Madampi

Madambi
Directed by B. Unnikrishnan
Written by B. Unnikrishnan
Produced by B. C. Joshi
Starring Mohanlal
Ajmal Ameer
Siddique
Kavya Madhavan
Mallika Kapoor
Narrated by Suresh Gopi
Cinematography Vijay Ulaganath
Edited by Manoj
Music by M. Jayachandran
Production
company
Surya Cinemas
Distributed by Vaisakha Release
Release date
  • 4 July 2008
Running time
139 minutes
Country India
Language Malayalam

Madampi (transl. Feudal Lord) is a 2008 Indian Malayalam-language family drama film written and directed by B. Unnikrishnan. It stars Mohanlal, Ajmal Ameer, Siddique, Kavya Madhavan and Mallika Kapoor. The film was released on 4 July 2008. It received positive reviews from critics and was a box office success.

Plot

Gopalakrishna Pillai (Mohanlal) is a rich money-lender in a village called Elavumthitta in Pathanamthitta district. People misunderstand him to be money-minded, without having any emotional bond even towards his mother Devaki Amma (KPAC Lalitha) or younger brother Ramakrishna Pillai (Ajmal Ameer).

As the story moves along, we learn more about the hero. He is considered heartless, as he threw out his father Madhava Menon (Sai Kumar) when he was a teenager, for his father's wayward lifestyle. His mother hates him for doing that and his brother hates him because he does not let his brother pursue his dream of being an actor and never gives him any freedom.

His main antagonists are Sreedharan (Siddique) and his younger brothers. Kavya Madhavan assumes the role of Jayalakshmi, a bank manager who is seen as a threat to Gopalakrishna Pillai's money lending business.

It turns out that Ramakrishna Pillai is in love with a girl (Mallika Kapoor) from Gopalakrishna Pillai's rival family. Though Gopalakrishnan Pillai arranges the marriage forgetting the rivalry, after marriage he asks his brother to repay him the expenses he incurred for the marriage and prompts the newlyweds to sleep separately. With this he becomes the most hated person of his brother and mother. Frustrated, Ramakrishna Pillai leaves the house and joins his in-laws against Gopalakrishna Pillai by saying that his money-lending business is illegal. Still that doesn't work.

Ramakrishna Pillai accuses his brother of processioning the family wealth alone and he gives false information to the Income Tax Department files a suite against him in court. In the climax it is revealed by Gopalakrishna Pillai's advocate (Jagathy Sreekumar) that Gopalakrishna Pillai has kept his hard-earned wealth in the name of his younger brother and he was always hard on him just to make him responsible. It also is revealed that his father was not thrown out, but committed suicide in Madurai due to his debts. The story ends happily as the brothers reunite and everyone apologises to Gopalakrishna Pillai.

Cast

  • Mohanlal as Puthanveetil Gopalakrishna Pillai
  • Ajmal Ameer as Puthanveetil Ramakrishna Pillai
  • Siddique as Kottilakathu Sreedharan
  • Sai Kumar as Madhava Menon, father of Gopalakrishna Pillai
  • Kavya Madhavan as Jayalakshmi
  • Mallika Kapoor as Shymala, Parameswaran's daughter and Ramakrishnan's wife
  • K. P. A. C. Lalitha as Puthanveetil Devakiyamma, Gopalakrishna Pillai's and Ramakrishna Pillai's Mother
  • Jagathy Sreekumar as Advocate Mohan Kumar
  • Innocent as Karayogam President Chandran Nair
  • Vijayakumar as Aravindan, Kottilakathu Parameswaran's Second Son
  • Kiran Raj as Raghu, Kottilakathu Parameswaran's Youngest Son
  • Suraj Venjaramoodu as Keedam Vasu
  • V. K. Sreeraman as Kottilakathu Parameswaran Kurup
  • M. R. Gopakumar as Kottilakathu Raghavan, Parameswaran's younger brother
  • Kozhikode Narayanan Nair as Saghavu Kumaran
  • Tony Sigimon as Appu, Mohan Kumar's son
  • Madhu as Justice Sukumara Kurup (Cameo)
  • Biju Pappan as S.I Vincent
  • Deepika Mohan as Raghavan's wife
  • Lakshmipriya as Lakshmi, Mohan Kumar's wife
  • Krishna Praba as Bhavani
  • Ashwin Menon as Gopalakrishna Pillai (childhood)
  • Swathy Sunilkumar as Jayalakshmi (childhood)
  • Sivaji Guruvayoor as Jayalakshmi's father

Production

Filming was completed on 4 June 2008 in Ottapalam. Mohanlal had 47 days of shoot.

Soundtrack

Madampi
Soundtrack album by
Released 2008
Genre Filmi
Length 21:40
Label Satyam Audios
Producer B. C. Joshi
M. Jayachandran chronology
Anthiponvettam Madampi Parthan Kanda Paralokam

The film has four songs composed by M. Jayachandran. The lyrics are by Gireesh Puthenchery and Anil Panachooran (Jeevitham Oru). The songs "Amma Mazhakarinu" and "Kalyanakacheri" were chartbusters.

Track Song Singer(s) Duration Other Notes
1 "Amma Mazhakkarinu" Dr. K. J. Yesudas 4.03 Raga: Navakouns
Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director
Filmfare Award for Best Singer
Filmfare Award for Best Lyricist
2 "Kalyanakacheri" Shankar Mahadevan 4.27 Raga: Bilahari
Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director
Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer
3 "Ente Sharike" Sudeep Kumar, Roopa Revathi 4.30
4 "Jeevitham Oru" Mohanlal 1.07
5 "Amma Mazhakkarinu" Shweta Mohan 4.03 Raga: Navakouns
6 "Ente Sharike" Sudeep Kumar 4.30

Box office

The film collected 1.37 crore from 61 screens in its first weekend (3 days) from Kerala. The film was made on a budget of 3.5 crores. The film got 1 crore 90 lakhs as distribution share, 1 crore 8 lakhs as satellite and video rights, 9 lakhs as audio rights and 25 lakhs as overseas right. It got a gross collection of 7.5 crores within 30 days. The film collected 100 million in total. The movie ran more than 100 days in major centres. Madampi became one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year.

Awards

Kerala State Film Awards
Filmfare Awards South
Asianet Film Award
Vanitha Film Awards
  • Best Actor – Mohanlal
AMMA (Dubai) Award
  • Best Actor – Mohanlal

See also

  • Madampi – aristocratic title equivalent to "lord" in English