2018 (film)

2018 (subtitled onscreen as Everyone is a Hero) is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language survival thriller film based on the severe 2018 Kerala floods that devastated Kerala. It is directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, who wrote the screenplay with Akhil P. Dharmajan and is produced by Venu Kunnappilly, C.K. Padmakumar, and Anto Joseph under the banner of Kavya Film Company in collaboration with P.K. Prime Production Producers. The film stars Kunchacko Boban, Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain and Lal with an ensemble supporting cast.

Inspired by 2012, The film was announced on 16 October 2018 by Jude Anthany Joseph. Principal photography commenced on 27 May 2022. The film was shot in different parts of Kerala, as well as Tirunelveli and Hyderabad. The filming was wrapped up on 13 November 2022.

Initially set to release on 21 April 2023, it eventually released on 5 May 2023. The film received generally positive reviews and became a huge commercial success in the box office, grossing around inr 176 at the box office to emerge as the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all-time. until it was surpassed by Manjummel Boys. On 27 September 2023, the film was chosen by the Film Federation of India as India's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards. It was chosen as it addresses a global issue and depicts the harrowing realities of what a natural calamity is for common people. It became the fourth Malayalam film after Guru (1997), Adaminte Makan Abu (2011) and Jallikattu (2019) to be selected as India's official submission for the Academy Awards, although it failed to make the cut. It was featured in the 54th IFFI Indian panorama mainstream section.

Plot
In 2018, in a small town, Anoop, a former military officer haunted by the trauma of witnessing soldiers' deaths, works at a store owned by the visually impaired Bhasi. Anoop's affections are directed towards Manju, a teacher at the local government school, and the two contemplate marriage. Seeking a Dubai visa, Anoop enlists the help of his friend Rameshan, who grapples with a hidden marital crisis. Sethupathi, a truck driver from a drought-stricken Tamil Nadu village, crosses paths with Noora, a TV reporter covering the water scarcity crisis. This encounter triggers a fateful incident, leading Noora to Kerala, where her family faces health challenges.

Tensions escalate among protestors dissatisfied with media coverage, culminating in a violent plan involving explosives. Sethupathi is tasked with transporting the explosives to Kerala. Meanwhile, Shaji, a government officer overseeing disaster management, grapples with missing fishermen after a severe storm.

Mathachan, a fisherman, and his family rescue lost fishermen while navigating internal conflicts. Nixon, Mathachan's son, defies family tradition by pursuing a modelling career, complicating his relationship with Jiji, Chandy's daughter. Nixon returns to help his family during floods, overcoming differences with his father. Rameshan's family troubles intensify, prompting his return to Kerala, while Anoop's wedding plans face disruption due to heavy rainfall.

The floods wreak havoc, and Shaji, Anoop, and Sethupathi involve themselves highly in rescue efforts. A tragedy strikes when Mathachan loses his life during a rescue operation. Sethupathi undergoes a transformation, abandoning his initial intentions to contribute to relief efforts by delivering groceries. Koshy, a taxi driver, and a Polish couple seek refuge in Anoop's house during the floods.

Anoop's heroism extends to aiding Air Force officers, saving a pregnant woman, and attempting to rescue a distressed family. He even saves the blind shopkeeper, Bhasi. Unfortunately, Anoop loses his life while saving others, leaving a legacy of selflessness.

As floodwaters recede, the community honours Anoop's sacrifices with a monument.

Development
The film was officially announced in September 2018 with the initial title 2403 Ft.: The Story Of Unexpected Heroes, which was later changed to the current title. Jude Anthony intended to make a film about the 2018 Kerala floods in 2018 with a major part of the film being about the rescue operations undertaken by the fishermen community. The film will be scripted by Jude Anthony himself along with John Manthrickal, who was the co-writer of Annmariya Kalippilaanu. Shan Rahman would serve as the composer, with cinematography and editing by Jomon T. John and Mahesh Narayanan, respectively. The film also demands a lot of visual effects and CG and is in talks with a Hollywood-based VFX company. The cast was not confirmed but, Jude confirmed that the film would begin in 2019. However, the technicians who were initially announced were not retained during the process, resulting in a total turnover.

