Kochi Rajavu

Kochi Rajavu
Movie Poster
Directed by	Johny Antony[1]
Written by	Udayakrishna Siby K. Thomas[2][3][4]
Produced by	R. Mohan
Starring	Dileep Kavya Madhavan Rambha Harisree Ashokan
Cinematography	Saloo George
Edited by	Ranjan Abraham
Music by	Vidhyasagar
Production company	Amith Productions
Release date	14 April 2005 (2005-04-14) (India)
Running time	160 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Kochi Rajavu (transl. King of Kochi) is a 2005 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Johny Antony and written by the Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas duo.^[5][6][7] It stars Dileep^[8] in the lead role with Kavya Madhavan,^[9] Rambha, Harisree Ashokan, Murali and Jagathy Sreekumar in supporting roles.

The film marks the second collaboration between Dileep, Johny Antony, and the writing duo Udaykrishna–Sibi K. Thomas after C.I.D. Moosa (2003).^[10]

Suryanarayana Varma, known to many as Unni, is out of prison, his past clinging to him like an unshakable shadow. Born into a royal lineage, he carried both the weight of his heritage and the burden of his past sins. The streets whispered his name in fear and reverence, and though he wished to walk a path of redemption, there were those who sought him with vengeance burning in their hearts. Among them were Prabhakaran, the formidable patriarch of the Karimparakal family, and his brothers, relentless in their pursuit of retribution. Unni’s return unsettled old wounds, but his parents, determined to sever his ties with violence, sent him to a prestigious law college in Chennai, hoping to redirect his destiny.

It was there that he met Meenakshi, a spirited young woman whose sharp intellect and fierce independence commanded attention. Their first encounters were riddled with conflict, exacerbated by the interference of her overprotective brother, Siva, and his archrival, Muthu. Yet, the friction between them soon gave way to an unspoken understanding, and despite the hostilities surrounding them, Meenakshi found herself drawn to Unni’s enigmatic persona. What began as subtle curiosity soon deepened into something more profound, an emotion she could neither suppress nor deny.

When Meenakshi’s family learned of her affections for Unni, they sought to formalize their union, visiting his ancestral home with a proposal of marriage. But even as fate seemed to weave their destinies together, Unni was haunted by a past he could not escape, a love story unfinished, a wound unhealed. As Meenakshi waited with bated breath, he unfolded the tale of a love lost to time and tragedy.

Once, there was another—Aswathy, a bright and compassionate medical student who had captured Unni’s heart at first sight. She belonged to the formidable Karimparakal family, raised under the iron-fisted rule of her uncles, Prabhakaran, Sudhakaran, and Divakaran, men who saw her not as a beloved niece but as a means to consolidate power and wealth. With her parents deceased, her uncles sought to secure her inheritance by binding her in marriage to her cousin, Prakashan, the eldest son of Prabhakaran.

Unni first saw Aswathy at a temple, a fleeting moment that would alter the course of both their lives. Entranced by her quiet grace, he pursued her with reckless abandon, determined to make her his own. Fate played a mischievous hand when she mistakenly boarded his autorickshaw on her way to meet Prakashan. Seizing the opportunity, Unni delayed her arrival, his heart warring between love and defiance. He professed his feelings time and again, but she rejected him, weary of his persistence.

Frustrated, she resolved to put an end to his advances by revealing his folly to her uncles. With their approval, she invited him to her home under the pretense of a meeting, only for Unni to be confronted by the very men he had once crossed in battle. The moment he recognized them, he knew he had walked into a trap. They unleashed their fury upon him, a brutal onslaught that left him battered and broken. Yet, in the wake of his suffering, something shifted within Aswathy. Perhaps it was guilt, perhaps admiration for his resilience, but as he recovered from his wounds, she found herself drawn to him. Her heart, once steadfast in rejection, betrayed her, and against all odds, she surrendered to the love she had once scorned.

Their happiness, however, was short-lived. When the time came for them to claim their love, the Karimparakal family opposed them with all their might. A confrontation erupted, a whirlwind of fists and fury, with Prakashan at the center of it all. In the heat of battle, Unni, fighting not just for love but for survival, struck Prakashan down, the fatal blow delivered in an uncontrollable surge of rage and self-preservation. Blood stained his hands, and justice was swift—arrested and sentenced to five years in prison, Unni was torn from Aswathy’s embrace, their love story left in ruin.

Now, standing before Meenakshi, Unni recounted his past, the weight of his choices pressing upon him. His father, wishing to mend his son’s shattered heart, convinced him that Aswathy had been married off to an NRI in the Gulf, a tale woven to sever the last thread that bound him to her. In time, Unni relented, accepting his fate and agreeing to marry Meenakshi.

Yet destiny had other plans. As the wedding preparations commenced, a voice from the past shattered his resolve. Aswathy, her voice trembling yet resolute, called him, her words laced with longing—she had not moved on, she had not forgotten, she had waited. With his heart pounding in his chest, Unni rushed to Kerala, desperate to reclaim the love he had lost. Their reunion was swift, but their escape was fraught with peril. With both Aswathy’s family and Meenakshi’s kin in pursuit, vengeance and betrayal snapped at their heels.

Through narrow alleyways and highway roads, they fled, their only salvation lying in the hands of those who had once been silent spectators to their fate. The autorickshaw drivers, men who had witnessed their love blossom and wither, rose in defiance of their oppressors, shielding them from harm. And so, in the heart of chaos, amidst the storm of rage and retribution, Unni and Aswathy defied the chains that sought to bind them, sealing their love in marriage, an unbreakable bond forged in fire and blood.^[11]

The film was released on 14 April 2005 coinciding with Vishu.^[12][13] It was released alongside and faced competition from the Prithviraj-starrer Athbhutha Dweepu, the Mohanlal-starrer Chandrolsavam and the Jayaram-starrer Alice in Wonderland.^[14] Made on a budget of ₹2.5 crores, Kochi Rajavu was a commercial success.^[15][16][17] It grossed ₹2.804 crore from three days and ₹4.01 crore in 21 days from 44 screens with a distributor's share of ₹1.73 Crore.^[18] It ended its commercial performance with the verdict blockbuster" and thus emerged the year's Vishu winner.^[18]

The soundtrack of Kochi Rajavu was composed by Vidyasagar. He later adapted the song "Munthiri Padam" in Tamil as "Aruviyoda" for the film Pasa Kiligal.

Lyrics : Gireesh Puthencherry, R.K Damodharan

• Kochi Rajavu at IMDb