King of Kotha (also marketed as KOK) is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by Abhilash Joshiy in his directorial debut and produced by Wayfarer Films and Zee Studios. The film stars an ensemble cast of Dulquer Salmaan, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Chemban Vinod Jose, Shammi Thilakan, Saran, Shanthi Krishna and Anikha Surendran. The cinematography is handled by Nimish Ravi and the film score is composed by Jakes Bejoy while the songs are composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman separately.
The film was announced in July 2021. Principal photography commenced in September 2022 and wrapped up in February 2023. The film was released worldwide on 24 August 2023 during the festival of Onam, where it received mixed reviews from critics.
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In 1996, CI Shahul Hassan is transferred to Kotha, a fictional crime-infested city near Kerala-Tamilnadu border, where he enquires more about the town and learns that the citizens, especially teenagers, are addicted to narcotics. As Shahul investigates about the background of the narcotics, he comes across Kannan Bhai, a dreaded gangster who rules Kotha. Shahul meets Kannan Bhai in his hideout along with SI Tony Titus, where he is humiliated by Kannan. Shahul inquires about Raju from Tony as Kannan earlier mentioned the name, where Tony reveals Raju's past.
Past: In 1986, Raju is a merciless gangster and Kannan's best friend who rules Kotha. Tony and Kannan are a part of Raju's gang and football team, Winners Kotha. Raju is always at loggerheads with Ranjith Bhai, who is the head of the neighbouring town Gandhigram, but Ranjith never harms Raju out of respect for Raju's father Kotha Ravi, who was also a dreaded gangster in the past. Raju meets Tara and falls in love with her, soon giving up on many vices such as partying and women. Kannan tries to get Raju and his gang to deal with drugs, but Raju disagrees as Tara's brother committed suicide due to drug overdose. Raju didn't share a good relationship with his parents as his mother Malathi hates him for being a gangster and also blames his father for Raju's upbringing. Malathi also abuses Raju's gang members, where Kannan learns about this and provokes Malathi.
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Ravi sees this and interferes in between them. Kannan tries to stab Ravi with a knife, but ends up stabbing himself. Upon knowing this, Raju gets angry and tries to beat up Ravi, who defends himself. One day, Ranjith sends photos of Tara hanging out with a Bombay-based journalist, eventually Raju breaks up with Tara and starts drinking heavily. Blinded by his greed for wealth and power, Kannan decides to partner up with Ranjith and agrees to transport drugs into Kotha. Knowing this, Raju gets enraged and confronts Kannan, who refuses to reveal anything about the drugs. Raju gets into a fight with Kannan and ends up blinding Kannan partially in the right eye. A few days later, Malathi realises that Raju may not live for long if he continues to be a drunkard where she advises him to leave Kotha and never come back. Raju leaves Kotha on the night of the FIFA World Cup Finals and later goes missing.
Present: Shahul tells Tony to enquire about Raju with the Uttar Pradesh police force, where he gets a fax from the Lucknow police station about "Raju Madrassi", who is a retired assassin. Shahul sends a telegram to Raju, saying his sister Rithu is in danger. Kannan's brother in law Jinu, a drug addict, is in a relationship with Rithu. As they are sitting in a restaurant having ice cream, Tony arrives with his force and takes away Jinu for being in possession of narcotics. Rithu finds out about this and cuts all ties with Jinu. After getting released, Jinu goes to Tara's house to talk to her, but is kicked out by Ravi. The next day, Jinu tries to set Rithu on fire by dousing her in petrol, but she manages to escape as Tony arrives at the scene. As Tony chases Jinu, Jinu gets killed by Raju, who has come back to Kotha after receiving the telegram from Shahul.
