Traffic (2011 film)


Traffic is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language road thriller film directed by Rajesh Pillai and written by Bobby–Sanjay. It features an ensemble cast of Sreenivasan, Kunchacko Boban, Rahman, Anoop Menon, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Asif Ali, Sandhya, Roma, Remya Nambessan, Lena, and Saikumar. The film tells its story in a hyperlink narrative format.
Traffic was released on 7 January 2011 to positive reviews from critics, and was a commercial success. It has since gained cult status and is widely recognised as being among the first Malayalam New Wave films. A multi-narrative thriller that intertwines multiple stories around one particular incident, Traffic is inspired from a real event that happened in Chennai. It was remade into Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal, in Kannada as Crazy Star and in Hindi, under the same name. The film marked the final appearance of the veteran actor Jose Prakash before his death in 2012.
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Plot

On 16 September in Kochi, Sidharth Shankar is preparing for the release of his new film; Traffic Constable Sudevan resumes his duty following a suspension for accepting a bribe to pay the fees for his niece's school admission, cardiologist Dr. Abel is celebrating his first wedding anniversary and Raihan, an aspiring television journalist, starts his new job with an interview with Siddharth Shankar.
At a crowded traffic jam, Raihan and his friend Rajeev, who were travelling together on a bike are hit by a speeding car at the signal. At the same junction in another car is Abel and his friend, Jikku.
On the other hand, Siddharth's daughter Riya is suffering from a heart condition and her condition deteriorates, making her in need of a heart transplant. Raihan falls into a coma and is declared brain dead, although he is kept alive using a ventilator. Raihan's parents refuse to take their son of the ventilator and donate his heart but reluctantly agree on the persuasion of Rajeev, and Raihan's girlfriend Aditi. However, the heart is unable to be transported from Kochi to Palakkad, as there are no helicopters or flights available due to the weather conditions and time concerns; the only option available is via road.
City Police Commissioner Ajmal Nazar is asked to take charge of the mission, but refuses due to the complexity and risk involved. However, he agrees on the insistence of Dr. Simon D' Souza. No officer is willing to drive the vehicle transporting the heart until Sudevan volunteers, hoping to regain the respect he lost. Accompanying him on the mission are Abel and Rajeev.
The mission goes smoothly at first, until Abel holds Rajeev at knife-point, threatening Sudevan that if he didn't comply he would kill Rajeev, forcing Sudevan to deviate from the highway into a forest. After Rajeev retaliates, Abel calls his sister Miriam, and confesses to running over his wife Shwetha, after finding out that she was having an affair with his friend Jikku and that she may have died, therefore he wishes to save himself from the police. Siddharth then calls Abel and promises to help him, though he is not convinced. A frustrated Siddharth's wife Sruthi explains the trauma she has been through because of her daughter's heart condition, and tells him that no other problem could be bigger than this. A finally convinced Abel advises Sudevan and Rajeev to leave without him, however, he is brought along by Sudevan despite being requested by Nazar to have him arrested.
They divert into a road 8 km ahead of the scheduled route, making up for the time they lost. Riya's condition begins to worsen, causing Sudevan to take an alternate route through a communally sensitive are called Bilal Colony, where police are restricted from entering due to its strong minority. Rajeev, who is familiar with the area, helps make way for the vehicle to pass along with help of Thanzeer, Siddharth Shankar's Fan Club President whom Siddharth personally called. Abel also leave the vehicle to push two vehicles blocking the route. Sudevan drives at a high speed and reaches the hospital on time, covering the 150 km feat in an hour and 58 minutes.
Abel is relieved after finding out that Shwetha is in stable condition and has no complaints against him. Rajeev is offered a lift back to Kochi and Raihan's parents accept Aditi and invite her to their home, before doing Raihan's final rites. Riya opens her eyes, much to the relief of her family, and a satisfied Nazar thanks Dr. Simon D'Souza. Sudevan en-route to his home finds a group of people arguing in the middle road over a minor accident, where he signals them to stop, ending the film on a happy note.

Cast

Production

Bobby and Sanjay, who scripted Ente Veedu Appuvinteyum and Notebook explained: "The director wanted the film to be of a different mould altogether. Here every character is of equal importance as the story moves ahead. It was quite a challenging task but an enjoyable experience as well." They add that the film is inspired by a true incident. A similar mission was successfully carried out by the Tamil Nadu police in a more complex Chennai city. Also, in a scene, the character played by Anoop Menon talks about the incident.
Traffic is one of the first multi narratives made in this decade in Malayalam film. The film has Sreenivasan, Rahman, Kunchacko Boban and Asif Ali as the four lead protagonists whose stories are narrated through the sequences. On the theme, Rajesh says, "I felt it was a theme that could connect with viewers regardless of their age. It's a contemporary theme that reassures us that if we approach something with honesty, even nature will come to our support." The film will be the second on-screen pairing of Vineeth and Sreenivasan, after their first film Makante Achan.

Reception

Critical response

The film opened on 7 January 2011 to positive reviews. Veeyen of Nowrunning.com gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, writing, "Rajesh Pillai's Traffic is a brutally brilliant film in which he lends color to coincidence and unveils before us cogitation on the dynamics of chance. A strikingly crafted film that is raw and genuine, it crawls right under your skin and stays there." IndiaGlitz enthusiastically praised the film's "riveting plot, great performances, soulful music... and skillful direction". A review at Cinefundas also praised the acting, adding that "the real hero of the film is the script". Sify.com called it "an overwhelming experience" and rated it as "very good." The Malayalam website Movieraga called it an "excellent movie" and went on to state that the new blood of Malayalam cinema cannot be seen as second-grade any more. The movie was part of the series of movies that began the New Generation Movement.
Traffic was screened in the Malayalam Cinema Today section at the 16th International Film Festival of Kerala, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in 2011.

Box office

The film received highly positive reviews and was declared a blockbuster at box office.

Remakes

Owing to its critical and commercial success, Traffic was remade in Tamil as Chennaiyil Oru Naal, which was a huge success at box office like Traffic. Kannada remake Crazy Star received negative reception from both critics and box-office. Traffic's Hindi remake was released in May 2016.