Mr. Fraud is a 2014 Indian heist action thriller film written and directed by B. Unnikrishnan. The film stars an ensemble cast of Mohanlal, Dev Gill, Vijay Babu, Miya, Manjari Phadnis, Siddique, Vijayakumar, Pallavi Purohit, Rahul Madhav, Sai Kumar, Suresh Krishna, Devan and Kalasala Babu. The film was produced by A. V. Anoop under the banner A. V. A Productions. The film follows an infamous thief who as his final assignment plans to plunder the treasure from a royal household.
The film's soundtrack and background score were composed by Gopi Sunder. Action choreography was directed by Stunt Silva. The film was released on 17 May 2014 where it received mixed reviews from critics.
Contents
Plot
Two royal brothers Ravindra Varma and Mahendra Varma, fight for the royal family treasure along with their sons. During the fight, a prism from the idol of the goddess explodes. The brothers are frightened and immediately stop the fight. After conducting certain rituals, they find that the goddess is angry because of the bloodshed that happened, and it is decided that the treasure will be locked for 41 years.
In the present, Bhai Ji is a con artist, who disguises himself as John Cliff and successfully loots ₹100 crore (US$10 million) from a wedding along with his assistants Abbas and Priya. At that time, his acquaintance Javed introduces him to Nikhil Adharva "Nikki", who tells Bhai Ji about the royal treasure and the story behind it. He shows the list of royal family members, who are inheriting the treasure. They are Ravindra Varma's sons Vasudeva Varma and Sri Krishna Varma and Mahendra Varma's sons Shekhara Varma, who is the royal head and Rajashekhara Varma. Nikki tells that Rajashekhara Varma has moved to the court, stating that the treasure should be given back to the government and used for helping the public rather than dividing among themselves. The case is pending in the court, and this will be the right chance to steal the treasure. Bhai Ji demands ₹500 crore (US$52 million) for doing the job and an advance of ₹250 crore (US$26 million) before doing it.
Meanwhile, the family arranges security arrangements as they fear a heist, and the police department sends DYSP Sajan to guard the family and treasure. They appoint a private consultant named Sivaram from Jaipur to assess the value of the treasure, but before he reaches there, Bhai Ji kidnaps him and takes him to his place. Rajashekara Varma takes Bhai Ji to the royal palace, where he meets the other family members. Later, the cellar is opened, and Bhai Ji begins assessing the value of the treasure. He realizes that this is the riskiest mission he has ever attempted. Meanwhile, Rajashekhara Varma is attacked by some goons, and before they could kill him, Bhai Ji arrives, and defeats the goons. Rajashekhara Varma thanks Bhai Ji for saving his life, but Sajan and Saraswathy, who is Rajashekhara Varma's daughter, have suspicions. Nikki and Javed arrive along with the real Sivaram and meet Bhai Ji, who gives the video clippings of the treasures and tells Nikki to make a replica of it. Nikki agrees and leaves.
Meanwhile, Rajashekar has become friends with Bhai Ji and tells him about Sarawathy and shows him the school run by her, which is still under construction. Bhai Ji and his assistants decided to find out a way to steal the treasure from the cellar. He guesses that there should be a secret path behind the cellar that would lead to another exit after studying the architecture of several other palaces. In the night, the three of them leave to search for the door. Bhai Ji enters the cellar and, using a metal detector, finds the passage and the exit point. Before leaving out of the cellar, he talks to the idol and tells that there is a secret between them, which is also known to someone else. Sajan accidentally tells the other family members regarding Saraswathy's past, which only he and Rajashekara Varma knew. Saraswathy was assaulted by unknown people when she was only 12 years old, and Rajashekhara Varma had adopted her after that incident.
Production
Genre
According to B. Unnikrishnan, Mr. Fraud is not a total heist film, neither does it quite follow the conventions and cliches of a crime caper. "Mr. Fraud is a curious mix. It is part grey, part action, part thriller and part musical," says the director. He adds: "It's the first time I am attempting this genre, I have never tried my hands at a potboiler before. The film has tastefully-shot songs, daredevil stunts, high-voltage drama and coiled suspense. At the same time it's not a mindless medley as Mr Fraud also has a focused storyline to keep the viewers hooked. Mr Fraud zooms into a spate of unexpected events that come his way and how he negotiates the situation. It's more of an emotional thriller."
Filming
Though delayed for a while due to Mohanlal's Ayurvedic treatment, the film commenced its production on 19 February 2014. The film was shot mainly from Ottappalam and Kochi in two schedules. Aspinwall House, Kochi was a significant location. The climax scenes were shot from Mumbai and Jaipur. The shooting of the film was wrapped on the day of Vishu festival (15 April) in Jaipur.
Music
The soundtrack and background score were composed by Gopi Sunder. The lyrics were written by Harinarayanan and Chittoor Gopi. The film has four songs, including the theme track sung by the composer himself, along with San Jaimt, and a re-orchestrated version of the keerthana, "Sadaa Paalaya", sung by Carnatic vocalist G. N. Balasubramaniam. The song "Poothinkale" sung by Shankar Mahadevan, in which Mohanlal appears in a rock star getup with salt and pepper look, went viral in music sharing websites. The song Sada Paalaya received a positive response from audiences
Marketing and release
Theatrical
Mr. Fraud released on 17 May 2014. An android app was developed to publicise details of the film.
Home media
The channel satellite rights were sold to Amrita TV for an amount of ₹18 crore (US$1.9 million). The film grossed a ₹13 crore distributor's share in one month.
Legal issues
The film was scheduled to be released on 8 May 2014. However, the Film Exhibitors Federation imposed a ban on the film in protest against B. Unnikrishnan's alleged instructions to the Film Employees Federation of Kerala (FEFKA) and Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA) representatives not to participate in the inauguration function of the federation's new office building. The issue reached a flashpoint with the FEFKA saying that no other Malayalam film will be released in cinemas refusing to screen Mr. Fraud. Finally, Exhibitors Federation allowed to release Mr. Fraud, but imposed a blanket ban on B. Unnikrishnan. Liberty Basheer, the president of Exhibitors Federation, said in a statement: "The federation had announced the ban on the film without any prior intimation and we don't want the distributor or the producer to incur any losses because of this. So the Mohanlal-starrer will hit the theatres on the said date. But we won't exhibit any film that Unnikrishnan plans to write, direct or produce in the future in Kerala."
Reception
Critical response
Mr. Fraud received mixed reviews from critics.
Aswin J. Kumar from The Times of India rated the film 3.5 in a scale of 5 and said, "Mr Fraud is not at all such a tedious watch with its luxuriant display of gadgets, air-screen projectors and dialogues resonant with technical terms. The fight and chase happen with the accompaniment of dry leaves propelled away with vigour, but certainly not as unbearable as the tiring song sequences which offer no mercy for ears." Sify.com's reviewer gave the verdict as "average" and commented, "With a rather flimsy premise, the film is presented in a grand scale, but it is evident that the opulence is limited to some colourful garments, swanky cars and technical gimmicks."
International Business Times wrote: "Mr Fraud is a decent masala entertainer, though it not as gripping as one would expect from a heist film." Paresh C. Palicha of Rediff.com rated the film 2 in a scale of 5 and concluded that "only the hardcore Mohanlal fans will like Mr Fraud which is otherwise an uninteresting film."
Chandrakanth Viswanath of The New Indian Express described the film as "a fine attempt in a novel genre" and concluded his review saying: "Carved in the popular format, with enough action-packed sequences and convincing performances, coupled with technical finesse, Mr Fraud has the potential to win hearts of die-hard Mohanlal fans and thrill junkies alike."