King of Kotha

King of Kotha (also marketed as KOK) is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Abhilash Joshiy in his directorial debut. Jointly produced by Wayfarer Films and Zee Studios, the film stars an ensemble cast of Dulquer Salmaan, Shabeer Kallarakkal, Prasanna, Gokul Suresh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, Nyla Usha, Shammi Thilakan, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sajitha Madathil, Shanthi Krishna, Saran Shakthi and Anikha Surendran. The cinematography and editing were handled by Nimish Ravi and Shyam Sasidharan, while the music was composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman.

King of Kotha was released worldwide on 24 August 2023 on Onam weekend to generally mixed reviews from critics. Despite getting a strong opening, the film became a box office bomb. The film is the 5th most expensive Malayalam film ever.

Plot
1996: CI Shahul Hassan is transferred to a fictional crime-infested town called Kotha, which is situated near the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. Shahul enquires more about the town and learns that the citizens, especially teenagers are addicted to narcotics. While investigating about the background of the narcotics, Shahul learns about Kannan Bhai, a notorious and dangerous drug lord, who is the dictator of Kotha. Shahul meets Kannan Bhai at his casino along with SI Tony Titus, where he is humiliated and beated by Kannan and Kannan's men, known as K-TEAM, after Shahul try to arrest Kannan. This humiliates Shahul, who starts inquiring about Raju from Tony as Kannan earlier mentioned the name, where Tony reveals Raju's past.

1986: Raju is a notorious and arrogant gangster, and Kannan's childhood friend, who was the former dictator of Kotha. Despite his violent nature, Raju was loved by all the people of Kotha, like a god. Tony and Kannan are a part of Raju's gang and football team called "Winners Kotha". Raju is always at loggerheads with Ranjith Bhai, who is the head of the neighbouring town Gandhigram, but Ranjith never harms Raju out of respect for Raju's father Kotha Ravi, who was also a gangster in the past. Raju meets Tara and falls in love with her. Kannan tries to get Raju and his gang to deal with narcotics, but Raju disagrees as Tara's brother committed suicide due to drug overdose. Raju does not share a good relationship with his parents as his mother Malathi hates him for being a gangster.

One day, Ranjith sends photos of Tara hanging out with a Bombay-based journalist named Nikhil, where Raju breaks up with Tara and starts drinking heavily. Blinded by his greed for wealth and power, Kannan decides to partner up with Ranjith and agrees to transport cannabis into Kotha. Knowing this, Raju gets enraged and confronts Kannan, who refuses to reveal anything about the narcotics. Raju gets into a fight with Kannan and ends up cracking Kannan's right eye. A few days later, Malathi realises that Raju may not live for long due to his alcoholism, where she advises him to leave Kotha and never come back. Raju leaves Kotha on the night of the FIFA World Cup Finals and later goes missing.

1996: Shahul tells Tony to enquire about Raju with the UP Police, where he gets a fax from the Lucknow police station about Raju being a retired assassin named "Raju Madrassi". Shahul sends a telegram to Raju, saying his sister Rithu is in danger. Kannan's drug-addicted brother-in-law Jinu and Rithu are in love with each other. As they are sitting in a restaurant, Tony arrives with his force and takes away Jinu for carrying cannabis packets. Rithu later cuts all ties with Jinu. After getting released, Jinu goes to Rithu's house to talk to her, but is kicked out by Ravi. The next day, Jinu tries to set Rithu on fire by dousing her in gasoline, but she manages to escape as Tony arrives.

Jinu gets brutally killed by Raju, who has arrived back in Kotha after receiving the telegram from Tony. Jinu's sister Manju learns about this and decides to kill Raju. It is also revealed that Kannan killed Ranjith in order to make Manju as his wife. That night, Kannan meets Raju at a bar and learns that Raju has become more dangerous after going to UP. Manju sends men to kill Raju, who thrashes them back after a fight, which Manju witnesses. The next day, Shahul makes an offer to Raju to kill Kannan, but he declines the offer, stating that Kannan is still his best friend. Kannan sends up a contract killer named "Suitcase Leslie" to kill Raju, but Raju kills Leslie and sends his remains to Kannan. Kannan gets agitated and arrives at the market with his men, where they fight against Raju. Raju thrashes them and kills Kannan's right-hand man Erilan, thus avenging the death of his friend Rafi. Which leads Kannan to go for a hideout.

