The Hitlist

The Hitlist is a 2012 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film written, directed and produced by Bala (in his directorial debut). The film stars Bala, Dhruv Sharma (in his only Malayalam film to date), and Aishwarya Devan, while Samudrakani, Thalaivasal Vijay, Riyaz Khan, Tini Tom, and Sasi Kalinga plays supporting roles. The film's music was composed by Alphons Joseph. The plot follows ACP Vikram Rathod, who is assigned to catch a serial killer who has been murdering police officers.

The film completed production in late-June 2012. The Hitlist was released in theatres on 7 December 2012.

Cast

 * Bala as ACP Vikram Rathod IPS
 * Dhruv Sharma as Dhruv
 * Aishwarya Devan as Avanthika
 * Riyaz Khan as CI Simon
 * Krishna as Anand
 * Thalaivasal Vijay as IG Robert IPS
 * Sreejith Ravi as Peter
 * Sasi Kalinga as Madhavan
 * Tini Tom as Stephen
 * Riza Bava as DGP
 * Suresh Krishna as Commissioner
 * Kiran Raj as SP
 * Samudrakani as DSP Anapazhakan
 * Sandhya as Gouri
 * Sukanya as Herself
 * Unni Mukundan as SI Ajai Kumar (Cameo appearance)
 * Narain as Dr. Lewis (Cameo appearance)

Production
The Hitlist marks the directorial debut of actor Bala. Screenplay was also written by him. He also played the lead role, while Kannada actor Dhruv Sharma and Aishwarya Devan portrayed other two principal characters. Filming began in Kochi. Initially, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Unni Mukundan were supposed to make cameo appearances. In the film, Mukundan and Narain appeared in cameo roles. Bala also produced the film. Mohanlal and Kiccha Sudeep did voice-over for the Malayalam original and Kannada dubbed versions, respectively.

Soundtrack
The soundtrack features three songs composed by Alphons Joseph. The lyrics were written by Santhosh Varma & Jophy Tharakan.


 * Track listing

Release and reception
The Hitlist was released in theatres on 7 December 2012. A critic from Indiaglitz rated the film $5 1⁄2$ in a scale of 10 and wrote that the film is "a hotch-potch of many Hollywood thrillers and more faithful replica of Jason Statham's Blitz, it "may partially satisfy the demands of the die hard fans of action films". While the cinematography and Dhruv's acting was praised, screenplay and Bala's unconvincing portrayal of the lead role was criticised. A critic from Nowrunning wrote that "The shambling plot in 'Hitlist' sees to it that the film remains a tedious shoot-them-all flick. It's very unlikely that you might get a few kicks out of it".