Thalavan

Thalavan
Thalavan
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jis Joy
Written by	Anand Thevarkkat; Sarath Perumbavoor
Dialogues by	Jis Joy;
Produced by	Arun Narayan; Sijo Sebastian
Starring	Biju Menon; Asif Ali
Cinematography	Sharan Velayudhan
Edited by	Sooraj E. S.
Music by	Deepak Dev
Production; companies	Arun Narayan Productions; London Studios
Distributed by	Central Pictures
Release date	24 May 2024;
Running time	133 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Box office	₹25 crore

Thalavan (transl. Chief) is a 2024 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by Jis Joy and written by Anand Thevarkkat and Sarath Perumbavoor. The film stars Biju Menon and Asif Ali, with Miya George, Anusree, Dileesh Pothan and Kottayam Nazeer in supporting roles.^[2]^[3]^[4]

The film was released on 24 May 2024. It received positive reviews from critics and became a commercial success at the box office.^[5]

Plot

Retired DSP Udayabhanu conducts a TV programme, in which he started to narrate the incident that happens five years ago. Thalavan is about an investigation at a local police station and the hierarchy at that police force.

Cast

Biju Menon as CI Jayashankar, later DYSP
Asif Ali as SI Karthik Vasudevan, later CI
Miya George as Sunitha, Jayashankar's Wife
Sujith Shankar as Joshy
Anusree as Ramya, Joshy's Wife
Dileesh Pothan as DYSP Udayabhanu, Jayashankar's Colleague and Friend
Joji John as ASI Venu
Shankar Ramakrishnan as SP Hemanth Ram IPS
Ranjith as Home Minister T.K.Raghavan, Karthik's Uncle
Kottayam Nazeer as CPO Reghu
Jaffar Idukki as Allappan
Dinesh Prabhakar as Vinayakan
Tessa Joseph as Anagha
Bilas Chandrahasan as Shivadasan
Lali Marikkar as Karthik's Mother
Anand Bal as Benny
Renjith Shekhar as Haris
Nebish Benson as Arun Shivadasan

Production

Director Jis Joy, who has previously worked with actor Asif Ali in four films signed the actor again, this time with actor Biju Menon.^[6] Debutants Anand Thevarkatt and Sharath Perumbavoor were given opportunity as screenplay writers.^[7]^[8] Arun Narayan, who had earlier produced Eesho and Chaaver decided to produce the film with Sijo Sebastian.^[9] Actors Miya George, Dileesh Pothan and Shankar Ramakrishnan were signed for key roles.^[10] Biju Menon was signed as a natural choice for the cop, as he had done many cop roles earlier in his career.^[11] The director, Jis Joy, claimed Thalavan as his most successful film in terms of canvas.^[12]^[7]^[4]

Release and Reception

Thalavan released on 24 May 2024, received generally positive reviews.^[13]Swathi P Ajith of On Manorama gave a positive review praising the film as a well-crafted investigative thriller with strong performances from the leads.^[5] Vivek Santhosh of The New Indian Express also gave a positive review rating the movie 3/5.^[14] Writing for The Hindu, S.R.Praveen praised the film for its intriguing plot but felt it fell short of its potential.^[15] In contrast, Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave a negative review.^[16]

Sequel

After the release of the film, the Director Jis Joy stated that if the audience like the film, it will have a sequel.^[17] During the success meet of the film, the makers announced that the film will have a sequel titled Thalavan 2.^[18]