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{{Use Indian English|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox film
| name = August Club
| image = August Club.jpg
| caption = Promotional poster
| director = K. B. Venu
| writer = Anantha Padmanabhan
| based_on = {{Based on|''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal''|Anantha Padmanabhan}}
| producer = V. S. Adheesh
| starring = {{Plainlist|
* [[Rima Kallingal]]
* [[Murali Gopy]]
* [[Thilakan]]
* Monisha Sagar
* Praveen Anidil
}}
| music = [[Bennet Veetraag]]
| editing = Manoj Kannoth
| cinematography = [[Pratap P Nair]]
| studio = Darshini Concepts
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|df=yes|2013|7|16|ref1=<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20130428031122/http://ibnlive.in.com/photogallery/13272.html "Malayalam Friday: Govind Padmasurya's '72 Model' to battle 'August Club'"]. [[IBN Live]]. 26 April 2013. Retrieved 11 May 2013.</ref>}}
| runtime = 120 minutes
| country = India
| language = Malayalam
| budget =
| gross =
}}
'''''August Club''''', also called '''''August Club Since 1969''''',<ref name=rediffreview/> is a 2013 [[Malayalam]] [[romantic drama film]] directed by K. B. Venu. [[Rima Kallingal]] stars in the story about the nuances in marital life. The film's screenplay is written by Anantha Padmanabhan and is based on his novelette titled ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal''.<ref name=rediffreview/> ''August Club'' marked the debut of both K. B. Venu and Anantha Padmanabhan. The film was produced by V S Atheesh.

==Plot==
''August Club'' is a woman-centric film told from the point of view of Savithri ([[Rima Kallingal]]), a young upper middle class housewife. She is the unrivalled chess champion of a nearby local club. She shares a loving and sensual relationship with her husband Nandan ([[Murali Gopy]]), who is a busy business executive. A new member Shishir (Praveen Anidil) joins the club and defeats Savithri in the game of chess. Shishir, also a lover of music and poetry like Savitri, is drawn to her.

==Cast==
{{div col}}
* [[Rima Kallingal]] as Savithri
* [[Murali Gopy]] as Nandagopan
* [[Thilakan]] as KPT Menon
* Praveen Anidil as Shishir
* [[Sukumari]] as Bhagavati Amma
* [[Mala Aravindan]] as Lazar
* [[K. P. A. C. Lalitha]] as Nandan's Amma
* Rakendu
* [[Sunil Sukhada]] as Lona
* Monisha Sagar as Leena Zacharias
* [[Sasi Kalinga]] as Cheru
* Unni Thrippunithura as Appan
* Arun as Kishore
* [[Ganapathi S Poduval]] as Benny
* Baby Ester
*[[Krishna (Malayalam actor)|Krishna]]
* Cherthala Lalitha as Reetha
* [[Tovino Thomas]] as Mahesh (Cameo appearance)
{{div col end}}

==Production==
The film is journalist-turned television personality K. B. Venu's directorial debut. It is also the debut attempt at screen-writing for Anantha Padmanabhan, son of writer and filmmaker [[Padmarajan]].

The film is based on the novelette ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal'' which was published in the ''[[Malayala Manorama]]'' ''Vishuppathippu''.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/movies/interview/277798/ |title=അച്ഛന്റെ അരങ്ങിലേക്ക് അനന്തനും |language=ml |date=8 June 2012 |newspaper=[[Mathrubhumi]] |access-date=25 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120624060629/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/movies/interview/277798/ |archive-date=24 June 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref> "When I wrote ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal'', I never thought of converting it into a movie. It was [[Lal Jose]], my friend, who discovered an inherent cinematic probability," says Ananda Padmanabhan. Though the film is true to the original story, minor modifications have been introduced to broaden its cinematic scope. While the story begins in an urban setting, the narrative meanders to a village of chess players. The inspiration is from [[Marottichal]], a village in [[Thrissur]], which is famous for its chess-playing population.<ref name=TheHindu2>{{cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/features/cinema/game-of-life/article4653450.ece|title=Game of life|first=Anasuya|last=Menon|date=25 April 2013|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|access-date=11 May 2012}}</ref> The scenarist says, "Though the subtleties of chess were not fully utilised in my novel in order to make it simple for the readers to comprehend, some shrewd complexities have been introduced to the script."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/showbiz/mollywood/inheriting-dad%E2%80%99s-pen-627 |title=Inheriting dad's pen |first=Keerthy |last=Ramachandran |date=21 May 2012 |newspaper=[[Deccan Chronicle]] |access-date=16 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120613183112/http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/showbiz/mollywood/inheriting-dad%E2%80%99s-pen-627 |archive-date=13 June 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>

