Gatta Kusthi

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the submission wrestling form of Kerala, see Gatta gusthi.

Gatta Kusthi
Theatrical release poster
Directed byChella Ayyavu
Written byChella Ayyavu
Produced byRavi Teja
Vishnu Vishal
Shubhra
Aryan Ramesh
StarringVishnu Vishal
Aishwarya Lekshmi
CinematographyRichard M. Nathan
Edited byPrasanna GK
Music byJustin Prabhakaran
Production
companies
Distributed byRed Giant Movies
Release date
  • 2 December 2022 (2022-12-02)
CountryIndia
LanguageTamil
Box office₹30 crore[1][2]

Gatta Kusthi (transl. Tied wrestling) is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language romantic sports comedy drama film written and directed by Chella Ayyavu. It was jointly produced by Ravi Teja, Vishnu Vishal, Shubhra and Aryan Ramesh through the companies RT Team Works and Vishnu Vishal Studioz.[3] The film stars Vishnu Vishal and Aishwarya Lekshmi. The film's songs and background score were composed by Justin Prabhakaran.[4] The story is set against the backdrop of submission wrestling form gatta gusthi.

It was shot extensively across Tamil Nadu including Tenkasi, Chennai, Pallavaram, Courtallam, Ambasamudram, Pollachi and Kerala including Alappuzha and Palakkad.[5][6][7] The film was released in theatres on 2 December 2022.[8] The film received positive reviews from critics and became an commercial success.

Plot

Veera, who is brought up as a male chauvinist by his uncle Ratnam, is seeking a bride with his own preconceived set of conditions. Examples include a bride who is less educated than him (he finished up to 8th grade), has long hair, is silent and obedient, and does not plan to have a career as she has to devote her life to her husband. However, he unexpectedly ends up marrying Keerthi, who is the polar opposite of his expectations. Keerthi is a wrestler who has anger issues, short hair, and is a university graduate. She refuses to marry because she wants to focus on her career as a wrestling champion; however, her father has a heart attack and wants her to get married. Her uncle Ganesan arranges her marriage to him and convinces her to lie about herself and pretend to adjust to Veera's type. Hence, she has to wear hair extensions and control her anger. She accepts Veera's marriage proposal only because he refuses dowry. Within a few months, she has to deal with Veera and his misogyny; however, when Veera was going to get killed by Dass over a political disagreement, Keerthi shows her true colors and saves his life. This makes Veera scared of her because he is worried that she will beat him up. This also gets everyone making fun of him that his wife is much stronger and 'manlier' than him. Sattam, the family lawyer, shows Veera the real truth about Keerthi. This makes Veera fearfully respect Keerthi. With this incident, Keerthi rises to popularity. When Ratnam returns from prison, he disrespects Keerthi because he thinks she is inferior to him, which results in Keerthi slapping him. Veera comes to know about this and slaps her and kicks her out of the house. Keerthi leaves the house and vows to come back only when Veera realizes his mistake and accepts that men and women are equal.

Keerthi returns home, and her father enrolls her for a wrestling competition intentionally, which she refuses to participate in. To make matters worse, Ratnam and Sattam decide to file a divorce under Veera's name (which Veera does not know) through a letter. This makes Keerthi take up wrestling again. When Veera realizes that she has signed up for wrestling, Veera decides to end his life as he has lost respect (after Dass refuses to fight him because of Keerthi). They provoke him to fight against her to gain his masculinity. His uncle convinces the association to have a separate wrestling match between Veera and Keerthi. Lokesh, Keerthi's new coach who lusts after her, makes this happen for business purposes. Veera gets trained by Kodangi, who is a traditional wrestler. He refuses to train him initially because he wanted to be prepared for the match in 15 days, but Veera lies by saying he is doing for this for his wife, which Kodangi agrees to help because he is a widower. Veera trains hard and understands the pain wrestlers go through.

The day before the match, he goes to meet Ratnam but instead meets his aunt (Ratnam's wife) who says that he has already lost a match against his wife and that he is not a good husband. She reveals that Keerthi likes him and also dreams of becoming a wrestler. His aunt admits that she is also a university graduate, but, like Keerthi's family, her father lied that she had only finished fourth standard so that Ratnam would marry her. She says that Keerthi and many other women sacrifice their careers for the sake of family and marriage. Veera realizes that he is not a good husband and finds that Keerthi has won a lot of medals. That night, he goes to visit Keerthi, which is interrupted by Lokesh. Lokesh lies saying that Keerthi does not want to see Veera. Upset by this, he leaves.

