Chotta Mumbai
Chotta Mumbai is a 2007 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy mafia action film directed by Anwar Rasheed, written by Benny P. Nayarambalam, and co-produced by Maniyanpilla Raju. The film stars Mohanlal, Siddique, Saikumar, Bhavana, Jagathy Sreekumar, Indrajith Sukumaran, Manikuttan, Bijukuttan, Kalabhavan Mani, and Rajan P. Dev. Rahul Raj composed the score and songs of the film. The plot follows Vasco da Gama (Thala) and his gang of friends, all unemployed and leading a happy-go-lucky life until they encounter a corrupt police officer and gangster, Nadeshan.
| Chotta Mumbai | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Anwar Rasheed |
| Produced by | Maniyanpilla Raju Ajayachandran Nair Raghuchandran Nair |
| Written by | Benny P. Nayarambalam |
| Starring | Mohanlal Siddique Saikumar Bhavana Jagathy Sreekumar Bijukuttan Indrajith Sukumaran Manikuttan Kalabhavan Mani Rajan P. Dev Maniyanpilla Raju Geetha Vijayan |
| Music by | Rahul Raj |
| Cinematography | Alagappan N. |
| Edited by | Don Max |
Production company | Sree Bhadra Pictures |
| Distributed by | Vaishakha Release |
Release date |
|
Running time | 137 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Box office | ₹22 crores[1][2] |
The film released on 6 April 2007 opened to positive reviews.
Plot
The film starts in a street in Fort Kochi where Vasco da Gama (Mohanlal), the son of a wrestler named Michael (Saikumar), lives. Vasco and his gang of five – "Mullan" Chandrappan (Siddique), Susheelan (Bijukuttan), Sainu (Manikuttan), "Padakkam" Basheer (Jagathy Sreekumar) and cousin Tomichan (Indrajith Sukumaran) are small-time goons, involved in petty offences and as the movie progresses, these characters turn out to be more endearing than bad.
Vasco goes by the nickname Thala (head) since he is the gang leader. Though Michael rebukes his son time and again for his lifestyle choices, he loves him and has big dreams for him. The plot progresses when a marriage broker contracts a wedding between Vasco and auto-rickshaw driver Latha (Bhavana), the only daughter of Pambu Chakochan (Rajan P. Dev) who is a heavy drinker and a longtime friend of Michael.
Vasco likes Latha, but she pleads with him to tell her father that he does not like her, because she plans to elope with her boyfriend. Overjoyed at having discovered a fellow drinker in Vasco, Chakochan does not even let him voice his opinion. Vasco decides to help Latha out, but her plan to elope fails when she discovers that her boyfriend Suni (Suraj Venjaramood) is involved in human trafficking. She returns to Vasco.
Later when Vasco, Michael, Chandrappan and Latha travel in her auto-rickshaw, they clash with a gang that has been on the run after stabbing an honest police officer. Vasco and his father were witnesses to the murder of Mohanraj (Vijayaraghavan), which was committed by Satheesan (Vinayakan), the younger brother of a corrupt circle inspector called Nadesan (Kalabhavan Mani). This leads to complications.
