Mannar Mathai Speaking

Mannar Mathai Speaking
Directed by	Mani C. Kappan Siddique (uncredited)
Produced by	Mani C. Kappan
Written by	Siddique-Lal
Starring	Mukesh Vani Viswanath Saikumar Innocent
Music by	S. P. Venkatesh
Cinematography	Anandakuttan
Editing by	K. R. Gaurishankar S. Parivallal
Studio	O.K. Productions
Distributed by	O.K. Pictures
Release date(s)	1995 (1995)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Mannar Mathai Speaking is a 1995 Malayalam comedy film made in India, written by Siddique-Lal, produced and directed by Mani. C. Kappan, and starring Mukesh, Saikumar and Innocent.^[1] It is the sequel to Ramji Rao Speaking (1989). Priyadarshan adapted certain subplots of the film for his Hindi film, Bhagam Bhag (2006).^[2] Writer Siddique later reused the story and tweaks it for his Tamil movie Sadhu Miranda.^[3]

Production notes

In the opening credits for the movie, nobody's name is shown as the director. Instead, a statement by producer Mani C. Kappan, saying thanks to Siddique-Lal for helping him out in directing the movie, is shown. However, in the closing credits of the movie, Mani C. Kappan is credited as the director. Actually, the film was directed by Siddique alone, as Lal was not interested in a sequel for their evergreen film. After completing the film, Siddique did not agree to credit his name alone as the director. He suggested producer Kappan to credit himself as the director.^[4]

After more than 15 years of release, a sequel for the film was announced. It was to be directed and produced by Mani C. Kappan himself, but neither Siddique nor Lal has agreed to write the script. The same cast was scheduled to re-appear in the film.^[4]

Plot

Mannar Mathai (Innocent) is running a successful drama group. The lead actors in this troupe, Gopalakrishnan (Mukesh) and Balakrishnan (Saikumar), are always in a fight with each other for the lead role in the drama. During one of the stage shows, Gopalakrishnan was supposed to act like slapping the heroine, but he ends up slapping her for real, and hard. The hurt heroine leaves the stage show and goes in search of opportunities in movies.

Without a lead actress, the drama troupe is in trouble. Since Gopalakrishnan was the guy who created all the trouble, it was his responsibility to find an actress. Even after a long search, he did not find any actresses. One day while he was travelling in a taxi, a girl named "Meera" (Vani Viswanath) jumps in front of the car to commit suicide. Gopalakrishnan rescues her and brings her back to the drama camp. When she regains consciousness, they make her the lead actress of the troupe. To get the role of the hero, Gopalakrishnan says that she is his cousin, and she will only act if they make him the hero. To check the truth, Balakrishnan brings Gopalakrishnan's mom (Sukumari) to the camp. When the truth was about to come out, Gopalakrishnan tells his mom that he told everyone that she is his cousin because he is in love with her. His mom asks him to marry her.

After the marriage, Meera tries to commit suicide again by jumping into the well. Gopalakrishnan slaps her and she loses consciousness. They all takes her to the doctor where she gains consciousness. She then says that she does not remember anyone from the troupe and she is the wife of a wealthy businessman called Mahendra Varma (Biju Menon). They inform this news to Mahendra Varma, and he comes and take her to his home. Later she calls Gopalakrishnan and says that she is going to commit suicide, and they all rush to their home. By that time she had lit herself, and they all could only watch her die.

After 6 months, when the troupe was in Mangalore, Balakrishnan happens to see Meera on the roadside. She reappears in their home later and tells them the truth. She said that her real name is Stella, and Meera was the name of Mahendra Varma's real wife played by Geetha Vijayan. It was his real wife who died that day. He had hired an actress to act as if she was Meera and to provide proof that she had suicidal tendencies. They try to take revenge against Mahendra Varma and put him behind the bars.

Mahendra Varma kidnaps Gopalakrishnan's mother and bargains with Gopalakrishnan to bring Stella to them. In the mean time, the villain of the first movie Ramji Rao Speaking, Ramji Rao (Vijayaraghavan) also surfaces. He kidnaps Meera and bargains money. Now Gopalakrishnan is trapped in between two kidnapping attempts, and he has to rescue both his mom and his wife. In the hilarious situations that follow, using their clever tactics, Gopalakrishnan and his gang rescue them both. Mahendra Varma falls off from the top of a building and dies, while his dead body falls in the truck driven by Ramji Rao, and he drives off.

Cast

• Mukesh as Gopalakrishnan
• Saikumar as Balakrishnan
• Innocent as Mannar Mathai
• Vani Viswanath as Meera / Stella Fernandez
• Biju Menon as Mahendra Varma
• Janardhanan as Garvasees Aasaan
• Cochin Haneefa as Eldho
• Vijayaraghavan as Ramjirao
• Indrans as Ponnappan
• Harisree Ashokan as Sudhavu
• Prathapachandran as Doctor
• Sukumari as Gopalakrishnan's mother
• Geetha Vijayan as Meera
• Kaviyoor Ponnamma as Meera's mother
• K. P. Ummer as Prathapa Varma
• Machan Varghese
• Priyanka as Shakunthala
• Kaduvakkulam Anto as the booking agent

References

1. ^ OneIndia article
2. ^ "Bhagam Bhag pay royalty to Malyalam film maker". Realbollywood.com. 13 December 2006.
3. ^ "Movie Review : Sadhu Miranda". Sify. http://www.sify.com/movies/tamil/review.php?id=14602319&ctid=5&cid=2429. Retrieved 2010-12-30. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "മാന്നാര്‍ മത്തായി വീണ്ടും വരികയാണ്" (in Malayalam). Webdunia. 2 February 2011. http://malayalam.webdunia.com/entertainment/film/gossip/1102/02/1110202055_1.htm. Retrieved 2011-02-05. 

External links

• Mannar Mathai Speaking at the Internet Movie Database