That night, Raju goes to Tara's house to invite her for Rithu's birthday, but Kannan arrives and stabs Tara infront of Rush. As Tara is rushed to the hospital, Raju gets a call from Kannan, where he rushes to the dockyard and finds Ravi killed and hanged by Kannan henchman Katta. Kannan's mother Kalikutty promises to bring Kannan to Raju so that Raju can kill him. Kannan captures Raju and stabs him, where Manju arrives. Raju discloses that he has known Manju since her teenage as a prostitute and that Jinu was actually her son who was born after she was assaulted by her stepfather. Manju leaves the place humiliated and Raju escapes after the police arrive at the scene. Raju is missing and the townsfolk believe him to be dead.

However, Raju is still alive and was planning his attack on Kannan all the while, where he sends a letter to Shahul saying that he has accepted the offer that Shahul had made earlier. Raju kills all of Kannan's K-Team Members including Njarambu, Katta, Memu and Kukkudu, but spears Kannan's secretary Peelan. Raju offers the entire town of Kotha to Peelan in exchange for killing Kannan. Peelan accepts the offer and switches sides. Raju goes to Kannan's casino and confronts Kannan, who brings a group of contract killers to kill Raju. Raju kills all of them and incapacitates Kannan. Raju tells Kannan that he cannot kill him as he still considers him as his best friend, where he brings Ranjith's son Sonu to kill him. It is also revealed that Ranjith's men helped Raju escape from Kannan's hideout earlier. Sonu kills Kannan and hands the gun over to Raju, who kills Peelan, telling that Kotha doesn't need a dictator anymore.

1998: Raju is happily living with Tara and Rithu in Shimla, where he receives a call from his arch-enemy Dev Gujjar sent by Manju to kill him.

Development
The film along with its title was announced on 28 July 2021 on the occasion of Dulquer Salmaan's 35th birthday. Salmaan who portrays a gangster in the film stated: "King of Kotha will be having all these elements (perfectly timed clap points, catchy songs, and elevation sequences) that could satisfy the audience." He also added that this is a dream project with his childhood friend Abhilash Joshiy, son of veteran filmmaker Joshiy, and have been waiting for the past few years to find a perfect project to collaborate. It is written by Abhilash N. Chandran, who had earlier worked on Porinju Mariam Jose (2019). In October 2022, Salmaan stated in an interview that, "It is an action gangster genre, noir film set in a fictional town. It's interesting because I generally tend to veer away from this type of cinema quite a bit. But I found a bit of a balance. I feel like it has content, it has great writing, but it's also a very commercial gangster drama." On 23 June 2023 the film's motion poster, titled "People of Kotha" was launched.

Filming and casting
The principal photography began on 27 September 2022 at Karaikudi, while additional filming occurred in Rameswaram and Ramanathapuram. Nimish Ravi joined as the film's cinematographer. After rumours of Samantha Ruth Prabhu being approached for a role, it was reported that Aishwarya Lekshmi was signed to play Salmaan's pair. Shabeer Kallarakkal was roped in to play the main antagonist. Actor Gokul Suresh was cast to play a pivotal role and actors Chemban Vinod Jose and Sudhi Koppa were also added to the cast. Nyla Usha and Shanthi Krishna were also cast in key roles. Zee Studios associated with Wayfarer Films for the film's production and marked its maiden feature film production venture in Malayalam. It was reported that, a major schedule in Karaikudi was interrupted due to the rain, and the team took a brief break. Ritika Singh joined the production in early-November 2022 and shot for an item song. In December 2022, Shammi Thilakan announced his addition to the cast through his Facebook page. In January 2023, Prasanna and Saran Shakthi confirmed being cast in the film. Filming took 95 days and the Karaikudi schedule was wrapped up on 21 February 2023.

