''Passenger'' is a 2009 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

conspiracy thriller The conspiracy thriller (or paranoid thriller) is a subgenre of thriller fiction. The protagonists of conspiracy thrillers are often journalists or amateur investigators who find themselves (often inadvertently) pulling on a small thread which unr ...

film written and directed by debutant

Ranjith Sankar Ranjith Sankar is an Indian Filmmaker who works in Malayalam films. He started his movie career with the 2009 thriller film '' Passenger''. Sankar followed ''Passenger'' up with '' Arjunan Saakshi'' (2011),''Molly Aunty Rocks'' (2012), '' Pun ...

and starring

Sreenivasan Sreenivasan (born 6 April 1956) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, dubbing artist and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Sreenivasan has starred in over 225 films. Sreenivasan wrote the screenplays of films such as ' ...

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan Pillai, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, and businessman who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 150 films and has won several awards, inc ...

Mamta Mohandas Mamta Mohandas is an Indian actress, film producer and a playback singer of Malayalam film industry, she has also worked in Tamil and Telugu productions. She has acted in more than 50 films and won several accolades including two Filmfare Awar ...

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar P. K. (born 5 January 1951), better known by his stage name Jagathy Sreekumar or simply Jagathy, is an Indian actor, director and playback singer, who has appeared in over 1500 Malayalam films in a career spanning almost four decad ...

and

Nedumudi Venu Kesavan Venugopal (22 May 1948 – 11 October 2021), better known by his stage name Nedumudi Venu, was an Indian actor and screenwriter from Kerala, who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 500 films, primarily in Ma ...

in major roles. It was a path breaker in Malayalam cinema in terms of its story telling and started the Malayalam new cinema wave. Owing to its critical and commercial success, ''Passenger'' was to be remade into Tamil as ''Muriyadi'' by Selva.

Plot

''Passenger'' is based on two characters, who have never had anything to do with each other, and the impact they cause on each other's lives. The movie shows the events that follow. Sathyanathan, who works in a private company, is a simple man who lives an orderly and uncomplicated life. He travels from his native town to Kochi (where he works) by train. The moment the train crosses the

Chalakudy Chalakudy is a municipal town situated on the banks of Chalakudy River in Thrissur district of the Kerala state in India. It is the headquarters of Chalakudy taluk. It is the base camp for travellers to Athirappilly Falls and Vazhachal Falls. ...

bridge he dozes off and wakes up at another station. All this happens with utmost precision, as if programmed by someone. He is someone who fights for social justices for the benefit of everyone and shirks from any publicity gained by it. Nandhan Menon, who is an advocate, stands for truth and justice. He respects the law and always thinks of the welfare of the people around him. His wife Anuradha is a bold reporter who works for private news channel Right TV. Maranchara is a small coastal village. A private company has been awarded rights to mine nuclear fuel from the coast in Maranchara by Home Minister Thomas Chacko. There is a political sex scandal and a legal battle within which Minister Chacko, Nandhan Menon, Anuradha Nandan and Thankamma (a local leader) are involved. The plot takes a turn when Anuradha obtains a video clip of the minister collaborating with police and corporates. They plan to kill innocent people who are occupying land with potential mineral resources. Nandhan is kidnapped by gangsters working for the minister to lure Anuradha into returning the video. By sheer coincidence, Sathyanathan gets involved. Unlike normal bystanders, he and Driver Nair decide to join the couple in the fight to save the people of Maranchara, Nandhan Menon and Anuradha. They team up and decide to show the video clip to the Chairman of Right TV, where Anuradha is working. When it is telecasted via their channel, all the play and decision of Minister fails and he is dismissed. Nandhan sends an SMS to Anuradha where he is held hostage. But Anuradha has already gone to her office with her co-workers, sent by the chairman. Sathyanathan gets the SMS sent to Anuradha's phone (she forgets the phone in backseat of taxi). As informed by Nandhan in SMS, driver drops Sathyanathan to

Aluva Aluva (; also known by its former name Alwaye) is a town in the Ernakulam District in Kerala, India. It is a part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is situated around from the city center on the banks of Periyar River. A major transpor ...

railway station and the driver leaves without charging him. Sathyanathan catches the passenger train and reaches the location, pulls the chain and gets down and seen Nandhan and takes him to the hospital. With no other word said or heard, he leaves the hospital. Later that night, he reaches home and switches on the TV in which he see the interview with Mr. and Mrs Nandhan Menon thanking him, the person unknown to them. The next morning, Sathyanathan resumes with his daily life.

Cast

as Sathyanathan *

as Advocate Nandhan Menon *

as Anuradha Nandhan *

as Home Minister Thomas Chacko *

as Driver Nair *

Lakshmi Sharma Lakshmi Sharma mononymously known as Lahari is an Indian actress. After debuting in Telugu cinema, where she failed to gain a foothold, she became an actress in Malayalam cinema, after entering the industry in 2006 with '' Palunku''. She has ac ...

as Gayathri *

Madhu Madhu (Sanskrit: ) is a word used in several Indo-Aryan languages meaning ''honey'' or ''sweet''. It is ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European ''*médʰu'', whence English '' mead''. Metaphorical use ''Madhu'' has been used for millennia si ...

as Right TV Chairman *

Harisree Ashokan Harisree Ashokan is an Indian actor and director who is known for his comedy roles in Malayalam films. Ashokan has acted in more than 200 Malayalam films. He started his career as a mimicry artist in the troupe Harisree and then worked in Kalab ...

