Bachelor Party (2012 film)

Bachelor Party
Teaser poster
Directed by	Amal Neerad
Produced by	Amal Neerad V. Jayasurya
Screenplay by	Santhosh Echikkanam Unni R.
Story by	Johnnie To (uncredited)
Starring	Kalabhavan Mani Indrajith Sukumaran Rahman Asif Ali Vinayakan Nithya Menen Prithviraj Sukumaran
Music by	Rahul Raj
Cinematography	Amal Neerad
Edited by	Vivek Harshan
Production company	Amal Neerad Productions
Distributed by	August Cinema
Release dates	15 June 2012 (2012-06-15)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Bachelor Party is a 2012 Malayalam–language Indian action film directed, co-produced and filmed by Amal Neerad. The film stars Kalabhavan Mani, Indrajith, Rahman and Vinayakan in the lead roles with Asif Ali and Nithya Menen while Prithviraj makes a guest appearance, and Padmapriya and Remya Nambeesan appear in musical item numbers. The film's screenplay is by noted authors Unni R. and Santhosh Echikkanam while the original music and background score are composed by Rahul Raj.^[1]

The film released on 15 June 2012, to mixed reviews.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Its plot is adapted from Johnnie To's Exiled, a 2006 Hong Kong action film.^[7] Though released to mixed reviews, the film was profitable according to Neerad.^[8]

Plot

Former mobster Tony (Asif Ali) leads a quiet life with his wife, Neethu (Nithya Menon), and his newborn child in a nondescript villa, having turned over a new leaf. But vengeful underworld don Prakash Kamath (John Vijay) - whom Tony and friends once tried to assassinate - has dispatched a pair of his henchmen to cut that peaceful existence short. Once arrived, gangsters Ayyappan (Kalabhavan Mani) and Fakeer (Vinayakan) find a second pair-Benny (Rahman) and Geevarghese (Indrajith)- determined to protect Tony. After a brief showdown, the whole group comes to an uneasy truce, lay their weapons down and bond over dinner-after all, these men grew up together.

Reunited and searching for a way to save Tony, they visit a fixer called Chettiyar (Ashish Vidyarthi). Chettiyar gives the gang two options – the job of killing a businessman who is Kamath's rival or looting a large quantity of foreign currency being transported. The Gang chooses the first option, and Tony makes them promise that if anything happens to him, his wife and son will be looked after.

As fixed, the gang meets up at a cinema where the target businessman is about to strike a deal. However, Kamath crashes in as the second party of the deal, as Chettiyar had double-crossed the friends. Kamath recognising Ayyappan and others, openly chastises and humiliates Tony, culminating in Tony shooting Kamath. A gunfight erupts in the theatre, with Kamath and Tony being shot. The rival businessman, cornered by Kamath's men, comes to an agreement to share territory and profits, further agreeing to kill the gang of friends. Having narrowly escaped the theatre shootout, the friends decide to take a severely shot Tony to an underground clinic for medical assistance. After negotiating a price, the doctor operates removing the bullets from Tony. However, as he is sewing up Tony's wound, there is a loud banging at the door. Having heard this, the remainder of the waiting friends hide.

The door is answered and Kamath and his men burst in, seeking help for injuries sustained in the theatre shootout. The gang of friends manages to hide the still unconscious Tony, but he wakes up and slowly gets to his feet in a trance before collapsing. The rest of the friends try to get away, but Kamath holds Tony hostage and eventually shoots him. The gang desperately tries to retrieve their critically injured friend and escape. Tony, knowing that he is near death, asks to be taken back to his wife and daughter.

Neethu, broken over her husband's death, demands to know what has happened and in her grief threatens to open fire on others. Neethu buries Tony and leaves the villa with her daughter. The reduced gang, hell-bent on taking revenge on Chettiyar and securing a livelihood for Neethu, leave in search of the currency consignment. After coming across the heavily guarded convoy carrying the notes, however, they come across another gang attacking it. They witness all the security guards being killed, bar one crack-shot (Prithviraj). The friends decide to help the guard by dispatching the rest of the gang.

The friends, appreciating the guard's fighting skills, decide to split the currency with him and drive off to a hidden dock to transport the notes to a safe haven and a new life. Meanwhile, Neethu ends up in the hands of Chettiyar and Kamath, who in turn contact the gang of friends for the money.

Ayyappan is told to meet Kamath at Chettiyar's den; otherwise Neethu and her child will be killed. Determined to protect Neethu after Tony's death, the friends agree and leave the guard at the dock with Neethu's share of the money, telling him they or she will return by dawn. Once at the meeting place, Kamath agrees to leave Neethu, but tells them Ayyappan must stay to face the consequences of not following orders. Ayyappan agrees to this deal and the remainder of the friends leave with Neethu. However, as they leave, Geevarghese informs Neethu of the boat and the guard and tells her to drive there. With Neethu safe the greatly outnumbered friends open fire. In the resulting gunfight, all are killed. As the friends lie dying they all smile knowing they have kept their promise to Tony.

As the credits roll, all dead gangsters meet up in Hell for a sing-and-dance.

Cast

• Kalabhavan Mani as Ayyappan
• Asif Ali as Tony
• Indrajith as Geevarghese
• Rahman as Benny
• Vinayakan as Fakeer
• Prithviraj as guard
• Nithya Menen as Neethu
• John Vijay as Prakash Kamath
• Ashish Vidyarthi as Chettiyar
• Lena as Sheela Mathews Kattuparambil (Cameo)
• Remya Nambeesan (Special Appearance)
• Padmapriya (special appearance in the song "Kappa Kappa")^[9]
• Jinu Joseph as Jerry Kalappurakal
• Vishnu Unnikrishnan

Production

Amal Neerad says the film was inspired particularly from Sin City, a graphic novel that was turned into a film of the same name.^[10] "The flick might have few boys-will-be-boys, raunchy scenes, but that doesn't mean it only targets the male audience. It has all elements of an entertainer and, like its title suggests, it is about a bunch of bachelors having a blast," says the director.^[11]

Genre

Bachelor Party combines elements from several different film genres, most notably spy, action, thriller, comedy, and musical. Amal Neerad has said that the film "could be called an action-comedy, but it is tough to include it in a particular genre." He also added that "it is a travelogue that involves the journey of some friends, but I won't call it a road movie either."^[12]

Soundtrack

The music was composed, arranged and programmed by Rahul Raj while the lyrics were penned by Rafeeq Ahammed. The soundtrack was released on 20 May 2012 at a grand function at Kochi. Much before the release of the film; the soundtrack became a sensational super-hit across the state and was met with high critical acclaim.^[14]

Rahul Raj described the film's songs as "Britney Spears meets Kathakali!". The singers for Bachelor Party include actress Remya Nambeesan and singer Shreya Ghoshal working besides "fresh voices for fresh tunes" including C. J. Kuttappan, master of the Thayillam folk song group and singer Sunil Mathai, whom the composer calls the "Kailash Kher of Mollywood".^[13]

The song "Kappa Kappa" became viral on Twitch.tv as the word 'Kappa' is a widely used emoticon on the site.

References

External links

• Bachelor Party at the Internet Movie Database