Achuthan Nair, an honest and sincere police constable, has a loving family consisting of his wife Ammu, two sons and two daughters. Achuthan Nair wants his elder son Sethumadhavan to be a police inspector. He shares a cordial and amiable relation with his son. Sethu is engaged to Devi, the daughter of Krishnan Nair, his maternal uncle. One day, for charging a petty case against the son of a Member of Legislative Assembly, Achuthan Nair is transferred to Ramapuram police station. The family also shifts to Ramapuram. Keerikadan Jose, a hardcore criminal, rules the market of Ramapuram by extorting money from all traders. One day, Achuthan Nair tries to intervene in a scuffle and he is beaten brutally by Keerikadan. Sethu, who was in the market, witnesses it and saves his father by attacking Keerikadan and his goons. Keerikadan gets severely wounded and is admitted in hospital. The entire market celebrates the fall of Keerikadan and finds a new savior in Sethu. His friends misuse this opportunity by creating a brawl in the local pub. Achuthan Nair is deeply disturbed by this and accuses Sethu of slowly turning into a criminal. Though he tried to stay away from all chaos, gradually Sethu is dragged into issues. Haidrose, a local thug, claims to be a henchman of Sethu and starts collecting extortion money from the local traders. Even Ramanan, his brother-in-law, joins Haidrose. Sethu, on knowing this, beats up both in the market. But, Remanan on reaching home, twists the entire story; Achuthan Nair asks Sethu to leave the house and Sethu walks out. The local police inspector arrests Sethu on a petty case and warns him not to create any more fracas. Keshu, his childhood friend, tries to pacify him; Sethu is broken down completely. In the meantime, Devi's parents fix her marriage to a different man, which Devi is not ready for. Sethu meets Devi, explains his helplessness and asks her to follow her parents. She gets married, and he feels completely lonely. After getting discharged from hospital, Keerikadan Jose decides to take his revenge on Sethu. He decides also to severely punish anyone who celebrated his "death". He ransacks the entire house and manhandles his mother and sisters. Sethu is attacked by Parameshwaran, the lieutenant of Keerikadan. In a bid to save his life, Sethu vehemently and violently beats him with an iron rod. Parameshwaran gets seriously injured and is admitted in the hospital. Sethumadhavan is targeted again by Keerikadan and, in a bid to escape, ensues a duel with Keerikkadan. They engage in the duel, and Sethumadhavan becomes hysterical with anger. With blood dripping from his face, he threatens to murder anybody who comes near him. Keerikkadan is seriously injured, and tries to get up. Now, Sethu takes up a dagger, and stabs him to death. Achuthan Nair commands Sethu to drop his dagger. Both of them get extremely emotional, and Sethu falls on his knees, in utter disappointment and anger, after throwing the dagger down. The film ends with Sethumadhavan being disqualified from being a police inspector. Head constable Achuthan Nair reads the Police Verification Report which cites Sethu as a "notorious criminal".
