Ozhivudivasathe Kali

Ozhivudivasathe Kali
Official poster
Directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan
Screenplay by no formal screenplay
Based on Ozhivudivasathe Kali
by Unni R.
Produced by Aruna Mathew
Shaji Mathew
Starring Nistar Ahamed
Arun Nayar
Pradeep Kumar
Baiju Netto
Reju Pillai
Abhija Sivakala
Cinematography Indrajith S.
Edited by Appu N. Bhattathiri
Music by Basil C J
Production
company
Niv Art Movies
Distributed by Bigdream release
Release dates
  • 29 October 2015 (IFFK)
  • 17 June 2016 (Kerala)
Running time
 106 minutes
Country India
Language Malayalam
Budget ₹20 lakh (US$25,000)

Ozhivu Divasathe Kali (English title: An Off-Day Game) is a 2015 Indian Malayalam indie drama film directed by Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, based on the short story of the same name by Unni R. The film follows five middle-aged men who get together for a booze party during an election holiday in Kerala. It won the 46th Kerala State Film Award for Best Film. The film was included in The Hindu's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade and is widely regarded as one of the defining movies of the Malayalam New Wave.

The film was initially showcased at the festival circuits in October 2015, including the International Film Festival of Kerala and the Mumbai Film Festival. The film has only 70 shots, with the second half of the film being just a single shot. Under Aashiq Abu's initiative, the film got a limited theatrical release in Kerala on 17 June 2016.

Synopsis

On an election holiday, five friends get together for a booze party. Their only intention is fun and refreshment. As the time passes they start to open up the hidden wildness of their real nature. Tired and bored in arguments they plan to play a game. A game they used to play in their childhood.

Cast

  • Nisthar Sait as Dharman
  • Baiju Netto as Dasan
  • Girish Nair as Thirumeni
  • Pradeep Kumar as Vinayan
  • Reju R Pillai as Narayanan
  • Abhija Sivakala as Geetha
  • Arun Nair as Ashokan
  • Sridhar P.U. as Ganeshan

Development and production

The film is based on the story of well known short story writer Unni R. The story has been successfully adopted to make political satire. There was no script while shooting the film. The film has some unique features because of this making pattern. All the dialogues are evolved due to improvisations and it contains some fine long takes. One of the lengthy shots conceived in the film is 53 minutes.

Reception

Critical response

Charu Nivedita called this film, 'a miracle in Indian cinema'. Deborah Young of The Hollywood Reporter gave a positive review, saying that "The classic buddy movie is cleverly revisited with a critical eye on Indian politics and society... Sasidharan builds suspense all the way to the sickening climax." Gautaman Bhaskaran of the Hindustan Times gave a positive review. He called the film "a griping tale of corruption" and concluded by saying "An Off-Day Game, finally, is a brutal look at the way the Constitution is used for the benefit of some, at the way caste politics and colour prejudices have been wrecking our lives." After the 17the of June theatrical release, G. Ragesh of Manorama Online gave a favorable review with a 3 stars out of 5. Ragesh concluded with "Ozhivu Divasathe Kali must be watched as a political movie, but without any prejudice. It's a deliberate take on hypocrisies in the society, an entertaining trial in which you would find yourself either in the spot of the victim or the culprit."

Awards and accolades