On the day of the match, Lokesh tries to assault Keerthi on the pretext of comforting her. The doctor reveals that Keerthi is pregnant after checking her blood test (required for wrestlers to see if they are fit enough to wrestle), which she does not know about. The doctor advises that Keerthi should not wrestle, which Lokesh refuses because he wants the money from the attention for the spouses fighting each other. When the match begins, Keerthi faints and is taken to the hospital. Veera, who wants to see her, is refused to by Lokesh and asks him to fight the other wrestlers, which he refuses to. Veera then challenges Lokesh for the fight. During the fight, Lokesh, who is winning, ends up telling Veera that Keerthi is pregnant and he was going to continue on with the wrestling between the spouses and put him up for damages for being a bad husband for a miscarriage. Hearing this, Veera gets angry and overpowers him and wins. He gives a speech saying that he was brought up wrong and Keerthi proved him wrong. He tells that men and women are equal and how many women should not sacrifice their ambitions for marriage and men. He goes to visit Keerthi and apologizes to her. He also tells her that the divorce was his uncle's idea, and the couple reconciles.

A year and half time, Veera and their daughter watch Keerthi's wrestling match, which she wins.

Cast

  • Vishnu Vishal as Veera, Keerthi’s husband[9]
  • Aishwarya Lekshmi as Keerthi, Veera's wife[10]
  • Karunas as Ratnam, Veera's uncle
  • Munishkanth as Ganesan, Keerthi's uncle
  • Kaali Venkat as Sattanathan alias Sattam
  • Redin Kingsley as Temple Donation Group Chief
  • Sreeja Ravi as Keerthi's mother
  • Gajaraj as Keerthi's father
  • Nikhila Sankar as Keerthi's sister
  • Hareesh Peradi as Kodangi, Veera's coach
  • Ajay as Dass
  • Shatru as Lokesh, Keerthi's coach
  • Lizzie Antony as Ratnam's wife and Veera's aunt
  • Kalamandalam Mallika as Keerthi's grandmother
  • Mathew Varghese as Manik Club Managing Director
  • Mippu as Mani, Veera's friend
  • Maayi Sundar as Panchayat Old Man
  • Chella Ayyavu as Cameraman (Cameo Appearance)

Production

Development

The film was tentatively titled as VV18. On 5 April 2022, the film's official title was unveiled as Gatta Kusthi.[4] The plot is set against the backdrop of submission wrestling form gatta gusthi, which is popular in Kerala.[11][12] Directed by Chella Ayyavu, it is the first Tamil film produced by Ravi Teja under the banner of RT Team Works. This is second collaboration of Vishnu Vishal and Chella Ayyavu after 2018 film Silukkuvarupatti Singam.

Casting

Initially Priya Bhavani Shankar was approached by the makers for the role of Keerthi. This character is passionate about Wrestling and it had intense action sequences and demanded a muscular physique. Priya Bhavani Shankar liked the character so much and started training for it. But due to date issues and her prior commitments she opted out. After that Aishwarya Rajesh, Deepti Sati and Indhuja Ravichandran were considered. But finally Aishwarya Lekshmi was cast in as the female lead.[13][14] She grabbed the role with her both hands as she felt it was the actual hero of the film. Lekshmi underwent several months of rigorous Strength & Muscle fitness regime, Wrestling and Stunt training. Vishnu Vishal was cast in the role of a village ruffian, who is a misogynistic and insecure about his wife’s strength. He admitted initially was apprehensive but was sportive to take up a second fiddle role which has lesser weightage than the heroine character, and also has an important sequence where he is in a trouble and only the heroine fights and saves him from danger. Later Karunas, Lizzie Antony, Munishkanth, Kaali Venkat, Redin Kingsley and many others were added for supporting characters.

Filming

Principal photography of the film began on 7 April 2022,[8] and was wrapped up on 11 August 2022.[15]

Soundtrack

Gatta Kusthi
Soundtrack album by
Justin Prabhakaran
Released3 December 2022
Recorded2022
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length17:08
LanguageTamil
LabelSaregama
ProducerJustin Prabhakaran
Justin Prabhakaran chronology
Radhe Shyam
(2022) 		Gatta Kusthi
(2022) 		Pachuvum Athbutha Vilakkum
(2023)

The film score and soundtrack album of the film is composed by Justin Prabhakaran. The audio rights were acquired by Saregama. The first single titled "Chal Chakka" was released on 23 November 2022.[16] The second single titled "Mike Tyson" was released on 26 November 2022.[17] The third single titled "Sanda Veerachi" was released on 29 November 2022.[18]

