''Run Baby Run'' (stylized as ''Run Babby Run'') is a 2012 Indian
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...
-language
comedy thriller film
Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers.
Criteria
They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor.
List of comedy thriller films
* '' The Big Fix'' (1978)
* '' Char ...
directed by
Joshiy
Joshiy (born 18 July 1952) is an Indian film director and producer from Varkala in Kerala who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with ''Tiger Salim'' (1978) and has directed over 80 films. He has also direc ...
, produced and distributed by Milan Jaleel through the company
Galaxy Films. It was the first independent screenplay of
Sachy following the split of
Sachi-Sethu
Sachi-Sethu was a former screenwriter duo of Sachy and Sethu who worked in Malayalam cinema
Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Mala ...
duo. The film stars
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appe ...
and
Amala Paul
Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her acting debut by appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film '' Neelathamara'', and she later became n ...
. The music was composed by
Ratheesh Vegha
Ratheesh Vega ( ml, രതീഷ് വേഗ) is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. His debut as a film music composer was in the 2010 hit film ''Cocktail''.
Career
Ratheesh completed his degree in music from Madra ...
, while cinematography was done by
R. D. Rajasekhar.
The film, which is set in the backdrop of news media, has Mohanlal playing the role of a channel cameraman Venu and Amala Paul that of a senior editor Renuka. The story traces their relationship and professional conflicts.
''Run Baby Run'' released worldwide on 29 August 2012. The film was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year.
Plot
Venu is a high-profile news cameraman working in
Reuters
Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters Corporation. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world.
The agency was est ...
, who graduates from a premier film institute, but prefers to shoot news rather than the manipulated visuals for films. Venu is mostly based in
Delhi
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders wi ...
, but has come to
Kochi
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...
to appear for a case in which he is involved, and is assigned to cover a case involving a local politician where he gets to meet Renuka. Renuka is the
executive editor
Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to:
Role or title
* Executive, a senior management role in an organization
** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators
** Executive dir ...
of ''Bharath Vision'' and Venu and Renuka have a story to tell of their own. A flashback tells the story about how two lovers turned into foes.
Rishikesh is another channel head ''News Bureau of India'', who is going through some difficult times, as some of his star performers have gone in search of greener pastures. Venu and Renuka come together to investigate a particular story about a murder planned by a major politician named Bharathan Pillai, who has lost his fame when Venu and Renuka had exposed a scam involving him. How Renuka and Venu again exposes Bharathan Pillai and reunite with each other forms the crux of the plot.
Cast
*
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appe ...
as Venu
*
Amala Paul
Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her acting debut by appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film '' Neelathamara'', and she later became n ...
as Renuka
*
Biju Menon
Biju Menon (born 9 September 1970) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil and Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a career spanning over two decade ...
as Rishikesh
*
Shammi Thilakan
Shammi Thilakan is an Indian actor and dubbing artist who is active in Malayalam films. He is the son of veteran actor Thilakan. He lent his voice for Napoleon in '' Devasuram'', Prem Nazir in '' Kadathanadan Ambadi'' and for Nassar in ''G ...
as
DYSP
DYSP (909 AM) Super Radyo is a radio station owned and operated by GMA Network
GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Netwo ...
Benny Tharakan
*
Vijayaraghavan as
SP Somarajan
IPS
*
Sai Kumar as Bharathan Pillai
*
Siddique as Rajan Kartha
* Ameer Niyaz as Abu
*
Aparna Nair
Aparna Nair is an Indian actress, who appears in Malayalam cinema.
Biography
Aparna was introduced to cinema by the veteran Lohithadas in '' Nivedyam''. After ''Nivedyam'', she portrayed Panchali in the play ''Chayamukhi'', which had Mohanlal ...
as Indu Panicker
*
Krishna Kumar as Vijayakumar
*
Mithun Ramesh
Mithun Ramesh (born 4 May 1981) is an Indian actor and television presenter working in Malayalam films and television. He is also a radio jockey on Hit 96.7 FM in Dubai. He made his acting debut in 2000 with the film ''Life Is Beautiful''. In 2 ...
as
Adv. Manilal
* V.K Baiju as
CI Tony
*
Joju George
Joseph George, better known as Joju George (born 22 October 1977) is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in Malayalam films and worked on Tamil projects as well. In 2015, he won the ...
as Shibu
*
Anil Murali
Anil Murali (12 April 1964 – 30 July 2020) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 200 films. He started out in the film industry as a villain before later taking on character roles. He died on 30 July 2020, as a re ...
as Sugunan
*
Anoop Chandran
Anoop Chandran is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Malayalam films. He was a contestant in the reality show '' Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 1'' in 2018.