The idea initially came to Jude Anthony when he was approached by an NGO to document the heroic acts of thousands of people throughout the flood, giving a positive message for today's society. As a part of his extensive research, he met with fisherman from Kollam who went for rescue work in Chengannur during that time. He also had conversations with the police, volunteers, army personnel and fire force workers who have assisted in rescue operations. He started working with the novelist Akhil P. Dharmajan on the script initially completing the draft in June 2019 and began filming at a school in Kalady in October 2019. A span of three years was taken to complete the film that had 125 characters and several subplots.

"We all witnessed what happened during the floods. We saw the visuals through the news report. I began to conceptualise the film around the lives of ordinary people, and this is how the narrative began." – Jude. Jude Anthony said that Tovino's character was inspired by a news report that cited the incident of a man drowning during the rescue operations.

Casting
In October 2019, it was reported that the film will feature an ensemble cast consisting of Manju Warrier, Indrajith, Jayasurya, Kunchako Boban, Asif Ali, Indrans, and Tovino Thomas. However, Jayasurya dropped out of the project to focus on Rojin Thomas’ 3D fantasy thriller Kathanar. Tovino was cast to play a former soldier who had gone AWOL along with Tanvi Ram to play an important role. The portions of the film that had Tovino and Tanvi Ram were shot in 2019. Vineeth Sreenivasan and Guru Somasundaram were reported to be part of the film in 2022.

Filming
Principal photography started on 27 May 2022. Locations span across different parts of Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Alappuzha, Idukki, and Kollam districts. Tirunelveli and Hyderabad were significant locations outside Kerala. The first schedule wrapped up on 21 October 2019 which had scenes featuring Tovino and Tanvi Ram. The shooting was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was expected to restart in June 2022. The shot resumed on 28 May 2022 with Kunchako Boban joining the sets after his completion of Nna Thaan Case Kodu (2022), C U Soon (2020) and Ariyippu (2022). Jude Anthony and art director Mohandas Pallakkotil discussed the subject in 2019, and it took them years to plot how to showcase the flood and rescue operations on screen. Mohandas Pallakkotil worked on the sets of the film for several months before convincing the makers to portray places damaged by flooding. The decision to have real water to depict the flood was made because of financial restrictions in Malayalam cinema on using high-quality graphics. They began building miniature houses to show water rushing into the houses and raising water levels. The major shots of the flood were done on a 22-acre film set site at Maravanthuruthu near Vaikom. A 2 acre water tank was constructed on the set, filled with water and underwater sequences were shot. 14 houses were built in total, which were then transformed into different houses as per need. Electric posts, plants, and trees were made up of water-resistant materials. The sea sequence featuring Asif Ali, Lal, and Narrain had a boat that was approaching the shore and also a ship, which was generated by CGI, and the other portions were filmed using artificial lights. The airlift scene, which was shot over a span of eight nights. It took them 1.4 million to build the helicopter using construction sets to generate the scene in the film. The scenes were shot from June to July during the height of rainfall to make the background look natural. The scenes that had Idukki Dam were also created using a set. The scene showing a flooded Aluva river was shot in August 2022, where the Aluva river overflooded during that time, and the shots showing actors walking on floodwaters were actually filmed.

The filming was completed on 13 November 2022. According to director Jude, the film was made on a cost of ₹260 million, adding all expenses, including hotel stays.

Theatrical
The film was reported to be theatrically released in January 2023, but got delayed. Scheduled for release on 21 April 2023, the film was postponed and subsequently released on 5 May 2023 in Kerala. The Hindi, Tamil and Telugu dubbed versions were released on 26 May 2023. Anand Pandit released the Hindi dubbed version, which was distributed by E4 Entertainment. The Telugu dubbed version was released by Bunny Vas of GA2 Pictures.

