Kayamkulam Kochunni (2018 film)

Kayamkulam Kochunni
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Rosshan Andrrews
Written by	Bobby & Sanjay
Produced by	Gokulam Gopalan
Starring	Mohanlal Nivin Pauly
Narrated by	Mohanlal
Cinematography	Binod Pradhan Nirav Shah Sudheer Palsane
Edited by	A. Sreekar Prasad
Music by	Gopi Sundar
Production company	Sree Gokulam Movies
Distributed by	Eros International
Release date	11 October 2018 (2018-10-11) (India)
Running time	170 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹45 crore[1]
Box office	est. ₹100 crore[2]

Kayamkulam Kochunni is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language period action film directed by Rosshan Andrrews and written by Bobby & Sanjay. It is based on the life of Kayamkulam Kochunni, a famed highwayman who robbed from the rich and gave to the poor during the British Raj in the early 19th century Central Travancore. The film stars Mohanlal in an extended cameo as Ithikkara pakki along with Nivin Pauly in the title role as Kayamkulam Kochunni. It also features Priya Anand, Sunny Wayne and Babu Antony in supporting roles.

In August 2016, Rosshan Andrrews confirmed directing the film, with a screenplay by his regular collaborators Bobby and Sanjay. Principal photography commenced on 30 September 2017 in Udupi. Filming took place in Karnataka, Mangalore, Goa, Kasaragod and Sri Lanka. The filming was completed on 1 June 2018. The film has music by Gopi Sundar and editing by A. Sreekar Prasad. The cinematography was handled by Binod Pradhan, Nirav Shah and Sudheer Palsane.

Kayamkulam Kochunni released on 11 October 2018 met with a positive critical response and was a commercial success becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year earning ₹102 crore.^[3][a] It is currently one of the highest grossing Malayalam films of all time.

Plot

A messenger tells the people of Kayamkulam that Kayamkulam Kochunni, a famed Mappila highwayman of the area, will be executed by hanging.

In the past, Baputty, Kochunni's father, is a famed poor thief who struggles to look after his family. One time he gets caught and is beaten up by the local Brahmins in front of Kochunni, who was a young boy at the time. His mother, not wanting him to grow up in abject poverty and suffering the same fate as his father, persuades him to leave home, so Kochunni leaves. He ends up in the house of a local Brahmin landlord and works as an employee in one of the landlord's shops.

At present, Kochunni is an adult. During his time there, Kochunni sees Janaki, a Hindu lower-caste girl who is a servant, and falls in love with her, also learning from her that Thangal, a state-renowned fight master, has opened a school to train students in martial art. After jumping into a well and wrestling with a large python to rescue a boy, he's awarded a medal of bravery by the local British officer and makes a wish that he wants to join in with the dance and celebrations in their local British fort, which the officer grants.

Kochunni goes to the school but is turned away by Thangal on the basis that, like his father, he might become an even bigger thief by learning the martial art. Janaki also confesses her love for him, and with her help, he learns it by sitting and watching the training on a tree next to the school. However, one day he gets caught by Thangal and he tests Kochunni by making him fight the best student at the school, Thananayik Keshava Kurup, which Kochunni wins. Thangal has a change of heart and promises to teach him believing that one day Kochunni will become his successor. Seeing this, Keshava gets angry and leaves the school, threatening Kochunni that they'll meet one day and he will get his revenge.

During a stormy journey from Kochi, Kochunni's beloved caretaker falls into the Kayamkulam Lake. While rescuing him, Kochunni sees a stash of gold at the bottom of the lake. Kochunni reports this to local Brahmin landlords and the Brahmins persuade him to get this gold to them in return for three wishes. He successfully gets the gold to them and they grant him one of the wishes, which was a bag of gold. However, their henchmen beat him up during his return and the Brahmins falsely accuse him on grounds of robbery and punish him by dipping his hand in boiling oil and hanging him upside down for four days. Janaki is then stoned and banished from Kayamkulam for loving a man from another caste much to Kochunni's dismay.

