''Mike'' 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

coming-of-age film In genre studies, a coming-of-age story is a genre of literature, theatre, film, and video game that focuses on the growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood, or "coming of age". Coming-of-age stories tend to emphasize dialogue or interna ...

directed by Vishnu Sivaprasad and wriiten by Ashiq Akbar Ali. It was produced by

John Abraham John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Known for his stoic action hero persona, he is a recipient of a National Film Award along with nominations for four Filmfare Awards. Abraham ha ...

with his company

JA Entertainment John Abraham (born 17 December 1972) is an Indian actor and film producer who works in Hindi films. Known for his stoic action hero persona, he is a recipient of a National Film Award along with nominations for four Filmfare Awards. Abraham ha ...

, marking his debut production in Malayalam. The film stars

Anaswara Rajan Anaswara Rajan (born 8 September 2002) is an Indian actress who primarily works in Malayalam films. She made her acting debut as a child artist in '' Udaharanam Sujatha'' (2017). She received praises for playing a college student in '' Super ...

in the title role along with a debutant

Ranjith Sajeev Ranjith Sajeev is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam films. Ranjith has begun his acting career as hero in the Malayalam film ''Mike'' alongside Anaswara Rajan and produced by John Abraham. Career In 2022, Ranjith Sajeev debuted in the Mal ...

. The music was composed by

Hesham Abdul Wahab Sayyed Hesham Abdul Wahab (born 14 October 1990) is an Indian music composer, music producer and singer who predominantly works in Malayalam and Telugu cinema. He is best known for the compositions of ''Qadham Badha'' (2015), '' Hridayam'' (202 ...

. The film was released in theatres on 19 August 2022.

Plot

Sarah Thomas, a free spirited young girl is looking to surgically reassign her gender. Antony John is a once exuberant but now a hopeless young man, who has an alcohol use disorder. Sarah alias Mike is on her gender transitioning journey. She meets Antony during the journey. The quick camaraderie developed persuades the duo to travel ahead together.

Cast

Production

The marks the debut production of

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

actor-producer

in Malayalam cinema, with his company J.A. Entertainment. Filming began on 20 October 2021 in

Mysore Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

, shooting also took place at

Kattappana Kattappana ( aʈ:ap:ɐna is a municipality in the Idukki district of Kerala, India. It is located 21 km (13.0 mi) southeast of the district headquarters in Painavu and about 140 km (87.0 mi) north of the state capital, Thi ...

Vaikom Vaikom () is a Municipalities of Kerala, municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala. It is located north of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about north of the state capital of Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 Indian census, V ...

, and

Dharamshala Dharamshala (, ; also spelled Dharamsala) is a town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It serves as the winter capital of the state and the administrative headquarters of the Kangra district since 1855. The town also hosts the Tibeta ...

Release

The film was released in theatres on August 19, 2022.

Music

The original background score and songs were composed by

. Music album was distributed by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

Critical response

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 it a rating of 2.5/5 and wrote "On the whole, peripherally it could be a one time watch but the regressive thoughts in it would definitely influence the public opinion on gender roles, gender inclusivity and sensibility". '' Onmanorama'' wrote that "Empathy is at the core of this

film."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt15760250 2022 films Indian drama films 2022 drama films 2020s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Hesham Abdul Wahab Films shot in Kerala Films shot in Idukki