''Kathanayakan'' () is a 1997 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

family drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

film directed by

Rajasenan Rajasenan (born 20 August 1958) is an Indian film director who has worked in Malayalam cinema. He is one of the most successful directors in 90s Malayalam film industry. Rajasenan also worked in the TV serial industry. He directed some serials ...

. The film stars Kalamandalam Kesavan,

Jayaram Jayaram Subramaniam, (born 10 December 1965), is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Telugu cinema, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Bhojpuri language films. He is also a chenda ...

, Divya Unni and

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- ...

. It was reported to have been inspired by the 1994 movie '' Greedy''. It was remade by Telugu as ''

Pandaga ''Pandaga'' ( Festival) is a 1998 Telugu-language drama film directed by Sarath. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Srikanth, Raasi and music composed by M. M. Keeravani. It is produced under the Jayasri Art Pictures banner. It is a remake of ...

''.This film was a commercial success.

Plot

Payyarathu Padmanabhan Nair, who is a well known personality is praised by the people. He lives precedent life with his whole family members (Kootukudumbam), his friend Reeve Sankunni and servant, Kuttan. He loves his family more than his life, but they all have eyes on his wealth. On the day of his niece Meenakshi's wedding day, he meets with a young man Ramanathan. Ramanathan befriends him and Padmanabhan Nair likes Ramanathan's qualities. It is later revealed that Ramanathan is the son of Padmanabhan Nair and Sankunni's younger sister Saudamini. Slowly Ramanathan gets into the family to stay with his father. There he clashes with Payyarathu Padmanabhan Nair's niece and his cousin Gopika and she dislikes him as the other family members too. The men of the family sell the kitchen's rice and other goods without Padmanabhan Nair's knowledge. Ramanathan and Sankunni come know about this. They try to prevent this action. The family members reveal the truth to Padmanabhan Nair that Ramanathan is Sankunni's nephew and they are thrown out of the house. Later Padmanabhan Nair asks Sankunni 'Who is Ramanathan?' and Sankunni reveals the truth. Padmanabhan Nair rushes to his son and hugs him. But he is in a dilemma that he wants to accept his son but can't reveal the truth to the family to save his reputation. The hurt Ramanathan challenges his father to accept him and tell the truth to the whole family. Ramanathan and Sankunni return to the family. The whole family wants to know why they have returned. Padmanabhan Nair doesn't answer their questions. Gopika decides to leave the house and stay in hostel. Ramanathan stops her and she insults him. Ramanathan slaps her and she cries and runs off. In the night, Padmanabhan Nair comes to his son who is sleeping and tries to stroke him. But he get back and returns from there. Gopika notices this. Next day every man goes to work in their own vehicles. Ramanathan stops them and gets them into a van. Ramanathan slowly takes the control of the family and the whole family hates this. Padmanabhan Nair tells Sankunni that he can't take the dilemma. Sankunni tells Ramanathan to go from the family. Ramanathan tells him that he wants to protect his father from the greedy family members. Sankunni tells his father that he doesn't want his presence. Ramanathan decides to go and Gopika, who has overheard the truth, stops him. She tells them he shouldn't go and she is with him. Ramanathan and Kuttan go to Beerankutty, to whom the family's men sold the goods, and tells him Padmanabhan Nair wants to sell the whole goods of kitchen to him. Believing this, Beerankutty comes to Payyarathu home to see Padmanabhan Nair. The family men see him and are fearful. They try to prevent him and Padmanabhan Nair stops them. Beerankutty reveals the truth and Kuttan also admits it. The family men apologize and Padmanabhan Nair leaves in anger. The family wants to celebrate Padmanabhan Nair's 'Sapthathi' (70th birthday) so that he has to hand over his power. Gopika tells this to Ramanathan. Padmanabhan Nair objects to the family's request. Ramanathan reveals the news in a newspaper. Padmanabhan Nair is angry at him. The village people come and tell Padmanabhan Nair it's their right to celebrate this with the family and they decide to celebrate. On the celebration day, Ramanathan tells his father that he always said "tell the truth" and now he has to reveal the truth. Padmanabhan Nair reveals the truth about his son to all. Angered, family members beat Ramanathan and demands Padmanabhan Nair their shares. Padmanabhan Nair willingly accepts their demand. On the share day, the family members want to know whose name the home is in and beat the advocate. They receive a phone call saying that the whole foundations of Payyarath family have been raided and manager Krishna Menon comes and reveals that Padmanabhan Nair didn't pay the taxes so the raid happens. The family learn that they will not get any shares. They ran and stole everything from the home and left. Gopika says to Ramanathan that everyone has gone, leaving her alone and Ramanathan holds her hand. Ramanathan, Gopika and Kuttan searches for Padmanabhan Nair. They find him in a charity home. Ramanathan and Gopika ask him to return. He asks them if they can give him his past life. Ramanathan tells he can't but he can work hard for it. It was revealed that no raid occurred. It was his plan to know who is honest. He leaves with them to bring Saudaminiyamma back as his wife. They reach Ramanathan's home and it is revealed that Saudaminiyamma is dead and Ramanathan says that he promised his mother at his deathbed to bring his father to light her pyre. Heartbroken, Padmanabhan Nair lights her pyre. Padmanabhan Nair lives his later life happily with his son Ramanathan, niece Gopika, Sankunni and Kuttan.

