Minnal Murali
Minnal Murali | |
---|---|
![]() First look poster | |
Directed by | Basil Joseph |
Written by | Arun Anirudhan Justin Mathew |
Produced by | Sophia Paul |
Starring | Tovino Thomas Guru Somasundaram |
Cinematography | Sameer Thahir |
Edited by | Livingston Mathew |
Music by | Score: Sushin Shyam Songs: Shaan Rahman Sushin Shyam |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
|
Running time | 158 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Malayalam |
Minnal Murali is an upcoming 2021 Indian Malayalam-language superhero adventure comedy film directed by Basil Joseph and produced by Sophia Paul, under the banner of Weekend Blockbusters.[1]
The film was set for a theatrical release in late-2020, but was postponed multiple times due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2021, the makers announced that the film will be released directly through the streaming platform Netflix on 24 December 2021, as a result of non-existent theatrical releases due to COVID-19 pandemic.[2] The film will be dubbed and released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi languages.[3][4]
Premise
Jaison is a tailor who gains superpowers after being struck by lightning but must take down an unexpected foe if he is to become the superhero his hometown needs.
Cast
- Tovino Thomas as Jaison / Minnal Murali, a timid tailor
- Guru Somasundaram as Selvan / "Vellidi" Venkiti, a run away Tamil quarry worker [5]
- Aju Varghese as P.C. Rameshan, a corrupt cop[5]
- Femina George as "Bruce Lee" Biji, owner of a local judo academy and Jason’s crush[6]
- Harisree Ashokan as Fr. Eustace Ittiyapaadam, vicar of the local parish[5]
- Mammukoya as Dr. Narayanan[5]
- Baiju Santhosh[7] as S.I. Bibeesh[5]
- Bijukuttan as Lalithakshan, an auto rickshaw driver and Jaison’s friend[5]
- Jude Anthany Joseph as Sajith, Biji’s brother[5]
- P. Balachandran as Kumaran, Jaison’s father[5]
- Shelly Kishore as Smitha, Jaison’s sister-in-law[8]
- Azees Nedumangad as Chandran, a local thief[5]
- Benzi Mathews as Anil, Jaison’s elder brother[5]
- Sneha Babu as Nalini, Jaison's mother[5]
- Gibin Gopinath as P.C. Dasan[5]
- Harish Pengan as Varieth, the local money lender and quarry owner [5]
- Devi Chandana as Girija, S.I. Bibeesh’s wife [5]
- Rajesh Madhavan as P.C. Titto
- Syam Cargoz as P.C. Munna
- Vasisht as Sonu, Jaison’s nephew
- Arya Salim as Jesmi, one of Jaison’s classmates[9]
- Basil Joseph (cameo)
Production
Development
In January 2019, Tovino Thomas announced that he will collaborate with Basil Joseph for the second time after Godha (2017), for a superhero film titled Minnal Murali and Sophia Paul bankrolled this project under the Weekend Blockbusters banner.[10][11] The concept poster of this film was revealed on 21 January 2019, coinciding with the actor's birthday,[12] and it is the first superhero film produced in the Malayalam movie industry. Basil Joseph worked on the script for the film, while Tovino became busy on his commitments in the upcoming projects. As Tovino completed works on his films, in late-October 2019, Basil Joseph started pre-production works of the film and script reading sessions had consequently began.[13] Arun Anirudhan and Justin Mathew co-wrote the script of the film.[14]
Basil took supervision of the computer graphics-aspect during the film's scripting stage. In an interview with The Times of India, he said that "I will be working closely with the VFX team in the pre-production stage for developing the storyboards as well as understanding what is possible before we start shooting the movie".[15] Tovino Thomas said that the film falls on the comedy genre, despite being a superhero film and will be "enjoyable to all kinds of audiences".[16] He also said that "the team had planned to present the fantasy element convincingly and realistic in some manner", by saying "If you search online, you would find several instances of those struck by a lightning, experiencing differences in their lives like being able to make a bulb glow for a second or their watches stopping. So, when high voltage courses through the body its dynamics change somewhat. In that way, it's also a realistic movie."[16]
Casting
During July 2019, Aju Varghese was roped in as one of the cast members in pivotal role.[17] Varghese shared a casting call for the film's lead actress, and invited applications from the age of 20 and 28.[17] In the process, the team had cast Femina George as the heroine, whose character named as "Bruce Lee" Biji.[18][6] Tamil actor Guru Somasundaram joined the film in a pivotal role.[15] Hollywood stunt choreographer Vlad Rimburg was roped in to supervise the action sequences.[19] The technical crew consisted of cinematographer Sameer Thahir, Shaan Rahman and Sushin Shyam as the music directors and Livingston Mathew handling the editing of the film.[13] Tovino Thomas trained immensely for his role in this film.[20]