Cast
- Mohanlal as Vasco da Gama a.k.a. Thala
- Siddhique as Mullan Chandrappan, Thala's sidekick
- Bhavana as Latha, Thala's love interest
- Kalabhavan Mani as Nadeshan, Circle Inspector of Police
- Saikumar as Fayalwan Michael Ashan, Thala's father
- Jagathy Sreekumar as Padakkam Basheer, Thala's friend and another goon
- Indrajith Sukumaran as Tomichan, Thala's cousin and sidekick
- Manikuttan as Sainu, Thala's sidekick
- Bijukuttan as Susheelan, Thala's sidekick
- Rajan P. Dev as Pambu Chacko, Latha's father and Michael's classmate
- Vinayakan as Satheeshan, Nadeshan's younger brother
- Maniyanpilla Raju as Advocate Pradeep Menon
- Mallika Sukumaran as Tomichan's mother and Thala's aunt
- Suraj Venjaramoodu as Mama Suni
- Cochin Haneefa as Vasuttan, Susheelan's cousin
- Bheeman Raghu as Alex, new Circle Inspector
- Vijayaraghavan as Mohandas, Circle Inspector
- Sanusha as Tomichan's sister
- Thara as Vasco da gama's sister
- Saranya Sasi as Sherin, Vasco da gama's sister
- Geetha Vijayan as Deepa, Pradeep's wife
- Ramu as DGP Rajendran Nair
- Kunchan as Announcer in the carnival
- Narayanankutty as Nanappan, Basheer's rival
- Biju Pappan as SI Hameed
- Anikha as Anikha
- Shakeela as Herself (Guest appearance)
- Rachana Maurya as an item girl (Cameo appearance)
Production
Jayasurya was cast in a role, but he had to opt out from the film due to scheduling conflicts with Kangaroo (2007 film).[3]
Music
| Chotta Mumbai | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | March 2007[4] | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 25:20 | |||
| Label | Satyam Audios | |||
| Rahul Raj chronology | ||||
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Composer Rahul Raj made his feature film debut through this film. The songs Thalaa and Chotta Mumbai became chartbusters.
| Track | Song Title | Singer(s) | Lyricist | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Vasco da Gama" | Afsal, Rimi Tomy, Vipin Xavier | Sarath Vayalar | Carnival song in the climax |
| 2 | "Poonila" | Sangeeth, Sangeetha Prabhu | Santhosh Varma | Raga: Kalyani, Sindhu Bhairavi[5] Not picturised |
| 3 | "Thala" | Shankar Mahadevan, Arjun Sasi, Sangeeth, Rahul Raj | Sarath Vayalar | Highlighting the lead character Thala |
| 4 | "Chettikulangara" | M. G. Sreekumar, Sayanora Philip | Sreekumaran Thampi, Sarath Vayalar | Mohanlal's intro song Cover version of yesteryear song composed by M. K. Arjunan |
| 5 | "Chotta Mumbai" | Rahul Raj, Sreerag, Sreelakshmi | Sarath Vayalar | Title song. Showing the life of Chotta Mumbai gang. |
| 6 | "Chettikulangara (Tell Me Now)" | M. G. Sreekumar, Sayanora Philip | Sreekumaran Thampi, Sarath Vayalar | Not picturised |
Release
The film was released on 6 April 2007.
Critical reception
The film was well received by critics. Unni R. Nair, in his review for Nowrunning.com said, "An out and out entertainer, it's a film that you would like to just sit back and enjoy, pushing all logical thinking to the background. Chotta Mumbai is a film that cashes in on Mohanlal's superstar image and its aim is merely to entertain and enthrall." (
)[6] Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com gave the film a rating and positively reviewed the film's script, Mohanlal's lead performance, Anwar Rasheed's direction as well as the performances of the supporting cast.[7] Sify.com also published an extremely positive review and said: "What makes the film tick is Mohanlal's at the heart of this mad, mad, mad world with his impeccable sense of comic timing. Clearly he is at home playing this type of character- for him it is the equivalent of an old pair of Hawai slippers. If laughter is the best medicine then Anwar Rasheed has earned his stripes yet again."[8]
References
- Venugopal, Sowmya (2 June 2007). "Big B and Chotta Mumbai becomes profits". Indiaglitz. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- Benny, Jency (25 November 2017). "The one who won Box Office in 2007". FilmiBeat. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
- George, Vijay (4 January 2008). "Interview : A positive impact". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 January 2008. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
- "Audio CD Cover". Facebook. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- "Chotta Mumbai - MSIDb". malayasangeetham.info. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
- "Review by Nowrunning.com"
- "Chotta Mumbai is fun"
- "Movie Review: Chotta Mumbai"
- "Malayalam top ten 2007".
- "Chotta Mumbai 75days".
External links
* Chotta Mumbai at IMDb