''The Truth'' is a 1998
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 ...
-language
police procedural thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...
written by
S. N. Swamy
S. Narayana Swamy alias S. N. Swamy is a screenwriter and actor who works in the Indian film industry predominantly in the Malayalam cinema. Having born in Kochi, Kerala Swamy is particularly known for scripting films in the thriller genre. ...
and directed by
Shaji Kailas
Shaji Kailas (born 8 February 1965) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his works in Malayalam cinema. Shaji got a breakthrough with the comedy film '' Dr. Pasupathy'' (1990).
He is best known for his action films with ma ...
.
Mammootty plays the lead role of an
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
officer investigating a political assassination of the
CM. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''Unmai'' and in Telugu as ''Delhi Simham''. It was remade in Kannada as ''Naxalite'' in 2000.
Plot
Patteri, a respected brahmin
astrologer, helps a cop named Pothuval to crack an ill-famed temple robbery. Madhavan. P is a respectable
CM of
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 ...
initiates a crackdown on corrupt
government official
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their su ...
s, angering his party and ministers alike. In the upcoming
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
, Madhavan has to win to retain his position as the CM, the party conspires against him for that matter. During a chance encounter with the CM, Patteri senses a bad omen regarding Madhavan's success and hopes that the by-elections won't happen. Meanwhile, an enigmatic and alluring woman is shown entering an apartment where she meets an accomplice and they check the details of an assassination which they plan to carry out soon.
Right before Madhavan's next election meeting,
DGP Hariprasad shares his concern about an anonymous threat call that he received with
DYSP John asking him to tighten the security and be with Madhavan at all times, but the plan is executed and Madhavan is killed along with the people on the stage with him, including John, where the initial investigation is headed by
SP Meena Nambiar. Aided by a misplaced
CCTV from the debris, Meena's suspicion is laid on the photograph of the ''killer woman'', who sneaked into the venue using a forged
reporter pass. They trace the local temporary residence of the woman and arrest the home owner and his family on charges of sheltering the culprit, although he was tricked by the woman.
The investigation advance no further, which provokes the
Judge, who was dealing the case; because for no solid reason, the home owner and his family are being punished, due to the inefficiency of the investigating officer. The sensational nature of the case, achieved partly because of Meena Nambiar's media obsession, causes a
SIT
Sit commonly refers to sitting.
Sit, SIT or Sitting may also refer to:
Places
* Sit (island), Croatia
* Sit, Bashagard, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Gafr and Parmon, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Minab, a villa ...
to take over. The SIT arrives from
New Delhi
New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...
and is headed by
DIG Bharath, who is posted in
Central Ministry of Home Affairs, and is also Patteri's son. The initial friction between Bharath and Meena, dwindles to friendship, once Bharath makes the first startling discovery. Bharath is targeted by unknown assassins, on one occasion even inside the IPS headquarters.
While this frightens most, Bharath gets convinced that the killer is among the police department and also influential. He grows suspicious of the credibility of the photograph of the ''killer woman'' and the fact that the killer's residence yielded no female
fingerprints
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surf ...
and that there is an unidentified male fingerprint in the same apartment, reveals to him that the photograph was a decoy. The killer is male and the photographs were used to misdirect the investigation. They learn the whereabouts of the killer by first generating a male version of photograph of the killer and then publicizing it. They also apprehend the killer's accomplice. But before being able to capture the killer, who goes by the name ''Bose'', they find him already dead, and the investigation almost comes to a standstill, until they learn that there was a similar attempt before, which did not go as planned.
Bharath learns that DYSP John was the real target and Madhavan's death was a cover. The
political conspiracy against Madhavan was used by the perpetrator to further misdirect the investigation. In search of a motive behind the assassination, the team finds that John was investigating an accidental explosion in a
fireworks
Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...
factory at the time. John was astonished by the findings of the case, where the explosives license of the owner, Poozhimattom Thomachan, an influential politician, was being employed for dealing with larger quantities of explosives driving terrorist activities in the country. John was killed for discovering the illegal activities and Madhavan's murder was used to distract the investigators.
The perpetrator also feared the response of Madhavan as John's
investigation report were to reach his hands. The team's most astounding find then follows, with the discovery of the puppet master and the silent partner in the illegal explosive deals of Thomachan and the perpetrator is actually DGP Hariprasad, who administered the investigation from the beginning. He misled the previous investigation, initiated various attempts to murder Bharath to scare the team away and played the faithful ally throughout. The team submit the report, where DGP Hariprasad and Thomachan are sentenced to prison. After the investigation, The SIT fly back to Delhi, with a promise of promotion for Pothuval for his help.
Cast
*
Mammootty as
DIG Bharath Patteri
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
, Director
SIT
Sit commonly refers to sitting.
Sit, SIT or Sitting may also refer to:
Places
* Sit (island), Croatia
* Sit, Bashagard, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Gafr and Parmon, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Minab, a villa ...
