''Rani Padmini'' is a 2015 Indian

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both the mainstream film industry ...

directed by

Aashiq Abu Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indian film director, producer, cinematographer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema. He is best known for his films such as '' Daddy Cool'' (2009), '' Salt N' Pepper'' (2011), '' 22 Female ...

, starring

Rima Kallingal Rima Kallingal is an Indian actress and film producer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. Early life and work Born in Thrissur, Kerala, Kallingal began practising dancing when she was three years old. A dancer by professio ...

and

Manju Warrier Manju Warrier (; born 10 September 1978/1979) is an Indian actress, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, a Kerala State Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards South. Warrier made her actin ...

in the lead. Produced by the company Fort Entertainment. The script was written by

Syam Pushkaran Syam Pushkaran (born 6 September 1984) is an Indian scriptwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He is known for his collaboration with directors Aashiq Abu and Dileesh Pothan. He made his debut with '' Salt N' Pepper'' (2011), co-written wit ...

and Ravisankar . The music score was composed by

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 ...

. It is a portrayal of the journey towards the amative awakening of two women from different backgrounds with a blend of

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

. The film pays homage to

Narendra Prasad Raghava Kurup Narendra Prasad (26 December 1946 3 November 2003) was an Indian actor, playwright, director, teacher and literary critic. He was born at Mavelikkara in the erstwhile Kingdom of Travancore. Appreciated for his body language a ...

. It was released on 23 October 2015.

Plot

Padmini (

), a traditional married woman, goes to

Manali, Himachal Pradesh Manali () is a resort town, near Kullu town in Kullu district in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. It is situated in the northern end of the Kullu Valley, formed by the Beas River. The town is located in the Kullu district, approximately ...

to meet her car

rallying Rallying is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (sometimes called "rally racing" in United States), navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed ...

driver husband Giri (

Jinu Joseph Jinu Joseph (born 21 December 1975) is an Indian actor who works in Malayalam films Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam ...

) to resolve a personal conflict. Rani, (

) is a tomboy brought up in

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

. She is running away from a wanted criminal, Raja, who has posed a threat to her life. Rani and Padmini meet on a bus and a memorable journey starts with the pleasantness of simple interpersonal relations. Together they try to find Giri while simultaneously trying to evade capture by Raja's gang.

Cast

as Rani **

Ivana Ivana is a feminine given name of Slavic origin that is also popular in southern Ireland, France, French-speaking Canada, the Mediterranean and Latin America. It is the feminine form of the name Ivan, which are both the Slavic cognates of the n ...

as Young Rani *

as Padmini **Theertha Vinod as Young Padmini *

as Giri *

Sajitha Madathil Sajitha Madathil is an Indian film and theatre actor. Her performance in Joy Mathew's feature film '' Shutter'' (2012) won her the Kerala State film award for second best actress. She is the head of the department of Acting at the K. R. Naray ...

as Lalithamma *

Dileesh Pothan Dileesh Philip (born 19 February 1980), also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film '' Maheshinte Prathikaaram'', sta ...

as Ullas Menon *

Sreenath Bhasi Sreenath Bhasi (born 29 May 1988) is an Indian actor, disco jockey and singer who works in Malayalam films. Career He started his career as a Radio Jockey in Red FM 93.5 and worked as a Video Jockey at the same time. He gained recognition in ...

as Trekker * Sandeep Narayanan as Hulk *

Soubin Shahir Soubin Shahir (born 12 October 1983) is an Indian actor, director and producer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He made his acting debut with '' Annayum Rasoolum'' (2013). Following his breakthrough with '' Premam'' (2015), he played th ...

as Madan *Sooraj Harris as Sharukh Khan *

Binu Pappu Binu Pappu is an Indian actor and assistant director who works in Malayalam films. He is known for his roles in films such as '' Helen'', ''One'', '' Operation Java'' and '' Bheemante Vazhi''. In addition to acting, he has worked as an assistant ...

as Kareem * Kunchan as Shankaran Vaidyar *

Ambika Mohan Ambika Mohan is an Indian actress known for her work in Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language ...

as Padmini's mother *

Srinda Ashab Srinda (born 20 August 1985) is an Indian actress who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. Her debut film was '' Four Friends'' (2010). She is best known for her roles in Malayalam movies '' 22 Female Kottayam'' (2012), '' Annayum Rasoolum'' ...

as Nandhini *

Sana Althaf Sana Althaf is an Indian actress who works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. Career She was born in Kochi, Kerala to Althaf and Shameena Althaf. She attended Bhavan's Adarsha Vidyalaya in Kochi. She was a TV host be ...

as Trekker *Vivek Bhaskar as Rana Sherghill *

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 Rani's grandmother/Suresh

Production

The official launch of the film was held at a function 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 ...

on 14 April 2015. Filmmakers

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 ...

