''Gulumaal: The Escape'' is a 2009 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 film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by V. K. Prakash and written by Rajesh Y. V. It was shot in digital format by cinematographer Fowzia Fathima, and starred

Kunchacko Boban Kunchacko Boban (born 2 November 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in the Malayalam film industry. He is referred to as Chackochan, and during the early 2000s, he was called "chocolate boy" because of his romantic image. He ...

and

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born 31 August 1978) is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist who works in Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a National Film Awards, National Fi ...

. The film is an unofficial remake of the Argentine crime-thriller film ''

Nine Queens ''Nine Queens'' (Spanish: ''Nueve reinas'') is a 2000 Argentine heist crime drama film written and directed by Fabián Bielinsky. It stars Ricardo Darín, Gastón Pauls, and Leticia Brédice. In the film, con artists Marcos (Darín) and Juan ...

''. The film was remade in Telugu as '' All the Best'' (2012).

Plot

Jerry Mathews is a

con man A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

known for his high-stakes scams. His criminal actions create a rift in his family when he attempts to steal the family business from his sister. While planning a heist on a petrol station, Jerry helps an escaped convict, Ravi Varma. Ravi had been caught performing similar heists with a similar con man. Ravi convinces Jerry to plan a formidable heist. An old acquaintance, Bose, tells Jerry of a forged painting that can be used to con a

non-resident Indian Overseas Indians (ISO: ), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are people of Indian descent who reside or originate outside of India (Including those that were directly under the British Raj). According to t ...

(NRI) out of 50 lakhs. The information creates a rift in the newly formed friendship as both Ravi and Jerry attempt to outdo each other in order to take the money. Coincidentally, Jerry's sister Saira is an employee at the hotel where the NRI is staying, and both Ravi and the NRI fall in love with her. Ravi and Jerry eventually lose the painting and decide to buy the original by pooling their money. They then sell it to the NRI for 3 crore. However, Jerry's father finds out about the plot and tells Saira, which further drives the siblings apart. When Jerry and Ravi realize that the check given to them is invalid, they fight and decide to part ways. Jerry runs into the master con man, Bose, who offers to help him resolve the situation, and takes Jerry to the wedding of Ravi's and Saira's. Jerry learns that the entire sequence of events, starting from the gas station incident, had been completely staged as a form of gentle revenge in return for the scam that had sent Ravi's father Prabhakaran to jail. Jerry asks for forgiveness from everyone and leaves the wedding. As the credits roll, Jerry is seen pondering another scam.

Cast

as Ravi Varma *

as Jerry Mathews *

Suraj Venjaramoodu Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than ...

as SI Shambhu *

Mithra Kurian Mithra Kurian (born Dalma Kurian), is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam and Tamil films. Her notable works include ''Bodyguard'' (2010) and '' Kaavalan'' (2011). Biography She first appeared in a supporting role in the 2004 Malayala ...

as Saira Mathews *

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in M ...

as Prabhakara Varma *

Salim Kumar Salim Kumar (born 10 October 1969) is an Indian actor, comedian, director and writer in Malayalam cinema. Mostly known for his comic and comedy roles, Salim Kumar is considered one of the best and most prominent comedians in the history of Mala ...

as Bhai *

Bijukuttan Biju Kuttan (born 13 May 1976) is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Malayalam films. As of June 2021, he has acted in more than 70 Malayalam films. Biju Kuttan is born in North Paravur, Ernakulam. He completed most of his schooling ...

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

Vasu *

Kottayam Nazeer Kottayam Nazeer is an Indian actor, impressionist, and an artist from Kerala. Kottayam Nazeer started his career as a stage artist . Recently he also started his career in painting. Nazeer is a recipient of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akadem ...

as Appi Biju * Devan as NRI *

Maniyanpilla Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju (Malayalam: മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.Valsala Menon Parakkulathil Vatsala (28 August 1939 – 21 November 2023) was an Indian Malayalam novelist, short story writer, and social activist from Kerala. She is a recipient of Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2021, the highest literary honour by the government ...

as Thampuratty *

Samvrutha Sunil Samvritha Sunil (born 31 October 1986) is an Indian former actress who appeared mainly in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 2004 through the film '' Rasikan'' directed by Lal Jose. She has acted in over 47 movies. Her best known films i ...

as herself (cameo) * Siddique as himself (cameo) *

Chali Pala Chalil Babykkuttan better known as Chali Pala is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He is most known for playing supporting roles in Malayalam films. Biography Pala was born in Thiruvananthapuram. He debuted with the film ''Iyer t ...

* Deepika Mohan * Vimal Roshan

Reception

The film was described as being similar to

Fabián Bielinsky Fabián Bielinsky (3 February 1959 – 29 June 2006) was an Argentine film director. Career Fabián Bielinsky was born in Buenos Aires on February 3, 1959. He started to make films while a student at the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. At ...

's 2000

Argentine Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

film ''

'' (''Nueve Reinas'').Vijay George. (13 May 2011)
"Exploring genres"
''The Hindu''. Retrieved 2 July 2011. V. K. Prakash said: "I discovered the ''Nine Queens'' connection only after I liked the subject of ''Gulumaal''". ''Sify.com'' stated that "with a tighter script, better music and lesser length the film could have been even more entertaining", but added, "The best thing about the film could be its unconventional narrative style." ''Indiaglitz.com'' called it "stylish and crazy entertainment", praising the film's "intense believability" and "unstoppable flow of brilliantly witty one-liners", but criticized the poor selection of voices in Manu Rameshan's songs. VN of ''Nowrunning.com'' gave the film 2.5 out of 5, praising "the amazing camaraderie that its lead actors share" but finding fault with the "cacophony" and substandard picturization of the songs. VN also stated that ''Gulumal'' was "a straight lift off the Argentinian film ''Nueve Reinas'' (''Nine Queens'')".

Box office

The film was a commercial success.

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack contains 4 songs, all composed by

Manu Ramesan Manu Ramesan (born 13 July 1982) is an Indian film composer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He is the son of lyricist S. Ramesan Nair. He has composed songs for films such as ''Pidichirukku'' (2008), '' Gulumal: The Escape'' (2009) ...

, with lyrics by S. Ramesan Nair and Saimon Palvaay.

References

External links

* {{V. K. Prakash 2000s Malayalam-language films 2009 crime comedy films Indian remakes of foreign films Indian crime comedy films Films directed by V. K. Prakash 2009 films Malayalam films remade in other languages Unofficial film adaptations Indian heist films Films about con artists Remakes of Argentine films Indian crime thriller films Films about social issues in India Indian comedy thriller films