Harikrishnans

Harikrishnans is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language mystery comedy film written and directed by Fazil. The film was produced and distributed by Suchitra Mohanlal under the production company Pranavam Arts, starring Mammootty and Mohanlal in the title roles. Juhi Chawla, Innocent, Shamili, Nedumudi Venu, Cochin Haneefa, Jagadish, Maniyanpilla Raju and Kunchacko Boban play the supporting cast. The film received a great pre-release hype due to the combined screen presence of Mohanlal and Mammootty, and was the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. It was later dubbed into Tamil with the same name.

Harikrishnans
Poster
Directed byFazil
Written byFazil
Produced bySuchitra Mohanlal
StarringMohanlal
Mammootty
CinematographyAnandakuttan
Edited byT. R. Shekar
K. R. Gaurishankar
Music byOuseppachan
Production
company
Distributed byPranavam Arts
Release date
  • 4 September 1998 (1998-09-04) (Kerala)
[1]
Running time
172 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam
Budget₹2.5 crore[2]

The film initially had two endings when released, where the heroine chose Mammootty in one version, and Mohanlal in the other one. This was an attempt by the filmmakers to satisfy the fanbases of both Mammootty and Mohanlal, who were each popular in different regions of Kerala. However, only the Mohanlal version was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for censorship approval, and after both versions were released in theatres, the board sent a notice to the producer warning that it would take legal action, unless the ending with Mammootty, which had not been certified, was withdrawn.[3][4] The producers were embroiled in legal actions after that,[4] but the gimmick helped the film to bring in millions of rupees. This was an upturn for the Malayalam film industry, which had been generating unsuccessful films for quite some time.[3]

Plot

The Harikrishnans are one of the most famous lawyer duos in India. To avoid confusion one is called as Hari and the other as Krishnan. They head the organization called Harikrishnan Associates, which consists of around 300 lawyers. They get engaged in a murder case of Guptan, who was allegedly killed by a deaf and dumb woodcutter, Gabriel. Gabriel is a friend of Hari's sister and Harikrishnans become the defence lawyers upon her request.

The Harikrishnans begin an investigation and come across Meera, a friend of Guptan. Both of them fall in love with her. After some trouble over the matter, they rediscover their friendship and get involved in the case again. They discover that Guptan actually died due to poisoning by his relatives who were doctors who wanted to amass his wealth. The culprits are captured and Guptan's elderly father accepts Sudarshanan, a former student of Guptan, as his son and successor to the property.

At the end Meera decides to go for a random method of choosing her lover as she liked both Harikrishnans equally. She tosses with a leaf where the winner would be her friend and the other would marry her. The leaf fell on the name of Hari, and she presumably makes him her friend and Krishan would marry her.

Alternate ending

In the uncensored cut of the film, the leaf fell on Hari's name and she presumably marries him and Krishnan becomes her friend.

There was another ending planned with Shah Rukh Khan. He was proposed to do the role of the lover of Meera. But due to some technical problems it was cancelled.[5]

Cast

Soundtrack
Harikrishnans
Soundtrack album by
Ouseppachan
Released1998
StudioVGP Digital, Chennai
GenreSoundtrack
LabelJohny Sagariga
ProducerOuseppachan

All lyrics are written by Kaithapram Damodaran; all music is composed by Ouseppachan

No.TitleArtist(s)Length
1."Ponne Ponnambili"K. J. Yesudas 
2."Ponnambal Puzhayirampil"K. J. Yesudas (Dual voice), K. S. Chithra 
3."Ponnambal Puzhayirampil"K. S. Chithra 
4."Samayamithapoorva"K.J. Yesudas,M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chithra 
5."Minnal Kaivala"Sujatha Mohan 
6."Pooja Bimbam"K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chithra 
7."Samayamithapoorva"K. J. Yesudas 
8."Minnal Kaivala" (Violin Solo)Ouseppachan 

K. J. Yesudas sang his parts in two different voices, to simulate the singing of both the lead actors during the song sequences in the film.

Release

Harikrishnans had multiple climaxes to appease the fan base of the lead actors Mammootty and Mohanlal. This had also caused some controversy.[6] The scene was when Meera (Juhi Chawla) chooses one of them to be her friend among both the Harikrishnans. She admires both equally and goes for a selection method which her grandmother taught her, whenever she had to make tough decisions. She sets the method so as to choose her friend; the loser of the toss presumably becoming Mira's lover. One of the climax shots shows Hari (Mammootty) winning the toss and the other one Krishnan (Mohanlal) winning it.[7]

However, only the Mohanlal version of the film was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and censored on 1 September 1998. Soon after the release, CBFC was quick to send a notice to the producer warning that the board would take legal action unless the uncensored alternate ending (Mammootty version) is removed from the exhibition. As a result, all the prints of Mammootty version was withdrawn from theatres and replaced with the other version.[3][4]

Critical reception

Jayalakshmi K. of Deccan Herald wrote "Perhaps if Fazil had decided what he wanted, a love story or a murder case, the movie might have fared better."[8] Padmanabha Venugopal of Indian Express wrote "Though it is entertaining, the movie doesn't have the support of a good script. Though the presence of two big-wigs and the controversy over the ending all made it spin money, artistically the movie suffered".[9] Usha Gopalakrishnan of Indolink.com reviewing Tamil version gave the film 2 stars, writing: "The scenes where both Mammooty and Mohanlal compete with each other in courting Juhi are very nicely picturized. Some scenes are even funny. This is a movie that could be watched with the whole family. It is very decent (just as all the other Fazil movies). Wait for the video instead of spending money in the theater."[10][11]

Box office

The film's budget was ₹2.5 crore (US$310,000) and recovered its cost within two weeks.[2] The film collected ₹5.6 lakh (US$7,000) from first week beating the previous record of Aaraam Thampuran, which was ₹4 lakh (US$5,000).[12] The film was commercial success.[13][14]

References
  1. "Team of 48". Rediff.com. 1 September 1998. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  2. "Twice tossed gamble". India Today. 5 October 1998.
  3. Radhakrishnan, M. G. (5 October 1998). "Two endings of 'Harikrishnans' make it a hit but run into rough weather with CBFC". India Today. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  4. Jose, D. (6 October 1998). "Double trouble". Rediff.com. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  5. "Did you know Shah Rukh Khan was cast in a Malayalam movie?". The Times of India.
  6. "Archive News". The Hindu.
  7. "Hari gets Meera, so does Krishnan in Fazil's Harikrishnans". Indian Express. 12 September 1998. Retrieved 15 April 2011.
  8. K, Jayalakshmi (29 November 1998). "Harikrishnans (Malayalam)". Deccan Herald. Archived from the original on 28 January 1999. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  9. Venugopal, Padmanabha. "Artistic failure". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 1 February 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2023.
  10. "Harikrishnans: Movie Review". 17 December 2007. Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. "Index of /tamil/cinema/Reviews/articles". 9 June 2007. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 24 October 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  12. "The win-win situation". Rediff. 14 September 1998.
  13. "'Nothing, neither criticism nor compliment, affects me'". Rediff. 11 March 1999.
  14. "All is not lost..." Rediff.com. 7 December 1998.
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