Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel
Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakkeel (transl. Advocate Balan present before the court) is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film written and directed by B. Unnikrishnan, and produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures.[2][3] The film stars Dileep, Mamta Mohandas, and Priya Anand.[4][5] It follows Balakrishnan, an advocate with a stutter.
Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakkeel | |
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Theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | B. Unnikrishnan |
Produced by | Ajit Andhare |
Screenplay by | B. Unnikrishnan |
Starring | Dileep Mamta Mohandas Priya Anand |
Music by | Gopi Sunder Rahul Raj |
Cinematography | Akhil George |
Edited by | Shameer Muhammed |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RD Illuminations (Kerala) Viacom18 Motion Pictures (International) |
Release date |
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Running time | 156 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Malayalam |
Box office | ₹10 crore (Kerala)[1] |
Plot
The film starts off with a raid taking place in the car of a huge businessman, Ronaldo (Harish Uthaman). ₹ 3 crores are found in the car and is taken away by the police.
The story then shifts to Balan (Dileep) , an advocate who hasn’t made much in life due to his stutter. He is finally successful in a case that granted bail for his client Anzar (Aju Varghese). After Anzar offers a house in a crooked colony for Balan instead of his fees , he is kicked out of the house by Babu (Bheeman Raghu). He leaves to his house in his hometown where his father (Siddique) and mother (Bindu Panicker) stay.
After some unfortunate events, Balan’s brother-in-law (Suraj Venjaramoodu) entrusts him with a complicated case . Balan solves the case due to his love for Anuradha. The police chief was part of that cash of 3 crores confiscated by police. His nexus with Ronaldo and Tina is filmed by intelligent father of Anuradha who asks Rs 5 Crore but DG gets him killed. Father kept secret in bank locker. He has taught his daughter to solve puzzles. With that ability she helps Balan with major leads in the case. Balan takes Asst D G lady and court magistrate in confidence and exposes corrupt DG. At last DG is arrested and Balan lives happily with Anuradha, now stammering less, now also free from guilt of having caused his close friend's accident who was the magistrate and helped Balan to become victorious.
Cast
- Dileep as Adv. Balakrishnan
- Mamta Mohandas as Anuradha Sudarshan
- Priya Anand as Teena Shankar/Anuradha Sudarshan
- Harish Uthaman as Ronaldo
- Siddique as Somasekharan Pillai, Balakrishnan's Father
- Aju Varghese as Ansar Ali Khan
- Renji Panicker as DGP K. E. Eappan
- Suraj Venjaramoodu as SI P. Mohanan Pillai
- K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Vincent Thomas
- Bheeman Raghu as Irumbu Babu
- Saiju Kurup as Judge Vidhyadharan
- Bindu Panicker as Vishalam, Balakrishnan's Mother
- Lena as ADGP Indulekha Marar
- Rajesh Sharma as Sudarshan, Anuradha's Father
- Vamsi Krishna as A.C.P Ratnavel
- Veena Nair as Beena
- Thesni Khan as Anuradha's Stepmother
- Kottayam Pradeep as Court Attender
- Shobha Mohan as Vidhyadharan's Mother
- Arjun Nandhakumar as Adv. Pramod
- Sajid Yahiya as Stranger
- Dinesh Panicker as Home Minister
- Uma Nair as Public Prosecutor
- Poojappura Radakrishnan as Tea Shop Owner
- Priyanka as Tea Shop Owner's Wife
- Sharika Menon as Balan's Sister
- Nandu Poduwal as Thaddeus
- Aparna Nair as Lady Seeking Divorce
- Baby as Colony lady
- Mary as Colony lady
- Neha Iyer as Item dancer in the song "Babuetta"
Production
Unnikrishnan initially visualised the story with Mohanlal in mind for Balakrishnan, which he conceived in 2014.[6] When he told the one-line story, Mohanlal suggested Dileep would better suit the character.[7] The film was produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and marks their debut in Malayalam cinema.[8]
Music
Rahul Raj was initially signed in as the composer. But as the project was pushed to October, Rahul Raj had to opt out after composing two songs, "Then Panimathiye" and "Thaniye Itha" since he had to be in Berklee, Spain. The other two songs, "Babuvetta" and "Onnum Mindaathe" were thus composed by Gopi Sunder[9]
No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Then Panimathiye" | Hari Shankar | |
2. | "Onnum Mindathe" | Shashaa Tirupati | |
3. | "Thaniye Ithaa" | Yazin Nizar | |
4. | "Babuvetta" | Pravanam Sasi, Sithara Krishnakumar |
Release
