''Arabikkatha'' () is a 2007 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-language

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by Lal Jose and written by

Ikbal Kuttipuram Mohamed Iqbal Kompathayill, commonly credited as Dr. Iqbal Kuttipuram, is an Indian screenwriter and homeopathy physician. He has written screenplays for popular films such as ''Niram'', Arabikkatha, '' Swapnakoodu'',''Vikramadithyan'' and ' ...

. The film was a critical and commercial success in India and the United Arab Emirates. It deals with differences within the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

movement, and was produced against a background of real-life splits in the ruling

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

Kerala state Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Cana ...

, India.

Plot

The film narrates the story of "Cuba" Mukundan. He is a staunch

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

who lives for the movement. Machinations of a corrupt politician Karunan who perceives Mukundan as a threat to his political career force Mukundan to take up a job in Dubai. Even in Dubai, he finds that Kunjunny Muthalaly who was in league with Karunan is in Dubai, exploiting the helpless labourers who migrate to the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...

region, performing menial jobs and physical labor in order to support their families back home. He has always had a soft corner for People's Republic of China as a result of his leftist leanings and when he meets Zhang Chu Min, a Chinese girl, she quickly finds a special place in his heart as she symbolizes China to him. Later even after realising that she is an anti communist and is there to make money for the treatment of her boyfriend who fought against the Chinese Government, he gives her his earnings saying a communist never keeps money more than his requirements. Mukundan, with the help of his friends Anwar, Maya, and Karim, exposes the machinations of Karunan and Kunjunny Muthalaly. Finally Mukundan returns home to work for the political cause which has been his life and love. The movie depicts Mukundan who lives in rural Kerala being catapulted into Dubai, the gleaming world of commerce and industry that gives employment opportunity to workers from Kerala. Mukundan who finds himself in present society where sticking to any ideology without any compromises is perceived as something of an

anachronism An anachronism (from the Ancient Greek, Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronology, chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time per ...

Cast

* Sreenivasan as Sakhavu "Cuba" Mukundan * Indrajith as Anwar * Jayasurya as Sidharthan * Zhang Shu Mi as Zhang Chu Min *

Samvrutha Sunil Samvritha Sunil (born 31 October 1986) is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films. She made her debut in 2004 through the film ''Rasikan'' directed by Lal Jose before which she had also appeared as a junior artist in the film '' Ayal ...

as Maya *

Salim Kumar Salim Kumar (born 10 October 1969) is an Indian actor, comedian, director and writer in Malayalam cinema. Mostly known for his comic and comedy roles, Salim Kumar is considered one of the best and most prominent comedians in the history of Mala ...

as Karim * Sadiq as Abbas *

K. T. C. Abdullah K.T.C. Abdullah or Abdullah hails from Palayam, Kozhikode, Kerala, British India. Born in 1936. He was a veteran actor on stage and performed in a few notable Malayalam films. He died on 17 November 2018 at Kozhikode, Kerala, India. He made h ...

as Abdullah "Ikka" *

Shivaji Guruvayoor Shivaji Guruvayoor (born 28 May 1961) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam cinema. He started his film career with the film '' Arabikkatha''.He is known for his negative roles and character roles. Personal life He is married to Lilly and ...

as Sakhavu Karunan * Jagathy Sreekumar as Kunjunni "Muthalali" * Nedumudi Venu as "Society" Gopalan, Mukundan's father * Moideen Koya as Vishwam Kathalikkadu *

Atlas Ramachandran M. M. Ramachandran (31 July 1942 – 2 October 2022), better known as Atlas Ramachandran, was an Indian jeweller, film producer and actor. He was the chairman of Atlas Jewellery and is known for the tagline of his jewellery, "Janakodikalude V ...

as "Coat" Nambiar *

Kozhikode Narayanan Nair Kozhikode Narayanan Nair is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema, who has acted in more than 300 films. He entered the "Malayalam" movie industry (Mollywood) through a drama troupe. His first film was ''Aabhijathyam'' (1970), and he is also reme ...

as Ravunni Mash *

Suraj Venjaramood Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage pla ...

as James *

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berbers, Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia (Roman pr ...

as Varghese * Satheesh Menon as Pakistani Supervisor * Manikandan Pattambi

Soundtrack

Arabikkatha's songs and background score are composed by Bijibal, who made his debut through this film. The lyrics were written by Anil Panachooran, who was also a debutant. The music album has 7 songs:

Box office

The film was both commercial and critical success.

References

External links

* {{Lal Jose 2007 films 2000s Malayalam-language films 2007 drama films Films shot in the United Arab Emirates Films shot in Dubai Films shot in Palakkad Films about communism Films directed by Lal Jose Indian drama films