Cast
Mohanlal as Sethumadhavan
Thilakan as Head Constable Achuthan Nair, Sethu's father
Sankaradi as Krishnan Nair, Sethu's maternal uncle and Devi's father
Sreenath as Keshu, Sethu's friend
Cochin Haneefa as Haidrose
Jagathy Sreekumar as Ramanan, Sethu's brother-in law
Murali as Sub-Inspector of Ramapuram Station
Philomina as Muthasshi- Krishnan Nair's and Ammu's elderly mother and Sethu's maternal grandmother
Usha as Latha, Sethumadhavan's younger sister
Jagadish as Suresh
Maniyanpilla Raju as Najeeb
Mamukkoya as Constable Hameed- Najeeb's father
Oduvil Unnikrishnan as Assistant Sub-inspector Gopalakrishnan Nair, Suresh's father
Kundara Johny as Parameshwaran
Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair as Shop-owner
Yadu Krishnan as Rameshan, Sethu's youngest brother
Kanakalatha as Ambika -Sethumadhavan's older sister and Ramanan's wife
Santhakumari as Bharathi, Krishnan Nair's wife and Devi's mother
Kollam Thulasi as Sub-inspector
Poojappura Radhakrishnan
Production
got the plot idea from a story that circulated in his locality about an incident that happened in Chalakudy that narrates how a carpenter knocked down a notorious criminal named Keshavan with a single hit. Lohithadas, who was unable to attend the wedding of Sibi Malayil, wrote the screenplay of Kireedam as a compensation gift for Malayil. He completed the screenplay in just six days. Filming was completed in 25 days in Thiruvananthapuram. The film cost ₹23.5 lakh to make, produced by N. Krishnakumar and Dinesh Panicker under the company Kripa Films. Mohanlal, who used to receive ₹4.5 lakh as remuneration at that time took only ₹4 lakh for his friendship with Krishnakumar. Kireedam was originally the title given by Lohithadas for his previous screenplay, directed by I. V. Sasi. But Sasi did not liked the name and had a dispute with Lohithadas. Malayil on hearing this incident from Lohithadas said he would like to adopt the title for his film. Sasi's film was released under the title Mukthi. Initially, Thilakan declined the role of Achuthan Nair due to scheduling conflicts with the films Chanakyan and Varnam. The film, originally planned to shoot at Nemmara and Chittur in Palakkad district was changed to Thiruvananthapuram to accommodate Thilakan who was filming for Varnam at Thiruvananthapuram. Thilakan joined the shoot of Kireedam during the intervals of Varnam. The climax scene featuring Mohanlal and Thilakan was shot in Aryanadu. Instead of the melancholic song "Kanneer Poovinte", a romantic song was originally shot to feature the romance between Sethumadhavan and Devi. But after realizing it would not align in the story-line, it was scrapped. Since there was not enough time to complete the shoot of "Kanneer Poovinte", some of the scenes shot for the romantic song was used in it. The shot where Mohanlal is walking alone through a long lane in the song was filmed in Chennai. The song's composition was a modified version of the romantic song. S. Kumar was the cinematographer. The makers initially chose Pradeep Shakthi for the role of Keerikkadan Jose, who had acted in Chamaram and was then an established actor in Telugu films. Shakthi also agreed to do the film and was given advance payment. Shakthi, who was supposed to arrive on the day of filming, did not came due to reasons best known for him, they were compelled to make an immediate replacement. It was an associate director who suggested the name of beginner Mohan Raj, who had acted in a minor role in Moonnam Mura. Upon seeing Raj, he was immediately fixed. His character name Keerikkadan Jose later became his stage name. Dubbing artist Nirmal Prakash gave voice for the character.
Soundtrack
The film features original soundtrack composed by Johnson, which consists of two songs written by Kaithapram Damodaran. The soundtrack album was released by Millennium Audios on 7 July 1989. The song "Kaneer Poovinte" won M. G. Sreekumar his first Kerala State Film Awards.
A sequel to the film titled Chenkol was released in 1993. Mohanlal reprises his role in the film.
Remakes
Legacy
Kireedam is regarded as a classic in Malayalam cinema, particularly noted for its screenplay and acting. Mohanlal won his first National Film Award for the film. The dialogue "Ninte achanaada parayunne, kathi thaazhe ideda" of Thilakan's Achuthan Nair in the climax of the film became a catchphrase. The impact of the film was such that one of its producers N. Krishnakumar went on to be known by the name "Kireedam Unni" thereafter, and for Mohan Raj, his character name, Keerikkadan Jose, became his stage name. Kireedam gave a break for Cochin Haneefa who appeared in a comical role, Hydros, until then, Haneefa was known for portraying antagonistic roles. He began appearing in more comedic roles after Kireedam and would be best known for his comedic roles in the later half of his career. A bridge on Vellayani Lake featured in the film would went on to be known as "Kireedam Paalam". Later many films were shot there, but it continues to be known by the name. It is the only location in Thiruvanathapuram that is known by a film's name. Kireedam is considered as one of the best screenplays written by Lohithadas. Kireedam, the screenplay was released as a book by Mathrubhumi Books in 2009.
