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Traffic
Traffic
Soundtrack album by Mejo Joseph
Released	25 December 2010
Recorded	2010
Genre	Film soundtrack
Length	25:32
Language	Malayalam
Label	Satyam Audios
Producer	Mejo Joseph
Mejo Joseph chronology

Traffic
Traffic
	Theatrical official poster
Directed by	Rajesh Pillai
Written by	Bobby Sanjay
Produced by	Listin Stephen
Starring	Sreenivasan; Kunchacko Boban; Asif Ali; Anoop Menon; Rahman; Vineeth Sreenivasan; Sandhya; Remya Nambeesan
Narrated by	Sreenivasan
Cinematography	Shyju Khalid
Edited by	Mahesh Narayanan
Music by	Mejo Joseph; Samson Kottoor;
Production; company	Magic Frames
Distributed by	Magic Frames
Release date	7 January 2011;
Running time	122 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹2.75 crores
Box office	₹15 crores

Traffic is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language road-thriller film written by Bobby-Sanjay and directed by Rajesh Pillai. The film features an ensemble cast of Sreenivasan, Kunchacko Boban, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sandhya, Rahman, Anoop Menon, Remya Nambeesan and Roma.^[3] The film has its narrative in a hyperlink format. The film was released on 7 January 2011, to a positive reviews and since has been given a cult status. A multi-narrative thriller that intertwines multiple stories around one particular incident, Traffic is inspired from an actual event that happened in Chennai.^[4]^[5] Owing to its critical and commercial success, Traffic was remade into Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal, in Kannada as Crazy Star and is also remade in Hindi, with the same name. This was also the last film of the veteran actor Jose Prakash.^[6]

Plot

On 16 September in Kochi, Sidharth Shankar is preparing for the release of his new film; Traffic Constable Sudevan resumes his duty following a suspension for accepting a bribe to pay the fees for his niece's school admission, cardiologist Dr. Abel is celebrating his first wedding anniversary and Raihan, an aspiring television journalist, starts his new job with an interview with Siddharth Shankar.

At a crowded traffic jam, Raihan and his friend Rajeev, who are travelling together on a bike are hit by a speeding car at the signal. At the same junction in another car is Abel and his friend, Jikku.

On the other hand, Siddharth's daughter Riya is suffering from a heart condition and her condition detoriorates, making her in need of a heart transplant. Raihan falls into a coma and is declared brain dead, although he is kept alive using a ventilator. Raihan's parents refuse to take their son of the ventilator and donate his heart but reluctantly agree on the persuasion of Rajeev, and Raihan's girlfriend Aditi. However, the heart is unable to be transported from Kochi to Palakkad, as there are no helicopters or flights available due to the weather conditions and time concerns; the only option available is via road.

City Police Commissioner Ajmal Nazar is asked to take charge of the mission, but refuses due to the complexity and risk involved. However, he agrees on the insistence of Dr. Simon D' Souza. No officer is willing to drive the vehicle transporting the heart until Sudevan volunteers, hoping to regain the respect he lost. Accompanying him on the mission are Abel and Rajeev.

The mission goes smoothly at first, until Abel holds Rajeev at knife-point, threatening Sudevan that if he didn't comply he would kill Rajeev, forcing Sudevan to deviate from the highway into a forest. After Rajeev retaliates, Abel calls his sister Miriam, and confesses to running over his wife Shwetha, after finding out that she was having an affair with his friend Jikku and that she may have died, therefore he wishes to save himself from the police. Siddharth then calls Abel and promises to help him, though he is not convinced. A frustrated Siddharth's wife Sruthi explains the trauma she has been through because of her daughter's heart condition, and tells him that no other problem could be bigger than this. A finally convinced Abel advises Sudevan and Rajeev to leave without him, however, he is brought along by Sudevan despite being requested by Nazar to have him arrested.

