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Moothon (transl. Elder brother) is a 2019 Indian action thriller film written and directed by Geetu Mohandas, and jointly produced by S. Vinod Kumar, Anurag Kashyap, Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex. Featuring a bilingual narrative in Malayalam and Hindi, the film stars Nivin Pauly, Sobhita Dhulipala, Shashank Arora, Melissa Raju Thomas,Sanjana Dipu and Roshan Mathew. Anurag Kashyap wrote the dialogues in Hindi. It's Geetu's second feature-length directorial and debut film in Malayalam. The film tells the story of a 14 year old child from Lakshadweep who comes to Mumbai in search of his elder brother.

Plot

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The story is about a 14 year old child, Mulla from Lakshadweep who comes to Mumbai in search of his elder brother, Akbar who left the island.Self realization is a major plot of this film.

Cast

• Nivin Pauly as Akbar/Bhai
• Sanjana Dipu as Mulla
• Shashank Arora as Salim
• Sobhita Dhulipala as Rosy
• Dileesh Pothan as Moosa
• Jim Sarbh
• Roshan Mathew as Ameer
• Anjaly Devi as Roshan's wife
• Harish Khanna as Karim
• Sujith Shankar as Latheef
• Melissa Raju Thomas as Amina
• Vipin Sharma as Warden
• Ajay Indrajeet Yadav as Pikku
• Mini as Akbar’s mother

Production

The screenplay was written by Geetu Mohandas originally under the title Insha' Allah: In Pursuit of Akbar. The story was about a teenager who is in search of his elder brother Akbar. For the script, Geetu won the Global Filmmaking Award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, along with four other filmmakers. In January 2016, she announced that it would be made into a feature film in Malayalam and Hindi languages, and filming would commence post monsoon that year.

In January 2017, cast and crew were revealed along with a poster. The title was changed to Moothon (meaning: elder brother, in Malayalam). Produced jointly by Aanand L. Rai for Colour Yellow Productions and Ajay G. Rai and Alan McAlex for JAR Pictures, the film will be distributed by Eros International. Anurag Kashyap wrote the Hindi dialogues. Nivin Pauly plays the leading role along with Shashank Arora as the negative lead. Geetu has mentioned in her interviews that Nivin was not the first person to come to her mind to play the protagonist, after completing the screenplay. She toggled with many names and eventually, the role fell into Nivin's lap. Geetu has reiterated that in this movie, she was not looking for actors but wanted to cast the person in the actor. Her husband Rajeev Ravi handles the cinematography. The film marks Geetu's feature directorial debut in Malayalam. Geetu call the film an "adventure drama", even though she do not believe in confining it into a clear-cut genre, saying "it can always turn into something else".

Filming in Mumbai was concluded by second week of May 2017. Filming resumed in Lakshadweep in May 2018. It was completed on 14 May 2018.

Release

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2019, with the cast and crew in attendance. Pauly has stated during an interview that the filmmakers planned for Moothon to release theatrically in November 2019, later setting the date as the 8th. It screened at the Mumbai Film Festival on October 18, 2019.

Critical reception

Moothon generally received positive reviews from the critics. Sify rated the movie 4 on 5 stars and said,"Moothon treads on an unconventional terrain for Malayalam and opens a fascinating world for the viewer. Don’t miss this one!" The News Minute rated the movie 4 on 5 stars and said, "Geetu Mohandas-Nivin Pauly deliver a brilliant film" The Times of India rated the movie 4 on 5 stars and said, "Moothon is what happens when a powerful story meets a competent director who ropes in some of the best artists and technicians, knowing exactly what to get from them, and how. Moothon is a brave film."

The New Indian Express reviewed, "A welcome change for Malayalam film industry overdosed by feel-good films" The Indian Express rated the movie 3 on 5 stars and said, "Nivin Pauly delivers in this dark existential drama" Behindwood rated the movie 3.25 stars on 5 and reviewed, "Moothon is packed with top-notch performances. Nivin Pauly beautifully straddles the contrasting sides of Akbar's character while Roshan Matthew memorably plays the sensitivity of Aamir. Shashank Arora deserves a special mention as Sameer. Moothon is a visceral, grim yet optimistic exploration of human nature."

Dennis Harvey from Variety wrote that "The film benefits from strong performances, particularly by the male leads in the flashback. It also sports flavorful cinematography (Rajeev Ravi) and production design (Abid T.P.). But a story with this much woe on its plate needs to slow down more often to let us fully absorb the cruel turns of fate, and “The Elder One” is often in a confounding rush". Lensman movie review centre said, "Moothon will surely have an emotional impact if you are willing to invest in the journey of those characters." The Hindu wrote about the movie as, "Although it does not play out smoothly all through, Moothon has enough depth in it for us to dive deep, and come back with material to ponder. Geetu Mohandas makes a brave statement with her first film in Malayalam." Huffpost wrote, "Nivin Pauly Is Spot On, But Let Down By Inconsistent Writing."

References

1. "Geetu Mohandas' action thriller 'Moothon' to open MAMI Mumbai film festival 2019". Times of India. 13 August 2019.
2. "Moothon, Geetu Mohandas' Malayalam action thriller, will open 21st edition of MAMI Mumbai Film Festival". Firstpost. 13 August 2019.
3. "Geetu Mohandas wins Global Filmmaking award at Sundance Film Festival 2016". The Indian Express. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
4. "In conversation with Geetu Mohandas". The Hindu. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
5. Sudhish, Navamy. "An all-new outing". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
6. "Moothon's Mumbai schedule over; next is Lakshadweep". The New Indian Express. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
7. Prakash, Asha (13 May 2018). "Nivin and Geethu Mohandas at Moothon location". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
8. "Geetu Mohandas' Moothon wrapped up". The New Indian Express. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
9. https://www.sify.com/movies/moothon-review-a-brilliant-film-not-to-be-missed-review-malayalam-tljqb9hbdgcdj.html
10. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/moothon-review-geetu-mohandas-nivin-pauly-deliver-brilliant-film-111973
11. https://m.timesofindia.com/entertainment/malayalam/movie-reviews/moothon/movie-review/71969078.cms
12. https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/nov/08/moothon-review-a-welcome-change-for-malayalam-film-industry-overdosed-by-feel-good-films-2059010.html
13. https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/movie-review/moothon-movie-review-nivin-pauly-6110011/
14. https://m.behindwoods.com/malayalam-movies/moothon/moothon-review.html
15. Harvey, Dennis (9 September 2019). "Toronto Film Review: 'The Elder One'". Variety. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
16. https://lensmenreviews.com/moothon-malayalam-movie-review-2019/
17. https://www.thehindu.com/entertainment/movies/moothon-review-a-brave-statement-from-geetu-mohandas/article29924825.ece
18. https://m.huffingtonpost.in/entry/moothon-film-review-nivin-pauly-geetu-mohandas_in_5dc5430ce4b0fcfb7f647a40

External links

• Moothon at IMDb

• Indian films
• Upcoming films
• 2010s Malayalam-language films
• 2010s action thriller films
• Indian action thriller films