''C.I.D Moosa'' is a 2003 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

action comedy film The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the Americ ...

directed by

Johny Antony Johny Antony is an Indian film director and actor, known for making comedy films in Malayalam cinema. He is from Changanassery in Kottayam district, Kerala. He worked for about a decade as an associate to directors Thulasidas, Taha, Kamal an ...

, written by

Udaykrishna–Sibi K. Thomas Udaykrishna–Sibi K. Thomas is an Indian screenwriting duo known for their works in Malayalam cinema. Most of their works are in the comedy, action crime film and mass genre. They wrote films such as ''Mattupetti Machan'' (1998), ''Udayapura ...

duo, and co-produced by

Dileep Gopalakrishnan Padmanabhan, better known by his stage name Dileep, is an Indian actor, producer, comedian and entrepreneur who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has also acted in Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada films. He has ...

. It stars Dileep in the title role of a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI; also known as a private detective, an inquiry agent or informally a private eye) is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigat ...

, and features an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that comprises many principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to the po ...

Bhavana ''Bhāvanā'' (Pali;Rhys Davids & Stede (1921–25), p. 503, entry for "Bhāvanā," retrieved 9 December 2008 from "U. Chicago" a Sanskrit: भावना, also ''bhāvanā''Monier-Williams (1899), p. 755, see "Bhāvana" and "Bhāvanā", retri ...

Ashish Vidyarthi Ashish Vidyarthi (born 19 June 1965) is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, English, Odia, Marathi and Bengali films. He is noted for his antagonist and character roles. In 1995, he receive ...

Sharat Saxena Sharat Saxena (born 17 August 1950) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films along with Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 250 Bollywood films. Saxena started his career in the early 1970s and has mainly played ...

Murali Murali may refer to: People Mononyms *Murali (Malayalam actor) (1954–2009), name of Malayalam film actor Muraleedharan Pillai, who appeared in ''Neythukaran'' and ''Aadhaaram'' *Murali (Tamil actor) (1964–2010), Tamil actor who appeared ...

Harisree Ashokan Harisree Ashokan (born 6 April 1964) 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 ...

Cochin Haneefa Cochin Haneefa (22 April 1951 – 2 February 2010) was an Indian actor, film director, and screenwriter. He started his career in the 1970s mainly portraying villainous roles, before going on to become one of the most popular comedians of Malay ...

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 ...

Vijayaraghavan Narayanapillai Vijayaraghavan, known mononymously as Vijayaraghavan, is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is known for his character roles. He is the son of drama and cinema artist N. N. Pillai. Early life and f ...

Captain Raju Raju Daniel (27 June 1950 – 17 September 2018), better known by his stage name Captain Raju, was an Indian actor and army officer. He acted in more than 600 films in various languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, an ...

Oduvil Unnikrishnan Oduvil Unnikrishnan (13 February 1943 – 27 May 2006) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has portrayed supporting roles in both dramatic and comedic roles.The HindMalayalam film actor Oduvil Unnikrishnan dead He is a four- ...

Sukumari Sukumari Amma (6 October 1940 – 26 March 2013) was an Indian actress best known for her works in Malayalam and Tamil films. In a career spanning more than five decades, She has appeared in more than 2500 films predominantly in Malayalam, T ...

, and

Salim Kumar Salim Kumar (born 10 October 1969) is an Indian actor, comedian, director and writer in Malayalam cinema. Mostly known for his comic and comedy roles, Salim Kumar is considered one of the best and most prominent comedians in the history of Mala ...

. In the film, C.I.D Moosa, a private detective, faces many challenges while solving various cases. His only rival is his own brother-in-law, Peethambaran, who is a police officer. The film was released on 4 July 2003. It was a box office success, becoming the second highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year, behind ''

Balettan ''Balettan'' is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film directed by V. M. Vinu, written by T. A. Shahid, and produced by M. Mani. It stars Mohanlal in the title role, along with Devayani, Nedumudi Venu, Harisree Ashokan, Riyaz Kh ...

''. The film is known for its

slapstick comedy Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...

and has developed a

cult following A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, boo ...

. ''C.I.D Moosa'' was remade in Tamil as ''

Cheena Thaana 001 ''Cheena Thaana 001'' is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action comedy film directed by T. P. Gajendran. The film stars Prasanna and Sheela, while Vadivelu, Manivannan, Riyaz Khan, Delhi Ganesh, and Kazan Khan play supporting roles. It is a remake ...

'', in Kannada as '' CID Eesha'' and in Telugu as '' Ramachari''. A sequel has been officially confirmed to be in the works by the makers.

