''Priyan Ottathilanu'' () 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
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 directed by Antony Sony. The story, screenplay and dialogues are written by Abhayakumar K and Anil Kurian. It is produced by Santhosh Thrivikraman under the company WOW Cinemas. The film stars
Sharafudheen,
Nyla Usha
Nyla Usha Gopakumar is an Indian actress, television host, and radio jockey from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. After working for nearly a decade as an RJ at Hit 96.7 in Dubai, she made her acting debut in 2013 with '' Kunjananthante Kada''.
E ...
and
Aparna Das
Aparna Das (born 10 September 1995) is an Indian actress who acts mainly in Malayalam and Tamil films. She made her Malayalam and Tamil Debut with '' Njan Prakashan'' (2018) and ''Beast'' (2022) orderly. Aparna is a recipient of Filmfare Criti ...
in the lead roles. The story revolves around Priyan, a young man who is always busy.
Mammootty
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...
appears in a cameo role in the film.
Premise
Dr. Priyadarshan alias Priyan, a
homeopathy
Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths or homeopathic physicians, believe that a substance that ...
doctor by profession, loves being a multi tasker. He is always occupied and busy. Though he is very helpful to his friends and neighbors, he is not able to find time for his family. He nurtures a passionate dream from childhood, writing, which he keeps pursuing during his busy schedule.
Priyan gets a director for his script with the help of an executive producer who was shooting at his flat. Together they find a producer as well, but he insists that he will only produce the movie if
Mammootty
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...
is the hero. They get an appointment from Mammootty to meet him at a movie set to narrate the script, but they have to reach the set before the shoot ends at 4:30 PM that day. Mammootty has to go to Dubai after the shoot and afterwards, it will be difficult for the movie to workout.
On the day of his dream coming true, the police asks Priyan to come to the station to remediate a fight between the locals and his flat cleaners. The locals insist that the lady who hit him on his face has to apologize. The police also asks Priyan to drop Priscilla Thankam at the airport. On their way to the airport, Priyan had to drop one of his fans at her home, go to the bank to withdraw money and give it to his flat keeper's son for surgery, go to the flat and make the cleaners apologize to the local, pick his parents up who were coming to his flat for the first time and even negotiate his cousin who was threatening to jump of a building as part of a public protest. While they were about to reach the airport Priscilla sees a car waiting for her and asks Priyan to stop. Priscilla gets down and gets into the car and leaves.
Priyan realizes that his mobile is with Priscilla and so he follows her. Priscilla was being blackmailed by a guy because she hit his cousin while driving. Priyan rescues her from the spot and takes her to the airport. While Priscilla is working with customs for her parcel clearance, Priyan talks with his sister in law and her husband and clears the air between them. He arranges a job for his sister in law at Priscilla's store and they both leave to the film set to narrate the script to Mammootty. But Priyan is late and Mammootty leaves without meeting them. The producer does not want to do the movie anymore and the disappointed director says he is going to Dubai to find a job.
It turns out that Priscilla is a news reporter and the next day she writes an article in the news paper titled "Priyan Ottathilanu" (Priyan is on the run). She details how much Priyan accomplished in a day for everyone around him while he gave little importance for himself and his dreams. Mammootty also reads this news and tells his assistant to call Priyan to listen to the story.
Cast
*
Sharafudheen as Dr. Priyadarshan alias Priyan
*
Nyla Usha
Nyla Usha Gopakumar is an Indian actress, television host, and radio jockey from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. After working for nearly a decade as an RJ at Hit 96.7 in Dubai, she made her acting debut in 2013 with '' Kunjananthante Kada''.
E ...
as Priscilla Thangam
*
Aparna Das
Aparna Das (born 10 September 1995) is an Indian actress who acts mainly in Malayalam and Tamil films. She made her Malayalam and Tamil Debut with '' Njan Prakashan'' (2018) and ''Beast'' (2022) orderly. Aparna is a recipient of Filmfare Criti ...
as Neena
*
Jaffar Idukki
Jaffar Idukki is an Indian actor, impressionist, and comedian, who predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. Started his career with the 2007 film '' Kaiyoppu'', he has acted in about hundred films and has performed in a number of comedy sta ...
as Sub Inspector Balu
*
Biju Sopanam
Biju Sopanam (born 4 January 1970) is an Indian television, theatre, and film actor. He is best known for portraying the character of Balachandran Thampi in the popular sitcom ''Uppum Mulakum'', broadcast on Flowers TV.' He made his movie debut ...
as Chekkuttan
*
Harisree Ashokan
Harisree Ashokan (born 6 April 1964) is an Indian actor and director who is known for his comedy roles in Malayalam films. Ashokan has acted in more than 200 Malayalam films. He started his career as a mimicry artist in the troupe Harisree and ...
as Kuppi Rajan
*
Sudhi Koppa
Sudhi Koppa is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his cinematic debut in 2009 with an uncredited appearance in '' Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' (2009).
