Classmates (2006 film)

Classmates is a 2006 Indian Malayalam-language coming-of-age romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lal Jose and written by James Albert. The film features an ensemble cast including Prithviraj Sukumaran, Narain, Jayasurya, Indrajith Sukumaran and Kavya Madhavan.[1][2] The story revolves around a college graduate class of 1991. In 2006, working in different corners of the world, the friends get together for a class reunion to revive the joy and laughter of their college days. On the night of the reunion, one of the students is almost murdered and goes into a coma.[3]

Classmates
DVD cover
Directed byLal Jose
Written byJames Albert
Story byJames Albert
Produced byPrakash Damodaran
P. K. Muralidharan
Starring
CinematographyRajeev Ravi
Edited byRanjan Abraham
Music byAlex Paul
Production
company
Arya Films
Distributed byLal Release
Release date
  • 25 August 2006 (2006-08-25)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

Classmates was produced by Prakash Damodaran and P. K. Muralidharan through their company Arya Films, and is the company's debut production. The soundtrack album and background score were composed by Alex Paul. Classmates' cinematography was handled by Rajeev Ravi and editing was done by Ranjan Abraham. Principal photography primarily took place in and around C. M. S. College, Kottayam and was completed in a span of two months, during the months of April and May.[4]

The film was released on 25 August 2006 during Onam holiday period. The film became a major box office success, with a theatrical run of 150 days at Abhilash Complex, Kottayam. It became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of 2006. The film won two Kerala State Film Awards, five Kerala Film Critics Association Awards and three Asianet Film Awards. It was later remade into Tamil as Ninaithale Inikkum and in Telugu and Marathi as Classmates (2007) and Classmates (2015), respectively.

Classmates has since become one of the most acclaimed films of its decade, particularly for its soundtrack. It is considered by many critics as one of the best campus films in Malayalam cinema.[5] The film developed a cult following in the years after its release and is frequently referenced in popular Keralite culture.[6] With the release of film, the concept of alumni meet started trending in Kerala, and schools and colleges started organising such get togethers to help the ex-students keep in touch with each other.[7] The film is now regarded as a classic in Malayalam cinema.[8][9][10]

Plot

The film centres on a group of classmates who attended the same Chemistry class in their final year of college. Among them, Murali is a singer and P. Sukumaran alias Suku is a firebrand leader of the left-winged students union. Pious, a rich and spoiled brat of parents settled in Gulf, is the campus Romeo and Sukumaran's best friend. Suku's rival Satheeshan leads the opposite faction of student politics and is aided by his sidekick Valu Vasu. Thara Kurup is the daughter of the Member of the state Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Muvattupuzha; she is a dancer who regularly wins awards for the college with her performances.

It was Murali's dream to have a reunion, but he mysteriously dies before the reunion can be organised. His parents, Iyer and Lakshmi, both teachers at the college, decide to fulfill their deceased son's dream and bring his classmates together for a reunion. After 15 years, Sukumaran is now a diamond dealer based in Mumbai, a rich and successful businessman earning in crores and is a divorcee. Satheesan is now an MLA, following his dreams to become a minister, while Vasu continues to be his sidekick. Pious is now settled in the Middle East. Thara, while still unmarried, becomes a dancer and runs a dancing school.

The coming together of these classmates is the occasion for them to relive the past and to fulfil Murali's dream. When all are together, Raziya arrives. But during the occasion, Suku attempts suicide, but later many of them suspects that it was not a suicide even though they found some writings and suicide notes in his personal diary. Pious reveals Suku's flashback to Iyer in the hospital.

When Satheeshan finds out that Suku and Thara are in love, he plans to separate them. He made her stand against Suku in an election in their college. On the day of the voting for the election, Satheeshan steals a letter that Thara wrote for Suku with Vasu's help and keeps it in the ballet box. Pious sees this. Angrily, Suku and his friends hit Satheeshan and his friends. Due to the fight, the vote counting gets postponed to the next day, and Principal Geevarghese calls the police and tells them to stay there. That night, Pious and Suku plan to take Thara's letter from the principal's room, but the plan fails. The next day, Thara's letter gets exposed. Satheeshan tells everyone including Thara that Suku misused her letter. Suku loses his mind, hits Satheeshan again, and tries to kill him. When he was going to kill him, a girl tells him that Murali is dead in the generator room of the hostel.

