Aavesham

<p>Aju, Bibi, and Shanthan arrive in from to pursue a degree in . The owner of a private hostel convinces their parents to let them stay there, warning them that the students of their college aren’t friendly. They soon find themselves to be by Kutty, a senior psychotic student, and his gang, being humiliated and brutally beaten by them after being taken to a garage. Bibi and Shanthan try to forget the incident but are unable to. Aju seeks revenge and leads his friends to multiple in search of gangsters, eventually befriending Ranjith “Ranga” Gangadharan, a powerful and eccentric – gangster and his strong and funny Ambaan. They become friends with Ranga, who’s revealed to be good-hearted and protective of the boys and his followers. However, he doesn’t take part in violence himself due to a promise made to his late mother. When Bibi confronts Ranga about the incident with Kutty, Ranga’s and his gang unleashes it’s full fury during the college celebration, beating up Kutty and his gang in front of everyone. The trio face expulsion after being unable to pass exams and because of their association with Ranga, but are given a second chance with assurances of passing all future exams. Their association with Ranga begins to affect their studies as Ranga keeps involving them in his lifestyle of fights and parties. One night, the trio discovers that the house Ranga had given them has a corpse buried underneath it that belonged to an enemy of Ranga who’d been killed by him. After this discovery, they get scared of Ranga, which is amplified when they witness him threatening to kill two of his ‘ ‘ gang members. Their troubles escalate when they meet Reddy, Ranga’s ex boss who accuses Ranga of stealing his identity and seeks their help to eliminate him. Fleeing from Reddy’s threats they head back to their house. Unable to handle staying in the house, the trio switches off their phones and leave for a different hostel in , where they manage to study peacefully. Meanwhile, Ranga fears that the boys have been hurt and frantically searches for them. After seeing his desperate attempts to find them, Bibi finally decides to confront Ranga, telling him that they only befriended him to keep away Kutty and his gang and how negatively he had impacted their life after that chance encounter. A now-heartbroken Ranga calls his gang to the house. The anxious trio, now fearing for their life, call Reddy and his gang in order to get rid of Ranga’s presence in their life. Reddy and his goons arrive before Ranga’s gang; and Ranga realises that the boys had double-crossed him. Distraught at their betrayal, he breaks his mother’s vow of non-violence and goes on a rampage, killing all of Reddy goons and Reddy himself. He then chases the boys across the house. By that time, Ranga’s goons also arrive at the house, ready to kill the boys, but Ranga locks the house from inside. He starts to cry, saying that he kept the boys with him as no one had gotten close to him in his life unless they needed something from him. Realizing their mistake, they apologize to Ranga. Ranga begrudgingly leaves them and tells them to pass the exams. Aju and Bibi are unable to clear their exams, while Shanthan passes the exams. They encounter Ranga outside the college who humorously punishes Aju and Bibi for their inability to pass by running after them with sticks. In March 2023, announced his second film starring , who also co-produced the film through his production company with . The film’s title was announced in May 2023. Madhavan wrote the script during early-December 2022 and completed within February 2023 during the period when his debut film (2022) was delayed from October 2022 to February 2023. Though it was reported that the film is a spin-off of , Madhavan later clarified that is a standalone film and has no connections with . The technical crew consisted of , , and Ashwini Kale as music composer, cinematographer, editor and production designer respectively. Fahadh plays the role of Ranga, a -based gangster; He was featured in a thick handlebar moustache and an all-white attire in a leaked picture from the film’s production in May 2023. attributed that he had not explored such characters before, which led to him agreeing to the story, adding that “Jithu [Madhavan] gave me a very clear understanding of who Ranga would be. However, we finalised the look and attire after we started filming for the movie.” Compared to his previous films, Fahadh’s character would be loud in the film and would speak in a mixture of and , resembling how gangsters from the city would speak. , who previously acted in was assigned an important role in the film, with and in supporting roles. The film also featured newcomers including Pranav Raj – Hipzster, Mithun Jai Shankar, Roshan Shanavas and Midhutty. commenced in on the same date as the announcement. The film was shot extensively in and its outskirts and production completed in November 2023. served as the film’s . Throughout the film, Fahad’s character Ranga appears in an all-white attire wearing gold chains, except for the climactic portions where Fahadh would appear in an all-black attire. Ranga’s