Pranavam Arts International (formerly Pranavam Arts or Pranavams International) was an Indian film

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

and distribution company based in

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

Kerala 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 ...

, founded in 1990 by Indian actor

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 app ...

. Since then the company has produced a total of 11 films, including two of the most-expensive Malayalam films of its time—''

Kaalapani ''Kaalapani'' () is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film co-written and directed by Priyadarshan. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian independence activists incarcerated in the Cellular Jail (or ''Kāl ...

'' (1996) and ''

Vanaprastham ''Vanaprastham: The Last Dance'' (french: Vanaprastham: La Dernière Danse) is a 1999 Indo-French psychological drama period film in Malayalam-language that was directed by Shaji N. Karun. It was produced by Pierre Assouline and co-produced b ...

'' (1999). ''Vanaprastham'' was selected at the

Un Certain Regard (, meaning 'a certain glance') is a section of the Cannes Film Festival's official selection. It is run at the Debussy, parallel to the competition for the . This section was introduced in 1978 by Gilles Jacob. The section presents 20 films w ...

section at the

1999 Cannes Film Festival The 52nd Cannes Film Festival was held from 12 to 23 May 1999. Canadian filmmaker, actor and author David Cronenberg was the Jury President. The Palme d'Or went to the French– Belgian film ''Rosetta'' by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. The festi ...

. The company has won a

National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India. It is one of se ...

(''Vanaprastham'') and two

Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film The Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Film is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India to the second best film in Malayalam cinema. The awards are managed directly by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy under ...

(''

Bharatham ''Bharatham'' is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil. It stars Mohanlal, Urvashi, Nedumudi Venu, Lakshmi, and Murali. The film was produced by Mohanlal through his produc ...

'' and ''Kaalapani''). The company's distribution division was called Pranamam Pictures.

History

The company was named after the word '' Praṇavaṁ'' and its logo contains a figure of

Nataraja Nataraja () also known as Adalvallaan () is a depiction of the Hindu deities, Hindu god Shiva as the divine cosmic dancer. His dance is called Tandava.''Encyclopædia Britannica'' (2015) The pose and artwork are described in many Hindu texts ...

. Pranavam Art's first production was the 1990 musical-drama film '' His Highness Abdullah'' directed by

Sibi Malayil Sibi (Sindhi: سيوي ur, ) is a city situated in the Balochistan province of Pakistan. The city is the headquarters of the district and tehsil of the same name. Etymology The origin of the town's name is attributed to Rani Sewi, a Hindu lad ...

and written by

A. K. Lohithadas Ambazhathil Karunakaran Lohithadas (10 May 1955 – 28 June 2009) was an Indian screenwriter, playwright, film maker, and producer who worked in the Malayalam film industry. In a career spanning over two decades, his films have won a National ...

, in which Mohanlal portrayed a

contract killer Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

who disguise as a singer to infiltrate a palace for killing the head of the family. ''His Highness Abdullah'' became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year and was one of the biggest hits in Malayalam cinema. The film won two National Film Awards. It was followed by another musical drama, ''

'' (1991), again from Malayil-Lohithadas team. The film was a critical and commercial success and won four Kerala State Film Awards and three National Film Awards, including the

and Mohanlal won the

National Film Award for Best Actor The National Film Award for Best Actor, officially known as the Rajat Kamal Award for the Best Actor (), is an honour presented annually at the National Film Awards of India instituted since 1967 to actors who have delivered the best performanc ...

. The team collaborated once again for a musical drama, ''

Kamaladalam ''Kamaladalam'' () is a 1992 Indian Malayalam-language musical drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas and directed by Sibi Malayil, starring Mohanlal, Murali, Vineeth, Nedumudi Venu, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Monisha, Parvathy Jayaram ...

'' (1992), which was also a critical and commercial success. In 1993, Pranavam produced the

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in ...

-directed comical family drama '' Mithunam'' starring Mohanlal and

Urvashi Urvashi ( sa, उर्वशी, Urvaśī}) is the most prominent apsara (celestial nymph) in Hindu mythology, considered to be the most beautiful of all the apsaras, and an expert dancer. She is mentioned in both ''Vedic'' and ''Puranic'' scr ...

as a newly married couple struggling to find time for each other amidst continued issues in their disorganised

joint family An extended family is a family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and their children to include aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins or other relatives, all living nearby or in the same household. Particular forms include the stem a ...

. The film was written by

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 ...

. In the following year, Mohanlal produced and starred in ''

Pingami ''Pingami'' () is a 1994 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Sathyan Anthikkad and written by Reghunath Paleri based on his own short story ''Kumarettan Parayaatha Kadha''. It was produced by Mohanlal through the company ...

'', a drama thriller directed by

Sathyan Anthikkad Sathyan Anthikad is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. In a career spanning five decades he has directed more than 50 films, been the lyricist for 12 films and been the scriptwriter f ...

