| Hallo | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Rafi Mecartin |
| Written by | Rafi Mecartin |
| Produced by | Joy Thomas Shakthikulangara |
| Starring | Mohanlal Parvati Melton Siddique Jagathy Sreekumar Saiju Kurup |
| Cinematography | Sanjeev Shankar |
| Edited by | Don Max |
| Music by | Alex Paul |
Production company | Jithin Arts |
| Distributed by | Marakar Release |
Release date |
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Running time | 146 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Hallo is a 2007 IndianMalayalam-languageblack comedythriller film written and directed by theRafi Mecartin duo. It starsMohanlal andParvathy Melton (in her Malayalam debut), withSiddique,Jagathy Sreekumar,K. B. Ganesh Kumar,Madhu, andSaiju Kurup in important roles. The music was composed byAlex Paul. The film received positive reviews from critics, with critics particularly praising Mohanlal"s performance.[1][2] It was also a major commercial success.[3]
It was remade inTelugu asNaa Style Veru (2009) and inKannada asManjunatha BA LLB (2012). The plot of the movie was reported to have been partially borrowed from the 2004 movieCellular.[4]
Sivaraman is a once-brilliant criminal lawyer who now seems to be in a self-destructive mode. All the time he is portrayed in a highly intoxicated state. His clients had abandoned him a long time ago. But he has a very devout follower, Chandy. Whenever Sivaraman gets into one of his drunken brawls, it is Chandy who rescues him.
Strangely, that doesn't diminish Sivaraman's public relations skills. After one particularly bad fight, he ends up becoming good buddies with three notorious rowdies in the area: Vadakkancherry Vakkachen / 'Vedakku' Vakkan, Bathery Bappu / Kolakolli, and Pattambi Ravi / 'Chattambi' Ravi. Soon, they too join his gang of loyalists.
The reason why this once-hotshot advocate had hit the bottle is revealed later. He was in love with a girl named Priya and his father and brother weren't happy about it. They come up with a very cruel way of ending the relationship. They lock Sivaraman in a room in the house on the day Sivaraman and Priya decide to elope. Priya, unaware of this happening, waits for Sivaraman. A group of gangsters sees Priya waiting late into the night, molests her, and then kills her. When Sivaraman finds out, he is devastated and reacts by becoming analcoholic.
One day, he receives a phone call on his mobile phone from a stranger named Parvathi. She reveals that she is the daughter of a localMarwari banker. On the phone, she tells him that her life is in grave danger and begs him to rescue her.
Parvathi is the daughter of Bada Bhai, the owner of a very successful bank - Dalal & Dalal. The bank is jointly owned by him and his brothers and relatives. They want to take control of the bank by killing Parvathi. When Sivaraman finds out that the threat is from her family, he takes her home and pretends to be her husband.
Then begins the battle of wits and muscles with her greedy relatives. Slowly, Parvathi gets impressed by his brilliance and ends up falling in love with him.
| Hallo | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 2007 | |||
| Genre | Film | |||
| Length | 27:36 mins | |||
| Label | Satyam Audios | |||
| Producer | Joy Thomas | |||
| Alex Paul chronology | ||||
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The songs were composed byAlex Paul, and the lyrics were written byVayalar Sarath Chandra Varma.
| Track | Song Title | Singer(s) | Raga(s) | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Mazhavillin" | Afsal,Manjari, Sangeetha Prabhu | Brindabani Sarang | 4:18 |
| 2 | "Kadukittu" | M. G. Sreekumar, Sangeetha Prabhu | 4:55 | |
| 3 | "Hallo Hallo" | Vidhu Prathap,Swetha | 3:53 | |
| 4 | "Chellathamare" | K. S. Chithra, Sangeetha Prabhu | Abheri | 4.36 |
| 5 | "Bhajan" | Manjari, Akhila, Andriya | Abheri | 1:06 |
| 6 | "Kadukittu" | Cochin Ibrahim, Sangeetha Prabhu | 4:55 | |
| 7 | "Hallo Hallo" | Shweta | 3:53 |
Jyothika was selected as the lead heroine, but was replaced by Parvathy due to her prior commitments inTelugu andTamil films.
The film was released on 5 July 2007, in 56 screens inKerala. It had the biggest-ever opening day collection for a Malayalam film in 2007.[5]Hallo was a blockbuster at the box office.[3][6] It went on to become the second highest grosser of the year behindMayavi.[7]
The film received generally positive reviews from critics.Sify gave the film a positive review writing, "What makes the film tick is that the comedy combination is perfect- they want the audience to have a nice laugh and go home happy. Mohanlal the one-man entertainment troupe carries the film on his broad shoulders. The director duo has packaged it using the star's image and their slapstick script to create a laugh riot." About the technical aspects they write, "Technically the film is ok, with Bobban's set designs ( thetoddy shop set), Sanjiv Shankar's camera andDon Max's editing all which enriches the entertainer. Songs byAlex Paul are just average."[8]
The film was remade inTelugu asNaa Style Veru (2009) withRajasekhar and inKannada asManjunatha BA LLB (2012) withJaggesh.