Abhimanyu (1991 film)

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Abhimanyu
Directed by	Priyadarshan
Written by	T. Damodaran
Produced by	V. B. K. Menon
Starring	Mohanlal Shankar Geetha K. B. Ganesh Kumar
Cinematography	Jeeva
Edited by	N. Gopalakrishnan
Music by	Songs: Raveendran Background Score: Johnson
Production company	Anugraha Cine Arts
Distributed by	Anugraha Release
Release date	21 December 1991 (1991-12-21)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Abhimanyu is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film directed by Priyadarshan and written by T. Damodaran. It stars Mohanlal, Geetha, and Shankar. The plot revolves around the Bombay (now Mumbai) underworld and the transformation of an innocent guy into a crime boss in the city. The tagline of the movie is Crime Never Pays.

The Fim Got A Certificate from Censorboard.The film was a commercial success at the box office. The film is noted for its screenplay, direction and background score. Mohanlal won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor. Its Tamil dubbed version Arasan was also a box office success.^[1] The movie was later dubbed and released in Hindi as Satyaghath - Crime Never Pays. It was remade in Tamil as Thalai Nagaram (2006) , Telugu as Nagaram(2008) and in Kannada as Devru (2009). Art direction was by Thotta Tharani.

Plot[]

Harikrishnan is an immigrant in Mumbai, who, like many thousands of immigrants, is struggling to make ends meet. He shares a room with a group of Malayali guys, who have their personal problems and difficulties. The film begins with Harikrishnan witnessing the murder of a journalist, and being asked by police to appear at an identification parade, which he does. Hari and his friends stay at a room in Kamathipura, which also homes the largest red lighted area in India. He accidentally meets Kiran, a Telugu girl in the brothel, for whom he develops feelings. In a short attempt to make money, Hari and friends start making local hooch, which is supplied by Manikandan, their friend, who is also a taxi driver. One of the friends, Shekhar, falls in love with the sister of Mani, without the knowledge of anyone else.

On a fine morning, Mudaliar, the Tamilian don, who was ruling the street is shot dead by Abbas Ali, his own henchman, who has shifted his loyalty to Amar Bakia, another cold blooded don. With the death of Mudaliar, Amar Bakia becomes the undisputed don of the city, and Abbas Ali, his lieutenant. Abbas, after coming to know about the small scale smuggling activities of Hari and gang, threatens him and asks him to come and meet him on the day of Vinayak Chathurthi and pay him a large amount as fine.

In midst of the celebration, Hari enters the house of Abbas Ali and shoots him down, inviting the enmity of Amar Bakhia. Chottu, a local goon belonging to Bakhia gang, attacks Hari, but Hari beats them up mercilessly. He is soon arrested by the police and tortured in the cell by the inspector and Bakhia, in an attempt to make him confess for the murder of Abbas. Assuming that he is dead, they throw him into the street. He is discovered alive and saved by the lady owner of a brothel and she along with Kiran takes care of him. With this incident Hari becomes the local leader and within a short span Chottu and others join his gang. Hari, thus becomes Hari Anna, who also becomes a negotiator in land disputes, financial matters and local business stiffs.

Amar Bakhia is now in serious efforts to end the gang of Hari, but Hari on the other hand is getting stronger day by day. Shekhar, now gets a job at a Marwari business group and ditches the sister of Mani. She, who is pregnant by then, commits suicide. Mani, shocked by this incident, is unaware of Shekar's involvement with his sister and indirect cause of her suicide. Hari decides to marry Kiran and with the help of his friends plan to start up a new life outside Mumbai. Amar Bakhia orchestrates attacks on Hari and his gang, leaving many of Hari's friends dead. Hari plots revenge and executes those responsible including Amar, and prepares to escape with Kiran.

Meanwhile, Mani gets a letter written by his sister to Hari, which makes him believe that it's Hari who is responsible for the death of his sister. Mani informs police about Hari's plan to leave Mumbai by the night. While parting, Hari informs Mani about Shekhar and expresses regret for not being able to save her. On realizing the truth, Mani reveals the ambush plans and asks Hari to escape before police reaches the spot. But it is too late by then, as police surround him and shoot him down.

Cast[]

• Mohanlal as Harikrishnan / Hari Anna
• Shankar as Shekhar
• Geetha as Kiran
• Cochin Haneefa as Chotta Shankar
• Jagadish as Manikandan/Mani
• Rami Reddy as Abbas
• Poornam Vishwanathan as Mudaliar
• Mahesh Anand as Amar Bakhia
• K. B. Ganesh Kumar as Gopalakrishnan
• Sukumari as Kalyani, Mani's and Radha's mother
• Nandhu
• Manjula Vijayakumar as Madam of the brothel
• Suchitra Murali as Radha, Mani's younger sister

Box office[]

The film collected a gross of ₹83 lakhs from 25 centres when it completed 25 days run, as per Mathrubhumi daily, which was a record at that time. The film had a 120-day theatrical run and was one of the highest grossing Malayalam movies of the year.^[2]

Music[]

The film score was composed by Johnson while the original songs featured in the film were by composed by Raveendran with lyrics were penned by Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.^[3][4] This consisted of 5 songs:

Awards[]

Kerala State Film Awards

• Best Actor - Mohanlal
• Best Editor - N. Gopalakrishnan
• Best Sound Editor - Deepan Chetterji

References[]

External links[]

• Abhimanyu at IMDb