20 MALAYALAM COMEDY MOVIES that will make you laugh till it hurts

film Sanmanasullavarku Samadhanam

As the man once said, “Laughter is the best medicine”, it’s been long since man has started talking about the importance of laughter and longer still since he’s been laughing. We have always known the importance of comedy movies and we’ve been continuously making them for a long time, in fact in great quantity too. Malayalam Cinema has produced countless good comedies over the years although the language barrier has jaded its popularity to a niche audience. It's extremely difficult to sum them all up in a list of twenty, but the ones listed are invariably a few of the best examples in the genre and will make you laugh till it hurts real bad.  So have a blast!

20. Pradeshika Varthakal 1989

director: Kamal

featuring: Jayaram, Jagathy Sreekumar , Innocent, Parvathy

Deals with the hilarious trials and tribulations of the proprietor (Jayaram) of a newly reopened cinema talkies that rallies the joys of small life in a remote village, with the help of an unhinged friend (Jagathy Sreekumar), while also trying to make his love life work amidst a storm of protests from the girl’s (Parvathy) father who just returned from exile a wealthy man.

19. Mannar Mathai Speaking 1995

director: Mani C. Kappan

featuring: Innocent, Mukesh, Saikumar, Vani Vishwanath, Biju Menon

An earnest sequel to the 80s’ laugh riot Ramji Rao Speaking, this one had its main plot inspired by Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Again featuring the hilarious trio (Innocent, Mukesh & Saikumar), this time Mannar Mathai and team gets mixed up with a mysterious woman (Vani Vishwanath) they come across on a hunt to replace their runaway leading lady for their new play and catastrophe ensues with all the comical results.

18. Vietnam Colony 1992

director: Siddique-Lal

featuring: Mohanlal, Innocent, Kanaka, K.P.A.C. Lalitha, Kuthiravattam Pappu

It’s sad that the hilarity of Vietnam Colony stops midway through as if on cue and gets all grim and violent henceforth, but the amount of laughter that the first half alone provides, makes up for the bleak second act. Set inside the uproar and stink of a crumbling shantytown of the same name, Vietnam Colony tells the story of an undercover operative (Mohanlal) who, at the behest of a large syndicate, is sent to evacuate the eponymous ’colony’ in company of a quirky partner (Innocent).

17. Poochakkoru Mookkuthi 1984

director: Priyadarshan

featuring: Mohanlal, Shankar, Menaka, Nedumudi Venu, Sukumari

Poochakkoru Mookkuthi, the perfect embodiment of the blatant eccentricities of screwball comedies that ruled the 80s, is based on Charles Dickens’ play The Strange Gentleman, that was disavowed by the author himself and later did not wish to see it performed after developing an aversion perhaps for its rather confusing and silly nature. And confusing and silly it is, but there is no denying the hilariously oddball situations that rises amidst a volley of characters randomly entwined with each other upon heightened farce.

16. Yodha 1992

director: Sangeeth Sivan

featuring: Mohanlal, Jagthy Sreekumar, Madhubala, Siddhartha

A major part of the fun here comes from the hysterical tiff between two cousins (Mohanlal & Jagathy Sreekumar) that transcends nations, and from a village in Kerala reaches a monastically exquisite Nepal where they come across a monk kid (Siddhartha) on the run from his sorcerer kidnappers who wants him sacrificed for invincibility through black magic. The hatred between the two also develops to a rivalry for the hand of the same girl (Madhubala) further enhancing the comic shroud of the otherwise dark premise.

15. Pattanapravesham 1988

director: Sathyan Anthikkad

featuring: Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Ambika, Karamana Janardhanan

Following the huge success of Nadodikattu in 1987, Sathyan Anthikkad repeated the comic camaraderie of the riotous CID duo Dasan (Mohanlal) and Vijayan (Sreenivasan) the very next year, this time to solve the murder of a cop and to get embroiled in the knotty web of an expansive crime syndicate run by a conniving drug lord Prabhakaran Thampi (Karamana Janardhanan). Hilarity ensues as the two outlive pitfalls and setups one after the other, and get close to cracking the case, however accidentally it may be.

