Kannur Squad (2023)

Interesting facts

Kannur Squad is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language police procedural action thriller film directed by Roby Varghese Raj in his directorial debut, written by Muhammed Shafi and Rony David Raj, and produced by Mammootty under Mammootty Kampany. The film stars Mammootty, Azees Nedumangad, Rony David Raj, Shabareesh Varma, Kishore, and Vijayaraghavan. It is based on the real story of a team of police officers who were part of the Kannur Squad, a crime investigation unit, formed by former Kannur SP S. Sreejith IPS.

Production

Kannur Squad marks the fourth production of Mammootty's production Mammootty Kampany, following Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (2022), Rorschach (2022) and Kaathal – The Core (2023). It marked the directorial debut of cinematographer Roby Varghese Raj, who had previously worked in Puthiya Niyamam (2016) and The Great Father (2017).

Rony David Raj and Roby Varghese Raj's father, C. T. Rajan, had earlier produced the Mammootty starrer Mahayanam (1988). Rony and Muhammed Shafi had written a story on policemen during the COVID-19 lockdown, with the initial draft resembling a documentary. They decided to make it into a feature film and focus on four characters, thereby incorporating different issues related to the police system.

Paragg Mehta was the casting director, marking his first Malayalam film. Lukman Avaran and Arjun Ashokan were initially considered for the roles of police officers but both declined due to scheduling conflicts. Prakash Raj and Sathyaraj were approached to play certain characters in the film. Shabeer Kallarakkal was considered for a negative role in the film, but declined as he was filming for King of Kotha (2023) at the time.

Arjun Radhakrishnan was cast to play the antagonist, having earlier played roles in Jhund (2022) and the webseries Rocket Boys. Roby Varghese cast him after seeing his performances in the films Pada (2022) and Dear Friend (2022). Manohar Pandey, who appeared in Adipurush (2023) and Gangubhai Kathiawadi (2022) was cast to play a key role. Ankit Madhav who originally hails from Pattambi was cast to play a Uttar Pradesh Police constable.

Principal photography began on 27 December 2022 in Pala. Mammootty joined production on 1 January 2023. The Pune schedule began on 14 February 2023. Prior to Pune, filming took place in Wai. The team had a five-day schedule in Pune, filming in the old city areas, Katraj Tunnel and Pune Camp. The Mumbai schedule was completed in the first week of March 2023. It was followed by a 10-day schedule in Wayanad.

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