2018 (2023)
Stars: Kunchako Boban, Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali, Aparna Balamurali
Director: Jude Anthony Joseph
Streaming on: SonyLIV
Blame it on recency bias, but no Malayalam cinema list populated by an ensemble cast is complete without Jude Anthony Joseph’s oscar shortlisted ‘Disaster Drama’ 2018, featuring Kunchako Boban, Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Narain and Aparna Balamurali leading the stacked cast list. Also featuring umpteen character actors on screen, 2018 pulled this major casting trick off by the clever conceit of the film’s text where multiple stars played the overlooked, anonymous heroes, who took things into their own hands in time of a statewide crisis. The film balanced the unique casting choice with well-written, rounded characters that fit the star persona of its leading figures, without overtly casting for mere cash-grab reasons.