Classmates (2006 film)

Classmates is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age romantic film directed by Lal Jose and written by James Albert. The film has an ensemble cast consisting of Prithviraj Sukumaran, Kavya Madhavan, Jayasurya, Indrajith Sukumaran, Narain, Jagathy Sreekumar, Balachandra Menon and Radhika.[2] The music was composed by Alex Paul.[3] The cinematography was by Rajeev Ravi[4] and editing by Ranjan Abraham. Audiography was done by M. R. Rajakrishnan.

Classmates
DVD cover
Directed byLal Jose
Produced byPrakash Damodaran
P. K. Muralidharan
Written byJames Albert
Story byK Novel
StarringPrithviraj Sukumaran
Kavya Madhavan
Jayasurya
Indrajith Sukumaran
Narain
Music byAlex Paul
CinematographyRajeev Ravi
Edited byRanjan Abraham
Production
company
Arya Films
Distributed byLal Release
Release date
  • 17 August 2006 (2006-08-17)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹3.4 crore
Box office₹23 crore[1]

The story revolves around the college graduate class of 1991. In 2006, working in different corners of the world, the friends get together for a class reunion to revive the joy and laughter of their student days. On the night of the reunion, one of the classmates is almost murdered and goes into a coma.[5]

Upon release, the film became the highest-grossing Malayalam film, at that time. It is frequently referenced in Keralite popular culture.[6] The film went on to win the Kerala State Film Awards for Best Popular Film (Prakash Damodaran and P. K. Muralidharan) and Best Story (James Albert).[7] It was later remade into Tamil as Ninaithale Inikkum starring Prithviraj himself, and in Telugu and Marathi as Classmates (2007) and Classmates (2015), respectively.

Plot

The film centres on a group of classmates who attendeded the same Chemistry class in their final year of college. Among them, Murali (Narain) is a singer and P. Sukumaran (Prithviraj) is a firebrand leader of the left-winged students union. Sukumaran's rival, Satheesan (Jayasurya), leads the opposite faction of student politics and is aided by his sidekick, Valu Vasu (Vijeesh). Pius (Indrajith), a rich and spoiled brat of parents settled in the Gulf, is the campus Romeo and Sukumaran's best friend. Thara Kurup (Kavya Madhavan) is the daughter of the Member of the state Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Muvattupuzha; she is a danseuse who regularly wins awards for the college with her performances.

It was Murali's dream to have a ten-year reunion, but he mysteriously dies before the reunion can be organised. His parents, Professor Iyer (Balachandra Menon) and Lakshmi Teacher ( Shobha Mohan), both teachers at the college, decide to fulfil their departed son's dream and bring his classmates together for a reunion. Sukumaran is now a diamond dealer based in Mumbai and is a divorcee. Satheesan is now an MLA, following his dreams to become a political leader, while Vasu continues to be his sidekick. Pius is now settled in the Middle East, while Thara, still unmarried, runs a dancing school.

The coming together of these classmates is the occasion for them to relive the past and to discover how Murali died. When all are together, Razia (Radhika) arrives. Sukumaran attempts suicide but it is later discovered that it was not a suicide attempt but a murder attempt. The suspense is revealed one by one. In the end, Thara and Sukumaran are reunited by their college love that was never accomplished.

Cast

Reception

The film was a box office success. It broke many box office records and spawned a whole new genre of college-based films in the Malayalam film industry. The film completed 150 days run in Thiruvananthapuram and 100 days in Kottayam and Ernakulam as well. The film went on to gross ₹23 crores (US$230 million) and became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time beating Rasathanthram.[1]

Remakes

Classmates has been remade in Tamil as Ninaithale Inikkum, with Prithviraj playing the lead again. Narain is replaced by Shakthi Vasu and Kavya is replaced by Priyamani.[8] A Telugu remake titled Classmates, with Sumanth and Sadha playing the lead roles, released in 2007.

Awards

Soundtrack

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

#SongSinger(s)Cast
1"Kattadi Thanalum"Vidhu Prathap, Reju Joseph, Ramesh Babu, CicilyPrithviraj, Jayasurya, Indrajith, Narain, Kavya Madhavan, Radhika
2"Kathirunna Pennalle"Devanand, JyotsnaPrithviraj, Kavya Madhavan
3"Vote"M G Sreekumar, PradeepPrithviraj, Jayasurya, Indrajith, Narain, Kavya Madhavan, Radhika
4"Ente Khalbile"Vineeth SreenivasanNarain, Radhika, Prithviraj, Jayasurya, Indrajith
5"Ente Khalbile"SujathaNarain, Radhika
6 "Chillu Jaalaka" Manjari (Indian singer)
  • An alcohol addicts association called Glassmates was initiated in many districts in Kerala, its name intending to be a pun on the name of the movie.
  • The film spawned a whole new genre of college campus-based films, which have dominated box-office earnings in recent years. Examples include Puthiya Mukham, Chocolate etc. All of the films mentioned also star Prithviraj in the lead role.
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References
  1. "Breaking down the mollywood box office". Manorama News. 6 April 2017.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 March 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Yen for innovation". 2 November 2007 – via www.thehindu.com.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "`Classmates,' a trendsetter". 29 September 2006 – via www.thehindu.com.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Shakthi and Prithviraj in Ninaithale Inikkum - Behindwoods.com K Balachander Rajinikanth Kamal Haasan Jayapradha Priya Mani pictures kollywood hot images tamil picture gallery images". www.behindwoods.com.
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