The film was initially titled ''Venalinte Kalaneekkangal'' itself but was later renamed as ''August Club'' which in the movie is a club where the main protagonists meet. K. B. Venu says, "We felt it created bit of a confusion. When the title was written in English, the meaning was altered. Though the name is poetic, we felt it didn't communicate well to the public. So, we decided to change. August Club is a club in the movie where the main protagonists meet. We felt it's catchy and does connect to the movie."<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-25/news-and-interviews/32394035_1_rima-kallingal-club-movie|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430083021/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-25/news-and-interviews/32394035_1_rima-kallingal-club-movie|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 April 2013|title=Venalinte...renamed August Club|first=Ammu|last=Zachariah|date=25 June 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/movies/malayalam/281986/ |title='വേനലിന്റെ കളനീക്കങ്ങള്‍' പേര് മാറി ആഗസ്ത് ക്ലബായി |language=ml |date=25 June 2012 |newspaper=[[Mathrubhumi]] |access-date=25 June 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120625104221/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/movies/malayalam/281986/ |archive-date=25 June 2012 |df=dmy }}</ref>

The film was launched on 21 May 2012 with a [[puja (Hinduism)|pooja]] ceremony which was attended by the crew members along with other actors and major filmmakers including K G George, Mohan, Lal Jose, Murali Gopi, Priyanandan, [[K. P. A. C. Lalitha]] and [[B. Unnikrishnan]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/regional/malayalam/parties/Muhurth-of-Venalinte-Kalaneekangal/articleshow/13390215.cms|title=Muhurth of Venalinte Kalaneekangal|date=23 May 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> [[Principal photography]] for the film started in June 2012 and took place entirely at [[Alappuzha]] in [[Kerala]].<ref name=TheHindu2/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-11/news-and-interviews/32174383_1_film-director-and-script-writer-shooting|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219041018/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-11/news-and-interviews/32174383_1_film-director-and-script-writer-shooting|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2013|title=Venalinte Kalaneekkangal shooting starts|date=11 June 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=16 June 2012}}</ref>

==Music==
The film's music was composed by the music director duo [[Bennet Veetraag]] with lyrics penned by [[Rafeeq Ahmed]]. "It's gonna be a different feel altogether in this movie," said Veetraag of the duo. There were three songs and Bennet sang two songs.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-02/news-and-interviews/31982988_1_directorial-debut-composer-duo-music|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219040536/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-06-02/news-and-interviews/31982988_1_directorial-debut-composer-duo-music|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2013|title=Bennet Veetraag composes music for K B Venu|first=Ammu|last=Zachariah|date=2 June 2012|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|access-date=25 June 2012}}</ref> The other singers include [[Shreya Ghoshal]], [[Srinivas (singer)|Srinivas]], [[Vijay Prakash]], and Veetraag. Thilakan's son Shobi Thilakan has sung a few lines for Thilakan. Jaya Kerr, who just won the worldwide singing competition, sang in this movie for song of "Vaathil Charumo" along with [[Srinivas (singer)|Srinivas]] .

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Song !! Length !! Singer(s) !! Picturization
|-
| "Vaathil Charumo" || || [[Shreya Ghoshal]] & [[Srinivas (singer)|Srinivas]] ||
|-
| "Kaattu Theno" || || [[Vijay Prakash]] & Shobi Thilakan ||
|-
| "Kathorthuvo" || || [[Sujatha Mohan|Sujatha]] & Veetraag ||
|}

==Critical reception==
K. Padmakumar of ''[[Malayala Manorama]]'' gave the film a 2/5 rating, and said, "The limitations of stretching a small story into a full length movie is always visible" and that "No curiosity is generated till late after half time".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentId=13941936&tabId=1&programId=11565555&channelId=-1073865026&BV_ID=@@@|title=August Club: Intended classic turns dampener|first=K|last=Padmakumar|date=27 April 2013|newspaper=[[Malayala Manorama]]|access-date=11 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606124250/http://www.manoramaonline.com/cgi-bin/MMOnline.dll/portal/ep/contentView.do?contentId=13941936&tabId=1&programId=11565555&channelId=-1073865026&BV_ID=@@@|archive-date=6 June 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> Paresh C Palicha writing for [[Rediff.com]] said that the film is "rich in subtext and distinctive characters, [which] makes for an interesting watch", but was disappointed with a predictable climax.<ref name=rediffreview>{{cite web|url=http://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-august-club-since-1969/20130429.htm|title=Review: August Club Since 1969 is nothing great|first=Paresh C.|last=Palicha|date=29 April 2013|work=[[Rediff.com]]|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref> Unni R. Nair of Kerala9.com stated that "''August Club'' stands out as a well-made and well scripted film, with neat, excellent performances by the key players." He labelled the film's screenplay as a "striking" one, background score as "one of the highlights of the film" and the songs as "too good", rating the film 3 of 5.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kerala9.com/news/august-club-malayalam-movie-review/|title=August Club Malayalam Movie Review|first=Unni R.|last=Nair|date=28 April 2013|publisher=Kerala9.com|access-date=11 May 2013}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:2013 films]]
[[Category:Indian films]]
[[Category:2010s Malayalam-language films]]
[[Category:Films based on Indian novels]]
[[Category:2013 directorial debut films]]

August Club - Revision history

>Citation bot at 05:39, 12 May 2021