Mollywood on a thieving spree

If you had loved Mammootty in his avatar as the multifaceted burglar in Kalikkalam or Prithviraj as a generous, part-time thief in Robinhood or Dileep as the ingenious, moustache-twirling robber in Meesa Madhavan, be ready for some more fun. Filmmakers in M-Town seem to have taken a new-found interest in portraying thieves as their central character.
From conning rich and corrupt people with a vengeance to stealing for fame or just to have some fun, the prime thread of these films is as varied as it could be. Here’s a look at some of the recent Mollywood films where thieves take the centre stage.
Sapthamashree Thaskara
After Fahadh Faasil-starrer North 24 Kaatham, this is Anil Radhakrishnan Menon’s second venture. The title, Sapthamashri Thaskara, is the Sanskrit for seven gentlemen thieves. According to industry insiders, the plot will have a resemblance to the Hollywood heist movie, Ocean’s Eleven. While Prithviraj has been confirmed to play the lead, the rest of the cast is yet to be finalised.
Ithihasa
Debutant Binu S’ Ithihasa has two pickpockets as its central characters, essayed by Shine Tom Chacko and Balu Varghese. During one of their pickpocketing ventures, the two thieves acquire a magic ring, which paves the way for a series of twists in the tale and hilarious incidents. Anusree plays the female lead.
Bicycle Thieves
Jis Joy’s Bicycle Thieves narrates the story of three youngsters who steal bicycles for a living and how a contract-based theft changes their lives forever. Asif Ali, Saiju Kurup and Bineesh Kodeyeri played the three thieves. Asif, who played Chacko, a good-hearted, yet cunning thief, won accolades.
Bunty Chor
As the name suggests, the movie is based on notorious thief Devinder Singh alias Bunty, and his real life shenanigans — for instance the Trivandrum-based burglary that led to his eventual arrest. Nixon George played the role of Bunty in the movie.
Thieves are not glorified
Mollywood has been producing a host of movies that showcase murders or drug usage in a cool and entertaining manner. And the industry drew a lot of flak for allegedly influencing young minds and leading them to commit crimes. Now with movies revolving around thieves, wouldn’t it inspire more crimes in the state? Filmmakers share their views:
“Many Malayalam films are based on real-life incidents and crimes. They also carry a positive message at the end of the story. Besides, the public have lapped up ‘generous’ thieves played by Mammootty, Prithviraj or Dileep in the past. However, such films have never led people to commit crime. I think the audience would love to watch more such characters on the silver screen,” says Balagopal, the screenplay writer of BuntyChor.
Echoing a similar view, director Binu S says, “Many of these movies, including Ithihasa, does not glorify the thief; the focus is generally on one of the incidents that takes place in the character’s life. Moreover, I don’t believe youngsters get enamoured by the kind of lifestyle these robbers lead. After all, it’s just a movie.”