Personal life
Sudhi hails from Kochi. His father, who was a government ...
as Shameer
* Vigi Muraly as Keerthi
*
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 Vanitha
*
Leela Samson
Leela Samson (born 6 May 1951) is a Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor, writer and actress from India. As a soloist, she is known for her technical virtuosity and has taught Bharatanatyam at Shriram Bhartiya Kala Kendra in Delhi fo ...
as Priscilla's mother
*
Ashokan as Dr. Sajan Tharakan
* Shivan Sopanam as Kannan, Priyan's father
* Gaurika Deepulal as Priyan's Daughter
*
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 ...
as Jia
*
Austin
Austin refers to:
Common meanings
* Austin, Texas, United States, a city
* Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
as Strike Person
* R J Mike as Jomon
* Uma K. P. as Priyan's mother
* Deekshith Siva as Sajeevan - Kalasamithi secretary
*
Mammootty
Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...
as himself
Production
The movie is produced by Santhosh Thrivikraman under the company WOW Cinemas. This is the second movie directed by Antony Sony after his directional debut ''
C/O Saira Banu''. ''Priyan Ottathilanu'' was primarily shot in
Kochi
Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...
. The cinematography is by P. M. Unnikrishnan. Editing is done by Joel Kavi and the songs are composed by Lijin Bambino.
The writers of the film are Abhayakumar K and Anil Kurian. ''
Chathur Mukham'' was this writer duo's previous film released in 2021. They were also co-writers of ''
Punyalan Agarbattis
''Punyalan Agarbattis'' () is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language satirical comedy film written, co-produced, and directed by Ranjith Sankar, starring Jayasurya, Nyla Usha, Aju Varghese, Rachana Narayanankutty, Innocent, and Sreejith Ravi. It fol ...
'' and ''
Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam
''Su Su Sudhi Vathmeekam'', sometimes stylized as ''Su.. Su... Sudhi Vathmeekam'', is a 2015 Malayalam comedy-drama film directed, co-written, and co-produced by Ranjith Sankar. The film stars Jayasurya in a lead role who also co-produced it und ...
''.
Release
Theatrical
The movie was released at theaters in Kerala on 24 June 2022. It had a
GCC theatrical release on 30 June 2022.
It had rest of India theatrical release on 7 July 2022.
Reception
Critical response
''Priyan Ottathilanu'' opened to positive reviews from critics and general audience as a 'family feel good movie'. Sajin Shrijith of ''
Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language India, Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the Indian Express Limited, ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnat ...
'' wrote, "''Priyan Ottathilanu'' exists not to make lofty statements but to show us that a modicum of empathy can sometimes make a big difference." S R Praveen from ''
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 ...
'' reviewed, "Sharafudheen, who has successfully broken out of his earlier mould of comedian, comes up with another memorable performance after ''
Aarkkariyam''. Despite the overdose of feel-goodness, ''Priyan Ottathilanu'' manages to keep the audience engaged". Anjana George 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 ...
'' noted in her review - "Priyadarshan has been a hyperactive Good Samaritan since his childhood. Through him, the family entertainer once again tells the world that compassion and benevolence still prevail in the universe and there are many such Priyans in this world whom we should acknowledge". ''
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, ...
'' mentioned in their review as - "This feel-good film goes a tad overboard with the goodness". Aswathy Gopalakrishnan wrote on ''
Silverscreen'' India, "At the end of it all, the city applauds Priyan for sweeping its problems under a giant translucent carpet. A perfect representation of the state of affairs in Indian cities." Neelima Menon opined on ''News Nine'' as, "More than anything else, what keeps us invested in the narrative is Sharafuddin's easy charm. Its very subltle and realistic performance." Aswin Bharadwaj of ''Lensmen'' wrote, " There is no denying that Sharaf U Dheen is terrific in being a real and relatable Priyadarshan. But his Ottam was relatable only in parts." Sanjith Sidhardhan of ''OTT play'' wrote in his review - "Where most feel-good movies would falter is in keeping the pace throughout, but the writing here is so breezy, with all the hurdles along Priyan's way being equally important, that you never feel distracted." Princy Alexander from ''
Manorama'' wrote in her review, "Overall, 'Priyan Ottathilanu' is a fun watch and you won't be left disappointed, especially after seeing the climax".
References
External links
* {{IMDb title, 14137346
2022 films
2020s Malayalam-language films
Indian comedy-drama films