Paleri Manikyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha (2009)

 ●  Malayalam ● 2 hrs 35 mins

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The story revolves around the unnatural death of a young woman named Manikyam (Mythili) in Paleri, a small village in northern Kerala, in late 1950s. Although it was claimed by her in-laws that she died after she had a seizure, examination of the body revealed it to be a case of murder. The police charged three locals with the murder, only to be released by the court which described the prosecution's case as flawed. With no further investigation, the case had, since then, gone cold over the years, eventually acquiring the status of an unsolved mystery. Around 52 years later, Haridas (Mammootty), a detective living in New Delhi, sets out on a journey to Paleri hoping to solve this mystery. Apparently, he was born in the same village on the same night when Manikyam was killed. He is joined by Sarayu (Gowri Munjal), a crime analyst. Most of the clues and knowledge of Balan Nair (Siddique) and Keshavan (Sreenivasan) lead him to zero in on Ahmed Haji(Mammootty), a cruel feudal landlord who lived in Paleri during that period. It was obvious why his name did not figure in police reports from that era; he was so powerful and influential in Paleri at that time. Slowly, as things become clear, Haridas deduces that the murderer is Khalid Ahmed (That is Haji's first wives eldest son).

Cast: Gowri Munjal, Mammootty, Mythili Balachandran, Shweta Menon

Crew: Ranjith Balakrishnan (Director), Manoj Pillai (Director of Photography), Bijibal Maniyil (Music Director), Sharreth Vasudevan (Music Director)

Rating: A (India)

Genres: Crime, Drama, History

Release Dates: 05 Dec 2009 (India)

Malayalam Name: പാലേരി മാണിക്യം: ഒരു പാതിരാക്കൊലപാതകത്തിന്റെ കഥ

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Did you know? Ranjith also introduced about thirty Malayalam stage artists through this film. Read More
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as Sarayu
as Murikkum Kunnathu Ahmed Haji/Haridas Ahmed/Haridas Ahmed
as Manikyam
as Cheeru
as Balan Nair
as Keshavan
as DySP Madhavan
as Kunnummal Velayudhan

Direction

Production

Producer

Distribution

Writers

Screenplay Writer
Story Writer

Camera and Electrical

Director of Photography

Music

Lyricist
Music Label
Playback Singer

Editorial

Editor
Film Type:
Feature
Language:
Malayalam
Colour Info:
Color
Frame Rate:
24 fps
Aspect Ratio:
2.35:1, 2.39:1 (Scope)
Stereoscopy:
No
Tracklist
Trivia:
The film won five Kerala State Film Awards including the Best Film Award. Mammootty won his fifth Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for playing three roles Ahmed Haji, Haridas, and Khalid Ahmed in this movie. Shweta Menon also won her first Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for this film.

Ranjith also introduced about thirty Malayalam stage artists through this film.

It is based on a best selling Malayalam novel of the same name by TP Rajeevan, which said the true story of the first recorded murder case in Kerala.

Mythili Balachandran marked her debut through this film.

The lead actor Mammootty played three distinct roles in the film. It starred fifty experienced Malayalam drama artists in major roles along with a few other film actors.