Kalki (2019 Malayalam film)


Kalki is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Praveen Prabharam, co-written by Praveen Prabharam and Sujin Sujathan, and produced by Suvin K. Varkey and Prasobh Krishna for their studio Little Big Films. Tovino Thomas plays the leading role of a police officer. Shivajith Padmanabhan, Samyuktha Menon and Vini Vishwa Lal play the negative roles.

Prologue

In the prologue session of the film, we can see a scene from K's past which is not shown in the film.
In a gang territory, one member reports something to the other goons and they are shown running outside to confront someone. Then K comes in the picture who was standing turned away from them. A goon is also shown lying on the ground after being beaten severely in the hands of K. Here K is completely different from as shown in the film. He is having a long beard and some different clothes. Blood is pouring from his face which indicates that a huge fight had taken place. Seeing the lying goon, the whole gang started running towards K to attack him. When they reach near, K suddenly turns around and uses his iron box to hit a goon in the head. Then the scene suddenly ends abruptly. This scene was released as a Prologue Teaser for the promotion of the film.

Plot

Nanchenkotta is a fictional place in Kerala-Tamil Nadu border which is ruled and owned by a party named DYP whose leader was Amarnath. The party threatens and tortures the people there to keep them under their control and everyone lives in fear. Therefore, many residents left the land and are living in neighboring places. So that place was now filled with goons under the command of Amarnath. The party also had businesses there like gun production. The other known members of the party were Amarnath's brother Appu and their cousin Dr. Sangeetha. There was another rival party lead by Adv. Lakshmanan who also used to participate in election failed due to the influence of Amarnath.
The movie begins with a public address session by Adv. Lakshmanan who speaks in favor of the locals and against DYP and asks for the vote of the local people. After the speech Lakshmanan was killed by Amarnath's main goon Ummar. The present SI of Nanchenkotta at that time was SI Vysakhan. Even though there was a police station and in Nanchenkotta, the law was in the hands of Amarnath alone and the police were under their control and therefore was unable to take any action against him.
After his daughter criticises him for not taking any action in the murder case of her friend's father and after thinking about his inability, Vyshakan was heartbroken and thus committed suicide. Meanwhile, the new leader of the rival party along with his subordinates starts taking their own decisions without thinking about the people. They conduct a meeting to select the candidate for the upcoming election . There the new decisions wre not welcomed well and asenior party member named Sooraj and several other members leave the party to work for the people on their own. The same day,the new leader lends a goon out of town to murder Amarnath but he ends up dying by Amarnath's hands. This was the time when a new nameless SI arrives at Nanchenkotta. He is completely different from the previous SI. On his arrival, he burns a goon alive who had taken over the Police Station. After this, he along with other policeman started clearing the city from Amarnath's goons even by using illegal methods such as rolling. Due to the fear of the SI many change their paths. Later he visited the gun manufacturing site owned by Amarnath and orders Appu to stop this activity.
In response, Ummar arrives at the Police Station and threatens K only to get beaten up by him and K orders him not to work under Amarnath from this day onwards. Under the command of Amarnath, Ummar does various activities to make K leave the town or kill him but fails. In a final attempt, he attacks two of the policemen and one loses his leg in the process. An agitated K tracks down Ummar in a factory and beats him and his allies severely and finally sewers off both his legs with a chainsaw along with his crew. Sooraj meets K and tells him about the people who have left the place,the problems and requests his help in returning the people back. So he starts working for the people against DYP which angers Amarnath more. Amarnath's goons kill a policeman in response and stabs K badly with knives,but K manages to defeat them all. In the next step,Amarnath murders Sooraj which pulls down the confidence of the locals. Angered K kidnaps Appu and beats him badly. Amarnath is forced to kill Appu to end his suffering. After Appu's death,Sangeetha becomes the candidate but leaves to Hyderabad after a policeman threatens her. Having lost his brother Amarnath vows to kill K himself and asks him to come out for a final battle. In the subsequent fight Amarnath overpowers K at times but K gets the last laugh and victory. K drags the body of Amarnath through the streets as the people who had left arrives and takes care of the remaining goons themselves, thus establishing peace in Nanchenkotta. As his work in Nanchenkotta is over, K leaves the place unnoticed.
A few months later, in an unknown place in Tamil Nadu, a goon threatens the locals. Suddenly, he is hit by a Jeep. Inside the Jeep was seen K, in his new get-up who had arrived to restore peace at that place too.

Cast

Kalki was announced by Tovino Thomas on 16 September 2018 through his Facebook page. The film is produced by Suvin K. Varkey and Prasobh Krishna under their production house Little Big Films. The first-look poster of the film was also released during the film announcement.
Tovino Thomas is portraying the lead role as a police officer, and Samyuktha Menon is playing the female lead. Saiju Kurup playing a supporting role.
Principal photography began on 12 March 2019 with a customary pooja function held at Kochi. Filming took place at Tenkasi, Tamilnadu and Kundara, Kerala. The shooting was completed on 29 May 2019 in a single schedule with 62 days of filming.

Soundtrack

Composer Jakes Bejoy provided the music for the film.
The soundtrack album is distributed by the label Goodwill Entertainments.

Release

The movie got released worldwide on 8 August 2019. In Kerala the movie was released across 161 theaters. OutsideIndia the movie was released on same day itself across theaters in UAE,Oman,Kuwait,Singapore,United States and Canada.

Marketing

A prologue teaser was released on 28 March 2019 and was shown in theaters along with the Malayalam feature film Lucifer. The first look teaser of the film was released on 31 March 2019 by Tovino Thomas through his Facebook page. The first look poster was released on 14 April 2019.The official teaser of the movie was launched on July 13, 2019 at an event in Lulu Mall,Kochi. Character posters and video introduction of characters started from July 26, 2019 through official movie social media accounts.
The official trailer of the film was launched on August 3, 2019 at trailer launch event organised by Radio Mirchi Trivandrum station in Mall of Travancore,Trivandrum and the trailer was released online by Mohanlal through his official facebook page.
Clothing brand North Republic has launched Special Kalki edition shirts as part of Kalki movie promotional campaign.

Critical reception

Entertainment Portal Sify in its review has termed ‘Kalki’ as a hardcore masala entertainer that celebrates its hero. Kalki is an action flick that is a gripping ride for sure, especially if you have an idea about what you are going to see. It is a delightful Tovino Thomas show that is definitely worth a watch. Anjana George of The Times of India has rated the film as 3.5/5 and mentioned that
“If you love to enjoy an adrenaline rush, Tovino’s looks and action sequences with blood, Kalki is for you.”
Litty Simon from news portal Manorama Online in its review mentioned that “ Tovino Thomas fits the bill as fiery cop. This is the first time that Tovino is seen in a complete action avatar and he does justice.” Vidya Nair from Deccan Chronicle has mentioned that
larger-than-life portrayal of action has made Kalki an entertaining and one of the fine movies of this year.