Udal (transl. Body) is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language drama thriller film written and directed by Ratheesh Raghunandan and produced by Gokulam Gopalan.[1] The film stars Indrans, Durga Krishna and Dhyan Sreenivasan in lead roles.[2] In the film, Already a housewife and a mother, Shiny is sick of the prevailing circumstances at her father-in-law's home. When the home nurse tending to his bed-ridden wife leaves, Shiny has to take over. Durga Krishna plays the antagonist role in this movie.
| Udal | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ratheesh Raghunandan |
| Written by | Ratheesh Raghunandan |
| Produced by | Hazeeb Malabar |
| Starring | Indrans Durga Krishna Dhyan Sreenivasan |
| Cinematography | Manoj Pillai |
| Edited by | Nishad Yousaf |
| Music by | William Francis |
Production companies | Hazeebs Films JAIHO & MGC |
| Distributed by | Sree Gokulam Movies |
Release date |
|
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Udal was theatrically released on 20 May 2022.[3] The regional OTT platform Saina Play announced on December 23, 2023, that it had acquired the digital rights to the movie 'Udal'. Streaming begins January 5, 2024.
Premise
editShiny is looking after her bedridden mother-in-law, living along with her father-in-law Kuttichan. Her husband is away for work. Her only relief was spending time with her college mate Kiran. One night, when kiran was visiting her and became intimate. After that shiny says Kiran that she is fed up of looking after her mother in law for nearly 4 years and she needs freedom from this. Vokay decides to kill her mother in law.Vokay kills with a bath towel by strangling her to death but they forget to take the bath towel from the dead body. They both went to room. After that kuttichan comes to see his wife and finds her dead and mourns. Kuttichan hears shiny talking to someone in her room. Shiny and Kiran are tensed and they goes to confirm the murder.when they look at the dead body they finds the Bath towel missing. Suddenly they hears some noises in their home, when they went to see from where the noise was coming, kuttichan badly injures both of them. Kuttichan was so strong that they couldn’t do anything to him.shiny asks to call Kiran’s friend to the house so that they can kill kuttichan.when Kiran’s friend arrive kuttichan kill him. Thinking that there is no other way shiny calls her husband and put all blames on Kiran. Kiran came hearing this and Kiran kills shiny. Kuttichan kills Kiran. The next day ambulance coming and taking kuttichan to hospital. Kuttichan asks his son to see his mother one last time. When shiny’s husband goes inside the house it was full of blood. Only kuttichan survived in that house.
Cast
edit- Indrans as Kuttichayan
- Durga Krishna as Shiny
- Dhyan Sreenivasan as Kiran[2]
- Jude Anthany Joseph as Reji (Shiny's Husband)
- Master Kannan as Jerin (Shiny's Son)
- Anjana Appukkuttan as Reena
- Arun Punalur
Release
editUdal was theatrically released on 20 May 2022.[3]On December 23, 2023, regional OTT platform Saina Play announced that they had acquired the digital rights to the film and began streaming it on January 5, 2024.[4]
Reception
editA critic from The Times of India rated Udal 3 out of 5 stars and wrote "Udal is definitely worth a watch".[5] Sajin Shrijith from Cinema Express rated Udal 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The ambition of Udal, however, is more in line with James Hadley Chase than Raymond Chandler or James M Cain. It has the finesse of a small airport novel you read and then forget. But it's a decent effort, nevertheless. In the midst of its overwhelming darkness, Udal also finds some time for dark humour."[6] Shilpa S from OTTPlay rated Udal 2 out of 5 and wrote "Although Udal boasts of the talents of stars such as Indrans and Dhyan Sreenivasan, Ratheesh Reghunandan fails to weave a compelling narrative out of the claustrophobic thriller."[7] Sangeetha KS from Samayam rated Udal 4 out of 5 and wrote "The film fills in as a seat-edge thriller beyond the family drama. Throughout the film, the scenes are taken to another level, shattering the audience's guessing what will happen in the next moment. The film received an A certificate for its sexually explicit content, obscene language, and violent scenes. It is better to watch movies without children."[8]
References
edit- ^ Anand, Shilpa Nair (21 May 2022). "Actor Indrans can shoulder a film with ease, says Ratheesh Reghunandan, director of the Malayalam film 'Udal'". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Udal Movie Review: A well-paced domestic thriller", The Times of India, retrieved 15 June 2022
- ^ a b "Udal Movie: Showtimes, Review, Trailer, Posters, News & Videos | eTimes". The Times of India. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ "Udal Malayalam Movie On Saina Play".
- ^ "Udal Movie Review: A well-paced domestic thriller", The Times of India, retrieved 16 June 2022
- ^ "Udal Movie Review: Indrans, Durga Krishna excel in minimalist noir". Cinema Express. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ "Udal review: With violence as senseless as its writing, Indrans-Dhyan Sreenivasan's dawdling thriller makes for an exhausting watch". OTTPlay. Retrieved 22 June 2022.
- ^ "Udal movie review - Malayalam Samayam". Samayam Malayalam (in Malayalam). Retrieved 22 June 2022.
External links
edit- Udal at IMDb
- Udal at Saina Play