Plot

Moolamkuzhiyil Sahadevan is the son of a

police constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an police officer, officer within a police ser ...

named Prabhakaran, who works in the local police department's

dog squad ''Dog Squad'' is a reality TV show following working dogs and their handlers as they go about their daily duties. It is set in New Zealand and focuses on dog-handler pairs working for the New Zealand Police, Department of Corrections (New Zeala ...

; their dog Arjun is a trained member of the squad with a unique ability to nab culprits and sniff out clues. Sahadevan has only one ambition: to join the Kerala Police department for which he clears his exams and prepares for the physical test. However, Sahadevan is not on good terms with his brother-in-law Pitambaran (who too is a

Sub-inspector Sub-inspector (SI), or sub-inspector of police or police sub-inspector (PSI), is a rank used extensively in South Asia: in the police forces of Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka, which are primarily based on the British model. It was form ...

in the force) since he married Sahadevan's elder sister after an elopement. Meanwhile, a terrorist leader named Khalid "Baba" Muhammed, who is incarcerated in the

Tihar Jail Tihar Prisons, popularly known as Tihar Jail, are a prison complex in India and are one of the largest complexes of prisons in India. There are 9 functional prisons spread over more than 400 acres. Run by Department of Delhi Prisons, the prison ...

, formulates a plot to murder the Kerala

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 ter ...

Ravi Menon with the help of a shrewd and corrupt

Police Commissioner A police commissioner is the head of a police department, responsible for overseeing its operations and ensuring the effective enforcement of laws and maintenance of public order. They develop and implement policies, manage budgets, and coordinate ...

Gowrishankar. Menon previously served as the Union Home Minister who ordered for the quelling of Baba's terrorist organization, which led to Baba's imprisonment and the slaying of his family. Baba and Shankar arranged 3 terrorists Randheer, Amar and Jandu to implant a bomb inside the hospital where Menon is undergoing treatment, but Sahadevan and Arjun find the bomb and throw it out before it explodes, though Arjun ends up being injured. Despite this, Sahadevan is able to arrange medical treatment to restore Arjun back to full health. In response to Sahadevan's actions at the hospital, Gowrishankar (with help from Pitambaran) intentionally makes Sahadevan fail his physical test. Sahadevan is at first dismayed and discouraged, but considers becoming a

and following the footsteps of his uncle 'Karamchand'. Karamchand willingly leaves his office and tools to his nephew, and Sahadevan adopts the pseudonym CID 'Moosa' (from the first syllables of his first and last names). In his first assignment, Moosa and his associates take it upon themselves to investigate the attack on the CM, and manage to nab Randheer (who planted the bomb at the hospital) and surrender him over to the police, impressing the DIG Sathyanath (who happens to be Menon's nephew). However, Gowrishankar secretly kills Randheer to avoid an interrogation, and destroys Moosa's office after learning that the firm doesn't have a license. The remaining two terrorists then plant another bomb on Menon's car in an attempt to kill him, but this is foiled when Moosa tries to meet Menon to file a complaint about the office ransacking, saving Menon from being killed by the explosion. Moosa is mistakenly praised by the public as the hero who saved the CM's life. Upon hearing what has happened, Baba furiously breaks out of prison as he personally intends to help Gowrishankar, Amar and Jandu in finishing off both Menon and Moosa. After some false leads involving a local lunatic who gives Moosa the run-around several times, Moosa later finds Amar, recognizing him as the second terrorist who planned the bomb at the hospital along with Randheer. With that in mind, Moosa tries to nab Amar, but accidentally kills him by shooting him in the head. This puts him in trouble, as he was told by Sathyanath only to shoot below the knee or he would face criminal charges. However, Sathyanath learns that the

Central government A central government is the government that is a controlling power over a unitary state. Another distinct but sovereign political entity is a federal government, which may have distinct powers at various levels of government, authorized or deleg ...

issued a reward of 5 lakhs for Amar's head which Moosa will receive, much to the commissioner's dismay. In the meantime, Meena, who Moosa relentlessly tries to woo without success, informs him that Randheer, Amar and Jandu were paying guests in her apartment, and that she filed a complaint to the commissioner as Randheer and Jandu were absconding. However, upon being told by Moosa that they were terrorists and they were murdered by Gowrishankar, Meena ends up being arrested by Gowrishankar under the false charges of harbouring terrorists. Moosa tries to plead for Meena's innocence to Gowrishankar by stating that she was unaware of the terrorists' identities, but he refuses and takes Meena into custody. As Gowrishankar tortures Meena, he tries to molest her, but Moosa arrives to the rescue by thrashing him before releasing Meena, who reciprocates her feelings to Moosa in return. Because of this, Gowrishankar issues an