However, on the fourth day Ithikkara Pakki, one of the biggest thief of the place, known for ruthlessly beheading his enemies, comes and frees Kochunni, taking him to Pakki's hideout in the forest. There, he persuades Kochunni to take revenge against the Brahmins by stealing, and he agrees. He is then subjected to intense and hard training by Pakki and his gang of three thieves, Mammad, Kunju Marakkar and Noor Ahmed. He becomes a successful highwayman as well by carrying out robberies against several travelling Brahmins. They then rob several shops of Brahmins in the Kayamkulam market to show their power. Even though they rob many stores, Kochunni refuses to rob his ex-caretaker's store, telling him that he can't watch his beloved ones being attacked by others, unlike what he did when Kochunni was falsely accused by the landlords.

Then it is the time for Pakki to leave the place. After Pakki leaves, Kochunni becomes the hero for the downtrodden, being a robber for the poor. Keshavan who is out to destroy Kochunni makes several plans to kill him but in vain. Finally he uses Janaki whom Kochunni loved earlier when he was a gentle man. However Kochunni killed the British General and is given the death sentence as he was cheated by his mates who joined Keshavan.

At present, his capital punishment is fixed and at that time arrives Thangal, his former Kalari Master to see him in jail lastly. Kochunni and Thangal makes their sight useful by planning the way for Kochunni to escape. The procession for the hanging goes with song and martyrs. When Kochunni was about to be hanged, he uses his Kalari skills and after a struggling fight, he escapes with the help of Thangal.

At last in the present day, Kayamkulam Kochunni's tomb is shown.

Cast

• Mohanlal as Ithikkara Pakki (extended cameo)
• Nivin Pauly as Kayamkulam Kochunni
• Sunny Wayne as Thananayik Keshava Kurup
• Babu Antony as Thangal
• Priya Anand as Janaki
• Priyanka Thimmesh as Suhara
• Shine Tom Chacko as Kochu Pillai
• Romanch Rajendran as Kunju Marakkar
• Manikandan R. Achari as Vava
• Sidhartha Siva as British Advicer
• Aneesh G. Menon as Noor Ahmed
• Amith Chakalakkal as Mammad
• Sadiq as kunjikelu
• Mukundan as pulikeshi
• Thesni Khan as Suhara's Mother
• Sunil Sukhada as Brahmin
• Sudheer Karamana as Naduvazhi / Nair leader
• M. S. Bhaskar as Mothalali
• Idavela Babu as Menon
• Jude Anthany Joseph as Brahmin
• Sudev Nair as Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma
• Riaz M T as Brahmin
• Padmaraj Ratheesh as Jootha Pillai, a trader
• Davia Mary as Suhra's Childhood
• Benison Wayanad as Outha Childhood Villain
• Nora Fatehi in a special appearance in the song "Nrithageethikalennum"

Production

Development

By late August 2016, Rosshan Andrrews confirmed via media outlets that he would be directing a film based on the life of Kerala's heroic outlaw Kayamkulam Kochunni, written by his regular collaborators Bobby & Sanjay and Nivin Pauly playing the title character, to be produced by Gokulam Gopalan. It is the second film based on Kayamkulam Kochunni after the 1966 film of the same name.^[4] Kayamkulam Kochunni was a real-life thief who lived in 19th century in the Central Travancore region. He is said to have stolen from the rich and gave to the poor like Robin Hood.^[5] The screenplay was written after a two-and-a-half-year research by an eight-member team. The script was rehashed three times. Kayamkulam Kochunni holds the subtitle "most dangerous man". According to Andrrews, the film would feature Kochunni's life before and after his transition as a thief, his survival attempts, romance, and the social structure during the time. It would also discuss several unanswered questions in his story. Since the appearance of present-day Kayamkulam, Alappuzha district has changed from the time of Kochunni, a Sri Lankan village was to be set as Kayamkulam in the film. Filming was then planned to commence by the beginning of 2017 in Sri Lanka, a few scenes were also planned in Kayamkulam. Andrrews also revealed that they have plans to dub and release the film in Tamil language. P. M. Satheesh was signed as the sound designer. Initially, they had talks with Santhosh Narayanan to compose the film's music.^[4]