Music
The background score is composed by Jakes Bejoy while the songs have been composed by Jakes Bejoy and Shaan Rahman separately. The music rights were bagged by Sony Music India. The track "People of Kotha" that was featured in the motion poster video was released on 23 June 2023, the same date as the promo. The first single titled "Kalapakkaara" was released on 28 July 2023, on the occasion of Salmaan's birthday. The second single titled "Ee Ulakin" was released on 19 August 2023.

Theatrical
King of Kotha was theatrically released on Aug 24, 2023, coinciding with Onam. The film was intended to be released in Malayalam, along with the dubbed versions in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada.

Home media
The film was premiered on Disney+ Hotstar from Sep 29, 2023 in Malayalam and in dubbed versions of Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. The Hindi version premiered on the platform from 20 October 2023.

Reception
King of Kotha received poor reviews from general audience and critics alike, with criticism on its screenplay, clichéd plot, some casting, dialogues and direction. However the background scores, cinematography, technical aspects, and cast performances (especially Dulquer, Shabeer and Gokul's performances). Most of the critics praised Shabeer Kallarakkal and Gokul Suresh's performances, cinematography and background scores of the film.

Critical response
Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTplay gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "King of Kotha might have a familiar storyline that feels stretched out in parts, but Dulquer's performance along with the grand visuals make this gangster revenge saga worth watching in theatres." Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Though the Dulquer Salmaan-starrer possessed the potential to be celebrated alongside iconic gangster movies like Satya, Vada Chennai, and Gangs of Wasseypur, its failure to feature a compelling narrative prevents it from reaching the lofty heights it aspired to achieve."

Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India gave 3 out of 5 stars and wrote, "King of Kotha suffers from the same old problem of not knowing how much is too much. Short of becoming a cult gangster classic, it does have the mass appeal and the ability to hold its audience captive for a long time. It just doesn't know when to stop." Janani K. of India Today gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "King of Kotha is a gangster drama that has many interesting ideas, but they are underused. Despite the pacing issues, the film holds your attention."

Gautaman Bhaskaran of News18 gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "King of Kotha has a nice plot, but an over-ambitious scripting pushes it in a multitude of paths with the cream of it all turning sour. The narrative is uneven, and direction not quite up to the mark." Priyanka Sundar of Firstpost gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "If King Of Kotha had as much of an emotional depth as Dulquer Salmaan's one dialogue that explains his love for Aishwarya Lekshmi's Thara — we would have probably had a winner." Nirmal Jovial of The Week gave 2 out of 5 stars and wrote, "King of Kotha clocks in at nearly three hours in duration. A more judicious and precise editing process could have resulted in a more tolerable viewing experience. Stylised action sequences cannot compensate for the weak script."

Princy Alexander of Onmanorama wrote, "Though the film gets a little predictable towards the end, the filmmakers have tried to steer clear from sticking to the old formula of mass action films. The songs, the visuals, and the style of making have helped elevate the film, so it appeals to a pan-Indian audience." S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote, "King of Kotha, in the end, is an unabashed vehicle for Dulquer's superstardom aspirations, but it does not pack enough of a punch to become the crowning glory that it was intended to be." Vishal Menon of Film Companion wrote, "With the freshness limited to the visuals and the music department, the moments of high King Of Kotha achieve quickly deflate just when you feel the film has done its job. Sadly, there's only so much you can do with daggers and swagger when the runtime is close to three hours."

Box office
King of Kotha had a strong opening at the box office grossing over ₹7.7 crore which was the second highest opening for a malayalam film after Odiyan (2018).

King of Kotha grossed US$9619 in New Zealand, US$160553 in the United Kingdom, US$674061 in the United Arab Emirates and US$45206 in Australia, totaling US$889439 in international earnings.