younger version sports a trimmed deep fade hairstyle and wears a , which resembles ‘s look from the of the French musical duo ‘s single “Territory” (2017) and also British boxer . The film’s soundtrack was composed by with lyrics written by and featured nine songs performed by independent artists. The soundtrack was released by on 19 April 2024 after being preceded by four singles: “Jaada”, “Galatta”, ” ” and “Mathapithakkale”. was theatrically released on 11 April 2024, during the and weekend. It was earlier scheduled for theatrical release during the (25 August 2023) and weekends (22 December 2023), but Fahadh in July 2023 announced that the film will be released during the first quarter of 2024. Its current release date was announced in December. The film will be distributed by A&A Release across India, while Phars Film acquiring the overseas theatrical rights. was listed as one of the “most anticipated Malayalam films of 2024″ by several publications and industry sources. In comparison with and which released on the same weekend, the film garnered (US$92,000) from the ticket pre-sales which opened three days prior to its release. More than 50,000 admissions from Kerala theatres were recorded from 567 tracked shows. The film, along with several other Malayalam films, were not released at multiplex chains across India in response to a dispute between the and the authorities of PVR INOX management over , as well as the federation’s plans on distributing films through their newly established content providing service over , the primary content provider for PVR INOX theatres. However, the ban was lifted on 13 April and the film was released in the multiplex chains the following day. Prior to the film’s release, the film garnered from the (CBFC) with the duration of the final edit being 157 minutes. A scene from the film’s second half was removed prior to the theatrical showcasing in , owing to the recommendation of the censor board. The post-theatrical digital streaming rights were acquired by and was premiered on 9 May 2024. The Hindi version of the film was released in on 20 June 2024. The satellite rights of the film are acquired by and premiered on 14 September 2024. The film’s theatrical was unveiled on 25 January 2024. A promotional event was held at the on 26 March 2024 with the presence of Fahadh, Madhavan and Shyam, along with the principal cast. received positive reviews from critics with praise for its performances (especially Fahadh Faasil and Sajin Gopu), script, direction, action sequences, humor, music and technical aspects. Goutham S of gave 4/5 stars and wrote ” is ideally one of those movies that you could enjoy in theaters if you love a comedy film with a wild ride happening. The show is definitely run by Fahadh Faasil who is all set to entertain you with a great array of actors supporting him.” Anandu Suresh of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Jithu Madhavan’s gangster comedy is arguably Fahadh Faasil’s first all-encompassing masala film and the actor unabashedly uses it to silence all the criticisms against him that he can’t handle mass characters.” Anna Mathews of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “Apart from scripting superb side characters, Jithu Madhavan has crafted the comic timing of his dialogues well.” Janani K of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote ” is truly an enjoyable affair with brilliantly choreographed action sequences and comedy sequences. If you’re a fan of Fahadh Faasil, then will prove why you became his fan in the first place.” Nirmal Jovial of gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote “The film maintains a celebratory mood from beginning to end, catering primarily to a youthful audience.” Arjun Menon of rated 3/5 stars and applauded ” is smooth in its storytelling and leaves a chilling aftertaste, thanks to its one-of-a-kind anti-hero.” Swathi P Ajith of termed it as “the perfect choice if you’re seeking laughter and entertainment in equal measure.” S. R. Praveen of wrote ” director Jithu Madhavan returns with his sophomore effort, that is held afloat by Fahadh Faasil running riot in one of his most colourful characters.” On the opening day of its release, the film grossed ₹3.9 crore in Kerala, gaining the first spot between concurrent releases and . The film’s ticket sales were further boosted by its positive word of mouth, which helped it to earn a total of ₹18.75 crore in India with a total worldwide collection of ₹40.50 crore gross in 4 days of its release. As of 19 April 2024, the film has grossed ₹65 crore worldwide. As of 24 April 2024, the film grossed ₹59.50 crore at the Indian box office, ₹40.75 crore (USD 4.89 million) from overseas, giving it a worldwide gross of ₹100.25 crore. By 13 May 2024, the film has grossed ₹54 crore (USD 6.50 million) from overseas for a worldwide gross of around ₹154.60 crore and ₹100.60 crore from India and has become only the third Malayalam film ever to gross more than ₹100 crore in India. The two films preceding it were and . It concluded its run with worldwide gross estimated to be ₹156 crore. A sequel titled was confirmed by .</p>