They divert into a road 8km ahead of the scheduled route, making up for the time they lost. Riya's condition begins to worsen, causing Sudevan to take an alternate route through a communally sensitive are called Bilal Colony, where police are restricted from entering due to its strong minority. Rajeev, who is familiar with the area, helps make way for the vehicle to pass along with help of Thanzeer, Siddharth Shankar's Fan Club President whom Siddharth personally called. Abel also leave the vehicle to push two vehicles blocking the route. Sudevan drives at a high speed and reaches the hospital on time, ocvering the 150km feat in an hour and 58 minutes.

Abel is relieved after finding out that Shwetha is in stable condition and has no complaints against him. Rajeev is offered a lift back to Kochi and Raihan's parents accept Aditi and invite her to their home, before doing Raihan's final rites. Riya opens her eyes, much to the relief of her family, and a satisfied Nazar thanks Dr. Simon D'Souza. Sudevan en-route to his home finds a group of people arguing in the middle road over a minor accident, where he signals them to stop, ending the film on a happy note.

Cast

Sreenivasan as Head Constable Sudevan Nair, Kochi Traffic Police
Kunchacko Boban as Dr. Abel Thariyan, a cardiac surgeon
Asif Ali as Rajeev, Raihan's friend
Anoop Menon as Ajmal Nazeer IPS, City Police Commissioner
Vineeth Sreenivasan as Raihan, a trainee journalist
Rahman as Siddharth Shankar
Sandhya as Adithi, Raihan's girlfriend
Roma as Miriam, Abel's sister
Namitha Pramod as Riya, Siddharth's daughter
Lena as Shruthi, Siddharth's wife
Remya Nambeesan as Shwetha, Abel's wife
Saikumar as Dr. Saifudheen, Raihan's father
Fathima Babu as Raihan's mother
Jose Prakash as Dr. Simon D' Souza
Krishna as Jikku, Abel's friend
Rony David Raj as Journalist
Vijayakumar as Mathew, Siddharth's secretary
Reena Basheer as Sudevan's wife
Nisha Sarang as Sudevan's sister
Gowri Krishnan as Sudevan's daughter
Prem Prakash as Doctor
Baiju Ezhupunna as Thanzeer, Siddharth Shankar Fan Association President
Nivin Pauly as Driver (cameo appearance)

Production

The film is directed by Rajesh Pillai.^[7] Writers of the film Bobby and Sanjay, who scripted Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum and Notebook explain: "The director wanted the film to be of a different mould altogether. Here every character is of equal importance as the story moves ahead. It was quite a challenging task but an enjoyable experience as well."^[8] They add that the film is inspired by a true incident. A similar mission was successfully carried out by the Tamil Nadu police in a more complex Chennai city.^[8]^{[failed verification]} Also, in a scene, the character played by Anoop Menon talks about the incident.

Traffic is one of the first multi narratives made in this decade in Malayalam film. The film has Sreenivasan, Rahman, Kunchacko Boban and Asif Ali as the four lead protagonists whose stories are narrated through the sequences.^[9]^[8] On the theme, Rajesh says, "I felt it was a theme that could connect with viewers regardless of their age. It's a contemporary theme that reassures us that if we approach something with honesty, even nature will come to our support."^[10] The film will be the second on-screen pairing of Vineeth and Sreenivasan, after their first film Makante Achan.^[7]

Reception

Critical response

The film opened on 7 January 2011 to positive reviews. Veeyen of Nowrunning.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "Rajesh Pillai's Traffic is a brutally brilliant film in which he lends color to coincidence and unveils before us cogitation on the dynamics of chance. A strikingly crafted film that is raw and genuine, it crawls right under your skin and stays there."^[11] IndiaGlitz enthusiastically praised the film's "riveting plot, great performances, soulful music... and skillful direction".^[12] A review at Cinefundas also praised the acting, adding that "the real hero of the film is the script".^[13] Sify.com called it "an overwhelming experience" and rated it as "very good."^[14] The Malayalam website Movieraga called it an "excellent movie" and went on to state that the new blood of Malayalam cinema cannot be seen as second-grade any more.^[15] The movie was part of the series of movies that began the New Generation Movement.^[16]

Traffic was screened in the Malayalam Cinema Today section at the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2011.^[17]

