# Traffic (2011 film)
**Traffic** (ട്രാഫിക്) is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film directed by Rajesh Pillai and written by the brothers Bobby and Sanjay, in which the lives of several strangers intersect around an emergency heart-transport mission from Kochi to Palakkad.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/plotsummary/) Released on 7 January 2011, it was both a critical and commercial success and is widely credited with launching the "New Generation" movement in [Malayalam cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/malayalam-cinema).[2](https://www.thenewsminute.com/kerala/when-script-trumps-superstars-how-malayalam-cinema-has-changed-last-decade-115089)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 7 January 2011 (India), Malayalam language[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/) |
| Director and writers | Rajesh Pillai; screenplay by Bobby and Sanjay[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/) |
| Lead cast | Sreenivasan, Kunchacko Boban, Rahman, Asif Ali, Anoop Menon, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Sandhya, Roma, Remya Nambeesan[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/plotsummary/) |
| Premise | A girl urgently needs a heart transplant; the only donor heart is miles away through heavy traffic, and several lives intertwine around the mission[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/) |
| Real-life basis | Inspired by a Chennai incident in which a traffic constable drove a donor heart across the city for a young recipient[4](https://thedailyeye.info/true-review/true-review-movie-traffic/ec701f30bfe53406) |
| Award | Kerala State Film Award 2011, Best Screenplay (Bobby and Sanjay)[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/awards/) |
| Remakes | Tamil as *Chennaiyil Oru Naal* (2012); Hindi as *Traffic* (2016), directed by Rajesh Pillai[6](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/entertainment-news/2012/Oct/16/traffic-goes-to-tamil-415947.html) • [7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/rajesh-pillais-traffic-turns-study-material-for-ba-malayalam-undergrads/articleshow/57358095.cms) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
The film opens with a car crash, then moves back a few weeks to introduce its main characters and the events that bring them to a particular crossroads at 8:50 am on 16 September.[8](https://cinemachaat.com/2017/05/15/traffic-2011/) The ensemble includes Rehan ([Vineeth Sreenivasan](https://www.edgepedia.org/vineeth-sreenivasan)), a rookie television journalist riding pillion to an interview with the superstar Siddharth (Rahman); Dr Abel ([Kunchacko Boban](https://www.edgepedia.org/kunchacko-boban)), a cardiac surgeon; Rajeev (Asif Ali); and traffic constable Sudevan ([Sreenivasan](https://www.edgepedia.org/sreenivasan)), rejoining duty after a suspension for taking a bribe.[9](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-traffic/20110110.htm) Their paths cross at a traffic island, and the accident that follows leaves one casualty brain-dead, raising the question of organ donation.[8](https://cinemachaat.com/2017/05/15/traffic-2011/)
The central mission is to move the donor heart from Kochi to Palakkad, a distance of 180 km with only two hours to make the journey over congested roads, with Sudevan driving and the state's traffic controlled for the operation.[8](https://cinemachaat.com/2017/05/15/traffic-2011/) • [9](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-traffic/20110110.htm) The narrative uses a hyperlink format, intertwining multiple stories around one incident rather than following a single protagonist; reviewers noted that the character occupying the screen at any moment effectively becomes the lead.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/plotsummary/) • [9](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-traffic/20110110.htm) Bobby and Sanjay's script combines a non-linear first half with a more traditional road-movie second half.[8](https://cinemachaat.com/2017/05/15/traffic-2011/)
## Real-life basis
The story draws on a real incident in Chennai in which traffic constable B Mohan drove at record speed carrying a young man's heart to be transplanted into a 9-year-old girl.[4](https://thedailyeye.info/true-review/true-review-movie-traffic/ec701f30bfe53406) Sources date this incident differently: one places it in August 2008,[4](https://thedailyeye.info/true-review/true-review-movie-traffic/ec701f30bfe53406) while a review of the Hindi remake places a heart-transplant incident in Chennai in 2009.[10](https://amp.scroll.in/article/807680/scroll_in) The film also references the Chennai events within its own dialogue; director Rajesh Pillai recalled in a January 2011 interview that a line about Kerala's roads not being like those in Chennai drew applause from audiences.[11](https://m.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/2011/jan/12/slide-show-1-south-rajesh-pillai-on-traffic.htm)