Kayamkulam Kochunni is a period film set in the 1850s and 1860s in what is present-day Kerala.^[6] Bobby and Sanjay collected a large amount of information beyond what was already known through Kottarathil Sankunni's Aithihyamala and through hearsay. Sanjay said that the film focuses on Kochunni's relationships and friendship. Kochunni was a socialist thief, he fought against "unbelievable cruelty" over the caste system that prevailed during that time.^[7] The team went on location scouting in Sri Lanka in June 2017.^[8] In August, it was reported that the filming would begin on 10 September.^[7] Nivin started learning horse riding and Kalaripayattu in August, he had begun learning the basics earlier in the year.^[9] He also gained weight for the role.^[6] The script demanded the actors to be trained in Kalaripayattu. Apart from Nivin, actors Babu Antony and Sunny Wayne also underwent training. The training sessions were held at Andrrew's martial arts school in Kochi and went through September 2017.^[10] During pre-production, Andrrews created miniatures for every set to be used in the film. In early September, Nivin confirmed that the filming would commence in Udupi in a fortnight.^[11]

Casting

According to Andrrews, Nivin was their first and only choice for the role of Kochunni.^[12] The film traverse through multiple timelines in Kochunni's life. Nivin was selected for the role since Andrrews felt that he has a flexible body language that suits any role, among his generation of actors. According to Sanjay, Nivin's features matches Sankunni's descriptions of Kochunni in Aithihyamala. Andrrews briefed the film's story to Nivin along with the story of another film he plans to follow up after Kayamkulam Kochunni, to both Nivin agreed.^[4] In July 2017, a casting call was released for both males and females aged between 5–40.^[13] Amala Paul and Priyanka Thimmesh was confirmed before August 2017. Amala's character was said to be an important figure in Kochunni's life; Priyanka plays the role of Suhra, his wife.^[7] Babu Antony confirmed his role in September 2017 as Ithingal Thangal, the mentor of Kochunni.^[14]

In late 2017, Amala opted out from the film due to scheduling conflicts, who was replaced by Priya Anand. Andrrews said the rain affected their schedule and had to make changes, which conflicted with Amala's dates who had commitments in Tamil films. Priya cancelled three films for Kayamkulam Kochunni; she plays Janaki. According to Priya, Janaki's story is relevant to every woman.^[15] Wayne plays the character named Keshavan, who is well trained in Kalaripayattu.^[9] In early January 2018, Nivin and Andrrews announced that Mohanlal would appear in the film in the role of Ithikkara Pakki, a robber contemporary to Kochunni.^[16] In a February 2018 interview, Sanjay revealed that Mohanlal has 40 minutes screen time who appears at a particular juncture in the story, "we wished for someone of his stature to play this character. Pakki is Kochunni's contemporary and predecessor. It's Pakki who started the unique style of robbing and that's what Kochunni continued with".^[17] In March 2018, Nora Fatehi was confirmed to be appearing in a song sequence in the film, which also features Nivin. Choreographed by Vishnu Deva, it was shot in Goa in that month.^[18]

Filming

Principal photography commenced on 30 September 2017 in Udupi, Karnataka.^[19][20] In the first schedule the team filmed in locations such as Mangalore, Manjeshwar, and Udupi for two months. It was reported that the filming would move to Sri Lanka for the following schedule. Nivin trained in Kalaripayattu every morning before shoot under trainers from Kerala. He had a shot crop haircut and wears a handlebar moustache for the character of Kochunni.^[21] Filming was held in Kasaragod and Mangalore during November and December 2017.^[22] Large sets were created for the film. Binod Pradhan was the cinematographer.^[6] Mohanlal joined the sets in Mangalore on 13 February 2018 and began filming from the following day with the combination scenes between Ithikkara Pakki and Kochunni.^[23] The 161 days long filming was wrapped in Sri Lanka on 1 June 2018.^[24][25]

Three cinematographers worked in Kayamkulam Kochunni—Binod Pradhan, Nirav Shah, and Sudheer Palsane. Pradhan worked for 110 days after which the filming was delayed due to Nivin's injury and other reasons and Pradhan had to join Kalank due to prior commitment. Shah was the cinematographer for the next 40 days, who shot the climax and scenes in Goa. Palsane joined for the remaining 11 days for filming the scenes in Sri Lanka. Film's colour grading was done by Red Chillies Entertainment.^[26] Kayamkulam Kochunni was made on an average budget of ₹45 crore.^[1][27]

