His Highness Abdullah

His Highness Abdullah is a 1990 Indian Malayalam-language musical thriller drama film written by A. K. Lohithadas[1] and directed by Sibi Malayil.[2] It stars Mohanlal, Nedumudi Venu, Gautami,[3] Sreenivasan, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair and Mamukkoya. The film was produced by Mohanlal[4] and was the debut production of his company Pranavam Arts.[5] The film features original songs composed by Raveendran and a background score by Mohan Sithara. His Highness Abdullah was the same team's first film in a trilogy of Indian classical arts films, followed by Bharatham (1991) and Kamaladalam (1992).

His Highness Abdullah
Theatrical release poster
Directed bySibi Malayil
Written byA. K. Lohithadas
Produced byMohanlal
Starring
CinematographyAnandakuttan
Edited byL. Bhoominathan
Music by
Production
company
Distributed bySeven Arts Release
Release date
  • 30 March 1990 (1990-03-30) (Kerala)
Running time
150 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageMalayalam

The story follows Abdullah (Mohanlal), a low-life Muslim Qawwali singer in Bombay, who is hired by the members of a wealthy royal Hindu family to assassinate their family head, Maharaja Udayavarma (Venu). Abdullah infiltrates the palace under the disguise of a Brahmin classical singer, Ananthan Namboothiri, and tries to assassinate the Maharaja by gaining his confidence.

His Highness Abdullah was released on 30 March 1990. It performed well at the box office,[6] becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year.[7][8] The film's soundtrack was also well received. The film won two National Film Awards—Best Supporting Actor for Venu[9] and Best Male Playback Singer for M. G. Sreekumar for the song "Naadaroopini".[10] Raveendran won the Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Malayalam.

The 1996 Tamil film Mettukudi was based on this movie.[11] The 2009 Tamil movie Aadhavan and its 2016 Bangladeshi remake titled Shikari were reported to be based on this movie. The core plot of the 2015 Kannada movie Raja Rajendra was reported to be based on this movie.[12]

Plot

Ravi Varma, his father Prabhakara Varma, Rajaraja Varma , and his father Kesava Pillai, seek methods to kill King Udaya Varma Thampuran to usurp his wealth. Udaya Varma's wife Bhagirathi Thampuratti has fallen into depression after the untimely death of their son Unni. She is locked up at home and looked after by Udaya Varma's daughter Radha. Ravi Varma and the group fear that Udaya Varma might will his wealth to Radha, being his adopted daughter, who is believed to be born of an illicit relationship of Thampuran's relative with another servant. The group is helped by Cheriyachan Thampuran, the blind uncle of Thampuran, who also eyes King's wealth. He advises the group on the plans to eliminate the King upon the condition of sharing the wealth with him.

As per his advice, Ravi Varma, the King's eldest nephew, travels to Mumbai in search of a killer. There he meets Jamal who helps him. He introduces Ravi Varma to Abdullah, who is a singer in Mumbai. Abdullah is in need of money and, upon persuasion from Jamal, comes to Kerala planning to kill Thampuran. Abdullah disguises himself as Ananthan Namboothiri and meets Thampuran stating that he is Ravi Varma's friend who wants to study the palace. Thampuran does not like this, however, he allows him to stay a couple of days at the palace. Bhagirathi Thampuratti thinks Ananthan is Unni and shows stages of recovery from a mental disorder with his presence.

Once, the day Thampuran asks Ananthan to leave arrives, he sings the famous "Pramadhavanam" song, which impresses Thampuran and he starts liking him. Radha falls in love with him. Ananthan is even permitted to dine with Thampuran after having developed a strong relationship with him. Gupthan, the King's younger nephew, on finding that Radha is in love with Ananthan, misleads Ramanattukara Ananthan Namboodirippad, a famous musician, telling him that Ananthan has portrayed him as a good for nothing fellow. Enraged by hearing this, Namboodirippad travels to the palace and competes with Ananthan, singing the famous "Devasabhathalam", after which he understands that Gupthan mislead him and is highly impressed with Ananthan.

Ravi Varma and the group wants Thampuran to be killed immediately. Ananthan one day realises that Thampuran is an old friend of his father. Thampuran also tells Ananthan that Radha was brought up by him as his daughter after the demise of Unni. Thampuran also requests Ananthan to marry her. Ananthan, unable to kill Thampuran pleads to the group that he cannot kill him. The group gets angry and Ravi Varma travels to Mumbai a second time to find another killer. He comes back with Kabir, a goon from Bombay to kill Thampuran. Thampuran identifies that Ananthan is a Muslim named Abdullah when he accidentally sees Ananthan and Jamal performing daily Namaz.

Ananthan tells Thampuran that he is surrounded by enemies from his own family, and he can save him. But Thampuran refuses. The next morning, Thampuran is found to have disappeared. Kabir and his other goons/henchmen try to find Thampuran and indulge in a fight with Ananthan. Ananthan overpowers him and the group and they all, along with all the greedy relatives, run away from the palace. After the fight is over, Ananthan releases Thampuran, whom he had locked up in a room in order to save him from Kabir. Thampuran shockingly realises that Ananthan is his friend's son and feels sorry for having disbelieved him. He requests Ananthan to stay in the palace as Unni and marry Radha. He names Radha as the successor to all his wealth. Ananthan accepts the request from Thampuran.

