China Town (2011 film)

China Town

Poster
Directed by Rafi Mecartin
Produced by Antony Perumbavoor
Written by Rafi Mecartin
Starring Mohanlal
Jayaram
Dileep
Kavya Madhavan
Poonam Bajwa
Suraj Venjaramoodu
Dipa Shah
Pradeep Rawat
Captain Raju
Narrated by Jagathy Sreekumar
Music by Jassie Gift
Cinematography Azhagappan
Edited by Don Max
Production
company
Distributed by Aashirvad Release
through Maaxlab
Release dates
  • April 14, 2011
Running time
142 minutes
Country India
Language Malayalam
Budget INR 8 crore
Box office INR 16 crore

China Town is a 2011 Malayalam comedy film starring Mohanlal, Jayaram, Dileep, Kavya Madhavan and Poonam Bajwa in the lead roles while Dipa Shah, Pradeep Rawat, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Captain Raju, Shankar, Shanavas, Jose, Jagathi Sreekumar, Maya Viswanath, Bindu Asokan, Lakshmi and Deepu Karunakaran play other pivotal roles.[1] Written and directed by the duo Rafi Mecartin, it portrays the story of love and friendship of three friends who were in the various fields of life. The film released on 14 April 2011.[2][3]

Plot

Four friends bought a casino and were celebrating the profit with their family when an underworld don, Gowda (Pradeep Rawat), who used to have a monopoly on the casinos in Goa, intrudes. Xavier (Mohanlal), one of the friends, held out against the don. Although he was killed, he managed to hold off the gang long enough for all of their wives to escape with the children. Wilson Gomus (Captain Raju) is the only of the friends to survive and he settled in Goa with his daughter, Emily.

Xavier's son, Mathukutty (Mohanlal) became a local goon. His brother had eloped with a girl from the medical college and he lives with Rosamma (Kavya Madhavan). He was attending a retreat to get rid of his thuggish ways. Another son of one of the friends was Zachariah (Jayaram), a man thirsty for money. Another was Binoy (Dileep) a lovesick youth who was the victim of six failed loves. Gomus sends each of them a letter stating that he had bought a Casino and wanted to share the profit between the sons of his friends.

The three meet Gowda, who places them in prison under a false case. They get out by selling their casino.

Cast

Production

China Town started its production on 20 December 2010.[4] The filming occurred mainly at the Ramoji Rao Film City, Hyderabad. The set made by art director Boban. Some parts were filmed from Ooty, Goa and Ernakulam.

Critical reception

Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film 2/5 and said "Despite the spectacular star cast Chinatown, is yet another comedy from Rafi Mecartin. It's a mishmash of second hand ideas that have long had their run in movies."[5] Paresh C. Pallicha of Rediff.com also gave the film a 2/5 rating and said, "The film virtually piggybacks on the stars to get the momentum as there is no script to speak of. The duo Rafi Mecartin that was known for their comical writing in the nineties has now reached a stage where they borrow dialogues from email forwards. That's the sorry state of the film. It will be futile to dwell on the performance of the actors as there is no solid material to back them. This one's a no-brainer and can be watched if you are not looking for thought-provoking stuff."[6] The reviewer of Sify.com said, "Chinatown works fine, if you leave your brains back home. It belongs to the 'don't think too much about what is happening' kind, which defies logic but leaves you in splits at times.".[7]

Soundtrack

China Town
Soundtrack album by Jassie Gift
Released 11 March 2011
Genre Film soundtrack
Length 20:45
Label Mathrubhumi Music
through
Satyam Audios

The film's soundtrack is composed by Jassie Gift. The lyrics are by Anil Panachooran and Santhosh Varma. The audio release function was held at Kadavu Resorts, Kozhikode, on 2 March 2011. Jassie reused soundtrack "Gaganave Baagi" sung by Shreya Ghoshal of the Kannada film Sanju Weds Geetha for the song "Arike Ninnalum".[8]

# Song Singer(s) Duration
1 "Arike Ninnalum" M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra 4:44
2 "Innu Penninu" Jassie Gift, Manjari, Rajalakshmi 5:29
3 "Aaraanu Koottu" Afsal, Pradeep Palluruthy, Jassie Gift 4:24
4 "Mohapattam" Afsal, Jassie Gift, Ranjith, Rijiya 5:01
5 "Aaraanu" Kavalam Sreekumar 5:07

References

  1. "Chinatown". Spiderkerala.net. Retrieved January 8, 2011.
  2. "വിഷു ചിരിയുടെ വെടിക്കെട്ടായി ചൈനാ ടൗണ്‍" (in Malayalam). Oneindia.in. March 9, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  3. "ചൈനാടൗണ് ഒരുങ്ങുന്നു" (in Malayalam). Blivenews.com. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  4. "Mohanlal's Chinatown to start on Dec 16". Nowrunning.com. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  5. "Chinatown Review". Nowrunning.com. April 15, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
  6. "Review: Chinatown has no substance". Rediff.com. April 15, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
  7. "Movie Review: Chinatown". Sify.com. April 15, 2011. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  8. "Sanju Weds Geetha audio released on 17-Nov-2010 by Puneet Rajkumar". Sanju Weds Geetha audio released on 17-Nov-2010 by Puneet Rajkumar