Ritu (2009 film)

Ritu
Seasons change. Do we?
Directed by	Shyamaprasad
Produced by	Vachan Shetty
Written by	Joshua Newtonn
Starring	Asif Ali Nishan Rima Kallingal Jaya Menon Vinay Forrt
Music by	Rahul Raj
Cinematography	Shamdat
Edited by	Vinod Sukumaran
Distributed by	Playhouse Release
Release date	14 August 2009 (2009-08-14)
Running time	120 minutes
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Ritu (English: Seasons) is a 2009 Malayalam film, now widely acclaimed as the 'coming of age' of Malayalam cinema, directed by Shyamaprasad, whose previous film Ore Kadal was highly acclaimed. The original screenplay was written by Joshua Newtonn. This is the first time Shyamaprasad made a film based on an original screenplay, all of his previous films were adaptations of published novels or plays.

Ritu is about three youngsters growing up together and betraying each other. The story follows the lives of three childhood friends: Sunny Immatty (Asif Ali), Sarath Varma (Nishan K. P. Nanaiah), Varsha John (Rima Kallingal). The trio were almost inseparable as friends; they grew up in the same neighborhood in their love, bonding and innocence. They shared a dream of journeying together in life forever.

Sarath leaves for the United States to help his brother-in-law with his business. He also aspires to write a book some day. But still he clings on to the memories of the good old days with his friends and wishes to reunite and work with them again. So, after three years, he comes back to India and starts a small company with Varsha and Sunny to initiate an ambitious new project. But he soon finds out that their strong bond of friendship has almost vanished: Varsha and Sunny's lifestyles and mindsets have changed over the years. Varsha flirts with men over the phone while, Sunny is interested in only earning money by hook or crook. Whether their friendship will return or deteriorate even more forms the crux of the story.

In life, a time arrives when you face the ultimate question: Who are you? The three friends finally arrive at that moment when the question stares at them. Did the truth that they found help them?

The original score and songs were composed, arranged, programmed and produced by Rahul Raj. Ritu's soundtrack which is a blend of international genres with Indian ragas was received well by both critics as well as Rahul Raj fans. Rahul Raj's background score was lauded for being stunningly fresh and original, and for being on par with many international classics. Rahul Raj won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Original Background score, surpassing Ilaiyaraaja's acclaimed score for Pazhassiraja.