Akkarakazhchakal: The Movie is a 2011 American Malayalam

Malayalam cinema

The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...

 film based upon the popular TV series Akkara Kazhchakal

Akkara Kazhchakal

Akkara Kazchakal is a Malayalam sitcom about a middle-class Malayali-American family. The series premiered on Kairali TV at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on February 16, 2008. The show gained huge popularity among the Malayali community residing in the United States. The producers regularly...

.

Plot

The Thekkinmuttil family decides to send Appachan and Ammachi to an old-age home in Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

. To take a break out of their regular lives they decide to make the long-pending trip to Niagara Falls.

Cast

• Josekutty Valiyakallumkal as George Thekkinmootil (Chettai), a struggling insurance agent
• Sajini Sachariah as Rincy, George's wife and a nurse by profession
• Jacob Gregory as Gregory (Girigiri), George's assistant insurance agent
• Paulose Palatty as Appachan, George's father, temporarily visiting from India
• Hari Dev as Mahi, a Malayalee nurse
• Sanjeev Nair as Babykuttan, a Malayalee nurse
• Alvin George as Matt (Mathaikunju), George's son
• Reshma Kuttappassery as Chakkimol, George's daughter
• Geo Thomas as Baiju, a software engineer
• Jayan Mathew as Krishankutty (Krish), a software engineer
• Shine Roy as Shiny, Rincy's friend
• Saji Sebastin as Jacob Embranthiri, a wine-loving scientist and Shiny's husband

Production

The TV series which was aired on Kairali TV

Kairali TV

Kairali TV is an Indian television channel broadcasting in the Malayalam language catering to the Malayalam speaking population in Kerala as well as abroad . The channel, headquartered in Trivandrum, has studio facilities in Trivandrum as well as Kochi. Malayalam Communications Limited is the...

 and later became popular through YouTube

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

 was conceptualized, written and directed by New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

-based Ajayan Venugopal and Abi Verghese. The series ended after 50 episodes and the team put together a stage show based on the series. Based on the positive feedback from the show, they decided to make a film based on the series. The film is produced by Bom TV, a US based Internet TV provider. The screenplay

Screenplay

A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...

 is written by Ajayan Venugopal. Ajayan Venugopal and Abi Verghese are handling the direction. Hyder Bilgrami is the director of cinematography

Cinematography

Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...

. Kedar Kumar has composed the music. Nibu Eapen is the film editor. The pooja of the film was held on September 3, 2010 at Orangeburg, New York

Orangeburg, New York

Orangeburg hamlet , in the Town of Orangetown Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Tappan; south of Blauvelt; east of Pearl River and west of Piermont...

. Filming commenced on the same date. A teaser trailer

Teaser trailer

A teaser campaign is an advertising campaign which typically consists of a series of small, cryptic, challenging advertisements that anticipate a larger, full-blown campaign for a product launch or otherwise important event. These advertisements are called "teasers" or "teaser ads"...

 appeared on the official Akkara Kazhchakal YouTube page on September 22, 2010. It was announced on the official facebook

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

page on November 10, 2010 that filming has been completed and the post-production works have begun. The film released in the United States on April 29, 2011.