''Simhasanam'' () is a 2012 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 film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

written and 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 main ...

. The film stars

Prithviraj Sukumaran Prithviraj Sukumaran (Help:IPA/Malayalam, /pr̩t̪ʰʋiɾaːd͡ʒ/; born 16 October 1982) is an Indian actor, producer, director, and playback singer who primarily works in Malayalam cinema, in addition to Tamil cinema, Tamil, Bollywood, Hin ...

, Siddique and Saikumar. The music was composed by Ronnie Raphael. Simhasanam was originally meant to be a remake of the

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 ...

-starrer ''

Naduvazhikal ''Naduvazhikal'' () is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language Action film, action Crime film, crime film directed by Joshiy and written by S. N. Swami. The film was loosely based on ''The Godfather''. It tells the story of Arjun (Mohanlal), who takes ...

'' but during scripting, it became different from the original story. It was then loosely adaptated from

Mario Puzo Mario Francis Puzo (; ; October 15, 1920 – July 2, 1999) was an American author and screenwriter. He wrote crime novels about the Italian-American Mafia and Sicilian Mafia, most notably ''The Godfather (novel), The Godfather'' (1969), which h ...

's ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American Epic film, epic crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling The Godfather (novel), 1969 novel. The film stars an ensemble cast inc ...

''.

Premise

Chandragiriyil Arjun is a student in

Manipal 300px, The house of T. M. A. Pai located in Manipal; it has since been converted to a museum. Manipal is a suburb and university town within Udupi, in coastal Karnataka, India. Manipal is located five kilometres away from the centre of Udupi C ...

and the son of Chandragiriyil Madhava Menon, a very wealthy landlord in Chandragiri,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the Capital city, capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the ...

. One day, Arjun is called from Manipal and learns about constants struggles between Madhava Menon's enemy Ramadhathan Unni's sons Ramanunni, Bhargavanunni and Krishnanunni who runs a franchise of

grocery stores A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop or grocer's shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a retail store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday US usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym f ...

called Annapoorna. Arjun decides to restore order and secretly fight back Ramanunni and his brothers as Madhava Menon doesn't want him to become violent.

Cast

Soundtrack

The music was composed by Ronnie Raphael and the lyrics were penned by Chitoor Gopi.

Reception

''Simhasanam'' was released on 10 August 2012 and received negative reviews from critics and became a

box-office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

. ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

'' wrote "Simhasanam flimsily pieces together some of the most celebrated cinematic moments that Malayalam viewers have watched and relished countless times. It is nothing more than a foiled attempt to craft a film with one-liners, prolonged dialogues and action sequences." ''Lensmen'' criticized the film and wrote "Overall, Simhasanam is an outdated mix of old hit movies. Only die hard Prithviraj fans will find this movie interesting. Simahasanam is not written and directed by Shaji Kailas. It is arranged and organized by him. " ''

Rediff Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' criticized the film saying that it "is a mixture of the director's hits post-1990s, a patchwork of a story with nothing for the viewer to take back".

Trivia

''Simhasanam'' is the only film in which

directed a film with the script written by him, as his previous family background films such as ''

Aaraam Thampuran ''Aaraam Thampuran'' () is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language action drama film directed by Shaji Kailas, written by Ranjith and produced by Revathy Kalamandhir. It stars Mohanlal in the title role with Narendra Prasad, Manju Warrier, Sai Kuma ...

'', '' Narasimham'' and ''

Madirasi ''Madirasi'' is a 2012 Malayalam action comedy film directed by Shaji Kailas, starring Jayaram, Meera Nandan, Meghana Raj, Kalabhavan Mani, Tini Tom, John Vijay, and Kailash. The film is based on a series of true incidents that took place in the ...

'' were from scripts written by

Ranjith Ranjit or Renjith may refer to: Religion * Anton Ranjith Pillainayagam (born 1966), Sri Lankan Tamil Catholic priest, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Colombo * Malcolm Ranjith (born 1947), Sri Lankan Cardinal of the Catholic Church, Archbi ...

and Rajesh Jayaraman. This is the first time that Shaji Kailas directed a film with Prithviraj in the lead role. Despite ''Simhasanam'' being a disaster, Shaji Kailas and Prithviraj further worked together in two films ''

Kaduva ''Kaduva'' () is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language action film directed by Shaji Kailas, written by Jinu V. Abraham and produced by Prithviraj Productions & Magic Frames. It stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, alongside Vivek Oberoi, Arjun Ashokan, S ...

'' and ''

Kaapa ''Kaapa'' is a 2022 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Shaji Kailas and written by G. R. Indugopan based on his novel ''Shankhumukhi''. Produced by Fefka Writers Union, Theatre of Dreams and Saregama India Limited, it ...

'', both released in 2022.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt2796978 2010s Malayalam-language films Films shot in Palakkad Films shot in Ottapalam Indian family films Fiction about rivalry Films about father–son relationships Films directed by Shaji Kailas