Harikrishnans


Harikrishnans is a 1998 Indian Malayalam-language detective comedy film written and directed by Fazil. The film was produced and distributed by Suchitra Mohanlal under the production company Pranavam Arts, starring Mammootty, Mohanlal and Juhi Chawla along with Innocent, Shamili, Nedumudi Venu, and Kunchacko Boban in other important roles. The film received a great pre-release hype due to the combined screen presence of Mohanlal and Mammootty, and Harikrishnans was the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. The film was dubbed into Tamil with the same name.
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 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producer warning that it would take legal action, unless the ending with Mammootty, which had not been certified, was withdrawn. The producers were embroiled in legal actions after that, 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. The non-certified ending is still occasionally shown on TV.

Plot

The Harikrishnans are 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 marry her and the other would be her friend. The leaf fell on the name of Krishnan, and she presumably marries him and Hari would become her friend.

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 also 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.

Cast

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

Release

Multiple endings

Harikrishnans had multiple climaxes to appease the fan base of the lead actors Mohanlal and Mammootty. This had also caused some controversy. The scene was when Meera 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 winning the toss and the other one Krishnan winning it.
However, only the Mohanlal version of the film was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification 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 is removed from the exhibition. As a result, all the prints of Mammootty version was withdrawn from theatres and replaced with the other version.

Box office

The film's budget was and recovered its cost within two weeks. The film collected from first week beating the previous record of Aaraam Thampuran, which was. The film was commercial success.