Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel

Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakkeel (transl. Advocate Balan present before the court) is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language courtroom comedy crime thriller film written and directed by B. Unnikrishnan and produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures.^[1][2] The film stars Dileep in title role, with an ensemble cast of Mamta Mohandas, Priya Anand, Harish Uthaman, Vamsi Krishna, Siddique, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Bheeman Raghu and Aju Varghese.^[3][4] It follows Balakrishnan, an advocate with a stutter.

Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakkeel
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	B. Unnikrishnan
Written by	B. Unnikrishnan
Produced by	Ajit Andhare B. Unnikrishnan
Starring	Dileep Mamta Mohandas Priya Anand Harish Uthaman Vamsi Krishna
Cinematography	Akhil George
Edited by	Shameer Muhammed
Music by	Songs: Gopi Sundar Rahul Raj Score: Gopi Sundar
Production companies	RD Illuminations Viacom18 Motion Pictures
Distributed by	Viacom18 Motion Pictures
Release date	21 February 2019 (2019-02-21)
Running time	160 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

This movie was a commercial success at box office.^[5]

Plot

A raid takes place on the car of a huge businessman, Ronald. ₹3 crore (US$350,000) is found in the car and taken away by the police.

The story then shifts to Balan, an advocate who hasn't made much in life due to his stutter. He is finally successful in a case that granted bail for his client, Anzar. After Anzar offers a house in a crooked colony for Balan instead of his fees, he is kicked out of the house by Babu. He leaves for his house in his hometown where his father and mother stay. After some unfortunate events, Balan's brother-in-law entrusts him with a complicated case.

Balan solves the case due to his love for Anuradha. The police chief was part of that cash of ₹3 crore (US$350,000) confiscated by police. His nexus with Ronaldo and Tina is filmed by the intelligent father of Anuradha who asks ₹5 crore (US$580,000) but DG gets him killed. Anuradha's father kept the secret in a bank locker. Since he has taught his daughter to solve puzzles, Anuradha helps Balan with major leads in the case, and the rest of the story is how they solve this mystery.

Cast

• Dileep as Adv. Balakrishnan Pillai
• Mamta Mohandas as Anuradha Sudarshan
  • Niveditha as Young Anuradha
• Priya Anand as Teena Shankar, Third Antagonist
• K. B. Ganesh Kumar as ACP Vincent Thomas IPS, Balakrishnan's college senior and advisor
• Aju Varghese as Ansar Ali Khan
• Suraj Venjaramoodu as SI P. Mohanan Pillai, Balakrishnan's sister's husband
• Harish Uthaman as Ronald, businessman, Secondary Antagonist
• Vamsi Krishna as ACP Ratnavel IPS
• Siddique as Somasekharan Pillai, Balakrishnan's father
• Renji Panicker as DGP K. E. Eappan IPS, The Main Antagonist
• Bheeman Raghu as Irumbu Babu
• Saiju Kurup as Judge Vidhyadharan, Balakrishnan's friend
• Bindu Panicker as Vishalam, Balakrishnan's Mother
• Lena as ADGP Indulekha Marar IPS
• Rajesh Sharma as Sudarshan, Anuradha's father
• Veena Nair as Beena
• Thesni Khan as Anuradha's stepmother
• Kottayam Pradeep as Chacko, Court Attender
• Shobha Mohan as Vidhyadharan's mother
• Arjun Nandhakumar as Adv. Pramod
• Sajid Yahiya as Stranger
• Dinesh Panicker as Home Minister Radhakrishnan
• Uma Nair as Public Prosecutor
• Poojappura Radhakrishnan as Tea Shop Owner
• Priyanka as Tea Shop Owner's Wife
• Sharika Menon as Balan's sister
• Nandu Poduwal as Thaddeus
• Aparna P Nair as Lady Seeking Divorce
• Baby as Colony lady
• Mary as Colony lady
• Neha Iyer as herself in the song "Babuetta"

Production

Unnikrishnan initially visualised the story with Mohanlal in mind for Balakrishnan, which he conceived in 2014.^[6] When he told the one-line story, Mohanlal suggested Dileep would better suit the character.^[7] The film was produced by Viacom18 Motion Pictures and marks their debut in Malayalam cinema.^[8]

Music

Rahul Raj was initially signed in as the composer. But as the project was pushed to October, he had to opt out after composing two songs, "Then Panimathiye" and "Thaniye Itha" as he had to be in Berklee, Spain. The other two songs, "Babuvetta" and "Onnum Mindaathe", were thus composed by Gopi Sunder^[9]

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Then Panimathiye"	Hari Shankar
2.	"Onnum Mindathe"	Shashaa Tirupati
3.	"Thaniye Ithaa"	Yazin Nizar
4.	"Babuvetta"	Pravanam Sasi, Sithara Krishnakumar

Marketing and release

The teaser trailer video of Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel was released on 27 December 2018 and the theatrical trailer on 24 January 2019.^[10][11] The film was released on 21 February 2019.^[12][13]

Reception

Box office

The film was a commercial success, grossing over ₹25 crore (US$2.9 million) from Kerala.^[14] It grossed around $47,728 from the US in its lifetime.^[15] It grossed $8,546(NZ$12,484)(₹5.91 lakhs) from New Zealand.^[16][17]

Critical response

News18 rated 3.5 on a scale of 5 and wrote that the film "blends all the right ingredients of populist cinema and emerges victorious".^[18] The New Indian Express critic also rated it 3.5 out of 5 and commented: "The film makes it obvious from early on that it was not designed to provide any sort of intellectual stimulation, and any attempt to seek the same would be an exercise in futility. It's more interested in playing to the gallery and should be approached in the same way as you would any commercial entertainer".^[19] The Times of India critic rated 3 out of 5 stars and wrote that it is a "run-of-the-mill thriller made for you to like and be in awe of the hero. It is demanding you to like him and root for him, sometimes out of sympathy and the other times for his intelligence. It is a story entirely revolving around that need to urge you to like him and appreciate his Sherlock-ian intelligence".^[5] Sify's critic called it an "average thriller" and rated 2.5 in a scale of 5 and said the film "ends up as an okay one time watch, packaged for those who don't need much to be thrilled".^[20]

Remake

In late February 2019, Unnikrishnan said that Viacom is considering remaking the movie and discussions are in the initial stages. We are talking to both Akshay Kumar and Shah Rukh Khan for starring in the movie.^[21]