Home media
SonyLIV obtained the digital rights and began streaming it on 7 June 2023. Apart from Malayalam, it was dubbed into Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Hindi.

Music
The soundtrack and background score were composed by Nobin Paul. The first song "Minnal Minnane" composed by William Francis was released on 4 May 2023, a day before the film's release.

Box office
2018 was a commercial success at the box office, grossing over inr 1760000000 globally, thereby becoming the second highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time.

13,671 tickets were sold in the three days at the Kavitha Theatre in Ernakulam, collecting ₹18.14 lakh. The film received a warm response in Tamil Nadu. Multiplexes in Chennai were to include additional shows, with the dubbed Tamil version slated for release on 12 or 19 May 2023. The film collected over ₹320 million on its fourth day. The telugu version released in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana grossed over ₹54.7 million on its fourth day. The film grossed over inr 500000000 within one week of its release. The film grossed inr 800000000 in its nine days of release. It also became the fastest Malayalam film to earn inr 1000000000. The film has reportedly collected ₹10 million from Aries Plex Trivandrum. On its 17th day it grossed over inr 1380000000 with ₹650 million from Kerala and ₹90 million from other states. On its 22nd day, it reached the mark inr 1500000000 grossing over ₹750 million from Kerala State and ₹650 million from overseas. The film surpassed the seven-year record held by Pulimurugan to emerge as the highest grossing Malayalam film of all time and grossed inr 153 crore in 24 days. It also surpassed Pulimurugan to reach the ₹800 million mark in the Kerala box office. The film reportedly had a successful run in Karnataka. The film grossed ₹87 crore from Kerala alone making it the first Malayalam film to achieve the feat.

2018 grossed $85,229 in New Zealand, $288,293 in Australia, $842,933 in the United Kingdom and $3.6 million in the United Arab Emirates.

Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 100% based on 5 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10.

Gopika Is of The Times of India praised the songs and the background scores, gave a rating of 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "The quality of the writing shows and Akhil P. Dharmajan and Jude has done a commendable job. Cinematography by Akhil George needs special mention. Add Chaman Chacko's editing and quality VFX, the movie is a good watch." Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 4 out of 5 stars and wrote "The makers quickly establish that rain is a pervasive and influential character in the movie."

Janani K. of India Today gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Director Jude Anthany Joseph's 2018 is a film that reminds us of the Kerala floods. It is also a reminder that humanity still exists and how solidarity matters when survival is in question." Jose K. George of The Week gave 3.5 out of 5 stars, praising the cast's performance particularly Tovino Thomas, Sudheesh and Kalaiyarasan and wrote "The movie's tagline says it all. This isn't the story of extraordinary people; this is the story of, and tribute to, ordinary people who became extraordinary because of their willingness to risk their lives for total strangers."

Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTPlay gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Aided by a gripping storyline and stirring moments, Jude Anthany Joseph's 2018 tells the story of hope and resilience, and serves as a reminder of how the Kerala floods was a great leveller." Telangana Today wrote "2018 is a must-watch film for its engaging narration and superior technical standards. One cannot miss this best presentation of humanity on the big screen." S. R. Praveen of The Hindu noted "Jude Anthany Joseph's technically solid recreation of the floods is a message of unity too."

Princy Alexander of Onmanorama wrote "Jude Anthany Joseph's '2018: Everyone is a Hero ' is a well-balanced film that will leave you satisfied, and keep you engaged till the end." Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars, stating that "This is definitely not the sort of film that has the intellect to treat with empathy a man's desire to rise above his family's station in life even while judging him for being judgmental towards them." Serene Sarah George of Film Companion wrote, " In the polarized times we live in, we can sure do with a solid reminder of the power of togetherness."

Critics praise the film compared to 2023 Hindi propaganda film The Kerala Story starting north actresses Adah Sharma and Siddhi Idnani   under fire for misrepresented the state stereotypes as actress claimed being Malayali was quest noted.

Awards and honours
On 27 September 2023, the film was selected as the India's official entry by Film Federation of India for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, although it failed to make the cut when the shortlisted films were announced.