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Drishyam

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Drishyam
Visuals Can Be Deceiving
Directed byJeethu Joseph
Written byJeethu Joseph
Produced byAntony Perumbavoor
StarringMohanlal
Meena
Ansiba
Esther
Kalabhavan Shajon
Siddique
Asha Sarath
CinematographySujith Vaassudev
Edited byAyoob Khan
Music byAnil Johnson
Vinu Thomas
Production
company
Distributed byAashirvad Release Through Maxlab
Release date
  • 19 December 2013 (2013-12-19)
Running time
164 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Drishyam (Malayalam: ദൃശ്യം) is a 2013 Malayalam drama–thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph and starring Mohanlal and Meena in the lead roles.[1] The film is produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner Aashirvad Cinemas. Mohanlal appears as a common farmer while Meena plays his wife. The film's music is composed by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas. Cinematography is handled by Sujith Vassudev. The film was shot in Thodupuzha and nearby locations.[2]

Upon release, the film received rave reviews from critics as well as viewers. Apart from being one of the best films of the year 2013,[3] the film is also regarded as the best-made thriller in Malayalam since the 1982 K. G. George film Yavanika.[4] As per the trade analysts, the film is inching towards an all time blockbuster status.[5]

Plot

Georgekutty (Mohanlal), an orphan who had dropped out of school after the fourth grade. He has come up in life by tilling his land. Now he is businessman running a cable TV service in a rural area. He is married to Rani (Meena) and they have two daughters Anju (Ansiba), a Plus Two student, and Anu (Esther), a student of class eight. Georgekutty is stingy and does not like to spend money on anything beyond the basic necessities. His only interest in life apart from his family is watching films. He spends most of his time in front of the TV in his small office. He is so obsessed with movies that he takes every major decision in life by subconsciously taking an example from some film he has seen.

The film's plot takes a turn towards the middle. Georgekutty’s teenaged daughter gets photographed in the bathroom at a nature camp by a hidden cell phone.The culprit Varun (Roshan Basheer) is the son of an inspector general of police, Geetha Prabhakar (Asha Sarath). Varun is accidentally killed by Rani and her daughter when he comes to blackmail them. It is up to Georgekutty to protect his family from the long arm of the law.

Cast

  • Mohanlal as Georgekutty
  • Meena as Rani
  • Ansiba Hassan as Anju
  • Esther as Anu
  • Kalabhavan Shajon as Constable Sahadevan
  • Siddique as Prabhakar
  • Asha Sarath as IG Geetha Prabhakar
  • Aneesh G Menon as Rajeesh
  • Roshan Basheer as Varun
  • Neeraj Madhav as Monichan
  • Irshad as SI Suresh Babu
  • Kunchan as Madhavan
  • Kozhikode Narayanan Nair as Sulaimanikka
  • Baiju V.K as Soman
  • P. Sreekumar as Rani's Father
  • Sobha Mohan as Rani's Mother
  • Koottickal Jayachandran as Murali(Bus Conductor)
  • Kalabhavan Rahman as Bus Conductor
  • Kalabhavan Haneef as Theatre Operator
  • Antony Perumbavoor as Antony
  • Balaji
  • Pradeep Chandran

Themes

Genre

The film has kicked off a new genre in Malayalam — family thriller, a genre which combines the elements of a family drama and thriller.[4] The film takes off as a typical family drama. The first half of the film is intentionally slow-paced and shows to the audience the lighter moments in the family of Georgekutty.[6] This half combines the elements of drama and comedy genres. The audience gets completely absorbed in the twist of events that begin to unfold from the end of the first half. The second half is more like a thriller and is about how the family, despite the vengeful villainy of a corrupt cop, stands its ground even as the law takes its course.[6] When asked whether this change in narrative style post-interval was intentional, Jeethu Joseph replied: "I really don't understand when people say the first half lacked pace. A story or a film has its own way of progression and it does travel in a zig-zag away, capturing all the ups and downs of our lives. Right from the start if you accelerate the pace, soooner or later, the story-telling will lose its steam."[4] The film uses some 'sexist dialogues' in the first half which were playing to a certain 'new generation' audience. The director says: "I firmly believe such conversations are part of our lives. I don't want to elaborate, but it also throws an insight into each character featured in the sequences. Yes, frankly, I was a bit worried how the family audience would react to those scenes. But then I read out that part of the script to a select group of women and they nodded their heads in approval. So..."[4]

