Padmavyooham (2012)

 ●  Malayalam ● 1 hr 30 mins

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This offbeat murder mystery, delves into the mythological history of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, the design of the idol, and the temple's riches. The story is presented against the backdrop of the Travancore royal palace and brings out the ideas behind the construction of the temple and the significance of the placement of the idol of Vishnu. Embedded with suspense and thrill, this fast-paced tale opens with a police probe into a few temple robberies and the death of a journalist who was conducting an investigation into the complex defence mechanism of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. Following this, Adhitya Varma, the patron of the temple sets out on an expedition to find out the details of temple construction. The story develops based on the myth that the temple idol can work as a water valve to let the sea water in and out of the temple in case of an emergency. As in a "Padmavyooham", Varma's expedition runs into a series of events that unfold the relation between the famed Travancore ruler's vision, security features implemented in the temple, and the significance of the temple treasure. In the end, the results of their investigation may be both terrific and terrifying.

Cast: Noby Tharian

Crew: Bijoy PI (Director), Sunil Kaimanam (Director of Photography), Sanjeev Krishnan (Music Director)

Genres: Drama

Release Dates: 26 Oct 2012 (India)

Malayalam Name: പദ്മവ്യൂഹം

Did you know? This film shows a one-minute animation sequence created by DC Animations, which shows how the idol acts as a water valve. Read More
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as Adhitya Varma
as Rishi Ramavarma
as Viswettan
as Sreedharan Potti
as Thirumeni of Vishnu temple
Supporting Actor
as Liaqat Ali
as Anwar Ibrahim

Direction

Director

Production

Production Company

Writers

Dialogue Writer

Camera and Electrical

Director of Photography

Editorial

Editor
Film Type:
Feature
Language:
Malayalam
Colour Info:
Color
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
2.39:1 (Scope)
Stereoscopy:
No
Tracklist
Music Label: East Coast Audio
05:31

Music Director: Sanjeev Krishnan
Playback Singer: Shankar Mahadevan
05:28

Music Director: Sanjeev Krishnan
Playback Singer: Neha Nair, Vidhu Prathap
05:10

Music Director: Sanjeev Krishnan
Playback Singer: Vidhu Prathap
05:30

Music Director: Sanjeev Krishnan
Playback Singer: Vidhu Prathap
04:00

Music Director: Sanjeev Krishnan
Playback Singer: Prem Prameswar
03:21

Music Director: Sanjeev Krishnan
Playback Singer: Ratheesh Krishna
Trivia:
The title of this movie "Padmavyooham" is a Malayalam term (derived from Sanskrit) that represents a special type of army constellation. It is a top secret army deployment method which contains one entry point and one exit point which is difficult to locate.

This film was shot around Attingal palace, Thiruvananthapuram, and Alappuzha using a Red One camera. Due to security constraints at the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple, the crew kept away from shooting inside the temple.

In July 2012, the certification and the release of the movie were stayed by the Kerala High Court, following a petition filed by the executive officer of the Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple. It was pointed out in the petition that the plot of the movie posed security concerns to the temple. It was also mentioned that the making of the film was against the Supreme Court order that the media should not issue baseless reports about the temple wealth. Later, a special screening was arranged for the court, temple authorities, and the titular king of Travancore to convince them that the story did not contain anything controversial. Subsequently in October 2012, the stay was lifted by the High Court and the film was made ready for release.

For the climax scenes of the film, an 18 feet long and 10 feet high idol of Sree Padmanabhaswamy was constructed by art director Ajayan Kattungal. This is amongst the biggest one piece models used in Malayalam films.

This film shows a one-minute animation sequence created by DC Animations, which shows how the idol acts as a water valve.

This movie was produced by a team of IT professionals in Technopark

This offbeat thriller marks the directorial debut of Bijoy P. I, who had made a short film on the same theme, under the title, The Myth in 2008.