Music

The original soundtrack of the film was composed by Gopi Sundar and released by Eros Now.^[28] The lyrics for the songs were written by Shobin Kannangatt and Rafeeq Ahamed.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Kalariyadavum"	Shobin Kannangatt	Vijay Yesudas, Shreya Ghoshal	5:10
2.	"Thjanajana Naadam"	Rafeeq Ahamed	Gopi Sundar	3:22
3.	"Nrithageethikalennum"	Shobin Kannangatt	Pushpavathy Poypadathu	3:59

Release

Theatrical

Kayamkulam Kochunni was initially set to release on 15 August 2018, but was postponed for about a week due to delays in completing the post-production.^[29] Release was postponed again due to the August 2018 Kerala floods and was rescheduled and released on 11 October 2018.^[30]

Reception

Critical reception

Anna M M Vetticad of The First Post wrote, "Such carefully crafted imagery ensures that despite its visual scale, heart-stopping action, high-adrenaline chases and Gopi Sundar's pulsating music, the dominant takeaway from Kayamkulam Kochunni is its politics and humanity."^[31] Sajin Shrijith of The New Indian Express gave a rating 3.5/5 and wrote, "It's not the spectacle from Kayamkulam Kochunni that stayed with me after leaving the theatre; it's the characters.^[32] Benita Chacko of Deccan Herald gave a rating of 3.5/5 and wrote, "The period film is worth a watch for its cinematography and detailed setting but you will need to have some patience to watch it unravel."^[33]

Deepa Soman of The Times of India gave a rating of 4/5 and wrote, "You might have heard this story n number of times, but it is worth your time and money, all over. The film has what it takes to bring alive all those visuals you had in mind, when you heard or read the story wonderstruck as a little kid."^[34] Priyanka Sundar of The Hindustan Times gave a rating 3/5 and wrote, "Nivin Pauly's Kayamkulam Kochunni is the journey of a man who helped his people start a revolution against the oppressors in power. This struggle is not just important to understand what happened in the past, but could also be instrumental in changing mindset for a better future."^[35]

Manoj Kumar R of The Indian Express gave a rating of 2/5 and wrote, "Writers Bobby and Sanjay could have made the film more dark and gritty, instead of making it a simple black-and-white story told in broad strokes. It's unclear why the writers were so keen on exonerating Kochunni."^[36]

Box office

India

Kayamkulam Kochunni was released in more than 350 screens in Kerala and screened 1700 shows in the first day, making it the largest movie release in the state. The film grossed ₹5.30 crore in the opening day from Kerala alone, the highest opening-day collection at Kerala box office.^[37] It earned ₹102 crore worldwide.^[38]

Other territories

Kayamkulam Kochunni grossed $1,108,021 in the United Arab Emirates from 49 screens in the opening weekend—the best opener of that weekend, and earned $1,654,495 in four weeks.^[39] In the opening weekend, the film collected $70,319 (₹52.03 lakh) in the United States and NZ$21,191 (₹10.18 lakh) in New Zealand.^[40] Released on 26 October, the film debuted with £39,483 (₹37.19 lakh) in the opening weekend in the United Kingdom.^[41] It made $226,069 (₹1.65 crore) in the US in five weeks and £88,368 (₹83.2 lakh) in the UK in three weeks,^[42] and NZ$32,264 (₹15.61 lakh) in New Zealand in two weeks.^[43]

Accolades

Award	Category	Recipient / nominee	Result	Ref.
Asianet Film Awards	Best Film	Rosshan Andrrews, Gokulam Gopalan	Nominated
	Best Actor	Mohanlal	Won
	Best Screenplay	Bobby–Sanjay	Nominated
	Most Popular Film	Rosshan Andrrews	Won
	Most Popular Actor	Nivin Pauly	Nominated
	Best Music Director	Gopi Sundar	Nominated
	Best Lyricist	Shobin Kannangatu	Nominated
South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Film	Sree Gokulam Movies	Nominated
	Best Director	Rosshan Andrrews	Nominated
	Best Cinematographer	Binod Pradhan	Nominated
Vanitha Film Awards	Best Villain	Sunny Wayne	Won	[44]
Janmabhumi Cinema Awards	Best Art Director	Sunil Babu	Won	[45]

Notes

1. The mentioned amount is including non-threatical revenues. The total box office of the film is estimated to be around 80 crore only.

