# Shylock (2020 film)

Shylock is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language masala film directed by Ajay Vasudev, written by Aneesh Hameed-Bibin Mohan and produced by Joby George under Goodwill Entertainments. The film stars Mammootty in titular role, alongside and Rajkiran (in his Malayalam debut), Meena, Siddique, Kalabhavan Shajon, Baiju Santhosh, Bibin George and Hareesh Kanaran in supporting roles. The film's title is a slang term for a loan shark. The music was composed by Gopi Sundar, while cinematography and editing were handled by Renadive and Riyas K. Badhar.
Shylock was released on 23 January 2020. The film received mixed reviews, became a commercial success at the box office.

## Plot

Boss alias Shylock, a ruthless moneylender, provides money to a film producer Prathapa Varma to produce a film. However, Varma cheats Boss by not repaying the money, which enrages him. Varma is a close friend of a corrupt Police Commissioner Felix John. Boss creates a ruckus on Prathapa Varma's film sets and abduct the film director due to which Varma sends men to kill Boss. Boss defeats everyone, including Felix's son Joel, and mocks Varma and Felix. Felix charges a fake case that Varma's son Adithyan Varma has gone missing and Boss is behind this. The police arrests Boss, but a video evidence proves that Adithyan is celebrating Holi in Nagpur with Felix's daughter Jewel.
Felix is forced to release Boss. On the way home, Varma confronts Boss and demands to know Adithyan's whereabouts. Boss reveals that after the video was telecasted, Boss kidnapped and killed Adithyan by using Varma's car claiming it as an accident. During Adityan's funeral, Felix and Varma suspect that Boss was part of a plot that they did before. Boss receives a call that an old man Ayyanar is awaken from coma, where he rushes to meet Ayyanar. When Boss's associates ask him, Boss reveals his real name as Devan and tells that Ayyanar is his brother, where he narrates his past.
3 years ago: Devan used to live with his rich family. Devan's adopted Son Velumurugan is in love with Poonkuzhali. Poonkuzhali's family declined their relationship due to caste differences. Deva and Ayyanar fights Poonkuzhali's elder brother Rangan and his henchman and convinces Poonkuzhali to marry Velumurugan. Rangan is angered by this and teams up with Felix and Prathapa Varma to exact revenge on Devan and his family. Devan leaves for Chennai for a few days. During this time, a producer asks Ayyanar for money. Ayyanar agrees, but on the condition that Devan, who aspires to be an actor, should act in the film. Rangan, Rangan's brother Felix, Varma and their henchmen arrive at Ayyanar's house and kill the producer and tries to kill Ayyanar, but Ayyanar fights their henchmen.
Rangan kills Ayyanar's wife Lakshmi and Ayyanar kills Rangan. Rangan's brother realizes that Felix and his men were cheating him and Rangan, where he gets killed by Felix. Adithyan and his henchman kill all the family members, except Ayyanar who is stabbed by Felix. Assuming Ayyanar to be dead, Felix and Varma leave. Devan returns that night, only to find his family members dead. Devan finds that Ayyanar is still alive and takes him to a hospital. The doctor says that, after a surgery, Ayyanar will be crippled for life.
Present: Felix and Varma also learn about Boss/Devan's past. Boss/Devan kidnaps Varma's and Felix's friend Chacko and Joel. They find Chacko heavily drunk, tied to a chair and Joel dead. Chacko provokes Felix by telling that Boss/Devan will kill everyone and they can't do anything. An enraged Felix kills Chacko. Boss/Devan calls him and challenges Varma and Felix for a final confrontation in his old house. They both agree to the challenge and reaches the venue, where Boss/Devan overpowers their henchman and subdues Felix. Ayyanar stabs Felix to death, while Boss/Devan kills Varma. With nobody else to trouble him, Boss/Devan takes care of Ayyanar and continues his business as Shylock along with Balakrishna Panicker and Ganapathy.

