Ittymaani: Made in China

<p>Ittymaani was born and raised in until age 10 before moving to India. He now runs a and a catering service in hometown , and owns an ambulance, whose driver Sugunan is his best buddy. Although, his main business is , a family business started by his grandfather in China. Ittymaani takes commission for any money transaction he does, including when his mother Theyyama was hospitalised for treatment. Ittymaani takes a contract to build a . He is also a member of the church committee. Meanwhile, Ittymaani has an fixed with Jessy, a doctor in , through Paulinos. However, when Paulinos asks for brokerage, Ittymaani demands commission from it, an argument ensues between them that ends in Ittymaani ditching Jessy. Paulinos turns Jessy’s brother Joji against him by telling fabricated anecdotes of Ittymaani making fun of Joji and emasculating him. Current priest’s tenure is over and the new bell is inaugurating on his farewell function. While swinging the rope, the bell breaks and falls down right in front of the priest, who blackout. Ittymaani receives rebuke for making counterfeit bell and is dismissed from church committee. Later, Sugunan finds out that their employee cheated them by providing faulty bell by taking bribe from Joji. Meanwhile, the new priest is John (Joppan), whom Ittymaani recalls as an inmate while attending an centre some years ago. They come into an understanding to not reveal Joppan’s past in exchange of reinstating Ittymaani into church committee. Annamma, Ittymaani’s neighbour and Theyyama’s friend lives alone estranged by her children—Alex, Ajo, and Betty. Annamma invites them home to commemorate their father’s death anniversary, but none of them shows up, as usual. Ittymaani sympathises Annamma and meets each of them along with her, getting promises to visit her on Christmas. Annamma is hospitalised after a but her children refuse to cancel their holidaying in for visiting her. At Munnar, Alex receives a phone call informing that Annamma died. They arrive at their family home only to find out that their mother has married Ittymaani. This causes an altercation between Annamma, Ittymaani and her children. Their condemns Ittymaani and Annamma. Ittymaani secretly reveals to Joppan that the marriage is a drama they set up while at the hospital with the knowledge of Theyyama. Annamma has not her assets, so a marriage would compromise her children’s right to her wealth. It forces them to be with Annamma. Alex, Ajo, and Betty seeks the advice of Joji to get rid of Ittymaani. Following that, Betty makes allegation against Ittymaani. But the plan fails as their cook had a recorded footage of Betty while the alleged incident happened. Annamma slaps Betty and Ittymaani takes full control of the house from that point onward. On consulting an attorney they come to know that Annamma can dispose her assets to whoever she wants without any liability to children. It compels them to offer Ittymaani money in exchange for leaving their mother. But Ittymaani tells them that he may leave only when she wants him to leave. So, they plot a new idea to persuade her to make him leave. They starts showing intense affection to their mother, hoping she would leave him as she is getting back their love. Annamma is happy with the care they are giving her. While observing their father’s death anniversary, they brings attorney with documents to dissolve their marriage, believing she would sign. Foreseeing it, Ittymaani and Annamma stages another drama, that they are , so he cannot leave her. It ensues a fight between Ittymaani, Alex and Ajo. Annamma tries stopping them, but Alex knocks her down. Her heart problem reemerges. She is hospitalised, needing an emergency surgery. But her children refuses to sign the consent form. Ittymaani cannot sign as they are not legally married. He has no choice but to reveal the truth. Knowing that Ittymaani and Annamma staged the marriage for regaining their forsaken love, her children’s heart melts down and feels remorse. Later it is seen Annamma has recovered her health and reunited with her now affectionate children and their family. Ittymaani marries Jessy and reconcile with Joji. It is revealed that Ittymaani was donating commissions levied by him to an . The duo Jibi and Joju made their directorial debut with , produced by . Previously they had worked as and associate directors in Malayalam films. It was while working in (2014) that they decided to work together as a director duo. They came up with the subject of in January 2016. Actors were undecided while conceiving the story. They approached when they had the chance to meet him in May 2016 while working as chief associate directors on his film . It was on that set that they first told him about and the full story was narrated to him during