Malayalam action thriller, Jalikattu, is coming soon with a U.S. release on hand according to press announcements and trade news this week. As Variety‘s Manori Ravindran notes, the Lijo Jose Pelissery-directed film will be the least relaunch in distribution for Drafthouse Films, alongside XYZ Films with plans for theatrical, digital and Blu-Ray releases.
The pic follows the upheaval that unfolds when a butcher’s buffalo escapes and runs amok through a remote village in the hill ranges of Kerala, in southern India. A mission to catch and kill the deadly animal quickly unleashes the villagers’ own primal instincts, culminating in a senseless and self-destructive frenzy of violence.
The film stars Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad and Santhy Balachandran. It is produced by O Thomas Panicker, and executive produced by Naushad Salahudin and Guneet Monga (“The Lunchbox”) alongside XYZ Films.
Jalikattu, currently India’s nomination for an Oscar this Spring,
was written by S. Hareesh and R. Jayakumar, and based on the short story, Maoist by Hareesh. The film became a festival darling upon its screenings for Toronto and Fantastic Fest last year.
“[‘Jallikattu’] blew us away because it felt like it was beamed in from another dimension and left a permanent imprint on our brain,” said Drafthouse Films in a statement shared with Variety.