Filming
The film began production in December 2019 with a puja ceremony and principal photography subsequently began.[13] The team planned to shoot major sequences in Wayanad and Alappuzha districts.[13] After completing major schedules in Alappuzha, the team headed to Wayanad to shoot the sequences further, where few portions were shot in Manathavady during February 2020.[21] The schedule was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India announced in March 2020. The shoot was resumed a year later in March 2021 in Karnataka, where a huge church set has been replicated, similar to that of a set erected in Kalady by the art direction team, which was vandalised by right-wing groups in May 2020.[22] The team continued their shooting progress in Hassan during the same month,[23] but was halted in April 2021 after Tovino Thomas got diagnosed with COVID-19, and adding to the factors were, the second wave of the pandemic, with cases uprising in Kerala.[24] The team resumed shooting in July 2021, when the Kerala government granted permissions to resume film shoots, but was halted immediately as the team found to be violating the COVID-19 protocol.[25] The shooting of this film was wrapped up on 25 July 2021, with the producer Sophia Paul confirming this in an Instagram post.[26] Post-production works simultaneously began and the film's final edit was ready by mid-September 2021.[27]
Vandalism of film set
It might be a joke, troll, publicity, or politics for some people. It was like a dream for us. Just before the lockdown the set was erected. We had been working to release the film for two years. For many days the art director and team struggled under the hot sun to construct the set, for which the producer's hard-earned money was spent. It was built after having obtained all necessary permissions. The atrocity occurred at a time when everyone needs to stand together. I had never expected that this would happen in Kerala. I'm Shocked
Basil Joseph on the vandalism of the church set by right-wing groups.[28]
On 24 May 2020, a temporary church that had been built as part of the film's set near Kalady was vandalized by right-wing groups. The set was made at a cost of around ₹50 lakh. Several activists of Antharashtra Hindu Parishad (AHP) and Bajrang Dal took credit for destroying the Church-replica by posting on their social media pages about it.[29] AHP's general secretary, Hari Palode, said in a Facebook post that members of AHP, along with members of Bajrang Dal, had demolished the temporary church set as it was placed opposite to a temple. Palode also congratulated the district president of Bajrang Dal, Ernakulam for taking part in the "service work" of razing the church.[30][31]
Six men, including the leader of Rashtriya Bajarang Dal, have been arrested. All of the accused were levied with sections including seeking to create communal disharmony and robbery.[32][22] The prime accused in the case, who was previously arrested, was accused of 3 murder cases and many murder attempts.[33] Many from the Malayalam film industry criticized the vandalism. Kerala's chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said that Kerala is no place for games of the communal forces.[34] The vandalism of the film set had incurred financial losses for the production team.[35]
Music
The film score is composed by Sushin Shyam while the songs are composed by Sushin Shyam and Shaan Rahman.[36]
Release
Streaming
Minnal Murali was initially set for theatrical release had to be rescheduled multiple times in response to the closures of theatres due to COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India.[5]
In July 2021, Netflix acquired the digital streaming rights of the film and planned to stream the film only after 45 days of its theatrical run.[37] However, following the impact of COVID-19 lockdown and the escalation of costs due to the delayed production, the film's producer Sophia Paul opted for a direct-to-streaming release,[38] which was officially confirmed by Netflix on September 2021.[2][39][40] On 24 September, the producers announced that Minnal Murali will release worldwide on 24 December 2021,[4][41] coinciding with Christmas Eve, and will be dubbed and released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, along with the original version. Netflix has acquired the streaming rights for 40 crores which is the highest streaming rights for any Malayalam movie.
Marketing
On 31 August 2021 the makers released the teaser trailer for the film which received positive response from critics and audiences.
