A group of liquor barons, who are members of the Indian Liberation Party, want the declining party to win the upcoming Kerala state election to benefit their business interests. To raise the ILP's image, they decide to make a biopic about Kammaran Nambiar, the party patriarch and the last veteran of the Indian independence movement. They ask director Pulikeshi to make a film based on a chapter in the book Unsung Heroes of India by Robert S. Coogan, in which Kammaran is depicted as a forgotten freedom fighter. Pulikeshi meets Kammaran, now an ailing old man living in an old house with his son Bose. Kammaran tells the young man a story: During World War II, Kammaran was a cunning medical practitioner who would do anything for personal gain. To destroy his love rival, Othenan, Kammaran incites violence between the villagers, Othenan, Othenan's cruel landlord father Kelu, and British officers. During the violence, Kammaran kills Kelu and Othenan is arrested. Later, Othenan visits Kammaran in the night, but as Kammaran tells the story he begins coughing and is unable to continue. Pulikeshi makes the film as the ILP instructed, and when Kammaran watches it he realizes the roles have been reversed. In the film, Othenan and his friend Singh are working for the British; they are captured as traitors by Netaji but they escape and Othenan kills the man who reported their treason. The landlord's wife Maheshwari is then shown inflicting cruelty when Kammaran arrives as the leader of the ILP, preventing the harassment of poor tenants and gaining such mass support that Maheshwari is forced to flee. Kammaran is shown doing many things for the benefit of the villages, such as looting money from the British to distribute amongst the villagers. Kammaran marries Bhanumathi when Othenan returns and plots with Maheshwari and the British against Kammaran. The plot involves using Netaji's death to gain Kammaran's trust, so that they can then blame Kammaran for the planned assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Kammaran then tells the story of how he met Netaji. During the Battle of Imphal in 1944, Kammaran saved Netaji who was injured from a grenade; Netaji found such confidence in Kammaran that he asked him to form a party for the people. As a strong symbol, Kammaran took the axe, the weapon Maheshwari's men used to murder his father, on which he swore revenge against India's landlord system. Kammaran returns to AmruthaSamudram and forms the ILP. To foil the assassination plot, Kammaran posts his men in three places along Gandhi's procession route to a temple, while he rides on a train with Gandhi. Othenan secretly boards the train and moves against Gandhi, but an informer has warned Kammaran who stops and chases him, fighting, and Othenan is killed after a brutal struggle on top of the train. Kammaran stands to be hanged for killing a British officer. The only person who believes his story is Robert S. Coogan, who convinces Jawaharlal Nehru to free him. The film ends with Kammaran refusing his followers' request to participate in elections, but promising to be back when he is needed. The film becomes a success, and helps the ILP return to power. Elderly Kammaran is made the Chief Minister of Kerala. Pulikesi arrives and asks him what really happened to Othenan. It is then shown that years later Othenan came for Bhanumathi who was then Kammaran's wife, and Kammaran killed him brutally but doesn't reveal this to Pulikeshi. Kammaran tells Pulikeshi that the movie is now the history in everybody's mind, and that the actual events no longer matter.
Kammara Sambhavam is the feature film directorial debut of advertisement filmmaker Rathish Ambat. The plot follows the adventures of Kammaran, the character played by Dileep. According to Ambat, "we can't limit the movie to any specific genre", it has politics, contemporary relevance, history and elements of a thriller. He describes the film as "a satire that has politics, history and cinema". Murali Gopi worked on the script for nearly two years. He describes the film as a satire that crisscross period, pop, and black comedy. Sidharth makes his Malayalam film debut with the film. Namitha Pramod plays the female lead. Principal photography began on 18 August 2016 in Kochi. The production was unexpectedly stalled while it was filming in Theni, Tamil Nadu, during July 2017. After a break, filming resumed on 9 October 2017 in Vengara, Malappuram district; Dileep rejoined the film on 20 October in Malayattoor, Ernakulam district. There was a schedule in Chennai which completed before December 2017, after which one schedule was remaining to be shot in Theni. By the time it stalled production in July, the film had already spend 10 crore on budget. It was completed on a total budget of 20 crore.
Soundtrack
The film's original songs were composed by Gopi Sundar.
Release
The film was released in India on 14 April 2018. It received various positive and few mixed reviews from critics while general word of mouth was positive everywhere. The reviews praised the artist performances, direction, script, visuals and music while the long runtime and excess detailing was criticised. It is the most expensive film in Dileep's career and he plays dual roles in it as well. Although it was a box office flop, it gained acclaim due to its strong and bold concept. Actor
