Mannar Mathai Speaking

Mannar Mathai Speaking
File:Mannar Mathai Speaking.jpg Poster
Directed by	Siddique-Lal Mani C. Kappan
Produced by	Mani C. Kappan
Written by	Siddique-Lal
Story by	Siddique-Lal
Starring	Mukesh Vani Viswanath Saikumar Innocent Biju Menon
Music by	S. P. Venkatesh
Cinematography	Anandakuttan
Edited by	K. R. Gaurishankar S. Parivallal
Production company	O.K. Productions
Distributed by	O.K. Pictures
Release dates	1995 (1995)
Country	India
Language	Malayalam

Mannar Mathai Speaking is a 1995 Malayalam comedy film written and directed by Siddique-Lal, produced by Mani C. Kappan (also co-directing), and starring Mukesh, Saikumar, Innocent, Vani Viswanath, and Biju Menon in the main roles. It is the sequel to Ramji Rao Speaking (1989) and was followed by Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 (2014.) The main plotline has been borrowed from the Alfred Hitchcock classic Vertigo.

Priyadarshan adapted certain subplots of the film for his Hindi film, Bhagam Bhag (2006). Writer Siddique later reused the story and tweaks it for his Tamil movie Sadhu Miranda. The film received universal acclaim upon release. It also did well at the box office. Saikumar, Mukesh, Innocent, Vijayaraghavan and Sukumari reprised their roles for this film. Harishree Ashokan, who played a minor role in the first film played a member of Garvashes Asaan's mob.

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.

Plot

Mannar Mathai (Innocent) is now running a drama group under Urvashi Theatres. The lead actors in this troupe, Gopalakrishnan (Mukesh) and Balakrishnan (Saikumar), always fights with each other for the lead role in the drama. During Urvashi Theatre's first stage show, Gopalakrishnan was supposed to act like slapping the heroine, but he ends up slapping her for real, and hard. The hurt heroine, namely Shakunthala (Priyanka), leaves the troupe accepting the invitation to act in a movie.

The drama troupe soon faces trouble without a lead actress. Since Gopalakrishnan was the guy who created all the trouble, he took up the responsibility to find an actress. He consults his close friend, a taxi driver named Ponappan (Indrans) who tells Gopalakrishnan he knows a person who can help him. This person's name was Garvashes Aashan (Janardhanan) who says he knows the perfect heroine for their next play. However, much to Gopalakrishnan's horror, it is the home of Shakunthala. In a fit of rage, Gopalakrishnan causes Aashan to fall into a nearby lake and break his leg. During the return home to tell Mathai about his lack of success, a girl named "Meera" (Vani Viswanath) jumps in front of the car to commit suicide. Gopalakrishnan rescues her but Meera is angry at Gopalakrishnan for trying to stop her. During a fight that ensues, Gopalakrishnan slaps her and she loses consciousness. Gopalakrishnan plans to leave her but Ponappan convinces him to take her back to the drama camp and make her the lead actress. When she regains consciousness, they take her to Mathai's home and make her the heroine of the next play. To get the role of the hero, Gopalakrishnan mocks her as his cousin, and she will only act if they make him the hero. Balakrishnan however does nor readily believe in this and he brings Gopalakrishnan's mom (Sukumari) to the camp to clarify. 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. With no way out they try to mock their marriage in front of all.

Later onwards, Garvashes Aashan comes to Gopalakrishnan's doorstep with an angry mob alongside his close friend and disciple Eldho (Cochin Haneefa) and other friends of his. However, all that happens is him getting his other leg broken too, ironically. Meanwhile, Meera and Gopalakrishnan, who are now husband and wife, try to stay as distant from each other as possible but is not possible during the play rehearsals. She later begins to exhibit strange behavior. She says repeatedly that she would love to end her life in any way possible, whether it is by being burnt by the fire of the kitchen stove or throwing herself into a well, which is noticed by Balakrishnan and Mannar Mathai. Also, one night, Balakrishnan, on his way to his room, overhears Meera talking aloud as if someone else is in the room. When Gopalakrishnan and Mathai come with him to investigate, Meera says she was only rehearsing her lines for the play.

