Nanma International & Melbourne Evends (Australia)
Release date
April 15, 2015 (2015-04-15)
Country
India
Language
Malayalam
Bhaskar The Rascal is a 2015 Malayalam film directed by Siddique featuring Mammootty and Nayantara in the lead roles.[1] Produced by Anto Joseph under the banner of Anto Joseph Film Company, the film released on 15 April 2015. According to an industry source, the film got the biggest opening for a Malayalam film in 2015 as per April.[2][3]
Plot
Bhaskaran Pillai (Mammootty) is a business tycoon. After completing his studies from abroad he does banking business in his native place. His father Sankara Narayanan Pillai (Janardhanan) was also a big business man once. But when his business fails he has to go through financial crisis resulting all his relatives and friends abandoning him.
His son Bhaskaran Pillai was the one and only pillar of support. Since then Bhaskaran's sole aim is to create and amass wealth. His business empire is the result of his hard work.
Though he has everything as he wishes, he is unhappy. He is so impatient that he reacts harshly to anyone who does something which he does not like. He is like a thug. This behavior earns him the name Rascal. Bhaskaran is a widower and the father of a son (Master Sanoop). Sankara Narayanan Pillai always pressurises Bhaskaran to marry again. But he is not ready. Once Bhaskaran along with his son go for a trip. He comes across Hima (Nayanthara), who is very close to his son. Hima, who does her own business, is a calm and quite person. The events that follow are plotted.
Akhila Menon of Filmibeat called the film "a perfect family entertainer for the festival season" and was all praise for the film's direction, cinematography, music and lead performances.[4] Nelson K. Paul of Malayala Manorama rated the film 2.5 out of 5 and said, "The carelessness of Siddique, who has made us laugh to tears with his dialogues, is very palpable in this flick, unfortunately. We miss the vintage you, Siddique."[5] A reviewer from Indiaglitz.com rated the film 7/10 and said, "One shouldn’t keep high hopes of it being unique or exceptional, since the theme and execution is quite run of the mill. However, the movie is a decent attempt at the comic genre and Siddique - Mammootty combo does strike again, added to Nayanthara’s charm and grace. This is a decent comedy entertainer that can be enjoyed with the family."[6]Sify.com's reviewer called the film "a well-oiled, formula family entertainer," and wrote: "Bhaskar The Rascal may not have many surprises in store but is a nice option for sure this festival season. For all the fans of the lead stars, this could turn out to be a nice treat. Enjoy this one!"[7] Veeyen of Nowrunning.com rated the film 2/5 and said, "Siddique's 'Bhaskar the Rascal' is a film sans an internal narrative logic that hardly outweighs its jaded stereotypes. The only redeeming fact about the two and a half hour long film is the highly agreeable combination of its four lead actors - Mammootty, Nayantara, Sanoop and Anikha - all of whom desperately struggle to bring in some sense into an otherwise bizarre storyline."[8] Pramod Thomas of The New Indian Express said, "Bhaskar the Rascal is a movie that borders on average. It’s high time to get rid of the old formats and directors like Siddique should lead the change." The critic felt that the film "lacks focus, not to mention a strong theme" but also remarked: "for a hard-core Mammootty fan, it is a treat to watch."[9] Deepa Soman of The Times of India rated the film 3/5 and said, "A vacation release, Bhaskar The Rascal is pure escapist cinema at its best. It's not another film with morals woven into the script, hoping to see the audience in tears, but a light-hearted, slick urbane entertainer."[10]
Plagiarism controversy
One of the song in the film was under allegation of being a copy of an Arabic song. The visuals of one of the songs in the film "I Love You Mummy", which features Nayanthara, is apparently a rip-off of the Arabic album "I Love You Mamma", sung and acted by Hala Al Turk.Siddique openly admitted that the visuals he canned for the song are inspired from the Arabic album. "Yes, the visuals are inspired from the Arabic album I Love You Mamma. However, the songs, its lyrics and music are entirely different; only the theme is the same", "I happened to watch the Arabic song, I Love You Mamma, and I felt the visuals and the setting can be used in this one as well. In fact, the situations in both the songs are similar. Like in the album, in this song sequence too the daughter is appeasing her mother when she is in distress. I got inspired after watching the video. That's it". In social media the issue was spreaded like wildfire.[11][12][13]