Cast

Production

His Highness Abdullah was produced by Mohanlal and was the debut production of his company Pranavam Arts.[13]

Music
His Highness Abdullah
Soundtrack album by
Raveendran
ReleasedMarch 15, 1990 (1990-March-15)[14]
RecordedJanuary 1990
StudioAVM "RR" Recording Theatre, Chennai
GenreFilm soundtrack
LabelTharangini

The film score was composed by Mohan Sithara while the songs were composed by Raveendran, with lyrics written by Kaithapram.

TrackSong TitleSinger(s)Other notes
1"Pramadhavanam"K. J. YesudasPicturised on Mohanlal.

Raagam: Jog[15]

2"Devasabhathalam"K. J. Yesudas, Raveendran, SharrethAnother version, in which M. G. Sreekumar replaces Raveendran Master, was also recorded. But Raveendran's version was selected in the movie. The song is picturised on Mohanlal and Kaithapram.

Raagam: Raagamaalika (Hindolam, Hanumatodi, Panthuvarali, Abhogi, Mohanam, Shanmukhapriya, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Chakravakam, Revati)[16]

3"Naadaroopini"M. G. SreekumarM. G. Sreekumar won the National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer. The song is picturised on Kaithapram.

Raagam: Kanada[10]

4"Gopika Vasantham"K. J. Yesudas, K. S. ChithraDuet song picturised on Mohanlal and Gautami.

Raagam: Shanmukhapriya

5"Devasabhathalam"K. J. Yesudas, M. G. Sreekumar, SharrethRaagam: Raagamaalika (Hindolam, Thodi, Panthuvarali, Abhogi, Mohanam, Shanmukhapriya, Sankarabharanam, Kalyani, Chakravakam, Revati)
6"Tu Badi Maasha Allah"K. J. Yesudas, ChorusA Hindi Qawwali song picturised on Mohanlal & Miss Kim. Lyrics by Madhu (Bihar).

Raagam: Patdeep[8]

Reception

His Highness Abdullah performed well at the box office, and the top-grossing Malayalam film of the year. [7][17][18] The film was a success in Tamil Nadu too.[19] NKS of The Indian Express praises the film writing, "Rich with a fest of light classical songs, and taking its own time to stress the clash and play of emotions that is helped greatly by sensitive performances from Mohanlal and Nedumudi Venu, the film is a clean gripping entertainment for the family." Praising Mohanlal's performance he writes, "Mohanlal [...] takes a challenging role in His Highness Abdullah and not only acquits himself well but shows he is an actor of some range".[20] Nedumudi Venu won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for maintaining the character with consistency and sensitivity.[21]

Awards

References
  1. Kumar, P. K. Ajith (28 June 2015). "Remembering a master storyteller". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  2. B. S., Shibu (20 May 2020). "A Fruitful Friendship: Mohanlal and Sibi Malayil". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 26 May 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  3. "Mohanlal, Gautami team up for a trilingual". The Hindu. 14 October 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  4. "Actors who are successful producers". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  5. "Happy Birthday Mohanlal: Here are His 5 Must Watch Movies". News18. 21 May 2020. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  6. Subramanian, Anupama (24 May 2016). "High expectation for Mohanlal's trilingual". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  7. Sharadhaa, A. (8 May 2013). "When the autowale grab all the limelight". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
  8. Nair, Vipin (17 February 2018). "Where do Malayalam films get their love of Hindi songs from?". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  9. Aravind, C. V. (20 February 2017). "Nedumudi Venu: Malayalam cinema's man for all seasons". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 25 February 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  10. Kumar, P. K. Ajith (21 May 2020). "'For each individual, their favourite Mohanlal film would be different'". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  11. "'Muthu' to '36 Vayathinile': Five blockbuster Tamil films that were remade from Malayalam movies". The Times of India. 19 March 2020. Archived from the original on 25 March 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  12. Narayana, Guruprasad (6 February 2015). "ಹಿಸ್ ಹೈನೆಸ್ಸ್ ರಾಜ ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರ" [His Highness King Rajendra]. Kannada Prabha (in Kannada). Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  13. "25 years, 25 landmarks". Rediff.com. 3 September 2003. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2019.
  14. "His Highness Abdullah - Tharangni". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  15. Kumar, P. K. Ajith (31 March 2015). "Silver milestone for a golden song". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 17 December 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  16. Menon, Akhila (17 March 2017). "7 Performances That Prove Mohanlal Is The King Of Song Sequences". FilmiBeat. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  17. B. S., Shibu (13 April 2020). "For Kerala's Tinseltown, it's a lost Vishu". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 16 June 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  18. "H for His Highness Abdullah (1990)". Rediff.com. 20 April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  19. "Thamizh Talkies: Union of stars". The New Indian Express. 23 September 2019. Archived from the original on 29 September 2021. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
  20. NKS (29 June 1990). "His Highness Abdullah". The Indian Express. p. 7. Retrieved 28 April 2022.
  21. 404 - File or directory not found. (dff.nic.in)
  22. Soman, Deepa (9 December 2017). "If I had tried to imitate Yesudas, I would have reached nowhere: M G Sreekumar". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 April 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2021.
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