Angamaly Diaries

Angamaly Diaries is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language epic crime film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by Chemban Vinod Jose. The film features 86 debutant actors with Antony Varghese, Anna Rajan, Appani Sarath, Kichu Tellus, Vineeth Vishwam, Bitto Davis, Ullas Chemban, Tito Wilson and Sinoj Varghese playing the main roles. It marks Vijay Babu's first production under Friday Film House. The film features an uncut 11-minute long take in the climax featuring around 1000 artists.

Angamaly Diaries was released on 3 March 2017 to critical acclaim and emerged as a commercial success at the box office. The film was included in The Hindu's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade. Antony Varghese won the Youth Icon Award at Asianet Film Awards.

It was remade in Telugu as Falaknuma Das (2019) starring Vishwak Sen in the lead role.

Plot
2001: Vincent Pepe is a resident in Angamaly, which is a medium-sized suburb of Kochi near the airport. In the middle school, Pepe and his friends put together an unofficial "team", a kind-of-pretend gang. They hero-worshipped the leading team of their area at that time, which was led by Babuji and his lieutenant Thomas. They are used to exercising with them and listen to their advice on fighting and strategy. As young men, Pepe and his friends get into their first fight with outsiders, who were bothering the neighbourhood girls.

2008: Pepe starts his first sweet romance with a local girl named Seema, whom he had known since school days. However, the innocent phase ends with Babuji getting killed by two local boys Ravi and Rajan, who are sent to prison for the murder.

2013: Pepe still has the same friends and Babuji's friend Thomas has become a member of their team in an adviser capacity. Pepe is seriously dating a nursing student from Germany and looking for a way to build a business that can support himself and his friends. They start a pork business by purchasing pigs wholesale from Ravi and Rajan, who have become the leading merchants in the neighbourhood after their release from prison. Later, Pepe and his friends start their own pig farm and set up a wholesale business rivalling Ravi and Rajan.

During a discussion between the two groups, Pepe and his friends and Ravi and Raman's young followers led by Ravi's brother-in-law get into a fight, where Pepe accidentally kills one of them. To resolve the court case, Pepe's team has to turn to increasingly illegal activities to raise money to pay off Ravi and Raman and their friends. They open an illegal poker hall and manage to raise funds. With the case hanging over him, Pepe feels obligated to end his relationship with the nursing student.

At this point, Lily "Lichi" David, who is Pepe's friend's older sister, returns to the area, where she starts spending more time with Pepe despite the court case hanging over him. The court case is settled, but Pepe is still in danger because the person he accidentally killed has cousins who have come to Angamaly for revenge. Ravi and Rajan act as go-betweens and try to keep the situation calm, but it is still a problem and Pepe needs to leave town. While Pepe is waiting for his Dubai visa to come through and celebrating a festival, they give the final payoff to Ravi and Rajan who pass on a portion to the cousins of the victim. However, the cousins are still angry and plan to attack Pepe after they receive all the money they can.

2014: During the evening festival celebrations, the cousins attack Ravi and Rajan as they learn that they will only receive a small proportion of the money Pepe paid them. During the fight, Ravi's brother-in-law is chased into the fireworks display and everyone watches in stunned silence as his body is charred by thousands of fireworks.

2016: Pepe marries Lichi and is a construction worker in Dubai, from where he still calls home regularly and also misses his life in Angamaly.

Production
The film introduces 86 new actors and the audition was held at different parts of Kerala, especially at Kochi. Actor Chemban Vinod Jose wrote the screenplay. The filming started on 11 October 2016 in Kochi. Angamaly Diaries is Vijay Babu's first sole production after the spat with his business partner Sandra Thomas.

Soundtrack
The film's music was composed by Prashant Pillai, with lyrics by P. S. Rafeeque and Preeti Pillai. The full movie soundtrack was released on 23 February 2017 and consists of 9 songs: six original and three alternate versions.

Theatrical
The film was released theatrically on 3 March 2017.

Box office
The film collected over inr 200000000 in its final run in theatres.

Critical reception
Angamaly Diaries received positive reviews from critics who praised its realistic making, cinematography, performances and action sequences.

Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter termed the film as a "rambunctious breakout" and praised the climax describing it as "dazzling, can’t-look-away finale, shot in a single 12-minute take that throws in everything plus the kitchen sink and brings the story to a shrill conclusion". Anjana George of The Times of India gave 4 out of 5 stars and praised the film as "Showcasing a mélange of beautiful visuals, thumping music and natural performances, Angamaly Diaries is one of the more fresh and terrific attempts made by a filmmaker of late in Mollywood Film." She added, "Chemban has weaved in the dialect, food, music and culture of the people in Angamaly to the plot, paying careful attention to every intricate detail, while making it an engaging movie."

Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost gave 4 out of 5 stars and called it as a "delightful, unexpectedly hilarious take on the squalid underbelly of Kerala’s Angamaly town.". She added, "If ever there was an example of the committed cinephile’s dictum “it is not the story but the treatment that makes a film”, you have it here. Because if you think about it, Angamaly Diaries – funny and insightful in equal measure – does not have a story in the conventional sense, yet that, among so many other reasons, is what makes it brilliant." Veeyen termed the film as "Excellent" and stated that "the Angamaly that filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery and writer Vinod Jose scribble their diary notes on is a dusty, deafening town that smells of pork and sloshed human blood. The ceaseless squabbles for honour, money and might render it a land with almost dystopian proportions, where a terrifyingly realistic tale of subsistence unfurls."

Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "Like last year’s Kannada blockbuster Kirik Party, Angamaly Diaries is proof that these relatively under-the-radar upstart films are making far better use of mainstream tropes – fights, songs, comedy – than your average mega-budget big-star vehicle...like Premam, Angamaly Diaries places a certain kind of small-town, short-fused masculinity under a microscope. Men are defined by their actions – and I’m not just talking about the action sequences."

Impact
The film also received high praise from the film fraternity. Mohanlal wrote "Happened to watch Angamaly Diaries and I'm impressed by the way the movie is made. Brilliant acting by every one and Kudos to the whole team and to Chemban Vinod Jose and Lijo Jose Pellissery". Prithviraj Sukumaran lauded it as a "stunning piece of film making" and praised its "original writing". Nivin Pauly applauded the casting, performances, story calling them "so refreshing and real". Karthik Subbaraj called the film "Super Fantastic" and lauded it, saying "Writing, Performances & Filmmaking Crafts at its best". Anurag Kashyap called it "an extraordinary film" and tagged Angamaly Diaries as his film of the year so far.