After Murali's funeral, Suku decides to discontinue his studies as he could not face the way that Thara was insulted. He goes to Mumbai and meets his neighbor Hameed, who introduces him to a diamond dealer named Shantharam. Suku becomes Shantharam's trusted man and becomes successful in the business, thereby becoming a wealthy enterpreneur. Shantharam helped Suku get his mother's illness treated and his sisters married. Shantharam got Suku married to his daughter Ratna, who was in love with a criminal. After Shantharam's death, Suku and Ratna got divorced and she went with her boyfriend. Later, Suku had taken over the business by then and began to live his life on his own terms. His mother had already passed away by then and his sisters were now with their own new respective families. Pious reveals that Thara had some motive when she came there. Iyer goes to Thara and tells that she might have met him and to reveal the rest. Thara tells that she came to apologize for her mistakes to Suku. Thara reveals that when her parents discontinued her studies and decided to join a dance institute in Madras, she realized that few of her certificates are with Suku. She goes to Suku's house with Satheeshan to take them. After she takes the certificates and leaves, Suku's mother talks bad about him and curses him. Satheeshan gets emotional when he hears this as she told bad about him not about Suku. Thara gets angry when his mother tells him that. She thinks he cheated her and his family. Satheeshan then tells her that Suku discontinued his studies because of him and that Suku was actually a kind and honest person. Satheeshan also reveals that it was himself who put Thara's letter in the ballot box to purposefully separate Suku from Thara for his petty political gains. She gets shocked and becomes very sad. Mani Nair, who organized her first dance program, was in Mumbai and was Shantharam's family friend. He told Thara about Suku's marriage and divorce.

During the get-together, Thara requested Suku to come near the generator room and she tearfully apologised to him to forgive her for her grave mistakes and they reconciled. She also told him that she will always be with him. Iyer finds out that Raziya was there in the generator room when there was Suku and Thara. He called Raziya without asking anything and he knew that she had a few problems in the college. She took TC from the college and went which he did not know, but now he realizes that it had a link with Suku's and Thara's love. She tells him that she was in love with Murali. Her father finds about their love and discontinued her studies. But she tells Murali to come tonight to the generator room and to take her to their dreams in a letter and keeps it a book in the library. She waited a long time but did not see him and thought Murali cheated her. The next morning, she found him dead in the generator room. She did not know that he came before her and he died near her. Raziya gets shocked and becomes mad. Looking at her state, her father gets heartbroken and dies. Her relatives abandoned her as she got mad. She was alone in her home.

When Iyer called Raziya for the get-together, she was too happy and she thought to recremize the place where she and Murali was. During that time when she saw Suku and Thara reconciling, she felt her lost love. She also hears Suku revealing to Thara that on the day when Suku and Pious went to take Thara's letter, he hid in the generator room and somebody was there. He attacked the person and thought of making him unconscious with chloroform as he was Satheeshan's goon, but later he realizes that it was Murali and felt bad when he killed his friend. Raziya didn't realize that that he killed Murali by accident, and she strangles Suku with a string on Murali's guitar as a revenge for ruining her life. Pious calls Iyer and tells that Suku has gained consciousness. Iyer tells Pious that Raziya did it and Suku should not say her name to the police. But the police has already came to Suku's statement. Suku tells that he tried to commit suicide to the police. Suku apologies to Iyer for killing Murali and tells Iyer to kill him as he does not want to live with Raziya's and their curses. Iyer forgives him and tells that God has given a short life and he should live it happily. Iyer also asks Suku to accept Thara as his wife as she had been waiting for him for the past fifteen years. So Suku accepted her and told her that will shift from Mumbai to Kerala immediately.

In the end, Suku moves to Mumbai while all greet him while he feels Murali too greeting him.