However, the director calls the film a 'family drama'. "We usually brand a film as a thriller, simply because there is some mystery in the narrative or the story unfolds through an investigation. But I don’t subscribe to this. Although there are some twists in the tale and some suspense as well, Drishyam is essentially the story of a family," says Jeethu.[7]

Narrative style

The film uses flashback as its narrative mode. Jeethu Joseph says: "At the concept level, I toyed with many narratives, wondering how I would start the film or should I use the flashback mode. But once everything was on paper, I was very clear about the way the story should unfurl. I guess this was the best way the story could have been narrated."[4]

Production

Writing

Jeethu Joseph has always wanted to do a project with Mohanlal and jumped at the chance after completing Memories.[8] A thread similar to that of Drishyam has been with the director since the early nineties. When the director overheard a conversation about the plight of two families involved in a legal battle, the idea got a fillip.[4] Jeethu had penned the story of Drishyam even before Memories.[9] He says, "I started working on the subject some two years back. But I wanted to stick to the planned order and hence postponed the project till I finished Memories".[10] The script was initially planned to be filmed by another director but since that director could not find a producer, Jeethu took back the script and decided to direct it himself.[11] Drishyam is completely different from the director's previous films. He says, "Different films require different treatment. I toiled hard while filming Memories as the film was full of twists and turns and the handling of the subject mattered a lot. But Drishyam is a complete script-oriented film that does not require any special effort. We shot the film sticking completely to the script, and the shooting was completed effortlessly."[12]

Casting and filming

After a brief hiatus, actress Meena returned to Malayalam cinema with this film.[2] The actress was sharing the screenspace with Mohanlal after a eight year detour, the last one being Chandrolsavam released in 2005.[12] According to the director, actor Mammootty was instrumental in roping in actress Meena (she was on the sets of his film Balyakala Sakhi) for Drishyam.[4] After the release of the film, Oneindia.in reported that the director had earlier approached Mammootty to play the lead in Drishyam but when Mammootty had date clashes, he opted Mohanlal. The report cited the director as saying that no changes were made in the script when Mohanlal agreed.[13] However, the director, in an interview with The New Indian Express, stated that he wrote the screenplay with Mohanlal in mind and the character was tailor-made for Mohanlal.[12] He repeated the same in a video interview in the Malayalam channel Mazhavil Manorama.[citation needed] However, in another interview with the The New Indian Express published in September 2013, the director said: "It was always my dream to do a film with the amazing actor [Mohanlal]. I don’t start scripting a film with the cast in my mind. When the script for My Boss was completed, I just felt Dileep could do justice to the character. The same thing happened for Memories too. But every director and script-writer would want to do at least one film with Lal. When I narrated the story, he was much impressed and readily agreed to do the film."[10] Kalabhavan Shajon, who was previously been in the industry as a comedian and the sidekick of the lead actors, was chosen for the main antagonistic role. The director says, "I had two-three actors in mind, but at last decided to pick Shajon.[4] I was very clear that I did not want anyone who has played negative characters so far to do the role. Shajon was a total revelation." Roshan Basheer, who debuted through Plus Two a couple of years before, was chosen after conducting a screen test.[14] Actor Prithviraj was rumoured to play a cameo role in Drishyam but eventually this did not happen.[8]

Drishyam commenced production in the first week of October 2013.[15] The film was shot exclusively at Thodupuzha in Kerala.[2] Drishyam was initially planned to be filmed in 52 days but the principal production got completed in 44 days.[4][16]

