim Kumar as Chidambaram
Abu Salim as Hassan, goon
Ajith Kollam as Karim, goon
Fathima Babu as Lathika, Sivaraman's Mother
Saiju Kurup as Praveen
Madhu Warrier as Susheel Bhai
Ashokan as Sebastian (cameo)
Ambika Mohan as Nithya, Parvathi's relative
Sona Nair as Liza
Sruthy John as Seetha, Parvathi's relative
Manka Mahesh as Bhavika, Parvathi's relative
Remadevi as Lakshmi, Parvathi's relative
Indulekha as Alice Sebastian
Bindu Murali as Doctor
Mini Arun as Vidya, Chidambaram's first wife
Praseetha Menon as Veda, Chidambaram's second wife
Samvrutha Sunil as Priya, Shivaraman's lover, (extended cameo appearance)

Music

The songs were composed by Alex Paul, and the lyrics were written by Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma.

Track	Song Title	Singer(s)	Raga(s)	Duration
1	"Mazhavillin"	Afsal, Manjari, Sangeetha Prabhu	Brindabani Sarang	4:18
2	"Kadukittu"	M. G. Sreekumar, Sangeetha Prabhu		4:55
3	"Hallo Hallo"	Vidhu Prathap, Swetha		3:53
4	"Chellathamare"	K. S. Chithra, Sangeetha Prabhu	Abheri	4.36
5	"Bhajan"	Manjari, Akhila, Andriya	Abheri	1:06
6	"Kadukittu"	Cochin Ibrahim, Sangeetha Prabhu		4:55
7	"Hallo Hallo"	Shweta		3:53

Production

Jyothika was selected as the lead heroine, but was replaced by Parvathy due to her prior commitments in Telugu and Tamil films.

Reception

The film was released on 5 July 2007, in 56 screens in Kerala. It had the biggest-ever opening day collection for a Malayalam film in 2007.^[5] Hallo was a blockbuster at the box office.^[3]^[6] It went on to become the second highest grosser of the year behind Mayavi.^[7]

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. Sify gave the film a positive review writing, "What makes the film tick is that the comedy combination is perfect- they want the audience to have a nice laugh and go home happy. Mohanlal the one-man entertainment troupe carries the film on his broad shoulders. The director duo has packaged it using the star's image and their slapstick script to create a laugh riot." About the technical aspects they write, "Technically the film is ok, with Bobban's set designs ( the toddy shop set), Sanjiv Shankar’s camera and Don Max's editing all which enriches the entertainer. Songs by Alex Paul are just average."^[8]

Remakes

The film was remade in Telugu as Naa Style Veru (2009) with Rajasekhar and in Kannada as Manjunatha BA LLB (2012) with Jaggesh.

References

^ "Hello Review". IndiaGlitz. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
^ "Mohanlal rocks in Hallo". Rediff.com. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
^ ^a ^b Pillai, Sreedhar (28 December 2007). "The year that was". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 5 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
^ "Hallo". Sify. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021.
^ "'Hallo' - A Super Hit!". Sify. Archived from the original on 11 July 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2008.
^ Pillai, Sreedhar (29 December 2007). "Malayalam". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
^ "'Annan Thampi' completes fifty days - Malayalam News". IndiaGlitz.com. 6 June 2008. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
^ Sify review: Hallo