Name: Manthravadi
Genre: Drama
Released: 1956-08-18
Duration: 2 h 21 min
Rating: 8.7
Cast: Prem Nazir, Kottarakkara Sridharan Nair, S.P. Pillai

A wonderful fantasy story with lots of enchanting songs

There was a time in Malayalam films history when a good solid music will carry the entire movie to a place in history and Manthravadhi is like one of them. The story is very simple - The evil magician Mahendran (Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair), a follower of the 'Kapalakundala' cult takes an oath to sacrifice 101 chaste and beautiful girls to please the Goddess Kaali. He abducts girls from the nearby kingdoms. He chooses princess Mallika (Miss Kumari), daughter of King Veera Varma (Jose Prakash) as the final prey. The king promises to entrust her to the magician once she attains marriageable age in return for saving the royal family from the dacoits. The prince of a neighbouring kingdom, Priya Kumaran (Prem Nazir) is Mallika's childhood friend. Priyakumaran loses his father and the kingdom, and the queen, Sushila Devi (Aranmula Ponnamma) flees to the jungles where she lives along with her son and Vinayan (Muthiah), son of the loyal servant of the royal family. Priyakumaran and Mallika meet in the forest and fall in love. Veera Varma decides to get them married, but the magician stalls it. Priyakumaran and Vinayan pass through several hardships and at last save Mallika. Priyakumaran weds Mallika. The story has been nicely presented with plenty of enchanting songs provided by the maestro Brother Lakshman with melodious tunes of Jikky and Kamukara Purushothaman. Though the movie was made in 1950 - and even the DVD quality is not that great, you will enjoy this masterpiece when you watch it. I have watched it at least six times during last two three years and will watch it may more times in future.

Malayalam cinema, based in Kerala, is known for its grounded narratives, literary screenplays, and strong character-driven storytelling.The industry is celebrated for innovatively blending realism with bold, socially conscious themes.

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

The evil magician Mahendran (Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair), a follower of the 'Kapalakundala' cult takes an oath to sacrifice 101 chaste and beautiful girls to please the Goddess Kaali. He abducts girls from the nearby kingdoms. He chooses princess Mallika (Miss Kumari), daughter of King Veera Varma (Jose Prakash) as the final prey. The king promises to entrust her to the magician once she attains marriageable age in return for saving the royal family from the dacoits. The prince of a neighboring kingdom, Priya Kumaran (Prem Nazir) is Mallika's childhood friend. Priyakumaran loses his father and the kingdom, and the queen, Sushila Devi (Aranmula Ponnamma) flees to the jungles where she lives along with her son and Vinayan (Muthiah), son of the loyal servant of the royal family. Priyakumaran and Mallika meet in the forest and fall in love. Veera Varma decides to get them married, but the magician stalls it. Priyakumaran and Vinayan pass through several hardships and at last save Mallika. Priyakumaran weds Mallika.

The Biggest Movies and TV Coming in September

"The Gentlemen" and "Slow Horses" return this fall, while the "Reacher" spin-off series "Neagley" makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

2026 Fall TV and Streaming Watch Guide

&quot;The Gentlemen&quot; and &quot;Slow Horses&quot; return this fall, while the &quot;Reacher&quot; spin-off series &quot;Neagley&quot; makes its debut. See our guide of the biggest Fall TV and streaming releases.

Get a closer look at these actors from their many TV and streaming series roles.

Manthravadi

Photos

Top Cast15

User reviews1

Related interests

Storyline

Top picks

Details

Tech specs

Contribute to this page

More to explore

Recently viewed