Reception

Reviews

The film opened to magnificent critical response. Sify.com's reviewer gave the verdict "Excellent" and stated, "It is not often that you sit in a theatre with bated breath, never wanting to miss a moment of the film on screen. Writer director Jeethu Joseph’s Drishyam is one such film, a gripping tale that leaves you spellbound with its skillful craft."[17] Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film 3/5 and commented, "In Drishyam Jeethu attempts a stunning mix of the real with the imaginary, and the result is an unpredictable cinematic artichoke that takes you by surprise at every turn."[18] Rating the film 3.5/5, Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com said, "Drishyam can be credited for bringing Mohanlal back to form and pushing director Jeethu Joseph into the big league as he has made a cracker of a thriller."[19] Jabir Mushthari of The Hindu wrote: "It takes craft, intelligence, and the superior acumen of a genuine storyteller to pull off a film in such an engaging manner." He also noted that the film's "thread and treatment are new to Malayalam cinema in many ways" and its "principles go against the set rules film goers here are familiar with".[6] Shibu B S of The New Indian Express wrote : "For his latest outing ‘Drishyam’, Jeethu attempts a splendid mix of emotions, relationships, suspense and thrill. End result: a spectacular cinematic experience."[20] Dalton L of Deccan Chronicle gave the film a 3-star rating and was all praise for Mohanlal's performance: "The limelight belongs entirely to Mohanlal. Like the versatile greats of Hollywood, this actor possesses such a vast repertoire that he isn’t required to always attempt the radically new to stamp his towering persona."[21] Aswin J Kumar of The Times of India said, "Drishyam is an elegantly crafted piece of film which Lal and Joseph can proudly hold close to their hearts."[22] Unni R. Nair wrote in his review for Kerala9.com: "The care with which the script is done, the finesse with which the direction part is executed and the characterization and performance plus the thoughtful placing of the songs makes ‘Drishyam’ worth real appreciation. That the film has almost zero-‘filmy’ humour is also worth noting. It’s the logical manner in which the story unfolds and the very convincing manner in which the characters behave makes it impressive." The critic rated the film three in a scale of five.[23] Indiaglitz.com's reviewer rated the film 8/10 and stated: "Drishyam is undoubtedly cladded with exceptional story telling combined with bravura performances. An undoubtedly exceptional film as far the content is concerned, the movie is a must watch for all the audiences of family and thriller movies."[24] Subhash Sabu of Yentha.com concluded his review saying, "A well knit thriller, which can keep you on the edge of your seats for most of the time. Easily one of the best films to have released in Malayalam this year. Very rarely you will get to see a thriller of such sheer brilliance."[25]

Theatrical response

Drishyam released on 19 December 2013, in 133 theatres.[26] The film got highly positive response from the audience and has been already declared as the winning movie of the year.[27] Reports claim that Mohanlal has performed in an easy manner, which is the most positive factor about the movie.[28] Major stars in the industry were all in awe after watching Mohanlal's stellar performance.[29]

It is after long time a Malayalam film is generating a huge crowd in theatres. No film since Manichitrathazhu (1993) has created such frenzy in Kerala as Drishyam.[4] Many consider Drishyam as the best-made thriller in Malayalam since the 1982 K. G. George film Yavanika.[4] Some of the social forums have rated the film as the best Malayalam flick in the past 20 years as well.[30] As per the trade analysts, Drishyam is inching towards an all time blockbuster status.[4][5]


The film has crossed ₹6.70 crore gross in eight days[31][32] and collected a gross of ₹9.33 crore within eleven days, in Kerala region.[33]

Awards

Nana Film Awards[34]
  • Best Film
  • Best Director - Jeethu Joseph
  • Best Actor - Mohanlal
  • Best Cinematographer - Sujith Vaassudev
  • Best Child Artist - Esther

Soundtrack

Untitled

The film features a soundtrack composed by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas. The background score was composed by Anil Johnson, with lyrics penned by Santhosh Varma

Track Song Artist(s) Composer Lyricist Duration
1 "Maarivil" Najim Arshad Vinu Thomas Santhosh Varma 5.11
2 "Nizhale" Vijay Yesudas Anil Johnson Santhosh Varma 3.27

Remake

Ever since Drishyam released, a lot of film banners from other South Indian film industries and Bollywood has been around for its remake rights. As per the present reports the film's Hindi, Tamil and Telugu rights has been sold for a whopping amount to Mohanlal's brother-in-law Suresh Balaje .The Kannada remake rights have gone to E4e of leading distributor and producer Mukesh Mehta. Jeethu himself will direct the Hindi and Tamil versions. The reports say that the Hindi version will be produced by Reliance, with Suresh Balaje as line producer.[35][36] Actor Vikram has come forward showing his interest to enact the role essayed by Mohanlal if Drishyam is getting a Tamil remake.[37][38]

