''Bhagavan'' () is a 2009 Indian

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 ...

-language

medical drama A medical drama is a Television film, television movie or film in which events center upon a hospital, clinic, doctor's office, a paramedic, or any other medical topic or environment. Most recent medical drama (film and television), dramatic progra ...

film written and directed by Prasanth Mambully, starring

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

and

Daniel Balaji T. C. Balaji (2 December 1975 – 29 March 2024), better known by his stage name Daniel Balaji, was an Indian actor, who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry and in some Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam films. Early life Balaji was born in ...

. The story is about Dr. Balagopal who fights a terrorist group led by Saifudeen who attacks his hospital. The entire film was shot in 19 hours aiming the

Guinness World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, list ...

, but citing technical issues it did not receive the record. The film was shot simultaneously at six different locations. Seven cameras were used for filming. The film was originally planned to be shot within 12 hours, but unexpected rain delayed the shooting. ''Bhagavan'' was released on 1 May 2009. Even though the film received mixed reviews, the film recovered its cost and made some profit as it was made on a low cost and filmed on a single day.

Plot

Months after the dreaded

2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks, also referred to as 26/11 attacks, were a series of coordinated Islamic terrorism, Islamist terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based Islamist terrorist o ...

, a terrorist group led by Saifudeen planned bomb blasts at five locations in Kochi. At the same time, Zachariah Thomas, the Home Minister of

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

, arrived at the hospital for his wife's delivery. Meanwhile, the terrorist group was planning to kidnap the Home Minister and his newborn baby. Saifudeen kidnapped three neonates and Dr. Balagopal came looking for them. Meanwhile, the Home Minister is kidnapped by Saifudeen's men. In the end, Balagopal kills Saifudeen and saves the Home Minister and the infants.

Cast

as Dr. Balagopal *

as Saifudeen *

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 Zachariah Thomas, Home Minister of Kerala *

Lakshmi Gopalaswamy Lakshmi Gopalaswamy is an Indian actress from Karnataka and a classical dancer, qualified in Bharatanatyam. She has mainly acted in Malayalam films, while also appearing in few Kannada and Tamil films. She won the Karnataka State Film Award f ...

as Priya Balagopal *

Lena Lena or LENA may refer to: Places * Léna Department, a department of Houet Province in Burkina Faso * Lena, Manitoba, an unincorporated community located in Killarney-Turtle Mountain municipality in Manitoba, Canada * Lena, Norway, a village in ...

as Head Nurse Maria * Ibrahim Kutty as Doctor *

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. Sub ...

as Sadhashivan, Zachariah's PA * Sudheesh as Attender Dineshan * Shalat

Filming

''Bhagavan'' was made targeting the

for a feature film shot in the quickest time, but did not receive the record due to technical issues. The entire film was shot in 19 hours. Filming took place on 8 December 2008 at a hospital in

Guruvayur Guruvayur ) is a municipal temple town in Thrissur district, of Kerala State in India. It is a suburban town of Thrissur city, located from Thrissur towards the north-west. It houses the Guruvayur Shri Krishna Temple. It is located at ...

Kunnamkulam Kunnamkulam is a municipal town located in the Thrissur District of Kerala, India, with historical origins tracing back to the Paleolithic age. Renowned for its deep-rooted cultural heritage, vibrant printing industry, and religious diversity, ...

road. The shoot was originally intended to complete in 12 hours but poor weather effected the plan. Film contains a total of 64 scenes. It was a record in the Indian film industry at that time.

Reception

Paresh C Palicha from

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

wrote "Mohanlal looks jaded in the film. Maybe, the pressure of finishing the work in a few hours had taken its toll. No other actor has got any prominence to be mentioned here. All in all, Bhagavan has nothing going for it except for the record breaking effort gone into making it" Sify.com wrote "particularly annoying film because the plot and presentation is amateurish and practically impossible to digest with no logic or even continuity. When you come out after watching the film, you'll feel like you've escaped from prison"

References

External links

* 2009 films 2000s Malayalam-language films Medical-themed films Films about Islamic terrorism in India Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films shot in Thrissur Films shot in Kochi {{2000s-Malayalam-film-stub