# Ela Veezha Poonchira

Ela Veezha Poonchira is an Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film directed by Shahi Kabir, who is known for scripting Joseph and Nayattu. It stars Soubin Shahir, Sudhi Koppa, and Jude Anthany Joseph. The highly critically acclaimed movie produced by Vishnu Venu under his banner Kadhaas Untold. The film was released on 15 July 2022. Ela Veezha Poonchira is the first ever Malayalam film to be released in Dolby Vision 4K HDR.

## Plot

Madhu, a Poonchira hilltop cop, is returning to duty. The hilltop is frequently struck by lightning, so the patrolling policemen risk their lives to keep visitors out. As Madhu returns to the station, he discovers Venkayam, the policeman already stationed there, is set to leave the next day to go home, while Sudhi, another policeman, is supposed to join.
A mother and her two sons visit the location. The woman's late husband was once a police constable stationed there, and she had wished for a long time to visit the place at least once. One of her sons forgets to take something from their car and makes his way back down the hill. Madhu senses lightning and urges the mother and the other son to get inside the station for safety. As expected, lightning strikes the station, and as the storm calms, the woman calls out to check on her second son. They discover his body a few meters down the hill, having been killed by the lightning strike. The police and emergency personnel remove the body and restore order. Madhu is deeply disturbed by the events that transpired. The next day, Sudhi joins and in contrast to Venkayam, is shown to be a carefree and nosy policeman. He gets drunk, and tries to spy on a couple that visits the hilltop for some private time. Madhu remarks about how he should mind his own business and stay out of other people's lives.
During a normal incident assessment, a team of policemen visit the station. At the same time, body parts were being discovered all over the district by the police, and new developments were constantly being communicated via radio to other policemen, including Sudhi and Madhu. Sudhi flirts with the lady constable and guides the team around the hilltop. The highest official is shown to be short-tempered. The police jeep driver explains that his wife had an affair with another driver and eloped with him. He is now requesting custody of their children. The team leaves the station when a new alert arises.
Sudhi notices the pet dogs living near the station, trying to dig up something. He inspects the soil closely and notices that there is a human hand buried partially. Madhu suddenly points a gun at him from behind. Sudhi acts as if he hadn't spotted the hand and covers it back up, fearing Madhu will murder him. From this point, Sudhi tries to report Madhu without him finding out. When the same team of policemen decide to visit the hilltop for more investigation regarding the ongoing case, he ties up Sudhi and hides him in some bushes with his mouth gagged. When the team leaves, Madhu unties him and in the process, gets pushed down while Sudhi runs and tries to escape.
After a long chase, Madhu catches him and invites him to talk. Sudhi drinks with Madhu. Madhu serves him chicken biryani while drinking.
While Sudhi eats the biryani, Madhu says the hand is from his wife's corpse but admits that he did not kill her. They were unhappily married. Doctors called Madhu's erectile dysfunction "honeymoon depression" after their wedding. After months of counselling, his condition persisted. Madhu realized his wife was having an affair, but he disregarded it because of all the pre-existing problems in their marriage. One day, Madhu returns from duty and discovers that his wife has hung herself. In her suicide note, she mentions that she was pregnant and the guilt of cheating on him led her to take her own life. Madhu is devastated and dismembers his wife. He stores the parts in the freezer. After Madhu narrates the story, Sudhi asks what happened to the man that his wife, Amrutha was having an affair with. Madhu tells him that he fed the man what he gave life to and glances at the chicken biryani that Sudhi had been eating. Sudhi starts retching after realizing he ate the fetus.
Police discover call records from Amrutha's phone to Sudhi, who was the person she was having an affair with. She had informed Sudhi about the pregnancy and mentioned that she cannot abort the child. Sudhi was already set to marry another woman and had turned Amrutha away.
Madhu ties Sudhi to the metal fence where he gets struck by lightning and dies. Madhu was leaving camp after his duty when the police arrives to find Sudhi. He tells them that Sudhi got struck by lightning and died. The police conclude as such, but the highest official sees a piece of Madhu's shirt torn and stuck to the fence near the body and suspects him. Having experienced the same situation with his own wife, he understands Madhu's motive and decides to let him go. He closes the investigation, and reports to his seniors that Sudhi died from lightning and no other suspicious elements were in play.

## Cast

* Soubin Shahir as Police constable Madhu
* Sudhi Koppa as Police constable Sudhi
* Jude Anthany Joseph as Venkayam
* Jithu Ashraf as Inspector SHO Jinto
* Vincent Vadakkan as SP
* Girish Mohan as Forensic expert
* Jineesh Chandran as The lover
* Rajesh Kumar as CPO Driver

## Production

The film is produced by Vishnu Venu under the banner Kadhaas Untold, and features real-life police officers from various quarters of police work. Sudhi Koppa and Jude Anthony Joseph are the other important characters in the film. The film is scripted by Nidhish G and Shaji Maarad. Manesh Madhavan,who earlier helmed the cinematography for Joseph, handled the cinematography. While Anil Johnson composed music for the film, Ajayan Adat designed the sounds. Kiran Das is the editor. 4K HDR colour grading was contributed by renowned colourist Robert Lang.

### Shooting location

The film is set in the secluded region of Ilaveezhapoonchira, a tourist destination located at an altitude of over 3000 feet above sea level. The place is located in Melukavu village in Kottayam district. Although the place is a tourist attraction, the chances of thunderstorms are very high.

### Scripting

After the announcement of the film, a Kerala Police officer who works in Ilaveezha Poonchira police station has written on Facebook about their alone hazardous job atmosphere in Ilaveezha Poonchira went viral. In his write up, he mentioned two police officers, Nidheesh and Shaji Maarad, who enjoy working there for years. These two police officers are the script writers of film.

### Casting

Soubin Shahir arrives in the main role as a policeman who is a security guard in the high range of Ilaveezhapoonchira and the story of the film is a murder and its investigation.

## Release

The film was announced on 28 September 2021 through Kadhaas Untold's official Facebook page. The trailer of the film was released in YouTube on 26 June 2022. The film was released on 15 July 2022.

## Accolades

| Year | Award | Category | Winner |
| 2023 | Kerala State Film Awards | Best Debutant Director | Shahi Kabir |
| 2023 | Kerala State Film Awards | Best Cinematography | Manesh Madhavan |
| 2023 | Kerala State Film Awards | Best Sound Design | Ajayan Adat |
| 2023 | Kerala State Film Awards | Best Processing Lab / Colourist | Robert Lang CSI |