14. Boeing Boeing 1985

director: Priyadarshan

featuring: Mohanlal, Mukesh, Jagathy Sreekumar, Maniyanpilla Raju

Based on the record breaking French play of the same name by Marc Camoletti, Boeing Boeing revolves around the witty situations that bring together three attractive air hostesses, unknown for each other, dating the same lothario (Mohanlal) who up until then were efficiently juggling between the three with a barrage of lies, all of which come tumbling down when the three comes face to face right inside his apartment.

13. Mazha Peyyunnu Maddalam Kottunnu 1986

director: Priyadarshan

featuring: Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Lisy

This absurd cult film that employs a high degree of screwball style has an ensemble cast that will make your ribs hurt from all the laughter. Reminiscent of classic Shakespearean mix-ups, ‘foreign-returned’ Madhavan a.k.a. M.A. Dhavan (Sreenivasan) switches positions with his erstwhile friend and driver Shambhu (Mohanlal) to test a girl’s compassion in turn losing her to the driver forever, triggering a series of sidesplittingly outrageous misunderstandings and quarrels with more zest brought in by the parents of both parties. 

12. Akkare Akkare Akkare 1990

director: Priyadarshan

featuring: Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Parvathy, Mukesh, M.G. Soman

CID special agents Dasan (Mohanlal) and Vijayan (Sreenivasan) return in this final installment of the Nadodikattu series on a new case to retrieve a stolen crown from the fabled “Paul Barber”. What follow is a series of hit-and-miss strategies from the two, and the cracking of the case that is again heavily dependent on all the accidental clues and chance encounters that are too evident to miss.

11. Mookillarajyathu 1991

director: Thaha- Ashokan

featuring: Mukesh, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Siddique

Four loonies escape a mental hospital to meet with Amitabh Bachchan who is in town for a film shooting. Once they are out, they decide to lead on a normal life and go in search of suitable jobs. Even though the premise of the four escaped mental patients is loaned from the Michael Keaton starrer The Dream Team, Mookillarajyathu differ in all its hilarious aspects that could leave you rolling on the floor laughing more than once.

10. Nadodikattu 1987

director: Sathyan Anthikkad

featuring: Mohanlal, Sreenivasan, Shobhana, Thilakan, Captain Raju

One of the all time favorites of the Malayali audience, Nadodikattu is the first of a trilogy that introduced the “B.Com. First-class” Dasan (Mohanlal) and his “S.S.L.C. failed” friend Vijayan (Sreenivasan), as the archetype of all the unemployed youths in Kerala that at the time was in constant lookout for opportunities in “the Gulf”. Duped and pilfered, the two lands up in Madras where the bulk of all the comedy begins out of desperation to survive.

9. Sandesham 1991

director: Sathyan Anthikkad

featuring: Jayaram, Sreenivasan, Thilakan, Mamukkoya, Innocent, Sankaradi

One of the best political satires to come out of the thinking minds of Kerala, Sandesham is uproariously witty at the same time thematically hard-hitting, and tells the story of two brothers (Jayaram & Sreenivasan) diametrically opposite in political views and methods. Its effective combination of laughs with a parallel social commentary has led to its growth as one of the most acclaimed cult films in Malayalam that makes an open mockery of the utilitarian aspects of the present day political scenario.

8. Godfather 1991

director: Siddique-Lal

featuring:  N.N. Pillai, Philomena, Innocent, Mukesh, Kanaka, Jagadeesh

Godfather thrives on the froth and wounds of two warring families, between which love blooms, and complicates the existing odd balance resulting in situations that are both cleverly original and riotously witty. With a great ensemble caste, the third film from director duo Siddique and Lal, achieved new heights of comedic expression in the early 90s. Heavily relying on puns and situational comedies, this is an energetic and groundbreaking film that’s a real treat to all Malayalam-speaking comedy lovers.

7. Sanmanasullavarku Samadhanam 1986

director: Sathyan Anthikkad

featuring: Mohanlal, Karthika, Sreenivasan

A desperate debt-swamped landlord (Mohanlal) is in a relentless pursuit to evacuate his tenant (Karthika) who, in an equally if not more despairing scrape, refuses to leave. Fun starts when each does their bit to bum the other and keep the house, and it’s a laugh riot from then on. The film was remade into all the other south Indian languages as well as Hindi owing to the general appeal of the plotline and background.