On 25 September 2021, coinciding with the third edition of Tudum festival sponsored by Netflix, a featurette titled World of Minnal Murali, which has Tovino Thomas and Basil Joseph, sharing an interview about the film was premiered during the live event.[42][43]
Netflix premiered the film's trailer on 28 October 2021.[44][45]
References
- ^ "Tovino-starrer's massive church set vandalised in Kerala for its location near temple". OnManorama. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
- ^ a b "Tovino Thomas's Minnal Murali to premiere on Netflix, release date to be announced soon". India Today. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Netflix announces release date for Tovino Thomas-starrer Minnal Murali". The Indian Express. 23 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Tovino Thomas' superhero flick 'Minnal Murali' to release December 24 on Netflix". The Hindu. PTI. 23 September 2021. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Ashley, James (14 August 2021). "Minnal Murali Release Date, Cast, Plot - All We Know So Far". The Bulletin Time. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b "'മിന്നൽ മുരളി'യിലെ നായിക; ബ്രൂസ്ലി ബിജിയാകാൻ ഫെമിന ജോർജ്ജ്". malayalam.samayam.com (in Malayalam). Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "This is why actor Baiju demanded Rs 20 lakh for acting in Maradu movie". OnManorama. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- ^ "Minnal Murali Characters - List of Characters in Minnal Murali (2021) - CharacterDB". characterdb.com. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
*:1
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Tovino Thomas shares the poster of his upcoming film 'Minnal Murali' - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas plays a superhero in Minnal Murali". The Indian Express. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas to play a superhero in Basil Joseph's Minnal Murali". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d "Tovino Thomas transforms into a superhero as 'Minnal Murali' goes on floor - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Minnal Murali first look has an exciting, superhero feel - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Guru Somasundaram joins Tovino's Minnal Murali - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Tovino: Despite my role being small or big, I am totally committed to it - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Aju Varghese shares casting call for Tovino-starrer Minnal Murali's lady love - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Minnal Murali: Tovino Thomas' Superhero Film Goes On The Floors". Koimoi. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Stunt expert Vlad Rimburg, of 'Gemini Man' fame, onboard Tovino Thomas-starrer 'Minnal Murali'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas preps up for Minnal Murali - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas' Minnal Murali is being shot at Mananthavady in Wayanad - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Right-wing activists demolish Church replica on film set at Kalady". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 25 May 2020. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Malayalam star Tovino Thomas in Hassan to film his superhero flick - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas tests positive for COVID 19 - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "'Minnal Murali' shoot paused after violating the COVID-19 protocol - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ "It's pack up for the shoot of Minnal Murali [...] A big thank you to our super hero Tovino Thomas @tovinothomas and all the artists and my director Basil Joseph @ibasiljoseph and his team. We hope Minnal Murali will entertain you and eagerly looking forward for his coming! ❤️❤️❤️😍😍😍👍👍👍 @weekendblockbusters". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Kochi, RITZ (13 September 2021). "Tovino starrer 'Minnal Murali' prepares for Netflix release!". Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Entertainment, Quint (26 May 2020). "Right-Wing Outfits Vandalise Church Replica on Malayalam Film Set". TheQuint.
- ^ Sunder, Gautam (25 May 2020). "Tovino Thomas hits out at 'religious fanatics' for destroying the church set of his film 'Minnal Murali'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ Scroll Staff. "Kerala: Right-wing groups vandalise film set of church, CM says 'communal forces cannot thrive'". Scroll.in. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- ^ "'Minnal Murali' film set vandalised by right-wing group, Kerala CM promises strong action". The Indian Express. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
- ^ Staff, TNM (19 June 2020). "One more accused arrested for vandalising Tovino's 'Minnal Murali' film set". The News Minute. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Right-wing group leader who vandalised Malayalam film set is an accused in 3 murder cases". The news minute. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Staff, TNM (25 May 2020). "Kerala is no place for communal forces to play games: CM Pinarayi on demolition of film set". www.thenewsminute.com. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "'Minnal Murali' shoot resumes in Karnataka". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
- ^ M, Athira (26 July 2021). "Working on 'Malik' was like telling a story through music, says Sushin Shyam". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas's Minnal Murali: Netflix Bags The OTT Rights; Project To Get Theatrical Release". Filmibeat. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "'Minnal Murali': Tovino Thomas' superhero film to release in September; read details". Republic World. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ Jha, Lata (8 September 2021). "Netflix announces Malayalam film 'Minnal Murali'". mint. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "Tovino Thomas' superhero movie Minnal Murali to premiere on Netflix". The Indian Express. 6 September 2021. Retrieved 24 September 2021.
- ^ "Netflix sets December 24 premiere for Malayalam movie 'Minnal Murali'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
- ^ The Hindu Net Desk (25 September 2021). "Netflix's TUDUM introduces Madhuri Dixit's 'Finding Anamika,' Tovino Thomas in 'Minnal Murali' and more". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ Entertainment, Quint (25 September 2021). "Netflix's Tudum: 'Finding Anamika', 'Heeramandi', 'Minnal Murali' & More". TheQuint. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
- ^ "Minnal Murali trailer: Tovino Thomas' superhero avatar draws inspiration from DC hero and MCU's humour". The Indian Express. 28 October 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
- ^ Desk, The Hindu Net (28 October 2021). "'Minnal Murali' trailer: Tovino Thomas is Netflix's first superhero from Kerala". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
{{cite news}}
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