Cast

Soundtrack
Classmates
Soundtrack album by
Alex Paul
Released31 August 2006 (2006-08-31)
Recorded2006
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length26:16
LabelSathyam Audios
Alex Paul chronology
Thanthra
(2006)		 Classmates
(2006)		 Bhargavacharitham Moonam Khandam
(2006)

Alex Paul scored the film's background music and composed its soundtrack, lyrics for which was penned by Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma. The soundtrack album consists of six tracks. The songs were recorded at Panchathan Record Inn, and the soundtrack was released under the Sathyam Audios label.[11] It was released in Thiruvananthapuram on 31 August 2006 in the form of audio cassettes and compact discs.[12]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Kattadi Thanalum"Vayalar Sarath Chandra VarmaVidhu Prathap, Reju Joseph, Ramesh Babu, Cicily4:00
2."Kathirunna Pennalle"Vayalar Sarath Chandra VarmaDevanand, Jyotsna Radhakrishnan5:24
3."Vote"Vayalar Sarath Chandra VarmaM. G. Sreekumar, Pradeep4:34
4."Ente Khalbile - Male"Vayalar Sarath Chandra VarmaVineeth Sreenivasan4:19
5."Ente Khalbile - Female"Vayalar Sarath Chandra VarmaSujatha Mohan4:30
6."Chillu Jaalaka"Vayalar Sarath Chandra VarmaManjari5:27
Total length:32:48

Reception

Upon the album's release, it topped the charts with the song "Ente Khalbile" receiving significant radio and TV airtime.[13] According to a year-end analysis by Sify, Classmates had become the highest selling soundtrack in Malayalam cinema up to that point.[14] Paresh C. Palicha of Now Running reported, "To say that music of Classmates has become popular would be an understatement. It dominates the charts."[15] The song "Ente Khalbile" further propelled Sreenivasan's playback singing career in Malayalam cinema, becoming his biggest hit.[16] The song "Ente Khalbile" reached number one on the charts on 19 October 2006, while the songs "Kattadi Thanalum" and "Kathuirna" reached the second and fourth spot respectively.[13] "Kattadi Thanalum" and "Kathirunna" dropped to the third and fifth place respectively on 3 November 2006 while, Ente Khalbile retained its top spot.[16] "Ente Khalbile" dropped to the second place on 14 November 2006 when "Karineela Kannilenthedee" reached number one.[17]

Writing for The Hindu, music critic T. P. Sasthamangalam wrote, "The songs in Classmates recalls memories of the golden age of Malayalam music." Like Aniyathipravu and Niram, Lal Jose's Classmates is proving to be a trendsetter."[8] A reviewer from Varnachithram wrote, "The music of the movie too deserves mention. Alex Paul and Vayalar Sharat Chandra Varma’s songs re-create the spirit of the campus with very memorable songs. Our favorite is "Ente Khalbile"."[18] Unni Nair of Now Running wrote that the film's music adds to the "charm" of the film.[19] Paresh C. Palicha of Now Running wrote, "Classmates is a rare phenomenon in recent times where music plays an integral part of the narrative, and that is the reason for its success."[15]

Release

Produced by Arya Films and distributed by Lal Creations, Classmates was released to low expectations,[20] on 25 August 2006, during the Onam holiday period. It faced competition from other releases such as the Mohanlal-starrer Mahasamudram.[21] The film opened to a wide audience, with 47 screens across Kerala.[22] The DVD of the film with 5.1 surround sound was distributed by Central Home Entertainments.[23] It was made available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar since 2020.[24]

Reception

Critical reception
Lal Jose's (left) direction and Indrajith's (right) performance received praise.

