Bhaskaran Pillai is a business tycoon and single parent. His father Sankara Narayanan Pillai was also a big businessman once, but when his business failed, he had to go through financial crisis, resulting in his relatives and friends abandoning him. His son Bhaskar was the 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. Bhaskar is impatient and reacts harshly to anyone who does something against his will. This behaviour earns him the name "Rascal". Bhaskar is a widower and has a son named Aadhi. Aadhi and Shivani study in the same school. Bhaskar indulges in a fight at Aadhi's school. Shivani witnesses the encounter and is highly impressed with Bhaskar and develops an admiration towards him and is excited to meet him.She is also short-tempered and aggressive. Shivani's mother Hima, who is also a single parent, and Bhaskar involve in a small fight in Aadhi's school. Bhaskar goes with Aadhi for a felicitation function, where actress Rani Kabeer is the chief guest. Rani gives an interview stating that she is in love with a businessman who is a single parent. Bhaskar reaches the venue at the same time. This creates a confusion in the media people, and they mistake Bhaskar to be Rani's love interest. The reporters bombard him with questions about Rani. Bhaskar answers their questions while mistaking their questions to be about his choice of beer, a brand named "Ranika". The statements go viral. Rani's real love interest happens to be see the news and severs his ties from Rani. Bhaskar, acting on the advice of his father, tries to set things right by meeting Rani's love interest and settling the misunderstanding. Things take a different course when Rani's love interest denies Bhaskar an audience and insults him. Bhaskar then thrashes Rani's boyfriend in his office, which is also covered by the press. In school, Aadhi is being mocked by his classmates because of his father's fiasco. Shivani tries to save Aadhi, but one of the boys twists her hand. She attacks the boy in self-defense. The boy's mother makes an issue of it, but thanks to Bhaskr's timely intervention, the matter is solved without much haste. Bhaskar encourages Shivani to be outspoken and aggressive, but Hima dislikes it as she is a girl. She argues with Bhaskar and leaves. Hima, upon reaching home, scolds her daughter. She tells her the story of how she lost her husband Sanjay Sharma. The events are shown in a brief flashback. A few thugs misbehave with Hima in a theater, and she humiliates them. Sanjay does nothing, and Hima gets annoyed with him. Once he drops her off, he drives back to the place. Hima follows and sees him in a fight with them. Hima tries to stop Sanjay, but he gets shot by one of the thugs and dies. She states that she does not want the same fate for Shivani. The mother of the boy whom Shivani beats up goes to the police station to get information about Sanjay and Hima's family. Aadhi and Shivani plan to get their parents married and decide to spend time with their "new parents" - Shivani with Bhaskar and Aadhi with Hima. Bhaskar shows some interest in Hima, but she remains indifferent and tries to avoid him on all occasions. On Shivani's birthday, a small party is organized. The only guests invited are Aadhi and Bhaskar, but a third uninvited guest appears and surprises everyone. It turns out to be Sanjay. He introduces himself to Bhaskar and Aadhi. A flashback shows that after Sanjay 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 was not any patient named Sanjay admitted in the hospital. Hima comes to know the truth about Sanjay and his past. He is a rogue and assassin. 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 with Sanjay to retrieve a bag for him, but Sanjay plans to kill Hima. Bhaskar saves Hima, but Sanjay and Manitha get killed. Hima and Shivani finally cancel their trip to Canada and reunite with Bhaskar and Aadhi.
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 female 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.
Reception
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 at the Kerala box office. The film was commercial successful at box office. The movie also completed 100 days run at the theatres, and completed nearly 10,000 shows in theatres. The film grossed around total of at the worldwide box office.
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:
