''Punyalan Agarbattis'' () is a 2013 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

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written, co-produced, and directed by

Ranjith Sankar Ranjith Sankar is an Indian filmmaker who works in Malayalam films. He started his movie career with the 2009 thriller ''Passenger (2009 film), Passenger''. He launched his production house Dreams N Beyond in 2012 and his distribution house Pu ...

, starring

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born 31 August 1978) is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist who works in Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a National Film Awards, National Fi ...

, Nyla Usha,

Aju Varghese Aju Kurian Varghese (born 11 January 1985), better known as Aju Varghese, is an Indian actor, producer and singer who appears in Malayalam cinema. He made his debut in 2010 in '' Malarvadi Arts Club'', directed by his collegemate Vineeth Sr ...

, Rachana Narayanankutty, Innocent, and

Sreejith Ravi Sreejith Ravi (born 19 May 1976) is an Indian actor who appears predominantly in Malayalam films and also in Tamil films. He is the son of actor T. G. Ravi. Early life Sreejith is the son of actor and industrialist T. G. Ravi and V. K. Sub ...

. It follows the tale of the young entrepreneur, Joy Thakkolkaran (Jayasurya), and his business venture "Punyalan Agarbattis" in the city of

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

. The film is produced by Jayasurya and Ranjith Sankar under the banner of Dreams N Beyond and features music composed by Bijibal. It was a commercial success at the box office. A sequel of the film titled ' Punyalan Private Limited' was made in 2017, and it had many of the members of the original cast.

Plot

The movie follows the inspiring tale of an entrepreneur, Joy Thakolkaaran, who owns a firm named 'Punyalan Agarbathis'. The firm is involved in the production of incense sticks from elephant dung. The first half moves around how it becomes nearly impossible for him to acquire the necessary raw material (elephant dung), and when he finally does acquire it, the devil follows him in the form of a hartal. Struggling between the deadline given by the court and the unexpected hartal, he decides to smuggle the raw material on the day of the hartal. When the RIP followers get wind of this, they attack Joy and destroy his godown and means of transportation. The rest of the movie revolves around how Joy is pressured by various problems around him and how help comes from the unexpected. The party uses different methods to mentally depreciate Joy. However, he overcomes them with his optimistic attitude and his friends and family. At the end of the movie, the tagline reads "You can conquer the whole world if you are ready to believe in yourself"

Cast

as Joy Thakkolkaran *

as Greenu Sharma * Nyla Usha as Anu Joy *

as Abhayakumar (Thuthuru) * Innocent as John Thakkolkaran, Joy's grandfather * Rachana Narayanankutty as Advocate Remya * T. G. Ravi as Achuthan Maash, a social worker *

Idavela Babu Ammanath Babu Chandran (born 11 August 1963), better known by his stage name Edavela Babu, is an Indian actor who appears in the Malayalam cinema. He made his acting debut in 1982 with '' Idavela'', from which he got his stage name. Since then ...

as K C Mathews *

Mala Aravindan Mala Aravindan (15 January 1939 – 28 January 2015) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his work as a comedian and character artist in Malayalam films. He has acted in over 500 films. Early life Aravindan was born at Vadavucode in th ...

as Ayyappan *

Sunil Sukhada Sunil Sukhada is an Indian actor in Malayalam cinema. He debuted in a small role in the film '' Best Actor''. His first full length role was as the supermarket manager in '' Chappa Kurishu'' (2011). He won a special mention in the Kerala state t ...

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

Shivaji Guruvayoor Shivaji Guruvayoor (born 28 May 1961) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam cinema. He started his film career with the film '' Arabikkatha''. He is known for his negative roles and character roles. Personal life He is married to Lilly and ...

as Advocate Hassan Marakkar * Gokulan as Jimbruttan *

Lishoy Lishoy is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam films and television. Personal life Originally from Thrissur, Lishoy gained popularity as a stage actor in professional theaters, such as Kazhimpram Theaters. Later he emigrated to Muscat for ...

as Joy's uncle * Jayaraj Warrier as Kaattalan Jose * Sabumon Abdusamad as Idivettu Sabu *

Thesni Khan Thesni Khan is an Indian actress who appears in Malayalam films, television, and stage. She made her acting debut through '' Daisy'' in 1988. She is widely known for the portrayal of character roles. In 2020, she contested in the second season ...

as Gracy *

Ponnamma Babu Ponnamma Babu is an Indian actress best known for her work in Malayalam cinema. She has acted in more than 300 films, TV serials and comedy shows. She made her debut in ''Padanayakan'' in 1996. Personal life Ponnamma was born to Mathai and ...

as Usha * Irshad as Amal *

Vinod Kovoor Vinod Kovoor is an Indian actor best known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He gained attention in the comedy show ''Marimayam'', broadcast by Mazhavil Manorama, which conveys a satirical picture of public offices in Kerala. He is also known f ...

as Pappan Kottaparambu *

Sudheer Karamana Sudheer Karamana (born 24 May 1971) is an Indian actor who appears mainly in Malayalam cinema. He is the son of actor Karamana Janardanan Nair. Personal life He is the eldest son to actor Karamana Janardanan Nair and Jaya, at Karamana, Thiruv ...

as Kollur Jayaprakash * Sunil Babu as

Mahout A mahout is an elephant rider, trainer, or keeper. Mahouts were used since antiquity for both civilian and military use. Traditionally, mahouts came from ethnic groups with generations of elephant keeping experience, with a mahout retainin ...

Eldho

Production

Jayasurya was selected to play the lead and Nyla Usha his wife. The popular senior actor Innocent was cast to play the grandfather of hero. The filming began at

on 17 August 2013.

Release

The film was released on 29 December 2013. It was both a commercial and critical success. The film collected ₹7 crore from Kerala box office.

Soundtrack

Bijibal Bijibal Maniyil is an Indian music composer and playback singer who works predominantly in Malayalam films. In a career spanning more than twenty years, he has composed for more than 150 feature films, several television commercials and a few d ...

composed the background score and songs. The film marked the debut of Jayasurya as a singer in films. The lyrics are written by Santhosh Varma.

References

External links

* {{Ranjith Sankar Films shot in Thrissur 2010s Malayalam-language films Films directed by Ranjith Sankar