Angamaly Diaries

Angamaly Diaries
Poster
Directed by	Lijo Jose Pellissery
Produced by	Vijay Babu
Written by	Chemban Vinod Jose
Starring	Antony Varghese Reshma Rajan Kichu Tellus Ullas Jose Chemban Sinoj Varghese Sarath Kumar Vineeth Vishwam Athul Krishna Bitto Davis
Music by	Prashant Pillai
Cinematography	Girish Gangadharan
Edited by	Shameer Mohammed
Production company	Friday Film House
Distributed by	Friday Tickets
Release date	March 3, 2017 (2017-03-03)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	3cr[1]
Box office	20 crore[2]

Angamaly Diaries is a 2017 crime drama film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by Chemban Vinod Jose. The film features 86 debutant actors, with Antony Varghese, Reshma Rajan, Kichu Tellus, Ullas Jose Chemban, Vineeth Vishwam, Bitto Davis, Tito Wilson, Sarath Kumar, and Sinoj Varghese playing the main roles.^[3] The film is Vijay Babu's first sole production under Friday Film House.^[4] The film released on 3 March 2017 to widespread critical acclaim and has since emerged as one of the biggest hits of 2017.^[5][6]

The story follows Vincent Pepe (Antony Varghese) who wants to be a powerful leader of a righteous gang that will rule the town of Angamaly, like his seniors. The film features an uncut 11-minute long take in the climax featuring around 1000 artists.^[7][8]

Synopsis

Angamaly Diaries tells a story of a local rowdy through the culture of Angamaly. In the film’s opening sequence, we witness a fight between two local gangs. We are soon introduced to the protagonist Vincent Pepe (Antony Varghese). He is active in the town's celebratory activities and is a mamma’s boy. As his father is away in Karnataka, Vincent in his teenage years grows up idolizing one of the local goons, Babuji - and so does his friends. Despite the distractions that accompany such an ambition, Pepe and his friends manage to pass school, make it through most of college and notch up some long-term relationships with women along the way. Aggression is a constant in his life, yet he treats nothing with a sense of urgency and stays out of trouble in general. Following the death of Babuji, Vincent and his gang are ready to take on any challenge for making it on their own. They start a pork business which becomes very successful. But events take a dramatic turn when he gives in to his sudden anger during a dispute with a rival business gang. The incident threatens his future and puts his and his friends lives at constant risk.

Cast

Production

The film introduces 86 new actors and the audition was held at different parts of Kerala, especially at Kochi. Actor Chemban Vinod Jose wrote the screenplay. The filming started on 11 October 2016 in Kochi.^[3] Angamaly Diaries is Vijay Babu's first sole production after the spat with his business partner Sandra Thomas.^[4][9]

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Prashant Pillai, with lyrics by P. S. Rafeeque and Preeti Pillai. The full movie soundtrack was released on 23 February 2017 and consists of 9 songs: six original and three alternate versions.^[10]

Reception

Since its release, Angamaly Diaries has met with critical acclaim. It was lauded for its realistic making, cinematography, casting and performance of actors. The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young termed the film as a "rambunctious breakout" and praised the climax describing it as "dazzling, can’t-look-away finale, shot in a single 12-minute take that throws in everything plus the kitchen sink and brings the story to a shrill conclusion".

Anjana George of The Times of India gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and praised the film as "Showcasing a mélange of beautiful visuals, thumping music and natural performances, Angamaly Diaries is one of the more fresh and terrific attempts made by a filmmaker of late in Mollywood Film." She added, "Chemban has weaved in the dialect, food, music and culture of the people in Angamaly to the plot, paying careful attention to every intricate detail, while making it an engaging movie."^[11] Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost also gave it 4 stars out of 5 and called it as a "delightful, unexpectedly hilarious take on the squalid underbelly of Kerala’s Angamaly town.". She added, "If ever there was an example of the committed cinephile’s dictum “it is not the story but the treatment that makes a film”, you have it here. Because if you think about it, Angamaly Diaries – funny and insightful in equal measure – does not have a story in the conventional sense, yet that, among so many other reasons, is what makes it brilliant."^[12] Critic Veeyen termed the film as "Excellent" and stated that "the Angamaly that filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery and writer Vinod Jose scribble their diary notes on is a dusty, deafening town that smells of pork and sloshed human blood. The ceaseless squabbles for honour, money and might render it a land with almost dystopian proportions, where a terrifyingly realistic tale of subsistence unfurls."^[13]

The film also received high praises from the film fraternity.^[14] Actor Mohanlal wrote "Happened to watch Angamaly Diaries and I'm impressed by the way the movie is made. Brilliant acting by every one and Kudos to the whole team and to Chemban Vinod Jose and Lijo Jose Pellissery". Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran lauded it as a "stunning piece of film making" and praised its "original writing". Actor Nivin Pauly applauded the casting, performances, story calling them "so refreshing and real". Director Karthik Subbaraj called the film as "Super Fantastic" and lauded it saying "Writing, Performances & Filmmaking Crafts at its best". Director Anurag Kashyap called it as "an extraordinary film" and tagged Angamaly Diaries as his film of the year so far.^[15]

References

External links

• Angamaly Diaries on IMDb