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a jud ...

on Moosa approved by a reluctant Menon. Before the arrest comes to pass, Moosa sneaks into Menon's house to plead his innocence to Menon, who unsurprisingly states that he already knows it by admitting that he witnessed Baba walking on the road on his way home, and is sure he's behind the attacks. As Menon explains Baba's backstory to Moosa, the latter arrives and shoots Menon in the arm, forcing Moosa to shoot back to drive him away. Realizing that Baba and the commissioner are in cahoots with each other, Moosa drives Menon to safety in his detective car with Arjun. Using the pursuer-repellent gadgets in his car, Moosa is able to evade the cops pursuing him. However, Baba and the commissioner intercept them, and as just Baba is about to finish Moosa, he uses his wits to save Menon and Arjun and shoots both Baba and the commissioner. With his name cleared, Moosa is declared a hero by the citizens and authorities for foiling Baba's plot. He and Arjun are sent to

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's London boroughs, 32 boroughs. Its name derives from the location of the original ...

for advanced professional training. Before leaving, Moosa bids farewell to his family, friends and associates (with even Sathyanath and Pitambaran paying their respects and waving goodbye to him). However, at the end, Moosa's

Private jet A business jet, private jet, or bizjet is a jet aircraft designed for transporting small groups of people, typically business executives and high-ranking associates. Business jets are generally designed for faster air travel and more personal ...

is hijacked by the lunatic from earlier, who tied the pilot up in the rear. As Sahadevan screams in terror, the lunatic commences lift-off, and the jet is last seen veering wildly into the clouds after a series of barrel rolls.

Cast

as Moolamkuzhiyil Sahadevan aka C.I.D Moosa, a

as Meenakshi Patel / Meena, Sahadevan's love interest *

City Police Commissioner A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Gaurishankar IPS *

as Khalid Mohammad Baba, a terrorist mastermind *

as M.S Ravi Menon, Chief Minister of Kerala, Former Central Home Minister *

as SI Peethambaran, Sahadevan's brother-in-law *

Harisree Asokan Harisree Ashokan (born 6 April 1964) 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 ...

as "Thorappan" Kochunni/ C.I.D Kochunni, Crooked thief and Sahadevan's friend *

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. ''Constable'' is commonly the rank of an officer within a police service. Other peo ...

Vikraman / C.I.D Vikram, Sahadevan's confidant *

as head constable Moolamkuzhiyil Prabhakaran / C.I.D Prabhu, Sahadevan's father *

as Karunan Chanthakkavala / Detective Karamchand, Sahadevan's uncle *

as Unnamed Insane man *

as Girija, Sahadevan's mother *

as DIG Sathyanarayanan IPS *

Indrans K. Surendran (born 16 March 1956), better known by his stage name Indrans, is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough ...

as Theekkanal Varkey, journalist *

Bindu Panicker Bindu Panicker is an Indian actress who has more than 200 films to her credit. She has played both comedy and character roles in Malayalam cinema. Critically acclaimed for her performance in 2001 for Soothradharan. She was a member of the Asso ...

as Ramani, Peethambaran's wife and Sahadevan's sister *

Paravoor Bharathan Vadakkekarayil Koran Bharathan (16 January 1929- 19 August 2015), better known as Paravoor Bharatan was an Indian actor who acted in Malayalam films. He started his career in movies during the 1950s. Bharathan is known as a versatile actor and ...

as Ramdev Patel, Meena's grandfather *

Subbalakshmi Subbalakshmi (21 April 1936 – 30 November 2023) was an Indian Carnatic musician, composer, and actress who worked in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi cinema. She was noted for her performance in '' Kalyanaraman'' (2002), ''Pandip ...

as Savithri Devi,Meena's Grandmother * Kunchan as Issac Chacko, Veterinary Doctor *

Machan Varghese M. L. Varghese, (1960 – 3 February 2011) popularly known by stage name Machan Varghese, was a Malayalam film actor and mimicry artist. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan (house of arts) and debuted as an actor through '' ...

as Police Constable Sebastian *

Geetha Salam Abdul Salam (9 October 1946 – 19 December 2018) was an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema known by his stage name Geetha Salam, known for '' Malabar Wedding'', '' Jalolsavam'' (2004) and '' Mylanchi Monchulla Veedu'' (2014). He lived in Krishna ...

