Ramji Rao Speaking
Ramji Rao Speaking is a 1989 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film written and directed by the duo Siddique-Lal (in their directorial debut) and produced by Fazil, Swargachitra Appachan, and Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy. It stars Saikumar, Mukesh, Innocent and Rekha. The film deals with social factors affecting Kerala including unemployment during the 1980s, and went on to become a cult classic.[1]
| Ramji Rao Speaking | |
|---|---|
 Poster | |
| Directed by | Siddique-Lal |
| Produced by | Fazil Swargachitra Appachan Ousepachan Vaalakuzhy |
| Written by | Siddique-Lal |
| Starring | Saikumar Mukesh Innocent Rekha |
| Music by | S. Balakrishnan |
| Cinematography | Venu |
| Edited by | T. R. Shekar |
Production company | Adithya Films |
| Distributed by | Century |
Release date |
|
Running time | 150 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Ramji Rao Speaking marked the debut of director duo Siddique and Lal, actors Saikumar, Rekha, N. F. Varghese, Harishree Ashokan, and music director S. Balakrishnan. Mannar Mathai Speaking (1995) and Mannar Mathai Speaking 2 (2014) are the sequels to the film.
Fazil remade this film in Tamil as Arangetra Velai, with Mamukkoya and Vijayaraghavan reprising their role. Priyadarshan remade the film in Hindi, titled Hera Pheri. The movie, which was based on the 1971 TV movie See The Man Run [2] was also remade in Telugu as Dhanalakshmi I Love You, in Kannada as Trin Trin [3] and in Odia as Wrong Number.[4]
Plot
The story revolves around three unemployed people (the third is a middle aged unsuccessful theatre owner). The story opens with the arrival of Balakrishnan (Saikumar) in Cochin to dispute the denial of his company job which he was supposed to receive several years ago. Several candidates overtook his chance and the last one was Rani (Rekha) who pretends to be an influential figure in the town. Rani threatens Balakrishnan to continue to work despite his efforts to overthrow her. The company manager (Sankaradi) who knows about her family situation (poor and pathetic) and helps her keep the job. Balakrishnan is determined to stay in the town until he succeeds in getting the job.
During his stay, Balakrishnan finds a temporary lodging in 'Urvasi Theatre', owned by Mannar Mathayi (Innocent), with another tenant Gopalakrishnan (Mukesh), both unemployed and with insignificant earnings. Initially, Gopalakrishnan does not like the new tenant and tries to expel him from the house, in vain. Gopalakrishnan is tricky and cunning. He lies to his mother by telling her that he works in a large company based in Calcutta and that he is building a new house in Cochin. Balakrishnan discovers the truth and mistakes Gopalakrishnan as a fraud. But what shocks Balakrishnan most was the realization of Rani's family situation. He feels sympathetic towards her and decides to let her keep the job. That night Balakrishnan gets drunk and reveals the fraud play of Gopalakrishnan to Mannar Mathayi. Goplakrishnan confesses and justifies that projecting himself as rich and employed was the only way in front of him to comfort his mother. The truth melts the minds of both Balakrishnan and Mannar Mathayi and they all became friends and decided to enjoy the night despite their unending problems.
Further into the night, Balakrishnan wakes up to a ringing telephone. A gang leader named Ramji Rao (Vijayaraghavan) and his associate Charan Singh / Karan Singh (Dhritiman Chatterjee) have kidnapped the daughter of a rich businessman Urumees Thampan (Devan) and are asking for a ransom of one lakh rupees. The three unemployed have no relation with Urummes Thampan; the gang had apparently dialled the wrong number. Panicking, Balakrishan tries to find the number of Urumees Thampan from a phone directory, only to find out that the numbers of Urvasi Theaters and Urumees Thampan are interchanged in the directory. Gopalakrishnan comes up with an idea and asks Balakrishnan to act as a dealer between Ramji Rao and Charan Singh with Urumees Thampan, without letting them know about each other, and demand a ransom of four lakh to Urumees Thampan, instead of a lakh, get the girl from Ramji Rao, and take the remaining three lakh for themselves. The plan was a good one, but the job wasn't as easy to carry out as hiding from the police and keeping Ramji Rao and Urumees anonymous to each other was not an easy task. Finally, after a struggle, the three rescue the girl from the gang leader and hand her over to Urumees Thamapan. They confess the ploy to him upon a police encounter. Urumees forgives them and is thankful for returning his daughter, and offers them the three lakh rupees as a reward.