Tamil
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Chal Chakka"VivekBenny Dayal3:57
2."Mike Tyson"Justin PrabhakaranAnthony Daasan, MC Vickey2:49
3."Sanda Veerachi"VivekKedakuzhi Mariyamma3:14
4."Medha Medhappa"VivekRahul Sipligunj, Diwakar3:49
5."Maranthana"VivekSaindhavi, Justin Prabhakaran3:19
Total length:17:08
Telugu
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Chal Chakkani"RahmanHemachandra3:57
2."Pokirodey"Krishna KanthFolk Marley, Anthony Daasan, Mc Vickey2:49
3."Thanne Chinnadi"Krishna KanthMangli3:14
4."Mira Mirapa"Krishna KanthRahul Sipligunj4:29
5."Nuvve Leni"RahmanChinmayi, Justin Prabhakaran4:11
Total length:18:40

Release

Theatrical

The film was released theatrically on 2 December 2022 along with a Telugu dubbed version under the title Matti Kusthi (transl. Mud wrestling).[19][20] The motion poster of the film was released on 5 April 2022.[21] The distribution rights of the film in Tamil Nadu were acquired by Udhayanidhi Stalin under the banner of Red Giant Movies.[22] The trailer of the film was released on 19 November 2022.[23]

Home media

The digital streaming rights of the film were acquired by Netflix while the Satellite Rights were sold to Kalaignar TV.[24] The film was digitally streamed on Netflix from 1 January 2023.[25]

Reception

Gatta Kusthi received positive reviews from critics.[26][27]

M. Suganth of The Times of India gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Thankfully, Chella Ayyavu doesn't valourise the hero's comeback, but uses these sequences to talk about the gender inequality in our society."[28] Thinkal Menon of OTT Play gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Gatta Kusthi succeeds as a neat family entertainer that manages to impress viewers with engaging emotions, conflicts and a couple of action scenes."[29] Dinamalar rated the film 3.5 out of 5 stars.[30] Khalillulah of Hindu Tamil Thisai wrote "Overall, this Gatta Kusthi contains reactionary ideas with features for mass cinema lovers."[31] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times wrote "Karunas gets a solid comic character after a long time and he’s brilliant in some of the key scenes of the movie."[32] Kalyani Pandian of ABP Live rated 3.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "However, beyond all these, Gatta Kusthi has managed to win as a commercial comedy entertainer."[33] Arvind V of Pinkvilla gave the film’s rating 2.5 out of 5 and wrote "Excellent wrestling matches are said to be arduous. This film is arduous, too - for the viewer."[34] Srivatsan S of The Hindu wrote "Gatta Kusthi, in a way, is a counterpoint to what Salman Khan’s Sultan was. Just for that, it is a winning comedy."[35] Navein Darshan of Cinema Express gave the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "Though the film tells aloud several times that women aren't slaves to men and they deserve better treatment inside and outside homes, it still gives the toxic males the longest end of the rope."[36] Sruthi Ganapathy Raman of Film Companion wrote "But should women get to live their lives only if they break their bones playing a sport or work hard enough for their family?"[37] Reviewing the Telugu version Matti Kusthi, a critic for 123telugu gave the film’s rating 2.75 out of 5 and wrote "On the whole, Matti Kusthi is a film that has a few enjoyable moments."[38]