as Kallan Kunjappu, Kochunni's father * Abu Salim as CI George Eapen *

Narayanankutty Narayanan Kutty or Kalabhavan Narayanankutty is a Malayalam film actor. He has acted in more than 300 films. He handles mainly comedy roles. Background Narayanan Kutty was born Ernakulam. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan ...

as Police Constable Gopalan *

Kalabhavan Shajohn Shaji John, professionally credited by his stage name Kalabhavan Shajohn is an Indian actor, director and comedian who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He started his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, Kochi. Making his debut in 199 ...

as Police Constable Varghese * Reena as Sumitra Nambiar, Ravi Menon's wife * Nandu Pothuval as Tailor Sugunan *

Kalabhavan Haneef Kalabhavan Haneef (1959 or 1960 – 9 November 2023) was an Indian actor and Impressionist (entertainment), impressionist in Malayalam cinema. He made his debut with the film ''Cheppukilukkana Changathi'' (1991). Career Haneef started imper ...

as House Broker *

Kalabhavan Rahman Kalabhavan Rahman is a Malayalam film actor in Kerala. Career Rahman started his film acting career in 1986 with a unimportant role. Reghunath Paleri directed the title Onnu Muthal Poojyam Vare. He hails from Aluva in Kerala. Rahman is alumn ...

as Ramakrishnan, neighbor of Peethambaran *

Kazan Khan Kazan Khan (22 June 1972 – 12 June 2023) was an Indian actor who predominantly appeared in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu films. He was best known for his villain roles. Career Kazan made his acting debut in the year 1992 with Tamil f ...

as Terrorist Randheer * Sudheer Sukumaran as Terrorist Jandu *

Shweta Agarwal Shweta Agarwal Jha (née Agarwal) is an Indian actress who has appeared in feature films such as Raghavendra (2003), Tandoori Love (2008), and Shaapit (2010). She is married to the television host, her Shaapit co-star and Bollywood singer, Adit ...

(Special Appearance in the song "James Bond")

Family Tree of Moolamkuzhiyil family

Production

The title and character name was adopted from ''CID Moosa''

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

written and created by Kannadi Viswanathan.

Soundtrack

The film featured a soundtrack composed by

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) *Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * C ...

collaborating with

for sixth time. All lyrics are written by

Gireesh Puthenchery Girish Puthenchery was a noted Malayalam lyricist, poet, scriptwriter and screenwriter, esteemed for his pivotal role as a lyricist in Malayalam cinema. He was often hailed as the aristocratic lyricist of Malayalam and was admired for his uniqu ...

Reception

Box office

''CID Moosa'' was a commercial success at the box office. The film was the second highest-grossing Malayalam film of that year, behind ''

''. It was made on a budget of 2.5 crore at a relatively higher budget for a Malayalam film at that time.

Critical response

The film is considered as one of the best slapstick comedy films in Malayalam, it has also achieved a cult fan following. In 2016,

art house An art film, arthouse film, or specialty film is an independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made prima ...

filmmaker

Adoor Gopalakrishnan Adoor Gopalakrishnan (born 3 July 1941) is an Indian film director, script writer, and producer and is regarded as one of the most notable and renowned filmmakers in India. With the release of his first feature film '' Swayamvaram'' (1972), G ...

stated that his favourite film of Dileep is ''C.I.D. Moosa''.

Remakes

Following the success of ''CID Moosa'', it was remade in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

as ''

'' in 2007, in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

as '' CID Eesha'' in 2013 and in

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

as '' Ramachari'' in 2013.

Sequel

In 2016, it was revealed that a sequel is in development by the same team. But later on 28 October 2020, actor Dileep himself launched the promo of an animated series based on CID Moosa. The actor announced that a CID Moosa animation film will soon hit the screens after 17 years since its release. There has been no update about the animated film since then. Later, in 2023, during a promotional event for Dileep's Voice of Sathyanathan, director

confirmed that a live-action sequel for C.I.D. Moosa will indeed happen in the near future.

References

External links

*
CID-Moosa
{{Johny_Antony 2000s Malayalam-language films 2000s Indian films 2003 films Indian slapstick comedy films Malayalam films remade in other languages 2003 crime comedy films Indian crime comedy films Films about organised crime in India Films about Islamic terrorism in India Fictional portrayals of the Kerala Police Films shot in Kochi Films shot in Alappuzha Films scored by Vidyasagar (composer) Films with screenplays by Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas Films directed by Johny Antony Indian police films Films about dogs