Jinu's sister Manju learns about this and decides to get Raju killed. It is also revealed that Kannan killed Ranjith Bhai in order to make Manju as his wife. That night, Kannan meets Raju at the bar and gets scared after learning that Raju has become dangerous after going to Uttar Pradesh. Manju sends men to kill Raju, who beats them up and sends them back after a fight, which Manju herself witnesses. The next day, Shahul makes an offer to Raju to kill Kannan but he declines the offer, stating that Kannan is still his friend. That night, Raju and Kannan meet up and have a few drinks in Raju's hotel room. After leaving, Kannan sends up a contract killer Suitcase Leslie to kill Raju. The next day, Kannan and his men find a suitcase with Leslie's remains in it. Kannan gets agitated and arrives at the market with his men, where they fight against Raju. Raju beats all of them up and kills Kannan's right-hand man Erilan by stabbing him in his heart, thus avenging the death of his friend Rafi.
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That night, Raju goes to Tara's house to invite her for Rithu's birthday, but Kannan arrives there and stabs Tara. As Tara is rushed to the hospital, Raju gets a call from Kannan. He rushes to a site and finds his father killed by Kannan's men. Kannan's mother promises to bring Kannan to Raju so Raju can kill him. As he goes to finish Kannan, it is revealed that this entire plot was planned by Kannan so that he could kill Raju. Kannan stabs Raju after which Manju arrives. Raju discloses that he has known Manju since her childhood and that Jinu was actually her son who was born after she was assaulted by her stepfather in her childhood. Manju leaves the place humiliated and Raju escapes after the police arrive at the scene. Three weeks later, Raju is missing and the townsfolk believe that he is dead due to the stab wounds sustained after Kannan's attack.
However, Raju is still alive and was planning his attack on Kannan all this while, where he sends a letter to Shahul saying that he has accepted the offer that Shahul had made earlier. Raju offers the entire town of Kotha to Kannan's henchman Peelan in exchange for killing Kannan. Peelan accepts the offer and switches sides. He goes to Kannan's hideout to confront Kannan. Kannan brings a group of contract killers to kill Raju, but Raju kills all of them and incapacitates Kannan. Raju tells Kannan that he cannot kill him as he still considers him as a brother, where he brings in a boy to kill Kannan. It is revealed that the boy is Ranjith's son who witnessed Kannan kill Ranjith and now wants to exact revenge. It is also revealed that Ranjit's men helped Raju escape from the place where Kannan had stabbed him earlier. The boy kills Kannan and hands the gun over to Raju, who kills Peelan, telling that Kotha doesn't need an heir anymore. In 1998, Raju is living with Tara and Rithu happily in Shimla and receives a call from a gangster sent by Manju to kill him, where Raju replies to try finish him if he can.
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Development
The film along with its title was announced on 28 July 2021 on the occasion of Dulquer Salmaan's 35th birthday. Salmaan who portrays a gangster in the film stated: "King of Kotha will be having all these elements (perfectly timed clap points, catchy songs, and elevation sequences) that could satisfy the audience. He also added that this is a dream project with his childhood friend Abhilash Joshiy, son of veteran filmmaker Joshiy, and have been waiting for the past few years to find a perfect project to collaborate. It is written by Abhilash N. Chandran, who had earlier worked on Porinju Mariam Jose (2019). In October 2022, Salmaan stated in an interview that, "It is an action gangster genre, noir film set in a fictional town. It's interesting because I generally tend to veer away from this type of cinema quite a bit. But I found a bit of a balance. I feel like it has content, it has great writing, but it's also a very commercial gangster drama. On 23 June 2023 the film's motion poster, titled "People of Kotha" was launched.
