''Archana 31 Not Out'' is a 2022 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

-language

comedy-drama film Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, illness, betrayal, grief, etc. ...

written and directed by Akhil Anilkumar, and produced by Martin Prakkat, Siby Chavara and Renjith Nair. The film stars

Aishwarya Lekshmi Aishwarya Lekshmi (born 6 September 1991) is an Indian actress and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. She has received one Filmfare Award South, one Kerala Film Critics Association Award and three SIIMA Awards. A ...

, alongside Hakkim Shajahan, Dileep Mohan,

Indrans K. Surendran (born 16 March 1956), better known by his stage name Indrans, is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough ...

and

Ramesh Pisharody T. V. Ramesh (born 1 October 1981), professionally credited as Ramesh Pisharody, is an Indian stand-up comedian, impressionist, television presenter, actor and film director. He works in Malayalam television shows, stage, and cinema. He is pa ...

. The plot revolves around the wedding of a 28-year-old school teacher named Archana, to an NRI groom takes unexpected twists. It was released on 11 February 2022 to mostly mixed reviews.

Premise

Archana is a private school teacher. She goes through a tough phase as she is 28 and not married yet, also she is losing her job because of a management decision. 30 suitors have rejected Archana and 31st suitor is a NRI guy Prasad working in Gulf. His family members meet Archana and her family. Everything seems to fall in place as the engagement and subsequent marriage is fixed. Things seem to go in the right track, when just before the day of the marriage, Archana receives a call from Prasad's brother in law informing her that Prasad has eloped with a girl. With the marriage not happening, a lot of emotions go through Archana's mind. She does not reveal on Prasad eloping and the marriage stands cancelled to anyone. On the day of marriage, the ceremony goes as per the plan, but Archana reveals to her guests about Prasad's betrayal and says boldly that its not a time to cry, but be happy that the marriage with a treacherous person did not happen. The guests understand her and everyone celebrates with Archana. In the end its shown that Archana has decided to take her life in her own hands rather than worry about the society.

Cast

Release

The film was released on 11 February 2022.

Reception

The film met with mostly mixed reviews. ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' gave 3/5 and wrote "A movie that would have worked best as a short-film". ''Ottplay'' gave 3/5 and wrote "Aishwarya Lekshmi, interesting climax elevate this simple but sluggish tale". ''

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Vignesh Vellore who is also the current CEO in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, ...

'' gave 2.5/5 and wrote "This Aishwarya Lekshmi film starts smoothly, slips midway". ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' wrote "Aishwarya Lekshmi shines in tiring watch".

References

{{reflist 2020s Malayalam-language films 2022 comedy-drama films 2022 films Indian comedy-drama films Films shot in Palakkad