Sapthamashree Thaskaraha

Sapthamashree Thaskaraha
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed by	Anil Radhakrishnan Menon
Produced by	Santosh Sivan Shaji Nadesan Prithviraj Sukumaran
Starring	Prithviraj Sukumaran Asif Ali Nedumudi Venu Sudheer Karamana Chemban Vinod Jose Neeraj Madhav Reenu Mathews Sanusha Joy Mathew Lijo Jose Pellissery
Music by	Rex Vijayan (songs) Sushin Shyam (BGM)
Cinematography	Jayesh Nair
Edited by	Manoj Kannoth
Production company	August Cinema
Distributed by	August Cinema Overseas Distribution by Singapore Coliseum, Achu & Achu's Creations and Binoy Antony
Release dates	6 September 2014 (2014-09-06)[1]
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Budget	₹5 crore (US$740,000)
Box office	₹11 crore (US$1.6 million)[2]

Sapthamashree Thaskaraha (English: Seven Good Thieves) is a 2014 Malayalam heist thriller comedy film directed and written by Anil Radhakrishnan Menon.^[3] The film features an ensemble cast of Prithviraj Sukumaran, Asif Ali, Nedumudi Venu, Sudheer Karamana, Chemban Vinod Jose, Neeraj Madhav,Salam Bukhari, Reenu Mathews,^[3] Sanusha, Joy Mathew^[4] and Mongolian artist Flower Battsetseg.^[5] The film is produced by Prithviraj himself along with director Santosh Sivan and entrepreneur Shaji Nadesan under August Cinema.^[6] Sapthamashree Thaskaraha has cinematography by Jayesh Nair and music composed by Rex Vijayan.^[7] The film released on 6 September 2014 to positive reviews^[8] It led in the box office collections among the Onam releases and was deemed a blockbuster.^[9]

Plot

The film starts off with Martin (Chemban Vinod Jose) confessing to a priest (Lijo Jose Pellissery) in a church, explaining his past. Martin gets arrested for stealing money from a temple. He meets 6 other people who had been arrested in prison, Narayankutty (Neeraj Madhav), an electronic shop owner arrested for giving a hidden camera in a soap box to 2 people, who used them in a hotel; Nobilettan (Nedumudi Venu), a chit fund company owner cheated by Pious Matthew (Joy Mathew) and his younger brother, Christo, which cost his son's life ; Shabab (Asif Ali) who beats up his visa provider who had busted him in a jail at Dubai for 10 months; Vasu aka Leaf Vasu (Sudheer Karamana), the former right-hand man of Pious, after his weapon fell on his head he had a mental disorder ; Salam (Salam Bukhari), a circus performer ; and Krishnanunni (Prithviraj Sukumaran), a bank employee, whose wife Sarah (Reenu Mathews) was killed in a car accident after she was harassed by Pious, who had abused her after she got cheated. After they were released, the seven of them planned to steal money from a safe in the charity hospital where Pious and his brothers had kept their money.

After they were released, they sought the help of Annamma (Sanusha) for installing spy cameras which was made by Narayankutty in the charity hospital. After finding the exact location of the safe, Krishnanunni found out that the safe can be only unlocked with 3 keys through the safe blueprint, each of them with Pious, Christo, and Franko. For that, the gang planned of making a duplicate of those 3 keys by imprinting the key onto a soap piece. They found out that Christo had kept his key in a showpiece, Pious carrying the key put into a chain, and Franko who had it in his car.

After successfully distracting them and getting the key imprint, Krishnanunni planned to do the heist during a festival. That night, he told Leaf Vasu to put a bomb in the sewage tank of the charity hospital, which gave them access to the back of the hospital. He told Annamma to cut off the main supply so that they could get access to the room where the safe is, through the exhaust fan. After successfully getting to the room, they unlocked the safe. What they didn't know was the safe was connected to an alarm, which alerted the three of them. They chased the sewage trucks where they had put the money. But the three of them didn't get the money. The gang returned with the money.

The story comes back to the present, where Martin was explaining his story to the priest. He explained that the gang had searched for Krishnanunni, but they were surprised to see another person with the same name (Indrajith). After some days, each of them from the gang got a box with solar panels on the top. When they opened it, they found the money given as share by Krishnanunni for the heist, later crying in joy. Then it is revealed that the Krishnanunni who helped them in the heist was actually a con-man. Then he was shown working on a new heist disguised as a business man dealing solar panels. The character in the climax scene is well distinguished from the rest of the movie by the lack of Thrissur Malayalam accent.

Cast

• Prithviraj Sukumaran as Krishnanunni
• Asif Ali as Shabab
• Nedumudi Venu as Nobelettan
• Sudheer Karamana as Leaf Vasu
• Chemban Vinod Jose as Martin
• Neeraj Madhav as Narayankutty
• Salam Bukhari as Salam
• Sanusha as Annamma
• Reenu Mathews as Sarah
• Joy Mathew as Pious Mathew
• Mukundhan as Franco Mathew
• Irshad as Christo Mathew
• Anu Joseph as Nicey Mathew
• Lijo Jose Pellissery as The Priest sitting for Confession
• Shivaji Guruvayoor as Xavier
• Sudhi Koppa as Gee Varghese
• Rema Devi as Sarah's mother
• Anu Joseph Supporting Role
• Indrajith as Krishnanunni (Special appearance)

Production

Nyla Usha was earlier roped in to play the female lead but due to certain date issues, she was replaced by Reenu Mathews, who was reported to "shed her simple housewife image" in this film.^[3] Anil had reworked on the script, due to which Sreenath Bhasi was replaced by Neeraj Madhav.^[3] A Mongolian circus artiste, Flower Battsetseg, was signed to play a pivotal role in the film.^[5] Sanusha stated that she played a nurse called Annamma in the film, which she was a bold and mature role, for which she would be sporting a no makeup look.^[10]

Filming started in Thrissur.^[3]

Music

The songs of the film was composed by Rex Vijayan, who earlier composed the title track for North 24 Kaatham. The BGM of the film was composed by Sushin Shyam,who is part of The Down Troddence, a six piece thrash metal band. Sushin Shyam has worked with Rex Vijayan's previous projects.

Critical reception

The Times of India gave a rating of 3.5/5, and stated "This is one film that is not going to disappoint for there is an energy that is infectious."^[11]

References

External links

• Sapthamashree Thaskaraha at the Internet Movie Database
• Seven Thieves, 1960 american film of the similar plot directed by Hendry Hathaway