''CBI Film Franchise'' is an 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

film series A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series. It is a type of series fiction. This article explains what film series are and gives brief examples ...

mystery films A mystery film is a film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur Detective, sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, ...

directed by K. Madhu and written by S. N. Swamy featuring

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

as Sethurama Iyer, a

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

(CBI) officer in the title role. The series started off in 1988 with ''

Oru CBI Diary Kurippu ''Oru CBI Diary Kurippu'' () is a 1988 Indian Malayalam-language mystery thriller film directed by K. Madhu, written by S. N. Swamy, and starring Mammootty, Suresh Gopi, Jagathy Sreekumar, Mukesh, and Sukumaran. The lead character, CBI office ...

''. The character Sethurama Iyer is said to have been inspired by a police officer named

Radha Vinod Raju Radhavinod Raju (27 July 1949 – 21 June 2012) was an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer. He joined the police service in 1975 as Jammu and Kashmir cadre batch. The character Sethurama Iyer, who is the main protagonist of CBI film series in ...

, who in 2009 was appointed as the first chief of India's

National Investigation Agency The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is the principal counter-terrorism law enforcement agency in India. Established under the National Investigation Agency Act, 2008, it is tasked with investigating and combating offenses related to terroris ...

Films

The films depicts a team of three CBI officers led by Sethurama Iyer investigating into a murder case. All the films feature

as Sethurama Iyer. The other two members of the team vary in the series. All the five films that were released have ''Vikram'', the character played by

Jagathy Sreekumar Sreekumar Achary (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 deca ...

as a CBI officer. But he is not part of the three-men team in the third film and fifth film but appears in the films for a short length. Chacko played by Mukesh appears in the first film but is not part of the team. But Chacko becomes part of the team from the second film onwards. Harry played by Suresh Gopi is present in the first movie as part of the team, but later transferred to Madras in the second sequel. The films of the franchise are: Sethurama Iyer (

: സേതുരാമയ്യര്‍) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the CBI film series. The character was played by

in all the films. He is an investigative officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Iyer's popularity is attributed to the fact that he uses his brain rather than brawn to solve cases.

Cast and characters

Timeline

References

{{S. N. Swamy Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction Film series introduced in 1988 CBI CBI CBI