Valatty
Valatty: Tale of Tails is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language adventure-comedy romance film written and directed by Devan Jayakumar and produced by Vijay Babu of Friday Film House.[2] It features the voices of Roshan Mathew, Raveena Ravi, Soubin Shahir, Sunny Wayne, Saiju Kurup, and Aju Varghese.[3] According to the makers, Valatty is the first Indian film to use real dogs as actors without VFX.[4]
Valatty | |
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Directed by | Devan Jayakumar |
Written by | Devan Jayakumar |
Produced by | Vijay Babu |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Vishnu Panicker |
Edited by | Ayoob Khan |
Music by | Varun Sunil |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Friday Film House |
Release date |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
Country | India |
Language | Malayalam |
Plot
Tomy, a golden retriever owned by Roy, falls in love with his neighbor's dog, Amalu, a cocker spaniel owned by a Brahmin family. Their relationship was blocked when the Brahmin family learned that Tomy was responsible for Amalu's pregnancy. Eventually, both Tomy and Amalu get locked up in their houses by their owners. The story takes a turn when Tomy and Amalu decide to elope.
Cast
Dogs
The film features the voices of
- Roshan Mathew as Tomy, a Golden Retriever
- Raveena Ravi as Amalu, a Cocker Spaniel
- Soubin Shahir as Karidas / Haridas, an Indie dog
- Sunny Wayne as Bruno, a Rottweiler
- Saiju Kurup as neighbor dog, a Dobermann
- Aju Varghese as Poovan, a rooster
- Indrans as old dog, a Labrador
- Ranjini Haridas as Margaret, an Afghan Hound
- Surabhi Lakshmi as mother dog, a Podenco Canario
- Naslen K. Gafoor as Tippu, a Stafford
Humans
- Rohini as Sumathi, a street-food vendor
- Vijay Babu as Roy, owner of Tomy
- Srikant Murali as Swamy, head of Brahmin family
- Mahima Nambiar as Saraswati, Swamy's daughter
- Dev Mohan as Anand, Saraswati's fiancé
- Major Ravi (cameo appearance)
- Akshay Radhakrishnan as Bhasi
- Sanju Sanichen as Bhasi's boss
- Raghu Subhash as Shafi
- Suresh Babu Naidu as Narendra Das Karnavar
Production
Development
The project was first announced by the makers in July 2020.[5]
Filming
The principal photography began around September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic,[3] and wrapped up on 23 December 2020.[6]
Soundtrack
Valatty | ||||
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Soundtrack album by Varun Sunil | ||||
Released | 2023 | |||
Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
Length | 13:43 | |||
Language | Malayalam, English | |||
Label | Friday Music Company | |||
Varun Sunil chronology | ||||
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The music was composed by Varun Sunil. Some of the songs are in English.[7]
No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Shwanare" | Vinayak Sasikumar | Crishna | 3:41 |
2. | "Friendship Song" | Manu Manjith | Varun Sunil, Maria Mathew Kolady | 3:20 |
3. | "The Chase" | Varun Sunil | Varun Sunil | 2:29 |
4. | "Arike Koottay Arike" | BK Harinarayanan | Ayraan, Shweta Mohan | 4:13 |
Total length: | 13:43 |
Release
Theatrical
Initially, the film was planned to be released on 5 May 2023, but later, it was postponed to 14 July 2023.[8] It was again postponed by a week and was released in theatres on 21 July 2023.[9] KRG Studios acquired the worldwide theatrical release rights of the film.[10] The Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi versions are scheduled to be released on 28 July 2023.[11]
Reception
Critical reception
Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave the film 2 stars out of 5 and wrote, "In short, Valatty is bound to entertain those seeking a lighthearted movie, but its lasting impact on viewers’ hearts is uncertain and will solely hinge on their fondness for dogs."[12] Anna Mathews of The Times of India gave the film 3.5/5 stars and wrote, "Valatty is a fun movie for the family to watch together and have a light laugh."[7]
Nirmal Jovial of The Week gave the film 2/5 stars and wrote, "As a viewer, Valatty personally left this writer feeling disappointed. Nevertheless, it must be acknowledged that it was a one-of-a-kind experiment in Malayalam cinema."[13] A critic from OTTplay wrote, "Strapped with a predictable tale, Valatty gets caught between being a feel-good movie and a serious take on human cruelty on animals. This only serves it to bog down the dog tale."[14]
References
- "Valatty (2023) - Movie | Reviews, Cast & Release Date". in.bookmyshow.com. Archived from the original on 2023-07-21. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
- "Valatty | വാലാട്ടി: Tale of tails (2023) - Mallu Release | Watch Malayalam Full Movies". Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- Ramachandran, Arjun (June 28, 2023). "Exclusive: We had set up a 'dog park' to train the canines in 'Valatty', says Malayalam director Devan". Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- "'Valatty: Tale of Tails': A gang of adopted dogs comes together in this experimental film". January 11, 2023. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
- "Valatty 2023: Release date, plot, trailer, voice cast, who plays who and more". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- "'Valatty' gets wrapped up". The Times of India. 2020-12-24. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- "Valatty: Tale Of Tails Movie Review : Bow bow, but not enough wow". Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-24 – via The Economic Times - The Times of India.
- "Canine-cast film Valatty's release postponed". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- "Soubin Shahir's Valatty gets a new release date". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 2023-07-25. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- Today, Telangana (2023-06-20). "KRG Studios acquires world theatrical rights of Malayalam film 'Valatty – A Tale of Tails'". Telangana Today. Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- "'Valatty - Tale Of Tails': A Unique Love Story Of 2 Dogs". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-25.
- "Valatty movie review: A lighthearted dog movie slowed down by its attempt to show canine struggles akin to those faced by humans". July 21, 2023. Archived from the original on July 24, 2023. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
- "'Valatty' review: This experimental film about dogs is marred by plot cliches". The Week. Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
- "Valatty review: A lacklustre, predictable storyline bogs down this dog tale". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 2023-07-24. Retrieved 2023-07-24.