## Production and reception
The film was produced by Listin Stephen under Magic Frames, with music by Mejo Joseph and Samson Kottoor and editing by Mahesh Narayan.[12](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/traffic_2011/cast-and-crew) Pillai said the film was not treated as a "star-film" and that its success from the first day exceeded the makers' expectations.[11](https://m.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/2011/jan/12/slide-show-1-south-rajesh-pillai-on-traffic.htm) Contemporary reviews were strongly positive: Paresh C Palicha of Rediff called it "a slickly made urban film that is pleasantly surprising",[9](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-traffic/20110110.htm) and the Nowrunning reviewer Veeyen wrote that it "could easily boast to have one of the best scripts written in Malayalam in recent times".[13](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/7383/malayalam/traffic/2895/review.htm) The New Indian Express praised the background score by Mejo Joseph and the camera work of Shyju Khalid.[14](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2011/Jan/10/traffic-217999.html) On IMDb the film holds a rating of 8.1/10 from about 5,800 votes; listed runtimes differ between sources, with IMDb giving 2h 2m and Rotten Tomatoes 1h 44m.[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/) • [15](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/traffic_2011) It was also the last film of the veteran actor Jose Prakash.[1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/plotsummary/)
## Legacy in Malayalam cinema
**New Generation cinema.** Traffic is routinely identified as the film that set off the so-called New Generation movement in Malayalam cinema, a wave of realistic, script-driven films by younger filmmakers that moved away from superstar-centered formulas.[2](https://www.thenewsminute.com/kerala/when-script-trumps-superstars-how-malayalam-cinema-has-changed-last-decade-115089) [The Indian Express](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-indian-express) writes that 2011 marked the proper entrenchment of this wave with the arrival of Pillai's Traffic, penned by Bobby-Sanjay.[16](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/malayalam-cinema-transformed-from-churning-out-stinkers-face-of-new-era-10400691/) It was one of the first Malayalam and Indian regional films to use multiple hyperlinked narratives, and it linked four families and realistic characters through a coincidence rather than plot twists.[2](https://www.thenewsminute.com/kerala/when-script-trumps-superstars-how-malayalam-cinema-has-changed-last-decade-115089) Academic accounts of the period likewise treat Traffic as a landmark that redefined Malayalam cinema's narrative structure and marked a shift toward substance-oriented, ensemble storytelling.[17](https://www.granthaalayahpublication.org/Arts-Journal/ShodhKosh/article/download/5138/4654/27402) • [18](https://ijrar.org/papers/IJRAR2001321.pdf)
**Organ donation.** The film's treatment of organ donation had a measurable social afterlife in Kerala. Psychiatrist C. J. John, a commentator on social issues, observed that Traffic helped ease the difficult conversation with relatives of potential donors, and that people began voluntarily coming forward to donate organs of brain-dead relatives; media reporters describing organ transports came to quote "the situation resembled scenes from the film Traffic".[19](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/kerala/2016/Feb/28/traffic--the-landmark-film-gave-a-new-dimension-to-organ-donation-897656.html)
**Curriculum status.** In 2017, six years after release and a year after Pillai's death, the film's screenplay was included in the BA Malayalam curriculum of Kannur University, joining screenplays such as [M. T. Vasudevan Nair](https://www.edgepedia.org/m-t-vasudevan-nair)'s *Perumthachan* and *[Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha](https://www.edgepedia.org/oru-vadakkan-veeragatha)* and Ranjith's *Pranchiyettan and the Saint* in Kerala's art colleges.[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/rajesh-pillais-traffic-turns-study-material-for-ba-malayalam-undergrads/articleshow/57358095.cms)
## Remakes and the director's death
The film's success drew remake requests from Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada producers within days of release.