Nadodikkattu () is a 1987 Indian Malayalam-language satirical comedy film directed by Sathyan Anthikad and written by Sreenivasan based on a story by the Siddique–Lal duo. It stars Mohanlal and Sreenivasan in the lead roles, along with an ensemble supporting cast featuring Shobhana, Thilakan, Innocent, Mamukkoya and Captain Raju. The story revolves around two impecunious young men, Ramdas and Vijayan who not being able to find any job in Kerala, plan to immigrate to Dubai to make their fortunes but get deceived and end up in Chennai. The film drew upon relevant social factors affecting Kerala of the 1980s such as widespread unemployment and poverty.
Critics consider the film represents popular Malayalam cinema at its satirical best and established the Mohanlal-Sreenivasan onscreen combination as one of its most memorable and bankable cinematic pairs. The story, screenplay and characters have achieved classic status.
- Sreenivasan as Vijayan
- Shobana as Radha
- Thilakan as Ananthan Nambiar
- Innocent as Balan aka Balettan
- Janardhanan as Kovai Venkatesan
- Captain Raju as P. V. Narayanan ("Pavanayi")
- Mamukkoya as Gafoorka
- Meena as Lathika, Radha's mother
- Sankaradi as Ramankutty, House owner
- C.I. Paul as Cleetus, Police Inspector
- Kundara Johny as Varghese (Nambiar's henchman)
- Ajith Kollam as Johny (Nambiar's henchman)
- Santha Devi as Ramdas' mother
- T. P. Madhavan as Mohanakrishnan, Managing Director
- Bobby Kottarakkara as Charlie, broker
- Kothuku Nanappan as Office Staff
- Rajan Padur as Milkman
- Vijayan Peringode as A. N. Traders Staff
Cameo appearances
- K. P. Ummer as Ashok IPS, DIG Tamil Nadu Police
- Seema as Herself
- I. V. Sasi as Himself
- M. G. Soman as Himself
Production
The film was produced by Casino Productions, a film production house co-owned by Century Kochumon, Mohanlal, I. V. Sasi, Seema and Mammootty, on a shoe-string budget of Rs 17 lakh.
The characters of Dasan and Vijayan were replicated from a story formulated by famous director duo Siddique and Lal who were working as assistant directors then. Sathyan Anthikkad discussed these characters to Sreenivasan who later developed them into a screen play. It was later revealed that Sathyan Anthikkad asked Sreenivasan to give a different treatment to the climax, thus they were able to come up with an agreeable climax for the script than that to the first version. Later they had creative differences during the same climax shooting and even stopped talking to each other. However, being best of friends, they re-united during dubbing of the film. The film was a box office success, completing a 175-day run in theatres. The film was also well received in the Persian Gulf, where it had a 50-day theatrical run. The film grossed a total of ₹39,72,763 in 21 days from 501 shows.
Legacy
Dialogues such as "Eda Vijaya? Enthada Daasa?","Namukku entha ee buddhi neretthe thonathathu?","Ellathinum Athindhedaaya Samayamundu Daasa", "Angane Pavanayi Shavamayi", "Eda Daasa, etha ee alavalathi?", "Hello Mr. Perera!", "Enthokke bahalam aayirunnu? Malappuram katthi, machine gun, bomb, olaykkadu moodu", and so on. These dialogues are still remembered fondly by Malayalis today and find their way into the daily conversation of Malayalees. This movie has been considered the best example of the Mohanlal-Sreenivasan on-screen combination, spawning two sequels with the same duo, Pattanapravesham and Akkare Akkare Akkare, as well as a spin-off film called Mr. Pavanayi 99.99.
The film was a breakthrough for Mamukkoya. The characters of Mamukkoya, Gafoorka and Captain Raju, Pavanayi enjoys a cult following in Kerala. The movie is considered one of the most popular Malayalam movies of all time. Even after more than 35 years, the movie draws huge audience whenever it is telecast on television channels. "The secret of the duo still being alive in the Malayali's consciousness may be because it's a story of two unemployed youngsters told using a humorous narrative. Unemployment was one of the biggest issues and migration to greener pastures was typical of Malayali experience. This has continued to the current decade. So, the audience has no problem relating to Dasan and Vijayan," says Sathyan Anthikkad, who directed the movie. According to Anthikkad, it was the convergence of a script-writer, director and actors at the subtlest level that resulted in its success.
"Comedies were not much in demand here before films such as Nadodikattu happened. Lal and I were instrumental in popularising comedies to a great extent." says Siddique.
Remakes
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
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!style="width:150pt; background:LightSteelBlue;"|Title
!style="width:80pt; background:LightSteelBlue;"|Language
!style="width:150pt; background:LightSteelBlue;"|Year
|-
|Katha Nayagan
|Tamil
|1988
|-
|Chennapatnam Chinnollu
|Telugu
|1989
|-
| Tenali Rama
|Kannada
|2006
|}