Amala (2023 film)

Amala is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film directed by Nishad Ebrahim, starring Srikanth, Rajisha Vijayan, Anarkali Marikar and Appani Sarath. Srikanth's character speaks in Tamil in the film. and was an official selection at 2021 Chennai International Film Festival.

The film was scheduled to release on 26 May 2023, but was postponed and the film was released on 16 June 2023.

Plot
Amala focus on an investigation of a murder with ACP Akbar Ali is assigned to find the murderer. Meantime, inside the forest, lives two girls alone in a house. Akbar Ali finds out some similarities in both the cases and the presence of a psycho-killer comes into the picture. The investigation leads to the childhood of the psycho-killer and it opens up the pandora of the mental state of the murderer who still have evil plans on many, whom he believe have destroyed his childhood.

Production
Tamil actor Srikanth was signed to play the lead role, alongside Anarkali Marikar and Appani Sarath, who were already cast in the film. Sajitha Madathil later joined the cast, and Gopi Sundar was signed as the film's music director. Lead actor Anarkali Marikar mentioned that Nishad Ebrahim and Muhsina Nishad Ebrahim have been involved in the production of Amala for over 6 years. Anarkali Marikar and Appani Sarath were the first actors to sign for Amala in 2017.

Reception
Aswin Bharadwaj from Lensmenreviews gave a thumbs-down to the film, stating it as a thriller that becomes highly annoying due to amateur presentation, despite having an ambitious one-liner. Arun Ramachandran of South First wrote that the film is a decent watch about serial killings, featuring an intense story that picks up after the interval block. He also praised Appani Sharath's performance.