Rarely do, or rather did, South Indian films made sequels, especially back in their “Golden Age of Cinema”, not unless it was already planned beforehand. But times have changed. Nowadays, many film industries capitalize on the popularity of a film or certain movie characters and decide to make sequels or spin-off movies, out of which many ultimately fail in the box office. But there have been a few good Malayalam sequels that have been around for sometime (and most of them do not require the viewing of its previous film(s) to understand the story; which is the mark of a good sequel, by the way), and these sequels have vindicated themselves in the eyes of viewers and have firmly held their position in the Malayalam pop culture history. So without much further adieu, check out these 7 must watch Malayalam movie sequels which are currently available for streaming in India:
1. Ravanaprabhu:
This movie is a direct sequel to the original, Devasuram. Although the film was released eight years after the first film, this movie is set decades after the events of Devasuram. Mohanlal portrays a dual role of father and son, the father being the lead character from the first film, while the second features the son as the protagonist. This movie is streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Synopsis: Karthikeyan, a liquor businessman returns to his ancestral home. On reaching back, he finds out that his ancestral land has been bought off by his father’s old rival, Shekharan. He tries various methods to get his land back from Shekharan and fails. Eventually, out of desperation, Karthikeyan resorts to abducting Shekharan’s daughter, Janaki and uses her to blackmail Shekharan, for the return of his property.
2. Aadu 2:
We now turn to the world of slapstick comedy, where the superhit sequel feature, Aadu 2 had numerous patrons rolling on the floor laughing. According to multiple critics and cinephiles, Aadu 2 was better than the Midhun Manuel Thomas written-and-directed prequel (which is impressive, when looking at slapstick comedic theme of the film). Stream this movie on Netflix.
Synopsis: In dire need of money, Shaji Pappan decides to enter a tug-of-war competition to win the competition’s grand prize. His friends/ squad join Shaji as part of his tug-of-war team. But when he finds out that there is an entry fee of Rs. 5 Lakh, he does something drastic to enter the fierce competition.
3. Jagratha:
Jagratha is the second film in a four film investigative spin-off/ sequel series and is the only film within the movie franchise to be a direct sequel link to its predecessor (in this case, Oru CBI Diary Kurippu); meanwhile Sethurama Iyer CBI and Nerariyan CBI (the final two films of the franchise, so far), which were commercial hits, were made more like spin-offs than sequels – except for the fact that the actors portraying the lead investigator and his team remained a part of the film series (Most of the team, at least). Although Jagratha can’t be compares to the masterpiece that was its predecessor, this investigative thriller still holds up well when compared to other investigative thrillers within the Malayalam film history/ archive. This movie is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Synopsis: When Ashwathy, a renowned actress, is murdered, CBI officer Sethurama Iyer is sent by the bureau to investigate the case. When he finds out a dark secret about Ashwathy, this new revelation brings complications to the ongoing case.
4. Akkare Akkare Akkare:
Featuring Mohanlal and Sreenivasan – the most bankable film duo at the time in the Malayalam film industry, the “dynamic duo” got all of us (the film series watchers, at the very least) to laugh out loud throughout the entire classic cult comedy film series. All three films in the “Nadodikkatu film series” or the ”Dasan and Vjayan film series (which they are sometimes called), still holds up to this day and a part of it is thanks to the brilliant writing from one-half of the onscreen comedic duo – Sreenivasan (who deserves this special mention). This film can be viewed on Disney+ Hotstar.
Synopsis: CID officers Ramdas and Vijayan are sent to the United States of America as part of an ongoing investigation of a missing priceless gold crown. On reaching their destination, both investigators experience issues during their stay, due to cultural and language barriers. They eventually manage to crack the case open, when they find clues in the forms of a torn piece of cloth and an alias, but will their aforementioned disadvantages slow them down?
5. Chenkol:
Making a sequel for Kireedam which is still considered to be one of the greatest films ever made in Malayalam film history is no easy task but the writer-director-actor trio of A.K. Lohithadas, Sibi Malayil and Mohanlal gave it their best shot. The resulting sequel – Chenkol ended up in a similar situation as Hollywood’s The Godfather III – where the sequel films continued to be compared to their original counterpart – but just like the third film of the most famous mafia/ gangster films of all time, the gem of a movie still received good reviews from many critics and cinephiles. Unfortunately, the movie had to compete against another Mohanlal starrer – Manichitrathazhu in the theaters (Manichitrathazhu is another brilliant Malayalam film, which has attained cult status within the Malayalam film watching community), and the psychological thriller’s popularity caused Chenkol to end up being an average grosser at the box office. This movie is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.
Synopsis: Set seven years after the events of Kireedam, Sethumadhavan returns home after spending seven years in central jail for committing manslaughter. On returning home, most of his family members treat him harshly and he realizes that he will always be treated differently by people (be it his family, neighbours or the villagers) from now on, due to him being an ‘ex-convict’. Sethu’s dream for a peaceful life eventually hits multiple snags due to (t)his complicated status within his community.
6. Mannar Mathai Speaking:
Set a few years after the events of this sequel film’s predecessor, Ramji Rao Speaking; the cult film franchise’s favourite characters from the brilliant first film – Balakrishnan, Gopalakrishnan and of course, the iconic Mannar Mathai (the titular character from Mannar Mathai Speaking) all return, for this gem of a sequel. Both films in this film franchise are cult classics and are must-watches in their own right (Although, avoid watching Mannar Mathai Speaking 2). You can watch Mannar Mathai Speaking online, on MX Player.
Synopsis: Mannar Mathai is running a drama group under the name ‘Urvashi Theaters’, where his two roommates/ friends – Gopalakrishnan and Balakrishnan are constantly fighting with each other, both vying for the lead role for a play. Due to an accident, the heroine of the troupe decides to quit and takes up an offered film role instead. Now, the lead actors take it upon themselves to find a new actress to portray the heroine in their troupe plays.
7. Drishyam 2:
There might have been some doubts (which was prevalent till almost a month ago) on whether Drishyam 2 would feature on this list or a list like this one, but the surprise sequel feature which streamed on Amazon Prime Video, made itself onto multiple top 5 Must Watch Indian movies lists, including IMDb’s. The entire original cast from the 2013 prequel feature returned for Drishyam 2 and with the original film’s writer-director – Jeethu Joseph on board, this direct-to-OTT released sequel has gone on to surpass Drishyam, according to multiple critics. Beating Drishyam (in reviews and acknowledgements mainly, as Drishyam 2 is a direct OTT release and hence does not have the box office numbers to compare with its predecessor – which, by the way, is not a criteria required for rating any film) – the highest grossing Malayalam film at the time of its release, is no mean feat but Drishaym 2 has managed managed to keep both critics and cinephiles alike, in suspense during the entirety of the movie (almost). As mentioned earlier, the family hit thriller Drishyam 2, is available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video.
Synopsis: Set six years after the events of Drishyam, Georgekutty’s family has undergone a lot of changes. His eldest daughter, Anju is returning from college, while his youngest daughter is studying in high school. Georgekutty is now a proud theater owner and plans to produce his own movie (which has been a dream of Georgekutty’s for sometime), against his wife’s wishes. When Thomas Bastin IPS, the newly-appointed Inspector General for the Varun Prabhakar’s disappearance case, gets an important tip regarding the young man’s disappearance, Georgekutty is forced to take action to save his family.
We’re hiring!
We are hiring two full-time junior to mid-level writers with the option to work remotely. You need to work a 5-hour shift and be available to write. Interested candidates should email their sample articles to [email protected]. Applications without a sample article will not be considered.