References

  1. ^ "Jeethu's Mohanlal film is 'Drishyam'". Sify.com. August 25, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  2. ^ a b c Vijay George (November 21, 2013). "On Location: Drishyam - The family guy’s predicament". The Hindu. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  3. ^ Deepa Gauri (December 26, 2013). "The best of Malayalam cinema in 2013". Khaleej Times. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rajaneesh Vilakudy (December 24, 2013). "Mohanlal’s Xmas release has Kerala hooked". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  5. ^ a b "Drishyam Inching Towards All Time Blockbuster Status". Indiancinemagallery.com. December 23, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  6. ^ a b c Jabir Mushthari (December 22, 2013). "A bold, fresh, and thoroughly engaging outing". The Hindu. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  7. ^ Vijay George (December 20, 2013). "One for the family". Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  8. ^ a b "Malayalam Film News: Prithviraj Rumoured to be Part of Jeethu Joseph's Mohanlal-Starrer 'Drishyam'". International Business Times. October 23, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  9. ^ Deepa Gauri (September 26, 2013). "Maximum risk". Khaleej Times. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Sivalakshmi Roshith (September 5, 2013). "Rural Snapshots". The New Indian Express. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  11. ^ Mythily Ramachandran (December 26, 2013). "‘Drishyam’ speaks of a family’s fortitude". Gulf News. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Parvathy Nambidi (December 19, 2013). "Drishyam: On a Family Outing". The New Indian Express. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  13. ^ "Mohanlal Replaced Mammootty In Drishyam, Says Jeethu Joseph". Oneindia.in. December 18, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  14. ^ Serin Sam (December 24, 2013). "An all-new experience for Roshan Basheer". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved December 25, 2013.
  15. ^ "'Drishyam' to start soon". Sify.com. September 26, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  16. ^ "'Drishyam' complete in 45 days". Indiaglitz.com. November 27, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  17. ^ "Movie Review: Drishyam". Sify.com. December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  18. ^ "Drishyam Review". Nowrunning.com. December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  19. ^ "Review: Drishyam is Mohanlal's film". Rediff.com. December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  20. ^ Shibu B S (December 22, 2013). "A Spectacular Cine Experience". The New Indian Express. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  21. ^ Dalton L (December 22, 2013). "Malayalam Movie Review: 'Drishyam'". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  22. ^ Aswin J Kumar (December 22, 2013). "Drishyam". The Times of India. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  23. ^ Unni R. Nair (December 20, 2013). "A Spectacular Cine Experience". Kerala9.com. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  24. ^ "Drishyam- This 'Drishyam' is an excellent watch". Indiaglitz.com. December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  25. ^ Subhash Sabu (December 23, 2013). "Drishyam - A Well-Knit Thriller (Malayalam): Film Review". Yentha.com. Retrieved December 23, 2013.
  26. ^ "Mohanlal's Drishyam Releasing Today In 133 Theatres". Oneindia.in. December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  27. ^ "Malayalam actor Mohanlal elated with 'Drishyam' success". IBN Live. December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  28. ^ "Mohanlal Happy For Drishyam's Success". Oneindia.in. December 20, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
  29. ^ Radhika C Pillai (December 21, 2013). "Mollywood praises Mohanlal for Drishyam’s success". The Times of India. Retrieved December 22, 2013.
  30. ^ Deepa Soman (December 26, 2013). "I am scared of expectations now: Jeethu Joseph". The Times of India. Retrieved December 27, 2013.
  31. ^ "Drishyam crossed 7 crores". Mathrubhumi. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  32. ^ "Drishyam creating history at box office collection". southcinearena.com. 28 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  33. ^ "Drishyam 11 Days Collection". Cine Shore. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 31 December 2013.
  34. ^ "Nana Film Awards 2013". Nana. Retrieved December 29, 2013
  35. ^ "Drishyam turns red-hot in remake circuit!". Sify.com. December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  36. ^ "'Drishyam' goes for remakes". Indiaglitz.com. December 26, 2013. Retrieved December 26, 2013.
  37. ^ "Vikram In Drishyam Remake?". Oneindia.in. January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  38. ^ "Vikram Is All Praise For Drishyam!". Oneindia.in. January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
Reviews (Malayalam)
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