, in which he played Captain Vijay Menon who investigates the trail of a murder. ''Pingami'' was not a success in the theatres, but over the years, the film has achieved a cult following. The period drama ''

'' was released in 1996, directed by Priyadarshan. It was based on the life of Indian freedom fighters incarcerated in the

Cellular Jail The Cellular Jail, also known as Kālā Pānī (), was a British colonial prison in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The prison was used by the colonial government of India for the purpose of exiling criminals and political prisoners. Many ...

in the

Andaman and Nicobar Islands The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India consisting of 572 islands, of which 37 are inhabited, at the junction of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. The territory is about north of Aceh in Indonesia and separated f ...

during

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. With a budget of ₹2.5 crore, it was then the most-expensive Malayalam film. The film won seven Kerala State Film Awards (including Second Best Film and Best Actor for Mohanlal) and four National Film Awards. Lohithadas wrote and directed Pranavam's seventh production, ''

Kanmadam ''Kanmadam'' () is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language drama film, written and directed by A. K. Lohithadas. It stars Mohanlal, Manju Warrier and Lal while K. P. A. C. Lalitha and Siddique appears in guest roles. The songs were composed by Raveend ...

'' (1998), a drama set in a remote village in

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

, where a stranger (portrayed by Mohanlal) reaches to hand over the belongings of a man he accidentally killed. The film was a critical and commercial success. In the same year, the company produced a detective comedy, ''

Harikrishnans ''Harikrishnans'' is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film written and directed by Fazil. The film was produced and distributed by Suchitra Mohanlal under the production company Pranavam Arts, starring Mammootty and Mohanlal in ...

'', starring Mohanlal and Mammootty as two attorneys investigating a murder. The film was made on a budget of ₹2.5 crore, making it one of the most-expensive Malayalam films at the time. It was also a commercial success, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. However, the film fell into controversy and company faced legal trouble for releasing two different endings of the film, one of them not certified by the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

, the board sent notice for violating The Cinematograph Act. Eventually, the unapproved alternate ending (in which Meera gets to marry Hari) was to be pulled off from theatres to settle the issue. In 1999, the company produced the action thriller '' Olympiyan Anthony Adam'' directed by

Bhadran Bhadran is a village in the state of Gujarat, in far western India. It is in the Anand district. Bhadran was nicknamed the "Paris of Gaekwad state" due to its prosperity and civil works carried out by Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III, the vision ...

. Mohanlal played Varghese Antony IPS, a cop who is tasked with investigating a terrorist attack that require him to go undercover as a physical trainer in a boarding school. The film was a moderate success at the box office. In the same year, the company co-produced the Indo-French period drama ''

'' directed by

Shaji N. Karun Shaji Neelakantan Karun (born 1 January 1952) is an Indian film director and cinematographer. His debut film '' Piravi'' (1988) won the Caméra d'Or – Mention d'honneur at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival. He was the premiere chairman of the Keral ...

and produced by

Pierre Assouline Pierre Assouline (born 17 April 1953) is a French writer and journalist. He was born in Casablanca, Morocco to a Jewish family. He has published several novels and biographies, and also contributes articles for the print media and broadcasts for ...

. It was the second

international co-production A co-production is a joint venture between two or more different production companies for the purpose of film production, television production, video game development, and so on. In the case of an international co-production, production companie ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

. The film depicted the mental agony of a Kathakali dancer, Kunjikuttan, played by Mohanlal. With a budget of ₹3.8 crore, ''Vanaprastham'' was then the most-expensive Malayalam film. It was the first Indian film made in

Panavision Panavision is an American motion picture equipment company founded in 1953 specializing in cameras and lenses, based in Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk as a small partnership to create anamorphic projection lenses dur ...

format. ''Vanaprastham'' was selected at the ''

'' section of the

. The film won three National Film Awards, including Best Feature Film and Best Actor for Mohanlal, and six Kerala State Film Awards (including

Best Director Best Director is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organizations, festivals, and people's awards. It may refer to: Film awards * AACTA Award for Best Direction * Academy Award for Best Director * BA ...

and Best Actor for Mohanlal). After an 11 year hiatus, the company returned to production in 2010. The company's name was updated to Pranavam Arts International and co-produced the

Major Ravi Major A. K. Raveendran SM (born 13 June 1958) is a retired officer of the Indian Army and former National Security Guard commando. He was awarded the President's gallantry medal in 1991 and 1992 for his contributions in fighting terrorism in P ...

-directed military film ''

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

''. It was based on the hijacking of the

Indian Airlines Flight 814 Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi, India, on Friday, 24 December 1999, whe ...

while en route from

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

in 1999. Amitabh Bachchan appeared in the film alongside Mohanlal, and it was his maiden Malayalam film. ''Kandahar'' was the third installment in the Major Mahadevan film series. However, unlike its predecessors, the film received negative critical response and under-performed at the box office.

Filmography

Produced

Distributed

Mohanlal distributed films in

under the company Pranamam Pictures (or Pranamam Movies). The following is an incomplete partial list of films:

References

External links