Classmates received mixed-to-positive reviews, with critics praising its direction, story and cinematography.[25] Paresh C. Palicha of Rediff wrote, "Classmates tells a campus story with a difference, and it is a well-narrated tale."[25] He however, criticized the film's second half, writing: "But somewhere along the way, debutant writer James Albert shifts gears and takes the suspense-thriller route that culminates in a solution to the mystery behind Murali's death. Maybe it is a trick played to flummox the audience, but somehow the effort fails to excite."[25] Palicha opined that Lal Jose did a "good job" and praised Rajeev Ravi's cinematography writing, "Though he has shot almost the entire film on a single location, we do not feel the monotony because of Rajeev Ravi's competent cinematography."[25] Writing for The Hindu, Sreedhar Pillai called the film a "trendsetter" and wrote, "The success of Classmates is that its story appeals to all sections of the audience and vividly evokes fond bitter-sweet memories of college days."[8] A critic from Sify termed the film "a cult classic."[14]

Unni Nair of Now Running wrote, "Director Lal Jose's Onam offering, sends very positive signals as far as the Malayalam film industry is concerned. The refreshingly different film proves that with the back-up of a well-written script and good direction, the younger generation stars too can also work miracles."[19] Filmibeat gave the film a rating of two out of five, writing, "Lal Jose's Classmates has been termed as the most awaited movie in Malluwood. There are two reasons. One is the youth brigade's presence in the movie. The other is many people wait to relive their past through this movie."[26] A critic from entertainment portal IndiaGlitz said, "Other than the color and gaiety of campus life, Lal Jose's throw in a good mix of emotions and suspense. The film which opens with a little indifference soon falls to tracks to deliver the rest that surprises you and offer you an intimate and passionate viewing."[27] They also praise Indrajith's performance writing, "Prithviraj and Kavya lead the show with their regular strengths in emoting, but the pick of the mates is definitely, Indrajith, who shows great timing and flexibility in renditions. He definitely proves once again that he is to go distances in the Malayalam film industry."[27] Varnachithram felt that two aspects made the film "interesting" which was the "nostalgia it creates for the campus life" and the "way of narration." They also praised the performance of the cast, writing that Prithviraj had done an "excellent" job, writing "As we saw in Vargam (2006), playing arrogant head strong characters is his forte. But in this movie he gets to be a romantic as well as a devastated and helpless man." They called Indrajith a "revelation", praising his comedic timing. The critic also wrote "Though we are not big fans of Jayasurya after seeing terrible movies like Immini Nalloral (2005) and Pulival Kalyanam (2003), we were impressed with his role as Sateeshan. He can make a good villain."[18] In October 2021, The Times of India wrote, "The movie keeps the suspense going till the end but most importantly leaves a perfect campus memory."[6]

Box office

On release, initial response was tepid, but favorable word-of-mouth publicity and positive critical response helped it to become a box office success. In Kottayam, Classmates opened at the 288-seater Asha theatre but was shifted to the bigger 1180 Abhilash complex, due to tremendous pressure for tickets.[22] It emerged the Onam winner and completed a 150-day theatrical run.[22][28][8] It grossed a distributors' share of ₹2.10 crore in 21 days, which was a record.[8] Despite new releases on Ramadan, the film still held the top spot.[29] It remained the top earning film in Kerala for a period of three months, till the release of Chakkaramuthu.[30] The film completed 150 days run in Thiruvananthapuram and 100 days in Kottayam and Ernakulam as well.[8] It grossed a record distributors' share of ₹26.25 Lakhs in 40 days from Kavitha's theatre, Ernakulam and a record share of ₹14.26 Lakhs in 40 days in Abhilash complex, Kottayam. It became the highest grossing Malayalam film ever in the Kottayam district.[28] The film went on to gross approximately ₹17-25 crores and concluded its final commercial performance with the verdict "blockbuster".[31] The film thus emerged as the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year.[32][33] According to film-trade website Sify, it was touted to collect ₹10 crores in distributors share by the end of its theatrical run.[14]