Anwar Rasheed Anwar Rasheed is an Indian film director and producer who works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2005 with '' Rajamanikyam''. He continued to do successful action-comedy films, such as '' Chotta Mumbai'' (2007) and '' Annan Thambi'' ...

, and

Sameer Thahir Sameer C. Thahir (born 7 November 1976) is an Indian cinematography, cinematographer, screenwriter, Film producer, producer and film director, who works primarily in Malayalam cinema. He is a graduate of Maharaja's College, Ernakulam, Mahar ...

were present at the function along with actors Shekhar Menon,

Maqbool Salmaan Maqbool Salmaan is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. The son of television actor Ibrahimkutty and the nephew of actor Mammooty, Maqbool made his acting debut by playing a short role in A. K. Saajan's '' Asuravithu'' (2012). H ...

, and Siddique. Talking about the subject in an interview, actress Manju said that many would consider it as a women's empowerment movie with two female in the lead, it is not. "It is a visual treat with a lot of humor in a feminine tone and celebration of all-rounder aspect of women's capability, who can care, comfort and in even dire situations be a guiding force". Apart from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

, the film was shot extensively in

Kashmir Valley The Kashmir Valley, also known as the Vale of Kashmir, is an intermontane valley in northern Jammu and Kashmir, a region in Indian-administered Kashmir.(a) (subscription required) Quote: "Kashmir, region of the northwestern Indian subcont ...

Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...

, and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. The first look poster was released on 23 July. The first official trailer released on 9 October.

Critical reception

Veeyen of Nowrunning.com wrote that "

's go-girl tour-de-force is syrupy without ever being saccharine and tugging without ever being overwhelming. It's a film with the actress' proofed script for re-entry and strengthening of yesteryear female leads in Mollywood. It is intriguing with retrospection, and bolstered by a sharp planning and a helms a scrupulous director that can strike chords of the heart." Paresh C Palicha of Rediff.com stated that the film is an entertainer, and that "director

takes up the gamble of making a film with no male superstar."

Box office

The film collected on its first day of release and collected 1.66 crores within four days. It grossed in 14 days.

Music

The songs were released by the music label

Muzik 247 Muzik 247 based out of Chennai, acquires music rights for South Indian Cinema films, mainly Tamil, Malayalam and Tulu. The company was founded in 2012 by Naveen Bhandari, and has achieved a large market share of the Malayalam film music. About ...

on 14 October. Featuring four tracks, the music was composed by

with lyrics written by

Rafeeq Ahammed Rafeeq Ahamed (born 17 December 1961) is an Indian poet, lyricist and novelist. He has won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry and is a six-time winner of the Kerala State Film Award for Best Lyrics. With more than 600 songs to his cr ...

and Nellai Jayantha ("Puthu Puthu"). The first video song titled "Varu Pokaam Parakkaam" was released on 28 September. The song features childhood of Rani and Padmini.

Awards

;

Vanitha Film Awards The Vanitha Film Awards are presented annually by ''Vanitha'', an Indian magazine from the ''Malayala Manorama'' group in the south Indian state of Kerala. The awards ceremony has been instituted to honour both artistic and technical excellence ...

*Special Performance (female) -

;

5th South Indian International Movie Awards The 5th South Indian International Movie Awards is an awards event held at Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore on 30 June and 1 July 2016. SIIMA 2016 will recognize the best films and performances from the past year, along with special honors ...

*Nominated - Best Actress in a Supporting Role -

*Nominated - Best Music Director - Bijipal ;

63rd Filmfare Awards South The 63rd Filmfare Awards South ceremony honouring the winners and nominees of the best of South Indian cinema Cinema of South India, refers to the cinema of the four major film industries in South India; primarily engaged in making featur ...

*Nominated - Best Actress -

*Nominated - Best Playback Singer Female - Chitra Arun - "Oru Makaranilavay"

References

External links

* * {{Aashiq Abu Indian road movies 2010s Malayalam-language films 2010s road movies Films set in Himachal Pradesh Films shot in Himachal Pradesh Films shot in Delhi Films shot in Jammu and Kashmir Indian feminist films Indian chase films Indian female buddy films 2015 films Indian adventure films Climbing and mountaineering films 2010s adventure films Films with screenplays by Syam Pushkaran Films about women in India Films set in Manali, Himachal Pradesh Films directed by Aashiq Abu