''Mahathma'' is a 1996 Malayalam-language

crime action film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

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 mai ...

and written by

T. Damodaran T. Damodaran ( ml, ടി. ദാമോദരൻ; c. 1935 – 28 March 2012) was a screenwriter who predominantly worked in Malayalam cinema. Life Damodaran wrote the screenplays of films such as ''Angaadi'' (1980)'', Ahimsa'' (1981)'', John ...

, which stars

Suresh Gopi Suresh Gopi (born 26 June 1958) is an Indian actor, politician, playback singer and television presenter. He works predominantly in Malayalam cinema and has also appeared in some Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Bollywood films. Suresh made his act ...

in the lead role, while

Ganesh Kumar Keezhoote Balakrishna Pillai Ganesh Kumar (born 25 May 1966) is an Indian actor, television host, and politician. Ganesh Kumar is a proposed cabinet minister for the last 2.5 years in the ongoing 2nd LDF govt in Kerala and he is also the curre ...

, Devan,

Rajan P. Dev Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu ...

Biju Menon Biju Menon (born 9 September 1970) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam films, and also has a few Tamil and Telugu film credits. He made his debut in the 1994 Malayalam film ''Puthran''. In a career spanning over two decade ...

and

Ramya Krishnan Ramya Krishnan (born 15 September 1970), also credited as Ramya Krishna (in the Telugu and Kannada film industries) is an Indian actress. She has appeared in over 260 films in five languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi. Ramy ...

appear in supporting roles. The film revolved around Devadevan, an underworld gangster, who decide to reveal the masterminds behind the serial blasts and

communal riots Religious violence covers phenomena in which religion is either the subject or the object of violent behavior. All the religions of the world contain narratives, symbols, and metaphors of violence and war. Religious violence is violence that ...

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 C ...

Plot

Devadevan, an underworld gangster decides to appear in front of Justice Varma Commission, who is holding a probe into the serial blasts that claimed innocent lives. Devadevan's claim of divulging solid evidence of the hands of several top politicians and gangsters in the blasts and

that followed made many of his rivals sleepless. Just on reaching the court premise, he is shot

point-blank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel par ...

. Severely wounded, Devan is admitted in

ICU ICU commonly refers to: * Intensive care unit, a special department of a hospital ICU may also refer to: Organisations Universities * Information and Communications University, South Korea *Istanbul Commerce University, Istanbul, Turkey * Intern ...

, from where his memories travel to his early days of crime. Past: Devan, a suspect under trial along with his trusted right arm Mustafa is bailed out by Khan Sahib, a smuggler on behalf of David Abraham, a

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...

-based crime boss. Upon release, both Devan and Mustafa are provided safe accommodation at Khan's house, where he meets up with Nancy, the daughter of Khan's second wife in her first marriage and an upcoming movie actress. Nancy falls in love with Devan within a short time. Devan and Mustafa commit several smuggling operations for Khan and slowly rise up in career. Upon realizing that Khan is double-crossing him, David Abraham kills him and appoints Devan as his representative in India. Devan and Mustafa emerge as undisputed dons in the country. During that time, on a visit to

, Devan meets up with Harikrishnan, his childhood friend undergoing a fast to protest against the appointment of scheduled caste persons as priests in temples as per the reservation policy of the

Kerala government Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

. Devan pledges to support Hari, a youth from erstwhile Namboothiri

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

feudal family, who is in deep financial crisis. Hari is appointed as the second-in-command of Devan, who upon Devan's advice gives up his ''Yajnopaveetham''. James Kutty, a

drug smuggler The illegal drug trade or drug trafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through ...

along with Reddiar tries all ways to finish up Devan's empire, but to no avail. In retaliation, Hari kills central minister and Reddiar's son Baba Rahim. Reddiar and James forms a league to finish off Devan. David Abraham, who was now losing turf to Devan too joins them and provides

explosives An explosive (or explosive material) is a reactive substance that contains a great amount of potential energy that can produce an explosion if released suddenly, usually accompanied by the production of light, heat, sound, and pressure. An expl ...

and

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weapo ...

required to create a severe blast along with a communal riot that could deviate public attention from the series of corruption allegations against his men in power, including Baba Rahim. In the meantime, Mustafa falls in love with Saraswati, Hari's younger sister, who objects to her sister's love towards a Muslim. Hari is shocked to find that Mustafa is supported by Devan and splits ways with him. Hari is allured by James and is used effectively to transport explosives into the city. The serial blasts breaks down Devan, who is shocked to find that his name is dragged effectively by David Abraham and gang. Mustafa is killed by James, where Devan finishes off David Abraham and James. Devan travels to appear in front of Justice Varma Commission, and was shot point-blank by Hari. Present: Upon discharge from ICU, Devan is transferred to a ward where Justice Varma meets him, who plays a double game and successfully removes the bullets from Devan's pistol. Just minutes after the exit of Varma, Hari enters his ward and tries to shoot him up, but Devan successfully escapes. While following, Devan and Hari get into a car, but the cabbie was Koshy, Devan's attorney, who locks the car from outside, in which a bomb was planted. Using his remote comtrol, Devan blows up the car, thus killing Hari.

