Kasaba (2016 film)

Plot

Rajan Zachariah is a police inspector posted at Palakkad district police station. Zachariah is a person who doesn't give a tinker's damn about what people think . Zachariah is very close to IG Chandrasekhar and his son Arjun. Arjun and his fiancee die mysteriously in Kaliyoor - a place located on the Kerala-Karnataka border. As per the police reports the deaths were due to Maoist attacks but IG Chandrasekhar and Zachariah refuse to believe it. Zachariah being the godfather of Arjun asks Chandrasekhar to post him at Kaliyoor to find out the truth. Zachariah arrives at Kaliyoor and tries to solve the mystery behind deaths of Arjun and his fiancee and how it is connected to the death of 6 policemen and Circle Inspector Raghavan.

Zachariah understands that Parameshwaran Nambiar is the main figure in the village.Zachariah finds out that Kamala- who is in charge of the brothel along with Nambiar had killed CI Raghavan. Arjun and his fiancee witness the murder and flees away. While escaping from Nambiar's goons Arjun and his fiancee get into a police van asking help by introducing himself as I.G.'s son. Nambiar instructs his goons to attack the police van thereby killing Arjun, his fiancee and the 6 policemen.

Nambiar who is contesting district level elections for the first-time,finds Thankachan, caretaker of Kamala's brothel as a possible liability and kills him through his goons under the guise of a Maoist attack. Kamala is Thankachan's daughter which is revealed by a letter written by Thankachan to Kamala before his death. Vengeful Kamala kills Nambiar to avenge the death of her father with the help of Zachariah. Kamala later calls Zachariah to thank her for helping her and she intends to finish him off to wipe the slate clean. Zachariah tactfully arrests her for killing CI Raghavan and Nambiar by acting friendly. Zachariah later rescues the sex workers from the brothel.

Cast

Production

In January 2016, it was reported that Mammootty would star in Nithin Renji Panicker's directorial debut, the son of Malayalam screenwriter Renji Panicker. Raai Laxmi was earlier reported to be as the heroine, but later Varalaxmi Sarathkumar was confirmed to be part of the film.

The filming commenced in February 2016, and the unit filmed in locations of Kozhikode, Kolar Gold Fields and Pazhani. The filming ended in April.

Release

The film is scheduled for an Eid release, on 7 July. The film's teaser has become one of the most viewed Malayalam film teaser, by completing 5.1 Lakhs (510,000) "real-time" views in 24 hours. At the time, Kasaba teaser was the fastest Malayalam teaser to cross 1 million mark, in 4 days.

Women's commission notice

On July 19, 2016, Kerala's Women Commission board sent court notices to actor Mammootty, director Nitin Panicker, and producer Alice George for portraying women villainous and as sex workers in the film. Commission chairperson, K Rosakutty Teacher, said that the film used dialogues which were "insulting to womanhood in general". She further added, "In the name of freedom of expression, women cannot be insulted whether it is for character or else". When an actors like Mammootty involves in such projects, it may lead to a 'dangerous acceptance' of such actions and remarks in the society. The Commission also sent a report to AMMA and Malayalam Cine Technicians Association with a request to revise the film's certification.

Box office

The movie collected ₹2.43 crore (US$360,000) in Kerala on its first day, a record opening for a Malayalam film at that time of release. The film collected ₹7.35 crore (US$1.1 million) from first four days, and ₹8.18 crore (US$1.2 million) from first five days of release at the Kerala box office. The film collected ₹10.44 crore (US$1.6 million) in nine days of its theatrical run in Kerala, and ₹14.37 crore (US$2.1 million) within a month of its release.