Queen (2018 film)


Queen is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film directed by Dijo Jose Antony, written by Sharis Mohammed and Jebin Joseph Antony and produced by Arabian Dreams Entertainment Co by Shibu K Moideen & Rinshad Vellodathil. It features Saniya Iyappan as Chinnu, the sole female entry in a Mechanical Engineering batch in a college. The film was released in India on 12 January 2018.The idea for creating such a movie was inspired from the 2015 Onam Celebration that took place in College of Engineering Adoor, Pathanamthitta, which was a massive controversy, and Sree Buddha College of Engineering, Pattoor, Alappuzha an institution in Kerala where a mass gang of boys and their only female classmate of the Mechanical Engineering Department made a dramatic entry making it a unique event becoming viral on internet too.
Saniya Iyappan won Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut – South for her performance in the film.

Plot

The story starts with the inauguration of a Mechanical branch. The beginning of the first year is filled with ragging and clever escapades by the boys from their seniors. Late in the first semester a girl, Chinnu joins mechanical branch. She soon becomes a lovable character within the entire first year batch of the college. Her classmates discover that she is an orphan and a cancer patient. During her time at the hospital her friends keep her company and makes friends with other patients. She recovers from the cancer through chemotherapy and surgery, and visits college during Onam celebrations just to have fun with her friends and campus life. She goes back to her home in the evening to recuperate completely. Unexpectedly she was kidnapped by some anti socials and sexually assaulted. Even though Chinnu was hospitalised, she dies. Her friends with support of various people from the community fight for justice and against the malign grips of social institutions that was meant to protect the underprivileged. In the process they are helped by Adv. Mukundan, a lawyer fighting for justice end the culprits are caught and imprisoned. The students in the end turns to social service. The film ends with a message that "women are not opportunities but responsibilities of men"

Cast

Movie was produced by Shibu K Moideen and Rinshad Vellodathil, from the studio Arabian Dreams Entertainment.

Music

The original songs for the film were composed by Jakes Bejoy, with lyrics written by Joe Paul, Sharis Muhammed, and Jyothish T. Kasi. The soundtrack album was released by Satyam Audios on 3 January 2018. Dijo Jose Antony and Arun Nandakumar choreographed the songs "Saare Njangal" and "Podi Parane", respectively.

Release

The film was released on 12 January 2018 across 84 theaters in Kerala.

Critical response

Arjun R Krishnan from Malayala Manorama has written that 'Queen', the debut work by director Dijo Jose Antony, presents quite a few contemporary issues in a titillating cinematic wrap and rated the movie 3.5 out of 5.
The film, however, was not received well by some feminist critics. Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost refused to rate the film, calling it a 'non-film', and was outraged by the fact that this 'nondescript' film managed to get released not only in Kerala, but outside it as well, when far superior films were struggling to find theaters. Sowmya Rajendran of The News Minute wrote that the film does a disservice to rape survivors by suggesting that the rape and murder of the female protagonist in the film is tragic only because she was an orphan, a cancer patient, and blameless in all respects. She also criticized the film's concluding message that men should see women as their responsibility and assume the role of their protectors.