15 OF THE BEST DEPICTIONS OF FRIENDSHIP IN MALAYALAM FILMS

“Friendship marks a life even more deeply than love. Love risks degenerating into obsession, friendship is never anything but sharing.”

- Elie Wiesel

And who doesn’t know! Friendship is one of the purest forms of human bonding forged outside the liabilities of blood! Cinema worldwide has explored on the dynamics of this brilliant bond in various permutations possible. Following is a list of some of the truest friendships portrayed in Malayalam films thus far.

15. Ammu & Shalini in SHALINI ENTE KOOTTUKARI

Jalaja as Ammu

Shobha as Shalini

An ode to a lost friend, this moving Venu Nagavalli tragedy apart from being a powerful character sketch, has a strong friendship as its backbone. Ammu recollecting her days with Shalini is not just tender and beautiful, but has the subtleties of female friendships that defines the mindset of a bygone time in Kerala.

14. Achootty & Kochuraman in AMARAM

Mammootty as Achootty

Murali as Kochuraman

Men in Amaram are fisher folk, who swear when they are angry, cry out loud when they are sad and hug and kiss when they are happy. They are a real, unpretentious lot and among them are Achootty and Kochuraman, who are not just neighbors, but best of friends, whose friendship and trust eventually gets tested over the recklessness of their kids.

13. Kochu Thresia & Reji in MANASINAKKARE

Sheela as Kochu Thresia

Jayaram as Reji

This seemingly weird but merry friendship that develops between an ageing matriarch and a cheerful carefree youth goes as deep and meaningful as is possible in a non-mother-and-son relationship that transcends the ‘generation-gap’ in lighter vein.

12. Balamani & Unnikrishnan in NANDANAM

Navya Nair as Balamani

Aravindar as Unnikrishnan

For all the realists this may just be what the shrink calls hallucination, but for all the believers the affectionate bond that develops between an orphan maidservant and a good-natured neighborhood deity shown here with all its fun and mischief is passionate and satisfying.

11. Manikyan & Sreekrishnan in THENMAVIN KOMBATHU

Mohanlal as Manikyan

Nedumudi Venu as Sreekrishnan

When one man addresses his friend as brother, perhaps this is what he should have in mind. Manikyan and Sreekrishnan are like brothers, and like brothers they behave. The limitless friendship here also makes the master-servant dynamics a playful one with a rather deep emotional connection.

10. Mada & Sheema Thampuran in PONTHAN MADA

Mammootty as Mada

Naseerudheen Shah as Sheema Thampuran

This one is perhaps the most understated friendship on the list. The bond that develops between the dimwitted Mada and his exiled master is way too meaningful to be expressed in loud gestures, and the sheer beauty of this friendship is precisely that- its is never spelt out.

9. Mahadevan, Appukuttan, Thomaskutty & Govindankutty in

IN HARIHAR NAGAR

Mukesh as Mahadevan

Jagadeesh as Appukuttan

Ashokan as Thomaskutty

Siddique as Govindankutty

Beneath all the silliness, the flirtations and the rivalry, the friendship between the four men in this Siddique-Lal comedy is the candid faithfulness that keeps the quartet together through thick and thin. So what if they are embarrassingly wicked with each other in wooing the same girl, they stick as a bundle to ward off the danger she brings in.

8. Shivaprasad & Vasu in ADWAITHAM

Mohanlal as Shivaprasad

Jayaram as Vasu

Best friends since childhood, Shivan and Vasu are like soul mates, each ready to take a bullet for the other, and sadly it even comes to pass where one eventually has to. When the ambitious of the two is ducking shots in a corrupt world, the other that is left to figure his way out unwittingly gets caught in the crossfire, and what ensues is a deeply moving scene that will stay with you for long.

7. Mannar Mathai, Gopalakrishnan & Balakrishnan in

RAMJI RAO SPEAKING

Innocent as Mannar Mathai

Mukesh as Gopalakrishnan

Sai Kumar as Balakrishnan

Maybe it is the hilarity of this companionship that trumps all else, but the friendship between a good-hearted middle-aged thespian and his two young tenants as well as partners in crime is a bromance that was too good that the makers had to go ahead and bring in a sequel to give the audience some more of that goodness.

6. George, Koya & Shambu in PREMAM

Nivin Pauly as George

Krishna Shankar as Koya

Shabareesh Varma as Shambu

We all have a friend or two like Koya and Shambu. They are fun to hang out with and they are always there for you. With their hilarious goof-ups and unconditional camaraderie, this trio of BFFs stands out as much for their quirky one-liners as much as the realistic depiction of male bonding that an entire generation of Malayalis would relate to.

5. Ramdas & Vijayan in NADODIKATTU

Mohanlal as Ramdas

Sreenivasan as Vijayan

One of the most popular and hilarious male duos in the history of Malayalam Cinema, Dasan and Viajayan are like annoying siblings who do not restrain from being mean to each other, but absolutely inseparable in a malevolent world filled with Anantan Nambiars and Pavanais.

                                                                                          

4. Krishnan & Ganga in KAMMATTIPADAM

Dulquer Salman as Krishnan

Vinayakan as Ganga

This poignant relationship between childhood friends Krishnan and Ganga, growing up in the fast changing milieu of a growing city, that outlives the bellowing heat of crime and violence nourishing the development is as real as it can get with its share of jealousy and disputes, that forever fail to break the integrity of the bond.

3. Govardhan & Mukund in KALAPANI

Mohanlal as Govardhan

Prabhu as Mukund

The emotional core of this important colonial-era masterpiece directed by Priyadarshan is not the love story that hogged the promotional rushes but the intense friendship between the two inmates in the rancorous dungeons of Kalapani that gradually becomes the singular drive feeding their will to survive the brutality.

2. Neelakantan & Varrier in DEVASURAM

Mohanlal as Neelakantan

Innocent as Varrier

This bond is pure gold. The relationship between the headstrong protagonist and his loyal lackey will touch your heart with its unconditional love and empathy. There are deeply moving instances involving the two men that could move any frosty-eyes to shed a tear.

1. Sally & Nirmala in DESHADANAKILI KARAYARILLA

Shari as Sally

Karthika as Nirmala

Children of bad marriages resort to various ways to compensate for that lack of love at home, and that is precisely what makes the relationship between these two high school girls intense. It is candid, it is unconditional and it is beautiful to the point where it occasionally shows glimpses of subtle romantic undercurrent for those who read between the lines.