*
Vani Viswanath
Vani Viswanath (born 13 May 1971) is an Indian actress who predominantly appeared in Malayalam and Telugu films. In 2000, Vani won the Kerala State Film Award for Second Best Actress for her performance in '' Susanna'', directed by T. V. Chandr ...
as
SP Meena Nambiar
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
*
Janardhanan as
DYSP Kuttikrishna Pothuval
*
Thilakan
Palappurathu Kesavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appearan ...
as Shivapuram Patteri
*
Divya Unni
Divyaa Unni is an Indian actress and classical dancer who teaches various forms of dance such as Bharathanatyam, Kuchipudi and Mohiniyattom.
Early life
Divyaa Unni was born to Ponnethmadhatil Unnikrishnan and Kizhkemadhatil Uma Devi at Kochi, ...
as Nimmy,
SIT
Sit commonly refers to sitting.
Sit, SIT or Sitting may also refer to:
Places
* Sit (island), Croatia
* Sit, Bashagard, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Gafr and Parmon, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Minab, a villa ...
team member
*
K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Prasad,
SIT
Sit commonly refers to sitting.
Sit, SIT or Sitting may also refer to:
Places
* Sit (island), Croatia
* Sit, Bashagard, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Gafr and Parmon, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Minab, a villa ...
team member
*
Sadiq
Sadiq is a male name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Ja'far al-Sadiq, the 8th-century Muslim scholar and scientist, considered as an Imam and founder of the Ja'fari school of jurisprudence by Twelver and Isma'ili Shi’as, and a major f ...
as Peter,
SIT
Sit commonly refers to sitting.
Sit, SIT or Sitting may also refer to:
Places
* Sit (island), Croatia
* Sit, Bashagard, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Gafr and Parmon, a village in Hormozgan Province, Iran
* Sit, Minab, a villa ...
team member
*
Murali as
DGP Hariprasad
IPS
IPS, ips, or iPS may refer to:
Science and technology Biology and medicine
* ''Ips'' (genus), a genus of bark beetle
* Induced pluripotent stem cell or iPS cells
* Intermittent photic stimulation, a neuroimaging technique
* Intraparietal sulcus, ...
* Jignesh Joshi as Killer Woman/Killer Bose
*
Balachandra Menon
Balachandra Menon ( ml, ബാലചന്ദ്ര മേനോൻ) (born 11 January 1954) is an Indian actor, director and script writer. He made a number of films in the 1980s and 1990s. He has directed 40 films and has acted in over 100. ...
as
Chief Minister
A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...
Madhavan
*
Sai Kumar as
DYSP John
*
N. F. Varghese as Poozhimattam Thomachan
*
Cochin Haneefa as Kumaran, Party Secretary
*
Praveena
Praveena is an Indian Television actress and a dubbing artist who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, she has also appeared in Tamil and Telugu films.
She started her acting career through 1992 film ''Gowri''. She has received several ...
as Gayathri
*
Kollam Thulasi
Kollam Kanjaveli Kuttilazhikathu Thulasidharan Nair is an actor in Malayalam cinema, who is better known as Kollam Thulasi relating to the name of his birthplace Kollam to his first name as customary in some parts of Kerala. His first appearanc ...
as Anwar Ahmed
*
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 Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...
Kunjambu, Police Officer
*
K. P. A. C. Azeez
Azeez (27 November 1934 – 16 July 2003) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He acted in more than 100 films. He came into the movie industry as a villain, later he started doing character roles, such as police officer, jailer, and ministe ...
as CKC Nambiar
*
Subair as Judge
*
Jagannathan
*
Kunchan as Sankaran
*
Kunjandi
Kunjandi ( ml, കുഞ്ഞാണ്ടി; 1919–2002) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in more than 50 films. He handled character roles as well as supporting roles.
Background
Kunjandi was born at Calicut. His first ...
as Ramachandran Nair
*
Babu Namboothiri
Babu Namboothiri (born 12 August 1947) is a retired Chemistry Professor and Head Of Department of Deva Mata College Kuravilangad and an Indian film and TV actor who has starred in more than 100 Malayalam films and various serials. He is famous ...
as Mahendran, House Owner
*
Vijayakumar as Journalist Babu
*
Bobby Kottarakkara
Bobby Kottarakkara (11 March 1952 – 3 December 2000) was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He was born to Pareedkunju Ravuthar in Kottarakkara. He began his acting career on stage. He made his film debut with Mucheettukalikkaara ...
as Mohandas, Hotel staff
* Ramya Sudha
* Girija Preman
References
External links
''The Truth''at the Malayalam Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truth
1990s Malayalam-language films
1998 films
Cross-dressing in Indian films
Indian thriller films
Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police
Films directed by Shaji Kailas
Malayalam films remade in other languages
1998 thriller films