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 stars Mahima Nambiar, Rohini and Vijay Babu in lead roles and also features the voices of Roshan Mathew, Raveena Ravi, Soubin Shahir, Sunny Wayne, Indrans, Naslen K Gafoor and Aju Varghese.[3] According to the makers, Valatty is the first Indian film to use real dogs as actors without VFX.[4]
| Valatty | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| 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 |
|
Running time | 113 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | [[Malayalam],[Hindi],[Telugu],[Kannnada],[Tamil]] |
Plot
editTomy is a golden retriever owned by Roy who falls in love with Amalu, a cocker spaniel owned by a neighbouring family headed by Swamy. Following Tomy's frequent interactions with Amalu, Swamy visits Roy and expresses his concerns. One day, Swamy learns from Anand, his future son-in-law, that Amalu is pregnant. Swamy and his mother suspect that Tomy is responsible for Amalu's pregnancy, and eventually, both Tomy and Amalu get locked up in their houses by their respective owners. Tomy's friend, Poovan, a rooster, tells him to elope with Amalu and advises him to come back after the puppies are born.
One night, Tomy and Amalu elope and meet an old, abandoned Labrador retriever in the street. The Labrador helps Tomy and Amalu get food and shares his past. A rottweiler named Bruno tries to attack Sumathi, a street food vendor, and is saved by Tomy. Upon the Labrador's advice, Tomy and Amalu follow Sumathi to her house. Sumathi's indie dog, Haridas, alias Karidas, becomes friends with Tomy and Amalu.
One day, Amalu is captured by Bhasi, who works for Narendradas Karanavar, an industrialist who runs an unauthorised drug trial facility to conduct tests on abducted dogs. Tomy and Karidas try to chase Bhasi's van but get confused on divided roads. They later find Margaret, an Afghan hound, who tells them to use their smelling capacity to find Amalu.
While searching for Amalu, Tomy and Karidas find Tippu, a stafford, who misleads them to Bruno. Bruno chases Tomy and Karidas and accidentally falls into a pit. Tomy helps Bruno escape from the pit, and Bruno shares his past with Tomy and Karidas. Bruno tells about his prosperous life with an old couple and how he was used by Bhasi for illegal dog fighting. Bruno later joins Tomy and Karidas to search for Amalu. Tomy and Bruno see Bhasi capturing a dog and start following his van.
On the way, Karidas gets hit and injured by a truck when he tries to save Tomy. Karidas tells Tomy to leave him and asks him to continue looking for Amalu. Bruno and Tomy reach the drug trial facility by following Bhasi's van and start searching for Amalu. Tomy finds and saves Amalu, who was about to be injected by Roshan, Narendradas Karanavar's son. When Bhasi blocks Tomy and Amalu, Bruno saves them by attacking Bhasi. Tomy releases some of the abducted dogs, and one of them attacks Narendradas Karanavar.
Amalu gives birth to puppies while escaping, and the next day, Anand finds Tomy, Amalu, and the puppies near the main road. He takes them to his house and then to their respective owners. Sumathi, who was worried about Karidas's absence, finds Bruno and takes him to her house. Karidas is rescued by the Indian Army's dog squad and becomes a well-trained canine. The police raid the drug trial facility and arrest Narendradas Karanavar and Roshan. The Dog Rescue Group announces that they will provide shelter to disabled dogs found at the facility.
