King of Kotha
King of Kotha (also marketed as KOK) is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language  action thriller film directed by Abhilash Joshiy in his directorial debut and produced by Wayfarer Films and Zee Studios. The film stars an ensemble cast of Dulquer Salmaan, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose, Shammi Thilakan, Saran, Shanthi Krishna and Anikha Surendran. The cinematography is handled by Nimish Ravi and the film score is composed by Jakes Bejoy while the songs are composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman separately. The film was announced in July 2021. Principal photography commenced in September 2022 and wrapped up in February 2023. The film was released worldwide on 24 August 2023 during the festival of Onam, where it received mixed reviews from critics..This movie was a box office bomb. Plot 
1996: CI Shahul Hassan is transferred to a fictional crime-infested town called Kotha, which is situated near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Shahul enquires more about the town and learns that the citizens, especially teenagers, are addicted to narcotics. While investigating about the background of the narcotics, Shahul learns about Kannan Bhai, a dreaded don and drug lord, who rules Kotha. Shahul meets Kannan Bhai at his casino along with SI Tony Titus, where he is humiliated by Kannan. Shahul inquires about Raju from Tony as Kannan earlier mentioned the name, where Tony reveals Raju's past. 1986: Raju is a merciless gangster and Kannan's childhood friend who rules Kotha. Tony and Kannan are a part of Raju's gang and football team called "Winners Kotha". Raju is always at loggerheads with Ranjith Bhai, who is the head of the neighbouring town Gandhigram, but Ranjith never harms Raju out of respect for Raju's father Kotha Ravi, who was also a dreaded don in the past. Raju meets Tara and falls in love with her. Kannan tries to get Raju and his gang to deal with drugs, but Raju disagrees as Tara's brother committed suicide due to drug overdose. Raju does not share a good relationship with his parents as his mother Malathi hates him for being a gangster and also blames his father for Raju's upbringing. Malathi also abuses Raju's gang members, where Kannan learns about this and provokes Malathi. Ravi sees this and interferes in between them. Kannan tries to stab Ravi with a knife, but ends up stabbing himself. Upon knowing this, Raju gets angry and tries to beat up Ravi, who defends himself. One day, Ranjith sends photos of Tara hanging out with a Bombay-based journalist named Nikhil, where Raju breaks up with Tara and starts drinking heavily. Blinded by his greed for wealth and power, Kannan decides to partner up with Ranjith and agrees to transport drugs into Kotha. Knowing this, Raju gets enraged and confronts Kannan, who refuses to reveal anything about the drugs. Raju gets into a fight with Kannan and ends up partially blinding Kannan in the right eye. A few days later, Malathi realises that Raju may not live for long if he continues to be a drunkard where she advises him to leave Kotha and never come back. Raju leaves Kotha on the night of the FIFA World Cup Finals and later goes missing. 1996: Shahul tells Tony to enquire about Raju with the Uttar Pradesh police force, where he gets a fax from the Lucknow police station about "Raju Madrassi", who is a retired assassin. Shahul sends a telegram to Raju, saying his sister Rithu is in danger. Kannan's brother-in-law Jinu, a drug addict and criminal, and Rithu are in love. As they are sitting in a restaurant having ice cream, Tony arrives with his force and takes away Jinu for carrying Marijuana packets. Rithu later cuts all ties with Jinu. After getting released, Jinu goes to Rithu's house to talk to her, but is kicked out by Ravi. The next day, Jinu tries to set Rithu on fire by dousing her in petrol, but she manages to escape as Tony arrives at the scene. Jinu gets brutally killed by Raju, who has arrived back in Kotha after receiving the telegram from Shahul. Jinu's sister Manju learns about this and decides to kill Raju. It is also revealed that Kannan killed Ranjith in order to make Manju his wife. That night, Kannan reconciles with Raju at a bar and learns that Raju has become more dangerous after going to Uttar Pradesh. Manju sends men to kill Raju, who beats and sends them back after a fight, which Manju herself witnesses. The next day, Shahul makes an offer to Raju to kill Kannan but he declines the offer, stating that Kannan is still his best friend. That night, Raju and Kannan meet up and have a few drinks in Raju's hotel room. After leaving, Kannan sends up a contract killer Suitcase Leslie to kill Raju, but Raju kills Leslie and sends his remains to Kannan. Kannan gets agitated and arrives at the market with his men, where they fight against Raju. Raju beats all of them up and kills Kannan's right-hand man Erilan by stabbing him in his heart, thus avenging the death of his friend Rafi. That night, Raju goes to Tara's house to invite her for Rithu's birthday, but Kannan arrives and stabs Tara. As Tara is rushed to the hospital, Raju gets a call from Kannan, where he rushes to a site and finds his father killed. Kannan's mother Kalikutty promises to bring Kannan to Raju so that Raju can kill him. As he goes to finish Kannan, it is revealed that this entire plot was planned by Kannan so that he could kill Raju. Kannan stabs Raju after which Manju arrives. Raju discloses that he has known Manju since her childhood and that Jinu was actually her son who was born after she was assaulted by her stepfather in her childhood. Manju leaves the place humiliated and Raju escapes after the police arrive at the scene. Three weeks later, Raju is missing and the townsfolk believe that he is dead due to the stab wounds sustained after Kannan's attack. However, Raju is still alive and was planning his attack on Kannan all the while, where he sends a letter to Shahul saying that he has accepted the offer that Shahul had made earlier. Raju offers the entire town of Kotha to Kannan's henchman Peelan in exchange for killing Kannan. Peelan accepts the offer and switches sides. Raju goes to Kannan's casino to confront Kannan, who brings a group of contract killers to kill Raju. Raju kills all of them and incapacitates Kannan. Raju tells Kannan that he cannot kill him as he still considers him as a brother like friend, where he brings Ranjith's son to kill him. It is also revealed that Ranjit's men helped Raju escape from the place where Kannan had stabbed him earlier. Ranjith's son kills Kannan and hands the gun over to Raju, who kills Peelan, telling that Kotha doesn't need an heir anymore. 1998: Raju is living with Tara and Rithu happily in Shimla, where he receives a call from his arch-enemy named Dev Gujjar sent by Manju to kill him. Cast

