2.REVIEW

                                           
                                                        KHADDAMA

                          

                                                       

                                                     CREW LIST

                                       
                                     Producer- P.V.Pradeep
                                     Director- Kamal
                                     Cast- Kavya Madhavan, Sreenivasan, Murali Gopy,

                                               Suraaj Venjaramoodu,    Biju Menon, Jaffer Idukki, Lena, Sukumari.
                                    Music- Bennett Veetraag
                                    Background score- M.Jayachandran
                                    Lyrics- Rafeek Ahamed
                                    Cinematography- Manoj Pillai
                                    Story- K.U.Iqbal
                                    Screenplay- K.Gireesh Kumar, Kamal

                                    Dialogues- K.Gireesh Kumar
                       

                              

                                                              THEME
                    A Desert Journey is what it was expected to be, a poignant tale of a
                 housemaid   working in the gulf. The film is a really good effort, coming from
                  Kamal, the maker of many memorable films.
                                          

                                The movie has Kavya as Ashwathy, who takes a chance

               of working in Saudi Arabia due to the untimely death of her husband

               Radhakrishnan, who was a J C B driver. She has to help her own and her husband's 

               family to tide over their deep financial difficulties. With the help of 

               Usman (Suraj Venjaramoodu, this time in a well knitted role), her husband's friend, 

               she fetches a job in a household where Usman is working as a driver. The movie 

               then follows the physical and mental abuses that Ashwathy faces in the house of her 

               sponsor. She also finds that she is not a lone case as the Ghaddama's (domestic servants)

               are all subjected to similar kind of treatment in the entire middle east. And her attempt

               to run off from the house results in her being charged for robbing jewellery

               from her sponsor's house.                       

                                       Though the story seems like a one dimensional look into the

                problem, the treatment of interspersing Ashwathy's fate in Gulf  with the character 

                of Good Samaritan social worker Razaaq Thottekad (played by Sreenivasan),

               who is in search of this missing Gaddhama, manages to keep us interested along 

               much of the narratives. You do relate to the characters since you've either heard or

               watched tales of domestic abuse and most of the time the corporeal abuse that

               Aswathy is subjected to, shatter your heart.

                                  Kavya Madhavan, who plays a meaty role of one who continues

                to take the beatings silently on a foreign land, takes much of the chances and 

               emerges with winning performances. She displays the helplessness and pain that

               this character demands with gusto. But as she is asked to maintain a distraught, 

               puzzled face much of the time; she has to limit herself from displaying variety of
               emotions.
               Sreenivasan once again is in his elements with sharp thoughtful
               dialogues. Mohanakrishnan,   Biju menon, Lena and plenty of freshers match pretty
               well with their characters. The actress who plays the Indonesian servant also
               makes a commendable act.

               The movie takes some time to make a safe landing and leisurely conventional pacing
               may not interest the new generation audience, but regular Kamal fans may not
               find this without interest.  Manoj Pillai's camera work, now in a different terrain
               excels in capturing the murkiness and vulnerability of the isolated victims
               of the desert. Benett Weetrag's couple of songs are pretty good while M Jayachandran's
               theme music is also impressive.

                                            All in all, 'Gaddama' is a quality offering from the master director,
                with a genuine upsetting story. The movie has plenty of faces that continue to
                haunt you even after the film has ended. This is a film for the discerning viewer who
                likes to go a little beyond the regular masala stereotype.


                                           RELEASE AND RECEPTION
           
                              The film was distributed by Murali Films. It had a limited release in  about thirty
                theatres in Kerala on 4 February 2011. The film was anticipated among both critics
                and cinema-goers, not only because of its theme but also due to the wide
                marketing strategy. It was the only Malayalam film released on the date and hence
                had no significant competition. The film was to be released in the Middle East on
                the same day, a big market for Malayalam films, but it was banned across the Middle
                East as the Censor Board rejected the film.
                                Even though the film had a limited release it to became a box office winner.

               The film's fiftieth day celebration was held at the Avenue Centre, Kochi on 27 March.

               The function was attended by film directors Joshiy and Sibi Malayil, producers

               Siyad Koker, Appachan and Vyshakh Rajan, writer P. Sukumar, and politician

               V. M. Sudheeran, along with the cast and crew of the film. During the function

               V. M. Sudheeran opined that Khaddama was one of the best films of recent times

               and that he had congratulated Kamal for the bold movie soon after watching it

                   
                                             CAST

• Kavya Madhavan as Aswathi
• Sreenivasan as Razak Kottekkad
• Murali Gopy as Bharathan, the truck driver
• Biju Menon as Radhakrishnan
• K. P. A. C. Lalitha
• Sukumari as Razak's mother
• Suraj Venjaramood as Usman
• Lena as Razak's wife
• Shine Tom Chacko as Basheer
• Jaffer Idukki
• Fatma as the Indonesian maid
• Manu Jose^[15]
• Ali Khamees
• Mariam Sulthan
• Khaamiz. S. Mohammed
• Hala Al Sayed
• Ahmed Saleh
• Adnan Althuki
• Tehani Ali Mohammed
• Sasi Kalinga as Chandi Mash
• Ali Gael

             
                                                       ACHIEVEMENTS
                   
                                              The film has received various awards and nominations.
                   In the 2011 Kerala Film Critics Awards it became the biggest winner,
                   with three awards for Best Film, Best Director and Best Actress.
                   The film was selected as one of the six Malayalam films to compete for the
                   National Film Awards. Kavya Madhavan was in the final round in the Best Actress
                   category, but she lost to Mitalee Jagtap Varadkar and Saranya Ponvannan.
                   She won the Best Actress Award at the 2011 Kerala State Film Awards and
                   Amrita-FEFKA Film Awards. Gaddhama was screened in the Malayalam
                   Cinema Today section at the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK),
                   in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2011.

                      1st South Indian International Movie Awards

•                            Best Actress - Kavya Madhavan

                      Thikkurissy Foundation Awards (2012)

•                            Best Actress - Kavya Madhavan
•                            Best Female Playback Singer - K. S. Chithra
•                            Best Male Playback Singer - Karthik
•                            Best Lyricist - Rafeeq Ahamed

                                    Kerala state film award 2011 Best actress - kavya madhavan

                                                                                        59th Filmfare Awards South

•                           Best Actress - Kavya Madhavan
•                           Nominated National film award for Best Actress- Kavya madhavan.

                                                   
                                                 MUSIC AND SOUND SETTINGS  

The film's background score has been composed by M. Jayachandran,                     collaborating with Kamal for the first time after Perumazhakkalam. The songs                    are composed by the duo Bennet Veetraag and feature lyrics by noted                    poet   Rafeeque Ahammed.                                       The soundtrack album, released on Satyam Audios, contains five                     songs. Out of the five songs only two, "Naattuvazhiyorathe" and "Vidhuramee",                    are featured in the film as the track "Ariyumo" was a promotional song.                    The soundtrack received critical praise, particularly for the melody in the tracks.                                                                                              SONGS                                                         "Naattuvazhiyorathe"                                                           "Ariyumo"                                                          "Vidhuramee"                                                           "Naattuvazhi"                                                           "Vidhuramee Yathra"                                                                                                                                       REFERENCES               : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/khaddama