Cast
editAnimals
editThe film features the voices of
- Roshan Mathew as Tomy, a Golden Retriever
- Raveena Ravi as Amalu, a Cocker Spaniel
- Soubin Shahir as Haridas / Karidas, an Indie dog
- Sunny Wayne as Bruno, a Rottweiler
- Indrans as old dog, a Labrador
- Aju Varghese as Poovan, a Rooster
- Ranjini Haridas as Margaret, an Afghan Hound
- Surabhi Lakshmi as mother dog, a Podenco Canario
- Saiju Kurup as Blacky, a Dobermann
- Naslen K. Gafoor as Tippu, a Stafford
Humans
edit- Rohini as Sumathi
- Vijay Babu as Roy
- Mahima Nambiar as Saraswati, Swamy's daughter
- Suresh Babu Naidu as Narendradas Karanavar
- Srikant Murali as Swamy
- Akshay Radhakrishnan as Bhasi
- Dev Mohan as Anand, Saraswati's fiancé
- Sanju Sanichen as Roshan
- Raghu Subhash as Shafi
- Major Ravi as Major Santhosh Raj (cameo appearance)
Production
editDevelopment
editThe project was first announced by the makers in July 2020.[5]
Filming
editThe principal photography began around September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic,[3] and wrapped up on 23 December 2020.[6]
Soundtrack
edit| Valatty | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Varun Sunil | ||||
| Released | 2023 | |||
| Genre | Feature film soundtrack | |||
| Length | 13:43 | |||
| Language | Malayalam, English | |||
| Label | Friday Music Company | |||
| Varun Sunil chronology | ||||
| ||||
The music was composed by Varun Sunil.
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
editTheatrical
editInitially, the film was planned to be released on 5 May 2023, but later, it was postponed to 14 July 2023.[7] It was again postponed by a week and was released in theatres on 21 July 2023.[8] KRG Studios acquired the worldwide theatrical release rights of the film.[9] The Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi versions are scheduled to be released on 28 July 2023.[10]
The Russian dubbed version of the film is set to release on 25 April 2024, titled "A Dog’s Escape" in Russian. The film will be distributed by Capella Films in Theatres. [11]
Home media
editDisney+ Hotstar has acquired the digital rights and began streaming it on 7 November 2023.[12][13]
Reception
editCritical response
editAnna Mathews of The Times of India gave 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote, "Valatty is a fun movie for the family to watch together and have a light laugh".[14] Sanjith Sidhardhan of OTTPlay gave 2.5 out of 5 stars and 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".[15]
Anandu Suresh of The Indian Express gave 2 out of 5 stars 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".[16] Nirmal Jovial of The Week gave 2 out of 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".[17]
References
edit- ^ "Valatty (2023) - Movie | Reviews, Cast & Release Date". in.bookmyshow.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ "Valatty | വാലാട്ടി: Tale of tails (2023) - Mallu Release | Watch Malayalam Full Movies". Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ a b Ramachandran, Arjun (28 June 2023). "Exclusive: We had set up a 'dog park' to train the canines in 'Valatty', says Malayalam director Devan". Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ "'Valatty: Tale of Tails': A gang of adopted dogs comes together in this experimental film". The Times of India. 11 January 2023. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ "Valatty 2023: Release date, plot, trailer, voice cast, who plays who and more". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ "'Valatty' gets wrapped up". The Times of India. 24 December 2020. ISSN 0971-8257. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ "Canine-cast film Valatty's release postponed". Cinema Express. 9 July 2023. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ "Soubin Shahir's Valatty gets a new release date". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 25 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ Today, Telangana (20 June 2023). "KRG Studios acquires world theatrical rights of Malayalam film 'Valatty – A Tale of Tails'". Telangana Today. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ "'Valatty - Tale Of Tails': A Unique Love Story Of 2 Dogs". NDTV.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 25 July 2023.
- ^ Desk, South First (25 March 2024). "Russian dubbed version of Malayalam movie 'Valatty' to release on 25 April". The South First. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ A. Manu, Hridyambika (4 November 2023). "Valatty OTT release date: When, where to watch Roshan Mathew, Soubin Shahir's movie". OTTPlay.
- ^ "'Valatty: Tale of Tails' to start streaming on THIS date". The Times of India. 5 November 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ Mathews, Anna (21 July 2023). "Valatty: Tale Of Tails Movie Review : Bow bow, but not enough wow". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ Sidhardhan, Sanjith (21 July 2023). "Valatty review: A lacklustre, predictable storyline bogs down this dog tale". OTTPlay. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ Suresh, Anandu (21 July 2023). "Valatty movie review: A lighthearted dog movie slowed down by its attempt to show canine struggles akin to those faced by humans". Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
- ^ Jovial, Nirmal (21 July 2023). "'Valatty' review: This experimental film about dogs is marred by plot cliches". The Week. Archived from the original on 24 July 2023. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