Career
Mostly appeared in comic roles, he is best known for his roles in '' Clas ...
as Vargeese
*
Sivaji Guruvayoor
Shivaji Guruvayoor (born 28 May 1961) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam cinema. He started his film career with the film ''Arabikkatha
''Arabikkatha'' () is a 2007 Indian Malayalam cinema, Malayalam-language satirical-drama film dir ...
as
Minister Kunju Moidheen
* Jins Varghese as Sanju, sub-editor of Renuka
*
Biju Pappan
Biju Pappan (born 9 March 1969), is a Malayalam actor, his career began in movies in 1991 and continued both in television and films. He is well known for his anti-hero roles in ''Naran'' and ''Kayyoppu'', which were financial successes. He has ...
as Sukumaran Thampi
* Babu Jose
* Niyas Backer
* Nandhu Podhuval as Ravindran
*
Ponnamma Babu
Ponnamma Babu is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in more than 300 films, TV serials and Comedy shows . She made her debut in ''Padanayakan'' in 1996.
Personal life
Ponnamma was born to Mathai an ...
* Ammu Venugopal as Reporter
* Vandana Krishnan as Reporter
* Arun Babu as man in MLA office
Production
The film is produced by Milan Jaleel under the banner of Galaxy Films. Cinematography was done by
R. D. Rajasekhar and music direction by
Ratheesh Vegha
Ratheesh Vega ( ml, രതീഷ് വേഗ) is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. His debut as a film music composer was in the 2010 hit film ''Cocktail''.
Career
Ratheesh completed his degree in music from Madra ...
.Art Direction was done by Sabu Pravadas, Publicity designs by Collins Leophil, Associate Director Shaji Padoor and Stills were done by Aaghosh.
''Run Baby Run'' was written by Sachy.
Release
Mohanlal held a sneak preview of the film on 28 August, at a theatre owned by director
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in H ...
in
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...
. The preview was attended by Amala Paul, Priyadarsan, Suresh Balaji,
Lizzy Priyadarsan,
Ouseppachan
Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala Stat ...
, and R. D. Rajasekhar.
Reception
Critical response
Paresh C Palicha of ''
Rediff.com
Rediff.com (stylized as ''rediff.com'') is an Indian news, information, entertainment and shopping web portal. It was founded in 1996. It is headquartered in Mumbai, with offices in Bangalore, New Delhi and New York City.
, it had more than 300 e ...
'' wrote, "The acting department depends on Mohanlal a bit too much", but described Mohanlal's performance as "impeccable". ''IbnLive.in'' called it as a "gripping thriller" lauding Mohanlal's performance, script, direction and technicians said "the film is a roller coaster ride. The movie has the precise doses of actions, thrills, lighter moments and finer sequences which are also laced with a fine performance of the cast" and concluded "For the lovers of relatively well made thrillers, 'Run baby Run' is definitely your movie and you may love to see it, more than once. Forget the little glitches and watch the wonderful performance of Mohanlal.".
''
Oneindia.in
Oneindia.com is an Indian website established in January 2006 by BG Mahesh. The website provides news updates, information on sports, events, travel, entertainment, business, lifestyle, videos, and classifieds in seven different Indian language ...
'' praised Mohanlal's performance as "outstanding" and complimented RD Rajasekhar's cinematography. ''
Sify
Sify Technologies Limited (formerly Satyam Infoway) is an Indian information and communications technology company providing end-to-end ICT solutions including telecom services, data center services, cloud & managed services, transformation in ...