The teaser video of Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel was released on 27 December 2018. The trailer video of Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel was released on 24 January 2019.[10][11] The film was released on 21 February 2019.[12][13]
Box office
The film was a commercial success, it grossed ₹10 crore from Kerala box office.[1] The film's first week gross collection from India was ₹5.4 crore.[14] It grossed $47,728 (₹32.88 lakh) in four weeks from the United States.[15] The film grossed $8,546 in two weeks from New Zealand.[16]
Critical reception
CNN-News18 rated 3.5 in a scale of 5 and wrote that the film "blends all the right ingredients of populist cinema and emerges victorious".[17] The New Indian Express critic also rated it 3.5 out of 5 and commented: "The film makes it obvious from early on that it was not designed to provide any sort of intellectual stimulation, and any attempt to seek the same would be an exercise in futility. It's more interested in playing to the gallery and should be approached in the same way as you would any commercial entertainer".[18] The Times of India critic rated 3 out of 5 stars and wrote that it is a "run-of-the-mill thriller made for you to like and be in awe of the hero. It is demanding you to like him and root for him, sometimes out of sympathy and the other times for his intelligence. It is a story entirely revolving around that need to urge you to like him and appreciate his Sherlock-ian intelligence".[19] Sify's critic called it an "average thriller" and rated 2.5 in a scale of 5 and said the film "ends up as an okay one time watch, packaged for those who don’t need much to be thrilled".[20]
Remake
In late February 2019, Unnikrishnan said: "Viacom is considering remaking the movie and discussions are in the initial stages. We are talking to both Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan for starring in the movie".[21]
References
- Sanjith Sidhardhan (8 June 2019). "'Star power still drives Mollywood'". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Dileep-B Unnikrishnan movie titled Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel – Times of India".
- "Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel on moviebuff".
- "Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel on filmibeat".
- "Dileep's Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel to release on February 21 – New Indian Express".
- Meera Suresh (20 February 2019). "Everybody loves an underdog story: Director B Unnikrishnan on 'Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel'". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Kodathisamaksham Balan Vakeel releases on Feb 21". Sify. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Dileep's Upcoming Movie With B Unnikrishnan". Asianet. 11 September 2018. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Have a look at the new poster of 'Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel' – Times of India".
- "'Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel' trailer starring Dileep released – Manorama Online".
- "Dileep's new movie trailer out – Times of India".
- "Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel to release on Feb 21 – Cinemaexpress".
- "ബാലൻ വക്കീലിന് 'ക്ലീൻ യു സർട്ടിഫിക്കറ്റ്'; റിലീസ് ഫെബ്രുവരി 21ന് – Manoramaonline".
- Surendhar M. K. (13 March 2019). "Thadam, 118 declared box office hits as Boomerang, 90 ML struggle to generate revenue". Firstpost. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Kesari collects approx. 2 mil. USD [Rs. 13.83 cr.] in overseas". Bollywood Hungama. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
- "Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakkeel Movie Review: Dileep's Film Emerges Victorious". CNN-News18. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- "'Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel' review: Dileep and a few good laughs keep this afloat". The New Indian Express. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- "Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel Movie Review {3.0/5}: Critic Review of Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel". The Times of India. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- "Review : Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel review: The script is shaky (2019)". Sify. 22 February 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
- "Shah Rukh Khan, Akshay Kumar in talks to star in remake of Malayalam film, Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel". Firstpost. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.