Manjummel Boys’ Kannada dubbing feels like a ‘native’ film, say netizens

Manjummel Boys, the Malayalam survival thriller written and directed by Chidambaram, based on a real-life story of a gang of friends on an adventure trip to Kodaikanal, is currently the highest grossing film of the year. The film did phenomenally well in Karnataka too, and not just among Malayali audiences, but Kannadigas as well, even though it did not have a Kannada dubbed version at the time. Audiences thronged movie halls to watch the original with English subtitles.

For those who waited for the OTT release in the hope of catching it with Kannada audio, Manjummel Boys is now available in a dubbed version and going by the buzz on social media, it seems the team has done a phenomenal job. There are comments about the Kannada dubbing of the film, with netizens stating it is top notch, so much so that it felt like a “native” film.

Manjummel Boys review: Chidambaram carves an earnest rescue thriller that relies on emotions to carry it 

Manjummel Boys - Real to reel 

Manjummel Boys centres on the daring rescue of someone who fell into what’s called the Devil’s Kitchen at the Guna Caves, an area that is off-limit to tourists. After rescue attempts by the Police and Fire Force department fail, one of the group members gives it one last try and manages to save his friend after all. The film is based on a real incident. 

Manjummel Boys has been the subject of a lot of intense discussion among Kannada film aficionados and Sandalwood stakeholders. The film is one of several Malayalam movies that has done well at the box office in Karnataka in its original version. And this was at a time when several experimental Kannada films also came to theatres, but didn’t get the same kind of footfalls despite positive reviews. This, of course, led to several statements from industry stakeholders that if they’d made their films in Malayalam instead of Kannada, they would have been lapped up by Kannada audiences.

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