My Story (film)
My Story is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language romance film directed and produced by Roshni Dinaker and written by Shanker Ramakrishnan. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran and Parvathy Thiruvothu in the lead roles. It was released on 6 July 2018.
| My Story | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Roshni Dinaker |
| Produced by | Dinaker O. V. Roshni Dinaker |
| Written by | Shanker Ramakrishnan |
| Starring | Prithviraj Sukumaran Parvathy Thiruvothu |
| Music by | Songs: Shaan Rahman Background Score: Raja Narayan Deb |
| Cinematography | Dudley Vinod Perumal |
| Edited by | Priyank Prem Kumar |
Production company | Roshni Dinaker Productions |
| Distributed by | Vaishaka Cynyma |
Release date |
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| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Budget | ₹18 crore[1] |
Plot
A debutant actor Jay and his co-star Tara, an established actress and a diva, fall in love on the sets of their film. However, Tara is set to marry David, a business tycoon and a bureaucrat who is also the producer of the movie. Twenty years later, Jay is a big movie star but is still in love with Tara and decides to travel to Lisbon to apologize to her for something he did in the past. In the end Jay finds that he has a daughter with Tara and that she has been also living a dual life with her husband pining over Jay.
Cast
- Prithviraj Sukumaran as Jay a.k.a. Jayakrishnan
- Parvathy Thiruvothu as Tara and Hima (dual role)
- Mukul Dev as Sunil
- Ganesh Venkatraman as David Eapen
- Arun V. Narayan as Sidharth/Bonie
- Nandhu as Joseph Silva
- Roger Narayan
- Manoj K. Jayan as Williams
- Maniyanpilla Raju as Vishwan
- Nassar as Keshava Perumaal (Cameo)
- Jayaditya Kang as young Jay
- Bhadran as Bhadran (Cameo)
Production
The film marks the directorial debut of film costume designer Roshni Dinaker. Principal photography commenced on 1 November 2016 in Portugal. The filming began on the same date she started her career as a designer years ago.[2] The film was shot in Óbidos and Lisbon, Portugal over 45 days. It was filmed by cinematographer Dudley, Bishwadeep Chatterjee is the sound designer. Roshni also produced the film with her husband O. V. Dinaker. She came up with the plot of My Story after a friend of her named Abhijata Umesh narrated her a story. Impressed by it, she had a discussion with Shankar Ramakrishnan and developed a new story-line, which became the plot of My Story. The title of the film My Story was the name of the hotel where the writer Ramakrishnan stayed during location scouting in Portugal. Prithviraj also agreed on the title.[3] The film was made on a budget of ₹18 crore.[1]
Soundtrack
The songs were composed by Shaan Rahman, with lyrics written by B. K. Harinarayanan. The soundtrack album consists 7 tracks, released by the label Vibe Music.
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Pathungi" | Benny Dayal, Manjari | 3:25 |
| 2. | "Kadhalkal" | Shaan Rahman | 3:56 |
| 3. | "Mizhi Mizhi" | Shreya Ghoshal, Haricharan | 3:48 |
| 4. | "Mayamanjeleri" | Shakthisree Gopalan | 4:15 |
| 5. | "Kozhiyumo" | Harib Hussain | 5:08 |
| 6. | "Aaranu Nee" | Harib Hussain, Megha Josekutty | 4:37 |
| 7. | "Aaranu Nee Remix" | Harib Hussain, Megha Josekutty | 4:47 |
Release
My Story was released on 6 July 2018.[4]
Reception
Sajin Shrijith from The New Indian Express, who rated 3 in a scale of 5 found the film's narration interesting, yet few portions "needlessly stretched". "She [Dinaker] isn't interested in winning awards; she is only interested in providing you with two hours of guilty-free entertainment", he wrote.[5] Ayyappan R. of Malayala Manorama wrote: "being a long-term love story it oscillates so much between time zones making you so giddy ... Yet, despite the zig-zagness of the form, the film moves at a smooth languid, almost dreamy, pace, befitting a mature love story". He praised the performances of Prithviraj and Parvathy, editing and colour grading.[6] T. Nirmalkumar of Mathrubhumi rated 3 out of 5 and praised the lead performances, particularly Parvathy's, and said the film "demonstrates the craft which is not of a debutante. It is a love story portrayed on a colourful and unique canvas. But, the engaging first half storytelling is followed by a cliche flashback which made it an ordinary story".[7]
Priya Sreekumar of the Deccan Chronicle appreciated the performances of Prithviraj and Parvathy, cinematography, costumes, sound and music department, but was critical about the screenplay, and rated 2.5 out of 5 stars.[8] Asha Prakash of The Times of India rated 2.5 out of 5 stars. She appreciated the performances of Prithviraj and Parvathy, visuals and music, but felt that the film had too much cinematic cliches.[9] The Indian Express reviewer Manoj Kumar R. had the impression that Jay's characterization was unconvincing and his "repugnant personality" was "sugarcoated" by the filmmaker. He rated 2 out of 5 stars.[10] Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute praised Prithviraj and Parvathy's performances, at the same time, said the characters suffer from unequal writing.[11]
References
- Web desk (3 June 2018). "'മൈ സ്റ്റോറി' പെരുന്നാളിന് എത്തില്ലേ? സംവിധായികയുടെ പ്രതികരണം". Asianet News (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- James, Anu (2 November 2016). "My Story shooting begins in Portugal". International Business Times. Retrieved 13 January 2017.
- N., Jayachandran (30 December 2016). "Roshni Dinaker reveals the story behind 'My Story'". Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 30 January 2017.
- Shrijith, Sajin (30 May 2018). "'My Story' will strike a chord with everyone: Director Roshni Dinaker". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- Shrijith, Sajin (7 July 2018). "'My Story' movie review: An old-fashioned romance saved by its two leads". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- R., Ayyappan (6 July 2018). "Review: A love story held together by performances". Malayala Manorama. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- Nirmalkumar, T. (7 July 2018). "'My story': Parvathy works her magic again". Mathrubhumi. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- Sreekumar, Priya (6 July 2018). "My Story movie review: My Story lacks fizz". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movie-reviews/my-story/movie-review/64881676.cms
- https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/my-story-movie-review-parvathy-prithviraj-5248968/
- https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/my-story-review-parvathy-and-prithviraj-shine-cliched-plot-let-down-84288