References

1. George, Vijay (9 August 2018). "Thinking big". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
2. "'Kayamkulam Kochunni' in Rs 100-crore club". www.onmanorama.com.
3. "'Kayamkulam Kochunni' in Rs 100-crore club". www.onmanorama.com. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
4. നായർ, അനീഷ് (26 August 2016). "നിവിൻ ഇനി കായംകുളം കൊച്ചുണ്ണി". Malayala Manorama (in Malayalam). Retrieved 15 January 2018.
5. Kuttoor, Radhakrishnan (18 December 2015). "Legendary thief now a deity at Kerala temple". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 January 2018.
6. Sundar, Mrinalini (21 December 2017). "I had a fight with the horse the other day: Nivin". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
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8. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (24 June 2017). "Nivin Pauly's Kayamkulam Kochunni team heads for recce in Sri Lanka". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
9. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (23 August 2017). "Nivin Pauly to train in horse riding for Kayamkulam Kochunni". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
10. Nivin Pauly and other 'Kayamkulam Kochunni' actors learning martial arts. The News Minute (27 September 2017). Retrieved on 1 December 2018.
11. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (6 September 2017). "Nivin Pauly reveals how Kayamkulam Kochunni team is gearing up for the biggest movie in his career". The Times of India. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
12. Ramachandran, Mythily (9 October 2018). "Nivin Pauly's 'Kayamkulam Kochunni' a time travel to the 1830s". Gulf News. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
13. Pauly, Nivin (27 July 2017). "Casting Call". Facebook. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
14. Soman, Deepa (18 September 2017). "Babu Antony plays Thangal in 'Kayamkulam Kochunni'... Who is he?". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
15. Soman, Deepa (7 December 2017). "I cancelled three of my projects to be part of Kayamkulam Kochunni: Priya Anand". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
16. Onmanorama staff (9 January 2018). "Mohanlal joins Nivin Pauly's 'Kayamkulam Kochunni,' Rosshan reveals role". Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
17. Soman, Deepa (14 February 2018). "Mohanlal joins the sets of Kayamkulam Kochunni". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 February 2018.
18. Soman, Deepa (20 March 2018). "Nora Fatehi sizzles in a dance number in 'Kayamkulam Kochunni'". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
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27. Pillai, Sreedhar (12 August 2018). "From Kayamkulam Kochunni to Oru Kuttanadan Blog, a look at Malayalam films releasing this Onam". Firstpost. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
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29. R., Manoj Kumar (13 August 2018). "Nivin Pauly-Mohanlal's Kayamkulam Kochunni unlikely to release this week". The Indian Express. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
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32. "'Kayamkulam Kochunni' movie review: A modest and sincere interpretation of a legend". The New Indian Express. 12 October 2018. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
33. Chacko, Benita. "'Kayamkulam Kochunni' movie review: Slow but worth it". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
34. "Kayamkulam Kochunni Movie Review". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
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39. "Kochunni". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
40. "Helicopter Eela is a disaster in overseas, AndhaDhun remains strong". Bollywood Hungama. 15 October 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
41. "Badhaai Ho remains strong in overseas; Baazaar average". Bollywood Hungama. 29 October 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
42. "Thugs of Hindostan collects approx. 6.4 mil. USD [Rs. 46.66 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 12 November 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
43. "Badhaai Ho embarks on a flying start in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 22 October 2018. Retrieved 2 July 2019.
44. "Vanitha Film Awards: Mohanlal wins Best Actor, Manju Warrier is Best Actress". Malayala Manorama. 3 March 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
45. "Janmabhumi Cinema Awards 2018: Mohanlal Actor and Nimisha Sajayan Actress". Janmabhumi. 12 July 2019. Archived from the original on 18 July 2019. Retrieved 18 July 2019.

External links

• Kayamkulam Kochunni at IMDb