''Maanthrikam'' () is a 1995 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 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 America ...

film produced and directed by

Thampi Kannanthanam Thampi Kannanthanam (11 December 1953 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed 16 films. Personal life Thampi was born on 11 December 1953 as the sixth so ...

and written by Babu Pallassery. It stars

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 ...

Raghuvaran Raghuvaran Velayuthan Nair (11 December 1958 – 19 March 2008) was an Indian actor who predominantly acted in films made in South India. He has acted in more than 200 Tamil language, Tamil, Telugu language, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi ...

Jagadish P. V. Jagadish Kumar, Born On (12 June 1955) mononymously as Jagadish, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, and television presenter. He has starred in over 400 Malayalam films and two Hindi films. He is best known for his comic and character rol ...

Priya Raman Priya Raman (born 18 June) is an Indian actress, television presenter, and producer known for her work in Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada cinema, as well as Malayalam and Tamil television serials. She made her film debut in 1993 with '' ...

Hemanth Ravan Hemanth or Hemanth G Nag is an Indian writer, business person , actor who has appeared in Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshad ...

and Rajan P. Dev. Filmed by

Saloo George Saloo George is an Indian cinematographer in Malayalam cinema. Career Saalu George graduated in cinematography from Adyar Film Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu . Personal life Saalu George is married to Rekha George, children Joseph George, Ab ...

and edited by

A. Sreekar Prasad Akkineni Sreekar Prasad is an Indian film editor known for his works across Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Assamese language films. In a career spanning more than 35 years, he has edited over 600 films. He is a recipient of nine National ...

; S. P. Venkatesh provided the music. The film was dubbed in Tamil as ''Raanuvam'' and in Telugu as ''Army Commander''. It marked the Malayalam debut of actress

Vineetha Vineetha is a former Indian actress, who appeared predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil films and Malayalam films. She has also acted in some Kannada, Telugu language, Telugu and Hindi films. She made her debut through the Tamil film ''Chinna ...

Plot

A Senior Scientist of Missile Technology designs a state of the art missile "Samhaara"and he is abducted by a terrorist group with family. A military officer and his assistant are entrusted with the mission to rescue the scientist. They join a gypsy performing art group in disguise and reach a fictitious town and a girl get attracted to the officer. He get involved with the sister of the assistant of terrorist group leader to execute the mission. In a twist it is revealed that the main girl dancer of the gypsy group is an officer appointed by military chief to track officer, who is suspected of double crossing. Finally every thing get resolved and the scientist is rescued unhurt with safety of Samhaara know-how and the hero takes his lady love with him. Mohanlal simply excels as a comedian, lover, military man, magician and dancer with 3 heroines.

Cast

as Alby / Major Stephen Ronald,

Military Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis List of intelligence gathering disciplines, approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist Commanding officer, commanders in decision making pr ...

as Dr. Abdul Rahiman, scientist *

as Jobi D'Costa /

Subedar Subedar ( ) is a military rank in the militaries of South Asia roughly equivalent to that of a warrant officer. Historically classed in the British Indian Army as a Viceroy's commissioned officer, the rank was retained in the Indian Army an ...

Teddy Lopez, Military Intelligence *

as Betty Fernadez *

as Menaka/Lt. Diana, Military Intelligence * Vaishnavi as Shakeela Abdul Rahman *

as Gonsalves * Rajan P. Dev as Antonio *

Madhupal Madhupal Kannambathu is an Indian actor, director, and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. Madhupal made his acting debut with '' Kashmeeram'' in 1994 and his directorial debut with '' Thalappavu'' (2008), which was about Arikkad Varghe ...

as Willy *

Krishnakumar Krishna Kumar is an Indian name and may refer to: * Kumar Krishna (1928–2014), American entomologist * R. K. Krishna Kumar (1938–2023), Indian business executive * C. P. Krishnakumar (born 1939), Indian Kannada writer * P. R. Krishna Kumar ( ...

as Douglas * Mitra Joshi as Catherine *

Sreenath Sreenath Thoppil Inchora (26 August 1956 – 23 April 2010) was an Indian film and television actor. He has acted in many Malayalam films, including '' Shalini Ente Koottukari'', '' Ithu Njangalude Katha'', '' Sarvakalashala'', '' Oru CBI Diar ...

as Col. Raveendran *

Ravi Menon Chalappurathu Raveendranatha Menon (1950 – 24 November 2007), popularly known as Ravi Menon, was a veteran Indian film actor who worked in Malayalam cinema. He was born in Sreekrishnapuram, Palakkad in 1950. He graduated from the Film and T ...

as Father Thaliyath *

Ajith Kollam Ajith Kollam (7 April 1962 – 5 April 2018) was an Indian actor, who predominantly appeared in Malayalam cinema. He had acted in more than 500 films in all South Indian languages. He mainly acted in villain roles. He acted in the Tamil movie ...

as Freddy * Santhosh as Beeran *

Vinayakan Vinayakan is an Indian actor, former dancer, and composer who predominantly works in Malayalam films apart from some Tamil language, Tamil language films. He started his career with a cameo appearance in the 1995 film ''Maanthrikam''. Vinayakan ...

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

imitator, his movie debut * Maria Gorettiz

Production

Lal Jose Lal Jose is an Indian director, actor, producer, and distributor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He started his career as an Assistant director in the Malayalam cinema. His directorial debut was with the 1998 film '' Oru Maravat ...

was the associate director of

in the film. Madras (now

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

) was a filming location. ''Maanthrikam'' marked the film debut of

, who appeared as a member of a gypsy dance group, he apparently imitates and wears the attire of

. For the role, Vinayakan was referred to Kannanthanam by Lal Jose, who spotted him during a dance performance in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

. Made on a budget of 3 crores, major locations of the movie were MGR Film City
Kishkinda Water Park

Chidambaram Chidambaram is a major town and municipality in Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, on the banks of the Vellar River where it meets the Bay of Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Chidambaram taluk. The town is believed to b ...

and

Pichavaram Pichavaram is one of the villages of Parangipettai near Chidambaram in Cuddalore District, Tamil Nadu, India. It is located between the Vellar estuary in the north and Coleroon estuary in the south. The Vellar-Coleroon estuarine complex f ...

. The magic sequences which Mohanlal performed was taught by magician R. K. Malayath.

Soundtrack

S. P. Venkatesh composed the music for the movie for which the lyrics were written by

O. N. V. Kurup Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup (known as O. N. V. Kurup; 27 May 1931 – 13 February 2016) was a Malayalam poet and lyricist from Kerala, India, who won the Jnanpith Award, the highest literary award in India for the year 2007. He received ...

. The songs were distributed by Ankit Audios.

Reception

Mohanlal had expressed doubts about the film doing well at the box office due to the unworldly stunts performed in the film. However, Kannanthanam assured him that the film would be a hit.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, id=0280889, title=Maanthrikam 1990s Indian films 1990s Malayalam-language films 1995 action comedy films 1995 films Films directed by Thampi Kannanthanam Films shot in Chennai Indian action comedy films Indian Army in films