4 the People is a 2004 Indian Malayalam-language vigilantethriller film directed by Jayaraj and written by Iqbal Kuttippuram from a story by Jayaraj.[2] It stars Arun Cherukavil, Bharath (in his Malayalam debut), Arjun Bose and Padma Kumar in the title roles, along with Narain in supporting role. The plot follows four engineering students who leads a double-life as members of a vigilante group called 4 the People who physically incapacitates corrupt public servants.
The songs were trendsetters and pioneered a new style of composition in Malayalam cinema. 4 the People was a critical and commercial success at the box office. The film was dubbed in Tamil as 4 Students.[3][4][5] The film was remade in Telugu as Yuvasena (2004). It is followed by two sequels By the People (2005) and Of the People (2008).
Aravind (Arun), Vivek (Bharath), Eshwar (Arjun Bose) and Shafeek (Padma Kumar) are four engineering students from economically struggling families that were victims of society's corruption in one way or the other. Enraged by various injustices happening around them, the group take the law into their own hands and form the secretive clique called 4 The People that targets corrupt officials. They create an identity for themselves with their attire and mode of operation. They dress up in all black and ride bullet motorcycles. They even set up a website for the public to lodge their complaints.
From the complaints lodged they chose an official and cut their dominant arm to send a message to other officials and expose them in media with relevant evidences that they collect before attacking a target. The group gains a lot of public support and are regarded as heroes. Their actions also lead to government officials refusing to take bribes in fear of someone lodging a complaint against them to 4 The People. Soon, the police are on their track. A young cop Rajan Mathew (Narain) is in hot pursuit of the gang who are now targeting a corrupt minister.
The foursome attempt to kill the minister, but fail. Seeing the brutality of the police, the students come to the support of the foursome. One of the students kills the minister and is joined by three more students. It is concurrently revealed that these four students were benefited from 4 The People's influence in the society. They escape with the help of other students who were present there and forms another vigilante group- a gang of four.
Soundtrack was composed by Jassie Gift. The songs "Lajjavathiye" and "Annakkili" became popular. Jassie Gift later reused "Lajjavathiye" as "Mandakiniye" for Kannada film Hudugaata.[7] In these songs, Jassie Gift utilised and popularised Rap and Hip-hop in Kerala.[8]
The satellite rights of the film's Tamil dubbed version were sold to Star Vijay.
Sify wrote that "Jayaraj's 4 The People is a trendsetter and a welcome change in the placid superstar driven Malayalam film industry".[9]Nowrunning said that "Though the storyline is wafer-thin, the narration is fast paced and the film is technically brilliant".[10][11]
Box office
It became one among the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year, grossing ₹3 crore against a budget of ₹40 lakh.[1]