## Cast

* Mammootty as Boss/ Shylock/Vaalu
* Rajkiran as Ayyanar
* Meena as Lakshmi Ayyanar, Devan's sister
* Siddique as Commissioner Felix John IPS, The first main antagonist
* Kalabhavan Shajon as Prathapa Varma, The second main antagonist
* Baiju Santhosh as Balakrishna Panicker
* Bibin George as Velmurugan
* Hareesh Kanaran as Ganapathi
* Arjun Nandhakumar as Ram
* Ameenul Irfan as Raheem
* Arthana Binu as Poonkuzhali Velmurugan
* John Vijay as Rangan
* Ajai Vasudev as Thotta Raja
* Rafi as Chacko
* John Kaippallil as Adithya Varma
* Vinu Chemmalakuzhy as Joel Felix
* Jaise Jose as Isaac
* Udayakrishna as himself
* P. R. Rajasekharan as a builder
* Ambika Mohan as Meenakshi Ammal
* Prasanth Alexander as "Broker" Kumar
* G. Marimuthu as Chithappa (transl. Uncle)
* Rajalakshmi as Chinnamma (transl. Aunt)
* Jayaprakash as a doctor
* Santhosh Keezhattoor as Cinema Secretary
* Jewel as Tejal
* Jai Vishnu as a news reporter
* Binu Adimali as Saji, film production controller
* Laya as Felix John's wife
* Joel Jo George as Chitappa's son

### Cameo appearance

* Hareesh Peradi as Menon
* Ramya Krishnan as Neelambari (archive footage in "Kanne Kanne Veesathe")

## Production

Principal photography of the film began on 9 August 2019. Mammootty joined the sets a week after the shoot started. The film marks the debut of actor Rajkiran in the Malayalam cinema. Rajkiran and Meena, who had earlier worked in Pasamulla Pandiyare, are acting together after 23 years. Bibin George was chosen for an important role. The art direction of the film was handled by Girish Menon.

## Release

The film was scheduled for release on 23 January 2020 along with a Tamil dubbed version titled Kuberan. The film was dubbed in Telugu, Hindi and Kannada and released with the same title. The film's Tamil version, along with a Telugu dub, was released on Aha.

## Music

The music was composed by Gopi Sundar. The soundtrack was launched on 18 January 2020.

## Reception
### Box office

The film received mixed reviews, but was commercial success, and collected ₹12 crore (US$1.4 million) in its first weekend. The film collected ₹22 crore (US$2.5 million) within 5 days of its release.It completed 400 special shows in 4 days and first ever 4000 housefull shows in mollywood. Shylock may earn up to ₹5 crore (US$570,000) in India on its first day. The film has collected ₹9 crore (US$1.0 million) worldwide, ₹3 crore (US$340,000) overseas on its first day. The film earned ₹3.5 crore (US$400,000) in the Kerala state. The film was opened well on the first day and got an immense occupancy at Cochin, Thiruvananthapuram. Critics claimed that the first half is purely fans stuff and also complained about the routine story but still, Mammotty fans are enjoying the film as the film is entertaining. Kerala Box Office Collection is ₹39.71 crore (US$4.5 million), Overseas Box Office Collection ₹27.53 crore (US$3.2 million), Rest Of India Box Office Collection ₹6.9 crore (US$790,000) and Tamil dubbed version(2020) Gross ₹2.93 crore (US$340,000) The film collected over ₹70.17 crore (US$8.0 million) at the Worldwide box office against a budget of ₹12 crore (US$1.4 million), and is among the highest-grossing Malayalam films of all time.

### Critical response

Shylock received mixed reviews from critics.
Sajin Shrijith of The New Indian Express gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Shylock is an exuberant celebration of Mammootty, the star, that attempts to milk his charisma to the fullest". Anjana George of The Times of India gave 3/5 stars and wrote "For the fans of 'mega star Mammootty', Shylock is a treat and for the followers of actor Mammootty, this is a complete 'no'."
Cris from The News Minute wrote "Yet another Mammootty 'mass' movie that numbs the mind. It is running out of boring descriptions for itself". Manoj Kumar R. of The Indian Express gave 1/5 stars and wrote "You know this story. You know how things would pan out. And you know what happens to the bad guys even before the film arrives at its depressingly predictable climax".
Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost wrote that "To compensate perhaps for the absolute lack of novelty in the script, camerawork and all else here, multiple references are made to other films and their Tamil superstars.