Filming and casting
The principal photography began on 27 September 2022 at Karaikudi, while additional filming occurred in Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram. Nimish Ravi joined as the film's cinematographer. After rumours of Samantha Ruth Prabhu being approached for a role, it was reported that Aishwarya Lekshmi was signed to play Salmaan's pair. Shabeer Kallarakkal was roped in to play the main antagonist. Actor Gokul Suresh was cast to play a pivotal role and actors Chemban Vinod Jose and Sudhi Koppa were also added to the cast. Nyla Usha and Shanthi Krishna were also cast in key roles. Zee Studios associated with Wayfarer Films for the film's production and marked its maiden feature film production venture in Malayalam. It was reported that, a major schedule in Karaikudi was interrupted due to the rain, and the team took a brief break.Ritika Singh joined the production in early-November 2022 and shot for an item song. In December 2022, Shammi Thilakan announced his addition to the cast through his Facebook page. In January 2023, Prasanna and Saran Shakthi confirmed being cast in the film. Filming took 95 days and the Karaikudi schedule was wrapped up on 21 February 2023.
The background score is composed by Jakes Bejoy while the songs have been composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman separetely. The music rights were bagged by Sony Music India. The track "People of Kotha" that was featured in the motion poster video was released on 23 June 2023, the same date as the promo. The first single titled "Kalapakkaara" was released on 28 July 2023, on the occasion of Salmaan's birthday. The second single titled "Ee Ulakin" was released on 19 August 2023.
Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTplay gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha might have a familiar storyline that feels stretched out in parts, but Dulquer's performance along with the grand visuals make this gangster revenge saga worth watching in theatres. Arjun Ramachandran of The South First gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha has all the elements to be a mass entertainer. Above all, it has the potential to turn Dulquer Salmaan into a pan-Indian star. Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Though the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer possessed the potential to be celebrated alongside iconic gangster movies like Satya, Vada Chennai, and Gangs of Wasseypur, its failure to feature a compelling narrative prevents it from reaching the lofty heights it aspired to achieve." Janani. K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha is a gangster drama that has many interesting ideas, but they are underused. Despite the pacing issues, the film holds your attention.
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Princy Alexander of Onmanorama wrote "Though the film gets a little predictable towards the end, the filmmakers have tried to steer clear from sticking to the old formula of mass action films. The songs, the visuals, and the style of making have helped elevate the film, so it appeals to a pan-Indian audience. 123Telugu gave 2.25/5 stars and wrote "On the whole, King Of Kotha is a lengthy and boring gangster drama. Dulquer Salmaan shines as usual, and he gets nice support from Dancing Rose. But the routine story and the snail-paced narrative worked against the film big-time. Zoom TV gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote the storyline as "predictable" and the film was bogged down by a "sluggish screenplay. Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The film as a whole, however, has left me disappointed because here is a film that could have gone big with its bromance and noir treatment, but all we experienced was shallow mass moments, and scenes strung together to make a passable story. If King Of Kotha had as much of an emotional depth as Dulquer Salmaan's one dialogue that explains his love for Aishwarya Lekshmi's Thara — we would have probably had a winner Gautaman Bhaskaran of News18 gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "King of Kotha has a nice plot, but an over-ambitious scripting pushes it in a multitude of paths with the cream of it all turning sour. The narrative is uneven, and direction not quite up to the mark. Nirmal Jovial of The Week gave 2/5 stars and wrote "more judicious and precise editing process could have resulted in a more tolerable viewing experience.
Dulquer Salmaan as Kotha Rajendran "Raju" aliases Raju Madrassi, King of Kotha
Shabeer Kallarakkal as Kannan Bhai
Prasanna as CI Shahul Hassan
Gokul Suresh as SI Tony Titus
Aishwarya Lekshmi as Tara, Raju's girlfriend and love interest
Saran Shakthi as Jinu
Chemban Vinod Jose as Ranjith Bhai, Manju's husband
Shammi Thilakan as Kotha Ravi, Raju and Rithu's father
Anikha Surendran as Kotha Rithu, Raju's sister
Nyla Usha as Manju, Ranjith's wife-cum-widow; Kannan's wife
Shanthi Krishna as Kotha Malathi, Raju and Rithu's mother
Sudhi Koppa as Rafi
Senthil Krishna as Billa
