The King

The city of Kozhikode has been shaken by a large outbreak of collective violence aimed at the people living in its slums; twelve are dead. Joseph Alex is posted there as district collector and it falls to him to restore order. What stands against him is not only the violence in the street but the political order behind it. The film sets political tension inside an action story and builds the civil servant as a hero. It runs on long speeches and sharp lines. The hundred and ninety nine minutes are used to carry a wide cast and a busy plot. Renji Panicker wrote the screenplay and Mammootty takes the title role. Shaji Kailas’s Malayalam language Indian film was completed in 1995.