as Varghese, Sathyanathan's friend *

Manikuttan Thomas James better known by his stage name Manikuttan or 'MK', is an Indian actor who prominently works in the Malayalam film industry. He is known for his role as Kayamkulam Kochunni in the famous TV serial of the same title broadcast by S ...

as Sudheendran *

Anandsami Anandsami is an Indian film and stage actor who has worked on Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi productions. In films, Anandsami had a career breakthrough with appearances in ''Lens'' (2016) and ''Odu Raja Odu'' (2018). Career In 2001, Anandsami was ...

as Anali Shaji *

Sreejith Ravi Sreejith Ravi (born 19 May 1976) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Malayalam films and also in Tamil films. He is the son of actor T. G. Ravi. Early life Sreejith is the son of actor and industrialist T. G. Ravi and V. K. Subhad ...

as Sunny *

Anoop Chandran Anoop Chandran is an Indian actor and comedian who appears in Malayalam films. He was a contestant in the reality show '' Bigg Boss Malayalam Season 1'' in 2018. Career Mostly appeared in comic roles, he is best known for his roles in ''Classm ...

as Unni, Sathyanathan's friend *

Kochu Preman K. S. Premkumar (1 June 1955 – 3 December 2022), better known by his stage name Kochu Preman, was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He acted in more than 300 films, mainly in supporting comedy roles, an ...

as Jaffer, Sathyanathan's friend *

T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (born 7 November 1935) is an Indian actor who appeared in Malayalam films. He started acting at the age of 40. He has acted in more than 600 films. He came into the film industry playing villain roles; later he started doing com ...

as Thankappan, Sathyanathan's friend *

Sona Nair Sona Nair (born 4 March 1975) is an Indian actress working mainly in Malayalam cinema who is also best known for roles in Soap opera, television soaps. Personal life Sona Nair attended Al-Uthuman Higher Secondary School, Kazhakoottam, Trivan ...

as Thankamma Rajan *

Sivaji 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 Station Master *

Manikandan Pattambi Manikandan Pattambi ( ml, മണികണ്ഠൻ പട്ടാമ്പി) is an Indian television, stage, and film actor. He's best known for his roles in Malayalam television. He became famous for his character ''Sathyasheelan'' in the si ...

as Minister's assistant * Anandkumar as Alex Koshy *

Valsala Menon Valsala Menon (born 1945) is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam films. She has acted in over 200+ films. Currently she is active in Malayalam television serials. Early life Valsala Menon was born in 1945 to Raman Menon and Devakiyamma in ...

as Sathyanathan's mother * Lipoy as D.G.P. * Saju. V. J. as Circle Inspector * Jobi Moothedathu as Sivan * Pala Aravindan as M.D. * Sibi Kuruvila as Sajan * Master Vineet Vinayaka as Sathyanathan's son *

Nilambur Ayisha Nilambur Ayisha is an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She started her career as a theater artist. Later she became a supporting actress in the Malayalam movies in late 1960s and 1970s. She has acted in more than 50 movies. She was the first ...

as Nasibu Umma * Shandy as Journalist * Revathy as Sathyanathan's daughter *

Krishna Praba Krishna Praba is an Indian actress and professional dancer who chiefly appears in Malayalam films. She made her entry into the film industry with the film ''Madampi'' (2008), directed by B. Unnikrishnan. She played the character Mollykutty in ...

as receptionist

Awards

; Lohithadas Puraskaram for Best Screenplay The film won the first Lohithadas Puraskaram for Best Screenplay, an award to commemorize screenwriter A.K. Lohithadas. ;Dubai AMMA Awards * Best Socially Committed movie * Best Debut director -

* Best Villain -

;

Asianet Film Awards The Asianet Film Awards is an award ceremony for films presented annually by Asianet, a Malayalam-language television network from the south-Indian state of Kerala. Asianet says that awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artis ...

* Best Character Actor -

* Best screenplay -

;Kerala Film Critics Award * Best Popular movie * Special Jury Award for direction -

;Vanitha Nippon Awards * Best Villain -

;Mathrubhumi Amritha Awards * Most Popular actor -

;World Malayali Council - Kairali Awards * Best Screenplay -

;Surya TV Awards * Best Debut director -

* Best Villain -

;V. Santharam Awards * Best Debut director (Nomination) ;Filmfare Awards * Best Director (Nomination) * Best Actress (Nomination) ;Jaihind Awards Best Villain - Jagathy Sreekumar ;SouthScope Awards * Best Director (Nomination) * Best Actress (Nomination)

Soundtrack

The soundtrack of ''Passenger'', features one song which is the theme song of the movie, is composed by

Bijibal Bijibal Maniyil is an Indian music composer and playback singer who works predominantly in Malayalam films, documentaries, short films and television commercials. He has composed for more than 150 feature films, several documentaries and televisi ...

and sung by

Vineeth Sreenivasan Vineeth Sreenivasan (born 1 October 1984) is an Indian playback singer, actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, lyricist, creative director and dubbing artist. He predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor an ...

Box office

The film was superhit at box-office.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Passenger (2009 Film) 2000s Malayalam-language films 2009 films 2000s thriller films Indian thriller films Films set in Kerala Films shot in Chalakudy Films shot in Thrissur Films shot in Kochi Films directed by Ranjith Sankar