Bazooka (film)

Bazooka is an upcoming Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written and directed by Deeno Dennis in his directorial debut. The film stars Mammootty in the lead role. The film is produced by Dolwin Kuriakose, Jinu V. Abraham, Vikram Mehra and Sidharth Anand Kumar under the banners of Yoodlee Films and Theatre of Dreams.

The official title was announced in April 2023. Principal photography began in May 2023 in Kochi. The music was composed by Midhun Mukundan, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Nimish Ravi and Nishadh Yusuf.

Bazooka is scheduled to be released in 2024.

Cast

 * Mammootty
 * Gautham Vasudev Menon
 * Babu Antony
 * Gayathiri Iyer
 * Neeta Pillai
 * Divya Pillai
 * Sharaf U Dheen
 * Jagadish
 * Sidharth Bharathan
 * Iswarya Menon
 * Spadikam George
 * Shammi Thilakan
 * Mime Gopi
 * Vaiyapuri
 * Bhama Arun
 * Hakkim Shah
 * Abin Bino
 * Khalid Rahman
 * V. K. Prakash
 * Vasisht Umesh

Development
The film marks the directorial debut of Deeno Dennis, son of screenwriter Kaloor Dennis, who has a long history of working with Mammootty as a frequent collaborator for Joshiy. Deeno Dennis has also written the script for the film. Deeno Dennis has been working on the script for the last three years. He narrated the script to Mammootty, who immediately accepted to do the role. Mammootty said that he was instantly drawn to the script which he believed to have a tight narrative and well-rounded characters. The film is produced by Dolwin Kuriakose and Jinu V. Abraham under the banner of Yoodlee Films, the film studio of Saregama India Private Limited and Vikram Mehra and Sidharth Anand Kumar under the banner of Theatre of Dreams. The cinematography is handled by Nimish Ravi who also shot Mammootty's Rorschach (2022). Stunt Silva is in charge of choreographing action sequences. The official title, Bazooka, was announced by the makers on 9 April 2023. The film has been in pre-production for a long time.

Casting
In April 2023, Gautham Vasudev Menon was signed to play a prominent role after completing his portions of Leo (2023) marking his first collaboration with Mammootty. Sidharth Bharathan is doing a significant role. In May 2023, Neeta Pillai joined the cast as one of the female leads. Divya Pillai and Iswarya Menon were also chosen to play the female leads. The other female actors in the cast include Gayathiri Iyer and Bhama Arun. Jagadish, Sharfuddin, Deen Dennis, Sphadikam George and Sunny Wayne were also cast to play key roles. Sumith Naval, known for his role in Big B (2007), is making a comeback and joined the cast in July 2023. In July 2023, Babu Antony was reported to play the role of an antagonist. Abin Bino, who gained popularity through Romancham was cast to play a role in the film.

Filming
It was reported that the filming would begin by the end of April 2023 and was expected to be completed by July–August, with 90–100 days of shooting in Coimbatore, Kochi and Bangalore. The filming was later pushed following the death of Mammootty's mother. Principal photography began on 10 May 2023 with a puja ceremony at the Samudrika Convention Centre in Willingdon Island. Mammootty joined the sets on May 12, 2023. Mammootty completed his shooting portions on 5 August 2023. On August 2023, Hakkim Shah met with an accident on the set while riding a bike as part of a chase sequence. Mammootty shot for 45 days for the film.

Music
The music was composed by Midhun Mukundan in his second collaboration with Mammootty, after Rorschach.

Release
Earlier reports indicated that Bazooka will be released along with Barroz in December 2023 on the occasion of Christmas, but was delayed. It is now scheduled for a theatrical release in 2024.