Voice over
Mohanlal as Narrator

Production

Development 
The film along with its title was announced on 28 July 2021 on the occasion of Dulquer Salmaan's 35th birthday. Salmaan who portrays a gangster in the film stated: "King of Kotha will be having all these elements (perfectly timed clap points, catchy songs, and elevation sequences) that could satisfy the audience." He also added that this is a dream project with his childhood friend Abhilash Joshiy, son of veteran filmmaker Joshiy, and have been waiting for the past few years to find a perfect project to collaborate. It is written by Abhilash N. Chandran, who had earlier worked on Porinju Mariam Jose (2019). In October 2022, Salmaan stated in an interview that, "It is an action gangster genre, noir film set in a fictional town. It's interesting because I generally tend to veer away from this type of cinema quite a bit. But I found a bit of a balance. I feel like it has content, it has great writing, but it's also a very commercial gangster drama." On 23 June 2023 the film's motion poster, titled "People of Kotha" was launched. Filming and casting 
The principal photography began on 27 September 2022 at Karaikudi, while additional filming occurred in Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram. Nimish Ravi joined as the film's cinematographer. After rumours of Samantha Ruth Prabhu being approached for a role, it was reported that Aishwarya Lekshmi was signed to play Salmaan's pair. Shabeer Kallarakkal was roped in to play the main antagonist. Actor Gokul Suresh was cast to play a pivotal role and actors Chemban Vinod Jose and Sudhi Koppa were also added to the cast. Nyla Usha and Shanthi Krishna were also cast in key roles. Zee Studios associated with Wayfarer Films for the film's production and marked its maiden feature film production venture in Malayalam. It was reported that, a major schedule in Karaikudi was interrupted due to the rain, and the team took a brief break. Ritika Singh joined the production in early-November 2022 and shot for an item song. In December 2022, Shammi Thilakan announced his addition to the cast through his Facebook page. In January 2023, Prasanna and Saran Shakthi confirmed being cast in the film. Filming took 95 days and the Karaikudi schedule was wrapped up on 21 February 2023. Music 

The background score is composed by Jakes Bejoy while the songs have been composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman separately. The music rights were bagged by Sony Music India. The track "People of Kotha" that was featured in the motion poster video was released on 23 June 2023, the same date as the promo. The first single titled "Kalapakkaara" was released on 28 July 2023, on the occasion of Salmaan's birthday. The second single titled "Ee Ulakin" was released on 19 August 2023. Release

Theatrical 
King of Kotha was theatrically released on , coinciding with Onam. The film was intended to be released in Malayalam, along with the dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. Home media
The film was premiered on Disney+ Hotstar from  in Malayalam and in dubbed versions of Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. The Hindi version premiered on the platform from 20 October 2023. Reception

Critical reception 
King of Kotha mainly received mixed-to-negative reviews from both critics and audience, with criticism on its script, cliched plot, dialogues, direction, execution, supporting cast and charectorisation. However, its background scores, cinematography, techinical aspects and a few cast performance (especilally Dulquer, Shabeer, Gokul, Shammi and Chemban's perfomance) received critical acclaim. Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTplay gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha might have a familiar storyline that feels stretched out in parts, but Dulquer’s performance along with the grand visuals make this gangster revenge saga worth watching in theatres." Arjun Ramachandran of The South First gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha has all the elements to be a mass entertainer. Above all, it has the potential to turn Dulquer  Salmaan into a pan-Indian star." Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Though the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer possessed the potential to be celebrated alongside iconic gangster movies like Satya, Vada Chennai, and Gangs of Wasseypur, its failure to feature a compelling narrative prevents it from reaching the lofty heights it aspired to achieve." Janani. K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha is a gangster drama that has many interesting ideas, but they are underused. Despite the pacing issues, the film holds your attention." Princy Alexander of Onmanorama wrote "Though the film gets a little predictable towards the end, the filmmakers have tried to steer clear from sticking to the old formula of mass action films. The songs, the visuals, and the style of making have helped elevate the film, so it appeals to a pan-Indian audience." 123Telugu gave 2.25/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, King Of Kotha is a lengthy and boring gangster drama. Dulquer Salmaan shines as usual, and he gets nice support from Dancing Rose. But the routine story and the snail-paced narrative worked against the film big-time." Zoom TV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote the storyline as "predictable" and the film was bogged down by a "sluggish screenplay." Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The film as a whole, however, has left me disappointed because here is a film that could have gone big with its bromance and noir treatment, but all we experienced was shallow mass moments, and scenes strung together to make a passable story. If King Of Kotha had as much of an emotional depth as Dulquer Salmaan’s one dialogue that explains his love for Aishwarya Lekshmi’s Thara — we would have probably had a winner" 

Gautaman Bhaskaran of News18 gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha has a nice plot, but an over-ambitious scripting pushes it in a multitude of paths with the cream of it all turning sour. The narrative is uneven, and direction not quite up to the mark." Nirmal Jovial of The Week gave 2/5 stars and wrote "more judicious and precise editing process could have resulted in a more tolerable viewing experience." References

External links
  
 

2020s Indian films
2020s Malayalam-language films
Films set in Kerala
Films set in Tamil Nadu
Indian action thriller films
Films shot in Tamil Nadu
Indian gangster films
Pan-Indian films