Something big has happened in the state - the police are on the road with barricades, 24 News anchor Arun Kumar is talking about it and the music is loud. The trailer of Mammootty's One, a political film, opens with these scenes.
The upcoming film, directed by Santhosh Viswanath, has Mammootty playing the Kerala Chief Minister. The film is written by Bobby and Sanjay. It doesn't say if it is influenced by any real life characters but one of the lines bears similarity to comments passed against incumbent Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. "These things will happen if some ambattan's (a derogatory term used for barbers) son becomes the Chief Minister," says actor P Balachandran. Pinarayi Vijayan was subjected to casteist attacks several times during his tenure as Chief Minister.
There is chaos on the streets, burning of effigies, as it happens when there are prolonged protests by the Opposition.
"Kerala has a Chief Minister, his name is Kadakkal Chandran," you hear Mammootty's voice before he walks into the screen. Any opposition will think of ways to oppose the ruling government and destroy the peace of the land, he says.
Murali Gopy appears to play an opposition leader. Dressed in white khaddar and sporting gray hair, he says the CM has a feeling he is above anyone else. Another criticism which has been levelled against CM Pinarayi earlier.
Watch: Trailer of One
Jagadish, Alencier, Sudheer Karamana, Joju George, Binu Pappu, Siddique, Shankar Ramakrishnan, director Ranjith, young actors Nimisha Sajayan and Mathew Thomas also feature in the two-minute trailer, released at 6 pm on Wednesday.
The film is produced by Sreelakshmi R under the banner of Ichais Productions, its cinematography is by Vaidy Somasundaram and editing by Nishadh Yusuf. Gopi Sundar has composed the music.
The release date of One is not out yet. Meanwhile, Mammootty’s thriller film The Priest is releasing on Thursday, March 11. It is the first film in which Mammootty and Manju Warrier have acted together.