Nearly two months after its theatrical release, dark comedy crime thriller Pravinkoodu Shappu has locked in its OTT release. The film, helmed by Sreeraj Sreenivasan, is due to arrive on SonyLIV on April 11, as announced by the streaming platform on its social media, accompanied by a trailer and a caption reading: “Get ready for a dark comedy that unfolds the chaos.”
Pravinkoodu Shappu follows the murder investigation of a toddy shop owner. On the night after locking up his shop, eleven people gathered to drink and play cards, making SI Santhosh’s work particularly challenging as he has one too many murder suspects on the board. Though the premise of the film is dark and thriller-like, the infusion of dark comedy in the film gives it a gentler pace.
Marking Sreenivasan’s directorial debut, the film follows his earlier work in short films The Unknown (2016), Toy (2017), and Coffee (2017). The cast includes Soubin Shahir, Basil Joseph and Chemban Vinod Jose, with Chandini Sreedharan, Shivajith, and Shabareesh Varma in supporting roles.
Pravinkoodu Shappu earned mixed reviews, though many lauded it for its unique approach to investigative thrillers. Sajin Shrijith from THE WEEK wrote, “You know that Basil has been cast in this film for a damn good reason. We know we are not going to get a typical sleuth. Basil plays a cop investigating the mysterious death of a toddy shop owner. Naturally, this idea gives the film, in some places, the behaviour of an Agatha Christie-style adventure, on account of it teasing the possibility of a murder and one of the shop's patrons being the culprit.”
Despite the praise, the film, bankrolled by Anwar Rasheed Entertainment, underperformed at the box office, grossing less than Rs 6 crore against a Rs 18 crore budget.