the final work of . Jibi and Joju briefed the screenplay to Mohanlal in January 2017 and told him beforehand that it was not written with him in mind and may require rework. Mohanlal too felt that when heard and suggested changes. They reworked the screenplay in five months and met him again at the sets of , but Mohanlal recommended them to cast someone else for the role as the film will delay if waited for him as he had committed multiple big-budget projects at that time. But Jibi and Joju had set their mind to proceed only if Mohanlal was available. Hence, Mohanlal directed them to discuss the matter with producer . Antony liked the reworked screenplay and called for a final meeting in October 2018. Mohanlal approved the screenplay and the project was when Antony decided to produce the film. The film was officially announced by Mohanlal through his social media handles on 22 October 2018. Initially, Jibi and Joju approached some screenwriters to write the screenplay, but they declined as the project was not approved at that time. Later the duo decided to write it themselves. Mohanlal suggested changes to include a message in the story and sanctioned the screenplay after several drafts. The ceremony of the film was held at on 24 April 2019 followed by the start of . Characters speak slang in the film. Part of the film was shot at , where Mohanlal, Salim Kumar, Aristo Suresh and Johny Antony performed the traditional Christian woman’s dance along with 512 artistes between the ages of 3 and 65. It is featured as part of a church fund raiser for constructing houses in the film. Prasanna Sujit was the film’s dance choreographer, but the was choreographed by actress . Filming underwent in and locales in June 2019. Four days filming was conducted in in July 2019. Ittymaani’s father’s portions were filmed there. One of the stills released from the set featured him along with fighters as part of a song sequence. Ittymaani’s childhood was filmed in China and the look of old China was needed for that. Hence, the scenes were filmed in studios in China. Filming was concluded in that month and entered post-production. The original soundtrack consists of five tracks composed by the ensemble group (two songs), (two songs), and Kailas Menon (one songs), with lyrics for the songs written by , Liu Shuang ( lyrics), and . The background score was composed by Deepak Dev. The soundtrack album was released by the label Goodwill Entertainments on 16 September 2019. was released in theatres worldwide on 6 September 2019, ahead of the week of in . In Kerala, the film was released in nearly 250 screens. The film was made available for online streaming on . grossed 2.05 in the opening day in . In the overseas opening weekend (6 – 8 September), the film earned 378,727 from 47 screens in the , US$59,371 (₹42.57 lakh) from 40 screens in the United States, 35,137 (₹30.93 lakh) from 91 screens in the United Kingdom, 60,317 (₹29.64 lakh) from 22 screens in Australia, and 10,751 (₹4.96 lakh) from 4 screens in New Zealand. In two weeks, it grossed £61,269 (₹54.59 lakh) in the UK, A$81,375 (₹40 lakh) in Australia, and NZ$20,545 (₹9.39 lakh) in New Zealand, $513,544 in the UAE and $9,100 in . In four weeks, it earned US$105,092 (₹74.28 lakh) in the US and 3,545 (₹2.74 lakh) in . Upon release, the film received generally mixed reviews from critics. G. Ragesh of rated 3 out of 5 stars and wrote ” has an interesting plot that appeals to audience all over the world”. Sangeetha Lakshmi of wrote that the film is a “feel good family entertainer”. Writing for , Dhanya K. Vilayil wrote that is a festival celebration movie, with all the right ingredients for the fans to celebrate. critic wrote: “‘Ittymaani: Made in China’ is entertaining with Mohanlal – KPAC Lalitha’s endearing performances and humorous moments”, and rated 2.75 out of 5. Rating 2.5 out of 5, stated that the film is “all about loving your parents” and it “has one of the most daring interval blocks in recent memory”. However, writing for , Neelima Menon said, “At a time when Malayalam cinema has come a long way in terms of craft, concepts, technology and ideas, a film like is a huge step back—more so when you have a superstar like Mohanlal anchoring it”. Vidya Nair of rated 2 out of 5 and wrote: “a weak attempt to narrate a good subject that might only survive due to the performances of some ace actors.” Deepa Antony of also rated 2 out of 5 and wrote: “‘Ittymani :Made in China’ is a weak story and a weaker script that even the Mohanlal cannot save.” rated 1.5 out of 5 and wrote that “the script has no originality or fresh ideas, it is Mohanlal who gives everything to make even a dull scene tolerable.” critic felt that the “latter half, where the social message gets delivered, is almost like an unending television soap”.</p>