6. Vadakkunokiyanthram 1989

director: Sreenivasan

featuring: Sreenivasan, Parvathy, Innocent, K.P.A.C. Lalitha

Bogged with inferiority complex about his 'poor' looks, a man’s (Sreenivasan) life reels out of control after his marriage with an attractive woman (Parvathy) who is taller than him. With this film Sreenivasan’s self-deprecating and sharp humor gave new scope to the exploration of a relationship destroyed by suspicion. The slow transition of an obsessive husband to a full-blown lunatic although displayed in a hilarious fashion, is heartbreaking at the core for all of its outrageous realism.

5. In Harihar Nagar 1990

director: Siddique-Lal

featuring: Mukesh, Jagadeesh, Siddique, Ashokan, Geetha Vijayan

What forms the core of the narrative of this rollicking fun ride is the hilarious dialogues between the four friends filled with insults and inside jokes as they all try to woo a new girl in the neighborhood, who as it turns out has her own extra baggage to deal with. In Harihar Nagar is invariably a timeless comedy classic with the Malayalis that warrants repeated viewings, and at the time of its release was legitimately different from anything that came out up until then.

4. Meleparambil Aanveedu 1993

director: Rajasenan

featuring: Jayaram, Shobhana, Narendra Prasad, Jagathy Sreekumar

A family full of bachelors alone is a recipe for danger. Now what if a woman walks in too? That’s the gist of the setting in this hysterical comedy that delivers with the perfect ensemble caste, some of the most humorous situations in the history of Malayalam cinema. When the new girl (Shobahan) is secretly married to one of them (Jayaram) already, it makes it all the more twisted and hard to handle, as the group-leching doesn’t stop just at that.

3. Ramji Rao Speaking 1989

director: Siddique-Lal

featuring: Innocent, Mukesh, Saikumar, Rekha, Vijayaraghavan

This is invariably their masterpiece! Here in their directorial debut, Siddique and Lal tell the story of three unemployed men (Innocent, Mukesh, Saikumar) whose fates get entangled with that of a local goon called Ramji Rao (Vijayaraghavan) through a misdialed call, and what follows is a an absolute trip of great dialogues, hilarious situations and impeccable timings in comedy ever. Apart from the directors, the lead actors deserve a cheer for making the journey so memorable that we still go back to it time and again.

2. Kilukkam 1991

director: Priyadarshan

featuring: Mohanlal, Revathy, Jagathy Sreekumar, Thilakan, Innocent

Full of unforgettable scenes and jokes, and still remarkable for its quotable lines Kilukkam was the biggest grosser of 1991, and rightfully so. It is a comedy giant that revolves around the questionable presence of a stranger (Revathy) in town and her unpredictable path that crosses with many including two desperate tour guides (Mohanlal and Jagathy Sreekumar), a cranky retired judge (Thilakan) and his distressed domestic help (Innocent), inciting humor galore all along the way.

1. Ponnmuttayidunna Tharavu 1988

director: Sathyan Anthikkad

featuring: Sreenivasan, Urvashi, Innocent, Jayaram, Jagathy Sreekumar

The best part about Ponmuttayidunna Tharavu is the honesty and innocence of the non-stop humor that imitates the life and time of a bunch of true-to-life characters in a small hamlet in the outskirts, where rumors travelled faster than fire. It never tries too hard which is also a part of the charm that makes it a genuine comedy. Casually hovering around the incidents in the life of the resident goldsmith (Sreenivasan) and his jilted love, this is as Malayali as you can ever get with comedy.

For More Laughs, Check Out…

Mithunam 1993

Kinnaram 1983

Thenmavin Kombath 1994

Chandralekha 1997

Chandupottu 2005

Udayananu Thaaram 2005

Mazhavilkavadi 1989

Cheriya Lokavum Valiya Manushyarum 1990

Meeshamadhavan 2002

Minnaram 1994

Chitram 1988

Vandanam 1989

Chakkikotha Chankaran 1989

Kilichundan Mambazham 2003

Odaruthammava, Aalariyam 1984

Nagarangalil Chennu Raparkam 1990

Amen 2013

Pranchiyettan & the Saint 2010

Punjabi House 1998

Vellanakaludey Nadu 1988

Gandinagar Second Street 1986

Panchavadi Paalam 1984

Mukunthetta Sumithra Vilikkunnu 1988

Aram+Aram=Kinnaram 1985

Akkare Ninnoru Maaran 1988