Bhaskar the Rascal

Plot

Bhaskaran Pillai (Mammootty) is a business tycoon and a single parent. His father Sankara Narayanan Pillai (Janardhanan) was also a big business man once. But when his business failed he had to go through financial crisis resulting in all his relatives and friends abandoning him. His son Bhaskar was the one and only pillar of support. Since then Bhaskar's sole aim is to create and amass wealth. His business empire is the result of his hard work.

He is really impatient and reacts harshly to anyone who does something which he does not like. He is like a thug. This behaviour earns him the name 'Rascal'. Bhaskar is a widower and the father of a son Aadhi (Master Sanoop). Aadhi and Shivani (Baby Anikha) study in the same school. Once Bhaskar had a fight in Aadhi's school which Shivani sees. She got impressed with Aadhi's dad and always wanted to meet him. She is also short temper and aggressive character. Once Shivani's mother Hima (Nayanthara) who is also a single parent and Bhaskar have a small fight in Aadhi's school.

Bhaskar goes with Aadhi for a felicitation function where actress Rani Kabeer (Isha Talwar) is the Chief Guest. Rani gives an interview stating that she is in love with a businessman who is a single parent as Bhaskar. Just then Bhaskar reaches. The reporters get confused and think that Bhaskar is her husband to be. The reporters ask him questions about Rani. He thinks that they are talking about the beer Rani. The issue becomes big and newspaper starts to spread news. Rani's real husband to be sees the news and separates from Rani. In school Aadhi is being mocked by his classmates. Shivani comes to save Aadhi but one of the boys twists her hand. She beats the boy as self-defensive. The boy's mother takes the issue seriously and tells Hima she will not spare her. Bhaskar encourages Shivani but Hima dislikes it as she is a girl. She argues with Bhaskar and goes home and scolds Shivani. She tells the story of how she lost her husband in a flashback. Few thugs misbehave with Hima. She humiliates the thugs for misbehaving with her. Her husband Sanjay (J. D. Chakravarthy) does nothing and remains calm. She gets annoyed with him. Once he drops her off he drives away to the place where the thugs are. Hima follows and sees him beating them off badly. Hima tries to stop him and that's when he get shot by one of the thugs and dies. She does not want Shivani to be like him.

The mother of the boy whom Shivani beats up goes to the police station to get information about Hima's husband's family. Aadhi and Shivani plan to get their parents married thus making them siblings. They plan to spend time with their 'new parents' Shivani spending time with Bhaskar and Aadhi spending time with Hima. One day during Shivani's birthday Sanjay returns to everyone's surprise. A flashback shows what happens after he was shot.

He was sent to a nearby hospital. The doctor plans to shift him to another hospital. Hima and her friend Manitha follow the ambulance but to no avail. There wasn't any patient named Sanjay admitted in the hospital. Hima comes to know the truth about Sanjay that he is a killer. She moves away from the city without informing anyone.

Bhaskar and Hima decide to get married because of Sanjay emotionally blackmailing her. When Hima and Bhaskar were about to get married Sanjay and his parents come to Hima's house. The wedding is cancelled. Hima goes to Pune with Sanjay to retrieve a bag for Sanjay. They plan to kill Hima after retrieving the bag. However Bhaskar saves Hima but both Sanjay and Manitha get killed. Hima and Shivani finally cancel their trip to Canada and they reunite.

Cast

Production

In August 2014, the flick was titled as "Rascal" and was planned to commence the filming in December 2014 and to release in April next year. Siddique said in an interview that the film would be a light comedy entertainer in his typical style. Harisree Ashokan and Janardhanan were confirmed to be cast in supporting roles. Nayantara, who returns to Malayalam after a break, signed to play the femal lead, though the other cast and crew were just being finalized. Nayantara plays opposite Mammootty after Thaskaraveeran and Rappakal. Principal photography commenced on 25 December 2014.

Critical reception

Nelson K. Paul of Malayala Manorama rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and said, "The carelessness of Siddique, who has made us laugh to tears with his dialogues, is very palpable in this flick, unfortunately. We miss the vintage you, Siddique." A reviewer from Indiaglitz.com rated the film 7/10 and said, "One shouldn't keep high hopes of it being unique or exceptional, since the theme and execution is quite run of the mill. However, the movie is a decent attempt at the comic genre and Siddique - Mammootty combo does strike again, added to Nayanthara's charm and grace. This is a decent comedy entertainer that can be enjoyed with the family." Sify.com's reviewer called the film "a well-oiled, formula family entertainer," and wrote: "Bhaskar The Rascal may not have many surprises in store but is a nice option for sure this festival season. For all the fans of the lead stars, this could turn out to be a nice treat. Enjoy this one!" Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film 2/5 and said, "Siddique's 'Bhaskar the Rascal' is a film sans an internal narrative logic that hardly outweighs its jaded stereotypes. The only redeeming fact about the two and a half hour long film is the highly agreeable combination of its four lead actors - Mammootty, Nayantara, Sanoop and Baby Anikha - all of whom desperately struggle to bring in some sense into an otherwise bizarre storyline." Pramod Thomas of The New Indian Express said, "Bhaskar the Rascal is a movie that borders on average. It's high time to get rid of the old formats and directors like Siddique should lead the change." The critic felt that the film "lacks focus, not to mention a strong theme" but also remarked: "for a hard-core Mammootty fan, it is a treat to watch." Deepa Soman of The Times of India rated the film 3/5 and said, "A vacation release, Bhaskar The Rascal is pure escapist cinema at its best. It's not another film with morals woven into the script, hoping to see the audience in tears, but a light-hearted, slick urbane entertainer." Lauding performances of the child actors, Master Sanoop and Baby Anikha, Mythily Ramachandran of Gulf News called the film "a light-hearted entertainer".

Box office

According to the Kerala Film Distributors Association, the film earned good collections on its first day of release. In the third week, it collected around ₹13.77 crore in 19 days. The film grossed around total of ₹25 crore (US$3.9 million) at the worldwide box office. The film was successful at box office. The movie also completed 100 days run at theatres, and completed over 10,000 shows in theatres.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released in March 2015. It comprises three songs composed by Deepak Dev. The lyrics are written by Rafeeq Ahamed and Harinarayanan. Composer Deepak Dev's daughter Devika Deepak Dev debuted as a playback singer in the film. She was roped in by Siddique and sang the song "I love you mummy" with Shweta Mohan.

Plagiarism controversy

The song "I Love You Mummy" in the film was alleged to be a copy of an Arabic song "I Love You Mamma" by Hala Al Turk. Film director Siddique stated:

Yes, the visuals are inspired from the Arabic song I Love You Mamma. However, the songs, its lyrics and music are entirely different; only the theme is the same ... I happened to watch the Arabic song, I Love You Mamma, and I felt the visuals and the setting can be used in this one as well. In fact, the situations in both the songs are similar. Like in the album, in this song sequence too the daughter is appeasing her mother when she is in distress. I got inspired after watching the video. That's it.