Box office

The film received highly positive reviews and was declared a blockbuster at box office.^[18]^[19]

Soundtrack

All lyrics are written by S. Ramesan Nair except where noted; all music is composed by Samson Kottoor except where noted

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Artists
1.	"Kannerinjal"		Mejo Joseph	Vipin Warrier, Hesham Abdul Wahab
2.	"Pakalin"	Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma	Mejo Joseph	Sithara
3.	"Unaroo Mizhiyazhake"			Chinmayi
4.	"Unaroo Mizhiyazhake"			Samson Kottoor
5.	"Unaroo Mizhiyazhake" (Instrumental)			Kalyan
6.	"Theme Music" (Instrumental)		Samson Kottoor

Remakes

Year	Film	Language
2013	Chennaiyil Oru Naal	Tamil
2014	Crazy Star	Kannada
2016	Traffic	Hindi

Owing to its critical and commercial success, Traffic was remade in Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal (2013), which was a huge success at box office like Traffic. Kannada remake Crazy Star (2014) received negative reception from both critics and box-office. Traffic's Hindi remake was released in May 2016.^[20]^[21]

Awards

Award	Category	Result	Recipient	Ref.
Kerala State Film Awards 2011	Best Screenplay	Won	Bobby-Sanjay	^[22]
1st South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Director	Won	Rajesh Pillai
1st South Indian International Movie Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role	Won	Lena
Filmfare Awards South 2012	Best Film	Won	Listin Stephen	^[23]
Filmfare Awards South 2012	Best Supporting Actress	Won	Lena Abhilash	^[23]
Kerala Film Critics Awards	Best Script	Won	Bobby-Sanjay	^[24]
	Second Best Actor – Male	Won	Anoop Menon
	Second Best Actor – Female	Won	Lena Abhilash
Lohithadas Award	Best Script	Won	Bobby-Sanjay	^[25]
Asianet Film Awards 2012	Best Film	Nominated	Listin Stephen	^[26]
	Best Director	Nominated	Rajesh Pillai
	Best Screenplay	Won	Bobby-Sanjay
	Best Supporting Actor	Nominated	Anoop Menon
	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated	Remya Nambeesan
	Best Character Actor	Nominated	Sreenivasan
Asiavision Movie Awards	Best Popular Movie	Won	Listin Stephen	^[27]
	Second Best Actor	Won	Anoop Menon
	Best Screenplay	Won	Bobby-Sanjay
	Special Performance Award	Won	Rahman
	Trendsetter Award	Won	Listin Stephen
Nana Film Awards	Best Film	Won	Listin Stephen	^[28]
	Best Director	Won	Rajesh Pillai
	Best Editor	Won	Mahesh Narayanan
Mathrubhumi Kalyan Silks Film Awards	Best Screenplay	Won	Bobby-Sanjay	^[29]
Mathrubhumi Kalyan Silks Film Awards	Best Path Breaking Film of the Year	Nominated	Listin Stephen	^[29]
Surya Film Awards	Most Popular Director	Nominated	Rajesh Pillai
Surya Film Awards	Best Editor	Won	Mahesh Narayanan
Kochi Times Awards	Best Script	Won	Bobby – Sanjay	^[30]
Amrita Film Awards 2012	Best Supporting Actor (Female)	Won	Lena Abhilash	^[31]
	Best Script	Won	Bobby-Sanjay
	Trendsetting Film Director	Won	Rajesh Pillai
Jaihind Film Awards 2012	Best Director	Won	Rajesh Pillai	^{[citation needed]}
Film Guidance Chalachitra Awards 2011	Best Supporting Actress	Won	Remya Nambeesan	^[32]
Reporter TV Film Awards 2012	Best Film	Won	Listin Stephen	^[33]
	Best Director	Won	Rajesh Pillai
	Best Script	Won	Bobby-Sanjay
	Best Editor	Won	Mahesh Narayanan
	Best Supporting Actress	Won	Lena Abhilash
Thikkurissy Awards 2011	Best Second Actress	Won	Sandhya