References

  1. ^ "அப்போ 9 படம் டிராப் ஆச்சு.. இப்போ 9 படம் கைவசம் இருக்கு! கட்டா குஸ்தி சக்சஸ் மீட்டில் விஷ்ணு விஷால் நெகிழ்ச்சி". Asianet News (in Tamil). 8 December 2022. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  2. ^ "Matti Kusthi Collections : మట్టి కుస్తీ : రూ. 30 కోట్ల వసూళ్లతో థియేరట్స్‌లో రచ్చ". Sakshi TV. 9 December 2022. Archived from the original on 17 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  3. ^ "Vishnu Vishal next film titled Gatta Kusthi". Cinema Express. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Gatta Kusthi: Vishnu Vishal Is All Set To Wrestle With A Twist In Chella Ayyavu's Film; Check Out The Title Look Motion Poster". Latestly. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  5. ^ "#GattaKusthi #MattiKusthi - Pooja Ceremony Video is here 😊". Twitter. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 28 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  6. ^ "#GattaKusthi Update⭐". Twitter. 19 July 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  7. ^ "Shoot at Site: Vishnu, Aishwarya shoot for a fun first-night scene". The Times of India. 20 July 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Tamil Actor Vishnu Vishal Teams up With Ravi Teja for Bilingual Film Gatta Kusthi". News 18. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  9. ^ "First glimpse from Vishnu Vishal's Gatta Kusthi out". Onlookers Media. 21 July 2022. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  10. ^ "Aishwarya Lekshmi begins filming for 'Gatta Kusthi' in Tenkasi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2022.
  11. ^ Lakshmi, V. (6 April 2022). "Vishnu Vishal begins shoot of his wrestling-based film today". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  12. ^ Lakshmi, V. (14 April 2022). "Vishnu Vishal: There is always business for a good movie". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 24 November 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
  13. ^ "Glimpse of Veera from Gatta Kusthi: Vishnu Vishal plays dual roles, a wrestler and a village ruffian". OTT Play. 17 July 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  14. ^ "Aishwarya Lekshmi to play the female lead in Vishnu Vishal's Gatta Kusthi". Cinema Express. 6 April 2022. Archived from the original on 27 July 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2022.
  15. ^ "Vishnu Vishal's 'Gatta Kusthi' Kerala schedule wrapped up". The Times of India. 11 August 2022. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  16. ^ "ViSHHNU VISHAL (VV) ON TWITTER: Our first single is out now, a song that I loved on the first hear and you will too.. :)". Archived from the original on 20 November 2021. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Ravi Teja on Twitter: Here's #Pokirodey from our #MattiKusthi out now!". Twitter. 26 November 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
  18. ^ "VISHNU VISHAL (VV) on Twitter: Get ready for this jolly track 😁 #SandaVeerachi from #GattaKusthi #ThanneChinnadi from #MattiKusthi". Twitter. 29 November 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  19. ^ "Vishnu Vishal shares BTS pictures from 'Gatta Kusthi'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  20. ^ "HERE's when Vishnu Vishal and Aishwarya Lekshmi's much-awaited Gatta Kusthi will hit screens". OTT Play. Archived from the original on 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
  21. ^ "ரவி தேஜாவுடன் கைகோர்த்த விஷ்ணு விஷால்…. Title-ஏ செம்ம… வெளியான motion poster". Behindwoods. 5 April 2022. Archived from the original on 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  22. ^ @RedGiantMovies_ (18 November 2022). "After the success of #FIR, we're happy to join hands with @TheVishnuVishal again. #GattaKusthi releasing on Dec 2nd, in cinemas near you" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Vishnu Vishal's 'Gatta Kusthi' trailer". The Times of India. 20 November 2022. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  24. ^ "Gatta Kusthi: The digital rights of Vishnu Vishal's sports drama have been bagged by THIS platform". OTT Play. 18 November 2022. Archived from the original on 19 April 2023. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  25. ^ "Gatta Kusthi's OTT release date out". Cinema Express. 27 December 2022. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Gatta Kusthi OTT Platform Revealed! Check Details!". 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 August 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2022. The film has been getting positive reception both from the audience and critics.
  27. ^ "'Gatta Kusthi' box office collection day 1: Vishnu Vishal starrer mints Rs 4 crore". The Times of India. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 5 December 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022. Though it received a minimal response during the initial hours, with good reviews from critics and the movie audience, through word of mouth, the film is slowly picking up its pace and it is expected that over the weekend it will make a good collection at the box office.
  28. ^ "Gatta Kusthi Movie Review : An entertaining, progressive rural comedy that's a throwback to the '90s". The Times of India. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  29. ^ "Gatta Kusthi movie review: Aishwarya Lekshmi, Vishnu Vishal provide wholesome entertainment in this engaging fare". OTT Play. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  30. ^ "கட்டா குஸ்தி - விமர்சனம்". Dinamalar. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  31. ^ "கட்டா குஸ்தி Review: பாதி ஆட்டம் விறுவிறுப்பு... மீதி ஆட்டம்?". Hindu Tamil Thisai. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  32. ^ "Gatta Kusthi movie review: Vishnu Vishal's film is a lighthearted family drama, Aishwarya Lekshmi shines". Hindustan Times. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  33. ^ "Gatta Kusthi Review: குஸ்தியில் ஜெயித்தது ஐஸ்வர்யாவா..விஷ்ணுவா..? - 'கட்டா குஸ்தி' நறுக் விமர்சனம் இங்கே!". ABP Live (in Tamil). 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  34. ^ "Gatta Kusthi Movie Review: This unemotional story of a manchild and his wife could have been less simplistic". Pinkvilla. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  35. ^ "'Gatta Kusthi' movie review: Vishnu Vishal-Aishwarya Lekshmi's film is mad fun, when it doesn't ramble on gender politics". The Hindu. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 2 December 2022. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
  36. ^ "Gatta Kusthi Movie Review: This effective comedy needed more sensitivity". Cinema Express. 2 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  37. ^ "Gatta Kusthi Wrestles To Subvert Patriarchy, But Packs In A Few Punches". Film Companion. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  38. ^ "Review : Matti Kusthi – Partly Engaging". 123telugu. 3 December 2022. Archived from the original on 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gatta_Kusthi&oldid=1214259621"