Cast

as Devadevan *

as Mustafa *

as Nancy *

as Harikrishnan *

Devayani Devayani ( sa, देवयानी, translit=Devayānī) is a character in Hindu literature. She is described to be the daughter of Shukra, the acharya (preceptor) of the asuras, and his wife Jayanti, the daughter of Indra. She marries ...

as Saraswathi *

Kitty Kitty or Kittie may refer to: Animals * Cat, a small, domesticated carnivorous mammal ** Kitten, a young cat Film * Kitty Films, an anime production company in Japan * ''Kitty'' (1929 film), based on the Deeping novel; the first British talkin ...

as David Abraham *

as Khan Sahib *

Maniyan Pillai Raju Sudheer Kumar (born 20 April 1955), better known by his stage name Maniyanpilla Raju ( Malayalam:മണിയൻപിള്ള രാജു), is an Indian actor and producer who works in Malayalam film industry.Devan as James Kutty *

N. F. Varghese Nadakkaparambil Francis Varghese (6 January 1950 – 19 June 2002) was an Indian actor who worked in Malayalam film industry. He began his career as a mimicry artist in Kalabhavan, acting in minor roles, but later he turned to strong villain rol ...

as Baba Rahim *

Major Sundarrajan Srinivasan Sundarrajan (17 March 1925 – 28 February 2003), popularly known as Major Sundarrajan, was an Indian actor and director who performed predominantly in Tamil language films and plays. He was well known for his sophisticated and ...

as Justice Varma *

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 fi ...

as Sukumaran *

Karamana Janardanan Nair Karamana Janardanan Nair (25 July 1936 – 24 April 2000) was a Malayalam film actor, who was active during the 1980s and 1990s. He was especially known for his character roles. He won wide acclaim especially for the role of the protagonis ...

as Ramakrishna Kurup *Sahadevan as Reddiar *Appahaja as Suresh, a reporter *

C. I. Paul C. I. Paul (1944 – 14 December 2005) was a Malayalam film and television actor. He was a member of the working party led by Fr. Vadakkan and came to acting through the famous dramas by V. L. Jose. He was well appreciated for his perform ...

DYSP DYSP (909 AM) Super Radyo is a radio station owned and operated by GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Netwo ...

Madhavan Nair *

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 Kerala ( ; ) ...

as Mukundan Pillai, a minister *

Kozhikode Narayanan Nair Kozhikode Narayanan Nair is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema, who has acted in more than 300 films. He entered the "Malayalam" movie industry (Mollywood) through a drama troupe. His first film was ''Aabhijathyam'' (1970), and he is also reme ...

Krishnakumar Krishna Kumar is the name of: * Kumar Krishna (1928–2014), American entomologist * C. P. Krishnakumar (born 1939), Indian Kannada writer * P. R. Krishna Kumar (1951–2020), Indian physician * V. P. Krishnakumar (born 1958), Indian sound recordist ...

as Rajeev * Mahesh as Venu *

Jose Pellissery Jose Pellissery (1950 – 5 December 2004) was an Indian film and theatre actor. Biography As an actor in Malayalam cinema, he played supporting roles in about 100 films. His 15-year film career included roles in such movies as '' Aadhaaram'' ...

as C.M. Sukumaran Varma *

Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair (16 October 191611 March 1997) was an Indian poet, playwright, script writer, lyricist, orator, film director and actor, though he is best known as an actor in Malayalam cinema. He is the recipient of Padma Shri from ...

as Valiya Thirumeni *Vimal Raj as Satish Shetty *

Azeez Aziz ( ar, عزيز, , is an Arabic male name. The feminine form of both the adjective and the given name is Aziza. ''Aziz'' in Arabic is derived from the root ''ʕ-z-z'' with a meaning of "strong, powerful" and the adjective has acquired its m ...

as Jailor Santhosh *

Usharani Usharani (29 May 1958 – 20 June 2020) was an Indian actress who acted mainly in Malayalam films. Personal life Usharani married Malayalam movie director N. Sankaran Nair in 1977. Filmography Tamil * Thirumalai Thenkumari (1970) * Kal ...

as Alice, Nancy's Mother *

Renuka Renuka, also known as Yellamma, is a Hindu goddess worshipped predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and western state of Maharashtra. She is also known as the mother of Parashur ...

as Ramakrishna Kurup's daughter

Music

Reception

''Mahathma'' was declared as an average venture at the box office compared to past blockbuster hits of Suresh Gopi-Shaji Kailas.

Trivia

*The film uses

ABBA ABBA ( , , formerly named Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Anni-Frid or Björn & Benny, Agnetha & Frida) are a Swedish supergroup formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. The grou ...

's "

Money, Money, Money "Money, Money, Money" is a song recorded by Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus with Anni-Frid Lyngstad singing lead vocals. It was released on 1 November 1976, as the second single from their fourth album, '' ...

" as the background song to mark Devadevan's transformation as the mafia king.

References

External links

* {{Shaji Kailas Films with screenplays by T. Damodaran Films scored by Vidyasagar Indian crime thriller films Films about organised crime in India Indian gangster films Films directed by Shaji Kailas 1990s Malayalam-language films