Accolades
Award Category Nominee(s) Result Ref.
Kerala State Film Awards Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value Lal Jose Won [34]
Best Story James Albert Won
Kerala Film Critics Awards Best Popular Film Lal Jose Won [35]
Best Screenplay James Albert Won
Best Music Director Alex Paul Won
Second Best Actor Jagathy Sreekumar Won
Special Award Indrajith Won
Asianet Film Awards Best Film Lal Jose Won [36]
Best Script Writer James Albert Won
Best Male Playback singer Vineeth Sreenivasan Won
Vanitha Film Awards Best Director Lal Jose Won [10]
Best Lyricist Vayalar Sarath Chandra Varma Won
Best Music Director Alex Paul Won
Best Singer - Male Vineeth Sreenivasan Won
Amrita Film Awards Best Supporting Actress Radhika Won [37]
Jaihind Film Awards Best Male Playback singer Vineeth Sreenivasan Won [38]
Atlas Film Critics Awards Best Music Director Alex Paul Won [39]
Best Female Playback Singer Manjari Won
Second Best Actor Jagathy Sreekumar Won

Remakes

Classmates has been remade in Tamil as Ninaithale Inikkum, with Prithviraj reprising his role. Narain is replaced by Shakthi Vasu and Kavya is replaced by Priyamani.[40] The Telugu rights for the film was purchased by Shravanthi Ravikishore.[41] The Telugu remake titled Classmates, with Sumanth and Sadha playing the lead roles, released in 2007. In 2015 it was remade in Marathi as Classmates.

References
  1. "The Hindu : Metro Plus Thiruvananthapuram : Cinema is my life: Lal Jose". Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  2. "Yen for innovation". The Hindu. 2 November 2007 – via www.thehindu.com.
  3. "Classmates Malayalam Movie Preview cinema review stills gallery trailer video clips showtimes - IndiaGlitz.com". Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2009.
  4. "Classmates on a faster track". movies.bizhat.com. Retrieved 17 April 2023.
  5. "Balachandra Menon turns nostalgic as 'Classmates' is about to clock 15 - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  6. "'Classmates' - Best campus movies". The Times of India. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  7. James, Anu (25 August 2016). "10 years of 'Classmates': Why it still remains an evergreen Malayalam movie?". www.ibtimes.co.in. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  8. "'Classmates,' a trendsetter". The Hindu. 29 September 2006 – via www.thehindu.com.
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  14. "2006-A Flashback! - Sify.com". Sify. 2 November 2007. Archived from the original on 2 November 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
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  16. "Campus song of 'Classmates' tops Malayalam charts". nowrunning.com. 9 November 2007. Archived from the original on 9 November 2007. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  17. C. Palicha, Paresh (25 November 2006). "'Karineela' is the fortnight's Malayalam melody". nowrunning.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  18. VC (23 February 2014). "Review: Classmates". Archived from the original on 23 February 2014. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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  20. Many said Classmate won't be a hit : Lal jose | Kaumudy TV, retrieved 8 April 2023
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  28. "'Classmates' break 'Rajamanickam' record!". Sify. 6 November 2016. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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  30. Palicha, Paresh C. (25 November 2006). "'Chakkaramuthu' overtakes 'Classmates' in Kerala box office". nowrunning.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2006. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  31. "Ajith strikes gold". Rediff.com. 3 November 2006.
  32. "മലയാളികളുടെ ഖൽബിനുള്ളിലെ വെണ്ണിലാവ്; ക്ലാസ്മേറ്റ്സിന് 15 വയസ്സ്". Samayam Malayalam (in Malayalam). Retrieved 25 March 2023.
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  35. Critics, kerala Film. "FILM CRITICS AWARDS COMPLETE LIST FROM 1977 TILL 2012 ഫിലിം ക്രിട്ടിക്‌സ് അവാര്‍ഡ് 1977 മുതല്‍ 2012 വരെ സമ്പൂര്‍ണ പട്ടിക". Retrieved 14 April 2023.
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  38. "2007 Jaihind film awards announced!". www.kerala.com. 29 November 2014. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  39. Staff. "Mammootty bags Atlas Film Critics Best Actor Award 2006". www.oneindia.com. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  40. "Shakthi and Prithviraj in Ninaithale Inikkum - Behindwoods.com K Balachander Rajinikanth Kamal Haasan Jayapradha Priya Mani pictures kollywood hot images tamil picture gallery images". www.behindwoods.com.
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