.com'' rated it as "Very Good" and said that "''Run Babby Run'' is a thriller that keeps you glued on to the screens. It is a gripping tale with some good visuals and excellent performances. On the whole it is an engaging thriller which has the right doses of histrionics, tautness, anguish and thrills."
G. Krishnamurthy of ''
Indulekha.com'' said "''Run baby Run'' is the only Malayalam film released which can be recommended to watch among the Onam releases.". Giving special mention to Mohanlal, Sachy, Joshiy, R.D Rajasekhar and other creative department. Unni R Nair of ''Kerala9.com'' rated 3/5 and stated "Joshiy is in full control. As usual, he has done full justice to the subject at hand and has delivered perfectly well." and with a praise for performance and technical aspects.
Raj Vikram of ''Metro Matinee'' gave a verdict "Run baby Run entertains" and concluded "In spite of all the faults, "Run Babby Run" manages to run and reach home mainly because of the overwhelming presence of Mohanlal who comes out with another mesmerizing performance. At times, the flick turns to a fine entertainer for this festival season even by leaving few down points.". Ashwin j Kumar of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English language, 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, t ...
'' rated 3/5 and said "The film depicts the true face of media war. The film is driven by a flimsy narrative and lavished with twists."
Box office
The film was screened in 105 screens in
Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South C ...
and outside the state. It collected in 10 days and stood in number one position among the
Ramadan and
Onam
Onam ( ) is an annual Indian harvest festival celebrated predominantly by the Hindus of Kerala. A major annual event for Keralites, it is the official festival of the state and includes a spectrum of cultural events.
Onam commemorates Vaman ...
releases at the Kerala box office even in the third weekend.
[ In 3 weeks it completed 7000 shows] and in four weeks it earned a distributors share as calculated after tax and theatre charges, approximately . And continued in 15 releasing centres in sixth week. The film completed 100 days theatrical run at the box office and grossed more than from Kerala box office. ''IBN Live
Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned ...
'' called it a "blockbuster
Blockbuster or Block Buster may refer to:
*Blockbuster (entertainment) a term coined for an extremely successful movie, from which most other uses are derived.
Corporations
* Blockbuster (retailer), a defunct video and game rental chain
** Blo ...
".
Accolades
Soundtrack
The soundtrack was composed by Ratheesh Vegha
Ratheesh Vega ( ml, രതീഷ് വേഗ) is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. His debut as a film music composer was in the 2010 hit film ''Cocktail''.
Career
Ratheesh completed his degree in music from Madra ...
, with lyrics penned by Rafeeq Ahmed. Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appe ...
sings a folk number titled "Attumanal Payayil" in this film. The album consists of six songs. The audio rights were acquired by Manorama Music
Manorama Music is a music company based out in Kerala, India. It owns probably the largest music label in Kerala. The label has produced and distributed film soundtracks, poems, cartoon series, music albums etc. The company is owned by M.M. Publ ...
for a price of . The album was launched on 25 August 2012 at Dream Hotel in Kochi
Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...
. The event was attended by Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appe ...
, 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 films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada ...
, Joshiy
Joshiy (born 18 July 1952) is an Indian film director and producer from Varkala in Kerala who works predominantly in the Malayalam film industry. He made his debut with ''Tiger Salim'' (1978) and has directed over 80 films. He has also direc ...
, Mukesh, Milan Jaleel, Ratheesh Vegha
Ratheesh Vega ( ml, രതീഷ് വേഗ) is a composer, singer, and musician who works in Malayalam films. His debut as a film music composer was in the 2010 hit film ''Cocktail''.
Career
Ratheesh completed his degree in music from Madra ...
, Amala Paul
Amala Paul (born 26 October 1991) is an Indian actress who mainly appears in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. She made her acting debut by appearing in a supporting role in the Malayalam-language film '' Neelathamara'', and she later became n ...
and several personalities from the film industry along with the technical crew and cast of ''Run Baby Run''.
References
External links
*
*
{{Sachy
2012 films
Films about the mass media in India
Indian action comedy films
Indian comedy thriller films
2012 action comedy films
2010s Malayalam-language films
Films shot in Kochi
2012 comedy films
2010s comedy thriller films
Films directed by Joshiy