Cast
- Saikumar as Balakrishnan
- Mukesh as Gopalakrishnan
- Innocent as Mannar Mathai
- Rekha as Rani
- Devan as Urumees Thampan
- Vijayaraghavan as Ramji Rao
- Mamukkoya as Hamzakkoya
- Sukumari as Gopalakrishnan's mother
- Sankaradi as Manager
- N. F. Varghese as a staff of Balakrishnan's office
- Kunchan as Mathai the servant
- Amritam Gopinath as Matron
- M. L. Augustine as office peon
- Nisha as Urumees Thampan's daughter
- Alleppey Ashraf as Chemmeen Varghese
- P. C. George as Police Inspector
- Harisree Asokan as Telephone Customer
Production
The movie is directed by Siddique-Lal duo, who were assistants of Fazil. The film is also produced by Fazil. Saikumar, son of late veteran actor Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair made his acting debut with this film.[5]
Soundtrack
The film's soundtrack contains 4 songs, all composed by S. Balakrishnan in his debut, with the lyrics by Bichu Thirumala. This is the first movie A. R. Rahman programmed a song for a film; "Kalikalam".[6]
| # | Title | Singer(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Avanavan Kurukkunna" | M. G. Sreekumar, C. O. Anto, Chorus |
| 2 | "Kalikkalam Ithu Kalikkalam" | S. P. Balasubrahmanyam |
| 3 | "Kanneerkkaayaliletho" | M. G. Sreekumar, K. S. Chitra |
| 4 | "Oraayiram Kinaakkalal" | M. G. Sreekumar, Unni Menon, K. S. Chitra, C. O. Anto, Chorus |
Remakes
| Year | Film | Language | Cast | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Arangetra Velai | Tamil | Prabhu, Revathi, V. K. Ramaswamy | Fazil |
| 2000 | Hera Pheri | Hindi | Akshay Kumar, Sunil Shetty, Paresh Rawal | Priyadarshan |
| 2002 | Dhanalakshmi I Love You | Telugu | Allari Naresh, Aditya, Naresh | Shiva Nageswara Rao |
| 2004 | Trin Trin | Kannada | Dharma,Rakesh Krishna, Doddanna | Adithya Chikkanna |
| Wrong Number | Oriya | |||
Legacy
Mukesh's dialogue in the film "Kambilipothappu" became a catchphrase.[11]
References
- ജ്യോതിഷ്, വി.ആര്. (21 October 2016). "ഫാസിൽ മനുഷ്യനെ പറ്റിക്കാൻ ഇറങ്ങിയിരിക്കുകയാണ്...റാംജിറാവുവിനൊപ്പം കഥകളും ഇറങ്ങി; സിദ്ദിഖ്–ലാൽ". Vanitha. Retrieved 21 October 2016.
- http://www.thenetwork.film/bollywood-comes-to-south-africa-to-film/
- https://www.chitraloka.com/movie-reviews/2862-trin-trin-review.html
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6mucsPbwu4
- http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/second-innings/article3230370.ece
- http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/recalling-a-musical-legacy/article7328966.ece
- "Malayalam films remade in Hindi". The Times of India. 29 July 2015.
- "Popular Mollywood comedian Indrans gets to play villain in movie". The Indian Express. 6 November 2013.
- Vijay George (2 January 2009). "Return to Harihar Nagar". The Hindu.
- "Meleparambil Aanveedu Mannar Mathai Speaking sequels". The Times of India. 13 September 2011.
- http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/malayalam-online-in-wonderful-calligraphy/article4546026.ece