Later, things get from bad to worse when Mathai and Balakrishnan force Gopalakrishnan and Meera to sleep in the same room together since they are husband and wife. Meera claims that she would rather sleep on the floor than in the same bed with Gopalakrishnan. However, Gopalakrishnan playfully tries to sleep on the floor next to her but Meera protests. Gopalakrishnan, furious at this, loses control of himself and slaps her. However, she falls unconscious. The three take her to a local doctor, who claimed to have seen Gopalakrishnan and Meera from his own car in the road the night that they met. Balakrishnan and Mathai explain to the doctor her strange behavior and talks about the satisfaction of ending her own life. From this, the doctor confirms she is a suicidal and must be kept as restrained as possible. Later onwards, her behavior becomes even stranger as she begins to act seductive towards Gopalakrishnan, singing like a merry schoolgirl as she does dangerous things like dancing on their rooftop and above the well. Later, they have to tie her opto the windowsill where she eventually gets free from and electrocutes herself by playing with a switch. They then take her to the doctor once more 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, a wealthy businessman in Bangalore. Mahendra is notified of this and when he meets Balakrishnan, Mathai, and especially Gopalakrishnan, he explains that they weren't the only ones who had problems with Meera's mental instability. Back in Bangalore, she kept telling the public that Mahendra was always trying to kill her. In spite of her insanity, her father believed this because Meera came from a wealthy family and when she died, Mahendra would lawfully inherit her property. One night, she ran away from home and he could not find her, leaving him in hot water with her father and mother, who thought Mahendra had killed her. Mahendra then apologizes for any trouble the three had to go through. Meera too apologizes for any trouble she might have caused them, in spite of not being able to remember any of it. She says she is going to keep the necklace Gopalakrishnan tied around her during their wedding in hopes that those memories will come back to her. Later that night, they get a telephone call from Meera who claims that she no longer wants to be with Mahendra and wants to come back with Gopalakrishnan, stating that if she doesn't, she will pour gasoline over herself and light herself on fire. When the three get to the house where Mahendra is staying, they realize that they are too late when they see a body on fire and the voice of a screaming woman. Mannar Mathai, Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan and Mahendra Varma can do nothing but watch her die. Later onwards, Meera's mother (Kaviyoor Poonama) and father come to see if the claims that their daughter is dead are true. They are shocked to find that they are. Gopalakrishnan allows Mahendra Varma to have any property that was promised to Meera since he too had a claim to that wealth.

After 6 months, when the troupe was in Mangalore, Balakrishnan happens to see Meera on the roadside dressed in a bhurka. At first he thinks he imagines it, but when he calls to her, she makes a face of recognition and runs away. Balakrishnan tells this to Gopalakrishnan and Mannar Mathai who see a lady in a bhurka and assume that it is Meera, whom Balakrishnan claimed to have seen. When they lift her veil, they find that it is not Meera but a regular Muslim lady who slaps Balakrishnan and calls the surrounding citizens in the street to help her, believing that he was trying to attack her. The three barely get away on the troupe's bus. A screenshot shows another lady in a bhurka coming out of an alleyway and when she takes off her veil, it is revealed to be Meera, still alive and unhurt. Late one night, when the three are sleeping, Mannar Mathai hears someone at the door but when he sees that it is Meera, whom he believes to be dead, he runs around screaming. Balakrishnan and Gopalakrishnan wake up and see what he was talking about. Meera tells them not to be afraid and that she is not dead nor a ghost. Her name was never Meera Varma. It was actually Stella Fernandez and in Mangalore, she had taken the alias Laila (adding that Balakrishnan did see her by chance). Back in her early days, she was a petty thief. One time, when she was caught at a jewelry store, the receptionist was about to call the police on her but was stopped by Mahendra Varma, whom she did not know at the time, who lied that Stella was his wife and she only did what she did because she was mentally impaired. Mahendra took Stella out to lunch and explained that he needed someone to act as his wife Meera except like a suicidal. He promised her a huge amount of cash if she did so and an extra amount if she did not question him. She had initially planned to jump in front of the car of the local doctor and trick him into thinking she was a suicidal but had jumped in front of Ponappan's car by mistake and thus met Gopalakrishnan. The night Balakrishnan claimed to have heard Meera talking to someone, it was actually Mahendra Varma who jumped into her room through the window and said that since Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan and Mannar Mathai weren't that smart of a bunch, it would be easier to trick them into thinking she was a suicidal. When Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan and Mannar Mathai looked into her room, Mahendra Varma simply hid behind the door while Stella lied out of it. According to plan, she had only pretended to forget them in order to meet up with Mahendra Varma at his living quarters. The next thing she had to do was to lie to Gopalakrishnan by telephone about immolating herself. After that, she took the money Mahendra promised her and was about to leave when she realized she had left her marriage necklace that Gopalakrishnan tied around her neck back at the house. When she went back to retrieve it, she found to her horror that Mahendra had an actual wife called Meera (Geetha Vijayan) whom he drugged to prevent her from resisting him pouring oil over her and lighting her on fire. At first, Stella tried to stop him but Mahendra simply locked her in a nearby closet. When she got out, she knew she couldn't face Balakrishnan now that Meera Varma was dead. However, the three decide to use this evidence to make Mahendra Varma pay for his schemes. They have Stella approach Meera's father and explain everything but Stella is forced to see Meera's mother, who is lying sick from the pain and sorrow of being without a daughter. However, she hallucinates Stella as Meera and begins to recover from her illness and Stella enjoys spending time with Meera's mother. Meera's father tricks the registrar into thinking that Stella is his daughter Meera, proving this with witnesses that included Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan, Mannar Mathai and the local doctor (whom they explained everything to) so that Mahendra Varma wouldn't get a cent of Meera's inheritance.

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 everyone think he died, while his 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
• Kaduvakulam Antony as the booking agent

Soundtrack

The film's soundtrack contains 8 songs, all composed by S. P. Venkatesh and Lyrics by Bichu Thirumala.

#	Title	Singer(s)
1	"Aattirambil"	K. S. Chitra
2	"Aattirambil (M)"	K. J. Yesudas
3	"Machane Va"	Malgudi Subha
4	"Olakkayyil Neeraadi"	K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chitra
5	"Paal Saranikalil"	K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chitra, Chorus
6	"Paal Saranikalil (M)"	K. J. Yesudas

External links

• Mannar Mathai Speaking at IMDb