Cast

* Kalamandalam Kesavan as Payyarathu Padmanabhan Nair *

as Ramanathan, as Sankunni Nair's nephew and Padmanabhan Nair's son *

as Sankunni Nair, Padmanabhan Nair's best friend and confidant * Divya Unni in a

Dual role A dual role (also known as a double role) refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during produc ...

as ** Gopika aka Gopu, Padmanabhan Nair's niece ** Padhmanabhan's Wife and Ramanathan's Mother (Cameo appearance) in Uncredited role *

Kalabhavan Mani Kunnisseri Veettil Raman Mani (1 January 1971 – 6 March 2016), better known by his stage name Kalabhavan Mani, was an Indian actor and singer. Mani started his career as a Impersonator, mimicry artist with the Kalabhavan comedy troupe. He had ...

as Kuttan *

K. P. A. C. Lalitha Maheshwari Amma, better known by her stage name K. P. A. C. Lalitha (10 March 1947 – 22 February 2022), was an Indian film and stage actress who worked primarily in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Considered one of the greatest ...

as Kunjulakshmi Amma, the eldest among Padmanabhan Nair's younger sisters *Cherthala Lalitha as Karthiyani, the third sister of Padmanabhan Nair *

Zeenath Zeenath A. P. (born 29 December 1964) is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. She was a prominent supporting actress during the 1990s in the Malayalam film industry. Background Zeenath married Malayalam drama director and producer K. T. Mu ...

as Ammutty, Padmanabhan Nair's Youngest sister * K. T. S. Padannayil as Konthunni Nair, Karthiyani's husband *

Kochu Preman Kalaramathil Shivaraman Premkumar (1 June 1955 – 3 December 2022), better known by his stage name Kochu Preman, was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film industry. He acted in more than 250 films, mainly in supporting and comedy role ...

as Vamanan Namboothiri, Ammuty's husband * Paravoor Ramachandran as Sankarankutty Nair, elder son of Kunjulakshmi Amma, eldest nephew. *

Janardanan Janardhanan Pillai (born 5 May 1946), also known as Janardhanan Nair, is an Indian actor, producer and a former Indian Air Force personnel who predominantly acts in Malayalam films. He acted in his first feature film '' Adyathe Kadha'', directe ...

as Sathrughnan Pillai, Meenakshi's husband *

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 Sreedharan, Padmanabhan Nair's son-in-law * V. K. Sreeraman as Madhavan Nair, Padmanabhan Nair's son-in-law *Eliyas Babu as Govindankutty Nair, Padmanabhan Nair's nephew *

Bobby Kottarakkara Abdul Azeez (11 March 1952 – 3 December 2000), Better known by his Stage Name Bobby Kottarakkara 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 ma ...

as Sadasivan Nair, Padmanabhan Nair's son-in-law * Yavanika Gopalakrishnan as Padmanabhan Nair's nephew *

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 Meenakshi, Padmanabhan Nair's niece *

Sona Nair Sona Nair is an Indian actress working mainly in Malayalam cinema who is also best known for her roles in television soaps. Personal life Sona Nair attended Al-Uthuman Higher Secondary School, Kazhakoottam, Trivandrum, where her mother was ...

as Family member * Kannur Sreelatha as Family member *Kalamandalam Geethanandan as Padmanabhan Nair's nephew *Bindu Ramakrishnan as Family Member *Girija Kochupreman as Family member *

T. P. Madhavan T. P. Madhavan (7 November 1935 – 9 October 2024) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He began acting at age 40 and appeared in over 600 films. Initially known for playing antagonistic roles, he transitioned t ...

as Krishna Menon, a manager *

Mamukkoya Mamukkoya (5 July 1946 – 26 April 2023) was an Indian actor known for his work predominately in Malayalam cinema. He mostly appeared in comedic roles. His unique usage of Kozhikode dialect and style marked his presence in the industry. In a c ...

as Beerankutty, a grocer

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Mohan Sithara.

References

External links

* * {{Rajasenan 1997 films 1990s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Mohan Sithara Films directed by Rajasenan Malayalam films remade in other languages Films shot in Ottapalam Films shot at Varikkasseri Mana