''Janaki Jaane'' is a 2023 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 Comedy drama (also known by the portmanteau dramedy) is a hybrid genre of works that combine elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. In film, as well as scripted television series, serious dramatic subjects (such as death, il ...

film written and directed by

Aneesh Upasana Aneesh Upasana (born 6 December 1979) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and photographer. His feature films include '' Matinee'' (2012) and ''Seconds'' (2014). Career Aneesh Upasana started his professional career as a fashion photograp ...

. The film features an ensemble cast including

Navya Nair Navya Nair (born Dhanya Veena; 14 October 1985) is an Indian actress who has appeared predominantly in Malayalam cinema along with a few Kannada and Tamil language films. Early and personal life Navya Nair was born Dhanya Veena on 14 October ...

in the title role along with

Saiju Kurup Saiju Govinda Kurup (born 12 March 1979) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam and Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri ...

Sharaf U Dheen Sharafudheen, professionally credited as Sharaf U Dheen, is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his acting debut in 2013 with '' Neram''. He got his breakthrough in ''Premam'' (2015). Personal life Sharafudheen hails from A ...

Anarkali Marikar Anarkali Marikar is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. Early life Anarkali was born to Nias Marikar and Lali P. M. Her father is a photographer and mother is an actress. She has an elder sister na ...

Johny Antony Johny Antony is an Indian film director and actor, known for making comedy films in Malayalam cinema. He is from Changanassery in Kottayam district, Kerala. He worked for about a decade as an associate to directors Thulasidas, Taha, Kamal an ...

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 ...

, George Kora, Sminu Sijo, Pramod Veliyanadu and James Eliy among others. Upon release, it received mixed reviews.

Cast

as Janaki *

as Unni Mukundan *

Dhyan Sreenivasan Dhyan Sreenivasan (born 20 December 1988), is an Indian actor, film director, screenwriter and producer recognized for his films in the Malayalam cinema. He made his acting debut with ''Thira'' (2013), directed by his elder brother Vineeth Sre ...

as Lishan *

as Manu Bhaskar *

as Maria *

as P. R. Shaji *

as Suku * George Kora as Martin *

Sminu Sijo Sminu Sijo is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam Cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam langua ...

as Satyabhama * Pramod Veliyanadu as Johnny * James Eliya as Kariyachan * Jordi Poonjar as Divakaran * Vidhya Vijayakumar as Treesa * Anjali Satyanath as Sofiya * Sathi Premji as Lakshmi * Sylaja Sreedharan Nair as Devu * Anwar Shereef as Jo * Shamnas M Ashraf as Shafi * Deepa Kartha as Ramla * Nitha as Dhanya * Mayoon as Nandhan * Vishnu Prasad as Jomon *

Swami Swami (; ; sometimes abbreviated sw.) in Hinduism is an honorific title given to an Asceticism#Hinduism, ascetic who has chosen the Sannyasa, path of renunciation (''sanyāsa''), or has been initiated into a religious monastic order of Vaishnavas ...

as Saji * Shabin T. V. as YouTuber Manja Prasad * T. K. Kabir as Mukundan * P. L. Chacko as Bhaskaran *

as News Reader * Hitha Hareesh as Rini Alex

Production

Filming

The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

began on 10 November 2022. The team began shooting for the film at

Karalam Karalam is a small village in Thrissur district in Kerala state of India. It is located 8 km from Irinjalakuda and 18 km from Thrissur. Economy Agriculture is the primary industry, but many households have at least one member workin ...

after the pooja ceremony. Shooting took place for a month in Karalam,

Irinjalakuda Irinjalakuda is a municipal town in Thrissur district, Kerala, India. It is the headquarters of Irinjalakuda Revenue Division, Thrissur Rural Police and Mukundapuram Taluk. After Thrissur, this town has most number of administrative, law-enfor ...

, and

Kodungallur Kodungallur (; formerly also called as Cranganore (anglicised name), Portuguese language, Portuguese: Cranganor; Mahodayapuram, Shingly, Vanchi, Muchiri, Muyirikkode, and Muziris) is a historically significant town situated on the banks of Per ...

. The principal photography wrapped on 17 December 2022.

Marketing

The first-look poster of the film was released in January 2023. The film got "U" censored from

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory Motion picture content rating system, film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of ...

. Later, the trailer was released.

Reception

Critical reception

Critics from ''

Manorama Online '' Manorama'' is a morning newspaper in Malayalam published from Kottayam, Kerala, India by the Malayala Manorama Company Limited. Currently headed by Mammen Mathew, it was first published as a weekly on 14 March 1888, and currently has a rea ...

'' and ''

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, ( d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief ...

'' gave mixed reviews. A critic from ''

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British. The word "Mathrubhumi" translates to 'mother land'. ...

'' wrote that, "Ultimately the film is about how one overcomes the fear within. Dare to buy tickets to watch this story of Janaki becoming a brave woman." Vignesh Madhu of ''

Cinema Express ''Cinema Express'' was an Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language entertainment fortnightly magazine published from Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was a part of The New Indian Express, The New Indian Express Group, which also publishes ''Samakalika Mal ...

'' wrote that ''Janaki Jaane'' is slightly problematic because the film doesn't endorse therapy or seeking medical help to overcome fears and gave 2.5 stars out of 5 Anna Mathews of ''

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 2.5 out of 5 and wrote that, "So, while the movie is watchable, it doesn't offer anything special." S. R. Praveen of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...

'' wrote that, "Navya Nair does not have much of a scope to perform, while Saiju Kurup has become a tad repetitive in his recent roles. In all, ''Janaki Jaane'' fails to utilise its promising premise." Crics of ''

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 out of 5 and wrote that, "Thankfully, it is steered away before it turns too ugly."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt26008876 2023 films 2020s Malayalam-language films Indian comedy-drama films Films scored by Kailas Menon Films shot in Thrissur