Chaappa Kurishu
Theatrical Poster
Directed by	Sameer Thahir
Screenplay by	Sameer Thahir Unni R.
Story by	Sameer Thahir
Produced by	Listin Stephen
Starring	Vineeth Sreenivasan Fahadh Faasil Roma Asrani Remya Nambeesan Niveda Thomas
Cinematography	Jomon T. John
Edited by	Don Max
Music by	Rex Vijayan
Production company	Magic Frames
Distributed by	Central Pictures
Release date	15 July 2011 (2011-07-15)
Running time	130 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹ 25 lakhs

Chaappa Kurishu (Malayalam: ചാപ്പാ കുരിശ്, English: Heads or Tails (slang^[1])) is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film co-written and directed by Sameer Thahir and starring Vineeth Sreenivasan, Fahadh Faasil, Roma Asrani, Remya Nambeesan and Nivetha Thomas in the lead roles.

The film started production in April 2011 at Kochi and released on 14 July. The film is the directorial debut of Thahir. The film was remade in Tamil as Pulivaal with Vimal and Prasanna.

The film is an unauthorized remake of the 2009 South Korean film Handphone,^[2] along with its reported structural similarity to the 2002 American film Changing Lanes.^[3]

Plot

The film revolves around the lives of two people: Arjun, a wealthy builder who owns a big construction business in Kochi who has an affair with his subordinate, Sonia, even though he is preparing to be engaged to his family friend's daughter Ann; and Ansari, who lives in a slum, works in a supermarket doing odd jobs, is mocked for his appearance, and has a crush on his co-worker Nafiza.

When Sonia learns that Arjun is getting engaged to Ann, a fight occurs between the two, and in the heat of the moment, Arjun forgets to take his cell phone. The phone accidentally reaches Ansari's hands. Arjun gets upset over his lost phone because it had videos of Arjun and Sonia having sex. Arjun tries to recover it because he is afraid that the videos getting spread on the internet. Arjun makes several calls to his missing phone, but Ansari always turns it off. Arjun gets terribly frustrated.

Finally, Ansari attends a call but is not ready to give the phone back to Arjun. Ansari undergoes a total change in his character after the phone incident, and Nafiza notices it. Under pressure from Nafiza, Ansari opens up. Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Nafiza asks Ansari to return the phone to its rightful owner.

When the phone's battery runs out, Ansari cannot afford a charger for the phone, so he takes the phone to a shop. After watching the clips, the shop owner uploads the sex video onto internet, where it quickly spreads. Arjun is shown to be regretful of having taken advantage of Sonia's trust in him when she allowed him to record them. Sonia too finds out about the leaked video, and after making a call to Arjun, is shown to be preparing for suicide.

A chase follows when Arjun tries to find Ansari. The two meet in a confrontation that is vicious and bloody before finally settling down and resignedly going their separate ways. Sonia decides to leave town instead of killing herself. Arjun finds out and is seen seeking her out at the airport. He is all bruised from the fight, and the film leaves them at that point while the film ends with Ansari standing up to people who mock him.

Cast

• Vineeth Sreenivasan as Ansari
• Fahadh Faasil as Arjun Samuel
• Roma Asrani as Ann
• Remya Nambeesan as Sonia
• Nivetha Thomas as Nafiza
• Jinu Joseph as John
• Sunil Sukhada as Store Manager Martin
• Dinesh Panicker as Samuel

Production

Controversies

By the release of the trailer itself Chaappa Kurishu had kick-started controversies. There is some similarities between trailer title insets of American drama film 21 Grams directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and written by Guillermo Arriaga, released in 2003.^[8] The director says: "It was a blunder on my part. I did not give much thought to it while I adopted those lines. Now that it has been asked, it is actually doing good to the movie. So I really don't mind.".^[4] Moreover, the film has been accused of stealing the idea from the Korean movie Handphone.

Another controversy was a two-minute smooch between Remya Nambeesan and Fahadh Faasil which was reportedly the longest in a Malayalam film. Remya says: "An actress should always be ready to take risks if her character demands so. Even when I was aware that the two- minute intense scene could create waves, I was sure that it was inevitable as it suited the plot. A sense of necessity made me accept that scene. I think director Sameer Tahir brought out the best in me. In fact, I enjoyed doing the scene".^[9] The director says: "We live in the 21st century and this is no big deal any more. Kissing and making love is part of life. That scene is very relevant to the script. And it is very aesthetically done. It's part of the movie's soul. So there is no reason why I should not include that."^[4]

Reception

Keerthy Ramachandran of Deccan Chronicle gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 stars saying "The film is a dark riveting account of the lives of two men who lead extremely contrasting lives."^[10] Veeyen of nowrunning.com rated the film 2.5/5 and said "It's a brave and genuinely heartfelt directorial effort from a young director, who has clearly won the toss this time around."^[11] Rediff.com gave the film a score of 2.5 out of 5 saying "Chaappa Kurishu, Samir Thahir's debut as a director holds promise but leaves us with a feeling that it could have been better."^[12] Sify on its review said that "Chappa Kurishu shocks the viewers for sure, but sadly for all the wrong reasons."^[13] Indiaglitz rated the film 5/10 and wrote: "The generous dose of skin show sequence, violent action and the need for a more tighter scripts will tell on its business and restrict its appeal further to limited audiences."^[14]

Soundtrack

The music of the film was composed by Rex Vijayan with lyrics penned by Engandiyur Chandrasekharan.

Awards

References

External links

• Chaappa Kurishu at IMDb