June (film)


June is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language Coming-of-age-romantic comedy film co-written and directed by Ahammed Khabeer. The film depicts the life of June Sara Joy as she grows from a teenager to a young woman. Produced by Vijay Babu through his production company Friday Film House. The film also features Sarjano Khalid, Arjun Ashokan, Joju George, Aswathi Menon and Sunny Wayne in significant roles along with more than 15 newcomers.

Plot

The movie starts with June walking to a beach pub in Varkala to have a drink. The scene shifts to the past where June Sarah Joy who is the only child of her parents Panama Joy and Mini Joy is getting ready for the first day of her XI class. She wants to look chic but her mom is pretty strict though loving. Her father gives her advice that it is a turning point in her life and need to study hard.
It rains when she got into the school and she sees a handsome boy taking video of the students. He comes to her and asks where the XI class room is. Both of them belong to the same class and she takes him to the classroom. Most of her friends are from the old class except for a few new students. When the teacher asks the students to perform a self introduction all students do it well except for Noel and June. Noel was recording the whole introduction session on his handcam and later tells June of his aspiration to be a filmmaker some day. The class teacher appoints Noel and June as the class leaders because she wants them to be smarter. Noel and June start to like each other. We get familiarised with June over the time and we see she is a happy-go-lucky girl with a creative streak. Meanwhile the school youth festival happens, the commerce department wins the championship due to the right plan by Noel. As time progresses, June makes new friends and the whole class bonds together, and her Plus Two batch of 2007 is finally able to become a batch to remember not just for the students, but also for the teachers. Noel, her newfound best friend is now elevated to the level of her boyfriend. They get to connect well with each other as they are both considered to be lagging with their talents. Towards the end of Plus two, when June's parents find out about Noel, she decides to end their relationship. She joins a nearby college while he travels to Mumbai to stay with his parents and to continue his studies. She spends her college life in misery, after which she goes to Mumbai, gets a job and stays there with a friend and finds and meets Noel and they start dating. But they breakup after a while because of his arrogant father and his attachment to him. Heartbroken, June returns to Kerala and goes to the pub in Varkala shown in the beginning. There she hits a guy for harassment and ends up in the police station where she meets Anand, a guy from a nearby school which she was in. He takes her home for breakfast and later drops her to the bus stand. On the way he explains how he liked her for years. He ends up accompanying her till her home bus stop. They bond over the journey. It is implied that they date and eventually breakup. The film ends with June becoming an event management company owner and entrepreneur, and choosing to marry Alex whom she meets through her parents and feels an instant connect with, and her friends from schooltime, including Noel and Anand, coming together to celebrate her wedding reception.
The movie also traces the friendship, love, aspirations and lives of June's classmates as well, through various stages.

Cast

June marks the directorial debut of Ahammed Khabeer. The film was shot in reverse order of the screenplay from the end to the beginning, allowing actors to undergo physical changes to look younger, along with filming. Rajisha Vijayan lost and cut her long hair for portraying teenage June. The film was shot mostly in Pathanamthitta, Varkala, Mumbai and Kottayam. The school scenes were shot in Believers Church Residential School, Thiruvalla.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack was composed by Ifthi.

Reception

Critical response

Anna Mathews from The Times of India said, "Debut director Ahammed Khabeer goes all out to jog the viewers’ memories of the best of school days when you are in a rush to grow up and he does a good job of it. ‘June’ will appeal to the wide demographic of pre-teens, teens and all those who were teens".
A critic from The Hindu wrote, "The film is a winner for its earnestness, its non-judgmental approach towards the female".

Box office

The film was a commercial success and completed 100 days theatrical run.