Turbo (2024 film)

Turbo is an 2024 Indian Malayalam-language action comedy film directed by Vysakh, written by Midhun Manuel Thomas and produced by Mammootty under Mammootty Kampany. The film stars Mammootty in titular role, alongside Raj B. Shetty, Sunil, Kabir Duhan Singh, Anjana Jayaprakash, Niranjana Anoop, Bindu Panicker, Dileesh Pothan and Shabareesh Varma in supporting roles. The music was composed by Christo Xavier, while the cinematography and editing were handled by Vishnu Sarma and Shameer Muhammed respectively.

Turbo was theatrically released on 23 May 2024 to mixed reviews from critics.

Plot
Aruvipurathu Jose alias Turbo Jose, a jeep driver from Idukki with a habit of getting involved in fights, learns that his best friend Jerry, a bank manager in Chennai, was attacked by henchmen sent by the family of his girlfriend Indulekha, who is also a bank manager of a different bank. Jose arrives at Indulekha's house and stops her engagement, where he takes Indulekha to Jerry's house. However, Jerry refuses to accept Indulekha due to fear of his family and Indulekha goes to Chennai for her job.

Jose learns that Indulekha's family have filed a case against him, where he leaves for Chennai and persuades her to come back home. However, Jose decides to stay at Chennai after learning that he will be imprisoned. On Jose's request, Indulekha helps him find a job at her customer Andrew, a rich car dealer, and Jose works as a bodyguard for Andrew. Jose manages to reunite Indulekha with her family.

Meanwhile, Jerry gets informed by her colleague Sithara that an anonymous person from the bank had used Jerry’s passkey to transfer a huge amount of money to inactive accounts registered under other people's names. Jerry begins the investigation with Sithara, where he learns about that the real mastermind behind the scam is Vetrivel Shanmugam Sundaram, a ruthless and charismatic kingmaker, who has been manipulating the banking system to provide money to ruling party MLAs in order to shift their loyalties.

Jerry learns that Vetrivel's main bank account is in Indulekha's bank, where he tries to inform and warn Indulekha about the scam, but Indulekha doesn't listen to him as she hasn’t forgiven his rejection. Vetrivel learns that Jerry has learnt about his scam and soon kills Jerry. Jerry's death is termed as suicide in the autopsy report by Vetrivel. Later, Indulekha and Jose learn about Vetrivel's scam and his involvement in Jerry's death.

Indulekha complains to the police, but the police are under Vetrivel's payroll and tries to kill her. However, Jose rescues Indulekha by thrashing the cops and they escape, where a cat and mouse game ensues in which Jose and Indulekha manages to save their family, consisting of Jose's mother Aruvipurathu Rosakutty and Indulekha's sister Niranjana, with the help of Andrew and Auto Billa. Jose and Indulekha exposes Vetrivel's scam and Jose kills Vetrivel using a fish-slicing machine at Vetrivel's fishery factory.

In the aftermath, Jose, Indulekha, Rosakutty and Niranjana return to Idukki. They soon receive a parcel containing Andrew's severed head with a letter sent by Vetrivel's business partner, who wages a war against Jose for Vetrivel's death.

Production
Turbo was made on a budget of ₹70 crores. The film was officially announced on 24 October 2023, by Mammootty. The principal photography commenced in October 2023 in Coimbatore and wrapped up on 18 February 2024.

Music
The music and background score for the film was composed by Christo Xavier. The lyrics was written by Vinayak Sasikumar, Vaisakh Sugunan and SVDP. The track "Turbo Trailer Theme", which released on 12 May 2024. The first single "Burnout The Engine" was released on 29 May 2024. The second single "Maayika Maname" was released on 5 June 2024.

Theatrical
Turbo was released on 23 May 2024.

Home media
The digital streaming and satellite rights of the film were bought by Sony LIV and Zee Keralam. It is scheduled to start streaming from 9th August 2024.

Box office
On its opening day Turbo earned ₹6.25 crore from Kerala. The film grossed ₹3.40 crore in India on 23 May 2024. On its second day, the film grossed ₹8.1 crore worldwide, making a total of ₹15.50 crore. In its first week, the film grossed ₹58 crore worldwide, ₹29.5 crore from India and ₹28.5 crore from overseas.

Critical response
Anna Mathews of The Times of India gave 4/5 stars and wrote "Mammootty, like Malayalam cinema, is at an energetic high. There is a clue about a part two and this is a sequel that audiences will be waiting for." Goutham S of Pinkvilla gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "The 2-and-a-half-hour flick would surely satisfy many movie lovers who are craving an out-and-out action movie. On a side note, for anyone who is a fan of Jawan or Tamil cinema in particular, make sure to stick around for the tail-end for a surprise, potentially leading to a sequel."

Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTplay gave 3/5 stars and wrote "Mammootty aces the five action scenes in Vysakh’s directorial, but it doesn’t rise above that. The generic script and a weak villain robs Turbo off the power to deliver a knockout punch." Janani K of India Today gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "'Turbo' is a predictable action drama with a few quirks in the bag that make it a watchable affair."

Arjun Menon of Rediff rated 2.5/5 stars and wrote "While Turbo may not break new ground, it serves as a testament to Mammootty's unwavering allure, captivating audiences across generations." Anandu Suresh of The New Indian Express rated 2/5 stars and wrote "Even as the script drags on endlessly, Vysakh's movie is predominantly salvaged by Mammootty's no-holds-barred performance, operating in top gear, complemented by Raj B Shetty's remarkable presence as the villain."

Latha Srinivasan of Hindustan Times wrote "The movie uses an interplay of comedy and fights to move from one situation to the next. Unfortunately, most of the comedy falls flat so it’s upto the fight sequences to save the day". S. R. Praveen of The Hindu wrote "Vysakh’s ‘Turbo’ will be remembered for recycling all the old tropes that have been part of its genre since time immemorial and for its reluctance to try anything new."