''Ullozhukku'' () is a 2024

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

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

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

written and directed by Christo Tomy. The film stars

Urvashi Urvashi (, ) is the most prominent apsara mentioned in the Hindu scriptures like the ''Vedas'', the epics ''Ramayana'' and ''Mahabharata'', as well as the ''Puranas''. She is regarded as the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert danc ...

and

Parvathy Thiruvothu Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvatta (born 7 April 1988), known mononymously as Parvathy, is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Malayalam and Tamil films. She is a recipient of several accolades including a National Film Award, two Kerala S ...

, with Arjun Radhakrishnan,

Alencier Ley Lopez Alencier Ley Lopez is an Indian film and theatre actor, who appears in Malayalam films. Lopez made his debut in the 1998 film '' Daya''; and he worked in films like '' Annayum Rasoolum'' (2013), '' Njan Steve Lopez'' (2013), and '' Maheshinte P ...

, Prashanth Murali, and Jaya Kurup appearing in supporting roles. It was selected for the ''International Competition: Fiction'' strand at the

2nd Eikhoigi Imphal International Film Festival The 2nd Eikhoigi Imphal International Film Festival took place from 6 to 9 February, 2025 at Imphal, Manipur. The festival had screened 53 films from India and abroad, spread across four venues in Imphal (Manipur State Film Development Society, C ...

2025. The film's screenplay won the Cinestaan India’s Storytellers Contest in 2018. The film was released on 21 June 2024 and garnered widespread positive reviews from critics, especially for the acting of Urvashi. The film was a moderate success at the box office.

Plot

The film is set in the flooded regions of

Alappuzha Alappuzha (, आलप्पुळ) or Alleppey is a municipality and town on the Laccadive Sea in the southern Indian state of Kerala. It is the district headquarters of the district, and is located about north of the state capital Thiruvana ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

, India. Anju is married to Thomaskutty and the two live with Thomaskutty's mother Leelamma. Thomaskutty is chronically ill and dying. Anju has an affair with her former long time lover Rajeev. Anju was forced to marry Thomaskutty after her parents discovered her relationship with Rajeev. Anju realises that she is pregnant with Rajeev's child. In the meantime Thomaskutty becomes severely ill and passes away. The rain wrecks havoc by flooding the region and delays the funeral. Leelamma discovers Anju's affair and confronts her after which Anju admits that the child is not Thomaskutty's. The truth is soon revealed to Anju's parents, Thomaskutty's sister and aunt. Anju discovers that her mother hid Thomaskutty's illness from her before the wedding. Anju wants to leave to begin a life with Rajeev after the funeral which keeps getting delayed. How she manages to convince the people around her and their reactions forms the crux of the movie.

Cast

as Leelamma *

as Anju * Arjun Radhakrishnan as Rajeev (voice dubbed by Roshan Mathew) * Veenah Naair as Sister Rosamma *Prashanth Murali as Thomaskutty *

Shebin Benson Shebin Benson (born 27 November 1995) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam films. Shebin made his debut in Aashiq Abu movie '' Idukki Gold'' in 2013, Later he appeared in Mammootty starrer Varsham. His first movie as a male ...

as Juman (Rajeev's friend) *

as George *Jaya Kurup as Jiji *Smruthi Anish as Sheba *Alexander Attupuram as Leelamma's neighbour

Release

Theatrical

''Ullozhukku'' released in theatres on 21 June 2024 to overwhelming positive response, garnering praise for the direction and performances of Urvashi and Parvathy. The film had a good word of mouth publicity and turned out to be a commercial success at the box office.

Marketing

Prior to the film's release, Urvashi promoted the film on the TV show ''Bigg Boss'' (season 6), hosted by

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

. She entered the Bigg Boss House on Day 88, met the contestants and shared details about the film.

Home media

The digital streaming rights of the film were acquired by

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

(India only) an
Simply South OTT
(Outside India). It began streaming on Simply South from 26 July 2024 excluding India. In India, the film started streaming through Amazon Prime Video from 2 August 2024.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, 100% of 7 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.7/10. Divya Nair of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' rated 4/5 stars and observed "What makes ''Ullozhukku'' worth recommending is its ability to surrender to the surprises and yet grow with its characters." 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 "Urvashi’s powerhouse performance carries this haunting drama". 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 ...

'' rated 3.5/5 stars and reviewed "Urvashi's superb presence & range carries this beautiful emotional story". Kirubhakar Purushothaman of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' rated 4/5 stars and observed "A subtle and profound drama backed by incredible Urvashi and Parvathy". Sowmya Rajendran 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, ...

'' rated 4/5 stars and wrote "Urvashi, Parvathy are brilliant in Ullozhukku, a tense exploration of family dynamics". Priyanka Sundar of ''

Firstpost Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...

'' rated 4/5 stars and reviewed "The 'undercurrent' in this film comes to life with Urvashi and Parvathy's sheer brilliant performance". Swathi P Ajith of '' Onmanorama'' wrote "Urvashi dominates in must-watch tale of empathy and love: 'Ullozhukku' rivets from start to finish". Aswathy Gopalakrishnan of ''

Film Companion Anupama Vinod Chopra () is an Indian author, journalist and film critic who served as the festival director of the MAMI Mumbai Film Festival from 2015 to 2023. She is also the founder and editor of the now-defunct digital platform Film Compani ...

'' reviewed "an astounding urvashi headlines a tender film on love that defies conventions".

Accolades

;

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

: * Best Actress -

* Best Dubbing Artist - Roshan Mathew (dubbed for Arjun Radhakrishnan) * Best Sound Design -

Jayadevan Chakkadath Jayadevan Chakkadath (born 13 January 1981) is an Indian Sound editor (filmmaking), sound editor and Production sound mixer, recordist known for his works in Malayalam cinema. He has won National Film Award for Best Audiography in 2017 and four ...

, Anil Radhakrishnan ;

Indian Film Festival of Melbourne The Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) is an annual festival based in Melbourne founded in 2010. It was previously funded by Victoria State Government. It is presented by Film Victoria, and the provider is chosen through a tender process. ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

– Best Actress –

References

External links

{{IMDb title, 32537777 2020s Indian films 2020s Malayalam-language films