[11](https://m.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/2011/jan/12/slide-show-1-south-rajesh-pillai-on-traffic.htm) It was remade in Tamil as *Chennaiyil Oru Naal*, co-produced by Sarathkumar's I Productions with Listin Stephen's Magical Frames.[6](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/entertainment-news/2012/Oct/16/traffic-goes-to-tamil-415947.html) Rajesh Pillai himself directed the Hindi remake, also titled *[Traffic](https://www.edgepedia.org/traffic-2016-film)*, starring [Manoj Bajpayee](https://www.edgepedia.org/manoj-bajpayee) and [Jimmy Sheirgill](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-sheirgill); the heart's journey there runs from Mumbai to Pune, a 160 km stretch in 2.5 hours.[4](https://thedailyeye.info/true-review/true-review-movie-traffic/ec701f30bfe53406) • [20](https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/AuUJK0LYBBhmsKnzinxy6M/Film-Review-Traffic.html) Pillai died on 27 February 2016 in Kochi of liver-related ailments at age 41, and the Hindi remake was released after his death, on 6 May 2016.[7](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/rajesh-pillais-traffic-turns-study-material-for-ba-malayalam-undergrads/articleshow/57358095.cms) • [21](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2016/May/07/in-the-right-lane-933873.html)
## References
1. [Traffic (2011) - Plot - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/plotsummary/)
2. [When script trumps superstars: How Malayalam cinema has changed in the last decade, The News Minute](https://www.thenewsminute.com/kerala/when-script-trumps-superstars-how-malayalam-cinema-has-changed-last-decade-115089)
3. [Traffic (2011), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/)
4. [True Review Movie - Traffic, The Daily Eye](https://thedailyeye.info/true-review/true-review-movie-traffic/ec701f30bfe53406)
5. [Traffic (2011) - Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1821682/awards/)
6. ['Traffic' goes to Tamil, The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/entertainment/entertainment-news/2012/Oct/16/traffic-goes-to-tamil-415947.html)
7. [Rajesh Pillai's Traffic turns study material for BA Malayalam undergrads, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/malayalam/movies/news/rajesh-pillais-traffic-turns-study-material-for-ba-malayalam-undergrads/articleshow/57358095.cms)
8. [Traffic (2011), Cinema Chaat](https://cinemachaat.com/2017/05/15/traffic-2011/)
9. [Traffic: Not to be missed, Rediff.com](https://www.rediff.com/movies/review/south-review-traffic/20110110.htm)
10. [Film review: 'Traffic' goes nowhere, Scroll.in](https://amp.scroll.in/article/807680/scroll_in)
11. ['Traffic has been a great success from day one', Rediff.com](https://m.rediff.com/movies/slide-show/2011/jan/12/slide-show-1-south-rajesh-pillai-on-traffic.htm)
12. [Traffic: Full Cast & Crew, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/traffic_2011/cast-and-crew)
13. [Traffic Movie Review by Veeyen, Nowrunning](https://www.nowrunning.com/movie/7383/malayalam/traffic/2895/review.htm)
14. [Traffic (review), The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2011/Jan/10/traffic-217999.html)
15. [Traffic (2011), Rotten Tomatoes](https://static.rottentomatoes.com/m/traffic_2011)
16. [25 years of Malayalam cinema, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/malayalam-cinema-transformed-from-churning-out-stinkers-face-of-new-era-10400691/)
17. [Media, Youth and Sociocultural Transitions in Malayalam New Wave Cinema, ShodhKosh](https://www.granthaalayahpublication.org/Arts-Journal/ShodhKosh/article/download/5138/4654/27402)
18. [IJRAR paper on Malayalam cinema's shift](https://ijrar.org/papers/IJRAR2001321.pdf)
19. [Traffic - The Landmark Film Gave a New Dimension to Organ Donation, The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/amp/story/states/kerala/2016/Feb/28/traffic--the-landmark-film-gave-a-new-dimension-to-organ-donation-897656.html)
20. [Film Review: Traffic, Livemint](https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/AuUJK0LYBBhmsKnzinxy6M/Film-Review-Traffic.html)
21. [In The Right Lane, The New Indian Express](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/malayalam/2016/May/07/in-the-right-lane-933873.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Malayalam films of the 2010s › Malayalam films of 2010 to 2015*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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