''Maanthrikam'' () is a 1995 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

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

film produced and directed by

Thampi Kannanthanam Thampi Kannanthanam (11 December 1953 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed 16 films. Personal life Thampi was born on 11 December 1953 as the sixth son ...

and written by

Babu Pallassery Babu Pallassery is an Indian film scriptwriter, dialogue writer and actor who works in Mollywood. His screenplays include the film ''Maanthrikam'', starring Mohanlal. He has written many television serials for Malayalam channels. His best know ...

. It stars

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...

Jagadish P. V. Jagadish Kumar (born 12 June 1955) known mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, television presenter and former politician. He has starred in over 375 Malayalam films and 2 Hindi films. He is best known for his comi ...

Priya Raman Priya Raman (born 18 June 1974) is an Indian actress and television producer. She has appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada cinema and in television serials of Malayalam and Tamil languages. Her first film was the Rajnikanth-produced ...

Raghuvaran Raghuvaran Velayutham (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. According to the ''Hindustan T ...

, and

Rajan P. Dev Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu ...

. Filmed by

Saloo George Saloo George is an Indian cinematographer in Malayalam cinema. Saloo George graduated in cinematography from M.G.R. Government Film and Television Training Institute, Adyar Film Institute, Chennai, Tamilnadu. Career Saalu George graduated in c ...

and edited by

A. Sreekar Prasad Akkineni Sreekar Prasad is an Indian film editor. He works predominantly in Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi language films. In a career spanning more than 35 years, he has edited over 600 films. He is a recipient of nine National Film Awards ...

;

S. P. Venkatesh S. P. Venkatesh (also credited as Sangeetharajan; born 5 March 1955) is an Indian music director and composer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He was at his prime in the late 80s and 90s, being reputed for his background scores and songs ...

provided the music. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''Raanuvam''. It marked the Malayalam debut of actress

Vineetha Vineetha is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Tamil films and Malayalam films. She has also acted in some Kannada, Telugu and Hindi films. She made her debut through the Tamil film ''Chinna Jameen ''Chinna Jameen'' () i ...

Premise

A Senior Scientist of Missile Technology designs a state of the art missile "Samhaara"and he is abducted by a terrorist group with family. A military officer and his assistant are entrusted with the mission to rescue the scientist. They join a gypsy performing art group in disguise and reach a fictitious town and a girl get attracted to the officer. He get involved with the sister of the assistant of terrorist group leader to execute the mission. In a twist it is revealed that the main girl dancer of the gypsy group is an officer appointed by military chief to track officer, who is suspected of double crossing. Finally every thing get resolved and the scientist is rescued unhurt with safety of Samhaara know-how and the hero takes his lady love with him. Mohanlal simply excels as a comedian, lover, military man, magician and dancer with 3 heroines.

Cast

as Alby /

Maj. Maj may refer to: * Major, a rank of commissioned officer in many military forces * ''Máj'', a romantic Czech poem by Karel Hynek Mácha * ''Máj'' (literary almanac), a Czech literary almanac published in 1858 * Marshall Islands International Ai ...

Stephen Ronald,

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

as Jobi D'Costa /

Subedar Subedar is a rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian Army; a senior non-commissioned officer in the Pakistan Army, and formerly a Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History ''Subedar'' or ''subadar'' was the ...

Teddy Lopez,

as Betty Fernadez *

Hemanth Ravan Hemanth Ravan or Hemanth G Nag is a male Indian actor who has appeared in Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi films, including ''Raasaiyya'' (1995), '' Sher-E-Hindustan'' (1998), ''Maanthrikam'' (1995) and ''Sathyameva Jayathe ''Sathyameva Jayathe' ...

as Gonsalves *

as Menaka/ Lt. Diana,

* Mitra Joshi as Catherine *

as Antonio *

Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

Abdul Rahiman, scientist * Vaishnavi as Shakeela Abdul Rahman *

Madhupal Madhupal Kannambathu is an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. Madhupal made his acting debut with ''Kashmeeram'' in 1994 and his directorial debut with ''Thalappavu'' (2008), which was about Naxal Varghese an ...

as Willy *

Krishnakumar Krishna Kumar is the name of: * Kumar Krishna (1928–2014), American entomologist * C. P. Krishnakumar (born 1939), Indian Kannada writer * P. R. Krishna Kumar (1951–2020), Indian physician * V. P. Krishnakumar (born 1958), Indian sound recor ...

as Douglas *

Sreenath Sreenath (26 August 1956 – 23 April 2010) was an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in many Malayalam films, including ''Shalini Ente Koottukari'', ''Ithu Njangalude Katha'', ''Oru CBI Diary Kurippu'', and '' Kireedam''. Sreenat ...

Col. Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

Raveendran *

Ravi Menon Chalappurathu Raveendranatha Menon (1950 – 24 November 2007), popularly known as Ravi Menon was a veteran Indian film actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was born in Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad in 1950. He completed diploma from the Film a ...

as Father Thaliyath *

Ajith Kollam Ajith Kollam (7 April 1962 – 5 April 2018) was an Indian actor, who predominantly appeared in Malayalam cinema. He had acted in more than 500 films in all South Indian languages. He mainly acted in villain roles. He acted in the Tamil movie ' ...

as Freddy * Santhosh as Billa * Vinayakan as Michael Jackson imitator * Maria gorettiz

Production

Lal Jose Lal Jose is an Indian director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Direc ...

was the associate director of

in the film. Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) was a filming location. ''Maanthrikam'' marked the film debut of Vinayakan, who appeared as a member of a gypsy dance group, he apparently imitates and wears the attire of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

. For the role, Vinayakan was referred to Kannanthanam by Lal Jose, who spotted him during a dance performance in

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. Made on a budget of 3 crores, major locations of the movie were MGR Film City
Kishkinda Water Park

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to be of si ...

and

Pichavaram Pichavaram is a village near Chidambaram in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located between the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. The Vellar-Coleroon estuarine complex forms the Killai backwater and t ...

. The magic sequences which Mohanlal performed was taught by magician R. K. Malayath.

Soundtrack

composed the music for the movie for which the lyrics were written by

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He receive ...

. The songs were distributed by Ankit Audios.

Reception

''Maanthrikam'' was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of that year.

References

External links

* {{imdb title, id=0280889, title=Maanthrikam 1990s Malayalam-language films 1995 films Indian action films Films directed by Thampi Kannanthanam 1995 action films